“The coroner thinks otherwise,” Scarlett bluffed, tweaking the truth a little. “He’s doing a full autopsy right now, and he’s going to find out exactly how you killed that man. And the police will come knocking, and they’ll want to know how it’s possible that a nurse like you would inherit from a resident he wasn’t all that friendly with.”
“So let them come and ask their questions. I’ve got nothing to hide. And I certainly didn’t kill the guy. He died of natural causes. Heart failure, probably.”
“So where were you, Desmond?”
He directed a look at her so cold she shivered.“Last time I looked you weren’t a cop, so I don’t have to tell you anything. And now for the last time: get lost!”
And since he was taking a menacing step in her direction, she felt it wise to follow his advice this time, and get lost.
But as she walked away, she had the distinct impression that she had found Henry’s killer.
31
Now that the suspects had all been interviewed, the members of Murder Club met up again in their usual spot: at the end of the corridor near the window. One by one they reported about their interviews, and once the evidence was all in, the difficult part was how to make sense of it all.
“I don’t know how real detectives do this,” said Olivia. “It’s so hard to know what’s important and what’s not.”
“And to know who is lying and who’s telling the truth,” Bill added.
“What we need is a whiteboard,” said Liz. “Just like they have in any police precinct in the country.”
“I don’t think they actually use those whiteboards,” said Scarlett. “I mean, the real police don’t use them, only the police on television, to make it easier for the viewers to keep track of the investigation.”
“And I’m sure the real police use them all the time,” said Liz stubbornly.
“No, but Scarlett is right,” said Vesta. “The actual police don’t use those boards.”
“And how would you know?” Liz challenged her. “It’s not as if your son is a policeman, is he?” But when Vesta made to speak, she held up her hand. “Let’s not get sidelined here, people. Let’s focus on the investigation. So we have six suspects: Kirsten, Kirsten’s mom, Kate, Bob, Charlie, and Desmond. You’ve all heard their testimonies. So what do you think? Does anything stand out to you? Anyone seems more likely to have killed Henry? And what about alibis? Anything suspicious?”
“I think Desmond did it,” said Olivia. “I thought so from the beginning, and after what Scarlett just told us, I think the man is guilty.”
“He didn’t want to supply an alibi,” said Bill. “Which is very suspicious in my book. If he was innocent, he would have told her what he was up to last night. Plus, he’s going to be a very rich man now that Henry is dead. He told you himself, didn’t he? He’s going to lie on a beach and drink cocktails from now on.”
“True,” said Liz. “Desmond is a very likely suspect. But I thought Charlie was also acting very suspicious, not to mention extremely rude. He said some things that the rules of propriety won’t let me repeat, but let’s just say they made my skin crawl. And a man who can be that rude and that obnoxious is definitely capable of murder.”
“But what is his motive?” asked Vesta.
“Well, he strikes me as a very volatile individual. Aggressive and easily provoked. So Henry kept telling him that his cleaning wasn’t up to his standards, and finally Charlie must have snapped and decided to get rid of his tormentor once and for all.”
“What about his alibi?” asked Bill, sitting back and tapping his bottom lip with his pencil. He had a dark spot on that lip from where he’d been sucking it. “I mean, he said his girlfriend can confirm that he was with her. So what do we think about that?”
“We think that the girlfriend of a man like Charlie will do as he says, and if she doesn’t, she can expect him to get very upset with her—possibly even violent.”
“He does look like the kind of person who would beat his girlfriend,” Olivia agreed. “So Charlie and Desmond—not coincidentally both men.”
“Bob is also a man,” said Bill. “But after talking to the guy I don’t think he did it.”
“I agree,” said Liz. “Bob is a pussycat. He may not have liked Henry very much, but murder? I don’t think so.”
“I thought Annette had a good motive,” said Vesta. “Though after talking to her, I don’t think she did it. She wanted to protect her daughter, and we all know that women can become like tigresses defending their young, but Annette doesn’t have it in her to murder a person. And neither does Kirsten, for that matter. Too sweet-natured, both of them.”
“I think you’re right,” said Liz. “So what about Kate? Olivia?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” said Olivia. “But if she did it, she doesn’t remember a thing.”
“She did try to strangle me,” Vesta pointed out. “Simply because she thought I was an intruder. And she keeps trying to escape.”