by Parnell Hall
“Yeah, I think I’ll hang out until Becky gets back with the bail bond. Then we can talk to Melvin, and you can be the one who hasn’t earned that privilege.”
“I’m afraid Becky’s not going to have much luck, either.”
Cora frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“Judge Hobbs isn’t going to sign off on bail until the prosecutor weighs in.”
“I’m sure he’s on his way.”
“He’s in Cleveland.”
“Cleveland?”
“Yeah. So even if he’s on his way, it’s going to be awhile before he gets here.”
“What the hell is Ratface doing in Cleveland?”
“He’s at a legal convention.”
Cora felt like she’d been punched in the stomach.
Chapter
47
Becky walked into her office to find Cora sitting at her desk.
“We got trouble,” Cora said.
“No kidding. I can’t get Melvin out of jail.”
Cora waved it away. “Small potatoes. He’s better off in jail, where he can’t get into trouble.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I found the missing alibi witness.”
“That’s great!”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s Henry Firth’s wife.”
Becky sank down in the client chair. “Oh. My. God.”
“That’s right. Melvin has a death wish. He looks around for the most inappropriate woman possible, and he’s gotta have her.”
“How do you know?”
“I was married to him.”
“How do you know it’s Mrs. Firth?”
“You can’t get him out of jail because the prosecutor isn’t available. Ratface is at a convention in Cleveland. Melvin took advantage of the opportunity.”
“Did you speak to him?”
“Chief Harper won’t let me.”
“You told him!”
“Don’t be silly. He won’t let me on general principles. He resents it when suspects out on bail kill again.”
Becky sucked in her breath. “We’re in trouble.”
“I know. I didn’t bury the lead. That’s what I opened with.”
“I gotta go see him.”
“Why?”
“Find out what the hell he was thinking.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what he was thinking. Inasmuch as Melvin thinks about anything. The added kick of being the prosecutor’s wife was just the icing on the cake.”
“All right, I won’t ask him.”
“Can you do that?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you don’t ask him who the woman is, he’s going to smell a big, fat rat.”
“A big, fat Ratface.”
“I’m not sure he knows that nickname.”
Becky shook her head and sighed heavily. “This is terrible, Cora. This is the worst.”
Cora nodded. “That’s Melvin, all right.”
Chapter
48
Sherry was at the computer when Cora got home.
“Hey, I got something,” Sherry said.
“What?” Cora said grumpily.
“I know you’re having a hard time. I was hoping I could come up with something for you.”
“You want to lay it on me without the preamble.”
“This isn’t necessarily bad.”
“You sound like my tax accountant.”
“He saves us money.”
“Yeah. He saves us twenty-five hundred and charges three grand. I fail to see the benefit.”
“You don’t understand finance.”
“That’s why. I don’t care right now. I’m in a very bad mood.”
“Because Melvin’s in jail?”
“Don’t be silly. I like him in jail.”
“Right. You hate it when he’s sleeping with someone else. Is that it? Is he running around with a bimbo?”
“Not at the moment.”
“Of course not. He’s in jail. No wonder you don’t mind.”
“Melvin’s on the hook for murder unless he can come up with an alibi witness for last night.”
“And he doesn’t have one?”
“No, he’s got one. The woman he shacked up with.”
“She won’t testify?”
“We don’t want her to.”
“Why not?”
“It’s Henry Firth’s wife.”
Sherry’s mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me?”
“No. And I shouldn’t even be telling you, because Melvin doesn’t know we know.”
“How do you know?”
“Melvin spent the night with a woman whose husband was away on business. Ratface was at a convention in Cleveland.”
“That’s all you’ve got to go on?”
“It’s Melvin. Can you think of anything that would please him more?”
“Getting back together with you.”
“I’m not talking fantasy here. This is real life. So, what have you got?”
“I know this couldn’t interest you less, I was working on the crossword puzzle and I came up with something.”
“You’re right, this couldn’t interest me less.”
“You want to hear this or not?”
“Okay. Go on.”
“I found the word CENTER clued as ‘midpoint,’ and FIVE clued as ‘prime number.’”
“So?”
“Prime number is a gimme. The answer has four letters. There’s only one prime number that’s four letters long: ‘five.’”
“Couldn’t the answer be something else?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, because I can’t do crosswords. But a person who can, like you, could say, a prime number could also be a clue for, and come up with some mathematical term that means the same thing as a prime number.”
“There’s no such thing.”
“As a prime number? Then what are we talking about?”
“Are you trying to be a pain in the ass?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. So you figure this is the connection Peggy wanted us to find?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because the clues aren’t in the puzzle Peggy gave us.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“The clues are in the puzzle you found in her truck.”
“Whoops.”
“Yeah. The clues are in the wrong puzzle.”
