Mike Ashley - The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes and Impossible Mysteries

“Where was the money hidden?” Susan asked.

“Inside a folded towel in the bathroom cabinet.”

“If it was still there, the police certainly found it. They were all over that bathroom.”

She touched the door handle. “Look, I’ve got to go. I’ve told you everything I know.”

“Not quite everything. Where can I find Roger?”

“I don’t know. He was just a name to me. Betty never told me anything about him.”

She left the car quickly, walking across the paved lot to her own little white Neon. Susan sat where she was until Sadie Shepherd had pulled out and vanished down the highway. She wanted to make certain she wasn’t being followed.

Back at her hotel she found the Secret Service waiting for her. Adam Dullea intercepted her on the way to the elevator. “You’re a tough one to keep up with. I leave you alone for a few hours and you’re off on your own.”

“I thought I had to clear myself by Thursday morning. I can’t do that sitting in a hotel room.”

“Where did you go?”

“You mean you didn’t have me followed?”

He laughed. “That was my job.”

Susan just stood there in the lobby, wondering how much she could safely tell him. Finally she said, “All right, come on up and I’ll tell you what I learned.”

In the room she opened the minibar and offered him a drink which he declined. “Maybe a Coke, if you’re having something.” She joined him in one and he said, “Your friend Brentnor’s been worried about you.”

“I should be so hard on Mike. He did fly right up here and help rescue me from a jail cell. I just always have the feeling he’s waiting for a chance to paw me.”

“Has he tried it before?”

“Once or twice. But he backs off when he sees I don’t like it.”

He sipped his drink. “Where were you this afternoon?”

“Out at the store. I still work for a living.”

“So do I. Who did you see there?”

“Betty’s assistant, a young woman named Sadie Shepherd.”

“Does she know anything about the killing?”

“Betty was an old friend. She told Sadie about the counterfeit money. She was afraid this Roger fellow wanted to take it without paying her price.”

“That’s about what we figured.”

“The money was hidden in the bathroom cabinet with her towels.”

“It was?” The news seemed to startle Dullea. “Sergeant Razer-well told me he personally searched the entire bathroom, including the toilet tank.”

Susan looked up. A sudden thought struck her. “What’s Razer-well’s first name?”

“Eric. Don’t let your imagination run wild.”

She brooded about it for a moment, then remembered something else. “While I was in her bathroom earlier, you said something about the dagger that killed her and I told you there were two daggers.”

He shook his head. “Only one.”

“There was a second dagger at the bottom of the tub.”

“No, just the weapon that killed her. It was still in her back.” She held her breath, eyes closed, and asked one more question.

“Were you parked across the street at the time of the murder, watching the apartment?”

“Sure. I told you we were going to use the search warrant last night. I had to make sure she didn’t remove the money before my men arrived. When the police came I drove away until I could find out what was going on.”

Susan opened her eyes and smiled. “Then I know how it was done.”

It was back to Betty Quint’s apartment once more. Darkness had settled in and a strong breeze was blowing a few dead leaves down the center of the street. White-haired James Liction opened the door in answer to their ring and seemed more resigned than surprised at seeing them. “What is it? You want to examine the apartment again?”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary right now,” Susan told him. “I just want to ask you one question.”

“Well, you might as well come in. You too, Mr Dullea. Now what’s the question?”

The answer came before she had a chance to ask it. From the kitchen, his wife called out, “Who is it, Roger?”

“It’s just-” Liction began. Then he must have seen the expression on Susan’s face and realized what had happened. He tried to twist away as Dullea reached out to grab him.

When the Secret Service man had him under control, Mrs Liction came into the room. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“We just have a few questions for your husband, that’s all.”

She seemed resigned to it. “About the drugs, I suppose.”

“That and other things.”

Then Susan spoke. “I was going to ask you what the ‘R’ stood for in R. James Liction, the name on your mailbox. I thought maybe it was Roger. That’s what Betty Quint called you, wasn’t it?”

“I guess so,” he mumbled. “I might have sold her a little pot. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Are you growing it in the basement?” Dullea asked. “Some people do.”

“Can I call you Roger?” Susan asked, then went on. “Roger, we know Betty offered to sell you a quantity of counterfeit hundred-dollar bills from overseas. She was frightened that you might try to steal them from her.”

“I didn’t kill her,” Liction insisted. He could see where the conversation was leading. “I couldn’t have killed her. You were alone with her when it happened.”

“How did you know that?” Susan asked. “By looking in the bathroom window from your perch on the fire escape? Yes, I know there’s a fire escape outside that window even though I didn’t actually look at it. I saw the fire escape to the second floor when I drove up with Betty yesterday, and Mr Dullea here even commented on the unlikely prospect of a burglar coming through the bathroom window from the fire escape.”

Liction moistened his lips. “I think I want a lawyer.”

“You’ll get one,” Adam Dullea said, formally stating his rights. “First thing, we’re going to get Sergeant Razerwell down here to make the formal arrest. The murder is his job. I’m just interested in the money.”

Mrs Liction spoke from the doorway. “If we give you the money, will you forget about the killing?”

“Shut up, Mona!” he nearly screamed.

“You see,” Susan continued, “I made a big mistake. Betty had seen someone in a car across the street and that frightened her. I thought it was Roger, but she knew it was Mr Dullea here. She was caught between the two of them, with no way out. Maybe she’d even spotted you on the fire escape, Roger. Anyway, she decided to fake an attack on herself in the shower and escape by being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. She’d done some community theater work and had a fake dagger with one of those collapsible blades, the sort that ejects imitation blood when the blade retracts. It has adhesive to stick to the skin. While she was rummaging for a towel, she took the fake dagger and a real one and attached them to her body with Scotch tape, probably under her arm where I couldn’t see it. Her secretary Sadie said she was a great joker. Maybe she’d even pulled this stunt before.”

Dullea was shaking his head. “Are you saying she accidentally killed herself?”

“No, no! She meant to tell me she was wounded and to call an ambulance. Then she’d give herself a flesh wound with the real dagger before they arrived, and she’d be rushed to the hospital, escaping both Roger and the Secret Service. But after sticking the collapsing dagger to her back, she let herself fall in the shower and accidentally hit her head, knocking her out for a moment. The real dagger, still taped to her body, came loose and fell in the tub. I saw the daggers and thought she was dead. Roger here had heard her scream, and while I was phoning 911 he came in the window of the bathroom to get the package of money. He must have seen her hide it there earlier. She was beginning to stir in the tub and he stabbed her with the real dagger. He saw that the first one was a fake, so he pulled it off her back and took it with him, along with the money. He went back out the window and closed it behind him.”