by Mary Clay
Penny Sue met us at the door and whispered, "Miller found a dildo in Alice's underwear drawer. It was a big one! Maybe she wasn't kidding around with Guthrie over the strip poker."
"Don't tell Guthrie!" I said. "He'd be so freaked out he'll never come down here again. Has the cop found anything else?"
"He found several packs of breath mint strips in Kevin's room and an old pack of my cigarettes in the master suite. I think he's almost finished once he goes through the boxes of books. He saved them until last."
We sauntered into the living room where Alice stood like a sentry. Buzz was going through the freezer as Frank started unloading the books.
"Please be careful," Kevin said to Frank. "Some of those books are very old and are one-of-a-kind. Would you like me to help you?"
"Not necessary," Frank responded. "That could be construed as contaminating evidence."
"Oh," Kevin said. "I was just thinking about handling the fragile books. Anyway, some of those books--particularly the boxes on top that are still sealed--were shipped down from Abby's apartment in New Jersey. I haven't even touched them."
"Miller," Frank called suddenly, as he lifted a small brown container from the bottom of a box. Frank dropped it in a clear plastic bag and showed it to his partner.
Miller checked his watch. "Mark it, two-thirty-three."
Frank wrote on the envelope and deposited the find in the large plastic bag.
"What is it? A pack of breath strips?" Alice asked.
"Can't say," Miller responded in an all-business tone.
Whatever it was, the find focused both men on the boxes. It was as if the deputies suddenly become jet-propelled.
"Hey," Kevin objected, "be careful. Those are valuable books!"
The admonishment slowed them down but didn't stop the frenzied search. They finally examined the last box, which had been sealed, and found nothing."
As Miller was about to toss the books haphazardly into the empty carton, Kevin stepped forward. "I'll do that if you don't mind." Miller shrugged and stepped aside.
"Well, I think we have all we need," Frank said with a forced smile. "Thank you for your cooperation."
"Wait, what did you find?" Alice demanded.
"Sorry ma'am, we're not at liberty to say."
Kevin stepped forward. "The box you found that container in came from the library. Ruthie and I started cataloguing the books but never got to that one."
"We really can't discuss it," Frank said. "Thanks again for your cooperation." And they left with their big plastic bags.
"What did they find?" Alice asked. We shook our heads. None of us had a clue.
Chapter 17
Woody swung by my condo on his way home from work. For once, he seemed like a friend stopping by instead of the enemy. He ditched his briefcase on the floor and took a stool at the counter. He glanced around, obviously looking for Ruthie. "She's next door with Kevin," I said, anticipating his question.
Penny Sue held up her glass of scotch--it had been a hard day. Woody closed his eyes, shook his head, but said, "light, on the rocks. No fruit." Penny Sue's version of light and everyone else's were two different things. To her, light means three fingers of liquor. Woody took a sip and his eyes bulged. "Boy, when I said light, I didn't mean light my fire! I'd better wait a few minutes for the ice to melt." For the first time since his apology for his demented mother's shenanigans, Woody acted like a real person and not a persecutor, as Penny Sue typically called him. "It's been one heck of a day," Woody said. "We identified the guy with the brown hair and pigtail. His name's Stuart Cobb, and he's a student at Deland University. He has a record of breaking and entering. Petty stuff. He never did any time, and most of it happened when he was a juvenile. But we have his prints from an adult arrest and are waiting to see if they match the handprint on your door from the first attempted robbery.
"Andy Marzano is another matter. He's been implicated in petty crimes over the years, but as you can imagine, his father always got him off. All of the crimes were juvenile and the records are sealed, so it will take some doing to get a fingerprint. If we petition his records, we'll have one hell of a fight on our hands from his father, Antonio. Rumor has it Antonio is thinking of running for the State House of Representatives in the next election." Woody took a small sip of his scotch. "I'm sure you understand that I don't want to get mixed up with Marzano unless we have a foolproof case. It would be one big can of worms, and he has lots of connections.
