2 Murder in the Winter Page 20

  +++

  “So, what did you do this morning, Lou?”

  “I had a puzzling experience.”

  “You mean you worked on the case?”

  “No, my mountain scene. I now have all the edge pieces in place and am missing only a few pieces of the cabin.”

  “I hope the excitement wasn’t too much for you.”

  “Watch it! I’m liable to imitate your voice some day, and invite your next-door neighbor over to visit.”

  “Oh, didn’t I tell you. I’m thinking about installing an electric fence, and put a collar on my neighbor and her dog so they can’t get in.”

  +++

  Lou and I changed venues for lunch and tried a hole-in-the-wall called Hot Dog Haven. We had never eaten there, but had heard good things about it. We were warned not to judge the place by its décor, but then Lou and I have never allowed a restaurant’s furnishings to determine whether or not to eat there. If I see no mice or roaches, I’ll give a place a try one time. Well, I will unless its one of those cloth napkins and fancy tablecloth places. I’d never do one of those places without a lady in tow.

  +++

  Around 5:00, Lou called and woke me from my nap.

  “Have you looked outside?”

  “No, is my neighbor looking in my window?”

  “If so, she’ll leave footprints.”

  “Does that mean she’s our murderer?”

  “Well, that would solve one of your problems. Then you’d be down to Miss Lovely and that old lady over on Linden Place.”

  “Enough about my love life. I assume you mean it’s snowed some more.”

  “One point seven eight inches so far, and it’s still snowing.”

  “So what’re you saying? Do you want to eat early?”

  “We might go a little early and then get home. We have a lot of people to talk to tomorrow.”

  “Is six o’clock all right?”

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  “Don’t say it that way. People will think you’re my date.”

  “Sorry, Cy, but Thelma Lou is much more my type.”

  “Mine, too.”

  “Keep your hands off my girl. You’ve already got at least four of your own.”

  28

  I opened my eyes and welcomed Friday morning. Okay, I didn’t welcome it. Well, I guess I did, but I didn’t burst from my bed singing. I lay there, afraid to get up to see how much snow had fallen. When I mustered the courage, I had mixed feelings. The snow was too deep to drive through, but there was no note on my car. At least, I didn’t see any footprints beside it. Of course it’s possible the perp slithered up the other side. I was wondering what to do, when I heard the sound of a snow shovel coming from the front of the house. I walked through the house, looked out the living room window, and smiled. Mark, snow shoveler extraordinaire, was already at work on my driveway. I dashed to the shower so I would be dressed by the time he finished shoveling.

  +++

  I picked up the phone to call Sam to make sure Lou and I had a full day. I heard someone pick up the phone, then listened. I waited until he spoke first.

  “From the heavy breathing on the other end of the line I’d say that my caller is an overweight policeman.”

  “I like corpulent and obese better.”

  “How about a well-rounded individual?”

  “Now, I think I like yours better. So, tell me, Master Sleuth, did you run through the neighborhood and take everyone’s picture?”

  “My methods are different from yours, Cy, but I do have all the pictures. You doubted my abilities?”

  “No, anyone who can come up with Ray Phelps picture ought to be able to round up all the local rowdies. Is it okay if Lou and I stop by after we eat?”

  “What are we talking about? A little before noon?”

  “No, we’ll be there at least by eleven. Take a nap and we’ll put you to work when we get there.”

  +++

  Mark ran interference for me, so I managed to get to Lightning and skid out of my driveway before the woman from another planet could sink her claws into my tires. The main streets had been plowed, but Lightning tiptoed down the side streets, hoping not to get stuck. I pulled up in front of the good sergeant’s house. He stepped outside, picked up some snow, molded it into a snowball, and hoisted it in my direction. Only his old age kept him from making contact. I could tell he thought about making a second snowball, but refrained, jaunted over to where I was parked, and opened the door. He spoke before he got in.

  “Night owl.”

  “No, I went to bed about the same time last night.”

