sorrowful, Skip thought.
She said: “I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Travis. I understand Toby was about to celebrate a birthday.”
“Who the hell told you that?”
She liked his defensiveness – it gave her a nice advantage.
“His thirtieth. Was anything special supposed to happen then?” Purposely, she phrased her question like a prosecutor – not leading, yet clearly conveying the idea that she already knew the answer.
“My daughter told you, I presume. He was going to inherit money. What's that got to do with anything?”
“You tell me.”
“Don't you give me orders! I've had about enough of you bullying me and my family. Let me tell you and tell you right now: Dale's got her faults, but she's not a murderer. She and Toby were as close as a brother and sister can be. You just get any ideas about her out of your head. Anyway, it doesn't make sense. If she were a murderer, she wouldn't kill him, she'd kill me.”
Skip thought, You're not kidding it doesn't make sense. She said, “Why would she kill you?”
“For wanting to replace her.” He spoke crossly, obviously unable to understand how she could be so dense.
“I think you'd better start at the beginning, Mr. Travis.”
“Fool board made her CEO of the damn company, and she's just about run it in the ground. I wanted to replace her with Toby – so why wouldn't she kill me instead of him?”
“Did he accept your offer?”
“He was going to.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He said he'd let me know tomorrow.”
“Tell me something. If the board has the power to appoint the CEO, how could you replace Dale with Toby?”
He sunk his head into his shoulders, more like a sullen kid than ever. “I could have talked them into it.”
I'll bet. Skip read it this way: Either because of poor performance or worse personality, the company had fired Hal and replaced with Dale. He thought he could set up a puppet named Toby.
No matter who was running the company, Hal had a history of violence when angry and – despite his face–saving story – he'd probably been turned down. But Skip couldn't help but notice that candid, good–sister Dale, who'd somehow failed to mention her cushy job at the bottle cap factory, just might have a motive herself.
Maybe Toby had said he'd think about the offer, and not just to get his dad off his back. Or maybe that was the original idea, then he'd had the fight with Shorty and decided to reconsider. He'd gone by to tell Dale and she'd quickly squashed that plan – along with his skull.
The captain knocked.
“Yes?”
“Steve is back.”
“Okay, Mr. Travis. We'll continue this later.”
The minute Steve came in, she could see he'd found something good. “The weapon? You found the weapon?”
“I wish. What would you do with a blunt instrument you happen to murder somebody with in the middle of the Southern Ocean?”
She sighed. “Toss it overboard.”
“Yeah.”
“Well? If it wasn't the weapon, what?”
“The motive.”
“Oh, great.”
“Hey, what's wrong?”
“I found a few of those, too. But I'm still impressed – don't get me wrong. Shoot.”
“There's three decks below this one, did you know that? One for the crew and two others, where I was strictly forbidden to go, but did anyhow. Guess what's down there? Labs.”
“What kind of labs?”
“Abandoned, locked–up labs full of dusty old beakers and things. From the research days.”
Her interest was piqued. “Really?”
“All except for two. One of those is a working chemical lab of some kind – I couldn't tell you what's being made there, but I've got an idea. Because the one next door is all fitted out with fluorescent lights.”
“Yep. A mini pot farm. And whatever they're doing, they're doing it right. There's a lot of good–looking weed in there.”
“So they're probably making drugs in the chemical lab – a little diversification.” “Ecstasy maybe. Something like that.”
“But who's doing it? That's the question.”
“Well, it would be if not for your faithful servant. I don't know yet, but I do have the key. As it happens, in the chemistry lab there's also an ancient computer. I mean we're talking dinosaur. You may recall I'm pretty good with these things.”
“A genius, practically.”
“The only problem is, I don't speak Estonian.”
“But surely you rose above that.” His whole manner was so smug she was sure he had something.
“Well the only recent file in it had exactly two words in it I could recognize: `Toby` and `Shorty.` Someone's keeping a log, I think – Toby's name came up about a week ago, and Shorty's – get this – tonight. Followed by exclamation marks. What do you think?”
“I think everybody lies, and just when you think you've got the hang of something it flies out of control.” She filled him in on her interviews. “Let's get the Antarctic Sex Queen in here again. You want to stick around and be the good cop? I'm sure she'll probably respond to your charm and magnetism.”
“Sure. I'll be gentle as a penguin.”
Shorty was tearing at a tissue. Skip said, “Okay, Shorty. We found the pot farm and the chemistry lab. Start talking.”
She stared at Steve, eyes opening up like a couple of beach umbrellas. Finally she turned them on Skip. “I don't know what you mean.”
“You were there tonight, weren't you?”
“No! You're crazy. You talk stuff I don't understand. I don't know nothin' about no drugs. I don't know nothing.”
