Muttering to herself, she stood in front of the furnace, her eyes tracing the paths of the ducting above her head. It took her several tries, but she finally found the one she wanted, and kept her eyes on its path as she walked down its length. At last, about six feet away from the furnace, she found what she was looking for. It was a metal lever on the outside of the duct, with a metal plate around it inscribed with the words OFF and ON.
It was switched to OFF.
Edwina knew what that meant, because she’d played in the basement of her family’s huge home since she was a child. The switch was the damper to a certain room, and in this case, it was the damper to Gridhorn’s office.
Where he had died. There was no heat going to that room at all.
Edwina looked around for a second, then walked toward the wall, where a stack of old ladderback chairs was tossed in a jumble. Pulling out a chair with a missing leg, she hefted it back to the damper and sighed as she set it down.
“Oh, this is gonna be very bad,” Edwina muttered to herself, but she screwed up her face and did what had to be done.
She had to be sure.
Feeling guilty about the damage that she was going to do, and sorry for the person who’d have to repair it, she picked up the chair, both hands on the back of it, and swung it with all her might at the ducting going toward the office.
The chair hit with an enormous bang, echoing through the entire basement, and shaking the pipe so hard and so loudly it scared Edwina a bit. She gasped and looked around, halfway expecting someone to come pelting down the basement stairs and ask what the hell she was doing, but when no one emerged, she carefully set the chair down and inspected the damage.
It was a perfect hit, and had done exactly what she’d intended. The seams of the ducting had bent and come apart, with one side of the new opening skewed out of place enough that she could see inside the pipe.
Carefully avoiding the sharp metal edges, Edwina peered inside the blackness, then reached in to pull out what she saw. Withdrawing it, she stopped breathing when the item was brought out into the dim light.
It was two white, cotton coats, wadded up and covered in coal dust, that had been strategically placed to be sure no air at all would get in the office.
Or out of it.
Chapter 26
By the time Edwina had gotten up the stairs and out of the basement, she had the unnerving feeling someone or something down there had been watching her. Maybe it was the darkness, or fear of spiders, or nerves, but whatever it was, she gulped in clean, relieved breaths as she shut the doors to the stairs behind her.
The office was unlocked, the lights out, but Edwina did a quick glance around before easing her way inside. With no doorstop to prop it open, she finally pulled off one of her leather shoes and wedged it in place, leaving a gap of several inches to let in light and fresh air.
Whatever searching had been done when the police arrived and the coroner removed Gridhorn’s body had been tidied up. With everyone so sure Gridhorn had had a heart attack or a stroke, and no visible cause of death to prove otherwise, not much had been moved.
The room was cold. Ice cold. Edwina walked over to the sofa and set her thighs against the arm of it, using all her body to shove it out from the wall enough to peer behind it. As she tried to make out the grate she’d seen before, she crouched down and put her hand out and felt along the wooden panels, finally touching cold metal.
She held her hand in front of the iron grate.
The air, or whatever it was, was pouring into the room, and was cold enough it made her fingers ache.
The basement had been warm, with the huge furnace radiating heat. Even with the ducting being smashed open, the warmed air from downstairs should be flowing up to the floor above, and flooding into the office.
Edwina gasped, then automatically held her breath.
It had to be melted dry ice. It had to be the carbon dioxide that had killed Albert Gridhorn while he was lying on the sofa.
So, I can prove that’s how Gridhorn died, she thought, but then realized she was in the exact same room he’d been killed in.
She spun on the foot that still had a shoe on it, and lurched upwards, but just as she turned down the door it closed with a loud bang.
Her mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes wide as she raced to the door. She could hear someone hurriedly locking with the skeleton key from outside.
“Let me out!” she yelled, gripping the doorknob and twisting it as hard as she could. Pausing, she could hear footsteps running away.
And caught a whiff of a familiar scent.
Bay rum.
She’d smelled that before, in the cafeteria when Max had gone there to get his cigarettes.
“Tanner, you bastard! Come back here!” Edwina hollered, loud enough to wake the dead, but there was no answer.
The door was solid wood, the lock hardened metal. Edwina’s heart was pounding as she glanced back to the displaced sofa, hiding the grate pouring deadly vapors into the room.
She scrambled over to the desk, pulling open drawer after drawer, her fingers desperately scrabbling through the contents as she searched them.
Finally, mercifully, she found it. A large paperclip was at the very back of the narrow pencil drawer, and she gripped it tightly as she knelt in front of the little keyhole. Trying to think back to what Max had done to open the lock before, when Gridhorn’s body had been discovered, Edwina said a little prayer as she twisted the metal of the paperclip into what she hoped was the same sort of tool Max had used.
Cramming it into the keyhole, she dug around the interior of the lock with the wire probe, trying to figure out what to press or move to make the door open. The little whiffs of fresh air she was getting through the keyhole weren’t nearly enough to ensure she’d be conscious for even a few more minutes.
Finally, she closed her eyes and leaned closer, trying to somehow feel what the inside of the lock might look like. She was feeling a bit light-headed, with spots dancing in front of her closed eyelids, her stomach clenched in nausea.
One minute. Then another.
