Free Murder at Breakfast by Steve Demaree Page A

things.
     
    +++
     
    I
pulled into the “Visitors Parking” area at Parkway Arms and pulled my map of
the premises from my shirt pocket. I wanted to consult my map, but I also
wanted to allow my lunch an ample amount of time to find a spot to rest while I
worked. I looked over the list of residents and decided to begin my questioning
on the third floor. I already knew that Russell Cochran and Elaine Jewell were
the only ones who had had their breakfasts sent up that morning and that
Cochran and Mrs. Higgins were the only ones to have their lunches sent up. I
wanted to let Miss Draper know that Lou and I were there to question the
residents. She sighed, knowing that we had to do it. When I returned from her
office, I noticed Lou and the cop on duty laughing about something. They
stopped laughing when I joined them.
    “Well,
my friend, are you ready to quit having a good time and get back to work?”
    “Ready
when you are.”
    I
walked over toward the elevator, noticed a sign on the door, “Elevator out of
order. Please use the stairs. Sorry for the inconvenience.” Luckily I
recognized Lou’s handwriting, ignored the sign, and pushed the button. Then, I
ripped the sign from the door, handed it back to Lou. He smiled, folded it, put
it in his pocket.

10
     
     
    Christine
Hunt lived across the hall from Russell Cochran. Lou and I walked up to her
door and knocked. We had talked to someone who worshipped Mrs. Higgins. We were
about to talk to someone who despised her. I knocked and waited for someone to
answer the door. In a few seconds, an elegantly-looking woman opened the door
and looked at us with a quizzical look on her face. Like many of the other
females we had encountered at the apartment building, this woman was above
average in height and not overweight.
    “Yes?
May I help you with something?”
    “I
assume you are Christine Hunt.”
    “I
am. And you are?”
    “I
am Lt. Dekker of the Hilldale Police Department and this is Sgt. Murdock. We’d
like a few minutes of your time.”
    “Whatever
for?”
    “Do
you mind if we step in?”
    “Oh,
all right, if you insist. Has there been a burglary in the neighborhood? We’re
pretty safe here. We keep our doors locked, and no one can get in the windows.”
    “Do
you know a woman named Hazel Allnut?”
    “Hazel,
of course. Did something happen to her?”
    I
refrained from saying, “I wish,” and answered, “No, I was just wondering what
you can tell me about her.”
    “Well,
she’s a friend of mine. I don’t know why, because both of us are the assertive
type, like to get our way. But we get along famously.”
    “When
is the last time you saw her?”
    “Oh,
a couple of days ago. I started to check with her to see if she wanted to go
shopping and to lunch with me yesterday, but it slipped my mind, so I ended up
going alone.”
    “So,
you were out yesterday. When did you leave and when did you come home?”
    “Normally
I don’t pay attention to that stuff, but I needed to get out of here before
they started shampooing the carpet, and I couldn’t come back until afterward.
Anyway, I left here a little before 10:00, got back just after 4:00. Probably more like 4:15. Did something happen while I was gone?”
    “I
don’t know.”
    “Well,
you seem to be interested in my whereabouts, and my friend. Anyone else you
want to know about?”
    “How
about Russell Cochran? Do you know him?”
    “Know
him? I dream about him every night. He’s a handsome devil and the two of us
could make wonderful music together. Of course, for some reason I can’t
understand he has had his eye on that Higgins woman on the second floor. But if
what I heard at breakfast this morning is correct, she keeled over sometime
yesterday, so I guess old Russell is fair game now.”
    “You
seem to be pretty broken up about Mrs. Higgins’ death.”
    “Oh,
so that’s why you’re here. You think I bumped her off. How did she die, anyway?
No one seems to know.”
    “Including
me.