4 Murder at Breakfast

by Steve Demaree

  “Well, Cy, you are forgetting two other possibilities.”

  “What are they, Heather?”

  “One, someone could have come across the roof from the next apartment. Two, someone could have come down the ladder over by the other apartment.”

  “We’d already thought of those possibilities. We just wanted to know if those were the only ways someone could have gotten into the apartment.”

  “Well, I hope I’ve been some help to you, Cy.”

  “Of course you have. Besides, it’s always good to see you.”

  We walked Heather out, gave her a hug, and thanked her for all her help. Then we turned around and trudged back inside the building, feeling a little defeated. Anyone could have used the rope ladder to get inside the apartment. But I still didn’t like the fact that all of the evidence was pointing to the apartment. That scared me. It was like someone wanted us to forget all about breakfast, or anything else outside of the apartment.

  32

  Lou and I took a seat inside the apartment. This time I beat him to the punch.

  “Well, what do you think, Lou?”

  “I think Heather will be quite a catch for someone.”

  “I agree with you there, but what about the case?”

  “Well, it looks like it’s down to old man Cochran’s ladder, the rope ladder, someone with a key, or the breakfast table. I guess that means we need to be looking out in the parking lot.”

  “Let’s look at what we have, from the standpoint of this apartment. More than likely the chain was on this door. Russell Cochran definitely had his chain on, so no one could have gotten in that way, and Elaine Jewell was in her apartment, keeping someone from getting in that way. It looks like someone either did it at breakfast, or on the way to or from, that someone she trusted knocked on her door when she returned, or returned with her, or that someone came down the rope ladder. The problem with the rope ladder is that it seems someone would have heard someone else climbing down the rope ladder.”

  “But I think that it’s just as likely that someone would have heard someone else walking across the roof.”

  “Are you saying that it must have been done at breakfast?”

  “Unless the chain wasn’t on and someone with a key got in. We know who have keys. At least we think we do.”

  “Let’s see. There are Margaret Draper, Wally Gentry, Margie Washburn, Russell Cochran, and Hilda Winters. Somehow I don’t think we’ve eliminated half of our suspects. I think everyone is still an option.”

  “Well, I’ve ruled out Heather. I don’t think she was here in time to murder anyone.”

  “Yeah, as far as we know, she doesn’t have a key. We had to let her in. But we’re not getting anywhere this way. Let’s try going all the way back to the beginning last Friday and see if we can come up with anything that will help us put an end to this mess.

  “Let’s start with the first day’s clue, “a farewell to arms.”

  “You mean you can remember the clues now, Cy?”

  “No, but I started taking notes. I’m not as young as I used to be. Anyway, looking back on that, I’m sure all it means is that Mrs. Higgins died and she lived at Parkway Arms. I don’t think there’s anything else to read into it. So, we came out here and found Frank bending over the body.”

  “You think Frank did it?”

  “Probably not. He’s seen his share of dead bodies. So, anyway, we looked over the scene, found a window unlocked, and found a half-eaten plate of food. We didn’t know it at the time, but that food didn’t kill her. We questioned the manager, the cook, and the handyman, found out everyone’s schedule, meal times, etc. Everyone but Russell Cochran and Elaine Jewell ate breakfast in the dining room, which is important because that was the time of day she died. All of the residents except Cochran were gone for lunch, and only two of the staff ate lunch in the dining room. The manager ate in her office, the two maids in their apartments. None of that matters, because the woman was dead by then, and because it was carpet shampooing day, the maids nor anyone else could go anywhere near the dead woman’s apartment at lunch time or any other time until 4:00. Still, that has nothing to do with the murder, because, according to Frank, Mrs. Higgins was dead by 9:30. That means she died before any of the residents left the building, so no one has an alibi for the time of the murder. Have I left anything out?”

  “Not that I can tell. I’m impressed, Cy.”

