NYPD Puzzle (17 page)

After that experience, the liveried doorman at Brenda’s Upper East Side apartment was a surprise.

So was Brenda. Cora had never cared much for Sherry’s college roommate. Her bubbly good nature toward attractive men always seemed to grate. It was as if the girl were a rival, which was odd, considering the difference in their ages. Of course, her hippie lifestyle made her seem like a contemporary.

Or perhaps it was the chip on her shoulder. Since marrying Sherry’s ex-husband, Dennis, Brenda had become an aggressive bitch, fueled no doubt by her husband’s obsession with his ex-wife, Sherry, a wholly unpleasant situation leading to several restraining orders culminating in the probation that required him to check in with Becky Baldwin once a month. Cora was quite sure the court would not have ordered it had they known the scoundrel had hit on Becky, too.

In any event, Cora was not prepared for the smiling pixie who nearly knocked her down.

“Cora! It is so good to see you. I couldn’t believe you called. It’s been so long.”

Cora took a step back. Brenda was a smaller woman, though what the boys in school would call pleasingly plump, and she was animated. Careless curls framed her round, radiant face. Her brown eyes sparkled. Her lips parted in a welcoming smile. She positively glowed, and—

“Oh, my God! You’re knocked up!”

Brenda beamed and nodded. “That’s right.” She pulled her loose smock around her belly. “Five months.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“I hardly believe it myself. Anyway, come in, come in. Let’s sit down. I find I like to sit down more and more.”

Brenda led Cora into the living room of a tastefully furnished modern apartment and installed her on the couch. Brenda sat opposite in what was obviously her favorite overstuffed chair.

“So, how did it happen?” Cora said.

“The usual way.”

“No, I mean, were you trying?”

“Were we ever.”

“These nice new digs. Is that because of this?”

“No, we’ve been here for a while.”

“Daddy had a change of heart?”

“Dennis went to work for him.”

“I thought he already was working for your father.

Brenda waggled her hand. “There was downtime. He’d feel glum, get back together with the band. Next thing he’d be missing work.”

“And he’s not?”

“He hasn’t been.”

“As far as you know.”

“As far as my father knows.”

“He’s on the road for his job?”

“Some. Not so much anymore. Tell me, how’s your grandniece?”

“Sherry hasn’t told you?”

“I haven’t spoken to Sherry in a while.”

“How come?”

“Didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.”

“What’s the wrong idea?”

“I’m having a baby just because she did.”

“You mean
Dennis
is having a baby just because she did.”

“And that’s not the case. We were trying before she was.”

“Really?”

“At least we were trying before we
knew
she was. I mean, we were trying and then we found out she was pregnant, and that was fine, and then she had the baby, and that was fine. I called her and saw pictures of the kid online, and she even brought her into the city once and we walked to Central Park and that was fine.

“And then I got pregnant and I stopped calling her and she stopped calling me. I guess if you have a kid, you’re busy.”

Cora frowned. “You’ve only seen Jennifer once.”

“So?”

“You stopped seeing her after you got pregnant. Jennifer’s over a year old. You only got pregnant five months ago. You must have stopped seeing her before that.”

“Yeah.”

“You stopped seeing her
before
you got pregnant.”

“No.”

“Wanna review the math?”

Brenda took a breath, exhaled. “I got pregnant before. Had a miscarriage. Another reason I didn’t want to tell Sherry. I know she was pregnant, lost the baby, blamed Dennis for it. She’d immediately jump to the conclusion. Which is so unfair. I had a miscarriage. It happens.”

“But under the circumstances,” Cora said, indicating her swollen belly.

For the first time since she’d answered the door, Brenda’s face twisted into concern. “I didn’t want to talk about it this time. Until we’re sure.” She shrugged helplessly. “And how many months is sure? We’re at five months. Longer than the first time. That was shortly after we found out. Even so. I wouldn’t want to do that to Sherry. And I’m superstitious. I wouldn’t want to jinx myself.”

“Oh, come on.”

“You’re not superstitious?”

“Only about poker.”

Brenda laughed. “You’re a hoot, as ever. Want some tea or coffee?”

