4 Murder at Breakfast

by Steve Demaree

  “Let’s see, your name is Ginny Adams.”

  “That’s right.”

  “And you’re the third floor maid here.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “How well did you know Mrs. Higgins?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “No, I only know the ones I clean for, and she wasn’t one of them.”

  “But surely you’ve seen her?”

  “Oh, I’ve seen everyone from time to time, but I don’t know the ones on this floor. Just my floor. Same with Margie. She don’t know none of them on my floor.”

  “But you have a key to this apartment?”

  “No, I don’t. I only have keys to the apartments on the third floor. Ask Margie. Ask Mrs. Draper. They’ll tell you.”

  “Does that mean you’ve never been in this apartment?”

  “I might’ve been, but if so it was only once or twice, but I can’t tell you for sure. Sometimes Margie’ll holler if she needs something, but that’s rare. Usually she’d holler for Wally, particularly if something needed fixing or moving. Wally handles all of that.”

  “So, you don’t know anything about Mrs. Higgins?”

  “I didn’t say that. I clean for Mr. Cochran and Mrs. Hunt. They both live on the third floor. Most of the time we’re in someone’s apartment we’re just cleaning, but Mr. Cochran likes to talk. So does Mrs. Hunt. I know that Mr. Cochran liked the woman who lived here, and that Mrs. Hunt liked Mr. Cochran. She once told me that she didn’t know what Mr. Cochran saw in that old woman. I tried not to laugh, because I think Mrs. Hunt and Mrs. Higgins were about the same age.”

  “I assume that you vacuumed and shampooed yesterday.”

  “That’s right. I sure was tired when I finished.”

  “Did you see anyone while you did this?”

  “Not a soul. Most everyone clears out of the building or stays holed up in their apartments when we’re shampooing the carpet, because they know that no one’s allowed to walk on it until we’ve finished.”

  +++

  I dismissed Ginny Adams. We had finished talking to the employees. Only residents were left, and one of them was dead and two of the others were away. I planned to talk to each of them in his or her apartment. After lunch.

  “So, Lou, what do you think?”

  “I think it’s too early to be thinking about anything.”

  “Even lunch?”

  “Cy, you know I’ve changed, but I know you haven’t. I’m ready for lunch whenever you are.”

  I sat there, saddened. My partner spoke the truth. He had changed. What could I do to get my friend back? My friend who used to eat real food.

  9

  Even though I was ready to eat, I decided to question one of the residents before we left for lunch. Maybe if Lou had to wait a while longer, he might be willing to eat a little more. I walked around the corner, down the hall, pushed the elevator button, got on, and pushed “3”.

  I stepped off the elevator, headed down the hallway toward the residential apartments. I spotted apartment six and knocked. No one opened the door to admit me. I knocked again. Finally, after my third knock, I heard a voice from inside the apartment.

  “I’m sick. Please call again at another time.”

  “Mr. Cochran, this is Lt. Dekker with the Hilldale Police Department. I need to talk with you. It’s urgent.”

  A gray-haired man with a moustache opened the door. He looked like he’s seen better days. He motioned for us to come in and take a seat.

  “So, what’s so important Lieutenant that you must bother a man when he’s sick. Is this something that couldn’t wait until Monday?”

  “Oh, I guess it could, but I prefer to go ahead and discuss this with you. What can you tell me about Mrs. Higgins?”

  “Katherine, she’s a friend of mine. Why? What does she have to do with anything?”

  “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “Thursday night. Is something wrong? Is there something I don’t know about?”

  “Evidently so, Mr. Cochran. Mrs. Higgins died yesterday.”

  “Katherine. No, not Katherine. Tell me you’re kidding.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Cochran. I’m not kidding. She was found dead in her apartment last night.”

  “But she was in fine health. She was never sick.”

  The gravity of the moment had begun to hit the older man. At least that’s the way it looked. Tears began to flow from his eyes.

  “She was my friend, my best friend.”

  “And the last time you saw her was Thursday night?”

  “Thursday night, at dinner, and after. She invited me over to watch Wheel and Jeopardy. We did that a lot, watched them together, then sat and talked for a while before I came back to my place to get ready for bed. It won’t seem the same without her. Tell me, do you know how she died? Was it her heart?”

  “We won’t know until after the autopsy. Probably on Monday. So, you two spent a lot of time together.”

  “That’s right. Katherine and I really hit it off. I don’t think it was because I’m the only man here. I don’t think Katherine was looking for a man, although I think that some of the women around here are that way.”

  “Like Mrs. Hunt?”

  “I see I’m not the first person you’ve talked to. Yes, Christine, and Joanna Moberly, too. Joanna’s a little younger, and I admit she’s not bad looking, but Katherine and I seemed to feel the same way about things.”

  “Had the two of you talked about marriage?”

  “Oh, no. We’re too old. Besides neither of us wanted to break up a beautiful relationship.”

  “Do you know of anyone here who didn’t like her?”

  “Well, you know how women are. They don’t always get along all that well with certain other women. Katherine had a habit of saying what she thought, and some of the other women here are the same way. There were disagreements, but nothing volatile. Just that Katherine preferred some people to others. The other women were the same way.”

