Murder at Breakfast (10 page)

Rosie
smiled as we walked into the Blue Moon. She was still happy to see Lou, even
though the restaurant’s profits had plummeted since he started eating like a
flower child. As had been the case most times lately, I ordered first. It had
been a while since I had had corned beef hash. I ordered a double-order with
hash browns, fried eggs over easy, and some link sausage. I cringed when Lou
ordered a club salad, but with turkey as the only meat, and balsamic
vinaigrette dressing on the side. I had no idea what that balsam stuff was, but
I knew from the sound of it that whatever it was it had to be one of those
dressings you can see through. I wondered if I would carry on on my own after
Lou took to his bed, lacking the strength to carry on as he used to. I didn’t
enjoy my two pieces of pie quite as much that day. It was as if someone had
poured some of that balsam stuff on them. I tried to work up the courage to
tell Lou that there were limits to what he could eat in my presence.

+++

After
lunch, on the drive back to Parkway Arms, Lou and I discussed what we knew.

“Okay,
Lou, let’s go over what we know for sure. We know that Mrs. Higgins died of
poisoning and that she died sometime Friday morning. She was poisoned either
before she went to breakfast, at breakfast, on her way back to her apartment,
or shortly after she returned to her apartment.”

“Yeah,
Cy, and we also know that regardless of where she was poisoned someone came
into her apartment. Why he or she came in, we have no idea, but someone was in
her place.”

“Well,
Lou, whoever it was could have gone in there in order to confuse the time of
death. Maybe someone wanted it to look like she died peacefully, or not so
peacefully, while eating her lunch. I wish I knew whether or not that chain latch
was on all day. If it was, that limits how she was killed or how the murderer
got in. If the chain latch was on, the murderer would’ve had to have come in by
the window, and that would mean that only Russell Cochran could’ve come down
from his apartment or Elaine Jewell walked across the roof.”

“There’s
only one problem with that.”

“And
that is?”

“Elaine
Jewell was out during lunch.”

“Then
someone used Miss Jewelll’s key and went through to the roof.”

“That
wouldn’t work either.”

“Why’s
that?”

“Because
the only time anyone could’ve used Miss Jewell’s apartment to gain access to
Mrs. Higgins’ apartment, either Miss Jewell was at home or the carpet was wet
and no one could’ve gained access to the hall. It had to have happened at
breakfast.”

“Unless
the linebacker maid entered the apartment just before shampooing the carpet.”

“That
won’t work, either. Provided the victim’s door was locked, her only entrance
was through Miss Jewell’s apartment. According to Frank and according to what
we know about the residents, Miss Jewell was in her apartment until after Mrs.
Higgins was murdered. No one could’ve gained access to any apartment until
after 10:00, and by that time the victim was dead. Mr. Cochran was in his
apartment. Miss Jewell was in hers. There was no ladder where the woman who is
away lived, and none of the residents can fly. No, provided the chain was on, 
no one could have murdered her except Mr. Cochran, Miss Jewell, or someone who
ate breakfast with her.”

“What
if someone was in her apartment when she returned?”

“That
won’t work, either. Because Mr. Cochran and Miss Jewell were both in their
apartments, someone could have left only by the front door, and it’s impossible
to leave by the front door and put the latch on afterward.”

“Regardless
of who did it and how he or she did it, we know that someone, probably the
murderer, was in Mrs. Higgins’s apartment at least once, possibly more than
once. But whoever it was had to have done it before the carpet was shampooed or
after the carpet dried.”

“If
she was poisoned in her apartment after she ate breakfast, one of the other
tenants could have stopped by her apartment before heading out for the day, but
after she returned from breakfast. If so, she would’ve had to have unlatched
the door and opened it to whoever it was. Regardless of whether that happened
or not, someone had to have been in the apartment after 4:00. The carpet didn’t dry until then. Lunch didn’t arrive until after the floor was off limits,
and the next time someone could’ve gotten in the apartment was 4:00. Then we have to decide what we think about the statements by the manager and the
cook. One said that the dumbwaiter was open shortly before 5:30. The other said the chain was on the door shortly thereafter. If both of them are telling the truth,
then someone had to have been in that apartment after 4:00. Is it possible that someone went to the apartment sometime after 4:00 and stayed until after the manager left to call us? Wouldn’t someone have been missed if he or she was
gone for that length of time? Or could it be that the manager said that the
safety chain was on the door to defer suspicion away from herself and toward
someone else?”

