Murder at Breakfast (17 page)

“That’s
another reason for me to continue to lose weight.”

I
ignored that comment and continued with my murder-solving techniques.

“So,
Lou did you come up and pretend to be Mrs. Higgins?”

“What
was I supposed to do? Come up here and lay my head in a plateful of food?
Sorry, I couldn’t find any food.”

“Never
mind. Have you seen any red flags yet?”

“You
mean by the way anyone acted at the table?”

“I
mean anything.”

“No,
I’ve looked this place over a little bit, but mostly I just sat down and
thought.”

I
knew it. A man in a weakened condition.

“So,
Cy, what about the second group. How did they act?”

“About
as edgy as the first group. At least none of them tried to play footsie with
me.”

“That’s
good, Cy. That way you won’t have to let one woman down because you’ve chosen
another. Have you and Mrs. Hunt set the date yet?”

“Lou,
I’ve already told you that we need to split up today, at least part of the
time. Why don’t you walk the halls and see what everyone’s up to. Maybe take a
stroll out in the backyard. Talk to anyone you see. Just chitchat. See how they
react. See if they get nervous with you around. Ask for a key to check out any
room that’s locked. I don’t mean go in anyone’s apartment. Just storage places,
the basement, the computer room, the library. And while you’re out in the
backyard, go sit on the bench under the oak tree and mull over anything you saw
and heard. Look up toward the house every now and then to see if you spot
anyone going about his or her activities, or a robust-looking cop who might be
summoning you to come back to this apartment.”

“I
think I can do that, Cy. Just get a little exercise and keep my eyes open.
Sounds easy enough.”

I
knew it. My partner was in denial. I hoped he would see the error of his ways
before it was too late. I didn’t want to have to break in a new friend at my
age.

Shortly
after Lou left I felt I would be more comfortable if I took off my shoes and
lay down on the couch. Just after I did so, I began to think of how the victim
had been poisoned. Surely she was poisoned at breakfast. It seemed like the
most likely time.

Before
long, my thoughts turned to my food. After all, I would be eating two more
meals there, and I was worried I would be starved before I left. Would I have
to send Lou to the Blue Moon for carry-out?

Normally,
you would think that they would feed us enough, but then I thought back to the
conversation I had with the cook shortly after the last of the staff got up
from breakfast. I’m always concerned about getting enough to eat, so I went
into the kitchen, eager to catch Martha before she left on her break.

“Martha,
do you have a minute?”

“You
have more questions, Lieutenant?”

“Yes,
but not those kinds of questions. I wanted to remind you that the Sergeant and
I will be eating lunch here, too. Do I need to fill out a form?”

“Yes,
Lieutenant, let me get you a couple of forms.”

She
turned to a drawer and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper.

“Here
you are, Lieutenant. Just check off one meat and two vegetables.”

“Just
one meat and two vegetables?”

“Are
you used to more than that?”

“Not
if the portions are ample.”

“Well,
ours are ample. Just ask the residents.”

I
looked over the first list, checked off, turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes
with gravy, and macaroni and cheese. Then, I put a “1” at the top of the page.
Then, on the second paper I selected roast beef with gravy, mashed potatoes
with gravy, and macaroni and cheese. I took them to Martha, but asked her a
question first.

“Excuse
me, but I didn’t see the desserts listed. Do you set those out and we just come
up and grab whatever we want?”

“Oh,
we just have one dessert.”

“And
what is today’s dessert?”

“It’s
the same as everyday. Jell-O.”

“Just
Jell-O?”

“Oh,
no. Jell-O with fruit, and we have three different kinds of Jell-O to pick
from.”

“No
pie?”

“Oh,
sure. On special occasions, but today isn’t a special occasion.”

“Isn’t
the fact that the Sergeant and I are here a special occasion?”

“Not
as far as lunch is concerned.”

I
handed the cook the two sheets and she looked them over.

“I
have a question, Lieutenant. I assume the “1” is you, and the “2” is the
Sergeant. Am I right?”

“No,
Martha, the “1” is what I will eat with the residents, and the “2” is what I’ll
eat with the staff. I’ll be here for both groups, you know. I don’t want to
miss anything.”

She
looked over my mid-section and said, “I don’t think you’ve been missing
anything.”

“I’m
glad you brought up the “1” and “2.” I’ll need a sheet to take to the Sergeant,
but just one sheet. He’ll only be eating with the residents. I’ll see that he
brings it back down shortly.”

