Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #3: Books 9-12 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [reading in the dark TXT] 📗

She was nodding as I spoke. “I’d say, given the characteristics of the wound, and the absence of GSR, that is pretty much how it went down. But if that’s correct, you have one hell of a problem. Unless he was shot by someone from the Enterprise who was then beamed up, I don’t know what happened to your shooter.”

I nodded back. “That is, indeed, the problem.” I looked at Charles. “But I have to say, Charles, in my opinion there can be no doubt that your grandfather was shot while he was reading, from over here.”

The major was frowning. “Well that makes perfect sense, but, as um… um…” He squinted at Dehan. “Dianne says, what happened to the blighter who shot him?”

I stood and looked around the room slowly while Dehan spoke. “Right down to basics, Stone, if you kill somebody in a locked room, you have to stay in the locked room with them. That is the whole basis of the locked room problem, right?”

“Right.”

“So, either: one, there is a concealed exit, two, he was killed from outside, or three, the room was locked from outside after the killing. There is no fourth alternative.”

Charles gestured toward the chair where I had been sitting. “Well, we have already seen that the shot came from over there. The only way the shot could have come from outside would have been through the window, in which case the window would have been either open or broken, and the shot would have entered the other side of his head, which it didn’t. So that leaves either a secret exit, or the door being locked from the outside, after the murder.”

The major nodded doubtfully. “Houses of this period did have secret passages, often…”

I pointed at the bay window. “That goes straight out onto the drive.” I pointed to the door. “That leads into the hall, so that would make no sense. That wall there,” I pointed at the huge bookcase, “leads out to the steps down to the kitchen, which leaves only that wall there, where the fireplace is…”

I looked at Charles. He shook his head. “That leads onto the ballroom and a brook cupboard, I’m afraid. The police did a very thorough search for secret doors and passages. Your friend, Green, he was convinced, like you, that it was murder. But they never found anything. I’m afraid the secret passage theory is a non-starter. There is simply nowhere to put one.”

Dehan sighed. “Which leaves the theory that the room was locked from the outside after the murder.”

I returned to the chesterfield, sat, and gazed at the major a moment. “What time did Charles Sr. go in to see his father?”

“Mid morning, around eleven o’clock.”

“They talked for over an hour. Then…” I looked at Charles. “your father came out, went running to the kitchen, hugged cook and spread the good news, before leaving to tell Pam about his father’s change of heart. He was gone two hours, which brings us to about two o’clock, when he returns, and as he approaches, through the window he sees Old Man Gordon sitting at his desk…”

Dehan said, “Which gives us a window from 12 o’clock, when Charles Sr. last saw his father, to 2 o’clock, when he returned and saw him through the window.”

I looked at her, thought a moment and then carried on. “He entered the hall and presumably came straight to his father’s study. Did anybody see him?”

The major shook his head. “Not at that stage. I was out on the lawn chatting with Bee. We saw Charles Sr. arrive down the drive and go into the house, and as far as I know the staff were all in the kitchen. First anyone knew about Charles trying to get into the study was when the butler heard him kicking down the door.”

I nodded. “So Charles kicked open the door, rushed in and found his father as you have described him, with his arm hanging down and the revolver on the floor.”

“That’s correct.”

“Was it normal for Charles Sr. to lock the door?”

The major nodded. “Oh yes, he used to have… um…”

He glanced at Charles Jr., who smiled. “It’s all right, Major. My grandfather used to have affairs, and he would often have private conversations with them on the telephone, so it was quite normal for him to have the door locked. Also, when he worked, he didn’t like to be disturbed. However, apparently my father knocked several times and got no reply, and that was when he became alarmed.”

Dehan said, “So he rushed in, found his father, and how long transpired then before you and the staff arrived, Major?”

“Oh, not more than a minute, probably less. When I got here, the butler had already arrived and Charles was just standing there, by the desk, staring down at his father. Terrible thing for a young lad to see. Shocking.”

“And the lock was busted.”

He glanced over at the door, as though to confirm it had been busted, and nodded. “Yes.”

Dehan scratched her head. “So in that scenario, while your father was away talking to Pam, somebody came into the study, took your father’s gun, shot him, arranged it to look like suicide, slipped out and used some thin pliers or a similar tool to turn the key from the outside.”

Charles raised his eyebrows and nodded. “If you’re right, and it was murder, that would seem to be the only way it could be done. I can’t see any other.” He frowned, shook his head and gave an incredulous laugh. “But who on Earth…? It would have to be one of the staff, the major here or Bee!”

The Major goggled in alarm at Charles. I smiled and shook my head. “Not necessarily. There are actually a number of potential candidates