Free 52 Steps to Murder by Steve Demaree Page B

black galoshes, and a yellow rain hat.”
    “And you’re sure they went into the house, Mr. Silverman?”
    “I sure am, Lieutenant,” the neighbor answered, nodding as he replied.
    “Through the front door?”
    “No down the chimney. Of course through the front door. How else was someone to get in?”
    “Well, they could always pry away the plywood. When did this happen?”
    “Last night.”
    “And you’re just now letting the police know?”
    “Sorry, Lieutenant, I didn’t have your phone number, and I find a person always saves time when he starts at the top and works down.”
    “Well, I’m not exactly the top of department, Mr. Silverman. But enough about that. How did you happen to notice this person?”
    “Well, I just happened to be walking by the window when I saw someone wearing a raincoat walking down the street. It surprised me, because it wasn’t raining, so I decided to look and see which way they went.”
    I had to keep from smiling when Stanley Silverman told me that he just happened to be walking by the window. I was sure that Stanley Silverman happened to walk by the window any time he thought there was something to see outside that window. I brushed away my thoughts about the nosy neighbor and continued my questioning.
    “Did the intruder immediately turn at the Nelson house and climb the steps?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Did this person seem to labor as they climbed the steps, or did this person climb them like they were used to the ordeal?”
    “Whoever it was had no trouble climbing the steps. They hurried up the steps.”
    The thought that anyone could hurry up those steps reminded me of my sore legs. Immediately I deduced that neither Lou nor I had been walking in our sleep. Besides, sleepwalking takes far more energy than dreaming.
    “And what did you do after you saw this person?”
    Mr. Silverman smiled sheepishly before he replied.
    “I sat down in my chair and watched through my night-vision binoculars.”
    I couldn’t suppress a smile.
    “And I assume that eventually someone came out of the house.”
    “About thirty minutes later, but that was the strange part.”
    “Do you mean it didn’t look like the same person?”
    “No, it definitely looked like the same person, but they didn’t come out of the same house. Whoever it was came out of Mabel Jarvis’s house.”
    “You mean the woman in the wheelchair?”
    “That’s the one.”
    “Well, maybe you were gone for a moment when this person left one house and went over to the other one.”
    “I swear, Lieutenant. I never left my chair. I saw everything,” Stanley Silverman replied, holding up his fingers as if taking an oath of a Boy Scout. I doubted if Stanley Silverman was ever a Boy Scout.
    “Well, could it be that we’re looking for two people, Mr. Silverman?”
    “You tell me, Lieutenant. All I know is the outfit looked the same and both people looked to be the same size.”
    “And what size was that, Mr. Silverman?”
    “Average.”
    “Average for a man or a woman?”
    “I don’t know. They weren’t real tall and they weren’t real short. They were average.”
    “You said that you were looking through your night-vision binoculars, but since you cannot identify the intruder I assume you didn’t get a look at his or her face?”
    “Whoever it was had on a ski mask. I couldn’t tell a thing.”
    “Well, could you tell anything or eliminate anyone you know from the size of the person?”
    “I guess you’re talking about people I know. The only one I might be able to eliminate is Jimmy Reynolds. He’s too big. Or at least, that’s the way it looked to me. Anyway, while this person seemed strange, they didn’t seem as strange as Jimmy. They walked normal like, only kind of fast.”
    “Mr. Silverman, think of the walk. Is there anyone you know who walks like that person did?”
    Mr. Silverman paused, rested his chin in his hand, and pondered my question.
    “Well, come to think of it, the person