“Come on, you incompetent wretch. Maybe you could throw me a bone of hope before dashing my fantasies of you ever uncovering the conspiracy of the century and finding the murder suspect. After all, I gave you the motive.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’tsomegovernment, just not ours. Ask him if he heard the attackers’ accents?”
“Of course not. If I had I would have told you already. All they did was bust in, grab the papers off my desk and out of my typewriter, shoot me, tear the place apart, and disappear.”
She listened. “No, he says they never uttered a word. Just took the papers he was typin’, shot him, and left the place a mess.”
“Ask him about their physical description. Anything he can remember. Their height, build, eye color… anything.”
“Gaaaa…!”
“Now, Chad honey, be patient. He’s tryin’ to help you. That’s all.”
“I told him this before. Two of them. Tall, thin builds, and wiry. They wore ski masks and all black clothing.”
“Uh-huh? Well, see now? That just might help the detective.” She focused on Joe and said, “They were all black and wiry. Wore ski masks.” Then she gazed at the ceiling again. “How about their eyes, Chad? Did you see their eyes? I find the eyes are the windows to the soul.”
“Yeah. Their eyes were blue. Ice blue.”
“Blue. That’s fairly uncommon, isn’t it?”
“Wow, I’ll say. Black men with blue eyes who ski? I’ll have this case wrapped up in no time.”
“Dear God, almighty. I said they were wearing black, notthat they were black. Tell him he’s a moron.”
“Oh, I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstandin’. He said they wore black, not that theywasblack.”
Joe nodded. “That makes more sense. Is it possible they were Scandinavian?”
“I don’t friggin’ think so. But, yeah, I guess they could have been. Hell, they could have been blue-eyed Eskimos.”
“He said they could have been Scandinavian—or blue-eyed Eskimos. I’m sorry. I guess that doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“Blue-eyed Eskimos?” Joe cocked his head and frowned. “Oh, I get it. He’s being sarcastic. Does he do that a lot?”
“Oh, yes. All the time. But don’t pay him no mind. He’s just frustrated. Can y’all imagine what it must be like? Bein’ a ghost trapped on this plane until you find your killer? He must think this mystery will never be solved. Y’all are his last hope, Joe.”
Joe stood. “Tell him I’ll do my best, ma’am. I don’t have many contacts with foreign governments, so this may take a while longer. Ask Chad if he wants me to continue?”
“You bet your bippy. If the residents ever want me to stop haunting this building, you’d better.”
Gwyneth cocked her head. “He says he’s not goin’ to leave us alone until he knows who did it.”
“Good. I mean, if that’s the case, I’ll continue to investigate, and please let Mr. Falco know about my visit when he returns. Thanks for your help.”
“It was an honor, Joe. Come any time. Ya hear?”
He smiled and let himself out. On his way down the stairs, he whistled.
Chapter 15
Convinced that something funny was going on, Dottie Falco crept through the hallways floor by floor. She pressed a shot glass against each resident’s door, rested her ear against it, and listened.
The girls upstairs must have been asleep, thank goodness. She didn’t need an amplifier to know what went on in that apartment. She skipped 3A, figuring if she couldn’t hear the ghost when he was speaking, she couldn’t hear him floating around the empty apartment—or whatever it was he did in there. Besides, the place gave her the willies.
On the second floor, she carefully,verycarefully, tiptoed to Konrad’s door. Remembering the incident on Halloween, she’d been wary of him ever since.Flesh colored Halloween costume, my butt.And no matter what anyone said, that animal she had seen was a wolf. She had grown up in northern Minnesota, for God’s sake. She knew a wolf from a dog. Its fur wasn’t as thick as a timber wolf, but if it was an indoor pet, it wouldn’t need as thick a coat. Damn Jason’s soft spot for animals.
She placed the shot glass between her ear and the door and listened intently. What was that sound? Panting? It was at times like this when she regretted not replacing the nine-millimeter Beretta Ralph had found and given away. Howdarehe assume she’d only be dangerous with a gun.Nowlook what she had to resort to for protection. She glanced down at the rolling pin in her other hand.How cliché.
