A Puzzle to Be Named Later--A Puzzle Lady Mystery
Page 21
“When you moved here it did two things. It told her Amanda Hoyt was really important, and it gave her a chance to find out why. She broke into Amanda Hoyt’s office and stole her memory card. It told her nothing. The woman wasn’t so indiscreet as to leave electronic files lying around. Her patient files were under lock and key.
“Jackie wasn’t about to risk breaking into the house again. She wanted someone else to do it. So she made up a crossword saying, ‘Check his files,’ and slipped it to me at the fairgrounds, hoping I’d solve it, and break into the house. I’m not saying I did, but the hard files were broken into the night of the fireworks, and Amanda Hoyt suspected why. She gave Chief Harper a file folder to fingerprint, and there’s every indication that file folder was yours.
“As for the other crossword. The police theory of the case. That Leon Bratz composed a crossword puzzle saying ‘check his brakes.’ Indicating the foul play caused your accident. That someone sabotaged your brakes so you would go off the road.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. Leon Bratz didn’t create the crossword, and no one sabotaged your brakes. Jackie made up the crossword because she wanted me to check into your accident. Hoping I would share it with her and ultimately with you. No one sabotaged your brakes. You drove into a large tree. Jackie suspected that, and that’s what she wanted me to find.
“Jackie had the puzzle with her at the party to give to me. When she walked into the sauna and discovered the body of Leon Bratz, she made a snap decision: let the puzzle be his. Otherwise it would be lost in the shuffle. Who could possibly care about a crossword puzzle with a murder investigation in full gear? Unless, of course, the puzzle was part of the investigation.
“So she stuck it in the stove. It was a bad move on her part. She wanted me to examine the car and find out nothing was wrong. Because that was the secret of your car accident. Not that anything caused the crash. The fact that nothing had.
“For Lenny, the puzzle was the last straw. Lenny was the little Dutch boy with his fingers in the holes in the dyke. He’s already killed to cover things up, but here’s a crossword telling people to poke into your accident. He does the only thing he can think of to divert suspicion away from the thing he fears most.
“He cuts the brake hoses on your car, gets into it, and drives it off the road. It doesn’t have to be an accident, the car doesn’t have to be damaged at all. It just has to go off the road so he can report stepping down on the brakes and nothing happening. The mechanic will check it out and see that the brakes are cut, people will think the crossword was referring to that.
“None of this is coming out. Lenny’s taking the hit to make sure that it doesn’t. And you and Jackie are disappointing Judy Douglas Knauer and giving up the house and moving out of town. And then, if your arm can mend, you can go back to pitching for the Yanks.
“You see why the confession’s important? I know you’d like to have Becky Baldwin mount a ringing defense and save Lenny from the clutches of the law. That is not to be. For any number of reasons. Least of all, he actually did it. But it’s not to be because it solves no one’s problems. Least of all, Lenny’s.
“Lenny needs you to be a success. It’s the only chance for him to be a success. You’re his only athlete. You’re his bread and butter. More than anything else, he wants you to go back to pitching. Without the impediment of Leon Bratz. Lenny’s paved the way for you to do that.
“I don’t believe he was thinking like that when he struck Leon Bratz down. At the time he was just protecting you from him. But once the deed was done, there was suddenly so much more to protect you from.
“Who could have spilled the beans? Who knew of your obsession with Leon Bratz? Amanda Hoyt, of course. She had doctor-patient confidentiality, but people were trying to get into her files. And in a murder investigation, how far did doctor-patient confidentiality go? From Lenny’s point of view, just the admission that you were seeing a therapist could be bad. If news of the relationship got out, including God knows what you might have told her about Leon Bratz—well, Amanda Hoyt had to go. And having killed once, the second time was easier.
“And that’s why he killed her. Not because she saw him murder Leon Bratz.
“So, much as you want to protect Lenny, there’s a limit as to what can be done. He’s made his move by confessing. You can help him most by not making waves, and accepting the solution that he’s put forth.
“Trust me, Becky will go to bat. The man will get the sweetest plea bargain that ever came down the pike. One that allows him to continue as your agent, even from in jail. And that is the supportive move that affirms more than any other your faith in Lenny Schick. You stand by him, keep him on as your agent, in spite of everything.”
Matt looked up at Cora with pleading eyes. “So tell me. What do I do?”
Jackie Greystone came in the door. “Talk to your wife. I already have. She knows what has to be done. She’ll stand by you, Don will stand by you, the Yankee organization will stand by you. And you move away to someplace nobody bothers you and you can actually rehab.”
Cora smiled. “Then maybe the Yanks can win the damn pennant.”
Chapter
70
“Couldn’t we get closer?” Jennifer said.
“Closer?” Aaron said. “These are the best seats in the ballpark. You can’t get any closer than this.”
“That man is,” Jennifer said, pointing.
“That man is an umpire,” Sherry said.
“What’s an umpire?”
“He guards the first-base line,” Cora said, “and says whether a runner is safe or out and whether a ball is fair or foul.”
“I wanna do that,” Jennifer said.
The Yankees had expressed their appreciation of Cora Felton by giving her four field-level seats between first base and the dugout for a Sunday-afternoon game. Cora was in heaven, and not even Jennifer was going to throw a damper on it.
“Mommy,” Jennifer said. “Tell them I wanna be an umpire.”
“That’s Aunt Cora’s department,” Sherry said. “This is her party.”
“Auntie Cora?”
“You have to go to school to be an umpire. Do you want to go to school?”
“Pew-hugh!”
“Oh, now you’re souring her on school?”
“I’m not doing anything,” Cora said. “On the other hand, Jennifer is now going to think that all seats at the ballpark are this good. I have to tell you, for a girl brought up on the bleachers and the left-field upper tier, this is pretty damn classy.”
“Cora said ‘damn.’”
“I also said ‘classy.’”
“Is that a bad word?”
“Only if you take away some of the letters.”
“I can’t believe any of your husbands didn’t get you good Yankee tickets.”
“Some did. Some didn’t. I didn’t stay married to them long.”
“When is the game over?” Jennifer said.
“When the last man is out,” Aaron said.
“It ain’t over ’til it’s over,” Cora said.
“That’s dumb.”
“No, that’s Yogi.”
“What’s Yogi?”
“Yogi was a Yankee catcher. He said funny things.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, like déjà vu all over again.”
“What’s that mean?”
“No one’s quite sure.”
To a sudden roar the players ran out onto the field.
Jennifer sprang to her feet and cheered.
Cora beamed proudly.
Also by Parnell Hall
Presumed Puzzled
Puzzled Indemnity
NYPD Puzzle
Arsenic and Old Puzzles
$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles
The KenKen Killings
The Puzzle Lady vs. the Sudoku Lady
Dead Man’s Puzzle
The Sudoku Puzzle Murders
You Have the Right to
Remain Puzzled
Stalking the Puzzle Lady
And a Puzzle to Die On
With This Puzzle, I Thee Kill
A Puzzle in a Pear Tree
Puzzled to Death
Last Puzzle & Testament
A Clue for the Puzzle Lady
About the Author
Parnell Hall has been an actor, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. He is a former president of the Private Eye Writers of America and a member of Sisters in Crime. He has been a finalist for an Edgar, two Lefty, and three Shamus Awards. Hall lives in New York City.
Visit his Web site at www.ParnellHall.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
The MVPs
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Also by Parnell Hall
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
A PUZZLE TO BE NAMED LATER. Copyright © 2016 by Parnell Hall. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design and illustration by Young Jin Kim
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-06124-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-6688-1 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781466866881
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First Edition: January 2017