  “I mean those are our words for the day,” he said as he sat down and closed the door.

  “Does it mean that you and I are about to stay up late, or that we are to look for someone who does?”

  I looked at my partner and read his unspoken words. The look on his face told me what he had told me so many times over the years. I am just the messenger, not the interpreter. But I could tell that he too wondered what the words meant.

  I anticipated another fun day, so I got the ball rolling.

  “Question, Lou. We’re heading out to Overlook Inn today. Would you rather eat breakfast there, rather than the Blue Moon?”

  He looked around the car, like he was searching for something.

  “What’re you looking for, Lou?”

  “I’m trying to find the ejector button for your seat.”

  “Won’t do any good, Lou. I’ve got my seatbelt on.”

  “I’ll hit that button first.”

  “Can you wait until we get to the Blue Moon and eject me inside?”

  “I can, but you’ll be the one responsible for replacing the glass window.”

  I pictured myself pulling shards of glass from my face. It was not a pretty sight, but then my face has been known to scare people without the glass. I anticipated that my face would scare a few people later that day, but not enough for someone to confess to the murders. That would take a little more work.

  We headed to the Blue Moon amid little traffic. My guess was that most people had already gotten where they were going or had looked outside and decided to put off what must be done for at least one more day. It was a good day to hibernate, but some of us could not curl up beside the fireplace until our murderer was caught. Of course, I would need to have a fireplace installed before I could curl up beside one, but I wouldn’t have minded staying home.

  I maneuvered Lightning into a parking place right in front of the Blue Moon and hoisted myself from the car. Forty-five minutes later, fully loaded, two chubby cops left the diner and made tracks for Sam’s place. Like Lou and I, Sam is allowed to use his home as his base of operations. We go to the police department proper only when necessary. We pulled up in front of Sam’s place, and he saw us coming. He met us at the door, waving a handful of photographs.

  “Good timing, Cy. I barely had time to read War and Peace while I waited on you.”

  “Is that the cartoon that’s in the newspaper?”

  Lou and I stepped inside and Sam handed me a copy of each of the pictures. I was impressed by their pristine condition. I didn’t want to ask him how he came up with them. If I did, he would give me a talk about how most cops have left the dark ages behind. I looked at the picture on top, then slid it to the bottom and looked at the next until I’d looked at all of them. All of them were easily identifiable. Recent pictures anyone could recognize, as long as he or she had seen any of these people. I wondered how Sam had come up with pictures of Rothschild, who never seemed to leave his apartment, and Mrs. Crouch, an apartment manager that didn’t seem to fit in with the mix. And Manfred and Mabel Mitchuson seldom left the inn. At least, they don’t as far as I know. I separated the pictures into two groups, those that resided at the inn, and the residents of Oppenheimer Arms. Then, I added Phelps’s picture. Sam too had copies of all our suspects. While Lou and I tackled the people at the inn, Oppenheimer Arms, and Phelps’s landlady, Sam wou
ld go back to those people who recognized Phelps’s picture to see if they recognized any of the other people.

  +++

  The snow had been cleared, so all we had to do to get from town to Precipice Point was navigate the slalom course. Lou informed me that the snowfall total at his house was three and one-half inches, or about the same amount we had had the night before. The last two nights’ snowfall was just shy of what we had had the night before we arrived at the inn.

  With the snow being so deep, Lightning couldn’t plow through the unshoveled circular driveway of the Overlook Inn, so we parked on the bridge and trudged uphill to the heated building. Two days later, with our candy supply depleted, we arrived at the inn.

  I opened the door and the two of us stepped inside. An unsuspecting Longworth looked up from behind the checkin counter. His look told us that he was as excited to see us as he would have been if he’d heard that his mother-in-law had been paroled.

  “Sorry, Lieutenant, we have no new bodies to report.”

  “Oh, and we were looking forward to spending the rest of the winter with you. Anyway, the day is still young. You never know when the next body will drop.”

