“Just a minute, Lieutenant. .” The interruption this time came from Janet. “You seem to be saying. . you’re implying that one of us here is the guilty party. And I resent that. I deeply resent that!”
“Somebody put poison in a drink. It had to be someone with motive, capability, and opportunity.”
“Yes,” Janet replied, “but we are not alone on campus. There are many students boarding here temporarily during the conference.”
“We know that,” Tully said. “They’re in. .” He checked his notes. “. . the Florent Gillet Student Residence. But of the six campus security guards, two were assigned to this building, Cadillac Hall, and three were at the Student Residence. And all of them agree that no one left the residence this evening. And no one entered Cadillac Hall tonight except Reverend Benbow, who took a walk and then returned. No one left the campus after Krieg’s assistant drove out in the limo, presumably after the Reverend dismissed him.”
Krieg nodded weakly.
“Besides, we’re also looking for motive. And from what’s been said among yourselves over the past couple of days, it seems as if there might be plenty of motive right here in this room.”
Tully might have added that he did not fathom the intensity of the writers’ animosity toward Krieg. But he was going to make it his business to damn well understand what was at the core of it just as quickly as possible.
“Now,” Tully continued, “the Medical Examiner tells us that Rabbi Winer died sometime between 8:00 and 10:00 this evening. I would appreciate it if each of you could tell me where you were between those hours. Let’s start with Father Koesler.”
“Me!” Koesler was clearly startled. “But you know-”
“For the record, Father. Everyone.”
“Well, I was. . I was at the movie.”
“From beginning to end?”
“From beginning to end. That’s right.”
“Anyone see you there?”
Koesler almost laughed. “I’d say so. Sister Janet was strong about making our presence known to the students so they could see that at least part of the faculty would be with them even when not required to be. So the three of us sat together at the front of the auditorium.”
“The three of you?”
“Mrs. Benbow, Sister Janet, and I.”
“None of you left the theater at any time?”
“No.”
“Father Augustine?”
“I went to my room right after dinner and stayed there until I was called down here after they found the body.”
“Anyone who can corroborate that?”
“I was in my room, alone. No, no one can verify. . but I resent-”
“Reverend Benbow?”
“Well, as you’ve already mentioned, I took a walk after dinner. And then I returned to this building and went up to my. . uh. . our room.”
“Anyone see you?”
“The guards. They saw me leave and then return.”
“It was a short walk. No more than half an hour at most. That leaves plenty of time you were in the building. All that time you were by yourself?”
“I’m afraid so. Martha was at the movie.”
“I see. Sister Marie?”
“Lieutenant, I don’t see the purpose of this. Let’s say your hypothesis is true and that the liqueur was poisoned sometime after dinner last evening. That leaves all of that time-from after dinner yesterday until sometime between 8:00 and 10:00 tonight-for the murderer to act. That’s what. . better than twenty-four hours. Why, then, are you so eager to know what we were doing for a few hours tonight?”
“Narrowing it down, Sister. You’ll remember that after dinner last night you went through the psychodrama that Reverend Krieg arranged. Krieg and the kitchen attendants were in the dining room constantly until you returned to ‘view the body.’ Then you all were together in one of the classrooms until I came. After which you all retired. And, because of all the commotion, the head of the campus security force called five of the six guards into this building. They say there was no further movement throughout the building the rest of last night.
“Then during the day today, people have been in and out of the kitchen and dining room all day long. It’s not likely someone who had to get a key from an adjacent room, open a cabinet, find the specific bottle, and then carefully pour in the poison-it’s not likely the killer would have chanced being seen doing this by all the people who were milling about this area through the day.
“No, the best opportunity the killer had was after dinner this evening. All the excitement of last night was over. Things were very quiet and, as we are learning, no one will admit to being in this area. On top of that, after dinner everyone announced where they planned to spend the evening. Three of you to the movie, one for a walk, and the rest of you to your rooms. It was the perfect time for one of you to return and pour the poison.”
Tully paused, but Marie appeared to have nothing further to say.
“So,” Tully said, “Sister Marie, your whereabouts from 8:00 to 10:00 this evening?”
Marie seemed to sigh, but it was inaudible. “I’m afraid my case is a carbon copy of Father Augustine’s evening. I went to my room and stayed there. . catching up on some correspondence.” She brightened. “I have the letters I wrote if you want to see them.”
Tully shook his head. “You could be a fast writer. You could have written them anytime. Any outside verification?”
Marie lowered her eyes and shook her head.
Tully nodded once, concluding one phase and beginning another.
“I think it would be good,” Tully addressed Janet, “if you would continue with this workshop.”
“Lieutenant,” Janet said, “as the resident host of this conference there’s nothing I’d like better than to proceed. But what about Reverend Krieg? We can’t let anything happen to him. And from what you’ve said I have to assume that his life is still threatened.”
“That depends,” Tully said. “The only way we can create a safe environment for you, Reverend Krieg, is to keep you under lock and key in a safe place with police presence and protection.”
“I’d have to stay in my room?” The mere fact someone had addressed him personally seemed to have awakened something within Krieg. His color began to return.
“Something very much like that, yes,” Tully replied.
Krieg pondered that for a moment. “No, I won’t do that. Out of the question.”
“Then we’ll do our best, but it can’t be perfect. Now, about continuing the conference. Are you all willing?”
“Funny,” Benbow said, “we had this same choice last night when we wondered whether to continue the conference after some heated words had been exchanged. And the odd thing is that it was Rabbi Winer who said something about having to go on. To see how this would end. And now, this is how it ended for him: He’s gone.”
Tully gave them a few moments to consider their choice.
“Reverend Krieg is the one at risk,” Marie said. “If he’s willing, I’m sure the rest of us will go along.”
Another pause. Tully would wait as long as necessary for them to decide.
“I’m willing,” Krieg said, quietly.
“Then so am I,” Marie.
“And I,” Benbow.
“All right,” Augustine.
“Good,” Tully. “Then the next order of business is that each of you will be interviewed by one of our officers.”
“Now?” Janet said. “Lieutenant, it’s late, and these people will have to work tomorrow in an extremely trying atmosphere. Couldn’t we-”
“Sister,” Tully interrupted, “this is a homicide investigation. The investigation has top priority. We’ll ask you all to cooperate and give your statements now.” There was something about the way he emphasized, “now,” that made it clear that the time frame was non-negotiable.
There were no further objections.
“One thing more,” Tully said, “we will want to search your rooms. All of you.”
“No you don’t! No you don’t!” Augustine was vehement. “That’s going a bit far. We know better. You can’t do that without a search warrant.”