The Puzzle of Piri Reis (27 page)

His bottom jaw hit the table. He sputtered. Sweat
popped out on his forehead.

Before he could mutter anything intelligible, I tossed
the photos on the table. "Maybe these will refresh your
memory"

Like a deflating balloon, his belligerence collapsed.
Numbly, he stared at them. He glanced at me, his dark
eyes studying me with an animal wariness. "I'm not fooling around on my wife, if that's what you got in
mind."

"I don't know what I've got in mind, Joe. You tell me."

He licked his lips. "Look, Edna and me, we're just
friends. We go way back. Edna, she's unmarried.
Truth is, I always felt kinda sorry for her. Odom was a
pompous jerk. He treated her like dirt. It's a lonesome
life she's got; no family, no kids. Sometimes we just
go out for kicks. That's all there is to it."

He was lying. I could see it in his eyes. "The cops
might have a different idea."

A faint smile curled his lips. "Fine with me. I got
nothing to hide. I didn't have nothing to do with the
map. I got no idea where it is."

I wanted to confront him about the off-roader and
the eighteen-wheel tractor, but I knew all he had to do
was deny any involvement and I couldn't prove otherwise. I tried a different angle. "For your information,
Joe, someone murdered Lamia Sue Odom"

He stared at me in disbelief. "What?" He swallowed
hard. "But, I thought she'd ODed. That's what the news
said."

"She had enough in her system to kill her, but someone made sure. They strangled her. From what I hear,
the forensics guys say the killer was a man with small
hands" I glanced at the smaller man's hands. "About
like yours"

During the afternoon, a cold front blasted in, driving the temperatures down to near freezing. I couldn't help thinking what a lousy day it had been for a funeral. I eyed the leaden clouds overhead. A gloomy
day, and the night promised to be even more dismal.

Dropping by the hotel, I picked up the puzzle and
headed back to the mansion, parking a couple of blocks
away. I didn't know what time Ted and Edna returned
from the mausoleum or if they did. I would just have
to wait and see. While I waited, I worked on the puzzle with the same lack of success as earlier.

Edna left promptly at seven o'clock, catching her
cab and disappearing into the night. A few minutes
later, Ted left, leaving the old mansion in darkness.

Folding the puzzle into my pocket, I waited another
fifteen minutes, then ghosted through the darkness
to the basement door beneath the rear delivery ramp.
The icy wind cut through my jacket. I quickly picked
the lock. Using a tiny penlight, I made my way up the
spiral stairway to the storage room in the watchtower
on the third floor.

I figured Edna's books for the last five or six years
were on her computer, and I didn't have her password. But there were always the records in journals
and ledgers upstairs in the file cabinets.

I'll say this for Edna, every cabinet was marked
clearly. I opened the 2001 cabinet and pulled out a
thick ledger.

Staying away from the windows, I knelt on the floor
and a big grin spread over my face as I thumbed through
the 2001 expense ledger. There was a great deal of activity, but I noted that each month a five thousand dollar payment went to both Lamia Sue and Ted Odom.
At the same time, I noticed a two thousand dollar check
made out to Tabors Family Health Center and another
check, this one a thousand, to FC Motors for vehicular
maintenance.

A creak sounded from the darkness. I cut off my
penlight and remained motionless. The cold darkness
seeped into my bones, and the ancient house creaked
and groaned as the wind buffeted it.

After several minutes of silence, I snapped on the
penlight and thumbed back through previous ledgers
where I discovered Odom had been a regular benefactor for the last ten years to the Tabors Family Health
Center. The monthly check to the motor company began in 2001.

But nowhere I looked could I find evidence of Lamia
Sue receiving eight thousand a month from her uncle.
Now, I told myself, staring off into the darkness surrounding me, if I were suspicious like Al Grogan, I'd
figure that the two Gs to the family center and the other
G to the motor company were part of the eight.

If that were true, there was only one explanation. I
shook my head in disbelief, wondering just how long
Edna Hudson had been embezzling funds from the old
man. In that flash of understanding, I realized Lamia
Sue must have somehow discovered Edna's embezzling
and was blackmailing her for a thousand a month of
hush money. That thousand with Cobb's made the three
thousand.

And just as suddenly, I knew who had murdered
Bernard Odom.

There was only one with opportunity and motiveEdna Hudson.

I sat staring into the darkness. She had lied from the
beginning. I knew now what had been bothering me
about the time line of that night. She could not have
left at seven. She didn't see Hogg's Cadillac until
seven forty-five.

Sometimes a sudden epiphany of recognition opens
other links in a case. I suddenly realized that Edna had
no way of knowing Odom was studying the encyclopedia of ancient maps when she stopped in his office,
for Ted hadn't returned the encyclopedia until eight
o'clock, an hour after she was supposed to have left.
And then according to Maddox, the light was on in
her office at eight thirty, which meant she was there.
My heart thudded in my chest, and my pulse raced.
"Jeez," I muttered, pushing to my feet and sliding the
ledger under my arm. I had to get to Chief Ibbara.

Holding the tiny beam to the floor to prevent any
peripheral light to show in the windows, I headed for
the stairs.

No sooner had I stepped out of the watchtower than
my head exploded, and I felt myself falling into a deep,
black hole.

The next thing I remembered were voices somewhere far off in the darkness, vague sounds drifting
through the muddled confusion in my head. "Have
you lost your mind? You might have killed the guy."
The husky voice was familiar, but in my numbed state
I didn't recognize it.

I tried to move but my arms were tied behind me.

A woman's voice I recognized as Edna's broke in.
"Hush. Help me get him down to the car before Teddy
gets back"

Rough hands jerked me to my feet. My head spun as
I stumbled down the stairs, half-falling, half-staggering.
I stumbled and fell when we reached the first floor.

