Read Four Blind Mice for Free Online Page A

slightly goofy Damon Wayans voice I sometimes use around the kids. “Yeah-lo.
Who’s
calling me so early in the morning? Who’s waking me up? You have some nerve.”
    Then I heard a woman’s voice. Unfamiliar, with a heavy southern accent. “Is this Detective Cross?”
    I quickly changed my tone and hoped she didn’t hang up. “Yes, it is. Who’s this?”
    “I’d rather not say. Just listen, please. This is hard for me to tell you, or anyone else.”
    “I’m listening. Go ahead.”
    I heard a deep sigh before she spoke again.
    “I was with Ellis Cooper on the night of the three terrible murders. We were together when the murders took place. We were intimate. That’s all I can say for now.”
    I could tell that the caller was frightened, maybe close to panic. I had to keep her on the line if I could. “Wait a minute. Please. You could have helped Sergeant Cooper at the trial. You can still help him. You could prevent his execution!”
    “No. I can’t say any more than I already have. I’m married to someone on the base. I won’t destroy my family. I just can’t. I’m sorry.”
    “Why didn’t you tell the police in town, or CID?”
Why didn’t Cooper tell us?
“Please stay on the line. Stay with me.”
    The woman moaned softly. “I called Captain Jacobs. I told him. He did nothing with the information, with the truth. I hope you do something. Ellis Cooper didn’t kill those three women. I didn’t believe my testimony would be enough to save him. And . . . I’m afraid of the consequences.”
    “What consequences? Think about the consequences for Sergeant Cooper. He’s going to be executed.”
    The woman hung up. I couldn’t tell much about her, but I was sure she was sobbing. I stood there staring at the phone receiver, not quite believing what I’d just heard. I had just talked to Ellis Cooper’s alibi — and now she was gone.

Chapter 17
    ABOUT FIVE O’CLOCK Sampson and I received terrifically good news: the commanding officer at Bragg was willing to see us at his house on the base. We were to be there at seven-thirty sharp. General Stephen Bowen would give us ten minutes to share the information we had about the murder case. In the meantime, Sampson got through to Sergeant Cooper at Central Prison. He
denied
that he’d been with a woman that night. What was worse, Sampson said that Cooper wasn’t very convincing. But why would he hold back the truth from us? It didn’t make sense.
    General Bowen’s quarters looked to be from the twenties or thirties, a stucco house with a Spanish tile roof. Up on the second floor there was a sunporch with glass on three sides, probably the master suite.
    A man was watching from up there as we parked in the semicircular driveway.
General Bowen himself?
    We were met at the front door by an officer aide who identified himself as Captain Rizzo. The general’s staff included an officer aide, an enlisted aide who was part of the general’s security but also worked as the cook, and a driver, who was also security.
    We stepped into a large foyer with sitting rooms on either side. The decor was eclectic, and probably reflected the general’s career around the world. I noticed a beautiful carved cabinet that looked German, a painted screen showing rolling hills and cherry trees from Japan, and an antique sideboard that suggested a possible posting in New England.
    Captain Rizzo showed us into a small den, where General Stephen Bowen was already waiting for us. He was in uniform. The aide leaned in to me. “I’ll return in exactly ten minutes. The general wants to talk to you alone.”
    “Please sit down,” said Bowen. He was tall and solidly built, probably in his mid-fifties. He tented his fingers on top of a well-worn desk that looked as if it had been with him for most of his career. “I understand that you’ve come down here to try and reopen the Cooper murder case. Why do you think we should reconsider the case? And Cooper’s death sentence?”
    As