5 Windy City Hunter (12 page)

Half an hour later, I was dressed and leaving my own note on the counter for Detective Bentley:
I’m in the building. Text me when you get back.

I stepped out into the hallway. There still wasn’t any crime scene tape over Mrs. Fisher’s door, and I hadn’t seen anyone near the condo since the murder on Thursday. I walked over and listened at the door. There were no sounds inside. I tried the door handle, but it didn’t turn. I don’t know what I would have done if it had been unlocked. If I snooped through her condo, I wouldn’t know what I was looking for anyway. I turned and walked down the hallway toward the elevators. I wanted to go down to the lobby to talk with Terry and Emma.

Stepping out of the elevator, I saw Terry standing outside on the sidewalk. His pantlegs were flapping. It was no longer snowing, but the wind was whipping, snow was swirling across the ground, and it looked brutally cold. Emma was at the desk behind the counter and was on the telephone with a tenant who apparently was not getting enough heat in their condo.

I sat down in one of the chairs and stared at the Christmas tree. A moment of melancholy came over me. This was not going to be a Merry Christmas with Darby in jail on a murder charge. I could have easily succumbed to the feeling, but I wanted to be strong for him right now. I was surprisingly calm this morning, and I knew it was because Detective Bentley was here to help.

“Hi, Susan,” Emma said with a cheerful smile. “Are you waiting for Darby? Andy said he won first place at the contest. Aren’t you so excited!”

I stood and walked to the counter. I forced a smile and said, “Hi, Emma. It was exciting when he won. He was over-the-moon happy, and I was really proud of him.” I paused for a moment, looked toward the door, and asked, “What’s Terry doing? Will he be back in soon? I want to tell both of you about it.”

“One of the tenants is bringing his car around to pick up his wife, and he-,” she was interrupted by her phone ringing. She held her finger up to indicate she needed a minute.

I nodded and walked back to sit in the chair. A few moments later, I saw a car pull up out front, and Terry hustled around to lift the trunk lid. He and his rosy red cheeks came through the doors just as the elevator opened and a stylish woman laden with Christmas bags and presents stepped out.

“Cherry Conner, I told you I would come up to help you, you know,” Terry said with chastisement and a smile at the same time. “Let me take some of these for you.”

He sent a nod and a wink my way as he took most of the bags and boxes from the woman and escorted her to the car. When the packages and the woman were deposited and on their way, he came back in with a big smile on his face.

“Susan, I heard the good news,” he said. “I know how excited my dear old mum, God rest her soul, was when she won cooking contests. Where is our winning baker this morning?”

I looked at him and Emma, shrugged my shoulders, and said, “He’s in jail. He was arrested right after he accepted his award. They’re accusing him of murdering Mrs. Fisher.”

Emma gasped. Terry frowned and said, “Susan, are you sure? There must be some mistake. You weren’t here but a few minutes when Penelope was found dead. Why would they think he had anything to do with her murder?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “The detective is making a case that he went into her condo while I was in the bathroom, and he killed her. I can’t even comprehend how they could come up with a story like that. Have either of you heard anything at all? Are there any rumors about the murder, and who could have done it? Or why?”

Emma shook her head and said, “I’m sorry, Susan. I haven’t heard anything at all. Andy said Detective Malloy and some officers were here again yesterday, and the superintendent had to go up with them to let them in, so they must still be looking for evidence in Penelope’s condo.”

“Everyone has kept this one close to the vest,” Terry said. “None of the tenants seem to know anything about it or even care. I don’t think any of the present tenants, other than Jack, knew Penelope well enough to even talk with her.”

“I have to start somewhere to find out what’s going on,” I said. “Terry, you said Mrs. Fisher’s assistant lives in a small condo in the building. Which one is she in? I think I’ll stop by and talk with her for a bit. Maybe something she knows will help.”

“That would be Martha Cole,” he said. “She’s on three.”

“She’s in an unmarked condo,” Emma added. “Take the elevator to three. When you get off, walk all the way down the hallway, and it’s the last door on the right.”

“Thanks,” I said. I started to walk away, but thought to say, “When Chuck Bentley gets back, he might need someone to let him into our condo. He’s a detective with our police station back home in Ohio, and he’s staying with me while we sort this out. He went to see Darby this morning, and he’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Will do,” Terry said.

Exiting at the third floor, I walked the long hallway and stood outside the unmarked door. I had no idea what I wanted to ask the woman if she answered.

As I was thinking this might not be a good idea, the door swung open. The woman and I were both startled. She dropped a laundry basket, and I jumped back from the doorway.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. You’re Martha, right?”

“What do you want?” she asked. There wasn’t a bit of friendliness in her voice or on her face.

“I only want to talk with you for a few minutes,” I said. “Do you remember me and my friend? We’re staying in Jack Tapley’s condo.”

“I know who you are. Susan Hunter and Darby Tapley. You came for the cooking contest,” she said.

Considering her mood, I didn’t think it was a good idea to correct my name for her right then. “Martha, Darby was arrested last night for Mrs. Fisher’s murder,” I told her.

The expression on her face turned to one of shock, then to fear. “I don’t know nothin’ about any of that,” she said. “I can’t help you.”

“Please, Martha,” I said. “When we first arrived, we were unloading our luggage from the elevator, and a man wearing a gorilla head nearly ran us over trying to get on. I think he was the real murderer. Do you know who that could have been, and why he would have wanted to kill Mrs. Fisher?”

Her eyes went wide, and she said hastily, “No. No. I don’t know who. I don’t know anything. Go, and leave me alone.”

She picked up the laundry basket and stepped back to close the door.

“Martha, wait,” I said. “One more thing. What did you mean when you were in the lobby waiting for the police, and you said,
it’s all my fault
?”

