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XIII
The Third Tuesday
To imagine another system is to extend our participation in the present system.
Michel Foucault
Charlie awoke still with the urgency he'd felt last night, but it was just seven in the morning. Too early to call DeVries. He got up, showered and shaved and, as more often than not, decided he'd have breakfast at the department. He got there at eight-thirty. Jodie and Phoebe were just arriving. He went for coffee and a danish and back in his office he called DeVries. She wasn't in but he was assured she'd call back as soon as she could.
Charlie started going through the list of books and looking them up on the internet. Many of the entries had to do with everything but price, given that these were books rarely available other than in contemporary editions. Christie's web-site, though, had six original editions of the eight books listed for auction in the next few months. He decided for consistency to use only Christie's prices and worry about the Sun-tzu and von Clausewitz volumes later. All of the amounts were given in pounds sterling and in dollars. The Summa, as he'd seen the night before, was estimated to go for $114,940 to $164, 200, in dollars. Cicero's Oratore, Dante's Comedy, Erasmus' Adagiorum chiliades, and Seneca's Opera were estimated at the same amounts. Dioscorides' De materia was estimated at eighty to a hundred-and-twenty thousand pounds or $131,360 to $197,040.
What it came to was that ignoring the Sun-tzu and von Clausewitz titles, sale of the other six books could fetch from four-hundred-thirty thousand to six-hundred-twenty thousand pounds, or from $706,060 to $1,018,040 dollars. Sun-tzu's The Art of War and von Clausewitz' Principles of War could add another $200,000 to those totals.
Charlie had no idea of how many of the titles listed Barrett and McKay might actually have had, but the figures for even one would justify a couple of murders to some individuals. It occurred to Charlie that eight books wouldn't make up too burdensome a package and wouldn't be hard to hide.
It was not until eleven-forty-five that DeVries returned his call.
"Charlie. Sorry to be so late getting back to you but something's happened and Dan and I have been very busy. Even now I'm just taking a minute to call in case you have some information we can use. I'm afraid we're at Mr. McKay's apartment. He was killed last night. His weekly cleaner found him this morning and called us."
Charlie was speechless for a moment then pulled himself together. As succinctly as he could, he told DeVries about the book list, what he had figured out the night before, and what he'd learned that morning about the books' value. When he finished there was a long silence, then DeVries spoke:
"I wish we'd put all of this together earlier. Mr. McKay was shot in his apartment. No one saw or heard anything, but it's obvious he let someone in last evening. There were two half-filled glasses of wine on the table and other indications of a visitor. The apartment was ransacked, but whoever did it was careful not to make much noise. Prior to a post-mortem the medical examiner is being cagey, as usual, but his best guess is that Mr. McKay was killed between eleven last night and one this morning. What you've told me possibly clarifies things regarding motive - for both Mr. McKay's and Dr. Wilson's murders - but it means there's another player we know nothing about. We're pretty clearly not looking for an irate student as the killer. This is something more complicated."
With that DeVries rang off and left Charlie feeling stunned. He'd certainly not gotten to know McKay, but it was hard to think of him as just gone. They would not be meeting again and there'd be no reading-course. Might he have warned McKay? But on what basis…his conjectures? Charlie didn't know what to think or do and stared at the wall. Eventually he realized there was nothing he could do and decided to go off for what was now a late lunch. Perhaps talking to people would make him feel better.
Rod Weber, an English professor whose opinions Charlie valued, was at the club table at lunch. Rod was a very big man and took the chair at one end of the table whenever he could. That's where he was now. Charlie took a seat to his right and laid out his idea about the books.
"That's interesting. It makes more sense than the alternatives I've heard. I didn't know Wilson; I've heard from others he was a pain in the ass, but a lot of academics are like that and no one shoots them. Collectible books could certainly provide a motive, and if he and this McKay had some, we'd be talking about serious money. It wouldn't just be the age of the editions. Some might be signed or annotated and be worth more than the figures you mentioned. Now, what does a fish say when it swims into a wall?"
"Okay, what?"
"Dam!"
Charlie groaned and they slipped into telling jokes. At four-thirty Charlie went home. Feeling a little guilty for not having called her earlier, he told Kate what had happened to McKay and about his internet search.
