Free Murder Is Elementary by Diane Weiner Page A

partner.”
    Lynette extended her hand and introduced herself. “We need your help. We’re investigating a recent homicide. We were wondering if you recognize this man,” asked Lynette. She handed him the photo.
    “Let me take a look.” He took the photo from Lynette. “Sure. He comes around here a lot. He visits Miss Barbie Doll up there on the second floor.” The manager pointed out the door and upwards. Then he took another bite of his sandwich, dripping Italian dressing onto the wax paper wrapper.
    “Think back. Can you remember seeing him specifically on the evening of December 17 th ?” asked Lynette.
    “Do I look like Rain Man? I have no idea if I saw him that day or not,” said the manager.
    “Well, then, do you keep some type of log or do you have surveillance videos?” asked Lynette.
    “I guess this is your lucky day,” replied the manager. “We do have security videos. Don’t you need a warrant for those?” There was an awkward silence. Neither Jackson nor Lynette even cracked a smile. “Just kidding. I’ll go get them.” He returned several minutes later with a DVD labeled December which he handed to Lynette .
    “Thank you for your help,” said Lynette. She and Jackson took the DVD and left the building.
    “I really hope this gives us the information we need,” said Lynette. Next, she and Jackson walked across to the apartment building where the lady with the poodle lived. They climbed the steps to her apartment.
    They knocked and heard a dog barking maniacally. “That’s why I prefer cats,” said Lynette. A gray-haired elderly Italian woman wearing a flowered housecoat opened the door.
    “Hello, ma’am.” Jackson flashed his badge. “How are you doing today?”
    “I’m fine. What can I do for you?”
    “We’re hoping you can help us. We are with the Westbrook Police Department. We’re investigating a murder. Would you mind taking a look at this photo? Have you by any chance seen this man?” Jackson handed the photo to the lady. She put on her reading glasses which she wore dangling from a beaded chain around her neck.
    “Yes, he’s around here quite often. He’s usually with Miss Pratt, the blonde lady who lives next door.”
    “Would you possibly remember if you saw him here the night of December 17? I know it’s hard to remember a specific date. It was a Monday night,” asked Lynette.
    “Why yes I do. That happens to be my grandson’s birthday. I was carrying in a cake and a bag of groceries. Marybeth, Miss Pratt, and I talked about how we used to enjoy baking birthday cakes but with the fabulous bakery section at Safeway it’s more convenient and probably cheaper to buy them. I had bought chips and dip, baby carrots, soda. He and Marybeth were nice enough to help me carry them to my door. Later that night, I saw them again when I was walking Fritzie.”
    “Thank you, ma’am. You’ve been extremely helpful,” said Jackson.
    “Anytime,” said the woman. Lynette could have sworn the woman was flirting with Jackson. She must be very lonely, thought Lynette.
    Lynette and Jackson drove back to the station.
    “I’ll go through the surveillance tapes and you keep working on locating Dr. Manning,” said Lynette. She thumbed through the stack of DVDs and quickly located the week in question. She popped it into the machine and voila. “There he is,” said Lynette. The tape was date and time stamped. “There’s no way Blaze Conrad could have killed Vicky.”
    “Wow, this gives him an alibi,” said Jackson. “Well, then, let’s focus on Javier. I just pulled up the doctor’s address. I also went through his credit card records and have a hit. We can check that location. It appears to be en route to the address I found for Dr. Manning.”
    “Wait, Jackson, not so fast. Look at this.”
    “That’s the girlfriend leaving her apartment alone,” said Jackson.
    “And what’s she carrying?” asked Lynette
    “It’s a small Tupperware container,” answered