“Lou,
as I mull this over, there are a couple of things that keep me from thinking
she was poisoned in her apartment. One, she was poisoned by 9:00. Wouldn’t one of her neighbors have  heard  someone  entering or leaving her apartment? Also,
in what way was she poisoned in her apartment? Evidently, she didn’t eat
anything there, and she would’ve had to have eaten something in order to be
poisoned there. We know that she wasn’t poisoned by any of the food on her
tray. Does this mean that someone put the tray there to make us think she was
poisoned in her apartment rather than at the breakfast table? And if so, who?
Other than the cook and the manager, none of the employees could’ve murdered
Mrs. Higgins at the breakfast table. Could it be that the murderer is one of
the residents, and that she placed the trays there to divert suspicion?”

“If
so, Cy, it seems to me that whoever is responsible was trying to divert
suspicion to either her next-door neighbor or her boyfriend. Neither of them
could have committed the murder at the breakfast table, but both of them
could’ve gotten into her apartment and done the job.”

In
all my years solving murders I have never known us to have more answers than
questions. Why should this case be any different? Hopefully, when we questioned
everyone we would find someone who disputed what someone else said. I wanted to
talk to each of the five people who worked there. I wanted to know who saw who
or what. And I wanted to know if anyone of them saw any of the residents
walking about at any time in the late afternoon after they returned from a day
out.

Lightning
must have driven back on autopilot. There was no telling how long we had been
sitting in the Parkway Arms parking lot before we realized where we were. Both
of us were so engrossed in the case that we paid no attention to anything else
until we had run out of possible solutions. I turned off the ignition, and
satisfied that my lunch had taken up residence somewhere and was quite
comfortable, I opened the door and lifted myself from the car.

Once
Lou and I were again inside the monstrous apartment building, we appreciated the
air conditioning we had come to love each summer and marched off to the kitchen
to see if the cook was still there. Martha Carpenter was putting away the last
washed dish when we entered.

“Miss
Carpenter, we’d like a little more of your time, in private.”

The
“in private” seemed to unnerve the woman. I tried to set her at ease.

“We’re
talking to everyone. We just chose to make you first, since you seem to be
coming to one of your breaks. Besides, you were the first person to see Mrs.
Higgins on the day she died.”

“First
or second. Margaret was in and out before breakfast.”

“Well,
we plan to talk to her, too. Now, where would you like to chat?”

“Well,
I don’t have an office like Margaret. Why don’t we just go to my apartment, if
that’s all right with you?”

I
felt relieved when she opted for her apartment instead of the great outdoors
that she loves so much.

I
noticed that Margaret Draper saw us as we plodded within sight of her office
and stood behind Martha Carpenter as she unlocked the door to her apartment.
The manager seemed concerned. I shot her a smile to soften the moment. She shot
one  back,  saying that she didn’t buy my smile. Could it be she was afraid
that Martha Carpenter was responsible for the murder, and that she, the
manager, would be losing a good cook, or was it that she herself had something
to hide? We would deal with her next.

The
cook opened the door to her apartment, and the three of us went inside. She
motioned toward facing couches and invited us to sit, just as we had done
previously. As Lou and I sat, she asked if she could get us anything. I
declined, wanting to get on with my questions. Miss Carpenter looked around
briefly, as if wondering if she forgot something. I waited until we were
comfortable before I started to ask my questions.

“Do
you mind if I call you Martha?”

“That’s
my name. I think it suits me.”

I
wasn’t sure if she was referring to a biblical reference, or if all Marthas
were supposed to look alike. It wasn’t worth taking any more time to think
about, so I continued.

“So,
Martha, tell me a little about yourself.”

“Well,
there’s not much to tell.”

“Surely,
you can tell us something.”

“Well,
I’m the oldest child in a large family, developed a fondness for cooking early
in life, did a lot of cooking at home, and have been a cook most of my life
after growing up. I’ve been the cook here for eight years, and no one has ever
complained about me.”