"So it looks like Barrett wasn't killed for personal reasons, but now it's anybody's guess who the murderer might be. The cops have been trying to find someone who had reason to kill Barrett; now they'll have to admit there's no tie between Barrett and the killer other than what Barrett and McKay had. That explains why McKay's apartment was ransacked. Barrett's office was no doubt also searched, but carefully. A box of books would have been pretty evident; in any case, his shelves were searched. I thought the cops did that, but it was the killer. Well, probably the cops, too. Also, if Barrett chose to meet his killer in his office, he'd hardly have the books there."
"But Charlie, how would Barrett get hold of a hoard of valuable books?"
"From McKay. I think they were trying to sell them, though McKay was almost certainly the one that acquired them. He seems to have known Barrett well enough to go to him for help in disposing of the books. That makes the best sense of Barrett's involvement. I can't imagine Barrett himself stealing the books and doubt he had the means to buy them."
"I think you're right, but let's go get some dinner. We can talk then."
Charlie and Kate would be late to dinner. Just as he was opening the front door Bolster and DeVries pulled up in front of the house. Both looked serious and Charlie wondered if he was in for another search.
"Charlie, Ms. Douglas, we're sorry to intrude but we need to review a couple of things with you. Ms. Douglas, I assume Charlie's told you that Mr. McKay has been killed?"
"Yes; but do sit down. Would you like some coffee?"
"No, thanks; we won't be that long."
Bolster and DeVries sat down and Charlie and Kate followed suit. Bolster spoke first.
"What we wanted to ask was whether when you both spoke with Janet Milford you get a look at the inside of her house."
"We went into the living room; that's it. She said she was working on the house, but she clearly finished the living room first. The little entry-hall was fine, too, except empty."
Kate added a point:
"As we were leaving I caught a glimpse down the hallway; there were boxes piled against one wall, but that's all I noticed."
DeVries took over.
"Did you get any feeling that she was reluctant to let you into the house?"
"No; not at all. She invited us right in."
"One last thing. I take it neither of you have been in Dr. Wilson's house?"
"No; I've never been in either his house or apartment. I told you I'd never seen Barrett socially."
"No; I was never in the house or the apartment either."
"Barrett's house was searched, wasn't it?"
"Yes, and very thoroughly. Whoever did it even smashed into two walls that looked as if they might have had some space behind them."
Charlie blurted out:
"The killer was looking for the books! And now you think Milford might have them."
"It is a possibility."
"If you don't mind, I have two suggestions. This is something I might be able to do on the internet, given time and luck, but you no doubt can do it much faster and are privy to information I wouldn't get: find out if there's been a major theft of rare books from somewher
e, or perhaps a couple or three such thefts or mysterious disappearances. If Barrett and McKay had rare books that prompted their murder, the books had to come from somewhere. I'll email you the list first thing. The second thing, which I can't do, is contact Christie's and similar houses to see if Barrett's and McKay's names turn up."
"Those are excellent suggestions, Dr. Douglas. Thank you."
Charlie was a little surprised to have Bolster speak to him like that for the first time, but acknowledged the thanks graciously. DeVries then wound things up.
"I agree; that's a good place to start. Now, we've taken enough of your time. Thank you, and Charlie, don't hesitate to call if something else occurs to you."
All four went out together to their respective cars. Bolster and DeVries were parked right in front of the house, but Charlie and Kate had a long block to walk.
"Did you notice they didn't ask where you were in the wee hours of this morning?"
"Actually, I did. I was expecting them to ask and I'm glad they didn't. I doubt it's confidence in me, though. Likelier it's that neither thinks I could take on McKay and win."
"Sounds like he had a glass of wine with his killer."
"I'm not so sure. Consider this: McKay is in league with Barrett about the books. Barrett gets shot. McKay knows he's at risk and he surely had some idea of from whom. It's not likely that he'd invite the guy or woman into his apartment and offer a glass of wine. Also, he'd have been ready and I doubt he'd be easy to take down if he was prepared."
"What do you think happened?"
