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WHAT WAS HAPPENING? I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Was someone targeting the chamber music festival? What motive would someone have for doing that?
“What do I need to do?” I asked Detective Winn. My voice was shaky.
“Would you come down to the station in the morning? First thing? Just to identify the papers and to look at the noose?” Detective Winn responded.
“Yes, of course.” I could tell Julie was getting antsy for me to get off the phone and tell her what was going on. She was clearly perturbed that I hadn’t kept the call on speaker.
“We need your knowledge of these people and how they relate. I’ll see you in the morning, Lisa.” Detective Winn hung up.
“Well?” Julie asked, her eyes round.
“Andrew Hacker, one of the adjudicators for the festival, was found strangled.” I couldn’t believe I was saying those words.
“Another person has been killed? You need to cancel the festival, Lisa!” Julie looked really shaken.
“Just don’t want to do that yet. I’ll talk to Detective Winn tomorrow about security.” I tried to sound confident, but inside I was feeling punched in the gut.
“If you say so.” Julie shook her head.
“Come on, let’s go get your car.” I pulled out of the parking spot and headed toward Julie’s.
The next morning, my one tired eye peeked at the clock at 7:00. The other eye stayed shut. It was still dark out, and I had no idea what time the police station opened. It wasn’t as if Detective Winn lived at the police station and was there 24/7. I reached for my phone and googled Fairview Police Department. It said they were always open, but 9:30 or 10:00 seemed like a good time for Detective Winn to arrive at work. He seemed like the type to enjoy a hearty, leisurely breakfast, and a large mug of coffee. I decided I would go down around 9:30.
Now that the decision had been made, what was I going to do for the next two and a half hours? I looked at the foot of the bed. Henry was all curled up in the crocheted afghan I kept folded across the bottom of the bed. He had arranged it into a little nest and was softly snoring away.
I set my phone back on my nightstand and pulled the covers up higher over my shoulders, trying to get warm. I closed my eyes.
What Julie had said about canceling the festival kept replaying over and over in my head. Last night, I had taken her to her condo instead of her coming back to my cottage, like we had originally planned. What we had planned before we learned someone else had been murdered. A movie and ice cream sounded quite inappropriate given the circumstances.
Maybe it was just a coincidence. No, that couldn’t be. The violin string nooses were found beside both Esther and Andrew’s bodies. Andrew was not from Fairview. Esther had lived here her whole life. She frequently had luncheons, charity sales and book clubs with Mom, Margie Hillerman, Barb Jeffries, and the other ladies who ran “society” in Fairview. It just made little sense.
I rolled over to my other side and readjusted the blankets again. The fact of the matter was, the blankets would never be right, and I would not fall back to sleep. I was restless and just needed to get up. I rolled back over and sat up. Henry looked mildly irritated that I was disturbing his slumber. I might have been restless, but he was not and he did not sympathize..
After a quick shower and two hours of shuffling around the cottage, pretending I was accomplishing things, which I was not, I headed down to the police station. After a quick stop at The Caffeine Machine, I got to the police station around 9:10. When I asked for Detective Winn at the front desk, I was surprised to hear that he was in and waiting for me. The officer at the front desk escorted me back to what looked like an interrogation room and told me that Detective Winn would be right in.
I gingerly sat down at the table in the middle of the industrial gray room. It was creepy thinking about who else had sat at that table and the crimes they had committed. I quickly took my hands off the table and put them in my lap. I wish I hadn’t finished my morning chai, so I could hold the cup and keep my hands occupied.
Just then, Detective Winn came into the room. He was accompanied by another officer, and they had their hands full of files and, what, I assumed, was, the evidence.
“Good morning, Lisa. Thank you so much for coming down so early,” Detective Winn began.
“You’re welcome. I just hope I can be of help.” I looked at the papers and such that were being set on the table in front of me.
“This is Officer Miles. He has been working with me on this case. Jay, this is Lisa Todd.” Detective Winn pulled up a chair.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lisa. I know the circumstances are less than ideal.” Officer Miles also sat down at the table opposite me.
“So here are the papers that were found in Andrew Hacker’s car,” Detective Winn spread the file folder of papers out in front of me on the table. They were all documents that I easily recognized.
