2 Murder in the Winter

by Steve Demaree

  “I had a feeling I’d be hearing from you, Cy.”

  “Yeah, sorry to say, but the murderer hasn’t confessed yet.”

  “Well, I don’t have any confessions for you, Cy, but I do have a couple of people with motives.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Well, I checked out all the people at the inn. The Mitchusons seem so squeaky clean that I might name my children after them.”

  “Your children are grown, Sam.”

  “Okay, grandchildren. Also, as far as I can tell, Mrs. Longworth didn’t know any of the deceased. Neither did Michael, the sous chef.” The name sous chef brought back unpleasant memories. “However, I did find out a couple of juicy tidbits. Guess who took out an insurance policy on Carter Thornton?”

  “The long lost Mrs. Thornton who is currently sunning herself somewhere on the Riviera.”

  “Try Sidney Longworth.”

  “Longworth? Were they related?”

  “No, but if it turns out that Longworth isn’t the murderer, then he’ll have another million dollars to play with.”

  “Or if he doesn’t get caught. Very interesting.”

  “Wait a minute, Cy. I don’t want you to put all your motives in one basket. I have a nice little story to tell you. Shortly before the Overlook Inn shut down last time, one of the actors got drunk, totaled his car, and went off to meet our Maker. His name was Richard Le Blanc. His brother is Antoine Le Blanc, otherwise known as the chef at the Overlook Inn. It turns out that Richard got drunk when another actor got a part he felt he should have landed, and on his way home, his car slid off the road and hit a tree head-on. At the funeral, many people heard Antoine threaten the life of the guy who landed the part, Carter Thornton.”

  “Does Longworth know that Richard was Antoine’s brother?”

  “That I can’t tell you.”

  “Anything else you have for me?”

  “Yes, both Longworth and Le Blanc were in town on Wednesday afternoon. They weren’t together, but they were in town, not at the inn.”

  “It keeps getting curiouser and curiouser.”

  “I’ll see what else I can find out, Cy. It took me until late last night to learn this much. Now, I imagine you have more for me.”

  “Yes, we found another body last night, so at least we can cross one actor off our suspect list, but there are some more I want you to check on. Get ready to write.”

  “I’m always ready to write. Go ahead.”

  “First, check on a guy by the name of Arthur Rothschild. He was one of the actors when the inn was open before, and he’s still in town. I think it was in ’97 when he fell off the stage at the inn and broke his leg. It never healed properly. Check and see what you can find out about his condition, and try to locate any doctor who might have treated him. I want to know whether or not he can walk. Next, there’s another actor, Tony McArthur. Supposedly he was out of town when these murders took place. Chicago. He gave me the name of a guy who can verify this. Tom Smithers. His number is 312-555-0478. McArthur told me that he was up there to try out for a play that will open in a few months at the Red Barn Dinner Theater. Supposedly, it’s a well known place. Also, check and see if McArthur was registered at the any of the hotels off I-290 or -294. He claims to have been there on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Also, check out Martin Mulroney, another actor. He was a guest at the inn last weekend, disguised as two different characters over the course of the weekend. He’s already lied to me. See if he’s clean, or not. While you’re at it, check out a guy named Virgil Profitt. He’s new to the area, claims he doesn’t really know any of these people. Also, see if you can find out anything juicy about the manager of Oppenheimer Arms, Lena Crouch. When you finish that, you might as well see what you can find out about the three victims; Carter Thornton, Matthew Simon, and Bob Gravitt. Maybe we can find something to connect them to one of our suspects, something that we don’t already know. For starters, see if any of them had a will, and if Simon or Gravitt had insurance policies, and if so, who will benefit from their deaths.”

  “Let’s see, Cy. We’re just past the middle of January. How about getting back to me about mid-April?”

  “You mean you won’t have all this by noon?”

  “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll probably have to give it to you in bits and pieces. I might have some of the easier stuff by tomorrow, but don’t expect a thorough report.”

