by Parnell Hall
“And a more ringing endorsement was never uttered,” Cora said. “If we could all heed the words of Jackie Greystone and cooperate, I’d like to get out of here. There’s a Yankee game tonight.
“All right, let’s give it a try. Let’s all put our hands on the thingy. That’s probably not the official name, but you know what I mean. The wooden pointer that slides across the Ouija board and spells out the words. That’s it, crowd around, touch it with one hand. You don’t have to grip it hard, you just have to make contact.
“Are you ready? Here we go.”
Cora looked up, frowned. “Spirits. I’m new at this and I need your help. To begin with, is anybody here?”
There was a pause.
Everyone stared at the pointer.
After a few minutes it began to move.
“Look!” Judy Douglas Knauer said.
The pointer slid around the board.
“Who’s pushing it?” Don said. “You’re not supposed to push it.”
“No one’s pushing it,” Cora said.
“How can you tell?”
“Because that would defeat the whole purpose, and no one wants to do that.”
The pointer slid across the board and stopped at Yes.
“Who is trying to contact me?”
The pointer slid again.
It stopped on L.
Then E.
Then O.
Then N.
“Ah,” Cora said. “The spirit of someone who has recently passed over. I wonder if that’s easier, or just more appropriate. Let’s cut to the chase. Leon. Who killed you?”
There was a long pause.
Then the pointer began to move.
D.
O.
N.
Don was up out of his chair. “All right, that’s it. I’m out of here. I didn’t kill anybody. And I’m not going to let some children’s toy tell me I did.”
“Look!” Jackie cried.
The pointer was moving again. It had really never stopped. After spelling Don it continued writing. It glided across the board, stopped on:
T.
“It’s not him,” Jackie said. “His last name doesn’t start with ‘T.’”
“Whose name does?” Chief Harper said.
The pointer was still moving. It stopped on:
K.
“‘K’? TK?” Harper said. “No one’s name starts TK.”
“Unless ‘T’ is the middle initial,” Judy suggested.
The pointer continued moving.
N.
O.
W.
“‘Now’?” Matt said. “Why ‘now’?”
“Not ‘now,’” Cora said. “‘Know.’ The answer is, ‘DON’T KNOW.’ Leon doesn’t know who killed him. Disappointing, but there you are.”
“Well, why the hell would he bother to contact us just to tell us that?” Matt said.
“Maybe he can help us in another way,” Jackie said.
Matt looked at her. “You’re buying this?”
“Did the pointer move or not?”
“It’s a trick.”
“Leon,” Cora said. “Can you help us in another way?”
The pointer moved.
No.
“Well, this was a waste of time,” Lenny said.
“We’re not done yet,” Cora said.
“Yeah, well, hurry up, will you? As if two murders weren’t enough to deal with. If it gets out that Matt’s using a Ouija board…” Lenny shook his head.
“He’s not using a Ouija board,” Harper said. “Cora Felton is trying an experiment in the hope of helping the police.”
“Oh, yeah,” Lenny said. “You watch it on the evening news you’d think Matt Greystone invented the Ouija board.”
“Is anybody trying to contact me?” Cora said.
The pointer moved again.
Yes.
“Who’s there?” Cora said.
A.
M.
A.
N.
“‘A man,’” Don said. “That’s a little nonspecific.”
D.
A.
“‘Amanda,’” Cora said. “That’s the name of the other victim. Surely you know that.”
“I did. I’m joking. This whole thing is a big joke.”
“Do you have something to tell us?” Cora asked.
The pointer moved.
Yes.
“Do you know who killed you?”
Yes.
“Are you going to tell us?”
Yes.
“Who was it?”
The pointer moved.
L.
E.
Lenny sprang from his seat. “Oh, no you don’t! You’re not going to pin this on me!”
The pointer was moving inexorably toward the N.
It passed by and stopped on:
O.
It went back and stopped on:
N.
“‘Leon,’” Cora said. “She’s accusing Leon Bratz.”
“Impossible,” Harper said. “Leon Bratz died first.”
“How do you know?” Cora said.
Time stopped still. People looked at each other. Mental calculations were made. Memories were traced. Had Amanda Hoyt been seen after the discovery of the body of Leon Bratz?
Cora clapped her hands together. “Lights.”
Nothing happened.
“Oh, right,” Cora said. “We’re all at the table. There’s no one to turn on the lights. I’ll have to find ’em myself.”
Cora snapped her fingers.
The lights went on.
Cora smiled. “Hey, I’m getting good at this. I may have another profession if the puzzle thing fails. All right, that’s the show for tonight. Your homework for tomorrow: figure out the last time you saw Amanda Hoyt alive. Was it at the party? Was it after the party? If it was at the party, was it before or after the body of Leon Bratz was discovered? Is there any chance, however slim, that during the party Leon Bratz lured Amanda Hoyt into the woods, shot her, and stashed the gun in Don’s car, and returned to the party just in time to get murdered in the sauna bath? That’s your homework. As for tonight, I would say it all went relatively well.”
Cora shrugged. “But I’m not quitting my day job.”
Chapter
63
Chief Harper could hardly contain himself. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
“Holding a séance.”
