NYPD Puzzle

by Parnell Hall

  Cora closed Crossword Compiler, checked her e-mail. All spam. She wondered if Sergeant Crowley had e-mail. Maybe at the station. She hadn’t seen a computer in his apartment. Of course, she hadn’t been looking.

  She shut down the computer, switched off the light, and took the crossword puzzle to her bedroom. She’d thrown her nightgown over the back of the chair. She didn’t feel like sleeping in a nightgown. She felt like sleeping in panties and a shirt. Actually, she felt like sleeping in a man’s shirt, but no matter. She changed into a baggy T-shirt and got in bed.

  Alone. With no television. Oh, it was the wrong time for Sherry to have left Crossword Compiler open.

  Cora picked up the crossword from her night table and looked at it with righteous indignation.

  Her face froze.

  Clue 17 Across was: Message from the killer.

  Chapter

  34

  Cora burst through the door.

  Sherry and Aaron were snuggled in bed watching a TV show. Startled, Sherry sprang up to a sitting position. “Cora!”

  “Oh, thank God!” Cora wheezed. She was huffing and puffing and trying to catch her breath after sprinting up the stairs.

  “Are you crazy?” Sherry said. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She spotted the paper in Cora’s hand. “Is that a crossword puzzle?” she said accusingly.

  Cora looked, realized she was still holding it. “Yeah,” she gasped.

  “Well, if you think I’m solving it now, you’re dreaming.”

  Cora waved her hands. “No, no, no.” She felt dizzy from hyperventilating and sank indecorously to the floor, her T-shirt pulled up to her waist.

  “Cora!” Sherry sprang out of bed to help, noticed her attire. “You’re not dressed.”

  “I’m wearing the same thing you are.”

  Sherry, who was indeed wearing a T-shirt and panties, looked at her aunt in exasperation. “I’m married.”

  “Nice, nice, throw it in my face,” Cora muttered.

  “Are you all right?” Aaron said. He was wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt, his usual nighttime garb, but no one seemed to care.

  Cora waved it away. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I just ran up the stairs. I was scared to death.”

  “Why?” Sherry said.

  Cora’s eyes widened. “Oh, no!”

  She sprang up and ran out the door. Sherry and Aaron were right on her heels.

  With a growing sense of dread, Cora lunged down the hall, flung open the door to the baby’s room.

  Jennifer was lying on her belly with her bottom in the air. She seemed fine, but Cora hurried over to the crib, peered closer. She couldn’t tell a thing. The baby lay absolutely still.

  Cora reached out her finger and poked her.

  “Cora!” Sherry gasped.

  Jennifer stirred, contracted, stretched, lay still again.

  Sherry grabbed Cora’s arm and dragged her toward the door. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “The killer was in the house.”

  “What?”

  Back in the bedroom, Cora gave Sherry and Aaron a rundown of the situation.

  “The police station was broken into?” Aaron said.

  “Right, right, that’s the important thing,” Sherry said.

  “He’s a newspaper reporter,” Cora said. “Which reminds me, the chief doesn’t want it given out.”

  “What?” Aaron said.

  “Never mind the police station,” Sherry said impatiently. “The killer was in the house? Where the hell was Buddy?”

  “Unfortunately, he can be bought off with a couple of puppy treats.”

  “Who would know that?” Aaron said.

  “Good point. I don’t know the answer, but it’s certainly a good question.”

  “I don’t believe this,” Sherry said. “While you were gone to the police station, the killer came in, used the computer, created a crossword puzzle?”

  “I know,” Cora said. “It boggles the mind. But it happened.” She frowned. “Would he have time to do it? It’s not like I was gone that long. I mean, sitting there, with the added pressure of not knowing when I was coming home. Could it be done?”

  “I don’t know. How long were you gone?”

  “Under an hour. Could he do it in that time?”

  “Not unless he had nerves of steel. But he didn’t have to do it that way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He could have constructed it in advance, on another computer. All he had to do was come in here with a memory stick, plug it into your computer, download the puzzle into Crossword Compiler, and call it up on the screen.”

  “Damn.”

  “What do you mean, ‘damn’?”

  “If it could be that easily done, it probably was.”

  “As opposed to what?” Sherry said. “It’s there. I didn’t put it there and you sure as hell didn’t put it there, so someone put it there, no matter how hard it was.”

  Cora put up her hands. “I know, I know, that was a stupid thing to say. It’s just the more plausible this is, the more it freaks me out. So, someone came in here just to put a crossword puzzle on the computer.” Her eyes widened. “Do you suppose he broke into the police station to get me out of here so he could do it?”

  “That’s convoluted as all hell.”

  “What’s your point?” Cora sighed. “Well, I guess we better call Chief Harper.”

  “I called Chief Harper,” Aaron said.

  “You did?”

  “Damn right I did. Just as soon as you said the killer was in the house. He’ll be right over.”

  “Oh, my God!” Cora said.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Sherry, you’ve gotta solve the crossword puzzle before he gets here. Otherwise, he’ll want me to do it.”

  “Give it here,” Sherry said. She snatched up a pencil and a magazine to write on, sat on the bed to work on the puzzle. She was still working when headlights came up the driveway.

