Lawrence Sanders - The seventh commandment

When her phone rang, she rushed to pick it up, crossing her fingers for luck.

"Hiya," Wenden said hoarsely. "Quite a surprise hearing from you."

"How so?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

"The way I came on to you the other night; I thought you'd be miffed."

"Nah," she said. "It's good for a girl's ego. When the passes stop, it's time to start worrying. My God, John, you sound terrible."

"Ah, shit," he said, "I think I got the flu. I have it all: sneezing, runny nose, headache, cough."

"Are you dosing yourself?"

"Yeah. Aspirin mostly. I get these things every year. Nothing to do but wait for them to go away."

"Why didn't you call in sick, stay home, and doctor yourself?"

"Because three other guys beat me to it, and the boss got down on his knees and cried. You feeling okay?"

"Oh sure. I'm healthy as a horse. John, I was hoping to see you tonight, but I guess you want to get home."

"Not especially. I feel so lousy I don't even want to think about driving to Queens."

"That's where you live?"

"If you can call it that. What's up?"

"A couple of interesting things. Listen, if you can make it over here, I'll fix you a cup of hot tea with a slug of brandy. It won't cure the flu but might help you forget it."

"On my way," he said. "Shouldn't take more than twenty minutes or so."

She put a kettle on to boil, set out a cup and saucer for him, and then went into the bathroom to brush her hair and add a little lip gloss, wondering what the hell she was doing.

When Wenden arrived, carrying an open box of Kleenex, he looked like death warmed over: bleary eyes, unshaven jaw, his nose red and swollen. And, as usual, his clothes could have been a scarecrow's castoffs.

She got him seated on the couch, poured him a steaming cup of tea, and added a shot of brandy to it. He held the cup with both hands, took a noisy sip, closed his eyes and sighed.

"Plasma," he said. "Thank you, Florence Nightingale."

"You should be in bed," she said.

"Best offer I've had today," he said, then sneezed and grabbed for a tissue.

"Now I know you're not terminal," she said, smiling. "Anything new on the Starrett case?"

"Nothing from our snitches. We've checked the whole neighborhood for three blocks around. No one saw anything or heard anything. We searched every sewer basin and trash can. No knife. We've got fliers out in every taxi garage in the city. The official line is still homicide by a stranger, maybe after an argument, maybe by some nut who objected to Starrett's cigar smoke-who the hell knows."

"Uh-huh. John, did you see the medical examiner's report?"

"Sure, I saw it. I love reading those things. They really make you want to resign from the human race. The things people do to people…"

"Did the report describe the wound that killed Starrett?"

"Of course."

"How deep did it go-do you remember?"

He thought a moment. "About seven and a half inches. Around there. They can never be precise. Tissue fills in. The outside puncture was a slit about two inches long."

Dora nodded. "I think you need another brandy," she said.

"I'll take it gladly," he said, sneezing again, "but why do I need it?"

"I went up to see the Starretts' servants today. We talked in the kitchen. There's a knife rack on the wall. Nice cutlery. Imported carbon steel. One of the knives is missing. An eight-inch chefs knife. We have one at home. It's a triangular blade. Close to the handle it's about two inches wide."

Wenden set his cup back on the saucer. It rattled. "How long has it been missing?" he asked, staring at her.

"I didn't ask them," Dora said. "But when I noticed it, Clara and Charles glanced at each other. I think it probably disappeared at that cocktail party the night Starrett was killed, but the servants didn't want to come right out and say so."

"Why didn't you lean on them?"

"How the hell could I?" she said angrily. "You're a cop; you can lean. I'm just a short, fat, housewife-type from the insurance company. I've got no clout."

"All right, all right," he said. "So I'll lean on them. If the knife disappeared on the night of the murder, that opens up a whole new can of worms."

"It also clears three in this cast of characters," she said. "Olivia and the two servants stayed in the apartment for dinner and presumably were still there when Lewis went for his walk. Did you check the whereabouts of the others at the time of the killing?"

The detective looked at her indignantly. "You think we're mutts? Of course we checked. They all have alibis. None of them are rock solid, but alibis rarely are. Felicia was at a new restaurant down on Spring Street. Confirmed by her date-a twit who wears one earring. Helene and Turner Pierce were at a theatre on West Forty-sixth Street. They have their ticket stubs to prove it. Father Callaway was down at his church, passing out ham sandwiches to the homeless. He was seen there. Eleanor and Clayton Starrett were at a charity bash at the Hilton. Sounds good, but there's not one of them who couldn't have ducked out and cabbed back to East Eighty-third Street in time to chill Lewis. They all knew his nightly routine. Hey, what do I call you?"

"Call me? My name is Dora."

"I know that, but it's too domestic. Will you be sore if I call you Red?"

She sighed. "Delighted," she said.

"Could I have another brandy, Red?"

"You're not going to pass out on me, are you?"

"Hell, no. I'm just getting my head together."

She brought the brandy bottle and set it on the cocktail table in front of the couch.

"Help yourself," she said.

"Some for you?"

"No, thanks," she said. "I'm not driving to Queens."

He laughed and poured more brandy into his teacup. "I could make that trip even if I was comatose, I've driven it so many times. Okay, let's assume someone at the cocktail party lifted the knife. Eliminate Olivia and the servants; that leaves us with six possibles."

"Here's my second goody of the evening," Dora said. "Remember I told you I was going to ask my boss to run Father Brian Callaway through our computer."

"Sure, I remember. Come up with anything?"

"His real name is Sidney Loftus. He's a con man with a sheet as long as your arm."

"Oh-oh. Anything violent?"

"I don't know. I told you our data base includes only insurance fraud. You better run Callaway, or Loftus, through your records."

"Yeah, I better."

"And while you're at it, do a trace on Helene and Turner Pierce. I asked my boss, but we have nothing on them in our file."

"Why should I check out the Pierces?"

"Callaway's most recent scam was a stolen car game in Kansas City, Missouri. That's where Helene Pierce comes from."

"How do you know?"

"She told me."

Wenden studied her a moment, then shook his head in wonderment. "You're something, you are. Red, how do you get people to talk?"

"Sometimes you tell things to strangers you wouldn't tell your best friend. Also, I come across as a dumpy homebody. I don't represent much of a threat, they think, so they talk."

"A dumpy homebody," he repeated. "I'm beginning to believe you're more barracuda." He sneezed again, wiped his swollen nose with a tissue. "All right, I'll ask for a rundown on Callaway and the Pierces. I warn you it's going to take time; Records is undermanned and overworked, like the rest of the Department."

"I can wait," Dora said. "That insurance claim isn't going to get paid until I say so."

He took a deep breath, put his head back, stared at the ceiling. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a member of his family or a close friend might have iced the old man; it happens all the time. But I thought those people were class. What do you figure the motive was?"

"Money," Dora said.

"Yeah," Wenden said, "probably. When money comes in the door, class goes out the window. Every time."