NYPD Puzzle (16 page)

Chapter

27

Cora got home
to find Jennifer chasing Buddy around the living room rug.

“So that’s why he didn’t come greet me. Looks like Buddy’s found a friend.”

Sherry looked up from the couch. “If I buy you a cell phone, will you carry it?”

“Hello, how are you, good to see you, too.”

“Seriously, Cora. No one can get in touch with you.”

“I called in last night.”

“You didn’t call in this morning.”

“I didn’t know I had to, Mommy. Don’t be mad.”

“Call Chief Harper.”

“Why?”

Sherry handed Cora the crossword puzzle.

“What’s this?”

“That’s what Chief Harper wants to know.”

“Sherry.”

“I found it last night. Three in the morning. Taped to our front door.”

“What?”

“I’d have called and told you, but of course, no one can.”

“The killer was here last night?”

“Apparently.”

“You’re not worried?”

“I’m worried. Life goes on.”

“Why aren’t the police here?”

“They were. They got tired of waiting.”

“I mean protecting you.”

“It isn’t me he’s after.”

“How do you know?”

“Here.” Sherry handed Cora a copy of the solved puzzle.

“You solved it?”

“Of course not. The chief doesn’t know I can do it. He had Harvey Beerbaum solve it and brought me a copy.”

Cora looked at the puzzle.

“See? It ain’t me, babe. You’re the golden girl.”

Cora winced. “Just for future reference, that is a rather insensitive appellation.” She skimmed though the puzzle.

Not at home

Are you shy?

If you run

People die.

“See. It’s clearly about you.”

“Yes.” Cora frowned.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“You hesitated.”

“I was thinking.”

“What were you thinking?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?”

“I didn’t expect to be cross-examined. I’m sure I was thinking something, but your question drove it right out of my mind.”

“You were thinking maybe it was Dennis.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“I said it was you. You agreed. Then had a second thought. He was it. It’s one of the first things I thought of. It’s an instinctive reaction after all I’ve been through. Dennis has moved on. I believe it. Chief Harper believes it. Otherwise, he’d be here. This is for you. This is the killer talking about you running away from home, not Dennis talking about me running away from
him.
”

Cora sat down, looked over the puzzle. “No other clues?”

“Not that I can see. Of course, you’re the expert.”

“Funny to hear you say that.”

“You know what I mean. If you have any brilliant though slightly illogical deductions to make, pray do.”

“It’s nice to find out how you really think of me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sherry said. “Any ideas?”

They were interrupted by Jennifer laughing hysterically. Buddy was licking her face.

“I think you’ve got a new babysitter,” Cora said.

“Now that’s true love,” Sherry said.

“Or she’s got strained chicken on her face.”

“Jennifer doesn’t eat strained chicken.”

“Strained whatever. She’s a sloppier eater than I am. No, I have no ideas, ridiculous or otherwise. As far as I’m concerned, none of this makes sense, and I wish it would go away. But what are the odds of that happening?”

“Well, you better call Chief Harper. He’s having a nervous breakdown.”

“In front of you?”

“Of course not. He was a prim and proper policeman. But the way he was holding himself together, I got the impression if he doesn’t hear from you, he might explode.”

“Becky isn’t trying to reach me?”

“Actually, she is. But Chief Harper implied if I didn’t get you to call him first, I might suddenly find out I had violated several local ordinances in building the addition on the house, and it would have to be torn down.”

“That’s one hell of an implication.”

“The interpretation is mine. The idea was clear.”

“Relax. I’ll go see them.”

“Harper first?”

“Absolutely.”

Chapter

28

Becky Baldwin shook
her head. “That’s incredible.”

“No kidding.”

“Chief Harper doesn’t know about this?”

“He knows about the puzzle Sherry got.”

“But the puzzle that New York cop got? Penn Station?”

“I’m gonna tell him now.”

“He’s not going to take it well.”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing he can arrest me for. Anyway, I’ve got a lawyer.”

“This is incredible. The killer was in New York
and
Bakerhaven last night?”

“Yeah. He’s got a car.”

“But you weren’t home when he hung the envelope on your door.”

“No. He said as much in the crossword puzzle.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I was under police protection. He didn’t like that.”

“How were you under police protection? They didn’t put you in jail, did they?”

“Nothing like that.”

“Well, where were you?”

“In a safe house with an armed guard. Perfectly comfortable, nothing to complain about. Believe me, if there were, I would have you make a stink. I’m not going to put up with any nonsense.”

“You didn’t mind being under police protection?”

“This guy’s weird, I was tired. I didn’t feel like driving home in the dark.”

“I don’t get it,” Becky said. “What’s this guy’s game?”

“When I surprised him in the bedroom, maybe he thought I saw him well enough to identify him.”

Becky shook her head again. “He’d already left a puzzle for you on the body.”

“If it was for me,” Cora said. “Maybe it was for the cop. He sent the other puzzle to him.”

“How about the puzzle taped to your door? Was that for the cop, too?”

“That was after I started messing in the case.”

Becky sighed. “Why couldn’t you have told me this when you called last night?”

“Chief Harper was there. I’d have had to tell him, too.”

“You didn’t want to tell him?”

“You’re my lawyer. I wanted to tell you first.”

“You thought you might need legal protection?”

“I don’t know what I thought. Things were coming thick and fast. It was pretty damn confusing.” Cora pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse.

Becky pointed a finger. “If you smoke in here, I’ll explode.”

Becky didn’t explode. The office door did. Chief Harper came through it like a demon from hell about to rip the soul out of an unfortunate sinner.

