Code 61 - Donald Harstad [64]
Playing the good cop/bad cop at the same time, I said, “But if you like, we will have our officers transport food in for you.”
Jessica Hunley had had just about enough. “Thank you. We accept your offer. Now, can we just hurry all this up?” Junkel started to say something, but she just glanced at him and he closed his mouth.
We all ate in the parlor, with introductions all around for the lab crew and Chris Barnes. Chris introduced himself as a crime scene reconstruction specialist. That got the two attorneys talking between themselves. Good.
It was a strange sort of meal. We had four large pizzas, and cans of Coke and Diet Coke. They had full dinners, including salads and desserts, with bottled water.
I sat beside Hester and we started dividing up a pizza.
“Hey, Houseman, isn't this bad for your cholesterol?”
“Mumpbfh.” That was sort of a “so what?,” but with my mouth full of hot pizza it came out a little garbled.
“I thought so,” said Hester.
I swallowed, took a swig of pop, motioned her to lean closer to me, and whispered, “There's something bothering me…. ”
“Mushrooms?”
“Nope. No, I have this feeling that we've forgotten to do something.” She looked at me. “Well … that I've forgotten to do something, I guess.”
“You've got your inventory sheet?”
“Yep.” I took another bite of pizza.
“Just cross-check yours with the application, and see what doesn't fit. That might do it.” She picked up a slice, and started it toward her mouth.
“Wonder where I put that?” I said absently. She stopped in mid-bite, and put her hand over her mouth. “What?”
I grinned. “Just kidding.”
By the time we got to head up to the third floor, it was completely dark outside. I checked my watch, and logged us at the locked main door at 18:51. As often as she looked at her watch, I could probably have just asked Jessica.
There were two ways up to the third floor. Simply following the main stairs up from the second floor, and unlocking the door at the third-floor landing reached the primary entrance. The second path was from the main floor, at the back of the house, via what was originally the servants' stair. Jessica, intending the servants' stair to be used as a private entrance to her apartment on the third, had hired carpenters to seal the door on the second floor. There were, according to her, locks both on the entry door on the main floor, and on the third-floor stair door as well.
Hester, Chris, and I conferred for a moment. We all felt that the main entrance to the third would be the place to start, as it was the most likely for Edie to have used. After all, like I said, “If you want to sneak off to be alone, why traipse all the way down to the first, and then back up to the third, when you just have to walk out of your door and go up one flight?”
We three agreed, as well, that if she had been killed on the third, it would have made much more sense to transport her body down one flight than take the old servants' stair. Unfortunately, the trace bloodstains indicated in the hall outside Edie's door didn't provide a clue to direction.
“Hey, Hester, you guys ever find Edie's keys?”
“Not yet,” she said.
Just before we went up, I made a decision that I never would have considered if there hadn't been two very picky attorneys still in the house. I stationed Borman at the main-floor servants' door that opened on the back stairs leading up to the third. I just didn't trust those two as far as I could throw them, and lacking that delightful opportunity, I didn't know how far that was.
So I just stuck Borman there.
“Nobody gets up, right?” he confirmed.
“Right,” I said. “Nobody but us even gets to open the door. They