Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 150, Nos. 5 & 6. Whole Nos. 914 & 915, November/December 2017
- Автор: Фузилли Джим, Харрис Шарлин
- Год: 2017
- Язык: английский
- Год: Dell Magazines
- ISBN: 0013-6328
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 150, Nos. 5 & 6. Whole Nos. 914 & 915, November/December 2017». Краткое содержание книги:
Charlotte said, “And this year, the village council can remember Mildred during the celebration. Volunteer of the year.”
“They should remember her,” Vivian said. “She started volunteering in high school.”
Jo said, “I didn’t realize you and Mildred knew each other so well.”
“Mildred and my oldest brother were classmates. More than that, I think. Or maybe they would have been. But he died in the first war.”
“And Mildred had been nursing a broken heart all these years?” Charlotte said. “How touching.”
Sarah said, “If you had ever lost someone you really cared about—”
Charlotte shoved back her chair. “What I’ve had is enough of this. How long does it take to get over here from the police station?”
“Maybe they’re waiting for the storm to blow over,” Will said.
To Jo’s relief, the doorbell jangled. “Here they are now,” she said. “I’ll go let them in. I locked the front door on my way back from the basement.”
Charlotte said, “That was helpful. For all you knew, the killer could have been hiding somewhere in the Hall.”
“Or been right here in our little group,” Howard said. “Of course, he or she would have been outnumbered.”
The police had brought their own lanterns and high-powered flashlights. But it was hot without the fans and eerie to sit in the shadowed auditorium waiting.
The others had gone by the time Jo was called in.
Police Chief Eli Gordon was a bulky man. He took up space. Jo noticed that about him as he motioned for her to sit down in the chair that had been placed on the other side of the card table. Mildred had brought the table upstairs to the auditorium to hold the coffee percolator and donuts during one of their Saturday-morning rehearsals.
Now, the table was serving another purpose. The chief of police was using it to interview suspects. Or witnesses. Jo wasn’t sure which he considered her. He had left her for last even though she had found Mildred’s body. Maybe that was intended as a kindness, giving her enough time to recover her shaken composure.
Or maybe he’d wanted to hear what the others had to say in case she might try to lie.
Chief Gordon had apologized for his delayed arrival with two of his four officers. He’d needed to call the coroner and contact the agencies they might need to call on for assistance. Jo had thought of the Saturday-morning radio show she’d listened to about how the FBI crime lab helped police departments solve crimes.
But in this case it would probably be the state-police lab. And Mildred’s body would be given an autopsy.
Chief Gordon shifted in his chair. Jo hoped it wasn’t the slightly rickety one they’d put to one side.
“Meg Radcliffe’s grandniece,” he said. “I remember seeing you the day you came to live with your aunt. You looked mighty sad and wretched, but I knew she’d pull you through it.”
“Aunt Meg was wonderful,” Jo said.
“As I recall, your aunt got herself a cat a couple years ago. Got him from a litter the Reverend Warren’s wife had. A Maine Coon.”
“His name is Dempsey,” Jo said. “I inherited him.”
“The two of you getting along okay?”
“He’s tolerating me,” Jo said. “He misses Aunt Meg.”
“Animals are like that. Especially dogs, but cats too.”
“Yes, they are,” Jo said. “Do you want me to tell you about finding Mildred?”
“Why don’t you do that? Then I’ll ask you anything that occurs to me.”
Jo told him about going down to the basement.
Chief Gordon nodded. “That must have been a real shock.”
“Yes,” Jo said.
“Did you know Mildred was fond of animals?”
“When I mentioned Dempsey one day, she told me that she had two bulldogs and a cat.”
“She was known to take all three of them, cat included, out for a walk. Be a good thing if they can keep her animals together.”
“Yes, it would. I’m really tired, Chief Gordon. If you don’t have any more questions for me...”
“Just one, Jo. Do you mind if I call you ‘Jo’? Josephine is kind of formal and a mouthful.”
“Jo is fine. Everyone calls me Jo.”
“Jo, can you think of any reason someone — particularly one of the people here tonight — might have had for killing Mildred?”
“No, I can’t. Mildred was wonderful.”
“That’s what all six of the people before you said. That Mildred was so nice. A really lovely woman. Except someone killed her. You see my problem.”
“Yes. But that would suggest it was someone who came in from outside. It was hot when the power went off. She might have opened the basement door and—”
“Someone came in. Maybe to steal something. That’s already been suggested. But no one could tell me what was so valuable down in the basement.”
“Whoever came in might have thought there might be something.”
“I understand from Barton that Mildred was in charge of getting people to loan or donate the things you needed for the play.”
“Yes, we didn’t have much of a budget. And Mildred knew almost everyone in Eudora and the surrounding countryside and what they might have in their attics and basements. When we couldn’t find the furniture we needed, she persuaded the owner of the furniture store to loan us the rattan chairs and tables in exchange for a ‘thank you’ in the program. She told him someone would want to buy furniture that had been used in a play.”
“Mildred had a real way with people for such a mild-mannered woman,” Chief Gordon said. “Did she keep a list so that you could return what had to go back to people?”
“We recorded everything in a logbook.”
“Where would that book be now?”
“I saw it on Mildred’s worktable when we first arrived. You think the props we borrowed could have something to do with—”
“I’m just asking the questions that come to mind. We don’t get a lot of murders here in Eudora. The last one was right after the boys started coming home from the war. Soldier found out his wife hadn’t been waiting for him. He shot and killed her and then tried to kill himself.”
Jo said. “I read about that when I was in Washington.”
“Couple of years ago now. But it still worries me.” Chief Gordon rubbed at his wrist. “Brushed against some poison ivy. Got to remember to stop by the drugstore for calamine lotion tomorrow.”
“Sorry I don’t have any in my first-aid kit for the crew.”
“Aside from being the nurse for this production, you were the stage manager, and your job was to keep everything running smooth?”
“As much as possible.”
“Like herding cats, was it?”
“That would describe it.”
“How’d you get the job of stage manager? Barton ask you?”
“Not directly. Annie Young, the public-health nurse — she used to be the school nurse—”
“I know Annie. Hear she’s getting married soon.”
“Yes, she is,” Jo said. “Annie knows Barton from having worked at the school. They ran into each other, and he told her about needing a stage manager. She told him she had a friend with some time on her hands.”
“Nothing to do since you got back?”
“Nothing that requires all my time. Aunt Meg left all her affairs in order. I just have to decide what I’m going to do next.”
“I hear they need nurses over at the hospital.”
“Yes,” Jo said. “Most hospitals are short on nursing staff.”
“Not interested in that, huh?”
“I don’t know. I want to take some time to think about it.”