“I don’t believe it!” Harper said. “I don’t believe it! I specifically told Sherry to send you to me first!”

“She did, Chief. I needed to consult my attorney.”

“You’re going to need to consult your doctor,” Harper said. “Have you told her about your New York escapades?”

“Whatever do you mean, Chief?”

“I just had a phone call. From the NYPD. Says he was sent a crossword puzzle which he presented to you, and the two of you used it, along with a sudoku sent to you in a coffee shop, for God’s sake, to open a locker in Pennsylvania Station, where you received a message from the killer.”

“I think your assumption that the message sender is the killer has not been legally established.”

“Don’t horse around. This is not a joke. I’ve got a murder on my hands. The New York police have one on theirs. It would appear they are connected.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Becky said. “That is a totally unfounded supposition. Particularly in view of the fact my client has been arrested in one of those homicides. Saying they’re connected has unfortunate connotations.”

“That’s too damn bad,” Chief Harper said. It was indicative of his state of agitation that he did not apologize for the expletive. “I got a killer running around tacking puzzles on her door and leaving messages in Penn Station. And don’t tell me that’s a supposition. If it’s not the killer, it’s someone with a bizarre imagination mirroring the movements of the killer. Now, without implying anyone’s guilt or innocence or even involvement, what the hell do you think it means?”

“Let me get this one, Becky. Chief, I haven’t got a clue. Off the record, I would say while not legally binding, it is entirely likely that the killer is the one who left those notes and that I am being personally taunted. What is
not
established—and I don’t give a damn about legally binding, I’m talking about from my point of view—I’m not at all convinced that the murder of the town clerk is any way related. Everything about it, from the MO to any possible motive, seems entirely coincidental and not to be inferred.”

“You think it’s a different killer?”

“Why not? The town hall break-in was a week before the New York murder. If the murder of the town clerk is connected to the break-in—and even that is yet to be established—then the two murders may be two separate matters entirely.”

“Did you advance this theory to the New York cop?”

“He’s got his own problems, Chief. He’s not asking me for advice about yours.”

“Yeah, well
I
am,” Harper said. “Dan Finley and Sam Brogan have been over every inch of the town clerk’s office—and believe me, they weren’t too happy about it, particularly Sam—and they couldn’t come up with anything, which is too bad, because the woman had nothing of her own anyone might want to steal. And she didn’t have close personal friends who might harbor a grudge.”

“It’s certainly refreshing to hear your views on friendship, Chief.”

“Yeah,” Harper said. He turned to Becky. “Let me ask you something. When’s the last time Dennis checked in.”

Becky blinked. “Huh?”

“He’s still on probation, isn’t he? Doesn’t he have to check in with you?”

“Yes, he does. What’s your point?”

“When’s the last time you saw him?”

“He checked in about a month ago. Seemed pretty stable for him. Wasn’t overtly hostile. Didn’t go through the how-much-longer-do-I-have-to-put-up-with-this-crap routine.”

Harper turned to Cora. “What about you?”

“What
about
me?”

“When’s the last time you saw him?”

“Chief, this is a bad idea.”

“What’s a bad idea?”

“That Dennis is in any way connected to the murders.”

“You think Dennis is connected to the murders?”

“No, I think it’s idiotic.”

“The puzzle on Sherry’s door talked about hiding.”

“It’s my door, too, Chief. And it talked about being not at home. I’m the one who wasn’t home.”

“Except that the killer knew why you weren’t at home when he left the message. You’d just gotten through playing railway station games.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Tell me, Chief. Is this something the NYPD suggested to you?”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because they don’t understand the situation. You know and I know Dennis had nothing to do with it.”

“How do I know that?”

“Because you’re not an imbecile with a brain the size of a peanut. How do I know the sun’s gonna rise in the morning? You wanna start throwing known facts out the window, how you gonna solve anything?”

“Uh huh,” Harper said. “Well, if you’re convinced the killer’s after you, that simplifies
my
life. You won’t object to taking precautions.”

“Precautions?”

“Yeah. The killer’s clearly dividing his time between here and New York. Even if you don’t concede he’s responsible for the town clerk, you’ve gotta admit he’s tacking notes to your door taunting you. In which case, you are in danger, and protecting you is my job. So…”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Why not? You were under police protection in New York.”

“They have facilities. They have personnel.”

“So what? It’s not like we’re putting you up in a safe house. All I’m saying is I want you home before dark.”

Cora’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. A curfew. You’re giving me a curfew, like I was back in college.”

“You had curfews in college?” Becky said.

“I’m making a point. My point is I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah. And you can do it at home with your door locked, and a landline for the cell phone–impaired. I prefer that to you driving around after dark playing tag with a psychotic killer. And so would you. If the killer really was at your house last night, wouldn’t you rather be there, offering your family an armed guard?”

“Didn’t they tell you, Chief? Ballistics has my gun.”

“Oh, I’m sure you have another.”

Cora took a breath. “Fine, Chief. We’ll make a deal. I’ll honor your curfew, and you stop bugging me about Dennis. Because, believe me, it’s the stupidest idea I ever heard.”

Chapter

29

Cora had been
to Brenda Wallenstein’s loft on Grand Street only once a long time ago, but that had been enough to make an impression. It was not the type of fashionable loft associated with SoHo now. It was your basic, unfinished sort, rough and ready, a third-floor walk-up single room with the bathtub in the kitchen, if one could call the few appliances scattered at one end a kitchen, and a shower stall on the back wall with a toilet behind. It was the type of establishment Cora would never set foot in unless dating the hottest new folk-rock sensation in the ’60s.