by Parnell Hall
“They were meant for me.”
“How do you know?”
Cora frowned. “Wait a minute. What are you saying?”
“Maybe you just happened to be along.”
“Oh, give me a break.”
“Take this as a premise: He left puzzles for the cops. You walk in on the first crime, scare the killer away. The killer tails you to see what your angle is. He follows you home, gets your address, your license plate, traces ’em, finds out who you are.”
“He knew that already.”
“That’s one theory. We’re working on the theory he didn’t. What happens next? He sends a puzzle to me—not you, me—because I’m the cop in charge. He sends me a puzzle, tails me when I leave work. Sends me a puzzle in the restaurant.”
“Then why is the message in the locker not a puzzle?”
“I can’t solve ’em. Last puzzle he gave me I took forever to get it solved. He’s tired, he doesn’t want to wait around. He says, screw it, I’ll just send him the message.”
She shook her head. “No good.”
“Why not?”
“He had to put the message in the locker before he sent you the puzzle. The one you took so long to solve. The puzzle gives you the number of the locker.”
“Actually, the sudoku gives me the number of the locker.”
“Huh?”
“He gives me the puzzle first, sending me to a locker. Any locker. Then he figures out what message he wants to send me. He makes up the message, puts it in the locker, then creates a sudoku that gives me the number and combination of that locker.”
Cora blinked.
“Couldn’t he do that?” Crowley said.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t you create sudoku? Or does someone do that for you, too?”
“I create my own sudoku. I just never created one to yield three particular numbers in a column.”
“Could it be done?”
“It probably could. I just never tried.”
“There you are.”
“Still doesn’t fly,” Cora said.
“Why not?”
“He put the message in the locker because you can’t solve puzzles. But he still sent you a sudoku.”
“Some people can do number puzzles but not word puzzles.”
“You say he found out you can’t do crosswords by following you and observing you. By the time he observed that, he’s already put the message in the locker.”
“Suppose he put another puzzle in the locker,” Crowley said. “While I’m running around trying to solve the puzzle, he realizes I’m going to take forever, so he runs up to Penn Station, takes the puzzle out of the locker, and replaces it with a simple message.”
“Oh, my God!” Cora said.
“What?”
“Your mind is more convoluted than mine.”
“I take it as a compliment.”
“You take it any way you like. It doesn’t mean I happen to agree with your logic. It makes a lot more sense he was following me. He sees you present me with the puzzle in the restaurant. When I don’t solve it, he says, ‘Oh, my God, she can’t do it,’ and he rushes up to Penn Station and swaps out a simple message.”
“But he’s still counting on you to solve the sudoku?”
“It’s your example. If it works for you, it works for me.”
“Maybe,” Crowley said. “On the other hand.”
“What other hand?”
“How many people are there that know you can’t do crosswords but can do sudoku?”
“Oh, come on.”
“There’s a few, aren’t there?”
“Yes, but they’re not suspects,” Cora said irritably. “That makes even less sense than the other thing you said.”
“Why?”
“If they already know that, why do they leave the puzzle to begin with?”
“To let you know it’s for you. They know you’ll get it solved somehow. When it takes forever, they get impatient and don’t want to wait.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Even so. Who knows you can’t do puzzles and can do sudoku?”
“My niece and her husband know I can’t make up or solve the puzzles but I make up sudoku. My attorney and the crossword expert in Bakerhaven know I can’t solve puzzles, but think I construct them.”
“Anyone else?”
“My niece’s ex-husband knows the whole schmear. But he hasn’t been around in ages.”
“That doesn’t wipe him out.”
“He’s not a killer. He’s evil enough, but he doesn’t have the nerve.”
“Could he make up the puzzles?”
“I don’t know about sudoku.”
“But he could do the crosswords?”
“He’s not worth considering.”
“But he could do it?”
“This is a very bad tangent, Sergeant,” Cora said. She peeked under the sheet. “I think I’ll have to distract you.”
He tousled her hair. Smiled. “Distract away.”
Chapter
26
Sherry’s eyes snapped open in the middle of the night. Aaron was snoring loudly. There was no sound over the baby monitor, so Jennifer was sleeping. There was no other sound.
Sherry’s eyes flicked around the room. The digital clock said 3:30. The little moonlight peeking through the edge of the curtains was enough to assure her there was no one in the room. And yet something had woken her up.
Sherry swung her legs over the side of the bed, padded barefoot to the door. She opened it, peered down the hall. It was dark except for the night-light in front of Jennifer’s room. The door was ajar, just the way she’d left it. Everything was fine. Still Sherry tiptoed down the hall, pushed Jennifer’s door open, and peered in.
The baby stirred, gurgled, turned over.
Sherry stepped back into the hallway and closed the door, leaving it ajar as before.