“We have proof you're involved in the drug ring. You know what that means? It means you're going to jail unless you cooperate. It means your children are going to spend the rest of their lives in foster care.
“No! No. You can't do this. This is supposed to be about Toby. Why don't you investigate something important?”
Steve said, “Hey, Skip, give her a minute to think, okay? Can't you see she's upset?”
A tiny ray of hope flamed up in Shorty's eyes.
He said, “You didn't kill Toby, did you? She thinks you did. She knows he was involved in the drug ring and ....”
“He was not! There is no drug ring – this is crazy.”
“Look, Shorty, I'm trying to help you. If you weren't involved and he wasn't involved, what's the big deal?”
“Oh, God.” Her body fell forward, heaving with ragged, tearing sobs, her head down on the table.
Skip gave Steve the thumbs–up sign.
The curly head finally rose, the face below all pink and wet. “I'm so ashamed.”
“Of what, Shorty?”
“Toby knew about the drugs. He found out last week, and he knew he shouldn't, but he have –to tell me – he just have to – you know? Because he was so upset he couldn't be quiet.”
“Why was he so upset?”
“Because Andre was his best friend.”
“Andre.”
“Oh, yes, Andre. There is no ring, no nothing. We find out everything. When the ship stops at this American research station – it does every trip, you know? Andre unloads to this one guy. That's it – just one other guy who gets the stuff out on supply ships. We know, but we tell nobody, you understand? Because Andre and Toby are ... like this.” She put two fingers together. “You know Toby. He put friendship above everything.”
“Why did you say you were ashamed?”
“Because I go there last night – after our fight. I figure Andre has money now – I move on to him. I lie, I say I go to bed and cry, because I am so ashamed.”
The rest was easy. Confronted, Andre broke into a thousand pieces. Toby had told him he knew about the drugs, but Andre trusted him to keep quiet. When he found out Shorty knew, he panicked. He no longer felt his friend could be trusted. So he killed Toby, and Skip suspected
Shorty would soon have taken a long, cold swim under the shining Southern Cross.
But Shorty was so sure the father was the perp it never occurred to her where the real danger was.
Andre was eager not to be seen as a common drug manufacturer. He was utterly matter–of–fact, as if he were telling the story of going to his lab with no light and no heat in sub–zero weather. “I did what was necessary,” he said, as if it made sense.
“Necessary for what?”
“I wanted to buy the ship.”
“Buy the ship? What on earth for?”
“To return it to research. To science! As before.”
Skip thought she was finally getting it. “It must be hard driving dinghies when you used to be a nationally respected ....”
“No, no, you don't understand. What we did was important. It could solve the world's food problem some day. Or perhaps ....”
“Perhaps what?”
“Weather ... global warming. The ocean is in trouble. We can't just stop. ...”
He reminded Skip of nothing so much as the lone penguin climbing the hill – utterly focused, but rather like a machine that's not even sure why it has to keep running. She could see how he'd gotten those men through the Antarctic winter – through pure, plain blind ambition, stubborn and awkward, but kind of heroic nonetheless. His innate doggedness, his absolute refusal to be beaten, had taken a tiny turn somewhere, twisted into grim desire, and turned dangerous.
Fire, she thought. Robert Frost knew what he was talking about. The world was sure to end in fire.
Credits
Allingham, Margery: “One Morning They'll Hang Him” by Margery Allingham. Copyright by Margery Allingham. Reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown, London, on behalf of Youngman Carter Ltd. Blochman, Lawrence G.:
“The Phantom Cry–Baby” from Diagnosis: Homicide by Lawrence G. Blochman (Lippincott: 1950). Reprinted by the permission of the Anita Diamant Agency on behalf of the estate of Lawrence G. Blochman. Braun, Lilian Jackson: “Phut Phat
Concentrates” from The Cat Who Had 14 Tales by Lilian Jackson Braun first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, December 1963. Permission granted by The Berkley Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Brown, Fredric: “Before She Kills” by Fredric Brown first appeared in Ed McBain's Mystery Magazine, No. 1. Copyright 1961 by Pocket Books, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Robert Pryor, Inc.
Christie, Agatha: “The Love Detectives” published in the United States in the collection Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie. Copyright 1942 by Agatha Christie Mallowan; renewed copyright 1969 by Agatha Christie Mallowan. Published in the UK and Commonwealth in the collection Problem at PollensaBay and Other Stories. Copyright 1926 by Agatha Christie. Reprinted by permission of The Putnam Publishing Group and Hughes Massie Ltd.
D'Amato, Barbara: “Stop, Thief!” by Barbara D'Amato, copyright 1991 by Barbara D'Amato. Reprinted from Sisters in Crime 4, copyright 1991 and edited by Marilyn Wallace. Permission granted by The Berkley Publishing Group, the author, and Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, Inc. All rights reserved.
