A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark

by Harry Connolly

The calls had left Marley rattled enough that she lost her temper. “The nerve! I should go down there straight away—“

  “No, you shouldn’t,” Albert said. “As your nephew, I respectfully request that you not go near any of those people. Not while they have these spells on them. As your driver, I respectfully decline to drive you.”

  “Is that so? I could call a cab, you know.” She waved her hand at him. “Oh never mind. Of course you’re right. Thank you. Well, it seems clear that Salkind is the only one who didn’t get this week’s delivery. I wonder why.”

  “Probably because Aloysius was skimming some and selling it on the side.”

  “I—I do believe you’re right, Albert. How clever of you.”

  As Albert felt a flush of pride, Marley’s phone rang. Caller ID showed it was her attorney, Frederika, on the line, and the first thing she said was: “Marley, do you have an alibi for last night? Around 9PM?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Honesty Is the Most Dangerous Trick of All

  Frederika explained that Inez Shankley had filed a police report about a break-in at her office and she’d named Marley as her main suspect. Marley told Frederika about the meeting in the parking lot and gave her Kevin’s name, then asked to meet outside the SPG Associate’s law office.

  Frederika got there first. Knowing her client well—and being too energetic to wait—she rushed forward and yanked open the back door of the Lexus before Albert could even turn off the engine.

  “I’ve already spoken with the private investigator and he’s happy to sign an affidavit, so your alibi is set. I think he’s hoping to get some work out of me. How do you want to proceed, Marley? We can get a court order to make her back off, or we could just straight up sue her. I don’t know Shankley personally, but I know of her. I could kick her ass in court.”

  “There will be no ass-kicking! Not today. Today we’ll just talk. Nicely.”

  “I can do nice,” Frederika said as she violently wrenched open the front door. Feeling useless, Albert hurried to keep up.

  The reception area was a mess. Files had been pulled from their cabinets and strewn across the carpet. Sherilynne wasn’t behind the reception desk; she was bent low in the corner, picking up loose sheets of paper and dropping them, all disordered, into baskets. She grumbled and sniffled as she worked. The phone rang. She stamped across the room and answered it with the handset.

  Inez Shankley’s door was open, so Marley started toward it. Inez was quicker, though, blocking the doorway before they could get close.

  “Inez,” Marley said. “What happened here?”

  Inez smiled cynically. “You don’t know?”

  “Be careful,” Frederika interrupted.

  “I’m always careful,” Inez said smoothly. She turned to Marley. “I lock my doors and set my alarm every night before I leave. That’s how careful I am.”

  “Inez.” Marley’s voice was flat and firm. “Whatever happened here, I’m sure you know I had nothing to do with it. I mean, really.”

  “You came here asking to see his office and his files, didn’t you? And that very same night someone broke into the former and stole the latter. That’s a remarkable coincidence, don’t you think?”

  “Inez, does your computer network track access to the files?”

  “Yes, it does. It logs when the files were accessed, who did it, and when. All I’d need to do is contact my admin service—“

  “Do that, would you please? For the time—Albert, when were we here in the office yesterday? About ten-thirty?”

  Before he could answer, Inez did: “It was nine-fifty-five to ten-twenty.”

  “Oh good. Check those times, dear. We’ll wait here.”

  Inez looked suspicious but she went into her office and closed the door.

  Marley turned to Sherilynne, who had hung up the phone and now stood staring at a drift of paper in the corner of the room. “Is Stan in, dear? I’ve been wanting to speak with him.”

  Sherilynne moaned, a sound part ghostly misery, part grieving beluga whale. Then she tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling. The phone rang, but she made no move to answer it.

  Marley took her gently by the elbow and steered her toward a little set of chairs that were clearly supposed to be a waiting area. They sat together.

  Frederika moved to the door to look out into the street, ready to throw her body at any approaching police officers, if Inez made the mistake of calling them. Albert edged toward the desk; the ringing phone bothered him more than he wanted to admit, and he wondered what would happen if he answered it and took a message.