  “Hurry up!” Cora said.

  “Thanks for the advice,” Sherry muttered. “And … there!” She handed it to Cora. “Here. Better take a look so you’re at least familiar with it.”

  Cora snatched it up and read the killer’s message.

  I act while

  You snooze

  I’m a winner

  So you lose.

  Chapter

  35

  “What do you think it means?” Harper said.

  “I have no idea what it means,” Cora said. “Except the killer is taunting me. Which is not a new revelation.”

  They were all gathered in the living room in Cora’s end of the house so as not to disturb Jennifer. Aaron had the baby monitor in his pocket. He had pulled on his trousers. Sherry was in her robe. Cora had slipped into her Wicked Witch of the West costume, the favorite old tattered frock she wore around the house.

  “Yeah, but now he’s getting more specific. Saying you can’t win. Like this was a game.”

  “It’s always been a game,” Cora said. “That’s the problem. We started out treating it seriously. Why is the town hall broken into? It amuses him. Why is the police station broken into? It amuses him.”

  “What’s this about the police station being broken into?” Aaron said.

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake!”

  “Hey, if the police station was broken into, you want me handling it in a serious article, or you want Rick Reed treating it as a joke?”

  Harper took a breath. “The police station was broken into. We believe it has something to do with the break-in at town hall and the murder of the town clerk.”

  “What leads you to believe that?”

  “As if she hasn’t already told you.”

  “All I said was that’s where I was while the killer was here planting the puzzle.”

  “You also speculated on whether the break-in at the police station was just to lure you out of the house,” Aaron said.

  “Is that what you think?”
Harper said to Cora.

  “It’s possible, but I don’t think so. I think he broke into the police station because he wanted to break into the police station.”

  “What makes you think that?” Aaron said.

  “Hang on a minute here.” Harper waggled a finger at Aaron. “You are not conducting an interview in my presence as if I gave it my tacit approval. Any views Cora expresses are entirely her own, and I don’t want to be quoted on them.”

  “Unless they turn out to be right,” Cora muttered.

  Harper gave her a look.

  “I would say this,” Cora said. “And this is my opinion not the chief’s and he may totally not agree with me. The killer may not have robbed the police station to get me out of my house, but he knew that would be the result. Because he came here and planted the crossword puzzle. And he wouldn’t have had that in mind unless he thought it was a likely consequence of his action.”

  Aaron nodded. “That sounds good. You want to second that, Chief?”

  “Keep me out of it.”

  “You’re the chief of police.”

  “You wanna question me as the chief of police, fine. Don’t ask me to be her cheerleader.”

  “That wasn’t my intention.”

  Headlights flickered up the driveway.

  “Someone’s coming,” Sherry said.

  “Probably just Dan Finley,” Aaron said.

  Harper shook his head. “It better not be. I told him to hold down the station.”

  “Then who is it?” Sherry said. Her voice sounded strained.

  Cora snatched up her purse from the coffee table and pulled out her gun.

  “Cora!” Harper said.

  “If it’s Dan, I won’t shoot him.” Cora flung open the door.

  A car pulled up and Sergeant Crowley got out.

  “Son of a bitch!” Cora said. “What are you doing here?”

  Crowley came striding up the path. “Are you kidding me? The killer was in your house.” He pushed by Cora in the door. “Well, well, the gang’s all here. You must be the niece. And you must be that reporter she married.”

  “I’m Sherry Carter. This is Aaron Grant.”

  “And this is my arresting officer,” Cora said. She turned on Chief Harper accusingly. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  “I called him. The killer broke into your house and I’m not going to call him?”

  “You also tell him he broke into the police station?”

  “What?” Crowley said.

  “Let’s not get sidetracked. The killer broke into the police station, possibly as a ruse to get her out of the house to plant the crossword puzzle on her computer.”

  Crowley turned to Cora. “What crossword puzzle?”

  “Another slap in the face, telling me I’m too stupid to solve the crime.”

  “That’s nothing new.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  “Where’s the puzzle?”

  Cora scooped it up from the coffee table. “Here.”

  “You handled it?”

  “It’s a computer printout. The killer never touched it.”

  “But he printed it out?”

  “I printed it out. On a blank piece of paper,” Cora said impatiently.

  If Crowley was impressed, he didn’t show it. He looked at it, looked back at Cora. “You printed this out?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And it was on your computer?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You expect me to believe someone came in here and created it on your computer while you were at the police station?”

  “Hang on a minute,” Chief Harper said. “Are you implying she could have done it herself?”

  “Oh, don’t be a horse’s ass!” Cora said.

  No one was surprised that she said it. They were surprised that she said it to Chief Harper. He took a step back, looked shocked.

  Cora flushed, embarrassed at having automatically defended Crowley. “He doesn’t suspect me of doing that any more than you do, Chief. He’s just a New York cop, and that’s how they talk.”

  Crowley put up his hands. “Please, don’t let me give offense. Then she’ll clam up and call in that lady lawyer and we won’t get anywhere. So, you got two break-ins and a homicide. What makes you think it’s my killer?”

