Corpus de Crossword (28 page)

On the way home, with Rosco dozing in the rear seat, Belle let out a little yelp of impatience. “My car … It's still at the Quigley—”

“Tomorrow's another day, Belle … Unless you want me to turn around and—”

“No, you're right. The only thing that matters right now is to get Rosco home and into bed.”

“He's lucky he didn't sustain other—”

“He's lucky to be alive, Sara.”

Neither woman spoke for a long while. Finally Sara broke the silence. “It's a shame you can't actually thank your mystery puzzler, and explain that Gordon's going to pay for his crimes—that it's safe to come forward.”

“I'm sure TV cameras have been covering the situation, Sara … in depth.”

“Still—”

“You're right. It would be nice to say thanks in person.”

“Precisely.” Sara fell silent again. “An old person,” she murmured, “an old person … What were those solutions again, Belle?”

Belle reached for the crossword. “PENNY ARCADE, NICKELODEON, FIVE AND DIME—”

“Hmmm, I don't know. There's a little bug in the back of my brain that tells me those phrases have another connection entirely.”

“Uh-oh,” Rosco said dreamily from his pillowed nest in the rear seat, “sounds like Sara has a bee in her bonnet.”

CHAPTER 36

“It's not her,” the raspy voice on the other end of the phone stated. The tone was halfway between brusqueness and exasperation.

Rosco sucked in his breath in order to respond but winced as a new pain shot through his chest. When the torture subsided he squeaked out, “What do you mean, Al? Who else could it be? It's got to be Gordon's first wife.”

“No way, buddy. Your theory was close—so close, even the Russian thought it was numero uno—but the thing didn't go down the way you figured.”

“Walk me through this, Al.”

“Tanner sent a crew into Petri's apartment. Thanks to
my
arm-twisting, I might mention … On one point you were right on the money: Gordon's prints are all over the place. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that he tossed Petri from the terrace … But Gordon never found what he was looking for.”

“And that is …?”

“A safe-deposit box key. One of Tanner's boys picked it up with a metal detector. It was in the freezer, buried in a pint of Häagen-Dazs ice cream—Rum Raisin. Mike Petri may have had a weakness for cheap vodka, but he drew the line at cheap ice cream.”

“I'm still not with you. What was in the safe-deposit box?”

“Petri's insurance policy, so to speak … a nice little case history of his relationship with one Alex Gordon of Far Yukon Industries—dating back over fifteen years. Obviously, it was the only way Petri could keep Gordon from killing him.”

“It doesn't sound like the plan worked any too well.”

“Well, it did for fifteen years … What we're now piecing together is that Mike decided it was time to check out—as in permanently. Maybe he'd reached the end of his rope emotion-wise; maybe a doctor hadn't given him a clean bill of health … Whatever the situation, as near as we can guess, Petri got himself liquored up, phoned Gordon, and handed him the
wrong
safe-deposit box key, which sent his sometime boss on a wild-goose chase—and then into a nasty rage … Basically, Petri knew he was committing suicide, but—and here's the big
but;
he had a legit life insurance policy from Mass Casualty. For one million smacks … Of course the sticker with these policies is: they don't pay off if you do the deed yourself.”

“A million dollars …”

“That's what I said, Poly—crates. You and me definitely got into the wrong business.”

“Who was the beneficiary?”

“The Franklin Park Zoo—damn near across the street from Far Yukon Industries.”

“You're kidding!”

“Nope.”

Another sharp pain shot through Rosco's ribs; he groaned into the phone.

“Do you want me to explain all this to Belle?” Lever asked. “Sounds like you're having a rough time of it.”

“No, I'm okay … So, why does Petri phone me in the first place? Then leave a message stating he's going to call back—when he knows he won't be alive?”

“I figure it's all part of the setup. He's got to get someone to prove he didn't kill himself or that policy doesn't pay off. With his reputation, he knew he couldn't count on Tanner—or anyone else in Boston PD for that matter—so he gets you involved. Mr. Insurance Investigator himself.”

“And I take it this ‘case history' of Petri's maintains the body in Taneysville isn't the first Mrs. Gordon.”

“In a way, yes … See, Petri
did
kill the business partner and Wife Number One fifteen years ago—on orders from Gordon—but he buried the bodies in a field off Route 24 near Lake Nippenicket. The location's very specific in his letter. Abe Jones and the Boston ME made a positive I.D. on both of them a little over an hour ago.”

“That was quick—even for Abe.”

“Petri buried them with their driver's licenses sealed in plastic zip-lock bags. He was very thorough, even clean, you might say. Too bad he didn't stay on the right side of the law.”

“But I'm not making the Taneysville connection,” Rosco said, coughing slightly and following up with another pained groan. “If Gordon had no idea where the bodies were buried, then he bought that Quigley property as a legitimate second home … My question is: How could Petri possibly have convinced him it was the same place he'd buried the bodies fifteen years ago? No one would ever swallow a coincidence like that.”

Rosco could hear Lever lighting a cigarette on the other end.

“Al, it hurts my lungs just listening to you do that.”

“Tough.” Lever inhaled deeply. “It's my office. I run it my way.” He sucked in additional smoke and continued. “Gordon said that Petri had told him he'd
dumped
the body on the Quigley site, i.e., Mike moved it
after
Gordon purchased the land … Apparently, that little conversation occurred right after the press released the story about mystery remains being unearthed … The idea was that if Gordon didn't make a major payoff, Petri would ensure that the business partner's corpse would
also
arrive in Taneysville … Don't forget Gordon didn't have any of Jones's findings, so he believed everything Mike told him.”

“I gather Gordon's talking up a storm. Surprise, surprise.”

