Last Puzzle & Testament (38 page)

Sherry was instantly angry. Angry with Becky fo怅 r scaring her unnecessarily. Angry with herself for being scared. Angry because it was Becky. Angry that it made a difference because it was Becky. Angry with herself for letting it make her angry.

“What are you doing here?” Sherry said it as calmly as possible. Still, it came out hard as nails.

“You mind moving that gun?” Becky said. “It makes me a little nervous, being poked with a gun.”

“Then you might lay off the criminal trespass,” Cora said. “Or don’t the laws apply to you lawyers?”

“They apply to me as much as they do to you,” Becky Baldwin replied. “Look, I’d like to pretend to be very brave, but I’ve never had a gun pointed at me before. Could you please put it down?”

“Once I’m sure you’re not armed,” Cora told her. “You dropped your flashlight. Where’s your purse?”

“In the car.”

“No one drove up. Where’s your car?”

“Down the road. I walked up.”

“So as not to be seen?”

“What do you think? I didn’t see your car outside either. Look, will you put away the gun?”

“I won’t put it away, but I’ll stop aiming it at you. If you start talking. What are you doing here?”

“You know what I’m doing here. I’m Daniel Hurley’s attorney.”

“And?”

“And Daniel didn’t kill anyone. I know it looks bad, but he didn’t. Someone planted the knife on him. He found it, he tried to get rid of it. It was a stupid thing to do. He should have come to me. If he had, I could have handled it. I can handle it still, but, frankly, I’m a little desperate. I need help. I have to find a clue.”

“Why look here?”

“Because this is where it all began. It all comes back to Emma Hurley somehow. And now this puzzle constructor’s in a coma. And word is out there’s something wrong with the crossword puzzle. At least, that’s what they’re saying on the news.”

“You mean Rick Reed?” Sherry said.

“Why do you say it like that?”

“Never mind. The point is, he’s saying it on the air?”

“Sure he is. And why not?” Becky gestured to Cora. “I understand you suspended the game. And not just because Daniel’s in jail. And not just because of the assault. Because there’s some question as to the puzzle’s authenticity. Which throws doubts on the will, which leadl, whichs us back here.”

“You been upstairs yet?” Cora Felton asked.

“No, I just got here. Why?”

“The will says the first clue’s in the master bedroom. If you questioned the will, you’d start there.”

“Then why are you down here?”

Cora frowned. “That’s on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know, sweetie. Tell you what. Show of good faith. Wait outside this door a few minutes while Sherry and I decide what to do.”

“Wait outside the door?” Becky sounded appalled.

“Yeah. You stay there, you don’t run off, you don’t come in. You show us you’re cooperating. Convince us we
shouldn’t
turn you in for B&E.”

“Oh, yeah, like that’s really going to happen,” Becky Baldwin said. “When you’re breaking and entering yourselves.”

“I don’t really want to argue,” Cora said with commendable patience. “You gonna wait outside or not?”

“If I do, what happens then?”

“We shall see.” Cora gestured with the gun. “For one thing, I won’t shoot you.”

“That’s not funny.”

“No, it isn’t. You wanna wait outside?”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“I’m sure you don’t. Let me put it another way. You’re trying to get your client off. If he’s really innocent, the truth will help him, so helping us helps you.”

“You expect me to buy that?”

“I don’t care if you do. Just so you give us a few minutes alone so we can move this along.”

Becky Baldwin glared at her, then stalked out, and slammed the door.

Cora cocked her head and listened. Then she turned to Sherry and whispered, “Okay, she’s right there, so keep it quiet, but let’s hurry. We’ll try the desk first. I wish we could lock the door …”

“You don’t trust her?”

“Do you?”

“Of course not. Let’s get those drawers out.”

Quietly, they pulled the desk drawers out, shone their lights underneath.

This time it was the top drawer on the left. Cora’s flashlight lit up a ght lit white business-size envelope. The envelope was taped to the bottom of the drawer. On the face of the envelope was:

#6.

