by Parnell Hall
He walked under the car and pointed. “The brakes are intact. They’re the original brakes. They’re in pretty good shape, but they won’t sell, no one’s looking to buy used brakes. Here’s the brake lines. If you were gonna, you’d cut ’em here. As you can see, no one did.”
“What about the rest?”
Donnie checked out the brakes. He didn’t skimp the job. There was hostility in his thoroughness. Every gesture seemed to say, see, lady?
“How about the brake lines themselves. Have they been replaced?”
“Sure, lady, after I inspected the car someone snuck in here in the dead of night, put it up on the lift, took off the cut brake line, and replaced it with a new one.”
“Could that have happened?”
“No. These are not new brake lines, these are the original brake lines that came with the car. Look, I don’t know what dog you have in this race, but whatever your interest, the answer is the same.”
Donnie pointed at the car on the lift. “These brakes have never been tampered with.”
Chapter
33
Chief Harper was fit to be tied. “I ought to run you in.”
“Gee, Chief,” Cora said. “I solve a crossword puzzle for you and this is the thanks I get.”
“You’re meddling in a police investigation.”
“What investigation? I’m not even up on your investigation. Any progress in the Matt Greystone case?”
“I sent Dan Finley down to Rye, New York, to check out Matt Greystone’s car. What do you think he found?”
“The car?”
“He found two very cranky service station guys who weren’t the least bit interested in checking Matt Greystone’s car because they said some little old lady had already had them do it.”
“That’s just hurtful, Chief, assuming they meant me. Little old lady indeed.”
“Did you pay them a hundred dollars to check out Matt Greystone’s brakes?”
“Would that be a crime?”
“That’s not the question. The question is did anyone tamper with the brakes. The answer is yes. You did. Before the police could inspect them.”
“That’s a rather harsh way of describing it.”
“Not as harsh as how the prosecutor describes it. Not only did you tamper with the brakes, but the police department let you tamper with the brakes.”
“This is getting far afield, Chief. Just because a crossword puzzle says something doesn’t mean it has anything to do with your crime. You’re not investigating a single-car accident, you’re investigating a murder.”
“I’m investigating the murder of a gossip columnist. I’m looking for a motive. Covering up a prior murder attempt works just fine.”
“Oh, your theory is someone tried to kill Matt Greystone, the gossip columnist got wind of it so someone bumped him off?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Oh, a few holes here and there.”
“This isn’t rocket science, Cora. The wife stands to inherit, and the wife was discovered with the dead body.”
“The wife discovered the dead body, Chief. Do you have enough to pick Jackie Greystone up?”
“Not my call.”
“Does Ratface think you have enough to pick her up?”
“Henry Firth has a horror of prosecuting the wrong man.”
“Once bitten, twice shy?”
“It’s embarrassing to start prosecuting a suspect and then find out you have more evidence against someone else. He’s gonna be damn sure that doesn’t happen this time.”
“Good to know. I’ll tell Becky she’s on firm ground saying, ‘Charge her or release her.’”
Harper made a face. “Couldn’t we do this without so much sparring?”
“You’re the one who accused me of meddling in a police investigation.”
“You’re the one who meddled.” Harper sunk back in his desk chair, ran his hand over his forehead. “You know, the air-conditioning in here could work better.”
“Why don’t you get it fixed?”
“I put in a requisition.”
“A requisition? Is this what it’s come to, Chief, everything in triplicate? You’re the chief of police. Call the repairman or replace the damn thing.”
Harper heaved a huge sigh. “I got a crossword puzzle says check the brakes. There’s nothing wrong with the brakes. So what the hell was the crossword puzzle all about?”
“Maybe it has nothing to do with the killing.”
“It was found at the scene of the crime.”
“Maybe it meant another car.”
“What other car? That’s the only accident even remotely connected.”
“Did you check Leon Bratz’s car?”
“No. Why would I check that?”
“It’s remotely connected.”
“Leon Bratz didn’t have an accident. Someone bashed his head in.”
“Yeah, but if they hadn’t. If he’d taken his car home, would he have driven off the road?”
Harper snatched up the phone. “Dan. Find out where Leon Bratz’s car is. Have it towed in and check it out from top to bottom. Put an emphasis on the brakes.” He hung up the phone, looked at Cora. “You think that’s the answer?”
Cora grimaced. “Chief, I don’t even know the question.”
“Do you think the victim’s brakes were tampered with?”
“I think it’s a hundred to one shot. But you ask me whose other brakes it could be, and that’s who I come up with. Of course if Jackie Greystone drives into a large tree, I’ll revise my estimate.”
“Do you think the suspect was the intended victim?”
“I don’t think anything, Chief. You’re asking me for possible scenarios.”
“Yeah, well how about giving me probable ones.”
Dan Finley burst in the door. “Matt Greystone just drove his car off the road!”
Chapter
34
Chief Harper screeched his car to a stop at the side of the road and he and Cora leapt out.
