The Purloined Puzzle

by Parnell Hall

  “The point is to prevent him from getting a jail sentence, not postpone it. Anyway, it’s not going to work. Even if Chief Harper believes you, and that’s a big if, Henry Firth won’t. Even if he were here, which he’s not. And he’s not going to sanction letting Melvin out, even if he doesn’t know he’s been boffing his wife.”

  “You have any other words of encouragement?”

  “The best this does is give you reasonable doubt. You don’t want reasonable doubt now. If you ever go to trial, that’s when you’ll need it.”

  “Who knows about this?”

  “Just us and Sherry. Oh, and Aaron.”

  “Aaron?”

  “He’s not going to write it.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because he’s happily married. And that would end it. So he’s sitting on it. Though he is a bit frustrated.”

  “I thought frustrated married men were your specialty.”

  “Not my niece’s. Come on, Becky. Think this through.”

  “Peggy brought you this?”

  “Yes.”

  “But you didn’t tell her what Sherry found?”

  “Hell, no. I didn’t even let on I knew what the puzzle says.”

  “Harvey may figure it out.”

  “Harvey’s a stodgy twit. Seeing connections between word and number puzzles is hardly his forte.”

  Becky frowned.

  “Ah,” Cora said. “Logic has begun to set in.”

  “If Harvey figures it out and goes to the police, there’s nothing we can do.”

  “Granted. But unlikely.”

  “You say Peggy’s pushing the theory?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then she’ll push it with Harvey.”

  “So?”

  “She could prod him into action.”

  “I wish you hadn’t said that. The image will be forever seared in my memory.”

  “Seriously, Cora, I don’t trust that girl.”

  “You don’t trust a teenage crack addict? I can’t see why not.”

  “She’s got an agenda. And she’ll keep on pushing until she gets it.”

  “What’s her agenda?”

  “To keep her brother out and keep Melvin in.”

  “In that case she’s not going to like what she finds.”

  “Or what she makes Harvey Beerbaum find. And I can’t see him tracing license plate numbers.”

  “He wouldn’t.”

  “Right. So she’ll push him to give the number to Chief Harper. Who’ll have no trouble whatsoever tracing it as a license plate and coming up with Johnny Dawson.”

  “Right, and since Peggy won’t know that when she prods Harvey to go to the police, she’ll have no braking system keeping her from doing it until it turns out to be Johnny’s plate. The beauty of this is it won’t be the defense bringing it to the police, it will be the police bringing it to us.”

  “If they choose to do so.”

  “And if they don’t choose to do so?”

  “Then Peggy will bring it to us.”

  “Why would they tell her?”

  “They wouldn’t. Then she’ll be demanding to know. And demanding we find out. And demanding Harvey Beerbaum finds out. Hell, she might even get her brother to demand she finds out. Wouldn’t that be ironic?”

  Becky frowned. “This doesn’t help us at all.”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  Chapter

  51

  Aaron wasn’t happy. “You know, it’s no fun always being a nice guy.”

  “You can’t help it, Aaron,” Cora said. “That’s who you are.”

  “That’s who I’m constantly forced to be. Generally I’m caught between you and Sherry and the Bakerhaven Gazette. You know what place the Gazette comes in?”

  “It’s a nonstory, Aaron. It doesn’t mean what you think it does.”

  “I don’t know what it means. I just know I have it and I can’t write it. And it must mean something, or I would be able to write it.”

  “There’s reverse logic, if I ever heard it.”

  “What’s so important about Johnny Dawson? I thought the police cleared him of the crime.”

  “They didn’t clear him of the crime. They just got someone better.”

  “Melvin’s better?”

  “Much. He’s an outsider with ties to me. He had a motive and the murder weapon. In the other case, he had an even stronger motive. Johnny Dawson began to look like a bad bet.”

  “But he isn’t?”

  “You need more facts for the story you can’t write?”

  “From what you tell me, it’s a big story.”

  “It’s a big story that you don’t want to write. What’s your angle? The Bakerhaven police are prosecuting the wrong man because it will be a flashier case? That’s not going to make you very popular. And on what evidence do you base this wild claim? The knife Johnny turned in with the blood on it that didn’t match the victim’s? Or the fact you’re married to my niece and Melvin is my ex-husband?”

  Aaron frowned. “Sherry wouldn’t tell me where the license plate number came from. I assume that’s a big clue in itself.”

  “The license number came from a crossword. Not to mention a Sudoku.”

  “A Sudoku?”

  “I told you not to mention that.”

  “Where did the puzzles come from?”

  “I know where the police are going to say they came from.”

  “Where?”

  “Me. I made ’em up to help Melvin.”

  “Because they don’t realize you couldn’t make ’em up, and helping Melvin has never been a high priority.”

  “Right. Though framing him for murder never occurred to me before.”

  “Do the police know about the puzzle?”

  “Absolutely. Harvey Beerbaum’s solving it now. If they come up with Johnny Dawson, they’re not going to be pleased.”

  “If they come up with Johnny Dawson, I can write the story.”

