Миранда Джеймс - Fixing To Die

Any one of the five could have done it. Mary Turner could have slipped across the hall and killed Nathan, either after his argument with Serenity and before Henry Howard went in to play his prank. Or afterward, when Henry Howard was asleep, and the house was quiet.

Marcelline could have come upstairs at some point. She probably had a passkey, the same one that Henry Howard and Mary Turner had. She had to oversee all the housekeeping, so certainly she had one. An’gel hadn’t considered that before.

Last, but to her mind, least, Truss Wilbanks could have gone back to Nathan Gamble’s room sometime after midnight, after Henry Howard was in bed.

Any one of them could have done it. An’gel wanted to scream in frustration. If Lieutenant Steinberg had convincing evidence, he would have at least taken one of the five in for questioning at the police station, An’gel felt sure. He hadn’t, however, so she figured that meant he had no clear lead to the killer’s identity.

She wished she could persuade him to tell her how Nathan Gamble was killed. If he actually knew himself. Perhaps he did know, and had known all along, but was being cagey with all of them when he had originally said the cause of death wasn’t immediately apparent. She wouldn’t put it past him, nor could she blame him for doing so. It was a good tactic, to keep the murderer in the dark.

An’gel got to her feet. Time to find Dickce and Benjy and share the information from their separate interviews. Maybe Dickce or Benjy had picked up a clue from Marcelline or Truss Wilbanks that could be useful.

She pulled out her cell phone and texted both of them to find out where they were at present. Benjy responded right away to say that he was in his room, and that Dickce was with him. An’gel replied that she was on her way to join them.

As she stepped into the hall, the doorbell rang. An’gel answered it. Lieutenant Steinberg stood on the porch, along with two of his officers.

“I’m glad you’re here, Lieutenant,” An’gel said. “I have some things to tell you.”

“This may surprise you, Miss Ducote,” the policeman said as he stepped inside, followed by his men, “but I am eager to hear them.”

CHAPTER 34

An’gel was slightly suspicious of Lieutenant Steinberg’s change of attitude toward her. What on earth could have brought it about?

“I must say I’m rather surprised, Lieutenant,” An’gel said.

Steinberg nodded. “I’ll explain everything to you, Miss Ducote, but first I have to speak to Mr. Catlin.”

“Here I am, Lieutenant.” Henry Howard appeared in the hallway near them, having apparently come from the direction of the kitchen. An’gel had not heard his approach.

“In the library, please,” Steinberg said to Henry Howard. To An’gel, he said, “Perhaps you won’t mind waiting in the parlor?”

“No, not at all,” An’gel said. “I’ll be ready when you want to talk.” She watched as Steinberg, his men, and Henry Howard moved into the library and closed the door behind them.

She took time to visit the powder room before she did as the policeman asked and went into the parlor to wait. She texted Dickce and Benjy again, telling them of the lieutenant’s arrival and asking them to join her in the parlor. After a moment, she added, When you come through the kitchen, if Marcelline is there, ask her for something to drink.

Dickce acknowledged the texts, and An’gel set aside her phone. While she waited for their arrival, she speculated on what—or who—had changed Steinberg’s mind. She was pretty certain that it was Kanesha Berry who had effected the change. Steinberg must have talked further to Kanesha about her, Dickce, and Benjy. She would have to thank Kanesha later for doing so.

Dickce and Benjy arrived in the parlor a few minutes after the text exchange. Peanut and Endora accompanied them. As always, upon sight of An’gel, Peanut got excited and bounded over to her to receive the attention she never failed to provide. Endora, atop Benjy’s shoulder, was obviously not in the least interested in An’gel. The moment Dickce took a seat beside An’gel on the sofa, however, the Abyssinian leapt to the floor and then onto Dickce’s lap. Benjy chose the nearby armchair. Peanut remained by An’gel’s side for the moment.

“Marcelline is going to bring us iced tea and cookies,” Dickce said. “She offered to make hot tea, but the iced tea was already made. I said that would be fine.”

“Thank you,” An’gel said. “I could use a cold glass of tea.”

Marcelline brought in a tray with three glasses of iced tea, a plate heaped with both chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies, along with dessert plates and napkins. She set the tray on the coffee table and, without waiting to find out if they wanted anything else, hurried from the room.

After a couple of sips of the sweet tea, chilled to perfection, An’gel said, “I’m not sure how much time we have to talk before the lieutenant finishes with Henry Howard. I told him he had to tell the police about his prank, especially since he was in the French room around midnight last night.”

“I suppose he was trying to scare Nathan Gamble,” Dickce said.

“No, he was trying to scare me. He didn’t know that I’d switched rooms with Gamble, you see. He didn’t get a reaction from Gamble, however,” An’gel said.

“Do you think Gamble was already dead?” Benjy reached for a cookie and began to munch.

“It’s possible,” An’gel said. “The interesting thing, however, is how Henry Howard got into the room.” She told them about the secret panel in the back of the wardrobe.

Dickce nearly spit out her tea. Once she recovered, she said, “You were right after all, Sister. At some point, after this is all over, I want to see it.”

“Me, too,” Benjy said.

“That makes three of us,” An’gel said.

“Why did he go in that way,” Benjy asked, “instead of going through the door? He has a passkey, doesn’t he? That seems like the way most people would do it when the person in the room was probably asleep.”

“Henry Howard said he wanted to be able to duck back into the wardrobe, rather than have to hurry over to the door, to get out of the room if he needed to,” An’gel said. “Or words to that effect.” She smiled. “I think he simply liked the drama of it as part of his ghostly behavior.”

Next she told Dickce and Benjy about her interviews with Henry Howard and Alesha Jackson. She kept the details to the most pertinent ones, because she wanted to get through it all and still have time to hear the reports of their interviews with Marcelline and Truss Wilbanks before the lieutenant was ready to talk.

“I’ll go first,” Dickce said. “My talk with Marcelline didn’t last long. According to her, she goes to bed every night around eight thirty. Nine at the latest, because she gets up at five to start preparing breakfast for the guests. Her bedroom is right off the kitchen. She says she sleeps soundly. She takes sleeping pills to make sure she gets enough rest.”

“So she didn’t hear or see anything unusual last night?” An’gel asked.

“No,” Dickce said. “She seemed to be telling the truth, though she was busy rolling out dough while we were talking. I couldn’t see her face most of the time, so it was hard to judge.”

An’gel turned to Benjy. “Any luck with Mr. Wilbanks?”

“Yes,” Benjy said. “You know, I really feel sorry for him. I think basically he’s a nice guy, and he’s terrified the police are going to try to pin it on him. His words exactly.”

“Because of the nature of his relationship with Nathan Gamble?” Dickce asked.

Benjy nodded. “Yes. I didn’t try to talk him out of that; there didn’t seem to be much use. He’s really upset by it, plus I think he’s really upset by his partner’s death.”