A Tango Before Dying

by Anna Celeste Burke

  “Unless they were deliberately left to be easily found to set up some poor sap for both the murder of Madame Chantel and the attempt on Kevin Whitley’s life.”

  “That’s something to consider once we know what the crime lab has discovered after examining those items. Maybe you’re right and it’s just a little too stupid and clumsy to dump such important evidence there. Let’s see what else might have been left along with more of those foxy whiskers.”

  “Carter Whitley’s young, but maybe he’s precocious and intent on a life of crime since he holds such contempt for the workaday world.”

  “Before I have a sit down with him tomorrow, I’ll know more about his past misdeeds. Given what Charlotte said to him, even though he’s young, he started early if his parents reached the point that they sent him to his granddad before he was grown.” Jack harrumphed as he made that last comment. After all his years as a police officer, Jack can’t always maintain a clinical, detached manner toward crime. He witnessed the hardship his parents endured at the hands of a few ne’er do well relatives. His decision to become a policeman was more a calling than a job for the Boy Scout I’d married. The attack on Charlotte was personal, given the impact it’s had on Carol toward whom we both felt protective.

  “Okay, the video explains how Natalie Bucco figured out Brett Henson visited Madame Chantel. How did Natalie Bucco discover Charlotte had been murdered? Unless she did it and that’s why she was in such a hurry to get out of there.”

  “Those questions ought to be among the first ones Julie Spencer asks her in the morning. The camera fixed on the corridor outside Charlotte’s suite shows Brett arriving and then leaving about a half hour later, so he’s off the hook. Gary says there’s a housekeeping cart in the hallway by then, so it’s hard to make out exactly what happens after that. Two more people went in and out—a man and a woman.”

  “Who’s the man?”

  “Kevin Whitley.”

  “Well, well, well. You were right with that ‘plot thickens’ comment. I can’t believe he didn’t tell the detective he’d visited Charlotte not long before she was killed.”

  “The doctors made Julie keep the conversation short, and I think she was mainly focused on trying to determine who assaulted him, so he still may not be aware that she’s dead, Georgie.” Jack shrugged. “Our new detective friend has her work cut out for her tomorrow.”

  “She’s your friend, maybe. I don’t believe we’ve bonded yet. I wonder if a quick lesson on tango shoes will bring us closer. Brett Henson didn’t say anything about having a drink with Charlotte. Is Kevin the bourbon drinker?”

  “He didn’t stay long, according to Gary. It doesn’t take long to toss back a shot or two of bourbon so maybe he’s the guy. Why don’t we take Kevin a bottle when we visit—not that he’s in any shape to drink it. Let’s buy a bottle bearing the same label we found on the bottle in Charlotte’s suite and see if it jogs his memory and starts a conversation.”

  “It’s worth a try. He must be a devotee of the stuff—that’s a pricey bottle. You said he wasn’t the last one in her suite, though, right?”

  “Yes. She must still have been alive after Kevin left because as he was leaving, he stops and has a few words with whoever showed him to the door. Apparently, he hustled to the elevator after that. Moments later, a woman knocked on the door. Assuming it was Charlotte who opened the door, she didn’t hesitate to let the woman into her suite. Gary says she was in there longer than Kevin Whitley but left in at least as big a hurry.”

  “So, who is she?”

  “Gary doesn’t know. She pops up out of nowhere, which may mean she was already on the floor in another suite, maybe. Or, she knew about those blind spots and purposely chose a route to avoid the cameras. He describes her as short, with dark, shoulder-length hair and wearing a light blue shirt. She’s mostly hidden from view by the housekeeping cart, coming and going. When she leaves, she dashes toward the stairs across from Charlotte’s suite rather than walk down the hallway to the elevator.”

  “How soon after Kevin left was it before she showed up?”

  “‘A suspiciously short amount of time,’ whatever Gary means by that in the notes he sent me.”

  “Okay, he must mean she had to have been lurking nearby, and maybe even waiting for him to leave.” Jack shrugged.

  “I guess that’s what he’s getting at—he’s a little cryptic and light on explanation in a number of places. He could also be trying not to editorialize too much.”