The man's voice spoke again. This time I recognized
it as Joe Hogg's. "Wait a minute, Edna. I asked you.
What are you going to do with him?"

Her voice was urgent. "What do you think? We
don't have a choice. Get him up"

He protested. "You mean, you don't have a choice. I
don't mind helping you steal the map but even if you are
my sister I'm not going to be a party to killing anyone"

Sister! His words cleared the fog in my brain instantly. Because of Ted's anticipated appearance at
any moment, I didn't figure she would take a chance
on killing me in the mansion. I managed to croak out,
"You're already part of it, Hogg. She suffocated the
old man."

Hogg jerked around. "What's that?"

In the dim glow of the flashlight, I saw the fear on
Edna's face. "Don't listen to him. I wasn't even here
when Mr. Odom had his accident. I was at a concert."

Despite the throbbing in my head, I tried to form
my words carefully. "Don't listen to her, Hogg. She's
smart. The Clock was a slick alibi. I got to hand it to
you, Edna. Get a picture at ten minutes after three, and
then reverse it on your computer so it shows ten until
nine, ten minutes before his death"

"You're crazy"

"No. I would never have caught that except your dress
was buttoned on the wrong side and your left hand was
covering your right."

Hogg looked around at her. "Edna? What's he talking about?"

"And ask her about Lamia Sue Odom."

"Don't listen to him, Joe. I told you I had nothing to
do with her death"

"She's lying, Hogg. Lamia Sue was blackmailing her
because she found out your sister was embezzling two
thousand a month from the old man. I don't know for
how many years, but I checked back fifteen and she was
doing it then."

"Liar!" she screamed, kicking me in the side of the
head.

Stars exploded in my skull. Somewhere, I could
hear the two of them arguing. I don't know how long
they screamed at each other but finally Edna grew
calm. "Listen to me, Joe. It was all an accident. When
I went up to the den he was bleeding. I tried to help
him but he went crazy. He cursed me and slapped me.
I pushed him away and he fell on the couch. I grabbed
the first thing I could find and hit him before he could
get up." She paused. "He was unconscious but still
alive. I panicked and smothered him so he couldn't
tell anyone. Lamia Sue walked in. She threatened to
go to the police if I didn't double her allowance. The
map is still in the house. I need time to find it. If we
don't get rid of Boudreaux, then it's all over."

Running my tongue over my dry lips, I forced a
laugh. "You'll never find it but I know where it is."

"What?" Edna said.

Hogg stammered. "You-you think he really does?"

"He's lying," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"Let's get him out of here."

I grunted. "Maybe not."

A bright light flashed in my eyes, blinding me. Edna
stuck her face in front of mine. "Where is it?"

Shaking my head to clear the webs, I realized I was
operating on borrowed time. I didn't figure Hogg was
strong enough to stop his sister from whatever she had
in mind, so if I was going to get out of this mess I had to
do it myself.

"In the den," I muttered, struggling to collect my
thoughts. I twisted my wrists, discovering they were
bound with some type of cloth.

"Impossible. I've torn the den apart"

I snorted. "Not enough"

They jerked me to my feet and shoved me across the
floor to the den. "Then show us, smart man," she said,
jamming the muzzle of what felt like an automatic in
my back.

Hogg opened the door and flipped on the light. Edna
shoved me into one of the wingback chairs. "All right.
Now where is it?"

I nodded to the bookcase. "Up there. Behind the top
shelf."

Her eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?" She
eyed me suspiciously.

"I know."

"You're lying."

"Then forget it."

Without taking her eyes off me, she said, "Take a
look, Joe"

He groaned as he stood on a chair and stretched for
the top shelf. "I can't reach it."

Edna muttered. "Come here and watch him. I'll
do it myself" She handed him the automatic and climbed up on the chair and began tossing books to
the floor.

I looked up at Hogg, at the same time flexing my
wrists to loosen my bonds. Under my breath, I muttered, "You better get while you can, Joe. She lied to
you about the old man and Lamia Sue. You're not part
of this, yet" That was a lie also, but one that I felt was
well justified.

The cloth around my wrists was beginning to give.

Joe kept turning his eyes to her, and whenever he
did I worked my wrists. If I could get the jump on him
while she was still on the chair I had a chance. Without warning, my hands popped free.

Suddenly, she screamed. She had leaned too far to
one side, and the chair began to topple.

Joe looked around momentarily. I leaped at him,
sending the automatic sliding across the room.

Edna hit the floor. For a moment, she didn't move,
and then she rolled over, the automatic in hand, and the
muzzle pointed straight at my belly.

At that moment the den door opened and Ted stepped
in. The grin on his face vanished when he saw Edna
holding the automatic. His eyes darted to Hogg. "Hey,
what's going on here? Edna-"

With a scream of rage, she jerked around and fired.

I leaped behind the couch as half a dozen shots rang
out. I heard the door of the den slam and then the front
door. Moments later, a terrified scream cut through the
silence.

When I looked up, Ted was sprawled on the floor, and Hogg was slumped on the couch. I hurried to Ted.
He had a bloody shoulder but that was his only wound.
He tried to speak. "What-what -"

I jammed a handkerchief over his shoulder and
pressed his hand to it. "I'll explain later." I glanced at
Hogg who was moaning and cradling his belly in his
arms. I jumped to my feet and raced after Edna.

From the front door all I saw was darkness. I jerked
to a halt on the porch and stared at the sidewalk below.
I flipped on the porchlights.

A dark figure lay sprawled on the concrete. Edna!
Even from this distance, I could see her head was
twisted at a grotesque angle.