going to visit any houses for sale or rent.“
“I'm house-hunting myself,“ he said.
“Isn't everyone?“
“Everyone at the Pines, anyway,“ he said with a shudder. “Anything interesting?“
“Nothing Michael and I didn't already see this weekend,“ I said, handing him the paper.
“You didn't like the 'luxurious lakeside retreat'?“
“You mean the million-dollar starter castle on the handkerchief lot?“ I said. “A little steep for our budget.“
“Especially since they're asking two million for it,“ Jack agreed. “The 'dynamite fixer-upper' was a holdover from last week, too. What's wrong with it?“
“They had a serious house fire,“ I said.
“Needs a whole lot of fixing up?“
“Needs bulldozing, if you ask me,“ I said. “It's a charred shell – no way you could ever make it habitable. You'd need to bulldoze the ruins, haul away the rubble, and build a new house.“
“You're not interested in building?“
“Maybe, if we could find a reasonable lot,“ I said. “We're not interested in paying the cost of a house for a lot that would still need thousands of dollars of demolition work before we could even begin building.“
“Check,“ he said. “Hey, this one's new – 'unique rambler in woodland setting' – sounds promising.“
“Yeah, belongs to a friend of Michael's,“ I said with a sigh. “We got a chance to see it before it went on the market. Could have made an offer if we wanted to. Beautiful lot. Beautiful house. Just one problem.“
“Price too big?“
“House too small.“
“I don't care how small it is, it has to be bigger than the motel room I'm sharing. See – three bedrooms.“
“Trust me, it's too small. The owner's only three and a half feet tall. He had it built to scale. Five-and-a-half- foot ceilings.“
“You're kidding, right?“
I shook my head.
“So why's he selling?“
“He got married. His wife's almost my height; she's tired of crouching.“
“Now I know you're kidding,“ he said. “Trying to keep everyone else from jumping on the place, right?“
“Go see for yourself.“
“I will. Mind if I borrow this to make a copy?“
“Keep it. Nothing I can use,“ I said. “Listen, what do you know about Ted's house?“
“I know he found someplace to rent outside town,“ Jack said.
“You never saw it?“
“No – have you?“
“Yes,“ I said. “I went over to see if I could find any work papers or files that the police hadn't taken.“
“Was it a dive?“ he asked. “I figure, as quickly as he found it, it must have been a real dive.“
“Not really,“ I said. “Was there any talk about his finding a place to live? Resentment, jealousy?“
“Not that I remember,“ he said. “Of course, I bet a lot of people probably thought what 1 did – that there must be something really wrong with it if he found it so quickly. He was only at the Pines maybe a month. Even when he was there, he didn't really socialize much with the rest of us, so it's not as if he invited people over for a housewarming party or anything. I don't think most people even knew where he'd moved.“
“A couple of people did,“ I said. “A couple of staffers showed up there while I was doing my search. I think they wanted to see if they could snag the place before someone else did.“
“You're not really thinking that one of them killed Ted so they could get his house, are you?“
“Why not?“ I asked. “I know at least three quarters of our staff are still living at the Pines or bunking with friends or maybe driving an hour or more to get to work. And here Ted snags a place in the country after a few weeks?“
“I still think it's going a little far, killing someone over a house.“
“Oh, and there are acceptable reasons for killing someone?“
“You know what I mean,“ he said with a laugh. “It seems a little weak for a motive.“
“Wait till you've been doing that a few more months,“ I said, pointing my thumb at the real estate section.
“Maybe you have a point,“ he said as his eyes scanned the same sparse pickings I'd already rejected. “What's wrong?“ he said, glancing up to find me frowning as I looked at him.
“Nothing,“ I said. “Or rather… could you do something for me?“
“Just name it,“ he said. He folded the paper, shoved it under his arm, and leaned over the reception desk.
I fished out my notebook again and gave him the same information I'd given Luis, with the same instructions – including, of course, orders not to tell anyone, even Luis.
“What's this all about, anyway?“ he asked. “Where did you get these addresses?“
“Tell me what you can find out first,“ I said. “Then I'll tell you the whole story.“
He looked at me for a moment, then nodded and left.
Back to the house hunt. I looked up the telephone number of the lawyer who was handling Mrs. Sprocket's estate. I got the man on the line before I realized I hadn't figured out what to say, and something about the lawyer's precise yet oratorical tones made me suspect he'd enjoy playing cat and mouse with me before refusing to give me any useful information.
“I'm calling… I assume you've heard about Ted Corrigan's death?“
“Yes, and I'm afraid we will not be looking to engage another caretaker for the house,“ the lawyer said. Sounding rather bored, as if he bothered to talk to me only for the fun of practicing his elocution.
“Caretaker?“
“Isn't that why you called?“ the lawyer said. “To apply for the caretaker's job?“
“Actually, no,“ I said. “But you've already answered the question I was going to ask.“
“And what, pray tell, was your question?“ he asked. Oh, dear. Now he sounded suspicious.
“I'm with Mutant Wizards, the firm he worked for,“ I said, improvising. “We were going to see if there was something we could do – to help out the family, you know. Make a month's rent or mortgage payment, if we could find out where to send it.“
“Not needed,“ the lawyer said. “But you could help me out. Do you have any information on his next of kin? I need to know where to send his final paycheck. Not that the miserable beggar really earned it, that I can see, but still, one doesn't like to speak ill of the dead, does one?“
“I can have our Personnel department call you with that information,“ I said. “If we don't have it, I assume we'll find a way to get it ourselves, for much the same reason.“
“I'd appreciate it,“ he said, sounding genuinely grateful, so I decided to push my luck.
“Just out of curiosity,“ I said. “Why aren't you hiring a new caretaker? The house could certainly use it. Is someone moving in?“
“No, but it's going on the market,“ he said. “The Realtor will be getting it ready to show and handling maintenance till it's sold.“
“Big job,“ I said. “Getting it ready, that is; in this market, the maintenance probably won't be needed for long.“
“It could be needed indefinitely if the heirs don't scale down their expectations,“ he said.
“Why, what are they asking?“
My jaw dropped when he named the price. I think I gasped.
“Breathtaking, isn't it,“ he said. “Totally unrealistic, even in this market.“
“Is it on a large piece of land?“ I asked.
“Not enough for that price,“ he said. “Couple of acres.“
“With a working diamond mine in the backyard, perhaps?“
He chuckled.