  “That’s fine. And if you find out any other juicy stuff about Longworth or Antoine Le Blanc, let me know.”

  “I assume you’ll be waiting at home until I get back to you.”

  “I wish.”

  “See you later, Cy. It looks like I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

  “Me, too,” I muttered to myself after I hung up the phone. It was almost 8:00 by the time I got off the phone with Sam. I made a quick call to Lou to let him know I was on my way. I could tell he was surprised I was ready to leave so early.

  +++

  I looked up the address for Burris Plumbing. I recognized the street. Lou and I would stop by there before chowing down at the Blue Moon. If it turned out this guy worked for Burris Plumbing, I wanted to talk to him before he left to make calls.

  It was 8:27 when we pulled up in front of a white concrete building on Jackson Street. The aged sign said Burris Plumbing. There was a cargo van out front that echoed that statement. I opened the door and eyeballed a woman behind a desk, a woman who looked like she didn’t have many more years before retirement. I asked to speak to someone in charge.

  “I’m Mrs. Burris, how may I help you?”

  I flashed my credentials and opened my mouth.

  “We’re wondering if anyone from Burris Plumbing made a call at an apartment at Oppenheimer Arms, 462 Linden Place, on Thursday. The customer’s name would be Tony McArthur. The apartment number seven.”

  “It sounds familiar. Let me check.”

  She wheeled her chair around, and hit some keys and made some clicks on her computer. The computer seemed to be the only thing in the office purchased within the last thirty years, and seemed about as out of place as if it had been in my house. In just a few seconds she confirmed that their firm made a call to that address on Thursday.

  “Would it be possible to talk to the man who made the call?”

  “I’m afraid that would be impossible. Even if he was still with us, he would be out on calls by now. Most of our men are out of here by 8:15.”

  The words “even if he was still with us” stuck in my throat.

  “You mean he’s no longer with your outfit? It was just last Thursday when he made the call.”

  “It was an unusual situation. One of our men broke his arm and was out of commission for a few weeks. About a month ago, a man named Ray Phelps stopped in and asked if we could use a man temporarily. He said he would be in town for a few weeks and needed some work. My husband took him out on some calls one day to see if he knew anything about plumbing. My husband returned and said he was as good as anyone we had, and offered him the job until Thomas came back. It worked out well for everyone involved. Thomas received his okay to return to work last week, and Ray Phelps left town over the weekend.”

  “Do you have an address for Phelps?”

  “No, Lieutenant, I’m sorry. We don’t.”

  “What about a driver’s license and social security number?”

  “That I can give you, but I don’t think the address on the driver’s license will be the one he went back to. He talked as if he came into some money last week, and talked about taking some time off to do some traveling.”

  I took the information. I planned to run it anyway. I thought we might get lucky.

  “I don’t know if this is important or not, Lieutennt, but I remember something Ray said when he checked in that night. He said, ‘There weren’t nothing wrong with that faucet. I turned it off and on several times and it never leaked.’”

  I wondered if Ray Phelps made that statement to cover his back, or if someone had lur
ed him to the apartment. Or could it be that Phelps was someone else in disguise. I still couldn’t see how his being there could’ve benefited anyone. Maybe it would become clear in time.

  “Mrs. Burris, would you happen to have a picture of Ray Phelps?”

  “No, Lieutenant, I’m sorry.”

  My stomach growled, letting me know I had no more questions for Mrs. Burris. If I did, I knew where she was.

  +++

  As we got back into the car, I remembered to ask Lou what clue God had given him for that day.

  “Tracks and more tracks.”

  I had no idea what it meant, but I hoped it meant we would soon be on the right track. I shuddered as I wondered if it meant that someone would be making tracks back to my house. Or if tracks might lead us to another body. We had enough bodies. And too many suspects. Who would’ve thought that the more bodies that turned up, the more names we added to our suspect list? Would we continue to add names?