  “Do you know something that I don’t?” Longworth asked, looking concerned.

  “I would hope so, Mr. Longworth. I hope you haven’t found out what Sgt. Murdock and I did in English class back in the eighth grade. We’d hoped to take that secret to our graves.”

  “Are you telling me that you’ll be checking out soon?”

  “Don’t get your hopes up, Mr. Longworth. You know how much you’d miss our unexpected visits. After we’ve gotten to know each other and become just good friends. The next two cops might not be nice guys like the two of us.”

  “So why did you come and see me today? You could’ve called. I could’ve answered any of your questions by phone.”

  “But how are you at identifying photographs over the phone?”

  “Do you have another corpse for me to identify? Has another of my actors been murdered?”

  “Now, Mr. Longworth. You know we must keep some secrets until we get to know each other better. What I’d like right now is to see everyone, one at a time, in the conference room. You know how much I like talking to people in those cozy surroundings.”

  “You want everyone.”

  “Don’t tell me you wanted all the attention. You need to share me with the others. Don’t worry. I’ve got only a couple of questions for everyone, and because you’re so jealous, I’m going to save you for last.”

  I had Longworth unlock the door to the conference room. I stepped inside, and then sent Lou with Longworth to see that the proprietor did his job properly, without talking.

  I made a list of the order I wanted to see everyone, and once the crew had been assembled, I had Lou stand outside with them, so no one would talk on his or her way out of the room. I removed the photographs of everyone at the inn, and had the others ready for each person to identify.

  I started with the two chefs and the server. None of them seemed to recognize Phelps or any of the actors. When I asked if any of them had heard that the inn would once again include plays among its activities, all of them said, “no,” but Antoine appeared to be lying.

  I had Lou let Manfred in next.

  “Good to see you again, Manfred. This will just take a minute. I want you to look at these photos and tell me if you’ve ever seen any of these people.”

  He gave them a careful look.

  “No. At least, I don’t think so. None of them look familiar. Should I know them? Wait a minute. Yeah, this guy. He was a guest at the inn when you were.”

  I made a note that he had identified Tony McArthur, the only actor who showed up at the inn without a disguise.

  “Are you saying the rest of them have been here, too?”

  “Not necessarily. Most of them are people who live in Hilldale. I was just wondering if any of them had been guests at the inn.”

  “There have been very few guests at the inn so far. I assume there will be more when the weather warms up and people find out about this place. Most of the ones who’ve stayed here were here when you were.”

  “One other question. Who told you that the theater at the inn would reopen?”

  “My wife. She told me that Mrs. Longworth told her. Please don’t tell Mrs. Longworth. I’d hate for us to get in trouble and lose our jobs.”

  “Don’t worry, Manfred. This is our secret. You can go now.”

  “That’s good. I just finished shoveling the roof. I need to plow the driveway.”

  Manfred left, and his wife came in next. Her statements echoed his.

  I finished with the Mitchusons and took Mrs. Longworth before her husband. She claimed to have talked to no one about the possibility of plays at the inn and didn’t recognize any of the people.

  Finally we admitted Longworth, and Lou came in with him.

  “See, Mr. Longworth, it hasn’t been painful or time consuming. No one was injured, nor did anyone lose much work time answering our questions. That is, up to now. Now, it’s your turn. Tell me the last time you saw this guy,” I said as I thrust Phelps picture under his nose.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this individual.”

  “Are you sure, Mr. Longworth? We might have someone who has seen the two of you together.”

  “If so, we weren’t together. I do not know this man.”

  “What about any of these people?”

  Longworth looked through the pictures.

  “These six are all actors. I assume these other three are too, but to the best of my knowledge I’ve never seen them.”

  I took the pictures from Longworth. He recognized everyone expect Mrs. Crouch, Profitt, and Phelps.

  “And have you seen any of these six since the inn reopened?”

  “Well, two of them died here, so you know I recognized those two. Unless some of the others came in costume, I haven’t seen any of them recently.”