Then finally, something she poked moved. She could it, and she grabbed the doorknob and twisted with all her might.
The door flew outward with a sudden rush of force and wind, slamming into the outside wall, and making Edwina tumble out, headfirst.
A familiar face was staring down at her.
“Max! What are you doing here?”
“Well, I came back to get Snerd. He’s locked in Serena’s workshop, where I thought he’d be safe. I didn’t want to take him home in that cold car until I made sure to get him some food and other cat supplies. saw your car outside and couldn’t figure out why you’d still be here. Are you okay?’
“Yeah, I’m fine, but we need to find Tanner!”
Max looked puzzled. “Why?”
“Because he tried to kill Clyde Baxter!” She hauled herself to her feet and looked around for her missing shoe. “And you said every bachelor should have a cat and he has one and he’s not married and…and he just locked me in there so I’d die, too. I had to pick the lock to get out!”
Max looked at Edwina as if she’d suddenly gone insane. “He tried to kill Baxter? Baxter’s fine. What are you talking about?”
“No, no,” Edwina gasped, patting her sternum as though it would help her catch her breath. “He was trying to kill Baxter but he accidentally killed Gridhorn instead!”
**
“Are you crazy?” Max hollered, gripping the dashboard of Edwina’s car with both hands. “These streets are icy, lady, and you’d better slow down or we’ll —”
“Or we’ll what?” Edwina asked, her eyes riveted on the road ahead of her. She’d seen Tanner’s car rounding the corner up ahead, and there was no way she was going to let him get away with murder. “Quit being such a big baby, Max!” She stomped on the gas pedal and Mr. Edmonson’s borrowed surged ahead, barreling down the street at top speed.
“Watch o
ut for that…!” Max started to say, then his words became a muffled scream as Edwina gripped the steering wheel tighter and leaned forward as she accelerated around the corner.
“Hang on!” she ordered, her eyes locked on Tanner’s car. It had screeched to a stop ahead of them, blocked in by a coal delivery truck that maneuvering slowly back and forth as it tried to back up to a building’s exterior coal chute. As she raced closer, she could see Tanner turn to look at her, his eyes getting bigger and bigger with the sudden realization that even if Edwina slowed down, she was still going to his car.
She did slow down, but not by much. Even with the wheel’s locked up as she pressed the brakes, the momentum of their pursuit and the iciness of the streets were a dangerous combination.
For Edwina, everything seemed to slow down. She could see they were going to ram Tanner’s car, and she pulled the steering wheel hard to the left to change the angle of impact. Inches from the collision, she could see Tanner dive sideways, away from her car, and felt a strong arm thrust out in front of her, as if to protect her.
There was a crunch of metal, a squealing of tires, and the world exploded in front of her.
Later on, she’d say she wasn’t sure if she’d passed out when she’d hit her head, or if the world had just started moving at normal speed again. Opening her eyes, she could the windshield was gone, the front part of the car smashed partway into Tanner’s driver door. There was a smell of rubber, and the sound of a police whistle being blown in the distance.
“You okay?” Max said, and Edwina nodded, even though it hurt.
Apparently satisfied she wasn’t going to die on him, Max climbed over the back of his seat and into the passenger space, then kicked open the back left door of the car.
Edwina watched, her thoughts a bit fuzzy, as Max raced around both of the cars, and yanked open Tanner’s passenger door. Whatever was said, and whatever happened she didn’t get to see, but Max jogged back to her, something clutched in his hand, just as two police officers ran up from the side street.
“I brought you a present,” he said, dropping the envelope he’d been carrying into her lap. “Look at it later. Right now we need to get you to the hospital to get checked out.”
“What is it?” she asked.
Max blew out a long, slow breath of leftover adrenaline and sheer relief at being alive after Edwina’s driving.
“The blackmail material he had on Linwood.”
She smiled, and set her head back on the steering wheel. “Max, you’re a wonder.”
Max looked sideways at her, his chest heaving, his eyes wide. “Lady, you owe me a big, fat steak.”
Chapter 27
“So, you didn’t need my help much after all,” Max said, cutting another big chunk off the luscious T-bone steak in front of him and smearing it around in horseradish sauce. “You seemed to do just fine on your own.”
“Thanks, Max,” Edwina said, sitting back and watching him with a sense of satisfaction. Whatever odd sort of a man Max was, or whatever criminal past he may have dealt with, when it came down to brass tacks he was a good guy to have in her corner.
“So,” Max said, around a mouthful of meat, “tell me how this all played out.” He swallowed quickly and took a swig of his iced tea. “I think I’ve got it. Basically, Tanner had the hots for Miss Linwood…I mean, Mrs. Baxter, and he didn’t know she was married. He wanted her for himself, and the only way he figured out he could get her to rely on him is if he used some old information about her past to scare her. Then, he could take the money she’d given him from the blackmail arrangements, and use that to try to win her over.”
“Pretty much,” Edwina said, motioning for the waiter to bring her dinner companion another iced tea. “I think he also thought if she was worried about her reputation she’d kind of be more at his social level, and easier to see him as a potential mate. The problem was, he had no idea she was dating Baxter, and when he found out he thought she was having some sort of sordid affair. He figured it out right before those photos came out in the newspapers, and that’s when he decided he was going to kill Baxter.”
