Body In The Belfry

conceded, their—responsibility to try to find the killer.

“Now I know this sounds a lot like a novel—you know, the heroine sits in her bedroom in some drafty country house, writes down a list of suspects, realizes that the only one that makes sense is the very man she's in love with, then wakes up the next morning to find out the butler did it, of course.'

“But,' interrupted Tom, 'the man you're in love with is sitting here and nobody in Aleford has butlers, so we'll just have to go on with the list.'

“Exactly,' said Faith, 'There must he something to it, since you keep reading about it all the time and even Dunne carries that notebook.'

“Let's start by treating the two murders as one,' Tom suggested. ' We'll list all the possible suspects and see who was where at the time of each and what motives exist.'

“And what about the break-in? I think we have to assume that the murderer was looking for something in the tin box.'

“Good point, and since it occurred while we were all in church, we should be able to remember where everyone was.'

“Two things are wrong with that theory, Tom, although we have to try it. One, the murderer may not have been acting alone, and two, it's very hard to recall if someone was in church or not, particularly if he or she attends regularly. We're so used to seeing someone there, that we assume they were.'

“And three, my love, the person who broke into the house may not be the murderer, but merely one of Cindy's pigeons.'

“Tom, if we're this confused before we even start, we'll never get anywhere. Let's stick to the two deaths and go on from there.”

Accordingly, Faith folded the paper in three lengthwise columns and wrote, 'Suspects,”

“Murder 1,' and 'Murder 2' at the top of each column. Somehow it wouldn't have bothered her to write 'Cindy's Murder,' but it would to write 'Patricia's.' If she started to think about Patricia, she knew she would never be able to write anything.

By the end of an hour they had exhausted the possibilities and the paper looked a little sparse :

Suspects Murder 1 Murder 2

Dave Svenson At RR tracks; seen by Phelan At the scene

Motives: Cindy was driving him crazy with her cruel behavior and what amounted to sexual blackmail. Despite his denial, was she blackmailing him about something else? Was he more drug involved than he admitted and she had further proof ? They thought they knew Dave and it seemed unlikely, but he had already surprised them. Patricia knew he had killed Cindy and maybe even why, so he had to kill her, too. As for means, he could have done both easily ; although, as MacIsaac had revealed, whoever killed Cindy must have been lucky or had some rudimentary medical knowledge to get the knife exactly where it was.

Sam Miller Unverifiable alibi Airtight alibi

Motives: Cindy was definitely blackmailing him and would no doubt keep escalating with further demands and humiliations. He hated her, but enough to kill her? Patricia had discovered something that definitely linked him to the murder, so he had to kill her too.

His alibi for Murder 1 was pretty slim. His car was seen near the center at 11:30 the day Cindy was killed and she was next to him. No one saw her get out at the light as he claimed. He was seen later at D 'Angelo 's Sandwich Shop in Bedford, but this was at 12:30, plenty of time to get up to the belfry with Cindy, kill her, and get down again. But where was his car ? No one had seen it parked in the center (no one being Millicent McKinley and Eleanor Whipple, both of whose houses commanded a bird 's-eye, or in Millicent 's case, an eagle 's-eye view of the approach to the belfry). And there was no way even a Porsche could drive up that hill.

Sam did have a strong alibi for Murder 2. He was in court at the time in full view of judge and jury. Faith suggested that the poison could have been put into the empty teapot the night or morning before, but Tom reminded her that Patricia always scalded it with boiling water before she made the tea and the poison would have been rinsed out. Still, they made a note to ask MacIsaac or Dunne if enough could have remained.

Virtually anyone in town had the means to kill Cindy. Easy enough to slip a knife from the kitchen drawer and Sam might also have known just where to place it. His hobby was medicine and he not only read the Harvard Medical School Healthletter from cover to cover each month, but had rows of medical texts in his study. Faith once asked him why he hadn't become a doctor and was surprised at the simplicity of the answer.

“I can't stand the sight of blood,' Sam had replied. No blood with poison, and Cindy's wound had been remarkably neat.

Piz Miller No alibi for Murder 1 or Murder 2

Pix reported that she was shopping at the mall at the time of Cindy's death. She had been buying shoes and the saleswoman had remembered her, but not the exact time, other than that it was after lunch and before break. When Patricia was killed, Pix had been doing housework, always a solitary and unverifiable occupation. It was only noticeable when one didn't do it.

Motives: She discovered what Cindy was doing and killed to protect her husband 's reputation and their marriage. Again she killed Patricia to prevent her from linking the Millers to the original crime.

Oswald Pearson No alibi for Murder 1 or Murder 2 Pearson claimed he was in and out of his office both days working on stories. Faith remembered passing him on her way to the belfry, so he was in the area.

Motives: Cindy was definitely blackmailing him, but with his mother's death, it had lost most of its force. Unless there was more to it than he revealed. Again, she was leaving town soon and would be out of his thinning hair presumably for good. The only motive for killing Patricia was if she had known he killed Cindy.

Millicent Revere McKinley (this was Faith's contribution). No alibi for either day, or any other day.

She was certainly in close vicinity of the belfry on the day of Cindy's murder and had easy access to the roses, as did anyone strolling by her fente, but Millicent no doubt had them counted. Any murderer would certainly bring one along rather than risk the wrath of Millicent before even getting to kill Cindy. Faith made a note to check the roses in the Svenson 's and Miller's gardens. And since Millicent didn't attend the Fairchilds' church, her absence would not have been noted. She could have broken into the Moores' house.

Motives: She was crazed by the use to which Cindy was putting the belfry, Dave apparently not being the only one to enjoy its timbered pleasures, and then she had to kill Patricia to prevent her from revealing what Millicent had done ? Tom grudgingly agreed to include her in the list, but felt it was a pretty weak reed.

Robert Moore. Faith wrote this and looked at Tom. ' It doesn't seem possible that he would kill Patricia, but maybe he killed Cindy and someone else killed Patricia?”

Tom disagreed. 'I think the same person killed both of them, and I know Robert doesn 't have alibis for either time. Few people would—it was lunch time, hard to prove you were someplace as opposed to being in your office with your secretary or whatever. And we don't know the extent of his money worries. I'm not saying I consider him a strong suspect.' Tom ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture of fatigue and irritation. 'Holy merde, Faith, I can 't seriously consider any of these people as suspects, they're my friends, not to mention parishioners, except for Millicent.”

Faith said skeptically, 'I'm not so sure I would actually call her a friend either. But as for Robert, we have to put everything down. We do know he wasn 't terribly grieved over Cindy 's death. Patricia inherited everything and now it goes to him. Maybe he has a secret life. A cozy mistress on Beacon Hill?

“ You know, Tom,' she continued, '1 'm convinced that Jenny knows something. Of course she would be reacting this way simply on account of her mother's death, but I can't help but feel that there is something more. Something she overheard maybe and then there was that strange remark Patricia made about family. Family, now what does that remind me of ? Something Rob said.' Faith shook her head impatiently.

“Don 't worry, you'll remember,' assured Tom. 'Now, for the life of me, I can't think of anyone else to put on the list.'

“ Well, there are the quilters, bridge club members, and friends, but I don 't see how any of them would have benefited from either or both deaths. Sam seems to have been the only prey for Cindy in town. At least that we