  “If she was waiting somewhere close, she must have heard his parting words to Charlotte. It’s too bad there’s no audio because if she went after him later, maybe it had something to do with what he said.” Jack was quiet, pondering the issue I guess, when another possibility struck me.

  “We don’t know exactly where the woman came from, but what if she and Kevin crossed paths, he spotted her, and that’s why she had to get rid of him later?”

  “They may not have crossed paths, but there’s a moment on the video just before he reaches the elevator that he stops, and glances over his shoulder. Maybe he heard Charlotte’s voice and thought she was speaking to him again. If that’s true, he could have caught a glimpse of the woman, or she feared he had if she caught him looking.”

  “What’s the plan?” I asked. “She has to be the killer, right?”

  “It would seem so, although we don’t even know for certain what killed Charlotte, or how she was killed. If a long-acting substance killed her, maybe it was administered earlier and took a while to act. The woman in her suite could have dashed out of there if Charlotte suddenly collapsed on the floor in front of her.”

  “What a normal person would do under the circumstances would be to call the front desk and ask for help! Let’s see what the ME can tell us about what was in that syringe and how Charlotte died. I can’t figure out how she allowed someone to inject a toxic substance into her neck, can you?”

  13 Needle Point

  Investigations into murder and mayhem are deviously unpredictable processes. It’s not two steps forward and one step backward when it comes to figuring out whodunit and why. I’d say it’s more of a do-si-do where you circle around the truth hidden in hunches and facts that are also on the move. A moving target, that’s for sure. We’d straightened out a few things about what happened the night before—maybe. Then, bam! We get more news, and everything’s in flux as we circle back over the bits and pieces of information we already had.

  I’d spent half the night, tossing and turning, wondering who the woman in the video footage was, then dozing and fighting off images of a short dark-haired woman trying to stab me in the neck with a hypodermic needle. How short was she for a housekeeping cart to conceal her? I climbed out of bed determined to see for myself if Carol and I could find one while we were at the hotel. I mentioned my plan to Jack, and that’s when the facts started to wriggle and writhe.

  “I sent Gary a text last night asking him to send me the video footage. I wanted to see the segment where Kevin and the unidentified woman turn up at Charlotte’s suite moments apart. After looking at it this morning, I understand how the cart obstructed the view of the woman at the door. It’s not the housekeeping cart an individual might use, but bigger and more like a cart used to restock supplies.”

  “Great! I spent half the night wondering how Charlotte could have been killed by someone who would have had to stand on tiptoe to reach her neck!” I stared at Jack who, in his usual chirpy morning mode, must have climbed out of bed before the alarm went off. In addition to his crack of dawn sleuthing, he’d already showered and shaved and was almost dressed. He tousled my hair before pulling me close for a good morning kiss. The man does know how to wake me up. That’s when Jack’s phone rang, and I suddenly realized we were cat-less.

  “Oh, poor Carol,” I muttered as I slipped on a robe and slippers and hustled down the hallway to the kitchen. I hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps before I smelled coffee. Then I heard music. In the
kitchen, Carol wearing Marvelous Marley World Catmmando Tom PJs, complete with huge Catmmando Tom Cyber-Claw slippers, was dancing with the cats. A sleep mask was pushed up on top of her head. She was using bits of turkey to entice them to join her, but I couldn’t tell you who was more into it—Carol or the cats. When she saw me, she didn’t stop for a second.

  “Good morning, Georgie. These two are fierce and furr-ocious.” Miles must have agreed because he bellowed. Carol turned around with both arms outstretched and the turkey addicts followed her every move.

  “I hope they didn’t wake you up,” I said as I grabbed coffee cups and filled them for Jack and me. A huge, latte-sized mug was already sitting on the granite breakfast bar which explained the string of cat puns that followed.

  “They didn’t wake me up, but they did cat-apult me into action. There’s no purr-crastination with these two a-mew-sing characters around, is there?”

