52 Steps to Murder (27 page)

Even though Lou had grown accustomed to my sense of humor, it still brought a smile to his face.

“I don’t mean anything by it, Cy, but I can’t see you being anyone’s Romeo. And I doubt if Miss Penrod will come down to us. The only one I know who ever came down to His people was Jesus. Everyone else expects you to climb up and bow down to them.”

“Good point, Lou. We don’t know her yet, but she’s definitely not Jesus.”

“No, and while it may be a long way up to her house, that’s not heaven up there, either.”

“No, but it’s higher up than the Tower of Babel ever got.”

Eventually, we quit stalling and reached for the railing. How many steps was it again? Too many. That’s how many. Surely, the Washington Monument had less.

Lou and I wheezed in unison as we climbed a little, rested a lot, and climbed a little more. Eventually, we arrived at the front porch with the sun still high in the sky. We were about to meet the elusive Irene Penrod.

40

I punched the doorbell and waited for Miss Penrod to answer. In a few seconds, I was relieved to see that Miss Penrod had not been murdered, nor had she disappeared with the Reynoldses and Silverman. It was comforting to know that not everyone on Hilltop Place had been abducted.

“Miss Penrod?”

“Yes, I’m Irene Penrod,” the woman answered quizzically. Miss Penrod wore a beige knit top and camel-colored pants. She appeared to be around five-six, had light brown hair, and was slender. I guessed her to be somewhere in her early to mid-thirties.

“I’m Lt. Dekker and this is Sgt. Murdock. We’re with the local police department. We’re detectives.”

“Is there something wrong, Lieutenant?” I noticed that the woman remained calm, at least on the outside.

“I’m afraid there is, Miss Penrod. Have you been out of town?”

“Yes, Lieutenant. I left last Saturday and I just got back a little over an hour ago. What can I help you with, Lieutenant?”

“And where have you been, Miss Penrod?”

“Visiting relatives.” Miss Penrod was straightforward with her answer. She didn’t seem to have Mrs. Reynolds’s belligerent attitude.

“Miss Penrod, I want to show you something. Tell me if you’ve seen it before.” With that I reached into my coat pocket and extracted the envelope we’d found underground. I handed it to Miss Penrod, and she opened it and looked at it.

“Yes, Lieutenant. This is the note I received from my aunt whom I’ve been visiting. How did you get it?”

I avoided her question and continued.

“Miss Penrod, are you aware that there are tunnels under the houses on this street?”

“Of course, Lieutenant. Everyone on this street knows about them.”

“Well, Miss Penrod. I found this envelope lying in the dirt in one of those tunnels. Do you have any idea how it got there?”

“I have no idea, Lieutenant. Mr. Hartley, our mailman, delivered the note just before I left. I’m pretty sure I left it on the table in the hall. But I guess I couldn’t have. Otherwise someone would have had to have broken into my house and taken it. There would be no reason for anyone to take the note, and as far as I can tell, there’s nothing missing.”

“Miss Penrod, did you know Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Jarvis?”

Miss Penrod seemed visibly shaken.

“Y-y-you said ‘did I know.’ Did something happen to them?”

“Yes, Miss Penrod. Both of them were murdered.”

Miss Penrod grabbed the door facing.

“I think I need to sit down. Would you like to come in?”

Miss Penrod used the wall for assistance and helped herself to the nearest chair. I looked for somewhere to sit and noted that most of Miss Penrod’s furniture appeared to be antiques. Either they were handed down, or Miss Penrod spent a lot of money furnishing her home.

“I can’t believe this, Lieutenant. No one would’ve wanted to murder either of these dear old ladies. Everyone loved them.”

“Everyone, Miss Penrod?”

“Everyone who knew them. How did it happen, Lieutenant, and when?”

“Mrs. Nelson was murdered last Saturday morning.”

“But that was the day I left, and I saw her Saturday morning.”

“Tell me about the last time you saw her, Miss Penrod, and the last time you saw Mrs. Jarvis.”

“I saw Mrs. Jarvis Saturday morning, too. Mrs. Nelson called me and asked if I was coming over before I left town. You may or may not know that Mrs. Nelson had fallen recently and had just gotten out of the hospital. She was incapable of doing anything for herself, so I went over a few times each day to empty her bedpan and fix her something to eat. I was concerned about her, but Mrs. Nelson told me not to worry, that her granddaughter Angela would be back that same morning and would come to check on her.

“I had tried to get hold of Angela to let her know that her grandmother had fallen, but she was away because of her job and I was unable to reach her.