  “He meant something to me, too, you know,” Sherilynne said. “And now what do I have? No boyfriend. A job where no one likes me. And I’m not even invited to the funeral!”

  She began to cry in earnest while Marley sat beside her and patted her hand. The phone finally stopped ringing, and Albert stared at his shoes, wishing he had something he could do.

  “Sherilynne, dear,” Marley said, trying to break in between gasping sobs. “Dear. No one has been invited to the funeral yet. No arrangements have been made.”

  That broke through to her. “None? But it’s already Wednesday!”

  “He was murdered, dear. We’re not in any rush. Give Albert your contact information and we’ll make sure you know the time and date.”

  “Oh my gosh,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Oh my gosh, I will.” She stood and made a beeline to the desk. The phone started ringing again but she ignored it. She picked up her purse, rummaged inside for a pen and Post-it, then scribbled down her contact information.

  Albert accepted it and put it in his pocket. He’d barely pulled his hand out again when she flung herself at him, throwing her arms around him and squeezing his floating ribs painfully. Then she went to Marley, bent over and gave her a big, awkward hug, which Marley felt obliged to reciprocate.

  After that, Sherilynne sniffled and pivoted toward Frederika, who held up one hand and said, “No.”

  Sherilynne stopped as if poleaxed. Marley laid a gentle hand on the weeping woman’s shoulder. “Is Stan in his office?” she asked again. “I would like to speak with him.”

  “I’ll email him to let him know.”

  “Has he been in today?”

  “No, he hasn’t been in to the office since you were here last.”

  “I see. Is that unusual?”

  “A little. He usually tells me where he is. Should I have him call you?”

  “If you would, please, I’d be grateful. Also, you should probably polish up your résumé.”

  Sherilynne sighed. The phone started ringing again, and this time she moved to answer it.

  Inez yanked her office door open. “For God’s sake, would someone answer the—“ She stopped as she saw Sherilynne put on her headset. Then she turned to Marley. “Would you come into my office, please?”

  Marley did, with Frederika and Albert. This time, Frederika took the chair beside Marley, leaving Albert to stand by the door.

  “I’ve discovered something alarming,” Inez said. “According to my admin service, the last time anyone has accessed Al’s files was yesterday, from this computer. While you were in this office.”

  “That’s right, dear. You copied them onto a travel drive for me, then passed them across the desk.”

  “I don’t remember that.”

  Frederika huffed in disbelief, and Inez’s response was sharp.

  “I mean it. I truly don’t remember doing that. I told you I couldn’t share the files with you.”

  “You did say that,” Albert said. “You told us you couldn’t copy the files, but you were copying them onto my aunt’s thumb drive as you said it.” He felt strange dealing in this half-truth. If he wasn’t complicit in the trick they’d played on Inez, he certainly was now. Also, he suddenly felt connected to his aunt in a new and unexpected way.

  Inez gaped at him. “Why would I do that?”

  “Well, I thought you were doing that thin
g where you say ‘No one is allowed to have extra dessert’ while you give your buddy a second slice of cake. I thought you wanted to give it to us on the sneak.”

  “It’s true, dear.” Marley said. “The files came from your own hand, and if I’d known you were on autopilot…. In any event, you can see I had no reason to break in here and search your office; your computer records show that you yourself gave me what I asked for already.”

  “Unless,” Inez countered, “what you were looking for wasn’t in the files.” She made a sour face. “No. Forget that. I’m only saying that because I’m embarrassed.”

  Marley was sympathetic. “Well of course you are! You’re an intelligent woman who did something you wish you hadn’t. Believe me when I say that I sympathize.”

  Inez met her gaze evenly. “Then I’m going to play on that sympathy and ask you to delete those files. Please.”

  Marley took the travel drive from her purse and held it up. “There are copies on my computer which I’ll delete when I’m at home, but there’s something I want in return. I have questions I need answered.”