  She lifted one foot off the ground a few inches and Ella ran under her leg, chattering as she dove for a bite of turkey. Then Carol switched legs, tossed a tidbit of turkey, and Miles did the same but in the opposite direction. I turned around to call Jack and almost ran into him with the cup of coffee I’d poured. He stood there with his mouth half-open as if he’d been ready to speak when he was struck dumb by the sight.

  “You’d better drink this if you want to purr-serve the lead you have right now in the race to start the day. Carol’s ready to take the world by storm.” Jack nodded and sipped the coffee I gave him.

  “And well I may as a bona fide storm trooper.” She pulled the mask down onto her face and made the hand gesture used by Catmmando Tom’s Tom Troopers. “What’s up? You look like the cat that swallowed the canary.”

  “I don’t want to spoil the revelatory mood, but I would like to talk to you both before I go. I have news.” He gulped coffee. “What delicious treat do you have for us to go with this coffee, Georgie?”

  “Uh, oh! Brace yourself. Rockford’s gone through his files and come up with a big secret.” Carol took off the mask, slid onto a barstool, and grabbed her coffee. That’s Rockford—as in the Rockford Files—a name she uses because of Jack’s resemblance to James Garner who starred as the TV P.I. “Sweets, please.”

  “Our blueberry coffee cake is a healthy version, but it’s still sweet.” Jack and Carol both looked a bit disappointed as I cut the coffee cake into bars and set pieces for each of us on plates and put them on the granite counter. By the time I’d taken a seat next to them at the breakfast bar, they’d scarfed down most of theirs.

  “News, please!” I said, stuffing my face and gulping coffee, trying to catch up.

  “Detective Spencer called. The ME’s preliminary report says they found a massively elevated level of insulin in the blood sample collected from your godmother’s body at the scene. They also detected flunitrazepam in her urine. Either drug or a combination of the two could have killed her given the amount they found.” When Jack mentioned insulin, I tried to swallow the coffee I’d just sipped, but sucked in air and choked. Carol pounded me on the back.

  “Jack, insulin—diabetes,” I said in a still ragged voice. Jack nodded.

  “I know. I already mentioned it to Julie.”

  “Charlotte wasn’t a diabetic. She had no reason to…” Carol stopped mid-sentence. “Does your reaction have anything to do with a missing medic alert bracelet?”

  “Yes. Carter was sitting outside in his car when we got home. Georgie found this in the hallway, so we figured that’s what he’d come back here to get.” He placed the baggie on the counter that held the items I’d confiscated from Ella.

  “Klepto-kitty stole the bracelet and his driver’s license from him, and he must not have realized it was missing until he got home. The bracelet’s not that shiny, but shiny enough to have caught Ella’s eye.”

  “Carter must have messaged you about the missing bracelet since you so quickly understood why the news about an insulin overdose caused Georgie to get all choked up.”

  “He did, but I shut off my phone and went to bed right after I texted him telling him not to bother picking me up this morning. When I got up and turned on my phone this morning, I had several messages from him. Carter asked me about his missing driver’s license and the medic alert bracelet Kevin uses because he’s diabetic. I told Carter I didn’t know what he was talking about since I never saw them. That’s true, but why didn’t I?”

  “It’s entirely possible Ella robbed Carter and hid the loot until after you went to bed.” I explained what we’d found when we got home later.

  “That’ll teach him. I told him to hang up his jacket when he tossed it on a chair in the great room. He was going to eat greasy fried chicken on your lovely beige sofa in front of the TV. I made him join me at the table in the morning room and told him there were hooks for his jacket in there. I’m pretty sure he said okay, but he didn’t pick up his jacket again until he left.” She shrugged. “In addition to not wanting to trash your beautiful sofa, I didn’t want to spend more time with him watching some stupid show. I needed to be alone and try to absorb the shock of Charlotte’s death.”

  “From what Carter texted you, it’s his grandfather who has diabetes, not him.”

  “Yes. Charlotte told me about it, too, because Kevin sometimes has trouble with his feet that’s somehow related to his diabetes. She was concerned that he might have a problem at the last minute. Carter’s grandfather may have been worried about it, too, because Carter said Kevin urged him to show up for their rehearsal.”