Had she dreamed she heard something and woken up? Could dreams do that? Or was she just jumpy because of Cora? Cora wasn’t even here. Could Cora have come home? Not at three thirty in the morning. Not if she was under police protection. Even if she was released from police protection, they wouldn’t let her drive home.
Sherry went to the window, peered out. Couldn’t see Cora’s car. Unless it was in the shadows, behind Aaron’s, where it couldn’t be seen. But why would she park there?
Had she locked the door? The doors to the addition were locked, but what about the door to the main house? Had Cora left it open when she left?
No, what was she thinking of? Becky had been over. And Chief Harper. They’d come in that door. She was the last one in the main house. She’d locked it when she left. Hadn’t she? Or had she? Had the news that the killer was in the city made her careless?
Things were coming fast. Things that didn’t make sense.
Sherry felt an apprehension she hadn’t had since her ex-husband, Dennis, was plaguing her. But he was over that now, happily reconciled with his long-suffering wife, Brenda, and thinking of settling down and raising a family. Even that made Sherry uneasy. She couldn’t shake the nagging doubt he was doing it only because she had, in a fierce competition to show that he, too, could move on, find roots, offer stability.
Sherry shook her head to clear it. Good God, she thought angrily. It wasn’t fair that Cora’s shenanigans could get her in this mindset.
Was Cora really to blame for someone following her? Well, probably. Cora ruffled feathers in one way or another. People always wanted to take her down a peg. A problem, now that she had a family, a baby, something to protect.
Sherry knew rationally that didn’t really happen. This was just a delayed reaction to the scare she’d had shortly after Jennifer was born, when a psychopath had seen fit to punish Cora by punishing her. Not the sort of thing that happened in the normal course of events. In any course of events. Traumatic, yes, but as the counselors had said, it was important to move past that, see it for what it
was, put it in perspective. The image never leaves you, but it doesn’t mean that you are likely to be consumed by fire.
Sherry went to the front door. It appeared locked, but unfortunately it was one of those locks that from the inside you couldn’t tell. From the inside the knob turned and the door opened whether the door was locked or not. The only way to tell was to open the door and twist the knob from the outside.
Sherry didn’t like doing that. It wasn’t like in the city, where you could look out a peephole at the person on the stoop. Country doors were solid. Sherry looked out the front window. There was no one on the half of the stoop she could see. That was the problem with the window. It gave you a clear view of anyone to the right of the door, but anyone to the left …
Sherry shook her head again angrily. There was no one there. All she had to do was make sure the door was locked so she could go back to sleep. No big deal.
Sherry twisted the knob, pulled the door open. There was no one there. She exhaled, realized she’d been holding her breath. She almost didn’t want to try the outside knob. If it was unlocked, she’d never get back to sleep. She’d keep hearing things. She’d probably search the house.
Sherry took another deep breath. Reached out, twisted the knob.
It was locked.
Of course, he could have locked it on his way out.
Stop it! It’s locked, it’s nothing, go back to sleep.
Sherry was about to close the door when something caught her eye. There was something on the door. Small, rectangular, white. She stepped out on the stoop and looked.
It was an envelope. Taped to the door with masking tape.
Sherry reached up and pulled it down. The masking tape came away easily, was clearly fresh. Of course, it had to be, since it wasn’t there when Becky and the chief had come in.
Clutching the envelope, Sherry stepped back inside, slammed the door. Her heart racing, she looked to see what was in the envelope, dreading what it might be. She reached in, pulled it out.
It was a crossword puzzle.
Chapter
27
Cora got home to find Jennifer chasing Buddy around the living room rug.
“So that’s why he didn’t come greet me. Looks like Buddy’s found a friend.”
Sherry looked up from the couch. “If I buy you a cell phone, will you carry it?”
“Hello, how are you, good to see you, too.”
“Seriously, Cora. No one can get in touch with you.”
“I called in last night.”
“You didn’t call in this morning.”
“I didn’t know I had to, Mommy. Don’t be mad.”
“Call Chief Harper.”
“Why?”
Sherry handed Cora the crossword puzzle.
“What’s this?”
“That’s what Chief Harper wants to know.”
“Sherry.”
“I found it last night. Three in the morning. Taped to our front door.”
“What?”
“I’d have called and told you, but of course, no one can.”
“The killer was here last night?”
“Apparently.”
“You’re not worried?”
“I’m worried. Life goes on.”
“Why aren’t the police here?”
“They were. They got tired of waiting.”
“I mean protecting you.”
“It isn’t me he’s after.”
“How do you know?”
“Here.” Sherry handed Cora a copy of the solved puzzle.
“You solved it?”
“Of course not. The chief doesn’t know I can do it. He had Harvey Beerbaum solve it and brought me a copy.”
Cora looked at the puzzle.
“See? It ain’t me, babe. You’re the golden girl.”
Cora winced. “Just for future reference, that is a rather insensitive appellation.” She skimmed though the puzzle.
