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XXIII
The Last Weekend
One now sees the visible only because one knows the language.
Michel Foucault
Saturday Charlie woke after a restless night. He'd twice jolted awake thinking he'd heard a noise and had once gone downstairs to check that the front and back doors were locked. Happily, the downstairs windows were protected by wrought iron scroll-work. He got up and went to the kitchen to make coffee. While waiting for it he brooded. He'd really upped the ante now. If the killer had been worried about his meddling before, he or she would be very angry now. Charlie hoped the killer would have the good sense to let things slide and take advantage of the fact that the police seemed no closer to an arrest than they'd been at the beginning.
Kate eventually came down and she and Charlie were having a second cup of coffee when the doorbell rang. Charlie went to the door and carefully looked through the peep-hole before undoing the deadbolt. It was DeVries. He let her in and offered coffee, which she accepted.
"Mr. Smythe is going to the department this afternoon. His flight leaves at six. It's pointless his staying now that we have the books. He apparently did not hear again from Sawyer. Now, how did you figure it out?"
"As soon as I started thinking hard about the search of Milford's house it sort of fell into place. First of all, John Arnold was one of the few people Barrett talked to in another department. Second, few of us ever use that storage area; it's mostly for departmental out-of-date files. It occurred to me that if I wanted to hide something, at least for a short time, I'd put it down in the storage area, but I wouldn't put it in my own department's section as that would be too obvious. What I'd do is put it in another department's section and label it with the name of someone I knew in that department and do just what Barrett did: leave my name inside the box in case one of the secretaries or someone else opened it."
"Beautiful. But if Dr. Wilson did that, it had to be before he was killed. Could that be why he was in the department that day?"
"That's the tricky part I'm going to leave to you. He would have needed the key to the storage room and that's kept in Jodie's desk, which she locks when not in her office. Barrett either put the books in there before the break or he somehow got the key. I'll bet you that he borrowed the key from Jodie the last day before the break and then 'forgot' to return it. She would have been busy and probably not noticed or he might just have left before she asked about the key."
"The trouble with that is she had the key to lend to you, so she most likely had a copy or did get it back, but it couldn't have been from Dr. Wilson because he was dead by the time she returned to work after the break."
"Um; you're right. Jodie surely had a copy, though she didn't mention anything about a missing key. Could Barrett have made a copy of the key?"
"Sure, that's no big deal. We'll have to go back over everything we found in his office and house to see if we can find a key to the storage-room. We'll also ask your secretary if one is missing. Thanks for the coffee. You two be careful. It would make sense to go out as little as possible for the next several days."
After DeVries left Charlie and Kate decided to spend the day at home. Charlie volunteered to make lunch. With that he went upstairs and took a long shower. He skipped shaving and went downstairs. He booted his laptop and went through the few emails he found, answering a couple and letting the others wait till Monday. He then worked on his review, finishing it a little after noon. He put away the laptop and went to the kitchen to start lunch. He decided he'd do linguine in oil and garlic and a salad. Everything was ready a few minutes after one and he and Kate sat down to lunch and a bottle of chianti. They lingered over their wine and it was twenty to three when Charlie settled down to read his mystery. At four he was debating opening another bottle of wine when the phone rang.
"Charlie? There's a problem. Mr. Smythe just left. He said that two of the three books he was most interested in are missing. There should have been twelve books altogether. There were three copies of Des… ah, Dioscorides' De materia, one clean copy, which we have, and two annotated ones. Mr. Smythe said the clean copy could fetch nearly $200,000 but added that together with the two annotated copies the three could bring in as much as three-quarters of a million. Apparently the notations in the missing copies were done by well-known contemporaries who disagreed on interpretation of the book. It was those three copies that most interested Mr. Smythe in the collection. He mentioned who the annotators were, as if I should be impressed, but I don't remember their names. What matters is that two books are missing. I pressed Mr. Smythe a bit. He said that just the two annotated copies, if sold together, could go for half a million at auction. He still very much wants to buy what we have of the collection, but I told him we'd have to see what the court decides about legal ownership."