“How could it be the wrong puzzle? You solved it. Harvey Beerbaum solved it. I taunted Chief Harper with it: ‘you say yes, some say no.’”
“Yeah, but it’s not the puzzle that refers to the Sudoku. If it does, and this is not just a monumental coincidence, somehow or other someone got the puzzles mixed up and you wound up with the wrong one.”
“Sherry, you’re making this up. Yes, you have the word ‘five.’ And, yes, you have the word ‘center.’ There’s no reason to assume they refer to a Sudoku at all.”
“That’s what I thought. So I did some checking. I’m assuming—and don’t remind me what assuming makes of you and me—I’m taking as a hypothesis ‘center’ would refer to the center row going across, and ‘five’ would refer to the five numbers in the middle of that row. The five numbers in this puzzle are six, four, three, nine, two.”
“Fascinating.”
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. So I started looking around for what that number might be. Too short to be a phone number or Social Security number. Unlikely to be a combination lock number.”
“Well, that’s obvious. You mind telling me what it is likely to be?”
“A license plate number. Unfortunately, I’m not set up to trace license plate numbers. Fortunately, I know an investigative reporter.”
“Rick Reed?”
“Aaron, you putz. You did that deliberately. Anyway, hub
by came through with a name.”
“What name?”
“Johnny Dawson.”
Chapter
49
Cora sat staring back and forth from the puzzle to the Sudoku. “I see it, but I don’t believe it.”
“I figured it out, but I don’t believe it.”
“How could this have happened?”
“That’s your department. I just do the puzzles.”
“Damn it, Sherry, help me out. My head is coming off here. It’s like A follows B, but it doesn’t, it actually follows C. And C is ahead of A, because someone accidentally switched the labels.”
“Labels?”
“Go with it, I’m improvising.”
“Is that the same as freaking out?”
“In this case, yes. If the Sudoku goes with the second puzzle, and the second puzzle should be the first puzzle, then there’s no reason to believe either puzzle has anything to do with Melvin at all. Johnny Dawson could just as well be the guy about whom they’re asking, Did he do it?”
“Anybody could.”
“Exactly. It’s generic. It’s only when you throw in this fantastic license plate theory of yours.”
“You’re the math whiz. What’s the probability of a five-digit number matching Johnny’s license plate?”
“Ask the guys who play the lottery. It’s a hundred thousand to one. Not the type of odds you’d like to base a defense strategy on.”
“This is good news, Cora. If I’m right, the puzzles have nothing to do with Melvin at all.”
A car rolled up the driveway. Cora and Sherry went to the window. It was actually a truck. Peggy Dawson jumped out and ran up the driveway, waving a paper.
“Well, this should be interesting,” Sherry said.
“Not the word I would have used.”
“Want me to solve the puzzle or tell her where to stick it?”
“You know my choice.”
“I wonder if it’s a crossword or a Sudoku. If it’s a Sudoku, I wonder if it has Melvin’s license number.”
“He’s in a rental car.”
“So? It’s not like this was planned in advance. The guy barely hit town when it all went to hell.”
“Yeah. That’s Melvin’s MO,” Cora said. As Peggy got closer, she added, “It’s a crossword.”
“Try to keep the delight out of your voice.”
“It’s another crossword,” Peggy said. “I knew there would be.”
“Why?”
“To go with the Sudoku.”
“You thought it went with the other puzzle.”
“Here.” Peggy thrust the puzzle at Cora.
“Why aren’t you bringing this to Harvey Beerbaum?”
“You solved the Sudoku.”
“And that’s why I didn’t want to. You solve one puzzle, and you’re fair game. Where’d you get this one?”
“It was outside my door.”
“Someone snuck up to your room and left a crossword puzzle in the hall?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“It’s unusual behavior.”
“We’ve had two murders. What’s not unusual?”
“She’s got you there,” Sherry said.
Cora glowered at her.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to take this to Harvey Beerbaum,” Sherry said. “I’ll scan a copy in case it comes to anything.”
Peggy reluctantly gave up the puzzle. She wasn’t happy to have it in anyone’s hands but Cora’s.
Sherry was back in minutes. “Here you go. Run along to Harvey’s. If he comes up with anything, you can call us from there, you don’t have to come back.”
“That’s so silly. Couldn’t you just do it now?”
“No, I can’t,” Cora said. “Come on, kid. How’d you feel if your boyfriend was the one in jail?”
“That would be awful.”
“Yeah. So unless you have an unhealthy May-December relationship with the suspect, you got nothing to worry about.”
“I keep getting puzzles.”
“There’s no proof the puzzles have anything to do with the murders.”
Peggy stomped her foot and flounced down the walk.
“Did you solve the puzzle?” Cora said as Peggy drove off.