Martha
reached inside the drawer and pulled out another sheet. I took it and turned
away, wondering how many candy bars I would have to eat to survive. I had gone
only a few steps when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I looked up and
saw Lou. I had fallen asleep. Maybe the whole thing had been a nightmare. I
would send Lou down to see Martha to make sure.

+++

I
sent Lou down to check with the cook, then realized that I hadn’t called Sam
back to see what he had found out about each of our suspects.

“This
is Sam I Am dining on green eggs and ham.”

“Well,
hello, Sam. This morning I’m dining on someone else’s food.”

“You
mean you’ve stolen a plate from whoever’s sitting next to you at that diner?”

“No,
today we’re eating at the scene of the crime.”

“You
mean that bookstore, or where the murder took place?”

“The
murder scene.”

“Well,
it looks like whoever it is used slower reacting poison this time. That is
unless Lou was the victim.”

“When
he left here a couple of minutes ago, he looked okay. Well, not okay exactly,
but he was able to walk.”

“You
mean you sent him to that diner to get you a second breakfast?”

“I’d
never thought about that. I’m okay for the time being, but maybe I’ll send him
to the Blue Moon for an after lunch lunch. But enough about food, Sam. What
were you able to find out about the people I called you about?”

“Oh,
are you still interested in that, Cy. I thought since you didn’t call yesterday
that you were no longer interested, so I threw everything away.”

“That’s
okay, Sam, as long as you have perfect recall. So out with it. What do you have
for me?”

“Oh,
all right, Cy. Let’s start with the victim. I was able to pull a few strings
and find out about her will. As it turns out, the old woman was loaded, which
means she provided a few people with motives. She left $25,000 to each of the
following people; her maid, Margie Washburn, the handyman, Wally Gentry, the
cook, Martha Carpenter, and the manager, Margaret Draper. She left $50,000 to
her friend, Hilda Winters, and $100,000 to another friend, Russell Cochran. The
rest of her estate, which is the bulk of it, she left to her niece, Cindy
Bradshaw, provided she can be found within ninety days. Cy, I do have a call in
to Cindy’s best friend growing up. Supposedly, she’ll call me back this
morning. Give me your number there and I’ll call you if I hear from her.”

Luckily,
Mrs. Higgins’ number was on her phone. I gave Sam the number, then asked him my
next question. “And what happens if they can’t find her?”

“Then
each of the people I mentioned above receives double the previous amount, and
the rest of estate will go to a charity for children with fatal diseases, The
Dream Factory.”

“And
what do you know about the niece?”

 “Only
this. The deceased had a sister, Helen Bradshaw, who died over twenty years
ago. The sister had a daughter, Cindy. Katherine Higgins had promised her
sister that if she, the sister, died, she, Katherine, would see that her niece,
Cindy, was taken care of. Evidently, Helen Bradshaw told her daughter about
this, because within a month of her mother’s death she approached her aunt
about settling up. Even though her aunt agreed to pay all of Cindy’s bills
within reason, she refused to hand Cindy, who was eighteen at the time, a lump
sum. Cindy got mad and ran away. As far as we know, that was the last time her
aunt saw her.”

“And
if she doesn’t show up soon, most of the staff here gets $50,000 each, Hilda
Winters amount rises to $100,000, and Russell Cochran gets a cool $200,000. Any
idea if these recipients know anything about the will?”

“I
knew you’d ask, Cy, but I haven’t been able to find out.”

“Any
idea if any of these people are hurting financially?”

“That
I can tell you, Cy. I did some checking, and one of them might be going through
some difficult times soon.”

“Oh!
Which one?”

“Russell
Cochran. The downturn in the economy has left him not as stable as he was when
he moved into that joint.”

“What
about the others?”

“Hilda
Winters seems to be okay. Of course none of the others have much stashed away,
except for the manager of that place. She seems to be doing okay. But then none
of the others who work there have ever had a surplus of money, and since they
don’t have to pay rent, and none of them have many bills, they’ve all been able
to put away most of their salary each month. None of them have a lot of money,
but all of them have enough in the bank to bide them over for six to twelve
months if worse comes to worse.”

“Are
you saying that Russell Cochran doesn’t have that much?”

“No,
just that he’s got a lot less than he had. If things don’t improve, he might
have to move out of that place in the next two or three years.”