  “Anything you learn from independent sources is fair game. We can’t have Rick Reed spouting off about it and you pretending it doesn’t exist. If you come out first it not only looks bad, it automatically reveals your sources.”

  “So I can’t have an exclusive but you’ll graciously allow me to print what you’re giving everybody else.”

  Cora smiled and shrugged. “Couldn’t have said it better.”

  Chapter

  52

  Cora drove by the real estate office. Johnny Dawson’s car was parked out front. She pulled off to the side of the road and settled down to wait.

  She was in luck. Johnny was out ten minutes later, looking like someone killed his cat. He hopped in his car, drove straight to the police station, and stormed in.

  Cora was right on his heels. She wouldn’t have missed this for the world.

  Johnny strode up to Dan Finley and stuck an accusing finger in his face. “You’re questioning my sister!”

  The young officer looked up from his desk. “Not at the moment, I’m not.”

  Cora stifled a laugh.

  Johnny’s face got red. “You think it’s funny, picking on a teenage girl?”

  “No one’s picking on her.”

  “You pulled her truck over and questioned her. Talk about intimidation. Turned on your flashing lights and pulled her right off the road.”

  “This is a murder investigation, as you well know.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean? If it means you were stupid enough to arrest me on a whim, I quite agree. My lawyer’s thinking of filing suit for false arrest.”

  Becky was thinking no such thing. Cora wasn’t even sure she was Johnny’s lawyer anymore.

  “Why did you pull my sister off the road? Flashing your lights like she’d done something wrong. You know how scary that is for a teenage girl?”

  Cora couldn’t imagine Peggy was very scared. Of course she might have been high on drugs, and the sight of a police car freake
d her out.

  Dan Finley wasn’t taking any guff from Johnny Dawson. He got up and came around his desk. “I’m sorry you’re upset. Yes, I questioned your sister. I questioned lots of people. Someone at the construction site mentioned the victim being picked up by a girl in a truck. That sounded like Peggy. So I tracked her down and questioned her. She finally admitted it was.”

  “Finally admitted?”

  “After she realized I knew it was her anyway. Look, Mr. Dawson, I’m sure there was nothing untoward about the relationship. They’d never been out on a date, never been to his motel. She claims they just liked to hang out. Just between you and me, I think she was doing a little detective work. It shook her up when you got arrested. Even now that you’re off the hook she wants to know. I think she’s just making sure.”

  “That’s what you got from pulling her off the road?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Was it worth it?”

  “What?”

  “Scaring a teenage girl to death for that information. Was it worth it? Did it speed your investigation along?”

  “Ninety percent of police work is ruling things out.”

  “And the other ten percent is arresting the wrong people.”

  Dan let Johnny have the last word. He turned and went back to his desk.

  Johnny glared at him for emphasis, then stomped out the door.

  Chapter

  53

  Cora was stuck. If she didn’t leave, she’d lose him. If she did leave, Dan Finley would know she was following him. That might result in questions she wasn’t prepared to answer.

  She smiled, sauntered over to Dan’s desk. “Hey, Dan, how’s it going?”

  “You heard that?”

  “Hard to miss. You picking on young girls now?”

  Dan grimaced. “When I started this job, they didn’t seem that young. Now it’s like I’m a big, bad cop.”

  “Yeah, tough as nails,” Cora said. “You really question his sister?”

  “Link to the decedent. Not a big link, but there aren’t many. Guy’s from the City. Most of the crew are. Brought in for the job, don’t know anybody.”

  “The foreman couldn’t hire local talent?”

  “Not with any experience. High school kids looking for something to put on a college résumé, college kids looking for something in their field, graduates looking to leave town. Not many looking to make the construction crew. Or to make cop, for that matter.”

  “You sound bitter, Dan. You’re too young to be bitter.”

  “I’m glad I’m too young for something. So whaddya want? If it’s to see Melvin, I have strict instructions to the contrary.”

  “I want a lead, Dan. I want some sort of a lead. I got a case that doesn’t make any sense with Melvin in the middle. That’s my least favorite kind.”

  “The chief still thinks you were hiding Melvin at your house.”

  Cora sighed. “I wasn’t hiding Melvin at my house. I happen to know Melvin didn’t do it. But as long as the cops think so, we have a huge disconnect. I’d like to find something to change their minds.”

  “Hey, I’m a cop.”

  “Then help me change your mind. You’re not so jaded as to not care about convicting an innocent man.”

  “Melvin’s innocent?”

  Cora waggled her hand. “Bad choice of words. Let’s just say he didn’t do it, and leave it at that.”

  “I don’t think that’s where we’re apt to leave it.”

  “Yeah. So what you told Johnny Dawson about his sister.”

  “What about it?”

  “Was it true?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “You leave anything out?”

  “Not really.”

  “What do you mean, not really?”

  “One of the guys on the crew thought the guy might be sweet on her.”

  “Sweet on her? How quaint.”

  “Yeah. Everyone else pooh-poohed it, and the guy wasn’t sure. Of course they might have just pooh-poohed it because she was underage.”

