Free And a Puzzle to Die On by Parnell Hall Page B

few points for Sherry?”
    Aaron raised his eyebrows inquiringly.
    “I dumped her booze,” Sherry translated.
    A PUZZLING SITUATION
by Manny Nosowsky

    ACROSS
1
Nostalgic yet fashionable
6
Computer game gobbler
12
Green land?
16
Neptune’s domain
17
Actor Peter of “Becket”
18
Where the auction is on-line
19
Soundtrack of the Puzzle Lady’s favorite sci-fi movie
22
Freebie
23
Steinbeck migrants
24
Call for a dealer?
25
“Give it ___” (“Check it out”)
27
They go up and down
30
Grammarian’s shtick
33
Hole in the ground
36
___ Xing (street sign)
37
Blubber
40
Like the Puzzle Lady
44
___ tai cocktail
45
Areas
46
“Uh-uh!”
47
Grammy winner Morissette
49
Popular gas-guzzler
50
Jayhawker
52
Fill the bill?
53
Firehouse fleet
55
Make a lap
56
What the Puzzle Lady hopes you’ll do
60
Inspirational talk: Abbr.
61
Emulate Chief Dale Harper
62
Doubling prefix?
63
___ fit (tantrum, Southern-style)
64
Allen or Frome
66
Bank claim
68
Confidence games
71
Gobbled up
74
“Night” author Wiesel
78
What we have to say to the Puzzle Lady
82
“I’d hate to break up ___”
83
Gromyko or Sakharov
84
New currency
85
Like buildup on a floor
86
Injury
87
Lost one’s balance?
    DOWN
1
College military unit: Abbr.
2
Say again
3
Be rife (with)
4
“Elephant Walk” climax
5
Married or single?
6
“Th-th-that’s all, folks” speaker
7
Yours, en français
8
Join the party
9
Unlike a rolling stone?
10
Space bar neighbor
11
PBS benefactor
12
Clark’s exploration partner
13
Blind as ___
14
Close, in hide-and-seek
15
NASDAQ rival
20
In favor of
21
Old Valerie Harper sitcom
26
Country singer Gibbs
28
Major work
29
Nonetheless
30
Reveals, on Halloween
31
Shipping route
32
Fly guy
34
“___ Fair” (Don Cornell song)
35
Premeditation, say
37
Obeys the periodontist
38
Helpers from abroad
39
Itsy
41
Director Craven
42
For all to see
43
Larry King employer
48
In mint condition
50
Barbie’s beau
51
“Steady ___ goes”
53
Napoleon’s isle
54
Sealed shut with a hammer
57
On pins and needles
58
“Well, ___ -di-dah!”
59
Seder container
64
Running on fumes
65
Teased teenagers
67
One-million link?
68
“Pygmalion” playwright
69
“Mi ___ es su …”
70
High point
72
Longfellow’s “The Bell of ___”
73
The other Van Gogh
75
Tales of the tribe
76
Multivitamin supplement
77
Sun spot?
79
___ Harbour, FL
80
It makes Paul a girl?
81
Ouija board reply
    “I thought you weren’t drinking, Cora.”
    “Oh, now
you’re
starting with me?”
    “Not at all. What was it you wanted?”
    “I was wondering if the
Gazette
had any papers in the morgue with articles on the Darryl Daigue case.”
    “Probably would, if they hadn’t converted to microfilm. It’s on file in the library. Jimmy Potter will dig it out for you if you want.”
    “What do you know of the case?”
    Aaron shrugged. “No more than anybody else. He raped and killed a girl, was found guilty, went up for life.”
    Cora grimaced, shook her head. “See, now that’s the thing.”
    “What?”
    “He didn’t rape her. He was charged with raping her, but the charge was dropped when the medical examination showed she wasn’t raped.”
    “Is that right?”
    “Yes, it is. You see my problem? You just know what everybody knows.” Cora shook her head. “And everybody knows
wrong
.”

Dr. Jenkins was younger than Cora had expected, with straw-colored hair that had a habit of slipping down into his sky-blue eyes. Rather inconvenient in examining patients, but damned effective in arousing the passions of the opposite sex. Cora had to keep reminding herself that the good doctor was married, on the one hand, and considerably her junior, on the other. Though the latter would not necessarily have deterred her, if she felt inclined.
    Nor the former, for that matter.
    “I’m sorry to bother you, Doctor,” Cora purred, disingenuously. “If I could just have a few moments of your time.”
    “Sergeant Walpole said you had some questions about Mr. Gleason.”
    “You performed the