Murder at Breakfast (14 page)

“Absolutely
not. First of all, she doesn’t have a key. Second, she was in my sight most of
the time, or at least within my hearing distance.”

“But
she could have left her machine running while she entered the apartment?”

“If
she’d done that, she’d have left footprints on the carpet, and there wasn’t
time for her to shampoo over them. Besides, when I finished, I walked up the
front steps and spoke to her, told her I was through. She couldn’t have gone in
there, shampooed over her tracks, and put her equipment away, and gotten to
lunch on time.”

“So,
you walked over the steps you’d cleaned to talk to her.”

“Is
there any training for your job? No, I walked up the front steps, the steps she
cleaned. I cleaned the back steps. No one walked up them.”

“Thank
you for your time, Mrs. Washburn. I’ll let you get back to work, and I’ll let
you know if we have any other questions for you.”       

+++

“What
do you think, Lou?”

“I’d
say the woman was killed before the maids came on the floor, so if one of them
killed her, she had to do it earlier, and she would’ve had to have gone to Mrs.
Higgins’ apartment to do it. None of the people who work here were around the
breakfast  table  when Mrs. Higgins was. While the maids were around Mrs.
Higgins’  apartment  around lunchtime, I don’t think either of them had a
chance to slip a tray into her room. I don’t see how anyone could have slipped
into the murdered woman’s apartment before 4:00. I’m just surprised no one saw anyone do it.”

“You’d
think all that shampooing would make our job easier, but so far it hasn’t. And
as far as I can tell, the woman was either poisoned in the dining room, on her
way from the dining room, or sometime before the maids started to work at 9:00. In other words, I don’t see how we can eliminate any suspects. Still, we must trudge
on. Go find the other maid.”

Lou
ushered in the third floor maid. Like everyone else, she looked uncomfortable
being questioned.

“Have
a seat, Miss Adams. I’d like to ask you a few more questions.”

“I
don’t see how anything I have to say can help you.”

“Well,
let me ask, anyway, and we’ll see if I think so after we’ve finished.”

“Tell
me again about Friday.”

“What
about Friday?”

“Let’s
start with Friday morning. Tell me what you did and who you saw.”

“I
shampooed the carpet on the third floor. I didn’t see anyone other than Wally
and Margie.”

“Let’s
start earlier than that. What did you do when you got up?”

“You
mean other than murder the dead woman?”

I
laughed. “Yeah, other than that. Of course feel free to tell me how you
murdered her.”

“I
used a corkscrew. It took a while. Made me late for breakfast.”

I
motioned for her to continue.

“We’re
not to be seen by the residents until after they’ve eaten breakfast and
returned to their rooms. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know. So, Margie, Wally, and
I pretty much hang out in our rooms, because the only doors that lead outside
are within sight of the dining room.”

“So,
you arrived at breakfast late.”

“I
think I was the last, but just by a few seconds, judging from the food on
everyone’s plate. Wally was just sitting down with his food, and Margie was
still at the buffet when I got there.”

“Did
anyone seem out of sorts?”

“You
mean different in some way?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“So,
you ate. Who left the table first?”

“I’m
not sure. I think Margaret, but I’m not sure. I think I was next to last. Since
Martha has to wait to clean and wash the dishes, she’s always the last one to
leave.”

“So
what did you do when you left the dining room?”

“I
went back to my room for a minute, and then up to the third floor to wait for
Wally. See, on the day we shampoo the carpet, we have to move furniture, and
Wally has to help us move it. He starts with Margie on the second floor, so I
do some of my vacuuming while I wait on him, so I won’t be too far behind
Margie. She usually finishes a few minutes before I do.”

“And
did she on Friday?”

“She
finished before I did on Friday. I don’t know how long before. My guess is
about ten minutes, since most of the time she runs at ten minutes or so ahead
of me, because Wally helps her first. Plus, she’s more experienced at this than
I am.”

“That’s
fine Miss Adams. Let’s move on to something else. Did you see anyone before you
ate lunch?”

“I
ran into Wally in the basement. He’d already come in and cleaned up for lunch,
but after he did he ran down to the basement to check something. Neither of us
were down there more than a couple of minutes.”

“Speaking
of Wally, everyone here is single, and he’s the only man. Does he have anything
going with any of the women here?”

“Well,
first of all, Wally isn’t the only man. Russell’s a man too, and for his age
he’s kind of cute. But no, Wally’s gone through a divorce, and he’s not
interested in another relationship right now.”

“How
do you know? Did you try to get him interested in you?”

“No,
and no one else hit on him, either.”   

“Answer
this for me, Miss Adams. Do you think that Mrs. Washburn would’ve been able to
use her key to get into Mrs. Higgins apartment while she was vacuuming or
shampooing the hall carpet.”

“Could
she? Of course. But did she? I seriously doubt it. Even if she did go in there,
she wouldn’t have had time to murder the woman and sneak away. Remember,
Lieutenant. I was always right above her, or just out of sight. Anyone in her
place would’ve been afraid to sneak in and murder someone, when they knew that
someone else was right nearby. My guess is that whoever did it, did it before 9:00 or after 4:00.”

“But
she died with her noon meal right in front of her.”

“Well,
then I wouldn’t have a clue who it could have been. Maybe she died of natural
causes.”

“Miss
Adams, we know that she didn’t die of natural causes. So tell me, who do you
think did it?”

“I
don’t know, but it had to have been someone she saw on Friday. Either someone
did something to her while she was down at breakfast or someone went in through
the front door before Margie started vacuuming or after the carpet dried. That
means it was either someone with a key or someone she let in. But that doesn’t
make sense either, because Mrs. Higgins would’ve screamed. I don’t see any way
that someone could’ve gotten in there at lunchtime. I think you’re wrong there.
”

“What
about someone sneaking up or down through the dumbwaiter or using the outside
ladder to get in?”