“And
no one has complained about you to me, either. It’s just that a woman was
murdered here the other day, and we need to talk to everyone to see if someone
can help us. Just relax. I just want to ask you a few questions.”

“I
didn’t see nothing.”

“Really?
You already told me that you were one of the first two to see Mrs. Higgins on
the day she died, so at least you saw a little something.”

“But
I wasn’t alone with her.”

“Martha,
no one is accusing anyone of anything at this point.  I  just  want  to  ask 
you a few questions about what you saw. Now, let’s start with when you first
saw Mrs. Higgins on Friday morning.”

“I
think it was just after I carried some food into the dining room. I looked up
and saw her sitting in one of the chairs over in the sitting room, near the
front door. As you know, the dining room is open, so you can see all the way to
the front door from there. Back door, too.”

“And
was anyone with her?”

“Part
of the time Margaret was talking with her. Part of the time she was by herself,
kind of fidgety like she usually is at breakfast time.”

“So,
she was restless.”

“Yeah,
but not any more so than usual at breakfast.”

“Why
was that?”

“I
don’t know. That’s just the way she was early in the morning. I don’t mean she
was surly, just fidgety, like she was in a hurry, which she usually was at
breakfast. She was always more comfortable at lunch and dinner, especially if
Russell was with her.”

“Did
she seem like she was in a hurry, like she was going to meet someone?”

“Not
that I know of. I have no idea what her plans were.”

“And
she was the first one of the tenants down that morning?”

“That’s
right, but then she was usually the first.”

“But
some of the others were down before she left?”

“Oh,
everyone but Russell was down before she left. He would’ve been too, if he
hadn’t been sick. Oh, and Elaine Jewell didn’t come down that morning. I sent
her breakfast up, too.”

“Let’s
start with Mr. Cochran. Have you seen him since he’s been sick?”

“No,
just talked to him on the phone.”

“Okay.
Let’s move on to breakfast. So, Mrs. Higgins had given you her order and you
fixed it and brought it to her?”

“No,
I can tell you haven’t been here at breakfast. Breakfast is different. I serve
breakfast buffet style. I cook everything, then take it into the dining room
and put it in these warming trays. Everything stays plenty warm in those. All
of the residents serve themselves at breakfast. It’s the other meals that I
serve the food.”

“And
were you there when Mrs. Higgins fixed her plate?”

“Just
a few feet away. Most of the time I stay until everyone has fixed his or her
plate. It lets me know how much more I need to fix for the five of us who work
here, since we eat last. Sometime there’s plenty of food left, and I don’t have
to fix anything, but most of the time we’re close to running out of something
or other. You’d think that everyone would eat the same amount of food each day,
but that’s not always true. They usually eat the same things, but not always
the same amount.”

“And
it was just the two of you in the dining room when Mrs. Higgins fixed her
plate?”      

“I’m
not sure if Margaret was in the room or not, but I know nobody else was down
yet.”

“So
can you remember what you served on Friday morning?”

“The
usual. I always fix bacon, link sausage, sausage patties, scrambled eggs made
with milk and cheese in them, and hash browns. Then one day we have biscuits.
The next day we have pancakes. Friday was biscuit day, so we had biscuits with
butter, plus jam, jelly, and honey for those who wanted them. We always have
fresh fruit, and three kinds of cereal; corn flakes, raisin bran, and oatmeal.”

“As
the others came into the dining room, did you pay any attention to what each
woman put on her plate?”

“Most
of our people eat the same thing every day, except for those days when I fix
something special. Like on a special occasion I’m liable to fix eggs Benedict,
or French toast, or crepes of some sort.”

“What
did Mrs. Higgins eat on Friday morning?”

“Her
usual. She loves bacon and eggs, so she loads up on those. And she loves my
homemade biscuits. Well, at least she did. She seldom took sausage, fruit, or
cereal of any kind.”

“Then
I assume that everything she took someone else took some of it, too.”

“That’s
right! I don’t think we have anything that only one person eats, no matter who
or what it is.”

“Does
that include the jam and jelly, or did she eat something that no one else ate?”

“I’m
pretty sure at least two people ate some of everything, including the jams and
jellies, but I can’t swear to that. I don’t think anyone ate any honey that
morning. Russell loves local honey, but then he didn’t come down and I didn’t
think to send any up with his tray.”