“Bad timing for Gridhorn then, wasn’t it? If he hadn’t insisted on doing the editing that night…” Max looked at Edwina. “Bad luck. Did Tanner already have the room set up to kill someone?”
“Yep, and the police have gotten a confession from him. He’d cut the power to the dry ice storage in the building next door, and bored holes in the wall between the office and the dry ice room. When the ice melted, the carbon dioxide poured right through the grate into the little office. With it sealed like it was, it was a death trap.” She cleared her throat. “My bet is that the photographers who took those photos of Linwood and Baxter were probably alerted to where they’d be by Bunny, but I can’t prove it yet. I let Linwood know of my suspicions, but it will be up to her to decide what to do about them.”
“Bunny, huh? That would make sense, but I’m still disappointed she’d do something like that. If it’s true, I mean. She’s always looking for ways to make some cash. So, what did you do with the envelope I gave you?” Max asked, trying to appear disinterested.
“I gave it to Gloria Linwood, and she burned it.”
Max nodded in approval. “Sounds good.” He looked up. “So, now that you’ve solved the case, that Gridhorn was murdered instead of just dying in his sleep, what are you going to do next?”
Edwina eyeballed the dessert cart that a smiling waiter was slowly wheeling by to tempt her. She gestured at the chocolate mousse and a large piece of coconut cake. Plopping the cake down in front of Max, she finally answered.
“Well, I’m going to keep solving mysteries, that’s for certain. I like it.” Her smile was wide and genuine. “I like helping people, and I think I’m pretty good at it, if I say so myself.”
“You are,” Max said. “How did you know I like coconut?”
“All men like coconut,” Edwina answered, even though she had no idea if that was true or not. “Also, I think the other thing I’m going to do is go stay with my Aunt Zinnia for a while. I think a change in atmosphere might be a really good thing for me.” She picked up her spoon to dig into the chocolate mousse. “Also, she’s the only one in my family who would’ve bailed me out if I’d been arrested for something, and not given me a two-hour lecture afterward. So,” Edwina said, “I’ve got a couple of questions for you, mister.”
Max eyed her warily as he cut off another piece of steak. “I thought we said we weren’t going to pry into each other’s personal lives.”
“This isn’t personal. I just want to know why you were snooping around Serena’s costuming room. I saw you coming out of there the other day, and it certainly appeared that you didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Oh, that.” Max looked off in the distance, and Edwina had a sneaking suspicion that he was trying to decide how much of the truth he wanted to share with her.
“Well, Mr. Wickett thought Serena might have a pinky ring he’d… left behind with her, and he paid me to go see if I could retrieve it.”
Edwina’s thoughts instantly flashed back to Serena’s confession about having a one-night stand with Wickett. Apparently, either the writer had accidentally left behind his ring, or Serena had stashed it for her own. Either way, it wasn’t anything Edwina needed to get involved with.
She couldn’t help but tease Max a bit. “So, what did she say when you asked her about it?”
Max shot her a look of dismay, and she had to stifle a laugh. “Okay, I take it you didn’t ask her. So,” she said, “I take it you didn’t find it?”
“Nope,” he said. “I had to give him back his five bucks.”
“So, what are your plans, now that the case is closed?” She gave him a sly smile.
“Nothing much.” He blew out a long sigh of frustration, his brow furrowed in anxiety. “Now that Olivia doesn’t want anything to do with me, I’m kind of footloose and fancy-free.” He glanced toward the door. “But I’ll get by. I always
do. Maybe they’re hiring over at the meatpacking plant. I’m sure Mr. Gustavson could put in a good word for me in the pickling room.”
“Oh, I don’t think that would be a job you’d like very much,” Edwina said, suppressing a grin. “A man like you has a lot of talents that could work to help people, including me. What do you think about coming to work for a private detective?”
Max leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, his face suddenly relaxing into hope. “For you?” He blew out a deep breath between tight lips, as though he was making light of her offer. “Oh, I don’t know about that. What’s it pay, and what would I have to do?”
“Oh, I pay good money for good work,” Edwina promised, and when she saw his face relax and his expression turn hopeful, she added, “and I need someone to teach me some of the skills you have.”
“What skills?” Max asked, looking down at his fingernails as if what Edwina was saying held little interest for him.
“Lockpicking, for one.”
He nodded, and Edwina suppressed a smile when she continued.
“Also, how to obtain… certain items that other people don’t want me to obtain.”
One of Max’s dark eyebrows arched in understanding.
“Oh, really? That may cost you extra, you know.”
“Think you could teach me?” A slow grin stretched across her face. “And I may need you to do a few errands for me, from time to time.”
Max shrugged noncommittally, but Edwina could see a ghost of a smile playing around the edges of his mouth. “Yeah, okay. I guess I could do that. When do I start?”
“As soon as I get another case.”
He nodded. “It’s not going to send me back to jail, is it? I’ve done my time, and I don’t want to go back.”
“I don’t want you to break any laws,” Edwina said.
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