Murder in the Winter (5 page)

“Do you know the nature of his business in our area?”

Longworth fidgeted in his seat, then answered my
question.

“I assume he came to enjoy the inn. He never left it,
so I assume he had no business outside the inn.”

“Did anyone come to the inn to see him?”

“No.”

“Did any of the other guests seem to know him?”

Longworth squirmed again.

“No one seemed to know Mr. Mycroft.”

“Well, did anyone here recognize the deceased?”

“I told you, Lieutenant, to the best of my knowledge
no one here knew Mr. Mycroft.”

“Did you eat breakfast with your guests?”

“Yes, my wife and I dined with our guests this morning.”

“And how did Mr. Mycroft seem at breakfast?”

“From what I could ascertain, he was a little ill at
ease, but not frightened.”

“And how did you arrive at this conclusion?”

“Just from things he said. He didn’t seem afraid of
the other guests. It seemed more that he didn’t want anyone to know he was here
than it was the fear of what the consequences might be if anyone found out.”

I dismissed Longworth and instructed Lou to get Longworth’s
wife.

“So, Cy, I’m to be Archie Goodwin to your Nero Wolfe.”

Lou referred to the fact that Nero Wolfe seldom left
his home and Archie Goodwin ran Wolfe’s errands and brought people to see Wolfe
if a telephone call alone wouldn’t do the trick.

Lou left and returned with Mrs. Longworth. After a series
of questions, she was less help than her husband. She claimed she had never
seen the victim prior to his checking in.  I wondered if that was the truth, or
a rehearsed lie. Maybe I should’ve kept the Longworths apart while Lou and I
waited on back-up.

+++

I questioned both chefs, the handyman, and the maid,
but came up with nothing. Antoine, the chef, admitted knowing Longworth, which
helped him secure the job, but claimed he didn’t know the deceased. Michael,
the sous chef, answered an ad, and knew neither man. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchuson,
the handyman and maid, were local, answered a newspaper ad, and won the jobs
after a trial period. As with the two chefs, part of the amenities the
Mitchusons received were free room and board. The Mitchusons didn’t own a home
and were happy to comply with the Longworth’s desire for the help to live on
the premises.

I sat in the interrogation room, looked over at Lou.

“So, Lou, what do you think?”

“Well, if he was poisoned, it looks like we have a
short list of suspects, and we have all of them gathered under one roof. Looks
like we’re off to a good start.”

“I’m not sure about a good start, but we have them all
gathered. What do you think of the ones we’ve questioned so far?”

“I think the Mitchusons are legit. I’m not sure about
the others.”

“I agree, but Michael seemed to be telling the truth.
The Longworths and Antoine acted like they have something to hide. The question
is what.”

“I wish I knew.”

“So here’s where we are now. Some of the staff needs
more looking into, and we still have three guests to question.”

“Three?”

“Yes, three. There’s no way I plan to question my
next-door neighbor. But I can keep her sequestered in her room until the case
is solved.”

“Wonder how long that’ll take, Cy?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes it takes years to solve a murder.”

The two of us laughed, even though both of us knew
that neither of us would be satisfied if the case dragged on.

“Okay, Louie, it’s time to inconvenience the guests.
Round up the usual suspects.”

My partner laughed at my reference to the movie
Casablanca
,
then turned toward the door. Our job wasn’t finished. It had barely begun.

5

We agreed that the last would be first and Lou
traipsed off to locate Tony McArthur. He came in all smiles, and eager to help
in any way he could, no matter why we wanted him.

“Mr. McArthur, I’m Lt. Dekker, and this is Sgt. Murdock.”

“I know, you introduced yourself when you flew from
that dining room chair, and the sergeant told me his name on the way down. I
assume you have questions for me. By the way, I got here late. How am I
supposed to answer these questions?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean I didn’t get any lines. Am I supposed to answer
your questions as they apply to Tony McArthur?”

“Isn’t that who you are?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then it would be hard to answer them as someone
else, wouldn’t it? Shall we begin?”

McArthur motioned for me to go ahead.

“Mr. McArthur, tell me a little bit about yourself.”

“I’m tall.”

“Very good. I’d never have known if you hadn’t told
me. Actually, I don’t think of you as tall, just not short. But let’s press on.
What brought you to the inn tonight?”

“I have an MG sitting outside. It’s a treasure. When
daylight comes, I’ll have to show it to you. That is, if you want to see it.”