She looked terrified as she raised her voice and said, “I never said that. That’s a lie!” She slammed the door hard.

I leaned back against the wall and let out a long sigh. My legs felt weak. I thought I would find a woman in mourning who might be able to give me some help. Instead, I found a woman who was frightened. She knew something about the murder. I was sure of it.

Before I could walk back to the elevator, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Detective Bentley, and he was waiting for me in the condo. I ran down the hallway.

As I rode up to the 18th floor, my phone rang. It was noon, and it was Mick.

“Mick!” I said breathlessly into the phone.

“Susan, sweetheart, are you ok?” The concern in his voice was evident.

“I’m ok,” I told him. “Really I am. I think I would be a wreck, but Detective -, I mean, Chuck, came to Chicago last night, and he’s been down at the police station all morning trying to help Darby, so I’m not as upset as I was last night. Really, Mick, I’m ok, and you don’t have to worry.”

“I can’t help it Susan,” he said. “I do worry. I don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby. I’m catching a flight out as soon as I can. The weather is terrible right now, but I should be able to fly out tomorrow. I can get a direct flight into O’Hare.”

“You don’t have to, Mick,” I said. “Don’t cut your visit short with your parents, and you don’t want to bring Alex here with all of this going on.”

“Alex is going to stay here with Mom and Dad,” he said. “He can fly home on his own on Friday like we originally planned. If we aren’t home from Chicago by then, Nate can pick him up at the airport.”

The elevator stopped on eighteen, and I stepped out. “I suppose there’s no convincing you otherwise,” I said, “but let’s talk again tomorrow. I don’t know how any of this happened, Mick. It’s absurd they think Darby could have murdered anybody, and I think Detective Bent-, I mean Chuck, can fix this. If things are resolved by tomorrow, or it they’re looking more positive, then maybe you can just finish your vacation while we all head for home.”

He was quiet for a moment. I stopped walking and stood staring down the hallway while I waited for his response. I had to hold back a gasp. From Mrs. Fisher’s doorway, a head popped out to look up and down the hallway. A gorilla head! The second he spotted me, he ducked back in and shut the door.

My heart started to race.

“I can do that, Susan,” Mick said.

“Do what?” I asked.

I was so focused on the man who I was now certain was the murderer, that I forgot for a second what I had proposed to Mick.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow to see how things are, but if nothing’s changed, I’m flying in.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” I said. I was still distracted. “Mick, I have to go. Chuck is back from the police station, and I want to talk with him to see what he found out this morning.”

“Ok,
Sweetheart. I love you,” he said. “Take care of yourself, and don’t get involved. Let Chuck handle it. He knows what he’s doing. Stay in the condo and get plenty of rest, you hear me?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I hear you,” I said. “I love you, Mick. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I slipped my phone back into my pocket. I didn’t know what to do. The man wearing the gorilla head wasn’t a suspect. Detective Bentley didn’t know anything about him to care that he was in Mrs. Fisher’s condo, and Detective Malloy definitely wouldn’t care now that he had Darby in custody.

I tiptoed to Mrs. Fisher’s door and listened closely as I had earlier. Again, there were no sounds from within. I slowly tried the handle. It was still locked. I don’t know why I felt the need to tiptoe, but I tiptoed away from the door and over to our door. I let myself in to Chuck looking over a mass of papers spread out on the coffee table.

He barely had a chance to look up at me, before I was asking, “What did you find out?”

I walked down into the living room and sat in the chair. I tried to look at some of his papers without touching anything.

“Susan,” he said shaking his head. “I don’t have good news.” He paused for a few moments before saying, “I saw Darby. He’s ok. He’s worried, and he’s tired, but he’s ok. He doesn’t want you crying and making yourself sick.”

I almost smiled at that. I hadn’t felt like crying at all this morning.

The detective continued, “He knows he didn’t do this, and he believes the truth will come out.” He paused again and rubbed his temples. It was the first time I noticed his temples were starting to gray. Detective Bentley was a tall, handsome man. I always thought he looked like he should have been in the movies. He had brown hair, blue-gray eyes, and a deep cleft in his chin. I guessed him to be in his forties. Today, he appeared older, and more tired than I had ever seen him.

“There wasn’t an intruder here in the condo yesterday,” he said. “It was Detective Malloy and a few of his men. They were executing a search warrant. When they searched Darby’s room, they found Mrs. Fisher’s largest diamond under a sweater in a dresser drawer. It’s in a necklace, and it’s worth half a million dollars.”

My mouth fell open. I couldn’t believe it. This was terrible news. Because of Jack, Darby had knowledge of the necklace, and had even mentioned it to Wes.

“Why do they think Darby put it there?” I asked. I didn’t believe for one second that Darby knew the necklace was in the bedroom. “It could have been planted. Or his uncle could have stolen it and put it there.”

Detective Bentley shook his head, “There were only two sets of prints on the box holding the necklace – Mrs. Fisher’s and Darby’s. The necklace is the motive for the murder.”

My eyes went wide. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Did you ask him about it?”

“Yes,” he said. He paused before saying, “He knew about the necklace. He said he was going to empty a bottom dresser drawer so he could put some of his clothes away. There were only two sweaters in the drawer, and when he took them out, he found the box. Curiosity being what it is, he looked inside and saw the necklace. He said he put it right back where he found it, and decided not to tell anyone. He tried to call his uncle several times to ask about it, but Jack never returned his calls.”

That would explain why Darby had turned sullen on Friday before we went to the reception for the cooking contest. His efforts to keep me from details about the murder had been serious, yet playful, until we came back from lunch at Ditka’s. That was when he threatened to send me home. He must have found the necklace while I was napping and suspected it was connected to Mrs. Fisher’s death.

“Why didn’t he go to the police after he found it? Why didn’t he say something to me?” I asked.