“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Locks are my father’s business, and his hobby, too. Larry was a locksmith. He sold some of the products our company makes, and he was about the only person in town my father could talk to about tumblers and false wards and double-key systems and all that junk.”
“How about your mother?”
“My mother knew him because he came to the house sometimes to drop off Megan, or to pick her up.”
“Through you, in other words.”
“That’s right. Through me.”
“Judging from the pictures I’ve seen he was a good-looking man. She like him?”
“No.” I shook my head, thinking that Elaine never really liked anybody except Elaine. Then all of a sudden I remembered what the bomb must have knocked out of me, and I told Sandoz all about coming to see Megan at the Magic Key shop, and what Molly had said, and about the car and so on. Only for Molly’s sake I left out her gun.
This time his smile was practically real. “You should’ve given us that sooner,” he told me.
“I know.” I felt humble. “Only I didn’t think of it. I wasn’t thinking that the bomb might have been aimed—you know what I mean—at Larry. You were the one who started me doing that.”
It looked like Sandoz was going to smile again, but he got it under control. He stood up, brushing the cigar ashes off his legs. “I’ll be going now,” he said. “I think I’ll have a talk with Mrs. Lief. I may be seeing you again later, Miss Hollander. And you, Mr. Blue.”
Blue raised his cane to stop him. “Before you leave, I’d like to ask you one question. It will influence the report I make to Mr. Hollander a great deal, I think.”
“Go ahead and ask,” Sandoz told him. “I don’t promise to answer and I don’t care what you tell your boss, but there’s no harm in asking.”
“You indicated obliquely that you suspected Mrs. Hollander. I know you said nothing actionable, and you may not even have been serious. But whether you were serious or not, do you have any real evidence to show that the bomb was in that box?”
Sandoz pushed the cane to one side. “I have evidence that shows that it wasn’t, Mr. Blue,” he said. “That it wasn’t even a bomb.”
He went out the door.
How Blue Helped Me Figure Things Out
I took a deep breath, maybe two or three. Then I said, “Well, that’s over with.”
Blue shrugged. “I hope so.”
“Did you really call my father in New York? That was nice of you.”
“I was angling for a job. I still am, because I need the money. Anyway, everything I told Lieutenant Sandoz was true. A safe and lock company should have a criminologist on its staff, or at least have a criminological consultant to call in at need. I am a Hollander employee—you’re a Hollander, and you’ve asked me to help you and offered to pay me. I accept.”
“What did he say?”
“Your father? He was concerned about you and your mother. Your mother had called him at his hotel last night, and he had watched a morning news show—”
“My God, you’re right! We must’ve been on TV. How do you turn that thing on?”
Blue looked as though he was disappointed in me, which I suppose he had a right to. “There won’t be anything now until six. You’ve got plenty of time.”
“Just the same, I want to know.”
We hunted around and finally found a remote that had fallen down behind the table. When I had tested it out, I asked Blue again about my father.
“He wanted to know if I had seen your mother; he was afraid she had been concealing something when she had assured him that she was not injured. I told him I had not, but that she wasn’t hospitalized. We talked for some time about the extent of your injuries. I’m certain he’s spoken with your doctor by now. He expressed the opinion that the bombing—that, at least, was what we called it—had been the act of radical terrorists. I believe that was all.”
“How did you know where to call him, anyway?”
“I telephoned your housekeeper and inquired. He had wisely left the name of his hotel with her in case of emergencies, and I was able to catch him in his room this morning before he left for his meeting.”
“I’m surprised Mrs. Maas gave it to you.”
“I think she did so under the impression that I was calling in an official capacity, although I did not say I was.”
“What a shock when she thought so, I’ll bet. I wonder how she ever got a wild idea like that! You’re pretty slick, aren’t you?”
Blue shook his head. “I used to think I was, but I’ve been disabused of that idea. I know a few tricks, and occasionally I invent a new one. That’s all. With the right backdrop and the right lighting, I can fool most of the audience on a good night. Not without them, and not all the audience—not ever.”
“Modest, too.”
“Are you in much pain?”
