It had to be You

waiting for me, and he can carry it the rest of the way.“
    “Scooting would make marks on the floor,“ Mrs. Connor said as she put the top of the case on the typewriter and hefted it up as if it weighed nothing. She set it on the porch and went back into the house, thanking Lily once more for the book.
    Lily was seething. She wanted to run away from this dreadful greedy woman, but forced herself to walk instead. The four men leaped out as she appeared in the shrub-shaded lane.
    “Was there a typewriter?“ Howard asked.
    “Yes. I had to buy it. She’s selling the house, moving into a grand boardinghouse, and giving her relatives everything else in it. The typewriter is sitting on the porch. Robert needs to come back with me to pick it up. And I saw something else.”
    She told them where and what it was.
    As she and Robert walked back, she told him, “Pick up the case from front to back. She carried it out from side to side and her fingerprints will be on the bottom.”
    When the typewriter had been put in Chief Simpson’s police car upside down to protect the prints, and speeded away to Newburgh, Howard said to Lily and Robert, “Stay here. I need to go in myself, and don’t want her to see you two again. I’ll take Parker along.”
    The front door was ajar, but he knocked. A big strong woman with coloring and features much like Mrs. Connor’s came to the door. He asked if he could come in and speak to Mrs. Connor. The woman opened the door and disappeared into the kitchen.
    Mrs. Connor emerged a moment later. “What are you doing here again!“ she exclaimed.
    “I think you’ll want to discuss what I want quietly in the parlor, without eavesdroppers.”
    She simply glared at him, and then led him and Ron into the parlor.
    Howard said, “I have a warrant for your arrest for the murder of your husband, the murder of your grandson Aidan, and the attempted murder of your grandson Kelly. I also have a warrant to take out anything relevant to these crimes from this house. I can handcuff you and take you away in a police car in plain view of your relatives. Or you can stay quietly under house arrest until they’re gone. Which will it be?”
    Ron was watching Mrs. Connor eagerly. He’d had only one chance to handcuff someone and was looking forward to doing it again.
    For a brief moment Mrs. Connor looked surprised, then started hissing threats of lawsuits and proclaiming her complete innocence of the charges, all interspersed with foul language.
    When she ran out of breath, Walker said, “Give me your car keys. I’m taking some evidence away and posting officers at every door of this house. I’d advise you not to attempt to leave until I return for you. You may call an attorney and pack what you need for staying in jail until, and unless, you can make bail.”
    He didn’t mention that the “officers“ consisted only of Ron Parker.

    It was five days later before everyone could get together to hear all the details of the two murder cases that turned out to be connected. It had taken that long for Howard and Chief Simpson to receive all the forensic reports.
    By coincidence, it was the same day that Lily and Robert were hosting a rather silly celebration dinner at Grace and Favor. Earlier that day, the prohibition of wine and beer had been repealed. Not that many at the dinner, or in Voorburg, or the rest of the country, had observed that pesky law since Roosevelt had been elected. Everyone had felt sure that the new President would repeal the law.
    All the residents of Grace and Favor, as well as Howard, Miss Twibell, Jack Summer and his cousin Ralph, were there. Howard refused to explain anything until they’d finished dinner and dessert and moved on to a big dusty bottle of fine old champagne that Robert had located in the basement.
    “A toast to the best Chief of Police in New York, if not the whole country“ Robert said when their glasses were all filled.
    Howard thanked them, and made his own toast. “To Miss Lily Brewster, who suggested the key to all the crimes.“
    “It wasn’t deliberate,“ Lily said, blushing furiously. “It was merely something trivial I’d noticed.“
    “What was that?“ Mrs. Tarkington, dressed in her best dress and jewelry for the occasion, asked.
    “That Mrs. Connor seemed to hate all men,“ Howard said. “It was the crucial key, even if I didn’t recognize it when she said it. And what’s more, Lily was the one who bearded the dragon in her den,