“I was only gone a minute.”
“So solve it now.”
“I don’t have to.”
“Why not?”
“It’s the same one.”
“What?”
“It’s the same as the one we have.”
“She gave me a copy of the same puzzle and didn’t even notice?”
“Not that puzzle. She gave you a copy of the one you found in her truck.”
“That makes no sense at all.”
“What else is new?”
“Someone left a crossword in her truck. When she didn’t find it, because I stole it, they left a copy in front of her door.”
“Apparently so.”
“Well, I don’t buy it.”
“Why not?”
“The puzzle in her truck was folded up and slid down the side pocket in the door. Where no one would expect her to find it. And the other one is left in plain sight.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time someone needed a hint.”
“Hold on a minute.”
“What?”
“This is the one with the five and the center?”
“Right.”
“The one that points to her brother?”
“If you believe the license plate clue.”
“I didn’t before, but I do now. This is getting freaky.”
“Gonna tell Chief Harper?”
“Let’s let Harvey Beerbaum.”
“What if he doesn’t figure it out?”
“I might have to help him. That’s what Chief Harper will expect me to do. Step in and make sense of everything.”
“Failing that, you can give him the license plate number.”
“Thanks a bunch. Yes, I can give him the license plate number, but there’s no hurry about it.”
“You think that’s going to satisfy Peggy?”
“Who knows what satisfies Peggy? She doesn’t seem too upset her boyfriend got killed. Not to mention her source of crack.”
“That’s right. She didn’t seem concerned about anything but the stupid puzzle.”
Cora spread her arms to the heavens. “Thank you, gods. I shall long remember this day. My niece, the super puzzle nerd, has just referred to a puzzle as stupid.”
Chapter
50
“If I tell you something, you promise not to use it?”
Becky looked at Cora suspiciously. “Why?”
“You have a client. You’re bound to act in his best interests.”
“Yes, I am.”
“It’s early in the case yet. It’s hard to know what your client’s best interests are.”
“How bad is this?”
“It’s not bad. It’s good. I think it will eventually help you. Just not now.”
“I’m intrigued. And why would it be in my client’s best interests to betray my client?”
“Who said anything about betraying? I’m talking about preserving your client’s best interests. By giving him the optimal chance to take advantage of the evidence as it presents itself.”
“What is it?”
“You recall that crossword puzzle I found in Peggy Dawson’s truck?”
“I recall all your illegal searches and seizures.”
“Technically, isn’t it the police who do that? I’m a private citizen.”
“The more you stall, the worse this sounds. What about the puzzle?”
“Peggy Dawson gave me another one.”
“We have three puzzles?”
“Only if we wanna count the Sudoku. Which it turns out we do.”
“We don’t have three crosswords?”
“No.”
“What’s wrong with my math?”
“Peggy has happily p
resented me with a copy of the one I found in her truck.”
“Run that by me again.”
“She clearly didn’t know I had it. She gave me another. She claimed it was left outside the door.”
“Of her truck?”
“Of her room.”
“I fail to see how this helps my client.”
“It doesn’t. Forget I said anything.”
“Cora.”
“Peggy Dawson had a theory that the crossword relates to the Sudoku. The first one doesn’t. The one she just gave me does.”
“In what way does it relate to the Sudoku?” Becky said, clearly holding herself back with effort.
“This is where we need to be careful.”
“If you don’t tell me how it does, there’s going to be another homicide. I’m sure it will be justifiable.”
“Sherry noticed that two of the answers in the puzzle, taken together, could be construed to mean the five numbers in the center of the Sudoku.”
“And how does this help my client?”
“That depends on who your client is.”
“Cora.”
“You’ve already had two clients in this case. The evidence against Melvin isn’t strong. The worst thing the prosecutor has on him is going to bed with his wife. Take that away and the case is a breeze.”
“The knife in his car notwithstanding.”
“The knife was planted. You know it, I know it, I’m sure the police know it.”
“You base your opinion on the fact they arrested Melvin?”
“They also arrested Johnny Dawson. They’re not particular. They’ll take anyone they think they can prosecute.”
“What did Sherry find?”
“You promise you won’t do anything for five minutes?”
“Why five minutes?”
“I’m trying to save you from a knee-jerk reaction.”
“And why do I need saving?”
“You want this information or not?”
“Five minutes. Go.”
“The five numbers in the center of the Sudoku are Johnny Dawson’s license plate.”
Becky looked at her watch.
“That’s the wrong way to take it.”
“What’s the right way? You just negotiated five extra minutes of incarceration for your ex-husband. But that’s all you got.”
“No, it’s not. Because you’re not so stupid as to throw away a perfectly good defense strategy just for the sake of getting your client out of jail.”
“Isn’t that the point?”