  “The crossword puzzle.”

  “Of course,” Crowley said. He sighed. “You got any coffee?”

  “I didn’t know I was entertaining,” Cora said. She curtsied. “You probably couldn’t tell from my ball gown.”

  “I’ll make some,” Sherry said. “You got that baby monitor turned on?”

  Aaron pulled it out of his pocket. They could hear the crackle from the microphone. Satisfied, Sherry went into the kitchen.

  Crowley turned to Chief Harper. “The way I understand it, you got her here because you don’t have the manpower to guard her and she’s got a gun.” Before the chief could retort, Crowley said, “Where the hell’d she get a gun, anyway? You give it to her?”

  “It’s my gun,” Cora said impatiently. “You think I got only one gun? Then every time I got arrested for murder, I’d be unarmed.”

  Crowley’s eyes never left the chief. “You knew she had a gun?”

  Harper stuck out his chest. “She has every right to have a gun, Sergeant. Just because you arrested her doesn’t mean she’s guilty.”

  “Just because a pyromaniac hasn’t been convicted of arson doesn’t mean you give him matches.”

  “Boys, boys,” Cora said. “A little less macho posturing would be nice. How about we concentrate on catching this killer?”

  “Unless you think you already have her,” Harper said.

  Crowley wasn’t backing down on any point. “I’m not ruling it out.”

  “Of course not. You wanna tell me why? Can you come up with any reason whatsoever? She has no conceivable motive. She’d have to be insane.”

  “And that’s a deal breaker?”

  “Hey!” Cora said. “I’m right here.”

  “The point is,” Crowley said, “suspect or not, she’s in danger. You believe it. I believe it.” He turned to Cora. “You got a spare bedroom?”

  Cora did her best to keep her voice neutral. She gestured to Sherry, who had just come in from the kitchen with a tray of coffee. “There’s Sherry and Aaron’s room. They moved upstairs.”

  “Fine. I don’t feel like driving back to the city anyway. Let’s sit down, have some coffee, see if we can make some sense out of this mess.”

  Chapter

  36

  “Crowley slept over.”

  Becky looked up from her desk. “Huh?”

  Cora flopped down in the client’s chair and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse. “He and Chief Harper had a fight over me. It was very flattering.”

  Cora lit a cigarette. Becky was too astonished to protest.

  “The killer was in your house?”

  “The killer was in my house. No big deal. I wasn’t there. The killer knew I wouldn’t be there. He just wanted to leave a crossword puzzle on my computer.”

  “Not knowing you couldn’t solve it.”

  “I have no idea what this killer knows and doesn’t know.”

  “You coming back to Dennis?”

  Cora waved her hand impatiently. “No. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t know who it is. I know who it isn’t.”

  “So, Crowley stayed over. Does Sherry know?”

  “She made him coffee.”

  “In the morning?”

  “No. Last night. When the boys were fighting over me.”

  Becky rubbed her forehead. “Please. I had one too many drinks at the Country Kitchen. You wanna fill me in?”

  Cora described the events at her house.

  “So. Sergeant Crowley stayed in Sherry and Aaron’s room?”

  “Well, I had him mess up the sheets so it looks like he did.”

  “Cora.”

  “Relax. We’re both grown-ups and we bo
th have guns. We’re perfectly safe.”

  “And we’re no closer to solving this crime.”

  “In a way we are.”

  “What way would that be?”

  “Killer’s getting bolder. Breaks into the police station as soon as Dan Finley leaves. Breaks into my house as soon as I leave. With Sherry and Aaron there. And with Buddy there. All he had to do was bark and alert them. And he didn’t.”

  “Isn’t there a story like that? The dog that didn’t bark?”

  “Yup. Sherlock Holmes. I’m not sure if Buddy’s read it.”

  “Seriously.”

  “In Buddy’s case, he’ll shut up if you throw a puppy biscuit on the floor. That’s all the killer had to do. He just had to know to do it.”

  Becky considered that. “You think it’s someone local?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because of the New York angle.”

  “Well, it’s someone local to somewhere. It could be here, it could be New York. It could be both.”

  “How could it be both?”

  “A lot of people have country houses. Or move. I did. I’m local to here and New York. New York is my old stomping ground. I still consider myself a New Yorker.”

  “Yeah, but he must not live in Bakerhaven.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He broke into town hall. A local wouldn’t have to do that. He could walk right in.”

  “Not if he wanted something they wouldn’t give out.”

  “Like what?”

  “I have no idea. If I did, we’d know what it was.”

  “There must be some way to find out.”

  “How? The only person who’d know is dead.”

  “And that’s undoubtedly why she is. So, what did the town clerk know that the killer didn’t? And why would finding it out seal her doom?”

  “‘Seal her doom’? Boy, that’s melodramatic.”

  “You prefer ‘cause her to be killed’?”

  “I don’t prefer anything.”

  Becky got up and went into the little bathroom half-hidden behind her file cabinet. She emerged a minute later with a bottle of Advil and a glass of water. She shook three pills out into her hand.

  “Isn’t that more than you need?”

  “Right. Like I’m going to OD on ibuprofen.”