  “So, let’s move on to Saturday. Saturday’s clue of the day was ‘Ray Nitschke.” As far as I call tell, all that was was a warning that I’d be trampled unto near death by a linebacker maid. I guess that’s slightly better than the bulls at Pamplona. Only because there are more bulls at Pamplona than linebacker maids at Parkway Arms. As far as looks are concerned, I can’t tell much difference between the bulls and the linebacker maid, especially when they flare their nostrils.”

  “You’re just jealous, Cy.”

  “No, I think you are. You’re the one who wasn’t attacked by the brute of a woman.”

  I failed to add that it was good that it had been a man of more girth.

  “But back to our mission. On Saturday, we still didn’t know how the woman died, but we talked to the two maids and five of the residents. One maid seemed to like her, the other one didn’t know her well. As far as the residents are concerned, one, Mr. Cochran, liked her very much, or so he says; one, Miss Winters, acted like she was her best friend; one, Miss Jewell, seemed ambivalent about the deceased; and the other two, Mrs. Hunt and Mrs. Moberly, didn’t care for her. I don’t think we need to read anything into this. Many times people aren’t willing to share their true feelings, especially if one of those people is a murderer.”

  “And I think one of the ten people we’ve talked to in the last week, Cy, is a murderer. It’s just finding out which one it is.”

  “And that’s what we’re trying to do. I’m not here for a little R &R.”

  “No, you can get that at home, Cy.”

  “Except when someone in this town is foolish enough to commit murder, which is why we’re here. So, let’s skip over the R & R of Sunday, and move on to Monday. Monday’s clue of the day was “John Dickson Carr.” While that would’ve meant nothing to us a few months ago, we now know that John Dickson Carr is the author who was best known for writing about people who were found murdered in a locked room, a room where it seemed impossible for anyone to enter or exit. What we have to decide is whether or not Mrs. Higgins was murdered in her apartment. This case is a little different from other cases we’ve handled and the ones Carr wrote about, because we know most anyone could’ve entered the apartment, it’s just that they had to enter that apartment at a particular time, or at least there were certain times when no one could enter because of the wet carpet.

  “But Monday was also the day that Frank called us with the autopsy reports, and that just got me to thinking about something I hadn’t thought about before. He said that the poison took about thirty minutes to kill the woman. That means that it’s highly unlikely that someone poisoned her before breakfast. If so, she must’ve ingested the poison just before coming to breakfast. From what we can ascertain, she spent approximately thirty minutes at breakfast, but it could’ve been less. That means that either she was poisoned at breakfast, or someone visited her apartment after she returned. I wonder if someone she trusted stopped by her apartment and asked her to try something or other. If someone did offer her something, it doesn’t mean that they had to sneak in and out immediately, or that Mrs. Higgins didn’t have time to slide the chain back on her door after he or she left. After all, it took the poison thirty minutes to kill her. I wish we knew more.”

  “I understand what you mean, Cy. If we could figure out what poisoned her and where she was poisoned, we’d have a better chance of figuring out who did it. Too bad she wasn’t found until hours later. If she’d been found that morning, Frank would’ve been able to narrow down her time of death a lot more.”

  “One thing that h
as bothered me the whole time, Lou, is if she was murdered some time around breakfast, and I believe Frank knows what he’s talking about when he says she was, why did the murderer make another trip back to this apartment? Surely doing that increased his or her chances of getting caught.”

  “That’s bothers me too, Cy, considering the situation. It wouldn’t have been quite as bold if the carpet hadn’t been shampooed and the handyman wasn’t outside most of the day. Supposedly, he was only inside for meals and necessary trips. He could’ve caught someone coming down that ladder out of Mr. Cochran’s room any other time, or the rope ladder from the apartment above hers, for that matter.”

  “Of course, we have only Wally’s word that he was outside most of the time, Lou. Remember, the cook said she went out to see him one time and he wasn’t there. He did come back shortly, but where was he at the time? And anyway, I’m not convinced that he would’ve caught whoever it was. If he was working the flower beds, he couldn’t have seen someone walk across the roof unless he moved away from the building. Besides, Mrs. Higgins was already dead before he went outside the first time.”

