Whodunit?

by Joy Bassetti-Kruger

-Barlow did it. You see Barlow was originally a suspect in one of our high-profile cases. Then an alibi came forward and said that he was with him, so we were forced to let Barlow go. But if you know something that could perhaps help us with this case, please tell us about it. We could really do with some help, Ruth.”

  Ruth looked scared, but then she shook her head, and said, “It wasn’t me that taught Cookie to say that. Nooo, it definitely wasn’t me.”

  Alison laughed and said, “Oh come on Ruth, how can you say that when the bird says it by mimicking your voice almost exactly.”

  Ruth’s eyes became huge and she said, “That’s not fair. Why does she do that?”

  “Oh Ruth, it’s not her fault. Parrots always mimic the voice of the person that teaches them to say the words. But please Ruth if you know anything about Barlow or this case, you need to tell us about it right now.”

  Ignoring what Alison had said for a moment, Ruth asked hesitantly, “Did Cookie really say, -Barlow did it? Because I’ve been teaching her that for weeks already and she wouldn’t say it for me. So why did she suddenly say it for you?”

  “I don’t know the answer to that, Ruth. But it’s probably because parrots are unpredictable. Sometimes they just suddenly come out with the words that you’ve been trying to teach them for ages. Like last night, for instance, when she said both -Barlow did it and also, -Come on baby please just say it for me! I could hardly believe my ears, but look Ruth we’re not angry with you or anything. We just want to know why you didn’t come directly to us with this information. Surely you must have known that going through Cookie was dicey, to say the least, as she often takes months to learn just a few new words.”

  Ruth looked anxious and gnawed at her fist. Then after glancing at Cookie, she blurted out, “I was afraid. In fact, I’m still very scared that I’ll be blamed for stealing that necklace and also for whatever happened to Barlow inside his office that night.”

  Pricking up his ears at the mention of the words both ‘necklace’ and ‘Barlow’ in the same sentence, Dick quickly intervened by saying, “Okay Ruth, it’s no big deal really and there’s nothing for you to be afraid of. Just tell us what you know about Barlow and the necklace and also about what happened to Barlow several nights later. Please Ruth any information you have will go a long way in helping us to solve this case.”

  Ruth pursed her lips before saying, “Sure, as long as you promise not to fire me or to send me to jail.”

  Dick smiled and said, “Of course we won’t fire you, Ruth. And you definitely won’t go to jail for this. Look if you can give us some relevant information we’ll even give you a raise.”

  Ruth looked at him skeptically before saying, “Okay then, it’s a deal. It’s just that Barlow worked in the offices where I used to clean at night and when I saw him with that awful woman they were busy looking at the necklace.”

  Beginning to connect the dots, Dick said, “Oh I see, but did you actually see him stealing the necklace out of the office safe?”

  “No, I didn’t see him stealing it. This all happened two weeks after the necklace had already been stolen. You see I used to read all the newspapers that they threw out, so I knew about the necklace and I’d also seen a picture of it. Then when I saw Barlow and his fancy woman drinking and fooling around in his office, I noticed that they were looking at the necklace. They didn’t know I’d already come in to clean the offices so they were talking quite loudly and also the door was open. Then even when they moved away and went to lie on the carpet together, I could still see them reflected in the big mirror in the passageway. At first they were just holding the necklace up to the light, but then he fastened it around her neck and they kissed and cuddled and he unbuttoned her blouse. After this, they were at it for a while. You know what I mean. But later when he tried to take the necklace back from her she moved away and wouldn’t allow him unfasten it. She also screamed at him loudly and said he was a pig for taking advantage of her and then demanding the necklace back. She said she thought he’d given it to her in payment for the sex they regularly had. Barlow was furious by then, but at first they just argued. Then he suddenly grabbed her arm and demanded that she give him the necklace. They wrestled for a bit, but I couldn’t see what was really going on as they’d moved across the room. Then it sounded as if something huge got smashed. Everything went silent after this and I began to feel very scared. I didn’t know what to do, but a few moments later she came running out of his office in a big hurry. She also put the latch down and slammed the door behind her, which meant that I couldn’t get into the office to clean, or go in to see what had happened in there. She didn’t see me at all because I’d already hidden behind the curtains, but I was still very scared. At the time, I thought I should phone someone, but I didn’t know who to phone, as I didn’t want to be blamed for whatever had happened inside that office.”