“I know you were holding a séance. What are you doing accusing the victim of the crime?”
“One of the victims. Of one of the crimes. It’s a no-no in mystery books, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”
Cora and Chief Harper were back at the police station rehashing the séance. Henry Firth had declared it a colossal waste of time, and gone off to bed.
“You seriously think Leon Bratz killed Amanda Hoyt?”
“Well, now you’re quibbling.”
“Quibbling! You just presented an impossibility. You stated it as fact. You asked the witnesses to go home and think about it.”
“Is it an impossibility, Chief? Have you thought back to the last time you saw Amanda Hoyt alive?”
“I don’t have to think back. You’re talking about a physical impossibility. Barney Nathan could tell you that in his sleep.”
Harper blushed, perhaps remembering that Cora had had occasion to observe Barney Nathan in his sleep.
“A child of ten could tell you that, Chief. Amanda Hoyt died at least a day later. What’s your point?”
“The point is it didn’t happen. And your grand and glorious séance is a resounding sham.”
Cora’s eyes twinkled. “You thought it was going to be real, Chief?”
“Did you really find that Ouija board in the witch’s attic?”
“I bought it at Kelly’s Antiques.”
“What did you accomplish?”
“Some rather keen insights into the personalities and temperaments of the main participants.”
“You mean Don?”
“Don is certainly one of them.”
“Who else did you mean?”
“Come on, Chief, I don’t want to do all your work for you. The point is, you got a whole bunch of people there, and you got to sort out the motives. Who had the most to gain? Who had the most to lose?”
“All right, who did?”
“You’re not going to like the answer.”
“Why not?”
“You just won’t.”
“All right, what’s the answer?”
“Judy Douglas Knauer.”
Chief Harper dropped his coffee. It reminded Cora of Chazz Palminteri in The Usual Suspects dropping his coffee cup in slow motion.
“Judy Douglas Knauer?”
“Yeah.”
“Had the best motive?”
“In terms of financial gain. I’m not saying she did it.”
“How in the world do you figure that?”
“A little research, actually. Matt Greystone’s buying his house.”
“He bought it.”
“That’s what everybody thought. But the deal is not finalized. At the moment he is renting it with an option to buy. Huge difference, if you are a real estate broker and work on commissions. The commission on that house would put Judy Douglas Knauer on easy street. If the deal goes through, she’s a very happy lady. If the deal goes south, she takes a colossal hit. Leon Bratz was a huge fly in the ointment. Matt had come up here for a quiet rehab. If Leon was going to hound him here, maybe Matt would decide it was too close to the City and pull up stakes.”
“Are you serious?”
“About the motive, yes. I don’t for a moment think Judy Douglas Knauer did it.”
“But you had her at the séance.”
“Well, I had to have someone. I couldn’t make it look like we were ganging up on the four outsiders.”
“But that’s who it is, isn’t it? Matt, Jackie, Lenny, and Don. It’s one of them. You know it. I know it. Isn’t that who it is?”
“Unless it’s a player to be named later.”
Harper looked at her. “Are you trying to be funny?”
“Well, why not? Matt’s the player to be named later. Why not the killer to be named later?”
“Do you mean it?”
“No.”
“So what did you learn from your séance?”
“Nothing I can repeat.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to get sued for slander.”
“You can’t get sued for slander for telling me.”
“Tell that to Becky Baldwin.”
“Come on, Cora. It’s just the two of us here. If you know who did it, you want to let me in?”
“I don’t know who did it. I have nothing more than a hunch.”
“That’s all you ever have.”
“Gee, thanks a lot.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I think you did, Chief. I think you’re frustrated and lashing out.”
“Oh, for goodness sakes.” Chief Harper caught the twinkle in her eye. “You’re having fun with me.”
“Well, I have to have fun with something. A Yankee superstar moves into town, and all I’ve got is grief. People pester me with puzzles.”
“And what’s that all about?” Harper said. “Why would the killer leave a puzzle at the crime relating to a totally different incident? Unless it’s Matt Greystone and he’s telling you to check his brakes in an incredible double bluff to make you think he’s not the killer.”
“My God, Chief, you’ve been hanging out with me for too long. Did you really just say that?”
“I did, but only for lack of anything better. You wanna tell me how that puzzle winds up in that sauna?”
“Probably not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the way this case is developing, I don’t think I can. I think it’s entirely possible we can uncover the killer and never find out what the puzzle meant. And that’s okay. There’s no legal precedent saying you can’t get a conviction unless you solve a puzzle. If there was, there’d be a lot fewer men on death row.”
“You’re joking again?”
“Barely. I’m frustrated, too, Chief. I’m happy to have Matt Greystone in town, but I’d far prefer him at the ballpark pitching the Yankees into the World Series. Anyway, we had a séance, and it was interesting, but inconclusive. So I think we have to try again.”
“Another séance?”
“Hell, no. I’d rather be shot dead.”
“So what did you have in mind?”
“A town meeting.”
“And how will that help you?”
“It will help me unmask the killer.”
“How will that unmask the killer?”
“It won’t. But the killer will think it would.”
“So?”