The rear of Matt Greystone’s car protruded from a ditch. Matt’s agent, Lenny Schick, stood talking to Judy Douglas Knauer, whose blue Nissan was pulled up alongside.
“Where’s Matt?” Cora demanded.
“He’s home,” Lenny said.
“You sent him home?” Chief Harper said.
“I left him home. The party had to be a strain. No reason to be up and about.”
“He drove his car into a ditch,” Harper said.
“Don’t be silly. I drove his car into a ditch. Not my fault, really. I put on the brakes and nothing happened.”
“The brakes failed?”
“It certainly looks like it. Good thing it was me driving and not Matt. He couldn’t have handled it with one arm. I could barely do it with two. I was okay until it picked up speed on the grade. I’d have made it, but the car knocked me sideways on the S-turn. By the time I straightened up I was in the ditch.”
“You’re saying you drove his car?”
“Sure. I took his car to town because it was blocking mine. Everything seemed fine until I hit the downgrade. I stepped on the brake and the pedal went right to the floor.”
“You’re not hurt?”
“I’m not. How do you like that? The deepest pockets in the world and I can’t even sue.” He put up his hand. “Don’t call me on that. I may have some back injury that pops up later.”
Cora pulled Judy aside. “You saw the accident?”
“I phoned it in.”
“But you saw it happen?”
“I came along right after. The car was off the road. He was just climbing out of the ditch. I called the station, spoke to Dan Finley. You guys sure got here fast.”
“So you didn’t actually see the car go off the road?”
“No.”
“Did you hear the crash?”
“No, but what’s to hear? It’s not like it smashed into anything. It just got stuck in a ditch.”
“Headfirst.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s that bad. The front isn’t caved in or anything. And Lenny got out the front door. He didn’t have to kick a window open.”
Chief Harper came over. “What are you doing?”
“Talking to Judy. She’s the one who called it in.”
“What’s she been asking you?”
“If I saw the car go off the road. Which I didn’t. It must have been just before I got there. As soon as I saw it, I pulled off the road and called it in.”
“That’s what I was telling her, Chief. If only more people were civic minded.”
Chief Harper pulled Cora away. “What’s your angle?”
“Angle?”
“You come to a car crash, you don’t want to look at the car, you don’t want to talk to the driver, you’re interested in the person who called it in.”
“Judy’s a bridge partner.”
“I’m going to make every effort to cooperate with Becky in terms of her representing her client, as long as cooperation is a two-way street. What are you getting at?”
“It’s mighty convenient Matt’s agent is the one driving the car when it went off the road. The guy’s desperate to control publicity, he’s been trying to put a positive spin on Matt’s injury. If Matt wasn’t up to driving his car, that might be the sort of thing his agent might want to suppress.
“Dan Finley said Matt Greystone drove his car off the road. So that’s what Judy must have told him. Now she says his agent drove his car off the road. I’m just wondering why she changed her mind.”
Chief Harper strode back to Judy Douglas Knauer. “When you called Dan Finley, didn’t you say Matt Greystone drove off the road?”
“Yes. Because I recognized the car.”
“But you didn’t see him?”
“No. But I knew the car pretty well. I showed them enough houses before they settled on that one.”
“When did you see Lenny Schick?”
“When I stopped my car and got out he was climbing up the bank.”
“And the accident had just happened?”
“It must have. He wouldn’t have sat down there waiting for me to come along.”
Chief Harper looked at Cora. She could tell that was exactly what he was thinking.
Harper jerked his phone out of his pocket. “Dan, cancel the ambulance. Matt Greystone wasn’t in the car. His agent drove it off the road. He’s fine. He says the brakes failed. Have it hauled in and check the brakes.”
Harper clicked the phone off. “Let’s go talk to Matt.”
Chapter
35
Matt Greystone was concerned. “Are you all right?” he asked Lenny. “Shouldn’t a doctor check him out?”
“Relax, I’m not going to sue,” Lenny said.
Matt looked shocked. “I never thought you were.”
“I’m joking. To let you know I’m all right.”
“Why’d you take Matt’s car?” Jackie said.
“Mine was blocked in.”
She frowned.
“You haven’t been out today?” Harper asked Matt.
“No. With everything that happened, I didn’t need the excitement and I didn’t want to talk to the press.”
“They’ve been calling all day,” Jackie said. “We stopped answering the phone. And there’s a news van lying in wait for us. They were parked at the end of the driveway until one of your officers shooed them away. I saw him from the upstairs window. He wasn’t subtle about it.”
“Ah, that would be Sam Brogan,” Harper said. “He has his own way of doing things.”
Cora smiled. The cranky Bakerhaven officer was not noted for his patience.
“He chased them back to town,” Jackie said. “But if Matt went out, they’d be all over him.”
“As a celebrity, you must be used to that,” Harper said.
“As a pitcher, I’m used to that,” Matt said. “I can stand in front of reporters who want to know why I left a fastball over the middle of the plate and gave up a three-run homer. I don’t know how to answer questions about a murder. I don’t know anything about it and I don’t know what to say.”
