ing to give them a hard time.
Diane hadn’t spoken with Garnett yet. She wanted to get the feel of the crime scene before she met with him face-to-face. Colin told her Garnett had indeed met with the mayor at his home very briefly. Garnett told Colin he was trying to reason with the mayor about the crime lab. He said he was trying to convince the mayor that Diane’s idea of putting it near the police station was a good one and that the city would have more control over it there than in the museum. Garnett also said the mayor was threatening to fire Neva.
‘‘So, that’s what Garnett was doing there,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He was still trying to protect his police offi cers.’’ At least Neva had a fallback position at the museum, she thought. Garnett probably didn’t know that.
Colin drove up in his charcoal Escalade and parked it behind Diane’s red Explorer. He got out and greeted Diane as he crossed the street. He walked up to the gate and looked at it as if expecting it to open.
‘‘I’m going to have to keep pushing on everything,’’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘‘The crime scene crew said they were finished, but when I asked to do a walk through, Peeks tried to stop me, saying they are still finishing up. The guy’s throwing up road blocks at every turn. However’’—he patted his coat pocket—‘‘I have our ticket in—a court order. And this.’’ He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a key that he dangled before him with a smile.
The black wrought-iron gate was equipped with a simple lock, not one that would keep a serious gate crasher out, but it was apparently causing Colin some problems.
‘‘That’s the problem with skeleton keys; you have to fiddle with them. There,’’ he said as the gate opened.
‘‘They didn’t give you a key?’’ said Diane.
‘‘No. Peeks said he would meet us. But I’m dubious of any good intentions on his part, so I brought my own. I doubt he is here. I don’t see his car. These gates are pretty straightforward.’’
‘‘What about the house?’’ asked Diane. ‘‘How are we going to get in?’’
Colin grinned. ‘‘This house used to belong to a cli ent of mine. He gave me a key to one of the side doors that Spence probably didn’t get around to changing the locks on.’’
‘‘Which door is it?’’ Diane looked at her floor plan.
‘‘To the basement, around back. It’s not on the drawings I gave you,’’ he said.
Diane stopped in the middle of the circular drive to get a good look at the house. All the curtains were drawn. Bryce said they had left things as they were, but she didn’t know if they really had. Like Colin, she was dubious. There was no shrubbery near the win dows, no place an intruder might hide. The windows were all closed. She wouldn’t be able to tell until she got into the house whether they were locked. She looked at the second-story windows. They were closed as well.
‘‘You’d need a ladder to get to the second floor,’’ said Colin. He stood beside Diane with his hands in his pockets, looking at the house.
Diane glanced over the rough stone exterior. ‘‘A rock climber could do it,’’ she said.
‘‘Really?’’ said Colin. ‘‘A rock climber could climb up that wall—with no trees or ledges to grab on to?’’
‘‘Sure. My geology curator could climb the face of the museum,’’ she said.
‘‘The museum? Really? People can actually do things like that?’’ he asked.
Diane nodded. ‘‘Mike is among an elite group who can do very difficult climbs. But this house wouldn’t be that hard. I could do it.’’
‘‘You could? Amazing. I had no idea. That’s so Spider-Man.’’
‘‘I can’t spin a web,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Glad to hear it. I was starting to feel inferior,’’ he said. ‘‘So, if one of the upper windows was unlocked, a skilled rock climber wouldn’t find it too difficult to climb up and get in the window?’’
‘‘That’s true,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Or a second-story man. You know, don’t you, there is a class of burglars who specialize in that MO.’’
Colin looked around. ‘‘I don’t see any sign of Peeks,’’ he said. ‘‘He probably thinks he’s letting us cool our heels waiting for him. So, shall we go find our basement door?’’
‘‘We could try knocking on the front door first,’’ Diane said. She started toward the door. ‘‘I think it’s open.’’ There was a small crack where the door stood open about an inch. ‘‘I think we’ve maligned Mr. Peeks unnecessarily and he’s probably been listening, snickering at our paranoia.’’
Colin laughed. ‘‘I hope so.’’
Diane opened the door and walked into the foyer. The first thing she saw was Garnett kneeling on the marble floor next to the body of Chief of Police Edgar Peeks.
Chapter 18
The second thing Diane noticed was the pool of bright red blood staining the white marble floor. A small trickle of blood had flowed toward the wall. For such an expensive house it was surprising that the floor wasn’t completely level.
They stood there for a moment staring at one an other before anyone said anything.
‘‘I guess Peeks showed up after all,’’ said Colin.
Garnett slowly stood up. ‘‘I called the police,’’ he said.
Diane just then heard the distant sirens.
‘‘I know this doesn’t look good,’’ said Garnett.
‘‘What happened?’’ she said.
‘‘We can discuss that later,’’ said Colin.
‘‘I found him like this,’’ said Garnett. He wanted to profess his innocence. Natural reaction—guilty or not.
