“He must have died sometime this morning,” she said. “Cause Brian told Odelia and Chase that he had seen him right before breakfast, remember?”
“So he could have died when we were all gathered in the breakfast room,” I said. “Which would give most of the residents a solid alibi, and also Brian himself.”
“Now why would Brian go and murder Desmond?” asked Harriet. “That makes no sense.”
“Yeah, looks to me as if Brian has been protecting Desmond all this time,” said Brutus. “Even when Kirsten told him what the guy was up to.”
“It’s possible that Brian realized that Desmond was causing him a lot of embarrassment, and might jeopardize Happy Home’s good reputation,” I said. “But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. It’s still possible that he simply took a bad fall, and that his death was an accident.”
Harriet made a scoffing sound at this.“You don’t actually believe that, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” I said. “But if I’ve learned anything over the course of the last couple of years, it’s always to keep an open mind.”
The interview with Kirsten was over, and Odelia and Chase came up to us, then gave us a sign to follow them.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I hurried to keep up.
“I’m calling a meeting,” Odelia whispered.
“Oh, goodie,” said Dooley. “I love meetings!”
35
The meeting took place in Gran and Scarlett’s room, and was of the kind that involved the captain of the team—Odelia—to talk to the team members—Gran and Scarlett in the first place, and the feline contingent to a lesser extent—and relay a fresh set of instructions.
“Okay, so if you don’t start talking soon,” said Gran, “I’m going to die of curiosity. What gives, you guys? Who killed Desmond?”
“As far as we can tell, Desmond’s death was an accident,” said Chase, launching into the proceedings by giving us that first tidbit of shocking information. “He must have stumbled and fallen, and broken his neck in the process.”
“Is that the official verdict?” asked Gran, who looked disappointed.
“This is Abe’s preliminary conclusion, yes,” Odelia confirmed. “And I think the autopsy will bear that out.”
“But couldn’t he have been pushed?” asked Scarlett.
“Of course he could have been pushed,” said Chase, “but that’s going to be very difficult to prove. There isn’t a lot of difference between stumbling down the stairs by accident, or because someone gave you a big push. And unless someone saw what happened, or a camera picked it up, it’simpossible to know what actually happened.”
“And let me guess: no one saw anything, and there are no cameras,” said Gran, looking more and more unhappy.
“Bingo,” said Chase, pointing at her.
“Please don’t mention that word,” Gran lamented. “I’ve had all the bingo I can stomach for a while.”
“So when did he die?” asked Scarlett.
“Sometime before nine o’clock this morning,” said Odelia.
“When most of us were in the breakfast room,” said Scarlett. “Having breakfast.”
“Is there anyone you know of that wasn’t there around that time?” asked Odelia.
Gran and Scarlett thought for a moment, and so did we, but it’s hard to account for everybody when you’re dealing with such a large group. At any given time there are hundreds of residents at Happy Home, and then there’s the staff members to take into consideration as well.
“We arrived shortly after nine,” said Chase. “And when we got here the first person we saw was Brian. So he couldn’t have done it.”
“Unless he rushed back from giving his employee a shove,” said Gran. “He did seem a little winded, wouldn’t you say?”
“The man has a lot on his mind,” Scarlett pointed out. “He’s juggling three women, and the last thing he seemed concerned about was Desmond. When Kirsten talked to him about the guy, he couldn’t have cared less.”
“So what about Kirsten?” asked Chase. “We talked to her and she said she was on breakfast duty with Isaac until nine, and then she went to check on the laundry.”
“That seems about right,” Scarlett confirmed. “I’ve been keeping an eye on them both,” she explained. “It’s my very special project.”
“She’s trying to get Kirsten and Isaac together,” said Gran. “Though I’m not sure it’s working.”
“It’s working,” said Scarlett. “Isaac just needs another little push, and so does Kirsten. I just know those two would be very happy together.”
“Okay, so romance aside, there’s something else we have to tell you,” said Chase. “Something important.” He gave us all a grave look. “It’s official now. Henry Kaur was murdered.”
“What?!” Scarlett cried.
“See?” said Gran. “I told you!”
“The autopsy showed trace evidence of certain fibers on his face, in his mouth and nasal passage, and even in his lungs. And when compared to the pillow we found at the scene, there was a definite match. Henry was choked to death with his own pillow. So he didn’t die in his sleep. There was some other stuff, like petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes as well as in the lungs, which all point to death by asphyxiation.”
“There’s more,” said Odelia when Gran and Scarlett started talking at the same time.
“More? How can there be more!” Gran cried.