Not at home
Are you shy?
If you run
People die.
“See. It’s clearly about you.”
“Yes.” Cora frowned.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“You hesitated.”
“I was thinking.”
“What were you thinking?”
“I don’t know.”
“How can you not know?”
“I didn’t expect to be cross-examined. I’m sure I was thinking something, but your question drove it right out of my mind.”
“You were thinking maybe it was Dennis.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“I said it was you. You agreed. Then had a second thought. He was it. It’s one of the first things I thought of. It’s an instinctive reaction after all I’ve been through. Dennis has moved on. I believe it. Chief Harper believes it. Otherwise, he’d be here. This is for you. This is the killer talking about you running away from home, not Dennis talking about me running away from him.”
Cora sat down, looked over the puzzle. “No other clues?”
“Not that I can see. Of course, you’re the expert.”
“Funny to hear you say that.”
“You know what I mean. If you have any brilliant though slightly illogical deductions to make, pray do.”
“It’s nice to find out how you really think of me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sherry said. “Any ideas?”
They were interrupted by Jennifer laughing hysterically. Buddy was licking her face.
“I think you’ve got a new babysitter,” Cora said.
“Now that’s true love,” Sherry said.
“Or she’s got strained chicken on her face.”
“Jennifer doesn’t eat strained chicken.”
“Strained whatever. She’s a sloppier eater than I am. No, I have no ideas, ridiculous or otherwise. As far as I’m concerned, none of this makes sense, and I wish it would go away. But what are the odds of that happening?”
“Well, you better call Chief Harper. He’s having a nervous breakdown.”
“In front of you?”
“Of course not. He was a prim and proper policeman. But the way he was holding himself together, I got the impression if he doesn’t hear from you, he might explode.”
“Becky isn’t trying to reach me?”
“Actually, she is. But Chief Harper implied if I didn’t get you to call him first, I might suddenly find out I had violated several local ordinances in building the addition on the house, and it would have to be torn down.”
“That’s one hell of an implication.”
“The interpretation is mine. The idea was clear.”
“Relax. I’ll go see them.”
“Harper first?”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter
28
Becky Baldwin shook her head. “That’s incredible.”
“No kidding.”
“Chief Harper doesn’t know about this?”
“He knows about the puzzle Sherry got.”
“But the puzzle that New York cop got? Penn Station?”
“I’m gonna tell him now.”
“He’s not going to take it well.”
“Yeah, but there’s nothing he can arrest me for. Anyway, I’ve got a lawyer.”
“This is incredible. The killer was in New York and Bakerhaven last night?”
“Yeah. He’s got a car.”
“But you weren’t home when he hung the envelope on your door.”
“No. He said as much in the crossword puzzle.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I was under police protection. He didn’t like that.”
“How were you under police protection? They didn’t put you in jail, did they?”
“Nothing like that.”
“Well, where were you?”
“In a safe house with an armed guard. Perfectly comfortable, nothing to complain about. Believe me, if there were, I would have you make a sti
nk. I’m not going to put up with any nonsense.”
“You didn’t mind being under police protection?”
“This guy’s weird, I was tired. I didn’t feel like driving home in the dark.”
“I don’t get it,” Becky said. “What’s this guy’s game?”
“When I surprised him in the bedroom, maybe he thought I saw him well enough to identify him.”
Becky shook her head again. “He’d already left a puzzle for you on the body.”
“If it was for me,” Cora said. “Maybe it was for the cop. He sent the other puzzle to him.”
“How about the puzzle taped to your door? Was that for the cop, too?”
“That was after I started messing in the case.”
Becky sighed. “Why couldn’t you have told me this when you called last night?”
“Chief Harper was there. I’d have had to tell him, too.”
“You didn’t want to tell him?”
“You’re my lawyer. I wanted to tell you first.”
“You thought you might need legal protection?”
“I don’t know what I thought. Things were coming thick and fast. It was pretty damn confusing.” Cora pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse.
Becky pointed a finger. “If you smoke in here, I’ll explode.”
Becky didn’t explode. The office door did. Chief Harper came through it like a demon from hell about to rip the soul out of an unfortunate sinner.
“I don’t believe it!” Harper said. “I don’t believe it! I specifically told Sherry to send you to me first!”
“She did, Chief. I needed to consult my attorney.”
“You’re going to need to consult your doctor,” Harper said. “Have you told her about your New York escapades?”
“Whatever do you mean, Chief?”
“I just had a phone call. From the NYPD. Says he was sent a crossword puzzle which he presented to you, and the two of you used it, along with a sudoku sent to you in a coffee shop, for God’s sake, to open a locker in Pennsylvania Station, where you received a message from the killer.”
“I think your assumption that the message sender is the killer has not been legally established.”
“Don’t horse around. This is not a joke. I’ve got a murder on my hands. The New York police have one on theirs. It would appear they are connected.”