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IMPOSSIBLE! I WOULD have noticed if that coveted trophy was missing, even for the time it took to kill Cunningham. The ADDY is an award every advertising agency salivates for, and I’d won it that year.
It was like a slap to the head when I realized I wouldn’t have known, after all. The night of Cunningham’s murder—the night I’d foolishly gone back to my office—someone had been there before me. Ramon could confirm that. He found the office door open when they came to clean.
Before I could say anything, Nathan stood up and said in a very firm voice, “Detective McCrary, I want you to delay arresting Miss Harsen. I have good reason for this request.”
He looked over at me because I was trying to say something, and he continued. “It looks as though Miss Harsen wants to say something. Please allow her to speak.”
McCrary seemed docile as a lamb, obviously impressed by the importance of the men in the room. He nodded to me to say whatever I wanted to say.
“The night I went to the office and signed the after-hours register, someone had been in my office and it wasn’t the first time. The head of the cleaning crew, Ramon, was in the office with his helper Marisol and said the door was unlocked when he got there. He thought I’d been there earlier, and went out for a few minutes, but I told him it wasn’t me. I’m sure he would remember telling me that if you questioned him. He also told me that wasn’t the first time he found the door unlocked. Somehow, whoever it was even bypassed my security code.”
I cleared my throat, feeling more confident. “Couldn’t whoever it was have taken the trophy and used it to kill Tyler Cunningham to implicate me? That makes sense, doesn’t it?”
I’d gotten McCrary’s attention. He scratched his chin and appeared to be running this possibility through his mind. “Yes, I suppose that could be the way it happened, but why weren’t they on the register and how did that trophy reappear in your office?”
Oh, I had him there. I knew exactly how that could have happened. Nathan and the others leaned forward, interested to hear my explanation.
“See, Ramon has a master key to the offices, and the doors have to be locked from the outside with a key. That means someone could have been let into my office, but wouldn’t be able to lock the door when they left unless they had a key. I guess they had some way of getting our security code. I hate to think it could have been any of my employees. Then, since I was taking time off, I called into the office the next morning and by that time everyone had heard about the murder either on the radio or TV. Maggie asked if I’d come in early to get something and forgot to lock the door when I left because it was unlocked when she got there that morning.”
The more I talked, the more I could visualize what must have happened. The murder was planned before I even got to the building and someone was setting me up to take the fall. Somehow they got into my office, took the trophy and possibly murdered Tyler while I was in the building. It was actually their good fortune that I’d signed into the register, because that confirmed I was in the building that night. It was also their good fortune that Tyler sustained a cut that bled, or maybe they made sure that happened. Scalp wounds bleed profusely, but of course, that wasn’t what killed him. However, the blow did cut him and it did leave a trace of the blood on my trophy.
The point where he was struck could produce the symptoms of a stroke which occurs when the brain is starved of oxygen-rich blood. The brain cells die and the person strokes out. I assumed the murderer knew just where to strike my unfortunate ex-boss as he bent over documents on his desk. It was a safe bet the murderer was someone he knew.
Then the murderer got back into my office and replaced the trophy, but once again couldn’t lock the door. As for being in the building, if the person was in the building for several hours he or she would not have had to sign out, as they didn’t sign in. They could just leave, and there would be no record of them being there that evening.
I summarized my theory for McCrary, and he agreed to check into it further before taking action. He acknowledged my visitors, then turned to make a hasty retreat saying that he would be back in touch. I knew Nathan’s presence had a lot to do with him backing off and listening to what I had to say.
Talk about relief, even if it might be temporary. At least for the time being I was off the hook and I assumed McCrary would interview Ramon and try to find anyone who might have seen someone going into my office or coming out after hours.
Nathan said they were ready to fill us in now on how they found us and everything else that transpired. Just as McCrary reached my door, Nathan said,. “You might want to stay for this Detective McCrary. Some of what I am going to say possibly involves the murderer of Tyler Cunningham.”
It’s hard to handle that much on an empty stomach. My Mom always offered snacks to visitors and sometimes I try to be like her. This was one of those times.
“I’m going to put on a pot of coffee. I have some delicious chocolate cake in the fridge. I suggest we move into the dining room, because frankly, after everything that happened today, I need a chocolate fix. Does anyone prefer tea or a soda?”
Director Kincaid asked for tea, and everyone else was fine with coffee. They settled around the dining room table, and I made my way to the kitchen where I waited for my pounding heart to settle back to normal. Chocolate and caffeine were my top priorities.