“While his attention’s distracted, we can pull a fast one.”
“We can pull a fast one?”
“Well, sure, Chief. I wasn’t going to leave you out.”
“Leave me out of what, Cora? What do you have in mind?”
“While everyone’s attention is diverted, you’ll step up and arrest the killer.”
“You know who the killer is?”
“I always know who the killer is.” Cora smiled. “I’m just not always right.”
Chapter
64
The town hall was packed. There was no room for TV cameras, though Rick Reed managed to sneak in a mobile feed from a mini unit. His camera crew wasn’t let in, but he bribed a kid from town.
Everyone else was there. Every seat was taken, and standing room was at a premium. The only ones who weren’t crowded were Matt and Jackie Greystone, Don Upton, and Lenny Schick. They sat in the front row, flanked by officers Dan Finley and Sam Brogan. The policemen appeared to be escorting the prisoner, but they were also strategically located to keep any of the suspects from leaving.
Cora stood at the front of the crowd. “All right, ladies and gentlemen. You all know why I called this meeting. Two crimes have disrupted our way of life. We’d like to clear them up and go back to the way we were. Of course, there’s no real going back to the way we were, because now we have a celebrity. We can go back to the way we were when we had a celebrity and no one was dead. The only real way we could go back to the way we were would be if we were to convict Matt Greystone of the crime. Then we could return to the sleepy little town we all love.”
Lenny Schick was on his feet. “That’s outrageous. Matt doesn’t have to sit and listen to that kind of talk.”
“Of course not,” Cora said. “He can get up and storm out. But he’s not that type of guy. He is, from everything I’ve observed, a real nice guy. A decent fellow. A good neighbor. A person you’d be very happy to have living next door to you. I cannot imagine anyone arranging murders on his estate to drive him out of town.”
Lenny blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, virtually nothing, as usual. I just want to explain to everyone what’s going on here. Because people don’t know. You do, because you were there last night, but as far as everyone else is concerned.
“We had a séance last night to try to figure out who the killer was. We had it at Amanda Hoyt’s house, because she was one of the victims, and because she had a reputation for the occult. We tried to contact Amanda and find out who killed her. I must say she was less than helpful. Not that she didn’t name her killer. She did. She named Leon Bratz as her killer. That was particularly unhelpful, seeing as how Leon Bratz died first. And dead men don’t go around killing people, even if the crime is occult.”
Harvey Beerbaum rose to his feet. The pudgy cruciverbalist looked miffed, perhaps at being left out of the séance. “Hang on there, Cora. You are saying Amanda Hoyt named her killer?”
“That’s right. She did it with a Ouija board rather than a voice, but she named him nonetheless. Ever since
we’ve been trying to figure out who saw Amanda Hoyt alive after Leon Bratz was dead. So far no one’s certain. I’m sure it’s just because no one had a reason to think of it before, so I am happy for this opportunity to ask all of you. If there is anyone who remembers definitely seeing Amanda Hoyt alive after Leon Bratz was found dead, please come forward.”
No one did.
“Of course not. No one remembers because it wasn’t important. It wasn’t important then, and it isn’t important now. It’s an idiotic notion. Leon Bratz died long before Amanda Hoyt, despite what some children’s toy might say. The medical evidence will prove it conclusively. But I don’t need the medical evidence. And I don’t need a witness to the fact that Leon Bratz didn’t kill Amanda Hoyt. I happen to know Leon Bratz didn’t kill Amanda Hoyt because I happen to know who did.”
Cora glanced around the room. “No one’s particularly impressed. You figure I’m bluffing. That this is some clever scheme on my part to get the murderer to reveal himself. I don’t play that way. Well, actually I do, but not this time. This time the murderer is obvious. In a mystery novel, it would be considered disappointing. Luckily, we don’t care. We just want the crime solved, so we can go about our business.
“Dan Finley, stand up.”
The young officer rose to his feet to a murmur of voices.
Cora put up her hand. “Relax. It’s not Dan. I’m merely setting the stage. Sam Brogan, stand up. And, no, it’s not him, either. I don’t want them to have to spring up to make the arrest.
“First of all, I’m happy to announce there is only one killer. That is to say, the killer of Amanda Hoyt and Leon Bratz is one and the same person.”
Cora glanced around. “All right, Don. Would you stand up?”
Don rose to his feet with a sardonic grin. “I hope you’re positioning me to catch the killer. If you’re accusing me of the crime, I can’t say I think very highly of your abilities.”
“No one’s accusing anyone of anything,” Cora said. “Yet,” she added. “Don is Matt’s old friend. Used to room together on the road when they were on the same team in the minor leagues.
“Lenny, stand up. A lot of you may not have met Lenny, but you saw him on the Fourth of July when he showed up in the limo Matt was supposed to take.”
Cora clapped her hands together. “All right, if you would please remain standing, I am now going to solve the crime. I welcome you all to solve it along with me. Here’s a hint. Just because someone is standing, doesn’t mean they did it. It doesn’t mean they didn’t, and it doesn’t mean they did. The killer might well be sitting. In other words, we are not limiting the suspects to people on their feet. So, come on, take a stab at it.
