Page 161 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Jury-rigged

Accountant, unmarried. Wears glasses. Drives out to Shadow Valley,
about sixty miles from here, most Saturday afternoons to visit his
elderly parents, stays with them overnight and returns Sunday late. If
that habit is ingrained, he would be in danger during the week only.”
“Well, he’s still alive, and not all the killings were on weekends,” I
pointed out.
“Thank you, Duncan.” Somewhere early in life she must have
learned to mask sarcasm with politeness. Did she really think people
were that easily fooled, or was it sufficient in her mind to say the
right words without displaying much conviction?
“Number four is Hedy Bokay. Age forty-four, height five-two,
weight one twenty-five. Sales representative for a group of upholstery
fabric manufacturers. When she is not on the road her life is fairly
settled, based on this report: a bit of night-clubbing with her clients is
all you could find inconsistent with the usual patterns of domesticity.
She said she was in the Midwest on the weekend of April 5 on
business. Did you validate that?”
“Certainly. She has not left town since returning a week later.”
“Okay. Next is Christopher P. Kriturs. Age sixty-three, height six-
two, weight one eighty-five. He is a retired civil servant living alone in
one side of a duplex he owns. He likes to bet on the horses, and
spends a good deal of time out at the track. Other than that, he is
usually at home watching television. Juror six, Beryl Creighton, is a
waitress and part-time graduate student at state college. Age twenty-
eight, height five-six, weight one-forty. Rents a small apartment over
a garage near her school. Works weekends but gets back to her place
by ten or eleven o’clock, probably quite tired.”
I recalled that Labelle had never been a part-time anything. Too
single-minded.
“Number seven, Rea Rainger, had experience as a court reporter.
I’m surprised the defense put her on the panel. Age forty-nine, height
five-seven, weight one twenty-five. Drawing unemployment at the
time she was called for jury duty. Has a small house on the east side
of town, on a street not very well-lighted. You haven’t much to say
about her habits. Spends a lot of time on the phone. Working on a
novel on her home computer.”
If Lieutenant Gramercy had any interest in reading that unfinished
work, she would have to find it herself.

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