"So Barrett most likely had the two books to show whoever he met with, which means the killer probably has them. Or possibly Barrett kept those two books elsewhere or McKay had them. I think the odds are the killer's got them."
"I agree that the killer probably has them, but just in case there was a deal, I've arranged for Mr. Smythe's luggage and that of his assistant to be thoroughly searched when they get to the airport. For security reasons, of course."
After DeVries rang off Charlie thought about the two missing books. He doubted Smythe had them or that he was the killer. Barrett wouldn't have wanted to be personally involved in any exchange, given the books' dubious source. So he almost certainly had someone acting as go-between with Smythe: the mysterious Sawyer. Barrett had met with Sawyer and Sawyer was the killer. Now, was Sawyer Hamilton on a trick phone? She was a wheeler-dealer so Barrett might have asked her to help with the sale for a cut of the take. Suppose, then, that Barrett had shown her the two missing books when they met and Hamilton got greedy? She shoots Barrett, assuming she can get the other books from McKay, and takes the two annotated copies of De materia. However, McKay doesn't go along so she's forced to shoot him even though she's not yet got all the books. A major consideration here is that she was the likeliest to get the drop on McKay. She then searched McKay's apartment and later Barrett's house but the books weren't there, so she had to put things off with Smythe. Hamilton next searched Milford's house, but still didn't find the books because they were tucked away in the storage space at the university.
Anticipating what would come next was trickier. Assuming Sawyer is Hamilton, when she learns the police have the other books she has only one option: to sell just the two she has, which are, after all, the most valuable books in the collection. But she'll have to wait. Smythe wouldn't touch them now, though he might be interested in six or eight months when Barrett's and McKay's murders more or less become cold cases. Or she might go ahead and auction them off through an intermediary. What about her threat? If she has the two books, following through on it would be rash. Of course, if she doesn't have the books, she might follow through for vengeance's sake.
However, there's nothing that can be brought against Hamilton at this point. She can deny everything and she certainly wouldn't have the two books where they might be found by the police. In any case, it would be very hard to get a warrant to search for them, given the lack of evidence or even a demonstrable connection. Hamilton might make another mistake, but with respect to what? Attempted revenge on Charlie? Is that what Bolster and DeVries might be anticipating and perhaps hoping for? No, if Hamilton is as smart as Charlie thinks she is, she no doubt realizes now that the threat was a mistake and that to make a move against Charlie would be a bigger mistake. If Hamilton has the books, which she likely does, she'll be very careful. Drawing that conclusion Charlie felt safer.
"Charlie, since we're not going out, what about opening a shiraz or maybe a pinot noir to share while we read?"
Charlie thought that an excellent idea and both he and Kate were soon deep into their respective mysteries and their wine. Evening came unnoticed until Kate posed the question of dinner. Th
ey settled for sandwiches.
Sunday morning was beautifully clear. Charlie got up and kept things simple with a breakfast of coffee and toast. He let Kate sleep. After a second cup of coffee he booted up his laptop. Happily, there was no email to deal with and he idly searched for articles on De materia. He looked at several sites but didn't readily find a reference to annotated copies. Next Charlie looked at the New York Times site, scanned the headlines, and downloaded the Sunday puzzle. He was well into the puzzle when Kate entered the kitchen. While she poured cereal for herself Charlie decided they'd go out for lunch. He felt confident that Hamilton/Sawyer wouldn't pose a danger. Of course, he could be wrong and the elusive Sawyer could be someone else and very much a danger. On the other hand, the arguments that worked for Hamilton keeping a low profile for a while worked as well for the real killer if Charlie was wrong about it being Hamilton.
"I was just thinking we should go out for some lunch. I'm tired of staying home."
"Do you think it's safe?"
Charlie explained his thinking to Kate and she agreed they could risk a daytime excursion to a restaurant. She went to shower and Charlie got back to the puzzle.