“These are all the schedules and forms that I had sent to Andrew regarding the festival this weekend. I sent them as emails, but he must have printed everything out.” I continued to flip through the papers, but nothing seemed out of place or unusual in any way.
“Nothing seems altered or suspicious?” Officer Miles asked.
“No. It’s the basic packet that I sent to both the adjudicators and the clinicians and performers. Sorry I can’t offer more.” I closed the folder and pushed it back across the table toward the officers.
“Okay. Let’s look at these,” Detective Winn opened three large Manila envelopes. With gloved hands, he took one violin string noose out of each envelope. “Do you see anything suspicious or off about these? We have little more to go on.”
I put my chin in my hands, elbows on the table, and stared at the three nooses. The first one was the one that was around the store sign, then the one that was beside Esther’s body and finally, the third one that was found with Andrew. Something was telling me that the nooses were more than just a signature of the murderer, as Detective Winn had explained. My intuition was telling me that there was more to them. I chewed my lip. Wait, a minute....
“May I touch them?” I asked. Detective Winn handed me a pair of gloves.
I pulled the blue rubber gloves over my hands and gently picked up the first noose and looked at it. A thought came over me. Would it be that obvious? I examined the second noose, the one found by Esther’s body. After setting it back on the table, I looked at the third one. The two nooses supported my idea. I almost feared voicing it, as I realized the implications.
“Detective Winn, I think I have figured something out.” I looked up from the nooses and look him in the eye.
“What?” He and Officer Miles were listening intently.
“If you look at the first noose, the one from the Fairview Music sign, you can see that it has all four violin strings.” I lifted the noose for the two policemen to have a closer look.
“How many strings does a violin have?” Officer Miles asked, looking closely at the Fairview Music sign noose.
“Four. Violins, violas, cellos, and basses all have four strings.” I felt very knowledgeable and detective-like. Then I picked up the other two nooses. “Look, these two only have three. They are wound pretty tight, and it is hard to see, but if you look here, at the end, there are only three strings.” I looked again closely, then passed them to the officers to examine up close.
“You are right! These two only have three strings.” Detective Winn compared the first and second nooses closely.
“Do you think that means something?” Officer Miles picked up the second noose and looked closely at the strings at the end and how many there were.
“Possibly. I need to run to my store and grab a pack of violin strings. I’m not a violinist and I want to double-check my theory. May I run and be back in 15 minutes?” I asked, like they were going to say no?
“Yes, please. We will wait,” Officer Winn motioned toward the door of the interrogation room. I grabbed my bag off the floor and headed out.
It was only a few blocks to the store. I didn’t think to go slowly and check for any intruders. I hurriedly unlocked the door and just grabbed a pack of Pizzicato Professionals for Violin off the little peg it was hanging on and raced back out of the door. I did take the time to double-check the deadbolt and headed back to the police station.
Detective Winn and Officer Miles were right where I left them. I sat back down and the table and pulled the new pack of string out of my bag. I opened the pack and took out the strings. Laying them out on the table, it was easy to see which string was which. I compared them to the second noose, which was by Esther’s body. Then I compared them to the third noose which had been discovered by Andrew.
“Alright. So, this noose, the one that was by Esther’s body, is missing the E string.” I held up the new E string and showed the officers that it was missing. The men carefully looked at and compared the noose strings with the separate string that was in my hand.
“No, that string is not there.” Officer Miles held the strings about three inches from his face.
“Then, this one, the noose that was found with Andrew, is missing the A string,” I repeated, showing them the noose with the A string from the package that I had just opened.
“And Esther starts with E, and Andrew starts with A.” Detective Winn was coming to the same conclusion that I had come to.
“What are the next two strings?” Officer Miles asked in a halting tone.
“D and G.” I looked at them. We sat in silence for a second, as we all clearly had the same thought.
“So, someone whose name begins with D is next?” Officer Miles asked. Clearly, he asked, hoping the answer would be no.
“It sure seems that way.” Detective Winn rubbed his eyes.
“I think I need to get back to my paperwork and find anyone who is attending the festival whose name starts with D.” My eyes darted back and forth between the two men.
“Yes, and please hurry!” Detective Winn directed. I picked up my bag and practically ran out of the police station.