“Back
to Mrs. Higgins, were you in the dining room the entire time she was in there?”

“No,
but she was most of the way through when I went back to the kitchen.”

“Did
anyone eat next to her?”

“Not
right next to her, although when Hilda came in and saw that Russell wasn’t
there, she sat across from Katherine. Funny thing, Hilda must have eaten a lot
faster on Friday, because she left just after Katherine.”

“I
thought you said you weren’t in the dining room when Mrs. Higgins left.”

“I
wasn’t, but I heard Hilda call out, ‘Wait up, Katherine. I’ll ride up with
you.’”

“I
want you to think back, Martha. Was there ever a time on Friday morning when it
was only Katherine and one other person at the table?”

“Well,
yeah. At least a couple of times. Like when the second person came in, there
was only the two of them. And then one time when someone got up to get more
food, which some of our residents do.”

“And
did Mrs. Higgins get up at any time to get more food?”

“I’m
not sure, but I know she got up to get more orange juice. She always got up to
get more orange juice. Everyone knows she drinks at least two glasses of that
stuff every morning. It was almost enough to put a smile on her face.”

“So,
can you remember who might have been at the table alone with Mrs. Higgins?”

“Just
the first time, because I remember that Joanne Moberly was the second person
down on Friday. Are you saying that Katherine was poisoned?”

“It
looks that way.”

“But
she couldn’t have been poisoned at breakfast, because she ate her lunch.”

“Actually,
she could have been poisoned at breakfast. She was poisoned then or some time
close to breakfast. Whatever killed her was something she ingested around
breakfast time.”

“But
no one else was poisoned by my food.”

“I’m
not saying that she was, either. It looks like someone put poison in something
that only Mrs. Higgins ingested. They could’ve put it on something on her plate
or in her glass.”

“You
mean someone might have poisoned her at the dining room table in front of other
people?”

“It
looks that way, although we don’t know that for sure. That’s the reason we’ll
be talking to everyone. If someone’s not guilty, they have nothing to fear.”

“Well,
that’s terrible. Who would do something like that to Katherine?”

“I
don’t know. Tell me, do you know what she thought of any of the people who work
here or what they thought of her?”

“As
far as I know she got along with all of us.”

“How
long after Mrs. Higgins went back to her room did any of the other residents
get up and leave the table?”

“Let’s
see, I think Christine Hunt and Joanne Moberly left within a minute or two, and
they left together. Of course, I already told you Hilda Winters left just a few
seconds after Katherine  did.  And  since  Elaine  Jewell  ate in her apartment
that day, and our other residents are away, that means that everyone was gone
within minutes of each other, and earlier than normal.”

“And
how much after that did any of the people who work here come to breakfast?”

“It
was a few minutes. I doubt if anyone was expecting all of the residents to be
gone so early, since that is seldom the case. You don’t think one of us did
it?”

“That’s
what we’re here to find out. Now, let’s move on to lunch. I believe you said
that none of the residents ate lunch in the dining room.”

“That’s
right! The only two I served lunch to were Katherine and Russell, and I sent
both of those trays up to their apartments. Everyone else was out on Friday
because it was carpet shampooing day.”

“And
what time did you send those trays up?”

“Well,
since they were the only two I had to prepare for I was able to send both trays
up shortly after 11:30. I think I sent Russell’s first, because he was sick,
and Katherine’s five minutes or so later.”

“So,
the dining room was empty?”

“Well,
Wally and I ate in the dining room later, but we don’t eat until 1:15.”

“What
about Mrs. Draper and the two maids?”

“I
can’t tell you about the maids, but Margaret got her food as I was getting
mine. She took hers to her office in one of those Styrofoam containers.”

“And
you and Wally were in the dining room together how long?”

“We
got up about the same time. I’d say it was about 1:40.”

“And
what did you two talk about?”

“The
weather. The flowers. Wally worked in the flower beds on Friday.”

“And
how did he seem?”

“Just
like normal. Both of us are happier when the weather is good enough to get out
in it. Of course we don’t like it as well when it gets too hot.”

“So,
you say that both of you got up from the table about the same time. When did
you go check on the trays, to see if Mr. Cochran and Mrs. Higgins sent theirs
back down?”

“It
was about that time.”