Murder at Breakfast by Steve Demaree

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there have than to wait until the residents had gone shopping and then enter
Mrs. Higgins’s apartment and murder her? Then a fly flew into my ointment. The
first scenario would only work if Martha didn’t try to remove the trays before
the shoppers arrived back at Parkway Arms at 4:00. Anyone with a key to Mrs. Higgins’ apartment could return from shopping, use a key no one knew about, and
slip into the victim’s apartment sometime before dinner, but then I remembered
that more than likely her door was latched all day, and no one could have
gotten in that way.  But  then  wouldn’t the same circumstances be needed for
someone who was there all day? Whoever sneaked into the apartment would have
had to have done so before the maids shampooed the carpet, or after the carpet
dried, and the maids had almost finished shampooing the carpet before the food
arrived. So, he or she would have had to have waited until after the carpet
dried to arrange such a cozy lunchtime death. So, regardless of whether she was
murdered by a resident or a member of the staff, whoever did it would have to
have done it prior to anyone leaving the building, and the tray couldn’t have
been planted until after everyone returned. Why? Because she was dead before
anyone left, and no one walked on the hall carpet until everyone returned. As
usual, Lou and I had a lot of work to do before finding our murderer. It
sounded so complicated that I’m not sure I could have repeated my thoughts.
Luckily, I knew where to begin.
     
    +++
     
    I
picked up my phone and dialed the number one investigator anywhere, Sam
Schumann. Lucky for me, Sam works for the Hilldale Police Department.
    “And
a good Monday morning to you, Cy.”
    “How
did you know it was me?”
    “I
knew there was a death the other night, suspected homicide. I knew you wouldn’t
be able to solve it without me.”
    “I’m
just trying to see that you keep drawing those paychecks, Sam.”
    “Cy,
I know how all of this will create problems for your schedule.”
    “You
mean with Lou and me being retired and all.”
    “That,
too. I was thinking more of what it would do to your workout schedule. Does
this mean it will be a while before you release another one of your videos?”
    “I
haven’t released one.”
    “Sure
you have, Cy. I’ve got the evidence. Laurel and Hardy would be proud of you.”
    “And
where did you get a copy?”
    “Remember,
Cy, I’m a cop. I know people.”
    “Yeah,
any idea how I can get even with those people?”
    I
heard laughter on the other end of the line. I gave him a moment and then got
down to work.
    “Listen,
Sam, believe it or not, the reason I called doesn’t have anything at all do to
with Lou’s Wii, but it does have to do with the murder you mentioned. Get ready
to write. I want you to check on some people.”
    “Fire
away.”
    “Okay,
let’s start with the victim, Katherine Higgins. I understand she’s leaving
behind a lot of money. See who gets it. I also want you to check on all the
people at Parkway Arms, those who work there and those who live there. Here are
their names and the little I already know about them. Margaret Draper manages
the place, probably has greater access to any part of that building than anyone
else, except maybe the handyman. Martha Carpenter is the cook, and the victim
did die of poison, so she definitely needs some looking into. Wally Gentry is
the handyman, probably has a key to anything in that place. The two maids are
Margie Washburn, who was Mrs. Higgins’ maid, and Ginny Adams, the third floor
maid. Those are the only employees.
    “Two
of the other residents are away. I’ll give you their names in a minute. I’ll
just need for you to verify that they really are away and have been the whole
time. The other residents include Russell Cochran, who seemed to be sweet on
Mrs. Higgins, Christine Hunt, who didn’t like her and wanted to get her hooks
into Cochran, Joanne Moberly, who might have had the