  “So, Katherine didn’t get along with the other women?”

  “No, I can’t say that, either. She and Hilda Winters were good friends, did things together from time to time.”

  “As I understand it, you spent the entire day yesterday and so far today in your apartment.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Did you by any chance hear anyone out in the hall yesterday anytime?”

  “Well, I was in bed most of the day. I didn’t hear anything except one time I woke up and the cleaning woman was running the vacuum. It sounded like it was outside my door forever. Finally, I got back to sleep. I got up a while later, around lunchtime, took my tray from the dumbwaiter. She bumped against the door with the carpet shampooer one time.”

  “And that was when you were eating lunch?”

  “I’m not sure exactly, but around that time. Most of the time they get through shampooing a little before 1:00, but of course the carpet is wet, so we can’t leave our apartments for a while. They ask us to stay off the carpet from 10:15-4:00 on those days when they shampoo, which isn’t often.”

  “And you didn’t hear anything else all day?”

  “No, but what does all that have to do with Katherine? Katherine lives downstairs.”

  “Which reminds me of something, Mr. Cochran. There’s a ladder outside your window.”

  “Oh, did I forget to put it back again? No, I’m pretty sure I put it back. I forget sometimes, though.”

  “So, you’re known to use that ladder from time to time?”

  “Oh, I figured someone would find me out some day. Katherine and I thought it was a hoot. One time, a while back, when I was in one of my rascally moods, I climbed down the ladder and knocked on Katherine’s window. Katherine died laughing when she opened the blinds and saw me there. After that, whenever we didn’t want any of the busybodies to know that Katherine and I were together at her place, I’d come back to my apartment after dinner, brush my te
eth, and then slip out the window and down the ladder to Katherine’s place. Only in good weather, of course. I knew that sooner or later someone would see us. Tell me, was it one of the hired help?”

  “Now, Mr. Cochran, policemen have to have their secrets, too.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter. Everyone knew about the two of us anyway.”

  “Well, I guess that’s all for now, Mr. Cochran. I hope you get to feeling better. Oh, and we’re asking everyone to stay in until we learn more about Mrs. Higgins’ death.”

  “Oh, was there something suspicious about it?”

  “We won’t know until after the autopsy is completed.”

  +++

  I was embarrassed to go to the Blue Moon with Lou. Lou, a shell of his former self. And he had no idea what he was doing to himself. He used to be a man who carried his weight quite nicely. Well, not as nicely as I carried mine, but nicely compared to most guys. This morning, he had the nerve to admit to me that his Wii told him he had lost twenty-one pounds. Maybe it had something to do with that voice, the one that came from the TV, the one that told me I was obese. It was a strange voice. Maybe it had hypnotized Lou. Oh, if only someone could steal Lou’s Wii, so I can get my old friend back.

  Robust and Frail walked into the Blue Moon. I hoisted myself up onto my stool. Lou slithered onto his. Rosie sensed there was something wrong with me. She turned to Lou to see what it was.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He fell on his candy.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “He fell on his candy. Actually, something happened in the line of duty which caused him to fall and all of his candy bars broke into little bitty pieces. Now I don’t understand what the big deal is, because he breaks his Hershey Almond bars into bite-size pieces before he eats them, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the impact caused some of his nuts to break in half.”

  I gave Lou a dirty look, but he didn’t notice. He and Rosie were looking at each other at the time.

  Rosie turned to look at me.

  “Can I help it if I like to break my own candy bars the way I want?”

  I took my mangled Hershey bars from my pocket, showed her the damage that had been done, and received her empathy. Lou’s tattling had caused us too much of a delay, so I changed the subject to something more important than being blindsided by a linebacker of a maid.

  I ordered an open-face roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and enough gravy to start a flood. Lou ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and brown mustard. I waited to hear the rest of his order. There was no rest. Lou was through. Lou was through all right. I knew that before long he wouldn’t have enough strength to feed himself.

  When our food arrived, I propped a menu up between us, so that Lou wouldn’t see that I had a much better lunch than he had. I quickly put it back, hoping that he would be tempted. He even looked at me, at my food, and didn’t lick his lips once. I wanted to get Rosie aside to see if maybe Lou was sneaking back after I dropped him off at night, in order to make up for his transgressions. Then I remembered that the Blue Moon is no longer open at night.

  A few minutes later Rosie walked up, whispered in my ear. She didn’t want you-know-who to hear. She had just taken a coconut cream pie from the oven. It should have had time to cool just enough. I told her to bring it on, and set the whole pie in front of the vacant stool next to me, just in case the aroma might snap someone out of his catatonic state.

  Rosie brought a large plate, sliced two pieces of pie and put them on my plate. I have never “oom-oomed” and “yum yummed” as much as I did those next five minutes. Nothing worked. I even rang Pavlov’s bell. The poor boy never even requested a yogurt. Maybe I could find someone at the department who would break into Lou’s apartment and steal his Wii. I wondered if the Wii company ever recalled those things.