“Anyway, Mrs. Nelson asked me if I had time to run over to Mrs. Jarvis’s house and pick up something and bring it to her. I told her I would be glad to. She told me that Mrs. Jarvis was expecting me. When I got to Mrs. Jarvis’s house, she hollered for me to come in. Mrs. Jarvis was confined to a wheelchair, so I stepped inside and Mrs. Jarvis handed me an envelope and asked me to take it and give it to Mrs. Nelson. Then, Mrs. Jarvis told me ‘goodbye.’ She seemed so afraid. Now that I think of it, it’s just as if she knew she was going to die.”

“What did you think of Mrs. Jarvis?”

“She was a nice lady, but I felt sorry for her.”

“Sorry enough to put her out of her misery.”

“Absolutely not, Lieutenant.”

“Miss Penrod, someone overheard you say something about not having to take care of Mrs. Jarvis much longer. What did you mean by that?”   

“Mrs. Jarvis didn’t want to leave the house where she had lived for such a long time, but it was difficult for her to take care of herself and the house. The last few years she’d had to hire someone to come in and do her cleaning, but still that didn’t seem to be enough. For some time Mrs. Jarvis had been contemplating having a young person move in with her, and give her free rent in exchange for helping her whenever she needed some assistance. She told me that next week she was going to contact an agency to help her find someone.”

“Did anyone else know about this, Miss Penrod?”

“I’m sure Mrs. Nelson did, but I don’t know of anyone else. Mrs. Jarvis didn’t confide in a lot of people.”

“Just you and Mrs. Nelson?”

“You act like you don’t believe me, Lieutenant. I loved those ladies, and both of them were alive the last time I saw them.”

“I didn’t mean to insinuate otherwise, Miss Penrod. Carry on. Pick up with when you left Mrs. Jarvis’s house.”

Miss Penrod was not as calm as before, let out an indignant breath, and then continued.

“Anyway, I told Mrs. Jarvis goodbye and hurried off to Mrs. Nelson’s house, since I didn’t know how much help she would need and I had a bus to catch.”

“Did you catch that bus, Miss Penrod?”

“You ask that as if you know I didn’t, Lieutenant.”

I didn’t give away whether I knew or not, so Miss Penrod continued.

“Just after I got to the bus station my cousin drove up. He gave me a ride to his mom and dad’s house. Not only did it save me the price of a bus ticket, but we didn’t have to stop in every little town along the way.”

“And you’re just now getting back from your visit?”

“That’s right.”

“Sorry to interrupt, Miss Penrod. Please continue from the moment you went to Mrs. Nelson’s house.”

“Well, I went up and rang the bell and Mrs. Nelson let me in.”

“I thought you said she was disabled.”

“Sorry, I’m a little nervous, and I’m getting ahead of myself. I rang the doorbell and Mrs. Nelson pushed a button above her bed to let me in.”

“So, you didn’t have a key?”

“Oh, yes, I had a key, but as you probably already know, Mrs. Nelson’s front door was double bolted. You could unlock one lock with a key, but you still couldn’t get in until Mrs. Nelson pushed that button. Say? Wait a minute. How could anyone get in and murder Mrs. Nelson? She would’ve had to admit them, and she would never admit anyone she didn’t know. Do you think someone murdered Mrs. Jarvis first, and then went down into the tunnel and came up through Mrs. Nelson’s house that way?”

“I don’t know, Miss Penrod. You’re the detective.”

“You don’t think I did it, do you, Lieutenant? I know how it must look, since I admit I saw both women on Saturday morning, but someone had to have entered those houses after I left.”

“So, Miss Penrod. Do you know who else has a key to Mrs. Nelson’s house?”

“Most of the neighbors and who knows who else.”

“So what did you do when you arrived at Mrs. Nelson’s?”

“Well, I turned the key, and spoke into the intercom to let her know it was me. She buzzed me in, and I immediately went up to her bedroom. She asked me if I had been to Mrs. Jarvis’s, and I started to hand her the envelope. She waved me away, and said, ‘just put it on top of the other one.’”

“There was another envelope?”

“Yes, Lieutenant, but I suppose you already know that, too.”

I didn’t reveal that this was news to me, and continued with my questioning. “Where was the other envelope?”

“On the table beside her bed.”

“Describe the envelopes to me, Miss Penrod.”

“Well, both of them were long envelopes. Both of them were white. There’s nothing much to describe.”

