Page 128 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Airtight

remembered a different kind of bottle in my desk I desperately
wanted to tap into again. It was going to be a very long day.

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Lt. Gramercy sent me back into the conference room to act as a
kind of nursemaid for the crew while she questioned them, one by
one, across the hall in an empty office. She cautioned me not to say
more than that the police knew how Laurel had died and that the
investigation would continue into the evening, if necessary. Well, it
was already getting close to four o’clock, so I went first to my office
for a bit of refreshment and to order out for some sandwiches and
soft drinks. I knew the old familiar food would be a treat, and I
needed all the help I could get to keep the crew happy. We could go
down the hall to the restrooms, but not leave the building. Not a
pleasant homecoming for them, or reunion for me.
Out in the hall, things were happening. Lt. Gramercy did not waste
time: that was obvious. The mandate to search the premises she had
cajoled out of Ben Schmarker was already being implemented; I saw
plainclothes officers carry material into her ad hoc command post,
most of it from the dome. Papers, tools, food containers—she must
be very thorough, I thought. When I got to the conference room, a
police officer with a large valise was just leaving, and everyone was
wiping his or her hands with a paper towel: they had just been
fingerprinted. Ben had been the first interviewee, for he came into
the room a few minutes after I had delivered the somber tidings to
the group. I think they had figured out by then that Laurel’s death
had some rather grim consequences.
“Larry, you’re next,” said Ben, indicating the impromptu police
command post across the hall. “That lady is tough. Don’t try
embroidering the truth—she knows where the cloth ends and the
yarn begins.” That was typical of Ben, quoting his grandmother to
bring a perplexing situation down to human scale.
Dr. Kapil shrugged and left the room, carefully closing his medical
bag first; I guess he didn’t want anyone rummaging around in it for
anything illicit. Ben, having delivered his bit of homespun wisdom,
looked like he wanted to make a graceful exit. Evidently he was not

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