  Lou and I had a scrumptious breakfast at the Blue Moon, then drove out to Overlook Inn to see what Longworth and Le Blanc had to say. On the drive out, we discussed the case.

  “Lou, last night we focused on opportunity. Let’s say we take a look at some people’s motives.”

  “Shoot, Cy.”

  “Well, we now know that Longworth and Le Blanc had motives to kill at least Carter Thornton. Maybe the others, too. Who else ranks high on our suspect list?”

  “Well, there’s Arthur Rothschild. He may still be angry about his fall, and jealous some of the other actors would be going back to work with Longworth. If he could walk, I’d rank him right up there close to the others. Of course, he may be able to walk. We don’t know yet. Plus, whoever came to your place came in Tony McArthur’s boots. Maybe McArthur didn’t go to Chicago, or came back earlier than everyone thinks. Martin Mulroney might be a jealous actor, too. Less competition might mean more parts for him. Only Virgil Profitt and Lena Crouch seem to be without a motive, but many times the least likely suspect’s the one who did it. And of course, we have no idea if the plumber fits into this thing. Could he be someone we know, or someone we don’t know who happens to know enough about plumbing to get a job and fake a service call? Could he, or someone else, have been planning this thing for a long time? Did anyone other than Longworth know that the Overlook Inn Theater would be operating again? Or did he really plan to open it again? Could it be that reopening the theater was all a ruse in order for Longworth to murder Thornton and make it look like someone else had it in for Longworth or Thornton? And could it be that the other murders were committed simply to muddy the waters and make our jobs more difficult?”

  “Good questions, Lou. Too bad we don’t have any good answers to go along with them.”

  20

  We drove the rest of the way to the inn in silence, both of us thinking, wondering if there was something we had forgotten.

  There was no new snow and no ice on the roads, so other than driving on a road that would’ve made a good test track the drive to the inn was uneventful.

  I drove over the bridge in record time and navigated the circular driveway to the front of the inn. We got out and climbed the front steps. I opened the front door to the inn and, after wandering around for a few minutes, located Longworth. I could tell he was surprised to see us and not very happy about our reunion.

  “Why, hello, Lieutenant. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

  “I seem to have that effect on people.”

  “We don’t have any guests today, so I’m sorry I can’t offer you anything to eat.”

  “I guess I should’ve called ahead.”

  “Wait a minute, I’ll see if we have any food left.”

  “No, that’s okay. We just ate.”

  “Too bad. We had pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream today.”

  “Well, if it’s not any trouble, you can check. Maybe we can eat and talk at the same time.” The word “talk” seemed to startle him.

  Longworth wandered away, probably to have a conference with his wife to see if either of them could figure out why we’d returned. He came back a few minutes later with two plates loaded with pancakes, topped with strawberries and whipped cream. Mrs. Longworth carried two kinds of syrup, and Justin carried a pitcher of orange juice, which he sat down, then went back to the kitchen and returned with two glasses.

  I wanted to make Longworth sweat. Only the three of us sat at the table. Lou and I took a few bites of pancakes before I opened my mouth to talk. I started off easy on him to make him comfortable and overconfident, then sprang my trap. I pulled the picture of Virgil Profitt and his sister from my pocket, handed it to Longworth. I didn’t expect this to unnerve him.

  “Do you recognize either of those people, Mr. Longworth?”

  He took his time, looked it over before answering. “No, should I?”

  “One of them’s an actor.”

  “Not anyone I ever worked with.”

  “Speaking of acting, have you ever acted, Mr. Longworth?”

  “On occasion.”

  “Give me a for instance.”

  “Like if I wanted a break from directing, or it became necessary.”

  “You mean if an actor gets murdered just before the curtain goes up.”

  Longworth seemed unnerved, then smiled.

  “Something like that. We have understudies for each part, in case an actor gets sick. Only once have I had to step into a major role. I played Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman.”

