Page 74 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Thrown for a Loss

other guys. Did he take me seriously this time? If he did, he sure
didn’t do anything about it.”
“Not so.” said the lady detective. “He went for the bait, just as you
intended.”
Newt flinched. “Huh?”
“Yes. I can recreate events now. You planned this murder very
efficiently, Newt. First, two minor thefts: the building engineer’s keys,
which you duplicated and returned, and a two-way pager. You were
familiar with the Sunday habits of Bertha Marks and her
granddaughter, and you tested the escalator emergency button when
few people were around several weeks ago to ascertain its braking
action. As soon as Autumn and Bertha sat down in Krumpet Kozy
today, you put your plan in motion. When you left the group for the
doughnut shop, you set the message and entered Cal’s pager number
on your stolen unit, leaving it in your pocket. Then you purchased
your snack and chatted with the clerk. She would be able to say that
you did not discuss Cal. By the time you returned to the group, your
place on the bench was gone so you had to remain standing there,
right where you could see into the door and plate-glass window of
Kozy Krumpet. When you judged the moment to be approaching for
their departure, perhaps when one of them went to the women’s
restroom, you pushed the call button on the pager in your pocket. A
few seconds later Cal received the message and left in a hurry toward
the escalator.”
My jaw dropped. Newt’s tightened, as did his fists.
“After another brief pause you left for the men’s room down the
corridor at the end of the food court. Once out of sight you ran to
end of the hall and unlocked the door to the service passage with
your stolen key. You left your jacket there and altered your
appearance, probably with a pair of sunglasses and that hooded
sweatshirt you have on under your jacket. It has a pocket in front,
where you kept a bag of quarters and a pair of disposable thin plastic
gloves, both possibly stolen from the doughnut shop. Having
observed the women at tea over several occasions, you had a very
good idea of how long it would take them to get to the escalator, and
that the grandmother would go first. You came out of the
passageway into the corridor between Intimate Oils & Aromatherapy
and Safari to Go just before they got to the landing and made sure

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