possible, but they were concentrating on carting the extra tables and chairs out the veranda doors to the trucks. At that point I saw through the hall window that you were pulling out of the lot, and I went back to my car.”
“Charles, the noise you heard—could it have been a shot?”
“I was a little too far away from the sound to be sure, but it didn’t sound like a gun. It was more of a thud. That’s why I assumed it was the cleaning crew.”
“What time did McCall say Todd was shot?” Carrie asked.
“Between midnight and six a.m., and that isn’t good news for us. Assuming the noise I heard was a gun, I can testify you didn’t do it. There wasn’t enough time between hearing the noise and seeing you drive away for you to have been involved. But the police will assume whatever I say is to protect you. And by making that statement, I’d have to admit we were both at the Club at the time of the murder.”
“Of course, we’re also assuming a lot. We don’t know if Todd was even there at that time,” added Carrie.
“Oh, he was there. I parked next to his car. That’s why I went in.”
“Charles, you thought I was going to meet Todd?”
“I thought no such thing! I knew, based on where you had parked, that you weren’t aware Todd was still there. I didn’t want you to run into him unexpectedly. Otherwise I’d have found your car and waited to take you out for that cup of coffee.”
“Oh, Charles, what are we going to do? It won’t take those two policemen long to find out that we were at the Club a second time.”
“Maybe not. Perhaps no one did see us.”
“Perhaps.”
“The way the Club is set up, a person can enter from any one of the French doors off the veranda into the library or game room. The cleaning crew was concentrating on the kitchen, the dining room, and of course the ballroom, so there was no reason for them to go near either of those rooms. But there are still some very damaging pieces of evidence against us.”
Charles ruffled the fur on the kitten’s head. The kitten opened one eye and looked annoyed that his nap had been interrupted. “We were at the Club,” Charles continued. “We fought with Todd. We both returned to the Club during the time frame of Todd’s murder. We may not have been seen, but our cars could be identified. Wow, I know we’re innocent, but I’m having a hard time believing our own story.”
“What do we do next?” Carrie asked.
“We call around and see if we can find a doctor.”
“Charles, are you ill?”
“No, we need a doctor to check out our new kitten. I’ve always liked the name Baxter. What do you think?”
“Baxter. Yes, that has a nice ring to it. Plus, he looks like a Baxter.”
“Then Baxter it is.”
Carrie and Charles were lost in their own thoughts as they watched Baxter jump down from the sofa and begin wandering around his new home.
ithin the hour, both Carrie and Charles were decked out in their comfortable Sunday corduroys and sweaters. Charles lost the argument about working on Todd’s murder without Carrie’s help. Carrie insisted that they needed to be realistic and that two Faraday brains working on a case were always better than one.
Charles also realized there might come a time when someone else would have to carry on the investigation, especially if he were charged with Todd’s murder.
“OK, I’m ready. Where are we going?” Carrie asked as she placed her leather shoulder bag on the kitchen table.
“I know where
I’d
like to be going.”
“Oh, darling, I know. I promise we’ll go boat shopping as soon as all this is behind us.”
“Before we leave, tell me everything you know about Todd Barrington.” Charles had his notebook out for a second time.
“Let me see. He’s the grandson of Harold Barrington, one of the original founders of TC3. He’s the son of Edward Barrington, the soon-to-be president of the Club. I wonder if Edward was called Eddie when he was a small