This Old Murder

TWENTY-ONE

THE WAITER WAS called away to another table and they were left alone. “I think you have a lot to tell me,” Sam said, glancing down at his watch.

“I have no idea where to begin,” she said honestly. Or how much to say, she added to herself.

“Why don’t you start by telling me where Courtney is.”

“Where she is? Why do you think I know?”

“Just an impression I got when you and the waiter were chatting.”

“How? What did I say?”

“It wasn’t what you said but what you didn’t say. You wanted to know when she stopped coming here and what Bobby Valentine said. You didn’t ask if anyone knew where she had gone.”

“Oh.”

“I know you, Josie. You were quizzing that young man. If you hadn’t known where she is, you would have asked him.”

“Do you think he noticed?”

Sam smiled. “Nope. I think he was absolutely thrilled to talk about Courtney.”

“Yeah, he was, wasn’t he? It’s weird how much people like to talk about her.”

“It’s because she’s a celebrity. Some people love getting close to celebrities; it makes them feel that a bit of that fame rubs off on them.”

“I suppose.”

“So where is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“Josie…”

“No, it’s true, Sam. I did know, but now I don’t.”

“Then I’ll change my question. Where was she?”

“In-” A waitress arrived carrying steaming plates and Josie stopped speaking. It took a few minutes-and two refusals of freshly ground pepper and one for fresh shavings from a chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano-to regain their privacy.

“So where was she?” Sam repeated his question.

“She was in the canoe hanging from the ceiling of the living room.” Her food smelled wonderful. She didn’t want to answer these questions. She wished Sam would leave her alone and let her eat.

“Courtney Castle was hiding in a canoe hanging from the rafters of the house you’re remodeling? I can’t believe that!”

“It isn’t exactly like that,” Josie admitted. “You see, she was dead… is dead.”

Sam looked at her, reached for his wineglass, changed his mind, and folded both hands in his lap. “Say that again.”

“She’s dead, Sam. Someone killed her. I think,” she added.

“You know she’s dead, but you think someone killed her.”

“I know she’s dead. And someone must have killed her. She didn’t climb a ladder up to the canoe, get in, cover herself neatly with a blanket, and die. Besides, we put the ladder there. Later, we put the ladder there later.” She took a deep breath and tried again. “There was no ladder up there. Someone on my crew put it there, and climbed up, and looked inside. And there she was. Am I making any sense at all?”

“Are you hungry?”

Surprised by the change of topic, she looked down at her plate. “It looks delicious, but I did eat earlier. Why? Do you want to leave?”

“No, I’m starving and this looks wonderful. I want to eat it while you tell me the entire story-from the beginning to the end.”

“I…”

“And you shouldn’t leave anything out, Josie. Because it sounds to me like you might be needing my help-and I can’t do anything unless I know everything.”

Josie sighed. “Okay. You’re right. Just let me get my thoughts together.” She sipped her wine, sighed again, and began the tale.

“It started when she didn’t show up. I didn’t know what to think. Bobby acted as though it was nothing. He said Courtney went off and did things-fund-raising, stuff like that-all the time. I didn’t give it another thought, frankly. At least, not until I climbed the ladder and found her.”

“Josie-”

“Sam, just hear me out. I’ll tell you everything. That is, everything I know.”

“Fine. Why don’t you start with why you climbed that ladder?”

“Because Dottie told me Courtney was up there!” Josie continued, telling him of her crew’s discovery and how she had been forced to stay up there with the dead body while Bobby Valentine, pretending to be Courtney Castle, had interviewed her. “It was creepy.”

“I can imagine. Did you get the impression that he knew she was up there?”

“I thought about that, but I have no idea if he did or not. I know he wasn’t in a position to look in while he was talking to me. I’m sure of that.”

“But he could have done that before, right?”

“I guess.”

“And what about later?”

“Yeah, he might have come back later and looked in, but… Do you think he took her down?”

“I suppose. The canoe was on the floor when I picked you up there. Did you take it down or did you find it that way?”

“Found it that way.”

“And she wasn’t in it.”

“No, it was empty. Except for the blanket.”

“The body was gone, but the blanket was left behind?”

“Yes.”

“That’s interesting.”

“Why?”

“Whoever moved her didn’t use the blanket to do it.”

“Obviously, but so what?”

“It might not mean anything, but it might mean that whoever did it came prepared with some means of transport.”

“Or maybe they just picked her up, plunked her in one of the wheelbarrows out back, pulled a tarp off the wood back there, tossed it over her, and rolled her away.” Josie picked up her fork and stuck it in her pasta. Excellent!

“Good point. So go on with the story. What happened between the time you did the interview on the ladder and I arrived at the house?”

“We worked.”

Sam put down his fork and looked at Josie. “You mean you left the body alone?”

She heard the disapproval in his voice and hesitated. “Well, not exactly alone. We were shocked, of course, but we discussed the situation and decided to do nothing until we could spend some time alone and discuss the problem. We took away the ladder, of course, so no one could get up to the body.”

“You thought that by ignoring it, it would go away.” He saw the expression on her face and stopped speaking. “I’m sorry. Of course you didn’t. It’s just that this whole story is a bit hard to understand. Go on. When did you find the body?”

“In the morning.”