“You’re awfully happy.”

“Well, I’ve got reason.”

“Even so.”

From the foyer came the sound of the front door slamming shut.

A handsome, clean-cut, well-groomed young man in a smart, stylish suit and tie came in, and the reason for Brenda’s rapture was clear. She had a young lover, a suitor ardent enough to have been awarded his own key to the apartment, so that he could come and go at will during the day while her husband was gone.

Cora’s smile was smug.

The young man smiled back. “Hello, Cora.”

Her mouth fell open. “Dennis?”

Chapter

30

“It’s not Dennis.”

Sergeant Crowley sounded irritated. “Who is this?”

“Well, I like that,” Cora said.

“Oh, it’s you. I had no idea. No hi, hello, how are ya? I pick up the phone and you say— What did you say?”

“It’s not Dennis.”

“What’s not Dennis?”

“Dennis Pride. Ex-husband of my niece, Sherry. You were wondering if he could have made up the crossword puzzle.”

“I was?”

“You asked me about it.”

“I did? Yeah, I guess I did. It wasn’t a high priority.”

“Did you mention it to my chief of police?”

“Why?”

“Because he seems to have got the same idea. I understand he had a phone call from you.”

“Right.”

“Did you mention Dennis?”

“I may have asked about interested parties. I don’t think I used the name Dennis. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is now Chief Harper’s got it in his head, and it’s a stupid idea, and I’ve got to kill it.”

“So, kill it.”

“How can I kill it if you keep bringing it up?”

“I can’t even begin to follow that logic, but I’ll play along. Why is it a stupider idea than the last time you told me it was a stupid idea? Aside from the fact your police chief has it.”

“That’s the point. He pestered me so much, I figured I’d better do something about it. So I went and called on Dennis’s current wife.”

“How come?”

“He used to beat his first wife. So I wanted to see if he was beating his second.”

“He beat his wife?”

“Don’t go off on that tangent. The point is I checked him out. She’s five months pregnant. They’ve moved from a grungy loft to an upscale East Side apartment. He’s quit his rock band, gone back to work for her father. Cut his hair, cleaned up his act, bought some new clothes. He’s gone from the ne’er-do-well son-in-law to the company golden boy. He’s being fast-tracked as the next executive vice-president.”

“And you know this because?”

“I saw him. He showed up and talked to me. He’s a whole different person. I know there are psycho killers who can appear perfectly nice and no one would ever suspect them, but this isn’t that. He’s relaxed, happy. And he’s not kidding himself, either. He’s going to a therapist and an anger management group. Granted, it’s like the pod people replaced him with a different Dennis, but, hey, I like the pod people.”

“Is that what you called me for?”

“Well, I thought you should know.”

“Well, now I know.”

There was a pause.

“So,” Cora said. “Isn’t there anything you want to ask me?”

“Like what?”

“Well…” She paused again. “I’m in the city.”

“Huh?”

“I came in to see Dennis. So, I’m here.”

“Good.”

“Yes and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“I gotta get back.”

“Why?”

“I got a curfew.”

“What?”

“Chief Harper doesn’t want me out after dark.”

“You gotta be kidding.”

“Hey, it’s your fault. You’re the one who didn’t want me to go home.”

“I had ulterior motives.”

“I’m glad to hear it. The point is, if the New York police feel I need protective custody, then he does, too.”

“You want me to put you under protective custody?”

“No, I gotta be home.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s the whole damn Dennis bit. The killer tacked a crossword to my door. Chief Harper’s got it in his head that it could be meant for Sherry.”

“Because she’s the real Puzzle Lady?”

“He doesn’t know that. He figures it’s for her because the killer knew I was in New York but he left the puzzle there anyway. So if she’s the target, he wants me there to protect her.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Can’t the cops do it?”

“There’s three cops in the whole town. Counting him. They can do drive-bys.”

“That’s stupid.”

“I agree. You wanna call the chief and talk him out of it? Anyway, I gotta be home by dark.”

“Too bad.”

“Yeah. So, how about it?”

“How about what?”

“Do you do matinees?”

Chapter

31

Cora, dosing contentedly,
groped for the phone, pulled the receiver toward her, and rested it on the pillow.

