He looked up when they entered, sporting the typical slightly confused and frustrated expression of a man not used to working on a PC.
“Hey, Uncle,” Odelia said. “So what’s this breakthrough you were talking about?”
“Well, looks like we finally cracked the case,” he said, then pounded a few keys on his keyboard angrily and finally threw up his hands with an exasperated groan. “How you youngsters can figure out this crap is beyond me. How do I open Niklaus Skad’s emails again? I know you showed me just yesterday, Chase, but I’ve gone and forgotten all about it.”
Chase walked around the desk and took over the mouse and keyboard.“You just click here and type in your password and you’re in,” he explained.
Chief Alec gave Odelia a grimace.“It’s all Chinese to me. I’m happy I can check my own emails. I don’t need to check anyone else’s.”
“What did you want to check?” Chase asked, stepping back.
“Well, the coroner called about an hour ago. He said he’s been all wrong about the time of death. Apparently it was a little tough to establish an exact time with the body being all burned up. But he did some more tests, and said time of death was an hour, hour-and-a-half earlier than he initially thought. Which means…” he said meaningfully, his eyes glittering.
“That we have to recheck all of the suspects’ alibis,” Odelia completed the sentence.
“Already done that,” said the Chief, picking up a yellow legal pad. He held it up. “This beats any computer any day in my book.”
“That’s because you’re old, Chief,” Chase teased.
“Yeah, I’m old, and I’m not too proud to admit it!”
“So where does this leave us?” Odelia asked, already going over each suspect in her mind.
“Well, let’s see what we’ve got,” said the Chief, frowning at his notes, which looked pretty illegible to Odelia. “According to Abe, time of death was around eleven, and not after midnight. Brainard and Isabella were engaged with their Echo from nine until three o’clock at night.”
“That was a marathon session,” said Chase with a glint of amusement.
“You can say that again. Guess I’ll have to read up on my Kama Sutra one of these days.”
“Or get yourself an Echo,” Odelia suggested.
“Never in my life,” said the Chief adamantly. “So who else is on this list? Hendrik Serarols. He’s in the clear, too. His interview at the other restaurant, which took place over a late dinner with the proprietor, lasted from eleven until well after midnight. And since he also had to get there and back, he’s in the clear.”
“Too bad,” said Chase. “I liked him as a suspect.”
“That leaves us with Cybil Truscott,” the Chief continued. “Whose toy boy exploits started around ten, as evidenced by multiple witnesses.”
“And Facebook videos,” Odelia added.
“So that leaves her out as well.”
“What about Stacie Roebuck?” Chase asked. “The bullied assistant?”
“Well, I talked to the guy in charge of security at the Hampton Springs Hotel. They have some complicated system installed, where they can check time stamps on the key cards. They were so kind to check the log for Room 327 and found that Miss Roebuck was in from nine until six o’clock in the morning, when she apparently went for a morning jog.”
“She could have snuck out through the window and jumped to the balcony of the next room,” Odelia said, remembering how Max, Dooley and Brutus said they’d gained access to Stacie’s room.
Her uncle pointed a finger at her.“And that’s why I had the neighbors checked. The family staying in 325 were in all night. Only left the room for dinner, and then retired for the night. Same story with the septuagenarian in 326. He went to bed at nine and got up at five to go for a walk.”
“Very boring people,” Chase muttered. “Who stays in all night?”
“Families and old folks,” said Uncle Alec with a stern look at him. “They can’t all be Cybil Truscotts or partying teenagers, Chase.”
“Fair enough,” he said, holding up his hands.
“Besides, I thought we already established that Stacie Roebuck doesn’t have the kind of physical strength needed to carry out this murder?” Alec added.
“Just making sure we’ve covered all the bases,” Chase said.
“Next—and now it gets interesting,” said the Chief, “is Konrad Daines.” He settled back, a smug expression on his face. “Mr. Daines was arrested for disorderly conduct and public intoxication when he crashed the Clintons’ party.”
“So? That gives him a rock-solid alibi,” said Chase.
“Officers were called to the scene at two o’clock in the morning,” the Chief added triumphantly. “We talked to the people he was partying with, and that particular party only started after midnight. So we have no idea what Mr. Daines was up to before that time. That wasn’t a problem when we thought Niklaus had been killed after midnight, but now…”
“He just might have done it,” Chase said.
“Exactly.”
Odelia stared at her uncle.“So you think Konrad Daines is our guy?”
“I think Konrad Daines is our guy,” the Chief confirmed. “And to that effect I’ve sent a couple of officers around to the hotel to pick him up.” He checked his watch. “They should be back any minute now.”
“We talked to Konrad,” Chase reminded Alec. “I liked him as a suspect.”
“Oh, and one other thing,” said the Chief. “I remembered seeing an email Niklaus wrote to Konrad. That’s why I was trying to access the emails.” He turned the screen so Odelia could follow along. Her uncle quickly scrolled through the emails, then tapped the screen with his pudgy finger. “Here it is. I knew I’d seen it flash by.”
“You have to click the mouse to open the email, Uncle,” Odelia said. “Tapping it with your finger won’t work.”
“Unless he’s got a touchscreen,” Chase added.
“I know that!” the Chief cried. “I may not know a lot about computers, but I know how to use a mouse!” He clicked to open the email. “Listen to this,” he said. “This is from the day before Niklaus died. ‘I heard aboutChopped Liver being, well, chopped. I’m so sorry about your loss, Konrad. Not! I told youKitchen Disasters was the superior show and I was the superior chef and now I’ve gone and proved it. I hope this will show you that I’m the greatest celebrity chef in the world, and you’ll always be a second-rate amateur. Take that, you whiny loser!’”
“That wasn’t very nice,” Chase said.
“No, that was outright mean,” Odelia said, shocked.
“And I think it’s motive,” said the Chief. “Konrad got this email, spent the day chewing on it, and by the time evening rolled around, he’d gone and whipped himself up into a frenzy of rage and revenge. He knew Niklaus was in town, and most likely to be found atFry Me for an Oyster, so he went there on the off chance he’d find him. They met—they fought—he killed him and then shoved him into the oven to get rid of the evidence. Andthen he went on his bender.”
“Stacie said Niklaus never visited the restaurants he did,” Odelia said. “Konrad would never have found him there.”
“So he bumped into him somewhere else, and they went to the restaurant together. Or maybe he called him and they met out there.”
It all sounded a little fuzzy to her.“Has Abe discovered the cause of death yet?”
“No, he hasn’t. Most likely scenario is that Skad was strangled. But since the soft tissue around the neck is gone, he won’t be able to prove it.”
“So now all you have to do is get a confession and it’s case closed,” said Chase.
“You also think Konrad is our guy?” Odelia asked.
“Why? Don’t you?”
She shook her head slowly.“Something doesn’t sit right with me.”
“He’s got motive!” cried her uncle. “He had opportunity. He’s our guy!”