"Have you heard from Carl yet?" Woody continued. "My crime techs will schedule around him. It seems Carl's something of a legend, and everyone begged to be assigned to the case. I think a few of the women only want to meet him. Anyway, the sooner we can verify his methodology and findings, the better. That provides the ammunition to seek Andy's juvie records. I don't doubt Carl's pictures, and neither do any of the crime techs since he's such an icon, but we have to have an independent evaluation."
I was surprised I hadn't heard from Carl, but he could have called while we were next door. I picked up the phone and heard the beep-beep-beep that indicated I had a voicemail. "There's a message. I'll bet it's him." I punched *98 and the message started to play. It was Carl, and I frowned.
"What, what?" Penny Sue asked.
"He has to leave first thing in the morning for an aerospace project in Seattle. The only time he can meet with Woody's staff is tonight."
Woody unpocketed his cell phone and hit a button. "See if Carl can come over now."
While Woody spoke with the crime tech department, I talked to Carl. I could tell by his voice that he was having dinner. "I'm eating some of Mom's lasagna, but could be there in about forty-five minutes. Is that okay? The procedure was straightforward; it won't take long."
"Hold on. Forty-five minutes?" I mouthed to Woody. He nodded. "That's good. Whenever you can make it will be fine."
Carl was clearly a techno rock star. Within a half hour, six techs, four of whom were female, arrived. Woody called home and told his wife that he was going to be late. To ensure the findings, Woody figured it would be best if he waited and recorded Carl's demonstration. A few minutes later, Carl arrived dressed in his Klingon garb, barbed toe boots and all, but thankfully without his Klingon forehead prosthesis. What a relief. A video of that definitely wouldn't go over well in court.
The Klingon outfit didn't faze the group. Apparently they were all Trekkies, and his garb only made the women swoon. What was wrong with my daughter, Ann? She hated the Klingon shtick that other women thought was a turn on. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Maybe when Carl came up with new games she'd give him another chance. Honestly, I couldn't imagine a better son-in-law.
We went into the utility room, where I plugged in Lu Nee 2. While the unit powered up, take-charge Penny Sue gave her rendition of the robot's capabilities and all the times it had saved our lives. Now it was going to solve a major crime spree, she exuded. Carl waited patiently until she finished before he switched on the robot, connected his computer, and started explaining the robot's recording function and how he'd retrieved the pictures and recording. At the end of his demonstration, he ejected the CD from his computer and handed it to Woody. "Your tech staff will find the exact pictures on this disc. Is there anything else I can do for you?" He glanced down at his outfit. "As you might have guessed, I have a party to go to. A birthday party. Any questions?"
The female techs gaped at him as if God Himself had descended from the Heavens. The men, also impressed, merely shook their heads.
Carl packed up his computer. "Sorry to run, but I'm on a tight schedule. Leigh knows how to reach me if you have any questions."
Woody offered his hand with a big thank you. "Since I recorded your demonstration, I believe we have all of the bases covered."
"Leigh," Carl turned to me. "Keep Lu Nee 2 off and unplugged in case the actual unit is needed for court." He swung around to the adoring women. "I've been through a few similar cases."
Carl shoulde
red his computer and headed out the door. The women stood transfixed for a good minute. After all, they'd just encountered a Klingon Adonis.
Ruthie came home at nine o'clock, and we took our usual seats at the counter to discuss the day. Penny Sue and I had already eaten Stouffers Chicken Lasagna and salad from a bag. Ruthie had picked up take-out dinners from the local seafood restaurant for Alice, Kevin, and herself.
"How's Kevin holding up?" I asked.
"He's fine as long as he's doing something, like cataloguing the books, but he was really traumatized by the jailhouse experience. The search warrant didn't help matters because now he knows he's a real suspect. The thing that worries me is that this mess may ruin his chances for the chairmanship of Deland's History Department. Kevin's afraid they'll eliminate him simply because of the bad publicity."
"Umm," Penny Sue groaned. "That throws a wrench in your bookstore plans and my job, doesn't it?"
Ruthie turned on Penny Sue with her eyes flashing. "For godssakes, Penny Sue, can't you think of anyone but yourself? Kevin's freedom and whole future are at stake!"