“The
dumbwaiter wouldn’t work. I’m the smallest one here, and I’m too big to fit in
it. The ladder isn’t it, either. The ladder’s  at  Mr.  Cochran’s window, and
he’s sick. Besides, he wouldn’t have done it. He worshiped the ground she
walked on. I know. He confided in me often enough. And I don’t think anyone
could’ve gotten inside his apartment without him knowing it. At least that’s my
opinion. My guess is that it had to have happened downstairs, or on her way to
or from breakfast, but then if that’s the case, how could her tray have gotten
in front of her. I’m glad you’re the one who gets paid to figure these things
out, and not me.”

“Do
you have any idea if Mrs. Higgins had any visitors?”

“You
mean from the outside?”

“Yes.”

“I
have no idea. Remember, I seldom saw the woman, and didn’t really know her. I
doubt if Margie would know either, unless the woman told her or someone stopped
by some day when Margie was cleaning. Besides no one could’ve gotten to her
from outside the building on Friday. Not with the two of us shampooing the rug.
And we didn’t open the front door until a few seconds before we went upstairs
to move furniture and vacuum.”

+++

I
dismissed the second maid and turned to Lou. We both agreed that we were no
closer to solving the murder than we were before we got there that morning. I
decided we would go up and question Russell Cochran again, before we went to
lunch. That would leave the female residents for the afternoon. I hoped that by
the time we left there that night that we would be closer to solving the
murder, but I wasn’t sure how. I thought back to the clue of the day, but even
that didn’t give me a clue. At least not yet.

+++

I
knocked on Russell Cochran’s door, and within a few seconds he asked who was
calling. I replied, and this time he answered the door without any pretense of
being sick.

“Is
there something else I can do for you, Lieutenant?”

“I
just have some follow-up questions for each of the people who live here. Mind
if we come in?”

“No,
come right in, Lieutenant. I’m just not sure how I can help you, since I’ve
been out of circulation for a few days.”

“You’re
looking better.”

“And
just between us, I’m feeling better. I’m just not ready to hobnob with those
women who’ll probably be hitting on me, now that Katherine is dead. It’s still
hard getting used to it. I think I told you that she was my best friend, the
only really special friend I had here. Now, she’s gone. It won’t seem the same
without her. I don’t know if I’ll end up staying here or not.”

Russell
Cochran stopped talking and invited us to take seats. I waited until he too sat
before I starting talking.

“If
I remember correctly, you didn’t see anyone at all on the day of the murder. Is
that right, or am I merely jumping to a conclusion?”

“No,
that’s right. Actually, I was in bed most of the day. Well, that and leaning
back in my recliner or lying on the couch.”

“Does
that mean that you slept most of the day?”

“No,
I was awake just about all day. I just had a bad cold and some body aches.”

“Mr.
Cochran, would it have been possible for someone to come in your apartment that
day without your knowing it?”

“Absolutely,
no way!”

“But
what if you were asleep. Maybe someone with a key could’ve slipped in, tiptoed
through the apartment, and used the ladder to go down to Mrs. Higgins’
apartment.”

“I
assume some days that might be possible, but not that day. I started feeling
poorly a few minutes after I got back from Katherine’s  the  night  before.  I 
set my alarm, because I knew that I needed to eat breakfast, whether I went
down for it or not, but I also put my chain lock across my door, so no one
would disturb me. If you remember, I still had it on yesterday when you stopped
by. I took it off this morning, now that I’m feeling better. So, unless someone
could figure out how to remove the chain from outside the door, and then put it
back again from outside the door, then no one was in my apartment except one
sick old goat.”

“Tell
me about the last time you saw Mrs. Higgins.”

“Well,
as I told you before, we ate together at dinner Thursday night, like we usually
do. Before we left, I whispered in her ear to forget dessert, that I would be
bringing dessert. She laughed. It was our secret. I told her to go back to her
apartment and put a pot of coffee on, that I’d be there in about five minutes.
I’d stopped by the bakery when I was out that afternoon and picked up a
cheesecake, turtle cheesecake. It cost a bundle, but it was worth it. Now, it’s
among the last memories I have of Katherine. Anyway, I stepped out of my
apartment and got caught with the cheesecake. Christine Hunt was returning from
dinner, and she saw the cheesecake and said, ‘Oh, Russell, how did you know?
It’s my favorite dessert.’ I just smiled and walked on. Katherine was standing
at the door waiting for me. The two of us enjoyed a piece of cheesecake each,
along with the coffee, while we watched
Wheel.
Katherine put the rest of
the cheesecake in her refrigerator. In case you didn’t notice, we each have a
small refrigerator, even though we eat all of our meals downstairs.

"Between
Wheel
and
Jeopardy,
we both took time to brush our teeth. I keep
a spare toothbrush down at her place. Neither of us can stand to eat and not
brush our teeth. Anyway, we watched
Jeopardy
, talked a while, and then I
went home. I had no idea it would be the last time I’d see her.” 

As
he finished, tears formed in his eyes. He was either sincere or a tremendous
actor.

“What
happened to the rest of the cheesecake, the part you didn’t eat Thursday
night?”

“I
planned to leave it with Katherine, but she insisted that I take it with me
when I left. I left one piece in her refrigerator, brought the rest back with
me, ate the last of it yesterday.”

Since
I couldn’t think of any other questions to ask him at that moment, we excused
ourselves and left. It had been difficult for me, too. I always get a little
choked up when someone mentions dessert and there is none for me to enjoy. I
thought of the piece he left behind, remembered that the lab boys took it with
them when they left on Friday, and that it contained no poison. Neither did the
toothpaste or toothbrush. But something did. What was it?