  “Worried about getting the dead guy in trouble? You got anything else?”

  Dan hesitated. “If I say yes, you’ll want to know what it is. If I say no, you’ll tell Becky the police have nothing, and she’ll start taunting us in the press.”

  “Well, let’s put it this way. Is any part of the monumental volume of information the police have gathered on the crime something you feel that you can share?”

  “Nicely framed.”

  “Nicely enough to be worthy of an answer?”

  “Well, for one thing, we’ve had complaints about drugs connected to people on the crew.”

  “What kind of drugs?”

  “No one knew. It was very nonspecific. Just the kind of complaint we get when people come in from the City.”

  “My native land. I’m very proud.”

  “And Sam Brogan searched Peggy’s truck for traces of blood. He didn’t find any.”

  “Did she put up a squawk about that?”

  “She didn’t know. He did it when I had her in for questioning.”

  “I thought you questioned her by the side of the road.”

  “I pulled her over to say we needed to talk. I didn’t make her sit in the police car. I let her drive back to the station.”

  “Always the gentleman.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Was she grateful?”

  “Not so you’d notice.”

  “Teenagers don’t trust the police.”

  “At what age do they grow out of it?”

  “That’s unkind, Dan. I always trusted you. Even when you were arresting me, I could always count on you to be fair.”

  “I can feel the gut punch coming. What are you leading up to, Cora?”

  “Absolutely nothing.” Cora took a breath. “So. You’re not allowed to let me talk to Melvin.”

  “I knew this was coming.”

  “So you’re prepared.”

  “I’m prepared to say no.”

  “This doesn’t have to get nasty.”

  “Nothing nasty about it. I’m being perfectly pleasant.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get a gold star.”

  Cora left the police station and looked up and down Main Street, just in case Johnny Dawson had stopped to get coffee and a muffin on his way out of town, but it was no use.

  Johnny Dawson was gone.

  Chapter

  54

  Cora poked her head in the door of Becky’s office. “Good news, bad news.”

  “What’s the bad news?”

  “I lost Johnny Dawson.”

  “And the good news?”

  “Dan Finley doesn’t know I was following him.”

  “Is there a connection?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Now that I’m emotionally prepared, lay it on me.”

  “Johnny went to the police station. I followed him in to see what he was doing there. I couldn’t follow him out, or Dan Finley would have known I was following him. So I hung around, convinced him I was trying to get in to see Melvin.”

  “Did you get in?”

  “No. That’s what made it convincing.”

  “I don’t know if it was worth losing Johnny.”

  “It is if you don’t want it to be a parade. If the cops figure out we’re tailing Johnny, they’ll start tailing Johnny. You won’t be able to turn around without bumping into a tail.”

  “Why did Johnny go to the police station?”

  “Lodge a complaint about the cops hassling his sister. Cops found out she was a friend of the decedent. Dan Finley pulled her over to ask her about it.”

  “Pulled her over?”

  “Said the lawyer, practically drooling at the prospect of litigation.”

  “How bad was the roadside stop?”

  “He stopped her for no apparent reason. He turned on the flashing lights.”

  “What’s Johnny planning to do about it?”

  �
�Stamp his foot real hard and say it isn’t fair.”

  Becky nodded. “That’s usually effective. It’s a wonder the girl has time to run around with crossword puzzles.”

  “Not to mention crack pipes. The cops heard rumors about drugs among the work crew.”

  “What are they doing about it?”

  “Keeping their kids away, I guess. They’re not investigating it.”

  “They’re not investigating it?”

  “They got a murder to deal with. Two, at last count.”

  “How they coming with that?”

  “They think they solved it.”

  “Come on. It practically screams frame-up.”

  “Why is that?”

  “It’s Melvin. Everything about him is phony. An arrest for murder seems out of his league.”

  “Hey. Hey. The guy hit on you a few times. There’s no reason to beat him up.”

  “And of course you defend him.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “This is why battered wives can’t leave their husbands.”

  “I am not a battered wife. Melvin isn’t a wife beater, either. Sherry’s first husband was. I know the difference.”

  There was a knock on the door and Aaron Grant came in. “Hi, guys. Wanna know where Johnny Dawson is?”

  Chapter

  55

  Aaron sat down and casually crossed his legs. He seemed to enjoy the fact Becky and Cora were staring at him.

  “What the hell?” Cora said.

  “Johnny Dawson. I figured you’d be looking for him long about now. Wanna let me in on the discussion, or are you still excluding the pesky reporter?”

  “Start talking or I’ll break your head,” Cora said.

  “Who could resist such a charming invitation? Okay, I followed him since early this morning. I saw you pick him up at the real estate office. That must have been a token appearance, because he wasn’t there long. I saw you follow him into the police station. I saw him come out alone. I figured you were trapped because you wouldn’t want the police to know you were tailing him.”

  Cora’s mouth was open. “I never saw you.”

  “Well, that’s the thing about clandestine surveillance.”

  “Oh, listen to the big-time investigative reporter showing off in front of the hot young lawyer.”

  Aaron flushed. “That’s not what I was doing.”