“Couldn’t keep from calling me, could you?” she murmured.

“Why shouldn’t I call you?” Chief Harper said.

For Cora, who thought it was Crowley, that was a rude awakening. She had a moment of panic, wondering how badly she’d given herself away, but quickly covered. “Hey, I’m home, I’m home, like a good girl. You don’t have to check up on me.”

“I wasn’t checking up on you. There’s been another one.”

“Another murder?”

“Another break-in.”

“At town hall?”

“No.”

“You gonna make me play Twenty Questions? What did he break into this time?”

“The police station.”

*   *   *

A rather exasperated
Chief Harper was watching Dan Finley photographing his desk. It was clearly a new one for the young officer, who’d never dusted a desk in the police station before.

“I’m getting a lot of fingerprints, Chief, but they’re probably yours.”

“You contaminating crime scenes again, Chief?” Cora said.

“There you are! You took your time getting here.”

“I was in bed.”

“This early?”

“I haven’t been getting much sleep. Anyway, I’m glad you got your priorities straight.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You want me home guarding Sherry. Unless you need my help.”

“You didn’t have to come.”

“And yet you’re pissed off I took so long.”

Harper glared at Cora. Took a deep breath. “Okay, I deserved that. But it’s embarrassing having the police station broken into.”

“You’re right. Maybe I should call Aaron.”

“Don’t kid about it.” Harper leveled his finger at Dan Finley. “And if you call Rick Reed—”

“I haven’t called anyone. Except you.”

“Okay, Chief. I didn’t really want to get up. You got me down here, what’s the story?”

“Someone came in the rear window,” Dan said. “Busted the lock, climbed through.”

“No one was here?”

“I was on duty. I went out on my rounds. Actually did a drive-by of your house. Drove around town, came back. Wasn’t gone more than an hour. The minute I came in, I knew something was wrong.”

“How?”

“Door to the holding cells was open. Door to the holding cells is never open. If someone’s in there, you don’t want to hear them. If someone
had
been in there, I’d have thought he escaped. Not that we have prisoners escape, but you know what I mean.”

“Dan,” Harper prompted.

“Anyway, I went and checked, and the lock on the window was broken. He obviously came in here, because the door was open. And the files on the desk were messed up like someone pawed through them. He didn’t make a very neat job of it. There were papers on the floor.”

“Was anything taken?”

“We don’t know,” Harper said dryly, “because Dan can’t tell what was there.”

“Like I’d have memorized the pile of files? Anyway, I’m processing the desk for fingerprints, but it probably won’t do any good. Because there weren’t any on the busted window. So I figure the ones I find here will be ours.”

“Makes sense,” Cora said. “Well, Chief, it would seem you have the situation in hand.”

“I don’t have the situation in hand,” Chief Harper said irritably. “I don’t even know what the situation is. You’d think this break-in and the one at town hall would be related, but I can’t find any evidence of it.”

“You checked the files?”

“Of course I checked the files. The first thing I did was check the files. The file on the town hall break-in’s still there. So’s the file on the murder.”

“So that’s the way your mind’s running.”

“Well, isn’t yours?”

“It’s certainly a valid idea. You sure nothing’s missing?”

“Doesn’t seem to be.”

“Mind if I check?”

“How would you know what’s missing? You don’t know what’s in there.”

“Even so.”

“Be my guest,” Harper said. He pulled open a drawer of the file cabinet, took out a file. “Here’s the break-in.” Pulled out another. “Here’s the murder.”

“Pretty thin,” Cora observed.

“Thanks a lot.”

“I meant it should be easy to see what’s missing.” Cora flipped open the file on the murder.

“The break-in’s more likely,” Harper said.

“Yeah, but I’m partial to murder.”

Cora flipped through the crime scene photos. They showed her nothing she hadn’t seen before.

She pulled out the autopsy report. “Trauma to the head. Blunt object.”

“Yeah,” Harper said. “Barney agrees with us on this one.”

“Uh-huh,” Cora said. She kept a straight face, but inwardly she smiled. The mention of the doctor’s name didn’t cause the same twinge it had before.