  Dick nodded and said, “This is all very interesting, Ruth. It’s also very helpful to us, but after that night did you ever see Barlow or the woman again?”

  Ruth shook her head vigorously, and said, “No, I was still shaking with fear after she ran out, so I quickly put my cleaning cart back inside the cupboard and then I caught a taxi back home. It was awfully quiet in that office though and as Barlow still hadn’t come out; I realized that something bad must have happened to him. I stopped going to work there after this and now I work here instead. So please don’t be angry with me or fire me, as I really need this job.”

  Noting how scared she was, Dick said reassuringly, “It’s all right Ruth; please don’t allow this to upset you so much. I promise you that nobody is going to hurt you or put you in jail. I just wish you’d given us this information sooner, as it would have saved us a lot of valuable time.”

  They continued to talk for a while and Alison made an attempt to elicit some further information from Ruth. Then as it appeared that what she’d already told them was the full extent of her knowledge, she tried to use another tactic, by asking, “Would you recognize the woman again, Ruth?”

  “Oh yes, I know who she is. She works one floor down and her name is Felicity Jones. She’s a real tart. She wears skimpy dresses and she’s always chatting up the gents,” Ruth remarked, acidly.

  “Well, Ruth I can tell you that your instincts about her killing Barlow were right. The following Monday, his secretary, found him in his office with his head bashed in. What you’ve told us will definitely help us to solve this case, mostly because it links his murder to the stolen necklace. We all thought the two incidents were unrelated and that Barlow and a lady friend had simply had an argument in his office and that she’d then bashed the vase over his head. Traces of lipstick and some fingerprints were discovered on one of the wine glasses on his desk, but up until now we’ve been unable to match up the fingerprints. Also, the vase that was shattered has traces of Barlow’s blood on it, as well as someone else’s fingerprints. So this ties in neatly with your story about hearing something large being smashed. Look Ruth there’s a reward for information on this case. And as we still don’t have any other suspects and nobody else has yet linked Barlow’s death to the necklace case, you’ll be entitled to that money and we’ll be able to prove what really went on in the office that night. Gosh, this is splendid stuff, Ruth. Now I just hope that Felicity Jones’s fingerprints and lipstick matches the evidence on the wine glass and the vase.”

  Shamelessly, Ruth now asked, “How much money will I get for telling you all this, Alison?

  Amused by Ruth’s sudden change of heart, Alison said, “Fifty thousand Rand, which we’ll be able to claim on your behalf. But you’ll first have to give us a signed statement and also tell the police what you know about Barlow and his floozy. Then the police will still have to match up the fingerprints and so forth before we can claim the money for you. But we will do it as soon as possible. So does this sound okay to you, Ruth?”

  As if she was carefully considering
the advantages of fully trusting them, Ruth hesitated for a moment before saying, “Fine, I’ll do it. But only if you’re sure that I won’t be thrown me in jail for not phoning the police that night and telling them about what I saw happening inside Barlow’s office.”

  Realizing she needed some further re-assurance, Alison said, “I promise that we’ll help you with that part of the deal, Ruth. We’ll probably leave out the bit about Cookie though. Instead, we’ll just tell the police that when you discovered we were working on the Barlow case, you told us about what you’d seen happening in the office that night when you were still working there.”

  Ruth nodded and appeared to be satisfied with this arrangement.

  But Dick suddenly chipped in and said, “No, no, no, that’s hardly fair on Cookie. Without her input, we’d still be stumbling around in the dark. Also, you’d be depriving me my finest hour in court, Alison. I just can’t wait to see Judge Cameron’s face when I walk into court with a parrot on my shoulder and tell him that she’s one of our informants, as well as my first witness. Then when I tell him that he’ll have to be patient with her while I coax her into saying, -‘Barlow did it,’ he’ll either