"Sorry, I was merely thinking ahead. For goodness sake, I care about Kevin. He's my only cousin!"
A fight was brewing. I patted the air, hoping to calm the waters. "Hold it. We need to stick together to help Kevin. We're stressed to the hilt and need to take a deep, calming breath. We can't help Kevin--"
"--or get rid of Alice," Penny Sue interrupted.
I cut my eyes at her angrily. "Let's not go there and muddy the waters. We have to stay focused." I stared at her scotch. "A little decaf might help your focus."
Penny Sue's bottom lip inched forward. "You don't have to be snippy about it. I was about to fix myself a cup of coffee." Penny Sue stomped to the kitchen, poured a mug of black coffee, and put it beside her scotch.
"I apologize if I'm irritable," I said, "I'm exhausted and want to go to bed. Let's not get sidetracked. The focus is Kevin and why he's suspected of killing Abby."
"Don't forget the break-ins and Duffy," Penny Sue said, blowing on her coffee.
Honestly, I felt like giving her arm a good poke, but didn't. That would really start a catfight, a term I detest, but it was the most accurate description for the current situation, especially considering the length of Penny Sue's fingernails. "Let's do one thing at a time and concentrate on Kevin for now. If we solve that, I believe the other pieces of the puzzle will fall into place." I took a deep breath.
"Okay. One thing I keep wondering is why the police think Kevin's responsible for poisoning Abby with nicotine," Penny Sue led off. "The lady smoked some cigarettes in the children's bathroom to calm her nerves--end of story."
I studied my French vanilla decaf. "I've been thinking about that, too. The bathrooms in the library have smoke alarms. Abby couldn't have poisoned herself with cigarettes; the alarm would have gone off."
"Could she have disabled it?" Ruthie asked.
"I suppose it's possible, but why go to all that trouble? We were going to leave the building in a matter of minutes," I replied.
"Nicotine gum," Penny Sue stated emphatically. "You know, they even have nicotine pills nowadays."
"Yes, but the police would have found the package in her purse," I countered, "in which case Kevin wouldn't be under suspicion."
"Maybe she threw the package away and the cleaning crew dumped the trash," Ruthie suggested.
"No. Remember, Terry said she'd given the cleaning crew the night off."
"I know!" Penny Sue almost shouted as she headed for the kitchen. "Chocolate. We need chocolate to help us think." She pulled a bag of York Peppermint Patties from a cabinet, ripped open the cellophane and dumped its contents on the counter. We all took one. "Now," she continued, sucking down a good portion of the mint, "did either of you see what Frank found in the box of books? Whatever it was, it virtually ended the search. I got the feeling they'd found the smoking gun."
Ruthie nodded. "I had the same impression. It was a small plastic container, you know, the type breath strips come in. But, it wasn't green, it was brown."
"Whatever it was, it had to be related to nicotine. Either something that contained nicotine or enhanced its effect," I said.
Ruthie was already jogging to the bedroom for her laptop computer. It was booting up as she trotted back to the counter. A moment later she was on the Internet doing a search on nicotine. I leaned over to view the screen, while Penny Sue peered across Ruthie's shoulder sucking peppermint patties. The search on nicotine didn't yield anything. Next she tried smoking cessation. Bingo! A row of tiny pictures of products popped up. Apparently, stop-smoking aids had progressed considerably. There was everything from patches to gum to mints to nicotine strips! And, one brand of nicotine strip was in a brown container.
"That's it!" Ruthie nearly jumped out of her seat. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but that one," she pointed at the computer screen, "looks like the container Officer Frank found that got them so worked up."
"Do you recall which box it came from?" I asked.
"It was one that had never been sealed, which meant it came from the library, or Alice and I brought it from Abby's condo. The ones her mother shipped were taped shut and had to be slit open."
I arched my brow and grinned mischievously. "It sure is taking y'all a long time to make a list of those books."
Ruthie's pale face flamed with embarrassment. "We're being careful to label each book's origin and compile an inventory of each box. Besides, Kevin keeps getting distracted and starts reading the books."
"I can see Kevin doing that," I said, deciding to let her off of the hook.