The flap of the envelope was open.

Cora reached her hand in, felt a piece of paper. But it was not the size of a letter. It was smaller, and of irregular shape.

Cora’s eyes narrowed at a sound from the hall.

The door clicked open.

Cora yanked the paper from the envelope, slammed the drawer, and struggled to her feet, thrusting the paper deep within her purse. She was suddenly impaled by the beam of a powerful flashlight.

Becky Baldwin walked into the room. But it was not she who held the flashlight.

“Aw, gee,” a voice said. “Aw, gee whiz.”

A man walked in, reached up, and flicked the switch.

The lights came on.

The man with the flashlight was Dan Finley. The young Bakerhaven police officer looked from Cora to Sherry and back to Cora again, then shook his head, disapprovingly.

“Miss Felton,” he said. “I’m sorry about this. I can’t tell you how sorry. I just hate this.”

He frowned, looked down, shook his head, then looked up at Cora like a child who knows he has to take his medicine, even though he knows it’s going to taste bad.

“You’re under arrest.”

“Don’t talk to them,” Becky Baldwin said.

“Oh, for goodness sakes,” Sherry said. “Can’t you see how silly this is?”

“I really don’t see why I can’t talk,” Daniel Hurley said.

“You don’t have to see,” Becky retorted. “That’s my job.”

“Well, I’m the one charged with murder.”

“Exactly.”

Sherry Carter, Cora Felton, Becky Baldwin, and Daniel Hurley were in holding cells in the back of the Bakerhaven police station. Daniel Hurley was in one, and the three women were in the other. As the cells were adjoining, there was every opportunity for them to talk, had Becky Baldwin allowed it. So far, all she would allow was a discussion as to whether they should.

Cora Felton sat on a bench in the back of the cell and kept an eye on the room o utside. In particular, she kept an eye on her purse. Cora Felton’s purse had not been searched and itemized, as would have been standard procedure for someone under arrest. However, Dan Finley was the only officer on duty, and at the moment Finley had his hands full. He was not used to arresting three people at one time—the paperwork alone was overwhelming—and he hadn’t even started fingerprints and mug shots yet, so itemizing the prisoners’ property was a very low priority. As a result, Cora Felton’s purse was hanging in plain sight on a hook next to a wanted poster.

In the bottom of Cora Felton’s purse was a gun. While that might have surprised Dan Finley, Cora Felton was not particularly concerned with his finding it. The paper from the envelope on the bottom of the desk drawer was another matter, however. And it wasn’t just that she didn’t want Dan Finley to see it.

Cora Felton was dying to know what the paper was.

Cora Felton held her tongue, watched the purse, let the others bicker.

The discussion as to whether or not they should talk was interrupted by the arrival of Chief Harper, who came stomping in, put his hands on his hips, and said, “Well, well, well. What have we here?”

Dan Finley, at his heels, said, “As I told you, Chief—”

“Yes, you did,” Harper interrupted. “And now I’d like to hear it from them. Miss Felton, what were you doing in the Hurley house?”

Before Cora Felton could answer, Becky Baldwin stepped in front of her. “Excuse me, Chief, but are you suspecting Ms. Felton of a crime?”

“I’m suspecting her of being stupid and doing something she shouldn’t.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Becky Baldwin said. “Under the circumstances, as an attorney, I would have to advise Ms. Felton not to answer your question.”

“You’re not her attorney.”

“No, I’m not. But she doesn’t have one, do you, Ms. Felton?”

“I don’t need an attorney.”

“See, Chief?” Becky Baldwin said. “She doesn’t have an attorney, and she doesn’t think she needs one. That’s exactly the type of person the law was designed to protect. Ms. Felton is in jail. If you want to talk to her, and you suspect her of any crime, you have to advise her of her rights. And you
must
suspect her of a crime, or she wouldn’t be in jail. And if you
don’t
suspect her of a crime, you have to let her go. Those are her rights, and she should know them, whether she has an attorney or not.”