“That would do just fine,” Cora said. “Trust me, I’ve been in your position. Well, not exactly, I’m not that famous, but I’ve been in the position of people wanting me to explain a murder when I haven’t a clue.” She jerked her thumb at Chief Harper. “He’s asked me more than once. It’s no fun, but I’ve gotten used to it. And, trust me, you’ll do very well with your humble sincerity. If you can fake that, you’re home free.”
Matt’s head snapped up defiantly.
Chief Harper jumped in before Cora completely hijacked the conversation. “What are all the cars out front?”
“Oh, the cleanup crew and the caterers.”
“The caterers are still here?”
“That’s your fault. Your officers wouldn’t let them take anything away. The place was a crime scene.”
“The sauna still is.”
“I know. The crime scene ribbon’s still up.”
“Make sure no one goes in there.”
“We won’t. I can’t promise some trespasser won’t go in there.”
Chief Harper didn’t look pleased at that, but realized there was nothing he could do about it. “When is the last time you drove your car?”
“I can’t drive. I have to have people drive me.”
“When’s the last time anyone drove the car?”
“Boy, I’d have to think back,” Matt said. “Let’s see, we went out two days ago, but that was in Jackie’s car.”
“If you don’t drive, how’d your car get here?” Harper said. “You’ve got two cars. Your wife drove her car. Who drove yours?”
Matt looked at Jackie, looked at Lenny, and shrugged. “Got me. I drove it up here. Very slowly, and very carefully, but I like to have a car. Like you say, Jackie couldn’t drive it up. I suppose I could have hired a driver, but then I’d have to get rid of him.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Lenny said.
Matt grimaced. “See? Now you got me in trouble with my agent. No, I didn’t tell you that because you’d have had a nervous breakdown. It’s hard enough with one of us out of commission. I need you doing what you do.”
“But I’m not doing it,” Lenny said. “I’m running around playing nursemaid to a naughty child.”
“So,” Harper said, “if someone sabotaged the brakes, would they have a reasonable expectation that you would be driving the car?”
“They’d have no reason to expect that I wouldn’t,” Matt said. “Lenny’s seen to that. He’s obsessive about it. Any indication that I wasn’t up to doing something, anything at all, and he’s falling all over himself proving it isn’t true. He doesn’t want me to drive, and he doesn’t want anyone to know I’m not driving.”
Harper’s phone rang. He grabbed it. “Yeah?” He listened a while, said “Thanks,” and clicked it off. “The car’s on the way to the garage. It doesn’t appear to be damaged, but the mechanic’s going to check it out.”
“What garage?” Matt asked.
“Hank Farley’s place. Mobil station north of town. Don’t worry, they’ll call you. If driving it is a problem, I’m sure they can arrange to deliver.”
“Great.”
“So, getting back to the last time the car was driven.”
“Don’t look at me,” Matt said. “I haven’t driven it since it’s been up here. I swear to God, Lenny.”
“I took it to the store the other day,” Jackie said.
“Why, if you have your own car?” Harper said.
“I like to drive it.”
“If you want a car like mine, we can get you a car like mine,” Matt said. “I thought you liked your car.”
“I do. Sometimes I like to drive yours.”
Harper put up his hand. “And when would that have been that you drove the car?”
Jackie bit her lip. “I would say Wednesday or Thursday.
Best I can do. I can’t think of anything to tie it down.”
“Any trouble with the brakes?”
“No.”
“Did the pedal go all the way to the floor?”
“I’m sure I would have noticed that.”
“And the car didn’t buck when you put on the brakes, like you were on a bumpy road?”
“No, nothing like that. I tell you, there was no problem.”
Jackie took Cora by the arm. “Cora, let’s give these men some space. Come help me in the kitchen.”
“Sure,” Cora said. She followed Jackie Greystone out of the room. “Now, what am I helping you with?”
“That’s a euphemism for get the hell out of here.”
“I thought it was. Men used to retire to the drawing room for brandy and cigars. Women could get away from them. Now we have to make up excuses. What is it now?”
“The puzzle.”
“I solved the puzzle.”
“I got another puzzle.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Jackie pulled an envelope out of her purse. “And this one’s titled.”
“What’s the title?”
“‘Matt.’”
“Uh oh,” Cora said.
“Yeah.”
“All right, hand it over. I’ll take it home and solve it.”
“You’re not going to solve it here?”
“Not unless you want Chief Harper to get it.” Cora took the envelope and thrust it into her drawstring purse.
“You’re not even going to look at it?”
“What good would that do?”
“Something might occur to you.”
Nothing had ever occurred to Cora while looking at a crossword puzzle except the fact it was giving her a headache and she wished she were someone else.
“I’ll look at it when I get home. Right now I’m not entirely comfortable leaving your husband alone with Chief Harper and that agent. He might say something he shouldn’t.”
“How could that happen?”
“Trust me, there’s ways,” Cora said. “Right now I’m trying to make sure you don’t find out.”