Penny Sue sipped her coffee and morphed into Jessica Fletcher. "Kevin thought the book came from the library, but it's possible it was one of Abby's."
"We were careful, but I guess it's possible," Ruthie admitted.
"So Abby, herself, could have dropped the container in the box." Ruthie and I nodded. Penny Sue exchanged the coffee mug for her scotch and started to pace. "As bad as it may look, I think this will clear Kevin." She took a sip of her drink. "Suppose Abby initially used the strips to stop smoking, but they didn't work, so she switched to the patch?" Penny Sue stopped dramatically and twirled around, sloshing scotch on the floor. "For whatever reason, Abby agreed to debate Kevin, maybe to give him a final, old lover's dig. Yet, the more she thought about it, the more nervous she became, so Abby had a couple of strips of the nicotine, in addition to the patch, before she left her condo for the debate. That could explain how she overdosed and there was no container in her purse. She dropped the empty container in the box. Hell, maybe those were books she planned to throw away."
"True, but there was a good while between the time Abby left her condo and when the debate started. It seems it would have hit her sooner," I said.
Ruthie jumped in. "Remember the argument she had with Willows in the library, before the debate? Maybe she was irritable because of the drugs. She was hyped up, on edge."
"Yes. She was sweating like a pig during the debate," Penny Sue added.
"So we think Abby accidentally overdosed?" I asked
Penny Sue nodded. Ruthie stared into space. "Maybe the container was planted in the box from the library," Ruthie mused.
"Are you getting a psychic hit or something?" Penny Sue asked. "If so, it would be hard to fathom. The area was roped off and under guard at all times. The chances of someone getting to the box while it was in the library are pretty slim."
Ruthie stroked her arm, thinking. "You know how they always talk about the chain of custody on CSI? Well, what was the chain of custody for that box?"
"It was in the library with tight security, then Woody took it and gave it to me," Penny Sue said. "You don't think Woody planted the container to get back at me, do you?"
Ruthie shook her head vigorously. "No, Woody wouldn't frame Kevin. What about Peter O'Brien? He carried the box for you, didn't he?"
Penny Sue's eyes narrowed. "He did, but what motive would Peter
have to frame Kevin for Abby's death?"
Ruthie jumped in. "He's Willows' old friend, and he's trying to buy part of the Canaveral Park for a big real estate development."
"I can see that the real estate deal might be a motive for wanting to kill Abby, since she was so hot on St. Augustine, but what does he have against Kevin? Besides, how do you know he's Willows' old friend?" Penny Sue asked.
"Willows told us when he and Abby entered the library for the debate. O'Brien was with them," I said. "With Abby's unfortunate death, Kevin is one of the few historians with knowledge of Central Florida that rivals Willows'. Maybe O'Brien wanted to help his friend get the chairmanship to lend prestige to their Canaveral development deal. Or better yet, O'Brien wanted to incriminate, thus eliminate, Kevin, the one person with credentials that rivaled Willows."
"That's a stretch," Penny Sue scoffed. "In fact, the whole buying up part of the park sounds fishy to me."
Ruthie shook her head. "It's not as far-fetched as you might think. Wyoming is looking to sell part of the Grand Teton Park to fund their education budget."
"You're joking," I said.
"No, it was on the news the other day. It could be the beginning of a trend with state budgets in such bad shape."
"Hmm, maybe I should think of investing in Peter's deal," Penny Sue said.
"No!" Ruthie and I shouted in unison. "Put your money in a CD or a good solid mutual fund. Stay away from risky real estate ventures."
"Kidding!" Penny Sue assured us. "I've truly learned my lesson with Madoff. Besides, I don't think Peter will pull it off, and we certainly shouldn't mention it to Guthrie. He's upset enough about the shuttle program being canceled. He'd go berserk if he thought the whole Kennedy Space Center is going to be closed and Timothy will never come back from Houston."
"Yes, let's banish that thought for good. It's an extreme long shot, and if we keep talking about it, we might let something slip out in front of Guthrie," I agreed. "So, where does that leave us? Did anyone else have access to the box?"