“Well, thank you for making that clear,” Chief Harper said dryly. He took out a set of keys, unlocked the cell door. “Miss Felton, Miss Carter, come with me.”

Cora Felton got up, followed Sherry Carter out of the cell. Becky Baldwin trky Baldwied to follow too, but Chief Harper closed the cell door and locked it again. “I’m sorry, Miss Baldwin, but at the moment I just need to talk to them. But I assure you, when I come back to talk to you, I will read you your rights.”

Chief Harper ushered Sherry Carter and Cora Felton into his office. “Sit down,” he told them. “Let’s try to make this as painless as possible. Do I need to point out to you two why you can’t go breaking into the Hurley house?”

“I don’t think so,” Cora Felton said.

“What were you doing there?”

“Looking for clues.”

“Did you find any?”

Cora Felton smiled. “I refuse to answer until you read me my rights.”

Chief Harper gawked at her. “Are you kidding me?”

“Yes, I am,” Cora Felton replied. “But there’s no reason to tell little Miss F. Lee Bailey that. As far as she’s concerned, I’d be happy if you gave her the impression we clammed up.”

“Done,” Chief Harper said. “So what exactly did you find?”

Cora Felton gave him a rundown of the thought process by which she and Sherry Carter had discovered the new clues.

Chief Harper was disbelieving. “You mean the whole crossword-puzzle game was a hoax?”

“That’s the way it looks right now.”

“Any reason you couldn’t let me in on this, instead of breaking the law?”

“Chief,” Sherry said, “you’d made an arrest. How would you have felt if we’d come in and said, You wanna help us find something to undermine your case?”

“I might not have been pleased, but it’s what you should have done.”

“You wanna release Daniel Hurley?” Cora Felton said.

“I can’t release Daniel Hurley,” Chief Harper said. “There’s too much evidence against him. He’s gotta go before the judge.”

“Even in light of what we found?” Cora Felton said.

“What you found doesn’t prove he didn’t do these killings. For all we know, the one thing has nothing to do with the other.” Chief Harper sounded grim. “But that’s not the point. The point is this is a murder case.
My
murder case. If you have any leads that would shed some light on that murder case, you bring ’em to
me
.”

“We’re bringing them to you now,” Cora Felton pointed out helpfully.

“Yes,” Chief Harper replied. “And entirely of your own volition. I’m sure being dragged in in handcuffs had nothing to do with it.”

“You want to gripe about it, or you wanna try to figure out what it means?”

“As I understand it now, Emma Hurley has little jingly rhymes leading you all over her house?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

“And you think this was the real game, not the crossword puzzles?”

“We were trying to find that out when we were dragged in here.”

“And you got as far as the study?”

“Yes, we did,” Cora Felton said. “Which would have been pay dirt.”

Chief Harper frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Cora Felton answered. “But since we’re all cooperating here, would you mind if I got my purse?”

“Your purse?”

“Yes. Your officer took it away from me. Which was probably wise on his part, since there’s a weapon in it.”

“A weapon?”

“Relax,” Cora said. “I have a permit for it. But the point is, there is a gun in my purse. Among other things.”

“What other things?”

“The last clue—the one in the study—was in an envelope. Just before the officer burst in on us, I shoved it in my purse.”

“Wait here,” Chief Harper ordered brusquely. He strode to the door, jerked it open, and went out. He was back moments later carrying the floppy drawstring purse. He pulled the gun out of it, scowled. “I’m going to take your word that you have a permit for this. I’m also going to hold on to it for the moment so it doesn’t go off accidentally while you rummage through your purse. Now,” he said, handing the purse to her, “you wanna show me that clue?”

“I sure do,” Cora Felton said. “Because it’s the payoff. All the other clues are written in place in Magic Marker. The first clue was on the bottom of a drawer. This clue was also on the bottom of a drawer, but it wasn’t written, it was in an envelope. So it’s not apt to be directions to somewhere else.”