  Inez looked wary. “What are they?”

  “What happened here last night? And what was Aloysius really up to?”

  Inez arranged the pencils in her pencil jar so they were perfectly spaced. “Al was falling behind. He only had the one client—a big one with a lot of stupid errands for him to run—but I happen to know he was having trouble with some of those errands. He was also having trouble paying his bills in a timely manner. His share of the office dues were late last month, again.” She pressed a button on her phone. “Sherilynne, would you bring in April’s office balance sheets, please, assuming they’re in some sort of order.” She released the button. “Luckily, we didn’t have the phone or electricity shut off, and Al was able to cover the past due charges. I certainly wasn’t going to pay his share, considering our relationsh… God, I just realized...” Inez pushed her chair back. “The police found his car. Did you hear that?”

  “No, I didn’t. How did you?”

  “Um, from a friend. Anyway, they found his car under the viaduct. It had been torn apart—all the upholstery was slashed. Someone must have searched it.”

  Sherilynne bustled into the room with a manila folder in her hand. “They were in my desk and they weren’t touched.”

  Inez accepted them. “Oh, good.” Sherilynne sniffled. Inez looked at her closely, noting her red, puffy eyes. “Are you going to be all right?”

  “I just miss him,” she answered. “I’m sad he’s gone.”

  Inez sighed. “I am, too.” Inez reached up and took Sherilynne’s hand. They clasped hands kindly for a moment, then broke off.

  “That’s all right,” Marley said. “I don’t need to see the balance sheets. What about the break in? It was to search Aloysius’s office, wasn’t it?”

  “Boy,” Sherilynne said. “Stan really went way too far this time.”

  Everyone fell silent as all eyes turned to her. Frederika stood out of her chair. “Are you saying Stan Grabbleton did this?”

  Inez dropped her head into her hands. When she spoke, the kindness of their shared grief was gone. “For God’s sake, Sherilynne, how could you say something so stupid? Do you really think Stan cut the wires of his own office alarm system and threw a bunch of his own files all over the floor?”

  Sherilynne looked around uncertainly. “No?”

  “No!” Inez shouted.

  “But why did you think it was Stan?” Marley asked.

  “Think carefully how you answer,” Inez told her.

  The phone began to ring out in the reception area. Sherilynne stood nervously looking from face to face. For the first time in several weeks, she wished she could rush off to answer a call. “Well, Al told me a couple of times that Stan had gone through his desk. He would never say why, only that he’d done it.”

  Marley turned to Inez, but Inez spoke up first. “Those boys had their problems, but I wasn’t part of that. You’ll have to speak to Stan about it, because I have nothing to say on the subject.”

  “What about the break-in in general?” Marley asked.

  Inez sighed. “Judging by the looks of things, I don’t think they found what they were looking for.” The phone in the reception area was still ringing. “Sherilynne, would you please go out and pick that up?”

  Sherilynne was glad to be sent out of the room, but she went slowly enough to have time to complain. “I already have a full-time job and you want me to pick up and sort the files, too. You really should hire a temp for this!”

  “If I hire a temp,” Inez said, her voice rising, “It will be so someone answers our phone!”

  “Call the police,” Frederika said. “I want my client off their radar in the next fifteen minutes.”

  “Of course,” Inez said, letting her embarrassment turn into irritation.

  “What about Stan?” Marley asked. “I’d like to speak with him.” Inez could only apologize and suggest they talk to Sherilynne about that.

  Marley was finished. Albert led the way to the exit, holding the door for both Marley and Frederika. He followed them to the sidewalk and down the block. Frederika had a habit of standing very close and looking at the ground as she spoke, and she spoke very quickly in her incredibly abrasive voice. He decided she must be a fantastic lawyer because there was no other reason to put up with her.

  “Jenny is cracking up under the stress,” Frederika was saying. “She’s asked to see you several times and loses her temper when I tell her to be patient. She’s a sharp kid, but a little spoiled. I think she needs someone to come hold her hand and pet her hair.”