“He's trying to cut a deal. We'll see about that.”

Rosco nodded, winced, and coughed. “So Wife Number Three really did want to move the addition to the north side of the site after all?”

“You got it … You know, it's amazing …”

There was a long pause, so Rosco said, “What? What's amazing?”

“Petri. He orchestrated this whole show. Did it all from the grave, so to speak. He set up Gordon like a kingpin and bowled him right over. Sort of his way of making it right in the end.”

“He set me up pretty well, too.”

“That he did, my friend.”

“And I'm right back where I started—except for the two broken ribs and no more Jeep. At least I have
something
to show for my efforts.”

Lever laughed. “Ribs heal.”

“Thank you for that piece of wisdom, O Great Philosopher of the Twenty-first Century.”

“I see where your buddy Tree Hoffmeyer is sinking like a stone in the polls. It's remarkable how fast a lead like his can evaporate. Just shows-to-go-ya what a little adverse publicity can do. Too bad, I would've liked to have seen a change down in D.C.”

“We still have a few days.”

“Right. Don't hold your breath.” Lever laughed again. “The eternal optimist … Keep me posted.”

Rosco hung up the phone, then walked to Belle's home office, eased himself into a chair, and related what Lever had told him. She listened in silence then walked to his side.

“How do your ribs feel?” She kissed him on the cheek—lightly.

“Hey, we can do better than that,” was his mock-wounded response. “Actually the ribs feel a heck of a lot better than they did. It's amazing what a couple of days can do.” Then almost to himself he added, “Where do we go from here?”

“I'm wondering the same thing … Right now, we're back at square one, except for one thing—we have four crosswords. And an anonymous constructor who—” Belle was interrupted by the sound of Kit's frantic barking. “Rosco, I think you and your dog need a little training session.”

He smiled. “How come every time she makes a racket, digs in the garden, or chews something beyond recognition, she's
my
dog? But then she … You're right. Time for a serious conversation with dad. Bring on the choke collar, the stern commands. Tough love's my middle name.”

“I must have overlooked that part of your personality.” Belle laughed, walked to the living room, knelt down, gave Kit a loving and lengthy pat, then retrieved the mail from the box on the porch. When she returned to the office, she found Rosco spreading the four crosswords on her desk, and grunting with the effort.

“Don't you think you should stay put and let the pros have at it?”

“Uh-huh …” he mumbled absentmindedly. “… Okay, here's puzzle number one, two, three, and four—”

Belle placed an opened envelope beside him and said, “And let's not forget number five.”

READ BETWEEN THE LINES

Across

  1.  L × L

  4.  Heave

  8.  Come together

 12.  Air; comb. form

 14.  Raves' partner

 16.  Entreaty

 17.  1989 Robert Downey film

 19.  That girl's

 20.  Essential oil

 21.  Congregation

 23.  ___-wit

 24.  Had been

 25.  Film in which Ronald Colman won an Oscar

 29.  Love letter letters

 30.  Serf

 31.  “___boy!”

 34.  Butt

 36.  Certain cat

 40.  Classic Hitchcock film

 44.  Theme

 45.  Before

 46.  And the rest

 47.  Veni-vici link

 50.  ___-back

 52.  Gaynor, Garland or Streisand vehicle

 56.  “None___the Brave”

 59.  ___Hagen

 60.  An Adams

 61.  Nose; comb. form

 63.  Guided by truth

 65.  Classic Grant/Lombard film

 68.  “Do___to others …”

 69.  Friendlier

 70.  Comic strip dog

 71.  Dance maneuver

 72.  Not this

 73.  EST part

Down

  1.  Certain parrot

  2.  Zubin___

  3.  “Darn!”

  4.  Tuscan three

  5.  Org. formed in 1948

  6.  Glitch

  7.  Flash

  8.  Dashboard info

  9.  1985 Peter Yates film

 10.  Letter tip?

 11.  Waste maker

 13.  “I'm___roll”

 15.  Hawks

 18.  Things can get stuck in it

 22.  Tooth; comb. form

 26.  Kashmiri tongue

 27.  “Fine”

 28.  Rented

 29.  Spit

 31.  PIN spot?

 32.  Notwithstanding

 33.  Asian holiday

 35.  MLB award

 37.  Common preservative

 38.  ___Lillie

 39.  Fashion inits.

 41.  57-Down's opposite

 42.  ___Guthrie

 43.  Close

 48.  Killed

 49.  Makes the final cut

 51.  In the matter of

 52.  Prime rib topper

 53.  Trick

 54.  Panache

 55.  Winner of 35-Down in '70 & '72

 56.  Ties

 57.  Like a cold oven

 58.  Played with

 62.  ___-ha

 62.  “___Hat”

 66.  Stage union; abbr.

 67.  “Rocky III” opponent

To download a PDF of this puzzle, please visit
openroadmedia.com/nero-blanc-crosswords

CHAPTER 37

“But it's so obvious, Rosco! Anyone can see this!” Belle's hands danced in the air as she spoke, while her hair sprang about as if spiked with electrical currents.

“I don't know, Belle. It's a big, big leap … And I'm not so sure this idea of—” He bent over her desk examining the five crosswords. “Ooof … yikes, that smarts.”

Belle was immediate concern and action. She reached toward his shoulders as if she intended to physically remove him to a more comfortable location. “You shouldn't be standing like that. I'll get you a—”

“No. I
should
be standing … and walking around, and working this out … taking deep breaths, yelling at TV sportscasters, and doing all the normal things
real men
do.” He tried to laugh, and swallowed a grimace of pain. “It only hurts when I try to think.”