At a little past one Kate and Charlie walked just four blocks to The Egg and I, a small restaurant that specialized in elaborate breakfasts and offered a Sunday brunch that actually ran till three in the afternoon. Charlie was particularly fond of their creative frittatas and they had a decent selection of whites to accompany their many egg dishes. He and Kate enjoyed a leisurely lunch and walked back to the house. On turning the corner into Slater Street Charlie saw there was a patrol car parked in front of their house.
"Are you Dr. Douglas?"
The cop standing by their door seemed a bit put out.
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
"My partner and I have been waiting for nearly half-an-hour. Detective DeVries told us not to leave till she got here or you returned, though she wasn't sure you were out. Of course, all we could do was ring your bell. If you and you're wife will go inside now, we'll go. The detective should be here very soon."
With that the cop got into the patrol car, watched Charlie and Kate go into the house, then nodded to his partner at the wheel and they drove off.
"Charlie; something's happened."
Before Charlie could think of what to say he heard a car pull up in front of the house. He looked out the peephole and saw it was Bolster and DeVries.
"Charlie; I take it you were both out. I'm relieved but rather wish you'd stayed home as I suggested."
Charlie led DeVries and Bolster into the living room where Kate was waiting.
"What happened?"
"First tell me why you went out."
"We were feeling house-bound and I thought it unlikely the killer would do anything now. To be truthful, I'm betting it's Hamilton and I didn't think she'd make another dumb mistake."
"I thought that's what you were probably thinking. Well, I'm afraid that Ms. Hamilton has an alibi for the day Dr. Wilson was killed. She went the extra mile for two different clients with tight schedules and showed each of them two houses. The first client was with her from lunch-time to about four and the second from five o'clock to nearly eight that night. She was very forthcoming and provided the names of the clients, both of whom confirmed the times. It appears that Ms. Hamilton is not Dr. Wilson's killer. We haven't determined her whereabouts when Mr. McKay was shot, but will do so. I'm afraid your suspicions were wrong."
"Uh oh; I can see why you worried when we didn't answer the phone. If I may ask, what prompted you to question Hamilton?"
"Well, you nearly convinced me she was the elusive John Sawyer. What we did was tell her that we weren't making progress with the investigation - which we certainly aren't - and that we were re-interviewing everyone who had attended Dr. Wilson's parties. She seemed to accept our story and readily provided the names of her clients and the times she saw them. Admittedly, there was some leeway, about an hour between the two showings, so it's just possible that Ms. Hamilton managed to meet with Dr. Wilson and shot him, but given the locations of the houses she showed, that seems very unlikely. We think there's someone else, and you're still in danger."
Charlie thanked DeVries and Bolster and apologized for having left the house without good-enough reason. Kate added her apologies and the detectives left after cautioning them to stay home and not to open the door to strangers. DeVries reiterated that the patrol car would continue to check the house periodically.
"Charlie, I'm getting scared. If DeVries came all the way over here and had the patrol car wait for us, she's clearly concerned. What should we do?"
"I don't know. I was so sure it was Hamilton and that she wouldn't push things, at least for a while. It seems I was wrong and haven't a clue who Sawyer really is."
"Which means you haven't a clue whether he might act on his threat or not."
"Exactly. Okay; we stay home. I'll go to the department tomorrow, but you stay right here and be careful. I'm going to open a bottle of cab-merlot."
Charlie poured the wine and sat down to read. Kate went upstairs and to work on her copy-editing; what she called "typo-time."
Good as his book was, Charlie couldn't get into it. He'd been so sure about Hamilton. He still thought she was involved; she was most likely working with someone and that someone had shot Barrett. Charlie was tempted to think about Shwayder again but thought that wasn't a good idea. He couldn't be objective about him and Shwayder going out with Hamilton wasn't enough to turn him into someone who'd cold-bloodedly shot his only close friend in the department. And unlike Shwayder, the elusive Sawyer obviously had an expensive Glock. McKay was another matter, though. Charlie still liked Hamilton for that because Sawyer, a stranger, probably wouldn't have gotten close to McKay after Barrett's death.
Kate and Charlie had a light meal and passed on more wine. Charlie checked the doors and they both went to bed. Dropping off, Charlie sincerely hoped DeVries would win this round and catch John Sawyer.