to leaving
for your cottage in order to divert suspicion? What about that?"
Mary squirmed in her chair. "That's the biggest
load of horseshit I've ever heard, Paul. For one thing, he and Andy
left together, didn't you, Jackie?"
"Well no, not exactly. Andy had loaded all his
stuff into the Toyota at lunch time. He was in the lab all that
afternoon, remember? So after my work was finished, I packed my stuff
in and then picked him up at Lillie."
"What's Lillie?" asked Keegan.
"Lillie Hall. The big building right down the
street. It's where the labs and offices are. I picked him up there
about four-thirty."
"Right," said Keegan, "I remembered
your saying that, and wrote it down. Tom left Woods Hole Thursday
afternoon to visit his parents in Worcester. You were the last one to
leave."
"What have you got against us?" said Mary.
She was giving him a dead level stare. It wasn't friendly.
"I have nothing against any of you, believe me.
If anything, I'm biased in your behalf, for two reasons. One is Doc's
coming forward with the cause of death. The other is the fact that
you're Joe's sister. So don't worry about my personal feelings. But
remember, there are D.A.s. There are prosecuting attorneys and grand
juries. These people may not see things the way you do. And speaking
of that, Jack, there's a curious thing I wanted to talk to you
about."
Jack looked up from his Coke. He was jiggling his
legs up and down fast in his nervousness.
"The lab team checked for means of entry. Tom
McDonnough says that each of you kept a key. No key was hidden under
the doormat or any such place, right?"
"Right," Jack nodded.
"Tom also told me that whenever you guys left
for the weekend, you always locked the doors, front and back, and you
always closed and snibbed the downstairs windows. Correct?"
Jack nodded again.
"Well, when he discovered the mess, Tom looked
around and saw the kitchen window left wide open, and the window
screen removed and lying in the bushes below. I assume you didn't do
this."
"No, I didn't. just before I left on Friday, I
checked all the windows on the first floor. They were all shut down
tight. I don't know about the screen, it could have been missing. But
the windows were closed and locked."
"Okay. Now the odd thing is this: there's no way
the window could have been forced from the outside. There are no pry
marks from tools on the sill or the bottom of the window frame. Also,
the snib is intact. If the window had been forced, the fastener would
be broken or pried off. Follow?"
"I guess. You're saying that the window was
opened from the inside, and made to look like somebody forced it from
the outside."
"Exactly. So how did they get in? We think they
got in through the front door. And because there are no marks on the
lock face, we're pretty sure they didn't pick the lock. Therefore,
they used a key."
"Well, it wasn't my key."
"I didn't expect you to say it was, Jack. But
Tom swears it wasn't his key, and we know for sure it wasn't Andy's
key. So assuming it wasn't the landlord, my question is, who else had
a key, and how'd they get it?"
After several seconds of silence, Jack admitted he
had no idea. "Think carefully, Jack. Did you loan your key to
anyone, even for a few hours?"
"No. Not that I can remember. The one person I
can think of that might have borrowed mine, or Andy's, is Alice
Henderson."
Keegan said nothing; he just looked at Jack, whose
legs and knees were bouncing a mile a minute. He wasn't a twitchy
kid, so he was clearly nervous about something.
"It might interest you to know that I spoke with
Alice Henderson yesterday.”
Jack didn't answer, just rattled the ice around in
his Coke glass, bouncing his legs so fast I thought he might become
airborne. Then I saw a sheen of sweat on his lip. Oh boy—
"She, uh, had some interesting things to say
about your relationship with Andy."
Jack just sat there, twitching in every muscle and
staring down at the table. The lunch time crowd, swilling beer
for your cottage in order to divert suspicion? What about that?"
Mary squirmed in her chair. "That's the biggest
load of horseshit I've ever heard, Paul. For one thing, he and Andy
left together, didn't you, Jackie?"
"Well no, not exactly. Andy had loaded all his
stuff into the Toyota at lunch time. He was in the lab all that
afternoon, remember? So after my work was finished, I packed my stuff
in and then picked him up at Lillie."
"What's Lillie?" asked Keegan.
"Lillie Hall. The big building right down the
street. It's where the labs and offices are. I picked him up there
about four-thirty."
"Right," said Keegan, "I remembered
your saying that, and wrote it down. Tom left Woods Hole Thursday
afternoon to visit his parents in Worcester. You were the last one to
leave."
"What have you got against us?" said Mary.
She was giving him a dead level stare. It wasn't friendly.
"I have nothing against any of you, believe me.
If anything, I'm biased in your behalf, for two reasons. One is Doc's
coming forward with the cause of death. The other is the fact that
you're Joe's sister. So don't worry about my personal feelings. But
remember, there are D.A.s. There are prosecuting attorneys and grand
juries. These people may not see things the way you do. And speaking
of that, Jack, there's a curious thing I wanted to talk to you
about."
Jack looked up from his Coke. He was jiggling his
legs up and down fast in his nervousness.
"The lab team checked for means of entry. Tom
McDonnough says that each of you kept a key. No key was hidden under
the doormat or any such place, right?"
"Right," Jack nodded.
"Tom also told me that whenever you guys left
for the weekend, you always locked the doors, front and back, and you
always closed and snibbed the downstairs windows. Correct?"
Jack nodded again.
"Well, when he discovered the mess, Tom looked
around and saw the kitchen window left wide open, and the window
screen removed and lying in the bushes below. I assume you didn't do
this."
"No, I didn't. just before I left on Friday, I
checked all the windows on the first floor. They were all shut down
tight. I don't know about the screen, it could have been missing. But
the windows were closed and locked."
"Okay. Now the odd thing is this: there's no way
the window could have been forced from the outside. There are no pry
marks from tools on the sill or the bottom of the window frame. Also,
the snib is intact. If the window had been forced, the fastener would
be broken or pried off. Follow?"
"I guess. You're saying that the window was
opened from the inside, and made to look like somebody forced it from
the outside."
"Exactly. So how did they get in? We think they
got in through the front door. And because there are no marks on the
lock face, we're pretty sure they didn't pick the lock. Therefore,
they used a key."
"Well, it wasn't my key."
"I didn't expect you to say it was, Jack. But
Tom swears it wasn't his key, and we know for sure it wasn't Andy's
key. So assuming it wasn't the landlord, my question is, who else had
a key, and how'd they get it?"
After several seconds of silence, Jack admitted he
had no idea. "Think carefully, Jack. Did you loan your key to
anyone, even for a few hours?"
"No. Not that I can remember. The one person I
can think of that might have borrowed mine, or Andy's, is Alice
Henderson."
Keegan said nothing; he just looked at Jack, whose
legs and knees were bouncing a mile a minute. He wasn't a twitchy
kid, so he was clearly nervous about something.
"It might interest you to know that I spoke with
Alice Henderson yesterday.”
Jack didn't answer, just rattled the ice around in
his Coke glass, bouncing his legs so fast I thought he might become
airborne. Then I saw a sheen of sweat on his lip. Oh boy—
"She, uh, had some interesting things to say
about your relationship with Andy."
Jack just sat there, twitching in every muscle and
staring down at the table. The lunch time crowd, swilling beer
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