"But you"re interested in the second, and you want to see the puzzle."
"That"s right."
"Any particular reason?"
Cora hesitated. Becky was her lawyer. There was no reason not to tell her about the crossword puzzle. On the other hand, there was no reason to tell her now. Of course, that would make her more of a princ.i.p.al player, which would whet Becky"s interest. But in practical terms, that energy would more likely be expended extracting a fee.
Becky was p.i.s.sing her off. Cora was tired of being a punching bag.
"I"ll let you know."
CHAPTER.
23.
For a man with a murder, Chief Harper didn"t seem particularly concerned. He tipped back in his desk chair, sipped his coffee, nibbled on a scone from Cushman"s Bake Shop. "Well, Barney Nathan kicked in with the autopsy. At least the preliminary report. It seems the guy was killed in the early evening. Most likely between six and eight." Harper took another sip of coffee. "Not that I"d hold him to it, if I could find someone did it at five forty-five."
"What have you found?" Cora said impatiently.
"Well, I haven"t found the killer, if that"s what you mean."
"Why not?"
"Come on, Cora, the case just broke. Usually I got twenty-four hours before the media accuses me of dragging my feet."
"I"m not asking if you solved the d.a.m.n thing, I"m just asking what you know."
"Why are you so interested?"
"It"s not every day a complaining witness against me gets taken out."
"Are you saying that"s the motive?"
"I certainly hope not. If someone starts b.u.mping off witnesses, it would make for an awful long hearing." Harper looked at her. "Come on, Chief. You wouldn"t be sitting there calmly eating scones unless you had something. What have you got?"
"I"ve got nothing official."
"And unofficially?"
"I"ve got gossip, rumors, and innuendo."
Cora rubbed her hands together. "Ooo, that"s the stuff. Come on, let"s have it."
"You understand none of this is to go any further."
"Of course not."
"Particularly to any nephews-in-law who might be living in your house." He frowned. "Is that an actual relationship? Nephew-in-law? Or do I have to say the guy who married your niece?"
"I don"t care what you say, I won"t tell him. What have you got?"
"Not much. Guy didn"t seem to have any friends. Got an aging mother in Iowa somewhere, deciding if we should ship the body back to her. As far as the town goes, he"s been here two years. Came here from Danbury, where he also worked in a bank. Transferred in as an opportunity for advancement, accepted a promotion. His co-workers express the usual shock and awe, but you get the impression none of the tellers liked him very much. Of course, he had two strikes against him, transferring in over their heads. Still, you"d hardly expect them to take him out."
"You"re being awfully flippant about this, Chief. Why is that? Is it because you happen to know who did it?"
"No, it"s because I have absolutely no idea. Dan Finley processed the crime scene for fingerprints, couldn"t find a d.a.m.n one. Not even the victim"s. The gun had been taken. There was nothing at the crime scene except that puzzle, and yes, you can get fingerprints from paper, and no, there weren"t any. The only thing we got is the puzzle."
"Then why aren"t you banging down my door to solve it?"
"I figure you need your sleep. You were up all night."
"So were you."
"Yeah, but that"s my job. I gotta stay up when there"s nothing to do. I gotta speak to the media when there"s nothing to say. I gotta put a good spin on everything when there"s nothing to spin. I"ve already had a call from Channel Eight. They"d like an interview as soon as possible."
"What are you going to tell them?"
"I thought I"d lead off with the fact the guy"s dead. You always like to get the main idea across."
"Chief."
"I got nothing, Cora. I don"t know where to begin."
Cora took a breath. "The guy was in court yesterday."
"Testifying against you."
"Right. But since I didn"t kill him, how about trying another angle? He testified for my rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d ex Melvin. That should put him near the top of the heap."
"He testified for Melvin."
"Yeah, but suppose he was going to back out?"
"Back out on what? The fact you cashed the check?"
"We don"t know the facts, Chief."
"Never mind the facts. We don"t even have a conjecture. You want to suggest any way I could tell the media your ex-husband"s involved?"
"How about his lawyer? I wouldn"t trust that guy any further than I can throw him."
"One problem. What"s the motive?"
"You don"t have a motive. It"s early in the investigation. You"re running down leads."
"That"s not leads. That"s wishful thinking."
"You"re not tracing the gun?"
"No. At least we know what type we"re looking for. It"s a .45-caliber slug the doc took out of his brain." Harper c.o.c.ked his head. "So. Wanna solve the KenKen?"
"Thought you"d never ask."
Cora whipped through the puzzle. She looked at the second line of the solution. It meant absolutely nothing to her. She tried to keep the relief out of her voice, said casually, "Can I have a copy?"
"Why?"
"Because it doesn"t mean anything to me now. Maybe something will come to mind."
"You think it will?"
"Frankly, no. But I"d feel like a d.a.m.n fool if something occurred to me later tonight and I didn"t have a copy to check."
"Dan!"
Dan Finley stuck his head in the door. "Yeah, Chief."
"Run Cora off a copy, will you?"
"It mean anything?"
"No."
"Then why do you want one?"
"So I don"t have to keep explaining why I don"t have one," Cora said in exasperation.
"Come on, Dan, don"t give Cora a hard time."
"Sorry. I"ve had Rick Reed on the phone four times this morning, looking for a lead. You gonna give him an interview?"
"I have to, but I got nothing to say."
"Don"t worry," Cora said. "It"s Rick. Smile, say "alleged," tell him you can"t confirm. The interview will be over before he figures out what."
"Very funny. That"s not going to work."
"Okay, try this. Pick Melvin up, ask him if he was hiding in the back of the courtroom listening to the testimony."
"Was he?"
"He sure was."
"Well, so what?"
Cora smiled. "That"s the alleged thing you can"t confirm. The fact that Melvin was spying on the guy"s court testimony the same day he was killed. You have absolutely no comment."
"Why would Rick Reed think to ask me that?"
"Pick Melvin up and ask him."
CHAPTER.
24.
Melvin was surprised to find the police chief knocking on his door. "You looking for me?"
"That"s right."
"What about?"
"Were you in court yesterday?"
"Why?"
Harper frowned. "These questions are preliminary and will go a lot faster if you cooperate. Let me help you out. You"re suing your ex-wife to reduce your alimony. Your lawyer was in court, you weren"t with him, but I have reason to believe you were watching from the back. Does that jog your memory?"
"Once again, I would like to know why."
"A witness at that hearing was killed last night. We"re investigating a homicide, and I would appreciate some cooperation."
Melvin"s face remained neutral; he was a good poker player, giving nothing away. "A witness, you say?"
"That"s right. The banker."
"I see."
"That doesn"t bother you?"
"I didn"t know the man."
"Won"t his death affect your court case?"
"I fail to see why. There"s nothing he testified to that can"t be corroborated by other sources."
"Then you were in court yesterday?"