“Do you have any idea what was in either envelope?”

“Of course not. I didn’t open them. Neither lady confided in me, and I didn’t ask, but Mrs. Nelson said something that frightened me.”

“What was that, Miss Penrod?’

“She said, ‘Irene, I want you to take these envelopes when you leave, and if anything happens to me, I want you to give them to the police.’”

“So, will you get them for me?”

“I, uh, don’t have them. I forgot and left them on the table.”

“I see, Miss Penrod. Well, from the size of the envelope, did it appear to be paper inside or something else?”

“Oh, I’d say both of them contained paper, probably two or three sheets from the thickness of them.”

“So, did you put Mrs. Jarvis’s envelope on top of the other one?”

“Of course, Lieutenant. Why wouldn’t I?”

“And what did you do after that, Miss Penrod?”

“I emptied her bedpan, washed my hands, and asked her what she’d like for me to fix her to eat. She told me not to bother, that Angela would be there before long.”

“Miss Penrod, when you visited Mrs. Nelson, did you ever fix her something to drink?”

“Not usually. Prior to her fall, she was able to take care of herself, but I did fix her something to drink on the day she came home from the hospital.”

“And what did you give Mrs. Nelson to drink?”

“Grape juice. She asked me if I would be willing to pick up some purple grape juice for her, and so I did.”

“As far as you know, was Mrs. Nelson in the habit of drinking grape juice?”

“I have no idea. I don’t think I saw her drink it before, but usually I wasn’t around Mrs. Nelson when she was eating or drinking. Normally she dined alone unless Angela was there.”

“But on the day she died, you fixed her a glass of grape juice.”

Miss Penrod seemed visibly shaken. To keep her hands from shaking, she gripped the arms of her chair.

“No, I said I fixed it the day she came home from the hospital. Why do you ask? Did someone poison her grape juice? It wasn’t me, Lieutenant. Remember, she died after I left on Saturday.”

“She did die on Saturday, Miss Penrod. As to whether it was before or after you left, I have no idea. In any case, no one is accusing you of poisoning her. I’m not in a position to accuse anyone right now.”

Miss Penrod seemed a little relieved, but not much. She took a moment to recompose herself and replied to my statement.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. It’s just that this is difficult for me. I thought the world of Mrs. Nelson, and Mrs. Jarvis, too.”

“Miss Penrod, did Mrs. Nelson appear to be sleepy on Saturday morning?”

She looked puzzled. “No,” she answered.

“Well, did you give her any medication or anything to help her sleep?”

“No, did someone give her something?”

I avoided the question and continued.

“Miss Penrod, during the time you were at Mrs. Nelson’s, did you see anyone else other than Mrs. Nelson?”

“Yes, Mr. Hartley stopped by with the mail, and I saw Mr. Silverman watching all that went on from across the street. Oh, and I saw that messed up young man down the street.”

“Do you mean Jimmy Reynolds?”

“That’s right.”

“Where was he?”

“He was hiding on Mrs. Overstreet’s porch when I went to see Mrs. Nelson. I know it’s not his fault that he has problems, but he still scares me. He came running down the steps when he saw me. I thought he was coming after me, but he went back to his own house.”

I made a mental note, wondering why Mr. Silverman did not say anything about this. Then, I remembered that the Overstreet house is the only house where a tree blocks Mr. Silverman’s view of it.

I looked back up at Irene Penrod. She looked nervous. I continued my questioning.

“Back to Mr. Hartley. Did he stay long at Mrs. Nelson’s?”

“A few minutes, but not long.”

“So Mr. Hartley left before you did, Miss Penrod?”

“I assume so.”

“Did you actually see Mr. Hartley leave the house?”

“No, I was still with Mrs. Nelson in her bedroom. I was telling her goodbye and told her I’d see her when I got back. She gave me a big hug. That seemed strange, because she wasn’t used to hugging me. Of course, she was not bedridden before, and I’d never gone away, so that might have had something to do with it.”

“Miss Penrod, did you notice whether or not Mr. Hartley saw the envelopes?”

“I couldn’t say.”

I leaned forward and calmly asked my next question.

“Think for a moment, Miss Penrod. Did Mr. Hartley by any chance set his mail down while he was there?”

“You know, now that you mention it, it seems like he did, but I think he put it down on the bed, not on the table. Still, he might have put it on the table. Do you think he put the mail he was to deliver on top of those two envelopes and then picked them up without realizing it? Do you think he might have delivered them to someone else by mistake?”