I smiled at his remark. A little humor helps a murder
investigation go a long way.

“Let’s try this again, Mr. McArthur. Why did you come
to the inn?”

“Same reason as everyone else. I want to be part of
the cast when Longworth begins rehearsals for his next play.”

“So, you know Longworth?”

“I’m still acting as Tony McArthur? Right, Lieutenant?”

“Mr. McArthur, you’re tempting my patience.”

“You’re great at acting perplexed.”

Perplexed wasn’t the word for it. I wanted to pick up
a gun and shoot him.

“Let’s get back to the questions. Are you an actor,
Mr. McArthur?”

“I’d like to think so. What do you think, Lieutenant?”

“Did I mention my gun is loaded and my gun and I have
a hair trigger? I’ve been known to shoot and ask questions later.”

“Hey, that’s good, Lieutenant. I think you’ll get the
part.”

“And I’m about to assign you the part of the next victim.
So tell me about your acting experience.”

“Well, the only things that interested me growing up
were plays and movies. If my high school had booked a movie tryout instead of a
play, I might be in Hollywood as we speak. But, instead we put on the play
Arsenic
And Old Lace.
Are you familiar with it, Lieutenant?”

“I saw the movie. I don’t like plays.”

Ordinarily, I’m not as straightforward when talking to
someone about my likes and dislikes, but this guy needed to take a hit.

“I can tell, Lieutenant,” McArthur answered, laughing
as he said that. “But anyway, with no agents knocking on my door to offer me
the lead in the next big movie, I tried out for the school play. Guess which
part I got?”

“Knowing you as I do, I’d say Uncle Teddy.”

“Bravo, Lieutenant. Teachers who’d been at the school
for many years and had seen other classes perform the same play told me I was
the best Teddy they’d ever seen. What do you think of that, Lieutenant?”

“Well, I think you had an unfair advantage.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You were crazy to start with. You didn’t have to
act.”

“You mean you heard about the teachers’ bodies they
couldn’t find later?”

“What about after high school?”

“Well, I dated on weekends, if that’s what you mean.”

“Listen, Numbskull, did you ever graduate, and if so,
did you find any other crazy parts?”

“You know it, Lieutenant. I played the psycho in
Wait
Until Dark
and the husband in
Dial M For Murder.
But just so you
know I have range, I played Professor Harold Hill in
The Music Man.”

“Have you ever acted in one of Longworth’s plays here
at the inn?”

“Well, it wasn’t exactly an inn at the time, but yeah,
and although I could never get the leading part, I was usually one of the main
actors.”

“Who usually got the lead?”

“Carter Thornton usually played the hero. Arthur Rothschild
often played the villain, but sometimes played the hero. Most of the time I was
next in line.”

“Why did you choose to act here instead of somewhere
else where you could’ve played the lead?”

“Sometimes I did, but I felt that to get a feel for
the entire production a person needed to play all types of parts. Sometimes,
when I wasn’t in a scene, I’d hang out with whoever was in charge of lighting,
or sound, or find out what needed to be done to move from one scene to the
next.”

“Now that I know a little more about you, let’s get
back to the present. Did you know anyone else at the table tonight?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Not even Mrs. Longworth?”

“No. Longworth hasn’t been married that long. I lost
track of him for a while. It was during that time he got married.”

“So none of the other guests looked familiar?”

“Well, they did and they didn’t.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know how actors are. Once they get in costume and
makeup and get in character, if they are good it’s hard to recognize them.”

“So, you think that everyone at the table tonight is
an actor?”

“Well, not the Longworths.”

“Tell me, Mr. McArthur, do any of these names sound familiar;
Arthur Plankton, Isabel Dukenfield, Heloise Humphert, or Myles Mycroft?”

“None of them.”

“Mr. McArthur, when you came in tonight, why did you
sit where you did?”

“Well, I didn’t want to sit by myself, and pardon me
for saying this, but I didn’t want to sit by those two ugly women on the other
side of the table, so I just decided to squeeze in where I could.”

“Right next to the deceased.”

“Well, I didn’t know he was going to be the deceased
at the time. Remember, I got here late. I didn’t know what Longworth planned.”

I figured time would tell if that first statement was
right. I didn’t understand the second one, so I decided to press on.

“So tell me, why were you so late getting to the inn tonight?”