  I chewed on my bottom lip. Kevin had been one of the last people to see Charlotte alive. What if he’d given her the overdose of insulin? Could she have remained conscious during the visit from the woman she let into the suite moments after Kevin left?

  “How long would an insulin injection have taken to act?” I wondered aloud. Charlotte trusted Kevin enough to let him get close, but close enough to inject insulin into her neck without a struggle? Then I snapped to! “Flunitrazepam is the generic for Rohypnol, isn’t it? Remember, Carol, we included a module on date rape drugs when we created the orientation materials for Marvelous Marley World interns?”

  “Yes. Never leave a drink unattended. Never accept a drink from a stranger. Don’t drink from an open container like a punch bowl. Use your hand to keep the top of your drink covered. There were more tips, but it’s easier just to stay out of bars.”

  “If Kevin knocked her out, she wouldn’t have been able to answer her door a few minutes later,” I said.

  “Wait! Are you saying Kevin went into Charlotte’s suite, roofied her, and then injected her with the insulin he uses to control his diabetes? How could he have done that? You just said that Charlotte couldn’t have let that woman in if she’d been drugged. Are you saying they were in it together?”

  “The only thing we can say for sure is that there’s video evidence that Kevin was in your godmother’s suite and not more than an hour before you arrived.” Carol shook her head.

  “I’m still confused. If Kevin or someone else killed her with an insulin overdose, why did the EMTs and Dr. Vincent say she died from cardiac arrest?”

  “Detective Spencer said that may still be regarded as the cause of death even if homicide is ruled as the manner of death. Apparently, insulin overdose can cause arrhythmias that lead to cardiac arrest. The ME did say it was odd that there weren’t any other signs of distress.”

  “Her makeup wasn’t even smudged. She could have walked right onto the dance floor without a glance at the mirror.” Carol’s jaunty, defiant spirit gave way to grief as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Please find out who did this, okay?”

  “I’m on it. In fact, I’m going to go into the office to follow up on a few things. Don’t bother to say another word to Carter. I’d still like to understand why he was in front of the house last night and then took off like a bat out of hell when all I did was flash him.”

  “You did that?” Carol asked, and then a little smile returned
to her quivering lips. “Like a bat out of hell, really?”

  “Yep. Rockford probably would have chased after him, but I knew our boss, here, would object.”

  “Boss, huh? Don’t let him fool you. He drives like a bat out of hell when he’s got that little red light on top of the car. I know how our Rockford thinks. He had a darn good idea who was in the car and gave him a little scare by flashing those brights at him. Carter gets to stew about it until Jack shows up on his doorstep or asks him to retrieve his lost items at the County Sheriff’s office.”

  “Dropping by his home is a good idea, but I think I’ll invite him to my office instead. Something’s up with that young man, I just don’t know what it is.”

  “I wish I could help you, but I’ve already told you all I know about him. Maybe I could have learned more if I’d been more curious.”

  “I don’t blame you, Carol. From the way you’ve described his behavior, he’s not a pleasant guy to be around. I’ll ask questions for all of us. Georgie has plans for you today besides picking up your car. Let’s meet here for an early dinner. Georgie and I will make sure you’re safe and comfy before we pay Kevin a visit at the hospital.” Jack picked up that baggie containing the items Carter had left behind. Then he downed his coffee, gave me a kiss, and dashed out the door.

  “Your turn,” Carol said. “What’s up, Mrs. Rockford?” I poured myself a little more coffee and then filled her in on what we’d learned about the visitors to Charlotte’s suite yesterday. That included an unidentified woman who was the last person to enter the suite before Carol found Charlotte dead.

  “Unidentified? Can’t Gary or the police ask around about the woman in that video?” Carol asked in a pleading tone.

  “I’m sure Gary’s doing that as we speak. Julie Spencer is probably on it, too. Jack saw a video clip this morning and confirmed what Gary had already told us though. The footage isn’t very revealing because the view of the woman in it is blocked by a big housekeeping trolley.” Carol nodded.