Dearmore, Ellen: “The Adventure of the Perpetual Husbands” by Erlene Hubly writing as Ellen Dearmore first appeared in The Woman Sleuth Anthology, edited by Irene Zahava, 1988. Reprinted by permission of A. T. Hubly.
Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir: “The Adventure of the Empty House” from The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Copyright 1905. Reproduced by kind permission of Aitken and Stone Ltd., London, on behalf of Mrs. Andrea Plunkett.
Footner, Hulbert: “The Sealed House” by Hulbert Footner. Copyright by Hulbert Footner. Reprinted by permission of Geoffrey M. Footner. Freeman, R. Austin: “The Puzzle
Lock” from The Puzzle Lock and Other Stories by R. Austin Freeman. Copyright 1926 by Dodd, Mead and Co., Inc.; renewed 1954 by the Executors of the estate of R. Austin Freeman. Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd. on behalf of Winifred Lydia Briant.
Gilbert, Michael: “The Road to Damascus” from Game Without Rules by Michael Gilbert, published by Carroll and Graf Publishers, Inc. Copyright 1967 by Michael Gilbert. Repinted by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.
Hill, Reginald: “Dalziel's Ghost” from Pascoe's Ghost and Other Brief Chronicles by Reginald Hill. Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd. on behalf of Reginald Hill.
Hoch, Edward D.: “Interpol: The Case of the Modern Medusa” by Edward D. Hoch first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Copyright 1973 by Edward D. Hoch. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Lockridge, Frances and Richard: “Pattern for Murder” by Frances and Richard Lockridge first appeared in This Week magazine as “There's Death for Remembrance.” Copyright 1955 by Frances and Richard Lockridge and renewed by the Estate of Frances and Richard Lockridge. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.
Muller, Marcia: “The Holes in the System” by Marcia Muller first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, 1996. Copyright 1996 by Marcia Muller. Palmer, Stuart, and Craig Rice: “Once upon a Train” is reprinted from The People vs. Withers and Malone by Stuart Palmer and Craig Rice by permission of the authors' agent JAB–BERWOCKY Literary Agency,
P.O. Box 4558, Sunnyside, NY11104–0558
.
Pronzini, Bill: “The Desert Limited” by Bill Pronzini first appeared in Louis L'Amour Western Magazine, 1995. Copyright 1995 by Bill Pronzini.
Quentin, Patrick: “Puzzle for Poppy” by Patrick Quentin first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, 1946. Copyright 1946 by Patrick Quentin. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.
Roos, Kelley: “Two over Par” by Kelley Roos first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, 1949. Reprinted by permission of Stephen K. Roos.
Sayers, Dorothy L.: “The Footsteps That Ran” from Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy Sayers. Published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton as “The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran.” Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates.
Smith, Julie: “The End of the Earth” by Julie Smith first appeared in this anthology. Copyright 1997 by Julie Smith.
Stout, Rex: “Fourth of July Picnic” from And Four to Go by Rex Stout. Copyright 1956, 1957 by Rex Stout. Copyright 1958 by the Curtis Publishing Company; renewed. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books
USA Inc.
Webb, Jack: “And Start with a Blonde” by Jack Webb first appeared in Ed McBain's Mystery Magazine, No. 2, 1961. Reprinted by permission of the author's agent, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, –L.P.
Wodehouse, P. G.: “Death at the Excelsior” by P. G. Wodehouse first appeared in Pearson's magazine December 1914, under the title “The Education of Detective Oakes.” Reprinted by permission of A. P. Watt Ltd. on behalf of the trustees for the Wodehouse estate.
Author Index
Names in italics belong to authors who have stories included.
Aldyne, Nathan (Michael McDowell and Dennis Schuetz), 8
Allingham, Margery, 192
Anderson, Frederick Irving, 6
Aswell, Mary Louise (Q. Patrick), 207
Baxe, George, 9
Bagby, George (Aaron Marc Stein), 5, 9
Blochman, Lawrence G., 13, 240
Braun, Lilian Jackson, 14, 258
Brown, Carter, 12
Brown, Fredric, 9, 10, 13, 267
Buchan, John, 11
Burton, Miles (Cecil John Charles Street), 6
Champion, D. L., 10
Chandler, Raymond, 9
Childers, Erskine, 11
Christie, Agatha, 5, 12, 13, 87
Cole, G. D. H., 9
Cole, Margaret, 9
Cornwell, Patricia D., 14, 240
Costiner, Merle, 10
Coxe, George Harmon, 12
Craig, Georgiana Ann Randolph (Craig Rice), 12, 13, 220
Crane, Frances, 5
D'Amato, Barbara, 8, 13, 14, 294, 397
Detective Duos Page 64
