Chapter 25

“Well, Watson, we shall see who will win in the long run.”

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Five Orange Pips

It was getting dark when I climbed up into Karl’s black Hummer feeling like a million years had passed since last night. The weather was colder and still foggy. I shivered. Maybe I was going to get sick and die. I was ready.

“Have you eaten?” Karl asked. “Want to stop somewhere for dinner?”

“In this outfit?”

“Yeah. You’ve got a point. What about drive-up take out? On me.”

“No thanks, Karl. I don’t feel like food. I’m jumpy, tired and cold all at the same time.”

“You were lucky you called your boyfriend back. If you hadn’t, you’d be sitting in jail charged with murder and no chance of bail,” Karl said for the third time. “Wow, those cops all wanted to read that steamy message you left him. I was glad I didn’t have to read that hot stuff aloud in court.”

I said nothing. It couldn’t get worse.

“Don’t do this to me again, huh,” he said.

Karl turned up the heat so I’d stop shivering.

“Karl, why are we heading north instead of south to Woodlawn to pick up my car?”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you? After you called me this morning - and don’t ever call me that early again - I called your mother. Your Auntie and George were there and we hatched a plan to cover your ass. George picked up your car and took over your surveillance today so you probably still have a job.

“Really? How’d he know where the job was?”

“I called Phil. He told me. He wasn’t surprised to hear you’re in hot water again. He said to say hi.”

“What am I supposed to say?”

“Listen, the worst thing was finding your car.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “George finally found it parked four blocks away.”

“If I’d parked in front of the Grange mansion, the cops would have had it towed. So don’t smirk. I thought I did good.”

“Yeah, you’re a regular Agatha Christie.”

Karl then filled me in on what had happened to Mrs. Toller. He’d found out that she had been bludgeoned with one of the statues from the library.

“Karl, I saw those statutes when I was there. Did you find out where Mr. Toller was while she was being murdered?”

“No. Or Ivy Douglas either. They wouldn’t tell me any more than I’ve told you.”

Karl said he’d also told Debra Yates what happened to me. She reported that Tom was now out of intensive care. Did that mean he was out of his coma? Will he remember who shoved him? Will he know where the Grange diary is? Had he guessed where the Doyle notes were? At least he was now safe. Karl said the cops had placed a guard at his door after they discovered Mrs. Toller’s body. So the cops too believed there was a connection between the attack on him and Mrs. Toller’s murder. I was sure they thought I’d done both. I suspected they’d never let me see Tom.

After I got out and thanked him, he leaned out the window. “DD, take my advice. Remember what I told you about not leaving the Cook County jurisdiction. And at least until you go before the court, do everything - and I mean everything - by the rules. If you don’t, you’ll be back in the can again faster than you can say ‘call Karl.’”