  “You’re right, because Wally helped the maids move the furniture before he ever got to those flower beds.”

  “Oh, well! Maybe something will open up soon. We questioned the manager, the cook, and the handyman again on Monday, but I can’t remember anything enlightening that any of them had to say. I mean Margaret Draper said that Martha Carpenter left the dining room to send up Russell Cochran’s food tray, but it wasn’t like the cook denied doing it. And Wally Gentry said he was outside most of the day and would’ve heard Cochran if he’d come down the ladder, unless he had come down when Wally was inside eating lunch. Same with someone else and the rope ladder.”

  “The old guy seemed pretty sick to me when we questioned him. I don’t think he had anything to do with her death. I think he was sincere when he said that he loved her.”

  “I agree with you, Lou, which leads me to my next point. Tuesday’s word from God was ‘an oath,” and that’s one clue that I haven’t figured out yet. As far as I can tell, it either has to mean that someone swore to us, or that someone told the truth. Well, no one swore to us, and my guess is all but one of these people could’ve told us the truth, so this clue baffles me. What about you, Lou?”

  “I’d agree, Cy. I think it baffles you. I’ve been hanging around you for a long time, and I think you’re telling the truth.”

  “What about when I tell you I’m thinking about taking you up to the roof over the third floor and seeing if you can fly down to that roof below?”

  “No, the twitch of your moustache tells me that you’re lying this time.”

  “I don’t have a moustache.”

  “See, even you can’t tell when you’re lying.”

  “Lou, shut up, or you’ll hear an oath. Now, let’s move on. One thing that I remember, after looking at my notes, is that some of these people were quick to alibi other people. Wally said there was no way Russell Cochran could’ve come down the ladder. Both maids said the other maid didn’t have an opportunity to enter the dead woman’s apartment, and the third floor maid agreed with Wally, that Russell Cochran couldn’t have done it.”

  “But, Cy, the residents didn’t seem as eager to alibi for each other as the staff did to alibi for each other and some of the residents.”

  “I agree with you there. While none of them implicated anyone in particular, there were references to someone walking by in the hall, someone leaning over the dead woman at breakfast, or getting her something else to eat or drink. Still, I don’t think any of this has gotten us anywhere so far, so lets’ carry on.

  “We’re up to Wednesday, yesterday, the day we ate all of our meals here. Yesterday’s clue was ‘the rope, the lead pipe, and the candlestick.’ Since at no point during the day did anyone ask us if we wanted to play a game of Clue, the only thing I can think that those have in common is that they are all murder weapons in the Clue game, so I’d think they were supposed to tell us something about how the woman was murdered. They didn’t tell me, Lou. How about you?”

  “Well, we did find a rope of sorts, if you want to call the rope ladder a rope.”

  “Okay, I vote that we call it one. Motion carried. Now, is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”

  “Well, Cy, I didn’t want to have to tell you, but I guess I must. Remember yesterday when I left the breakfast table a couple of hours before you did. Well, on the elevator one of the women asked me if I wanted to play a game of Clue. It was only because of my brilliance, and my distaste for Colonel Mustard, that I was able to solve the murder so quickly.”

  “Lou, did you ever hear that a person becomes a lot funnier just before he dies?”

  “No, Cy, I didn’t, but I guess that bodes well for you. Looks like you’ll be around a lot longer.”

  “I haven’t told you this, Lou, but I got a call from downtown. They asked me if you were still pulling your weight. I had to tell them that you’d let me down there lately. So, they asked me if I’d like a replacement. I told them I’d think about it. Come to think of it, I think Heather might enjoy bringing murderers to justice.

  “And another good thing about Heather. She probably eats more than you do, these days.”

  “Okay, Cy. You win. I’ll buy you a Wii for your birthday.”

  “Let’s get back to yesterday, Lou, the day we ate three meals here.”

  “I ate three, Cy. I think someone said you ate six. I know Martha confided in me that she had to go to the store three times yesterday.”