“Thanks,
Sam. Now give me the rundown on what else you found out about each of these
people.”

“I
wish I’d come up with a parole violation for you somewhere, Cy, but it just
isn’t there. Some people like to start out big, like with murder.”

“So,
you couldn’t find anything on anyone.”

“Nothing
that would lead you to believe that one of these people committed murder.
First, I did crime checks on each of these people. Nothing. Probably a parking
ticket somewhere, but no criminal charges anywhere. I checked on previous
residences and previous places of employment. Some woman accused Christine Hunt
of hitting on her husband, and the management asked Mrs. Hunt to move, but
that’s all. She’s the only one who moved to Parkway Arms from another facility
like the one you’ve encountered there. Everyone else sold homes to move there.
So, did Mrs. Hunt, but that was a few years ago. I checked with former
neighbors everywhere. Nothing anymore than you’d find on any street.”

“What
about the staff? Find out anything about any of them?

“Two
of them, Wally Gentry and Martha Carpenter have been fired from jobs. Miss
Carpenter was accused of being the reason that two people contracted food
poisoning, but she was later cleared. After she was fired and left, I might
add. Other than that, she seems like a model citizen. Her mother died when she
was young. She helped raise several younger brothers and sisters. That’s where
she developed her love for cooking. She did all the cooking. Her dad worked two
jobs to pay the bills. From what I could gather, Wally’s mishaps had as much to
do with an impending divorce as with his job. His former employer said that his
failing marriage affected his work, and they had no recourse but to let him go.
Up until his marriage failed, he was a model employee. I checked back several
years on all of these, Cy. I can’t see anything, unless money went to someone’s
head, someone who’s about to inherit, and if so, I can’t tell you which one.
Sorry.”

“Well,
thanks for everything, Sam. I’m sorry to say that I can’t think of anything
else for you to do. Let me know if they end up laying you off. Maybe we can eat
together sometime.”

“Cy,
my stomach can’t handle that stuff you and Lou eat.”

“I
think it’s pretty much down to me now, Sam. Lou hasn’t been himself lately.”

“Yeah,
come to think of it, I heard he’s dropping weight so fast they think he’ll be
down to one person before long.”

+++

I
was about to fire off a comeback to Sam when I heard a key being inserted into
the lock on the door. Lou was back with news  about  lunch.  I  blurted  out  a
hasty goodbye to Sam and looked up to see what my courier had to say about our
lunch reservations.

“She
said if there’s any food left over, you can have it, Cy.”

“You
mean after lunch?”

“I
mean for lunch.”

“Yeah,
right! So, you’ve got us all taken care of then, Lou?”

“I
slipped her two twenties and she said she’ll bite the bullet for the rest of
it.”

+++

I
had been too busy napping and thinking about food that I had forgotten to ask
Lou about his excursion through the facility. As it turned out, it was less
eventful than my nap. Lou said he peered around corners, hid in closets and
behind trees, but he didn’t see anyone trying to dispose of a murder weapon,
but then anyone could have dumped the rest of a box or bottle of poison in the
bushes on the other side of the property.

“So,
Lou, where are we?”

“Well,
right now we’re in the victim’s apartment, which reminds me. The manager came
up to me while I was out and wanted to know if we’re planning to rent by the
month, sign a one year lease, or buy the apartment. I told her I’d let her know
as soon as I talked it over with you.”

“I’d
like to get out of here today, Lou, but I think we have a better chance of
finding out who’s responsible if we hang out with the guilty party, so to speak.”

“So
far it doesn’t look like hanging out is doing us much good.”

“I
know this is different than the way we usually do it, but this is one of the
few times when we’ve had a case where the murderer hasn’t left the scene of the
crime, and I don’t want to leave it, either. I mean I do, but I want to leave
with someone in handcuffs.”

Lou
and I spent the rest of the morning walking the apartment, or sitting in comfy
chairs, hoping that something would jump out at us. So far, whatever it was was
getting less exercise than we were. Maybe I should’ve let Lou bring his Wii.

+++

Around
11:10 the phone rang. Either it was Sam, someone who didn’t know that Mrs.
Higgins had died, or a telemarketer. Since we weren’t eating at the time, I
ruled out a telemarketer. Evidently, all of her friends knew that she was no
longer among the living, because when I answered the phone I recognized the
voice on the other end of the line.