  I wonder what part he played in the death of a actor. So Longworth admitted he was capable of adapting a persona. I figured as much, but had no idea if he’d admit it.

  It was time to hit him with what brought me to the inn.

  “Get into town much, Mr. Longworth?”

  It seemed like the question didn’t bother him as much as I thought it would, but then he seemed guarded, like he was wondering what questions would follow.

  “Not too often this time of year. I don’t like to go into town during the winter. Unless I have to.”

  “When was the last time you made it in to Hilldale?”

  “I can’t say. I’m not real good with dates, unless it has to do with a function at the inn or something special.”

  “Would you believe it was only last Wednesday?”

  “Really! Tell me, Lieutenant, have you had someone watching me?”

  “No, if I had, Mr. Longworth, I wouldn’t be here today.”

  “So, I’m still a suspect, am I, Lieutenant?”

  “Not any more than anyone else. I’m just checking on some things. Tell me, Mr. Longworth, now that you’ve had a few minutes to think about it, why were you in town last Wednesday?”

  “Oh, I had a few errands to run. Just in case Thursday’s snow amounted to anything, I wanted to get everything done before the snow hit. Good thing I did, too.”

  “I understand Mr. Le Blanc went into town on Wednesday, too.”

  “Who?”

  “Le Blanc. Antoine. Your chef.”

  “Oh, yeah. I always forget Antoine’s last name.”

  “Did you know he went into town, too?”

  “Come to think of it, my wife did mention that he left shortly after I did.”

  “Did he have errands to run, too?”

  “He did. Like most chefs, Antoine likes to choose the ingredients he uses in his cooking. He goes shopping from time to time. He just happened to choose the same day I did, probably for the same reason.”

  “How long have you known Antoine?”

  “Not long. When we decided to reopen the inn, we ran ads in some of the top food magazines and newspapers and talked to friends who operate cooking schools. We interviewed several top chefs, and then invited some of them to the inn to cook for us before we made our choice and our offer. Antoine accepted our first offer, something that is not always the case in this business.”

  “So, you’d never met Antoine prior to his coming here?”

  “Not th
at I know of. It might be possible, but he didn’t look familiar.”

  “When you hired him, did you realize that he was Richard Le Blanc’s brother?”

  Either Longworth too was a good actor, or he was stunned to learn this.

  “He was poor Richard’s brother?”

  “No, Poor Richard was the almanac guy. He was Richard Le Blanc’s brother.”

  “Honestly, Lieutenant, I didn’t know that.”

  “Would you have hired him if you’d known?”

  “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Of course we never asked him about his family. And I wouldn’t fire him now. I won’t even bring this up to him, unless you do.”

  “Oh, I will, Mr. Longworth. But let’s get back to you. I understand you’re going to be a wealthy man, if it turns out you’re not the murderer I’m looking for.”

  “How’s that, Lieutenant?”

  I banged my fist on the table, almost upsetting my plate. Longworth jumped.

  “Oh, come now, Mr. Longworth. Did you think we wouldn’t find out about Carter Thornton’s insurance policy?”

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t. It doesn’t look good for me, does it, Lieutenant?”

  “Well, let’s just say that for the time being you’re not in the race by yourself. Other people have things they haven’t revealed to us, either. Of course money is one of the top motives for committing a crime.”

  “I know. That’s the reason I didn’t tell you. Let me put my cards on the table, such as they are. I didn’t kill Carter Thornton, and I don’t know who did. He was the best actor I’ve ever encountered. He was excited about the theater at the inn reopening. He was willing to come on board, and even signed a contract that he would work for me exclusively for the next two years. I took out the insurance policy for precautionary purposes. Health reasons mainly, although I didn’t know of anything wrong with Carter. He was young, and in a way I thought of him as a son. I would much rather have a living Carter Thornton than one million dollars. Mr. Oppenheimer provided me with everything I will ever need.”