  “Someone like me, you mean.”

  “And her parents are even worse. Jenny isn’t allowed to call me every half-hour, but those two... I keep telling them to visit their daughter in jail, but they won’t go near the place. I think they’re afraid they’ll be locked up, too, just because they’re Chinese.

  Albert glanced out into the street. A black SUV rounded the corner too quickly. Something about it raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Then he noticed the spider-web crack low on the passenger side windshield.

  “I’m worried that Jenny will start talking to the police without me,” Frederika was saying. “She doesn’t know anything about the murder—you’re right, I think, she wasn’t involved, but—“

  The SUV swerved across the median, heading straight toward them.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Pebbles and The Snatching Thereof

  Albert acted without thought; he lunged forward, bending low, and wrapped an arm around each woman’s waist. Marley gasped in surprise, but Frederika shrieked and struggled. He lifted them both, pinning them against his chest, and began to run.

  The SUV turned harder, angling toward them. Albert wasn’t going to reach the cover of the nearest parked car in time. He lunged toward the wall of the building, hoping the extra distance between him and their attacker might give him an extra stride.

  They were right against the brick building when the SUV veered off, tires screeching. Frederika, who was closest to it, shrieked directly into Albert’s ear. There was a brief scrape of a fender, and the vehicle bounced over the curb and swerved back into traffic.

  Albert didn’t stop running.

  “Dear, that’s enough,” Marley said. “You can put us down.”

  “What if they have guns?” he said, his voice too loud. His brain was full of static, fearful thoughts, along with the sounds of a Taliban ambush he had barely survived the year before. “What if they circle around the block?”

  “Well, they won’t catch us by surprise again, will they? Come on, now. That’s enough. Put us down.”

  Albert let his pace slow, the adrenaline rush draining out of him. A sudden flood of sweat ran down his face. He stopped beside Marley’s car and set both women down, but he held on to Frederika’s elbow with a trembling hand. “I heard you cry out. Are you all right?”

  “No, I’m
not all right!” she snapped. “Look at this heel!” She lifted her foot to show that the high heel had been snapped off her shoe. “My God, look at that. Ruined!”

  “Frederika, dear, Albert just saved both our lives.”

  She seemed to consider that for a moment, then resentfully said, “I suppose so. I don’t much like being grabbed from behind, though.”

  “Neither do I,” Marley said, “but I’m quite happy to make an exception this one time. Thank you, dear.”

  “You’re welcome. You’re not hurt?”

  “Not at all. How about you? You didn’t strain your back, did you? Do you need to play a little Tetris?”

  “What?” Frederika cut in. “What’s this about Tetris? I love Tetris.”

  Albert managed a smile. He wiped the sweat from his eyebrows with a trembling hand. “I think I’m fine. Upsetting, though, isn’t it?”

  Frederika laughed. “I’ll say! And quick! I didn’t have any warning at all.”

  Marley laid a gentle hand on Frederika’s shoulder. “I’ll be sure to check in with Jenny as soon as I can. You get back to the office. And thank you for coming along.”

  “For all the good I did you,” Frederika muttered.

  “Now stop that. You kept Inez honest, as I knew you would. Keep me up to date, please.”

  “Of course.” Frederika wobbled off to her car.

  Albert looked up and down the street. “I guess they’re not coming back. And they must have had a spotter, but I didn’t think to look for one until it was too late.”

  “A spotter? What do you mean?”

  “The SUV was going pretty fast and this is a short block. Unless it was doing forty-mile-an-hour circles through the neighborhood, I don’t see how they could have timed it that well, unless they had someone watching to let them know we’d left the building and were about to round the corner. But that didn’t occur to me right away, and they got away before it did.”

  “Well don’t beat yourself up about it, Albert. I thought you did just fine saving my life. That’s not something Jenny could have done. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. God, I’ve been paranoid as hell waiting for those guys to take another shot, and they still caught me off guard.”