  “Oh, Lou, eat your daily M & M. We’ve got a murder to solve. Now, even you, in your delicate condition, can remember today’s clue, ‘Chutes and Ladders,’ only today’s clue seemed to tell us how the murderer didn’t get in. Does that mean that yesterday’s clue about the rope means nothing, either?

  “Now, I think Heather’s help afforded us the knowledge that no one could’ve gotten up or down the dumbwaiter or the laundry chute. While someone could’ve used the rope to come down from the storage area, that too could be a red herring. Obviously some of these things are. She couldn’t have died in that many different ways. Breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacking after breakfast.”

  “Cy, do you think there’s anything to the Winters woman throwing down the rope ladder?”

  “My guess is no. But then maybe she’s smart enough that she thinks if we caught her doing it, and if she willingly gave us the rope ladder, we’d think she’s innocent. On the other hand, remember, she wasn’t the only one who fed us that story about her being afraid of a fire.”

  “I tend to agree that her story about the rope ladder doesn’t mean anything.”

  “So, what else can you think of?”

  “Only that nothing I saw at the dining room table at any of the meals yesterday allowed me to zero in on any particular person. I’m sure it has to be someone here, but no one here looks guilty. Oh, at times they all look guilty, but I think that has more to do with the police hovering over them than being guilty of something.”

  “Well, you’d think that’s the case for all but one of them.”

  “Yeah, but which one?”

  33

  Lou was right. We hadn’t narrowed our suspect list, because we hadn’t learned anything concrete about the murder, other than the fact that the woman was poisoned, and was poisoned at some point between 7:00-9:00 on Friday morning. Any one of our ten suspects could have done the job at some point between 7:00-9:00.

  The time frame gave me some ideas. I told Lou to take it easy, that I needed to ask a question of a few people. He asked me how long I would be gone. I figured he was trying to see if he had enough time for a few Wii exercises.

  I began my questioning at the apartment next to the one we were in, Miss Jewell’s place. I knocked on the door. The look on her face as she answered told me she wished I would quit bothering her.

  “Miss Jewell, I have just a couple of questions for you. First, c
an you tell me if you heard anyone coming back from the dining room Friday morning?”

  “No. But I was probably still eating at the time. Because I chose to eat in my room, I was the last one served, or at least one of the last two.”

  “So you heard no one. No one on the roof, either, at that time or anytime later?”

  “No, but then I seldom hear anyone in the hall, and if Russell has ever used that ladder to get down to the roof, I’m not aware of it. If he really did it, he was quiet about it. And like I said, part of the time I was in the shower.”

  “And what time did you leave here to go shopping?”

  “Were you in your apartment all the time, or did you step out into the hall at any time before you left to go out for the day?”

  “What are you trying to say? You don’t think I murdered the woman?”

  “I’m not accusing you or anyone else at this point. I’m merely asking you a question.”

  “Okay, so I was in the apartment, but I don’t have any way of proving it. No one was here with me.”

  “Does anyone who lives here have a key to your apartment?”

  “Yes, if you must know, but don’t read anything into this. We trade keys so no one gets locked out. Hilda Winters has one, so does Russell Cochran, plus the two women who are away.”

  “And do you have a key to each of their apartments?”

  “I said we trade keys, so yes.”

  “Miss Jewell, is it possible that anyone could’ve been in your apartment while you were in the shower?”

  “You asked that question before, and the answer is still ‘no.’ And I wouldn’t have seen or heard anyone out on the roof. I had my blinds drawn. When I’m going to be going out for the day, I don’t open them in the morning. Besides, I had my TV on.”

  “Well, thank you for your time. I’m just out checking some things with a few people.”

  “Well, I hope you get through checking soon.”

  “Me, too.”

  I left her, hurried downstairs, looked to see if I could find Martha, the cook. I found her leaving her apartment, on the way to the kitchen to fix supper. The day was really getting away from me. I didn’t realize it was that late.