  +++

  I pulled into the “Visitors Parking” area at Parkway Arms and pulled my map of the premises from my shirt pocket. I wanted to consult my map, but I also wanted to allow my lunch an ample amount of time to find a spot to rest while I worked. I looked over the list of residents and decided to begin my questioning on the third floor. I already knew that Russell Cochran and Elaine Jewell were the only ones who had had their breakfasts sent up that morning and that Cochran and Mrs. Higgins were the only ones to have their lunches sent up. I wanted to let Miss Draper know that Lou and I were there to question the residents. She sighed, knowing that we had to do it. When I returned from her office, I noticed Lou and the cop on duty laughing about something. They stopped laughing when I joined them.

  “Well, my friend, are you ready to quit having a good time and get back to work?”

  “Ready when you are.”

  I walked over toward the elevator, noticed a sign on the door, “Elevator out of order. Please use the stairs. Sorry for the inconvenience.” Luckily I recognized Lou’s handwriting, ignored the sign, and pushed the button. Then, I ripped the sign from the door, handed it back to Lou. He smiled, folded it, put it in his pocket.

  10

  Christine Hunt lived across the hall from Russell Cochran. Lou and I walked up to her door and knocked. We had talked to someone who worshipped Mrs. Higgins. We were about to talk to someone who despised her. I knocked and waited for someone to answer the door. In a few seconds, an elegantly-looking woman opened the door and looked at us with a quizzical look on her face. Like many of the other females we had encountered at the apartment building, this woman was above average in height and not overweight.

  “Yes? May I help you with something?”

  “I assume you are Christine Hunt.”

  “I am. And you are?”

  “I am Lt. Dekker of the Hilldale Police Department and this is Sgt. Murdock. We’d like a few minutes of your time.”

  “Whatever for?”

  “Do you mind if we step in?”

  “Oh, all right, if you insist. Has there been a burglary in the neighborhood? We’re pretty safe here. We keep our doors locked, and no one can get in the windows.”

  “Do you know a woman named Hazel Allnut?”

  “Hazel, of course. Did something happen to her?”

  I refrained from saying, “I wish,” and answered, “No, I was just wondering what you can tell me about her.”

  “Well, she’s a friend of mine. I don’t know why, because both of us are the assertive type, like to get our way. But we get along famously.”

  “When is the last time you saw her?”

  “Oh, a couple of days ago. I started to check with her to see if she wanted to go shopping and to lunch with me yesterday, but it slipped my mind, so I ended up going alone.”

  “So, you were out yesterday. When did you leave and when did you come home?”

  “Normally I don’t pay attention to that stuff, but I needed to get out of here before they started shampooing the carpet, and I couldn’t come back until afterward. Anyway, I left here a little before 10:00, got back just after 4:00. Probably more like 4:15. Did something happen while I was gone?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, you seem to be interested in my whereabouts, and my friend. Anyone else you want to know about?”

  “How about Russell Cochran? Do you know him?”

  “Know him? I dream about him every night. He’s a handsome devil and the two of us could make wonderful music together. Of course, for some reason I can’t understand he has had his eye on that Higgins woman on the second floor. But if what I heard at breakfast this morning is correct, she keeled over sometime yesterday, so I guess old Russell is fair game now.”

  “You seem to be pretty broken up about Mrs. Higgins’ death.”

  “Oh, so that’s why you’re here. You think I bumped her off. How did she die, anyway? No one seems to know.”

  “Including me. Maybe I’ll let you know when I find out. When was the last time you saw her?”

  “So, someone did bump her off. Let me know who
did it. I’ll want to drink a toast to him or her.”

  “I don’t believe you answered my question.”

  “Which was?”

  “When was the last time you saw Mrs. Higgins?”

  “You mean alive? Sorry, a little joke there. I saw her at breakfast yesterday morning. I didn’t slip anything into her orange juice, although I’ve been tempted to many times.”

  “So, how did you know it was something in the orange juice that killed her?”

  “The policeman can be a jokester, too. I like that in a man. Maybe if things don’t work out between Russell and me, I’ll look you up. Looks like you know a good meal when you see one. Maybe you can take me out sometime. By the way, what’s wrong with him? He hasn’t said a word.”

  “He’s in training. He’s just supposed to sit still and take notes.”

  “I haven’t seen him take any notes.”

  “See, how good he is. He takes notes so quickly that no one even notices that he’s taking them.”

  “Is he as funny as you are? Sometimes those strong silent types are good company. Still water runs deep.”

  “I don’t think you’re his type.”

  “Oh, and what’s wrong with me?”

  “Oh, nothing. But he has a tendency to stand in front of a mirror admiring himself. It’s something recent. Never did that until he bought a Wii.”

  “Oh, does he have one of those things? I bet he has a Wii Fit, too.”

  “Don’t tell me you like those things, too?”

  “Never found a need for one. Of course, I could get interested. I was on the Internet this morning, a site called YouTube, you’ve probably heard of it, and I saw the sexiest man doing the hula hoop. Come to think of it, he looked a lot like you. It was you. You wolf you. Here you are acting like he’s the one doing this stuff, when all the time it’s you. Maybe we can get together sometime and try it out. I’m always game for something different.”