It had to be You

farm neighbors had visited him once. They’d know which room he was in. One or the other of them might have lurked around when the door was unlocked, and watched from some hiding place to see where everyone was, and committed the murder, not even aware that Sean had only a few hours left to live.
    There was always the wandering-maniac theory to fall back on as well, but he wouldn’t even bother considering this.
    Too much time was passing without his coming up with any believable motives that he could prove without a doubt.
    Much as he’d like to simply give up, he couldn’t. A man had been murdered. It was his job to find out why, and by whom. It was one of the many things he was being paid to do.
    He finally admitted to himself that he’d have to start from scratch. He might not have asked the right questions of the right people, or been as aggressive as he should have been.
    He had rushed and tried to question everyone as soon as he could. That was probably a mistake. He made notes of those he had to go back to, and what he needed to say to force them to cough up the truth. That was part of the problem with this case. There were too many people he felt hadn’t told him the truth. Just the parts of the truth they were willing to reveal.

    At nine-thirty in the morning the dumbwaiter butler was finally in operation. Robert was thrilled. He insisted on being the first one to actually use it. He loaded it up with the breakfast plates and sent it down to the basement. He was astonished that the ropes were so easy to operate. But he was afraid that with a significant weight, he might lose his grip on the rope and all the dishes and glasses would end up in shards.
    “Miss Twibell, you’ll want to try this yourself before the Harbingers hook it up to the electricity.
    It’s much easier than you think,“ he told her. “But you might ask them to put some sort of bell at the top and bottom in case nobody hears it come down. It makes almost no sound at all, and someone either up here or in the basement might not notice it had arrived.“
    “That’s a good idea. And running it without electricity would save me some money,“ she said. “It’s a practical thought.”
    Robert wondered why she thought his having a practical thought was noteworthy.
    “Why don’t you call down to the laundry and ask Doreen to send up whatever bedding she has ready, and we’ll find out if it comes up as easily as it goes down,“ he suggested.
    She did so, and the dumbwaiter sent up a heavy load without any strain on the rope at all. “I’m delighted!“ Miss Twibell gushed. “I’m so glad you talked me into doing this—it will save so much time and work for everyone. I wouldn’t have believed it would be so easy to use. I’m calling Doreen again to see if it works this well sending the load back down.“
    “Want me to run down there and find out for you? And I’ll also suggest the bell idea to the Harbinger boys. That should be easy to do.“
    “Would you, please?“ Though her feet were finally feeling much better, she was grateful for the convenience of the dumbwaiter. It was never a joy, painful feet or not, to walk up and down two long flights of stairs.
    Everybody who worked at the nursing home wanted to try out the silent butler. The laundry made a trip back down for Lily, and up again so Betty could experiment with it as well. They were all surprised and pleased at how easily and silently it glided along the tracks.
    The cook, who had been observing in the basement, actually climbed both sets of stairs to tell Miss Twibell how grand it was. She was close to tears of gratitude. “Even knowing I’ll probably never see you again except for payday,“ she said with a sappy smile.
    When everyone had mastered the ropes, Miss Twibell said privately to Robert and Lily, “I’m sorry to say this, but we won’t need you anymore. Mattie will be back soon, and Betty will have more free time to clean the floors and cabinets now that she and Mattie don’t have to hand-carry the laundry. But Robert, since it was your idea, I’m giving you an extra bonus in your payment. Would half of what it would have cost to wire it for electricity be acceptable?“
    “More than acceptable. It’s very generous. I was feeling a bit guilty about forcing you to invest in this,“ he said. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, the Harbinger boys say the bells will be easy. They’re already on their way to buy two of them.”
    As Robert