“I’ve been out of town, trying out for a play. The snowstorm
delayed my flight back, and I just got in town an hour or so before I walked in
the door and saw you at the dining room table.”

“Where were you, and when did you leave?”

“I was in Chicago, well, a suburb of Chicago, at a dinner
theater. It’s a well-known dinner theater, so the part paid more than most
theaters of that type. When you’re an actor, you go for whatever you can get,
as long as it pays, and as long as it doesn’t go against your principles,
provided you have principles. Some actors don’t. But then, you know about all
that.”

I motioned for him not to editorialize and get back to
my question.

“I left Hilldale Wednesday afternoon, caught an early
flight out yesterday morning, and auditioned last night. This morning I found
out I got the part, but rehearsals don’t start for a few weeks. I flew back
this afternoon, and, like I said, I got in about an hour before you saw me. I
didn’t even go to my apartment to change, since it was so late. I don’t mind
the road out here in the daytime, but I don’t like to drive it at night. I came
on anyway, because any job working with Sidney Longworth is a good one to
have.”

“That will be all, Mr. McArthur. But please don’t
leave the inn.”

“I wouldn’t think of it. How do you think we did?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I think you did great. Sounded like a real cop.
And that guy who fell over in his food was so good, if I hadn’t known everyone
here was an actor, I would’ve thought he was really dead.”

“Mr. McArthur, I don’t know what in the world you’re
talking about.”

“I assume this little charade had something to do with
tryouts for Longworth’s next play. See, as you know, I came in late, so I
didn’t have time to find out what my lines were.”

“Mr. McArthur, let me assure you that I’m no actor.
I’m Lt. Dekker of the Hilldale Police Department, and this is Sgt. Murdock. The
man who fell over into his dessert is quite dead. He may or may not be an
actor, but, believe me, he wasn’t acting.”

“You’re not kidding, are you?”

“I’m as serious as I can be.”

With that revelation McArthur turned quite pale.

When he regained his composure, I dismissed him and
told him to return to his room.

I looked at Lou and shook my head.

“What’s with that guy?”

“Well, he’s an actor. Maybe he thought all of us were
acting, or maybe he’s playing his part of the murderer quite well.”

I wanted to question the other guests. We were down to
Arthur Plankton and Isabel Dukenfield. I sent Lou to get Plankton.

+++

I sat in my chair wondering what was taking Lou so
long to return with the next suspect. I was about ready to send out a search
party when my grim-faced partner returned.

He was out of breath, so I spoke first.

“So, where’s Plankton?”

He braced his hands against the table, wheezed a
little longer, then responded.

“Beats me. I knocked on his door, but he didn’t answer.
When he didn’t respond to my second knock, I located Longworth, who reluctantly
gave me a key. I motioned for Longworth to stay put and climbed the stairs to
search for our missing man. He wasn’t in his room. I checked everywhere, including
the shower. I found George, and he has organized a search party. We’ve already
checked all the exits. There were no footprints outside of any of the doors.”

I motioned for Lou to sit down while I pondered the
situation. Was Plankton our murderer, or our second victim? I knew that
eventually we’d find out.

The sergeant and I talked for a couple of minutes and
decided to interrogate Isabel Dukenfield, instead of waiting for Plankton. Lou
left to locate her. A few minutes later, he returned, again out of breath, but
this time giving me the peace sign.  I had never known him to voice an opinion
for or against the war, so the peace sign was out of character for him. I waited
an eternity for my friend to breathe normally, and then found out the peace
sign was no peace sign.  He meant our missing person total had grown to two.
The little old lady was nowhere to be found.

“This place is beginning to resemble the Bates Motel.
Guests check in, but they don’t check out.”

“I thought that was the Roach Motel. Anyway, maybe
that has something to do with the message I received this morning, ‘Ford
Theater and the Bates Motel.’”

“Does that mean that one of our missing persons can be
found in the auditorium and the other one is the guilty party?”

“Well, neither one of them is in the shower spewing
chocolate syrup all over the place, so I guess the auditorium is the next place
to look.”

I caught my partner’s reference to chocolate syrup and
wondered how many other people knew that Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate syrup
to simulate blood in the shower scene in
Psycho.
Right then, it didn’t
matter. As far as we knew, no one had been stabbed. Nor had our first victim
been shot like Lincoln. 

We didn’t know what to think. I wondered if our
changing circumstances meant that our case was growing easier, or harder. We
were rapidly running out of suspects with no confession in sight.