"Okay, here are two scenarios: in one, McKay has a visitor, the visitor leaves, then the killer shows up. In another, someone McKay doesn't suspect visits him, they have a glass of wine, and the visitor surprises and shoots McKay or maybe lets the killer in and he or she shoots McKay."
"I see what you mean, Charlie. I like the second scenario, but it means there are two people involved in the killings and McKay didn't suspect one of them. Milford?"
"She might have dropped in on some pretext and then shot him, though I don't think she's up to that. It's likelier she let the killer in. Or maybe the first scenario is the better one. One thing that occurs to me is that it was a risky time to shoot McKay. Most of the people in the apartment house would be home and some would hear the shot or shots."
"Suppose he used one of those suppressor things?"
"A silencer? The scary part about that is that if the killer used a silencer, then we're talking about a professional. But we are probably are anyway; don't forget it had to be someone who could feel confident about taking on McKay. So suppose it was another mercenary. Suppose McKay had help getting the books before he approached Barrett. Then his partner might have grown impatient with Barrett, shot him, didn't find the books, and went to see McKay. If they were partners, that would explain the glasses of wine."
"Wouldn't McKay have been leery after Barrett was killed?"
"Sure, but maybe not leery enough. If he was close to his partner, he might just have been pissed off but not really worried - especially if he was the one who had the books. Yeah, I like that. McKay's angry at his partner's precipitous action but still trusts him and knows the partner has to trust him because he, McKay, has the books."
"So what went wrong?"
"Any number of things. The partner's in a hurry or they argued about the split."
"What about Milford?"
"Still works; she's hooked up with the partner."
Charlie ordered espresso and dessert while Kate nursed her wine. Both were mulling over what they'd just discussed. There was a partner, not some stranger, and the partner had rushed things. When McKay didn't cooperate, the partner shot him, probably thinking the books had to be either in McKay's apartment or Barrett's house.
Charlie and Kate had barely gotten in the door on their return home when the phone rang.
"Dr. Douglas? Dr. Charles Douglas? This is Harriet Belford at the Times Standard; we understand that one of your students, one Chet McKay, was killed and that the police have spoken to you about it. Would you care to comment?"
Charlie didn't like this at all but thought it'd be a mistake to brush her off. He had to be careful, though, not to give her anything she could twist.
"Dr. Douglas?"
"Yes; I'm just surprised at your call. First of all, you've been misinformed. McKay was not one of my students. He only spoke to me about doing a reading-course. We met once and were to meet again to decide the matter. As for the police, they informed me that McKay had been killed. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you."
"What was your connection to McKay?"
"There was no connection. He approached me about a reading-course. That was it."
"Why you and not someone else?"
"He was interested in what I teach. Now, I've said all I'm going to say. Good night."
Charlie hung up and hoped she was inured to abrupt disconnects. Kate had gone upstairs and he went to tell her about the call.
"Oh, Charlie, that doesn't sound good. How did she know?"
"How do reporters ever know; they're told a little, guess a lot, and make up the rest. I'm surprised in retrospect that one of them didn't get on to me about Barrett's death."
"I suppose all this Belford woman would have to do would be spring for a couple of coffees in the cafeteria and some student would blab all he or she knew. Maybe one even went to her. Who knew about you seeing McKay?"
"Well, Dalton knew and might have told someone. McKay may have spoken to the secretaries when he came to see me, just to get my office number, and said who he was and why he was there. One of them might have told someone else or even this reporter."
Later Charlie tossed and turned for almost an hour. He didn't like the idea of being discussed in the local rag, and who knew what that reporter would write. He also thought about McKay. Why hadn't McKay anticipated the danger more effectively, especially with his background? The killer had to be a partner; had to be someone that McKay would at least be willing to meet and might not have considered dangerous. But what if the killer wasn't a partner but a buyer who wanted to buy the books for less than they'd fetch at auction? That could explain Barrett's being shot: he was unwilling to take less than the auction prices. Maybe that's why McKay met with the killer: to consummate the deal. McKay might have decided that since he didn't have to share with Barrett, a lower but quicker pay-off was the best bet. Charlie's last waking thought was that if the killer was a buyer he or she was almost certainly acting for someone else. Collectors with that kind of money didn't do their own killing.