  “Okay, now to question number three. Who did you talk to about offering plays at the inn?”

  “Just Carter Thornton.”

  “No one else?”

  “No.”

  “Not even your wife?”

  “Oh, sure. We’ve talked about it. We talked about it before we took over the inn. I thought you meant actors.”

  “I mean anyone at all.”

  “Just Carter and my wife.”

  “And no one knew that Carter Thornton was to be here the weekend he was murdered?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “So why did these other actors come in costume?”

  “I have no earthly idea, Lieutenant. I’ve been thinking about the same thing and haven’t come up with a solution.”

  The man seemed to be telling the truth, but one never knows when one is dealing with thespians. They are used to performing.

  I thanked him for his time and offered to drop in whenever I was in the neighborhood. Longworth cringed seconds after I spoke.

  We left the conference room and walked to the front door of the inn. I opened the door and stepped out into the cool air. Manfred had made a path from the garage to the bridge. We had only to trudge through the snow as far as the garage before following in Manfred’s tractor marks as we returned to Lightning. Some things fit into place. Others didn’t. I still had no idea who our murderer was, and I had no clue who suggested that the actors go to Overlook Inn. Could it have been the murderer? Two of our suspects died at the inn, but the third died at home. Was there any significance to that?

  By the time Lou and I tiptoed over the bridge and slunk back down onto our seats, Manfred had plowed most of the driveway. I drove Lightning over the bridge, took the loop to the right, stopped after a few feet, and backed Lightning onto the left-side of the drive so I could turn around. This beat using Lightning’s reverse gear to get back to town. As we crossed the bridge, I stopped at the path that led to the trailer, and got out. I wanted to find out if anyone had vis
ited the trailer since the previous night’s snowfall. There were no tracks. I was thankful for this, and Lou and I returned to town.

  29

  I looked at my watch as we entered the city limits. It was 11:54. If we ate then, we would have to eat again before supper. Besides, the Blue Moon is always the fullest from 7:00-8:30 a.m. and around noon. What if we went to the Blue Moon and found someone sitting on our stools? What grounds would we have for arresting them? We decided to wait until after we’d checked with Mrs. Collins. I reached into my pocket and yanked out a Hershey Almond Bar. I pulled over to savor a bite or two before visiting with Phelps’s landlady. After I gathered enough strength to get by until lunch, I pulled away from the curb. Not expecting a hasty retreat, Lou spilled a couple of M&Ms on the floor mat.

  I apologized for interrupting Mrs. Collins’s lunch and told her we’d just take a couple of minutes of her time, even though she had the most photographs to look at.

  “I’m sorry, Lieutenant, but none of these people was the man who came to see Ray.”

  “Have you seen any of them on any other occasion?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  I thanked her and Lou and I left.

  “Looks like we’ve struck out so far, Lou.”

  “Yeah, but maybe someone at the apartment house has seen one of these birds.”

  I hoped so. We were running out of leads.

  +++

  Since it was only 12:34 when we left Mrs. Collins, we stopped by the grocery on the way to the diner in order to stock up on our candy supply before stopping for lunch.

  +++

  As Lou and I stepped from the Blue Moon, an idea came to me. Before we questioned anyone at Oppenheimer Arms, we would check the parking area in the back to see what the latest snowfall could tell us. Maybe, if we were lucky, we would find tracks, and a sign that said, “This way to the murderer.”

  +++

  Lou and I looked at the snow-covered cars that donned the area behind the apartment building. Did any of these people ever leave? But it wasn’t the cars that were there that warranted our attention, but the one that had come and gone. Just like the previous week, someone had slid in under the dark of night and slithered out undetected. Who could it have been? Did the murderer return to the scene of the crime? I took out my notebook that listed the make and model of vehicle each of the residents drove. Everyone who remained alive was at home. At least, if anyone had left, he or she hadn’t driven away in their own vehicles.