The KenKen Killings Part 28

"How do you suggest I stop her?"

"Hold her on suspicion of something."

"Suspicion of what?"

"Suspicion of using henna rinse. What the h.e.l.l does it matter?"

"It matters when some low-life lawyer sues me. No offense meant."

"None taken," Becky said.

"You wouldn't represent her, would you?" Cora said.

"I don't know. Does she have money?"

"You're not helping. The woman's getting away."

"Do you want her here when the other woman shows up?" Harper said.

"It might be interesting."

"It might be chaotic. It's bad enough having you here. I don't need three women fighting over the same man."

"I'm not fighting over Melvin! I have no interest in Melvin! The women are welcome to Melvin!"

"It's a small office. I can hear you just fine."

"Would you like us to leave?" Becky suggested.

"Stick around. Who knows what Dan will bring back this time."

The second time Dan got it right. Fifteen minutes later, he ushered in Bambi.

The young woman sized up the present company and twisted her lips into a pout.

"Do you know why you're here?" Harper said.

"Yeah." Bambi jerked her thumb at Cora. "She ratted me out."

"I mean did Dan explain why we want to talk to you?"

"No. He just said you did. I'd have argued with him, but I didn't want to wake Melvin."

"Considerate of you," Harper said. "I understand you got a letter."

"I didn't get a letter. I got a crossword puzzle and a number puzzle."

"A KenKen," Cora said.

"Whatever. It was slipped under the door. I didn't know what to do with it, so I brought it to her. She said it didn't mean anything. If it didn't mean anything, why am I here?"

"The puzzle led Ms. Felton to an address at the edge of town. There was a mailbox at the end of the driveway. There was a gun in the mailbox."

Bambi's mouth fell open. "There was what!"

"There was a gun in the mailbox. We won't know until the forensic tests are done, but it might be the gun that killed Mr. Randolph."

"That can't be true."

"Why not?"

"It makes no sense."

"It makes no sense because we don't know the facts. Once the facts are known..."

"What facts? What mailbox? Whose house was this?"

"The house belongs to a Mr. and Mrs. Prichert. They've been residents of Bakerhaven for over forty years. They have three grown children, all of whom have left home. She's a retired schoolteacher. He's a retired farm equipment salesman. The chance that either of them is involved in the murder of a banker seems rather slim."

Bambi crinkled her nose. "Then what was a gun doing in their mailbox?"

"I have no idea."

"Are you sure you found a gun in their mailbox?"

"It looked like a gun to me," Cora said. "I suppose we'll have to wait for ballistics."

Bambi looked baffled. "That doesn't make any sense. If the gun had been in the motel room..."

"What motel room?" Harper said.

"Didn't she tell you about the motel room?"

"No, she did not. What's this about a motel room?"

Bambi explained how room 106 was right next to Melvin's motel unit. "She searched it first. It was only when she didn't find anything she went looking for this mailbox."

"That's mighty interesting." Harper turned to Cora. "You left that part out of your story."

"When you summarize a case, do you include all the false leads? If I listed every place there wasn't a gun, we'd be here all day. I just told you where one was."

"So what about the motel room?"

"That was the first theory. It sounded promising, but it wasn't."

"How'd you get into the motel room?"

"Hold on there," Becky said. "My client's not going to say anything about what could possibly be construed as an illegal entry in front of a third party. I'm sure you can appreciate my position."

"I understand your position. I don't appreciate it." Harper turned to Bambi. "Besides the motel room number, was there anything that led you to believe there might be anything hidden in the unit?"

"Not really."

"What do you mean, not really?"

"It was just a feeling."

"I'll take a feeling. I'll take anything at this point. What was your feeling?"

"Nothing I can point to. Nothing I can put my finger on. It's just, ever since Melvin and I checked into that motel, I've had the feeling we're being watched."

"Is that right?" Harper said.

"Yes. And it's silly, I know. But this guy got killed. And it's nothing to do with us. But he was Melvin's witness. I didn't know him, but I knew of him. When someone you know gets killed, it's a little creepy."

"No kidding," Cora said. "So, this feeling you were being watched. That only started after the banker was killed?"

"I don't know."

"I thought you said it was the reason you thought you were being watched."

"I may have had a feeling before and that only made it more so. It's really hard to say when it's only a feeling."

"Well, you be on your guard," Cora said. "As long as we've got a killer on the loose, no one's safe."

Bambi shivered. "Was there anything else?"

"That's all for now. I'll have Dan run you back."

"No need. I brought my car."

After Bambi was gone, Cora said, "Interesting."

"What?" Harper said.

"That she thought she was being watched."

"She is being watched."

"That's what's interesting. That she would know it. You gotta wonder how."

"She said it was just a feeling."

"Yeah, but there's gotta be a reason for a feeling."

"Would you know if you were being watched?"

"I've been through four or five divorces, Chief, so that's a rather inappropriate question."

"Four or five?"

Cora shrugged. "You know how it is with husbands. Some die. Some stray. You lose track."

"About this motel room..."

"I'm not responsible for what that young thing may have thought."

"Are you responsible for what you did?"

"Of course I am. If I'd actually done anything."

"Did you search that motel room?"

"I've gotta step in here," Becky said. "Unless Cora rented that motel room, which I somehow doubt, I think searching it might technically be construed as illegal."

"Technically?" Harper said.

"See? You won't even grant me that. Come on, Cora. As your attorney, I advise you not to answer any questions about any rooms you might have searched without finding anything until I've had a chance to digest this new information. I'm going to ask you to make no statement whatsoever. It's been nice talking to you, Chief. I'm glad we could help you out, but I'm afraid we must be going."

CHAPTER.

37.

"You certainly hustled me out of there in a hurry," Cora said.

"No kidding."

"What's the deal?"

"The more this case develops, the more it occurs to me Melvin has fried your brain. Granted, things are coming at you thick and fast, what with another wife besides the one you thought you were dealing with. Even so, we have a bit of a perception gap here. You're slow on the uptake. Which is rubbing off on me, making me slow on the uptake, which I cannot afford to be if I'm your attorney. G.o.d knows your attorney must be on the lookout at all times."

"You mind telling me what you're talking about?"

"I'm talking about the Pricherts. The people at one oh six North Street."

"What about 'em?"

"Exactly. Don't you care about them in the least?"

"Of course not. They have nothing to do with the case."

"That's right. They don't mean a d.a.m.n thing because you planted the gun in the mailbox. You know it. I know it. But Chief Harper doesn't know it. Under normal circ.u.mstances, you would at least feign a little interest in the place you supposedly found the gun. But you can't do that. You never even bothered to ask who lived at that address. Chief Harper didn't notice, and G.o.d help me, I didn't notice either until Bambi brought it up, which was the right and proper reaction to finding a gun hidden in someone's mailbox. Whose mailbox was it? You didn't ask, and when you found out you couldn't have cared less. Ordinarily, you'd never make a bonehead play like that, but with Melvin around, you can't think straight."