Catch a Falling Knife

held my breath. I definitely didn’t want to hear this.
    “But I forced myself to come out of my cocoon—the snow had pretty much covered me and, in fact, gave me some protection from the cold—and found that the storm had passed and the sun was coming out. After a few minutes of careful searching I spotted a trail marker and the rest, as they say, is history.”
    “I know you’re glossing over a lot, but even though you’re sitting here I’m relieved to hear that you got out safely. When did you manage to get something to eat?”
    “I returned to my car, started it, and turned the heat on full blast, until I stopped shivering and my body started functioning well enough to drive. Then I drove until I found a café. I went in and ate enough food to feed a good-sized elephant. I’m sure my waitress had never seen anybody eat so much. In fact, she made a few remarks about my eating.”
    “And then you drove back here?”
    “Yes.”
    “You could have called me from the café.”
    “I could have…but at that point I still sounded pretty awful and that would have worried you more, possibly, than you were worried already. And nothing against you, but in my weakened state I just wasn’t ready to reenter the hassles of civilization.”
    “When you came through the door you appeared to be in a good mood.”
    “By the time I got here I had solved all my problems. I was ready to get on with my life. And then…”
    “I know,” I said, softly, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Did you tell Detective Johnson the same story you told me?”
    “Yes, but of course I have no witnesses, so as an alibi it sucks.”
    “How about the waitress at the café?”
    “Shirley? Yes, I did read her nametag. And I did give her name to the detective, as well as the location of the café, although I can’t remember its name. Do you know what he said?”
    “What?”
    “Even if she verifies my story, that still doesn’t give me an alibi for last night.”
    “Did Detective Johnson tell you about a message from Elise?”
    “Message from Elise? No, he didn’t tell me much of anything. He just kept firing questions at me. I know the basic story, that she was apparently stabbed last night in her bed, but that’s about all.”
    “I won’t go into detail because what you need more than anything else right now is some sleep, but I have a little good news for you. I talked to Elise yesterday, and last night she left me a message saying she was going to drop the harassment charge against you.”
    Mark showed surprise, then some relief. After thinking for a bit he said, “But since I didn’t know about that it doesn’t invalidate my motive for killing her.”

Chapter 12
     
    “Whew,” breathed Wesley. “No wonder you and Tess missed the Bridge Club on Wednesday and you missed Chess Club yesterday. I knew it had to be something serious, but I didn’t figure on anything like this.”
    Wesley and I were the only residents of Silver Acres who were members of both the Bridge Club and the Chess Club. I had just finished telling him about Elise Hoffman and Mark, while Tess sat poised with her pad and pencil, in case I said anything significant that we hadn’t noted before.
    “I’d like you both to help me clear Mark,” I said. “You were a big help when I was working on Gerald’s murder, but of course this is more personal because I hope that Mark will be a legal member of the family someday. But that won’t happen if he ends up in jail.”
    “Where is Mark now?” Wesley asked.
    “He went to the college as usual this morning. He teaches two classes on Friday. Since he hadn’t heard anything different, he assumed he was still on the payroll.”
    “When was he last there?”
    “Tuesday. He took Wednesday off, as I said, and because he got lost he never made it yesterday.”
    “Mark wasn’t mentioned in the article about the investigation in this morning’s paper,” Tess said, glancing at the Raleigh News and Observer .
    “Probably because the sexual harassment charge hasn’t been made public,” I said. “The college has done a good job of protecting Elise, if not Mark. And the police apparently haven’t mentioned it to the press yet. But if he gets arrested, it will certainly come to light.”
    “It does say that, judging from the state of the body, the murder weapon was probably a sharp knife, maybe a carving knife. ‘There were approximately a dozen stab wounds in the chest area,’” Tess read.
    “It