“And what exactly did you all do once you found her?”

“Well, we talked about it… about her, of course. Everyone climbed up the ladder and looked at her. That is, I think everyone did.”

“But you’re not sure?”

“No, I guess not.”

“What exactly did you all do?”

“Well, after a very uncomfortable interview with Bobby Valentine, pretending to be Courtney, we went back to work.”

“Inside the house?”

“No. It would have been difficult to work with it… her… Courtney’s body hanging over our heads. We had a lot to do in other parts of the house.”

“So you all stayed away from the canoe for the rest of the day?”

“Yes.”

“No one went in that room?”

“Well, that’s not true. We probably all went in there at one time or another. I know what you’re thinking, Sam, and you’re wrong. No one could have moved the body without someone else knowing.”

“That wasn’t what I was thinking, but why don’t you explain why not.”

“Because it was up in the canoe and getting that canoe down to the floor without dumping it”-Josie suddenly had a vision of Courtney’s body-“her out would have been impossible.”

“And would that matter? After all, she’s already dead. Or do you mean that it would make a lot of noise and attract attention?”

That wasn’t what Josie had meant, but she was willing to accept his suggestion. “Yes. Exactly.”

“But one person could have brought the canoe down from the ceiling?”

Josie thought back to the elaborate pulley system that held the canoe up. “Yes, I think so. Someone strong though. It isn’t one of the new fiberglass affairs, remember, it’s handmade from wood. I haven’t lifted it myself, but it probably weighs a couple hundred pounds. We had one when I was a kid, and it weighed at least that much.” She stopped talking and picked up her fork, hoping Sam would give her a chance to eat. For once she wasn’t hungry, but she had just had a flash from her past, a memory startling in its clearness. She and Courtney had been members of the same Girl Scout troop (at her mother’s insistence) and one entire miserable weekend they had been paired by their troop leader for the annual camping-canoe trip. Courtney’s older brother had required the family’s new sleek fiberglass vessel and so the pair of thirteen-year-old girls had paddled up and down the Delaware River in the Pigeons’ handmade craft. It had been awful. Too heavy to carry around rapids, the boat had been repeatedly smashed against rocks and fallen limbs. Courtney, her hair tied back in a navy and white bandanna that matched her outfit of trim white poplin shorts and Brooks Brothers’ navy polo, had been stonily silent, obviously appalled to be parted from the clique of popular girls and their up-to-date sporting goods. Josie had struggled to make the best of it, but her eyes had been filled with tears more than once and she had been so miserable that even her mother’s relentless angry comments about the damaged canoe couldn’t minimize the relief she felt when the trip had finally ended and she was safely home.

“Did anyone else come into the house after you discovered Courtney’s body?”

“I suppose so. The television crew is in and out all the time.”

“How many people are there with the show?”

Josie thought for a minute. “Five most of the time. Bobby Valentine, of course. And a cameraman-no, two cameramen although one is a woman. Someone is always running around setting up some sort of equipment-I suppose he could be a third cameraman-and there’s the intern. The one Annette has a crush on.”

“Anyone else? Deliverymen or the like?”

“I don’t think so. No one I remember.”

“Okay. Tell me about the rest of the day.”

“There’s nothing much to tell. We worked. The camera crew worked-”

“Doing what?”

“Actually, I don’t know. But they seem to stay very busy.”

“Did they do any more taping? More interviews?”

“No. Is that odd?”

“Frankly, I don’t know. I once dated”-he glanced up at Josie, who had frequently accused him of having dated someone in every possible profession-“a television producer. But she worked for a major public television station and that may be different from freelancing for public television, but all I know is that she seemed to always be busy.”

“Really.” Josie was jealous. She was always busy, too, but wearing dirty overalls and T-shirts, not wearing Armani and lunching at 21. “Oh, the Rodneys stopped by.”

“Why?”

“I haven’t the foggiest.”

“Did you get the impression that they knew about Courtney?”

“No. They didn’t say anything about it.”

“And I think we can be sure they’d mention your hiding a murder victim. Which leads us back to my first question. How did you know she was murdered? Is it just because of the place you found her? Or did you see a wound?”

“I didn’t see anything. In fact, she looked wonderful.”

Sam squinted at her. “Wonderful? You’re sure she was dead?”

“I’m sure.”

“And she wasn’t pale or anything?”

“Actually, she looked like she was wearing makeup.” Josie thought for a minute. “You know, I think she was. She had on eye shadow. And probably blush and lipstick.”

“Really?”

“Of course, Courtney probably hasn’t been seen without makeup in public since she was in eighth grade.”

“Unlike some women we know and love.” Basil appeared at their table, a small plate in his hand. “I hope you two are enjoying your meal.”

“Definitely.”

“It’s wonderful.” Josie agreed with what Sam said.

“The chef is still experimenting with new things. Try these, a variation on shrimp toast. And, if you don’t mind, I’ll get myself a drink and join you.”

“Have a glass of our wine and sit down,” Sam said.

“Let me say good evening to my most famous guests, then I’ll get a glass and be right back.”

“Your most famous guests?”

“Yes. The staff of the Courtney Castle show. I want to talk to you about them and I’d rather they didn’t overhear anything.”

Josie almost choked on her food. This was what she had been hoping for!