The Merchant of Menace

that’s what they told me. I suppose it’s possible they just made that up as an excuse, but it’s not likely. The people in this house had tickets for the family to go to a musical last night,“ she said, entering another X. “And this one belongs to a couple of revoltingly fit yuppies who are spending the holidays in Bermuda. This one is Mrs. Eldridge, who was committed to have her bridge club at her house last night. I think those are most of the ‘regrets’ I got.“
    “Okay, now let’s talk about who did come to the party and when.“
    “Well, the Johnsons, of course.“
    “The hillbillies next door?“ Mel asked. “Were they here between eight-thirty and nine-thirty?”
    “Why the times?“
    “At eight-thirty I was watching Todd walk the little girl home,“ Mel said. “I looked at the Johnsons’ decorations. No sign of a dead Santa and I’m sure I’d have noticed if there had been a struggle going on up on the roof.“
    “And at nine-thirty Julie discovered him,“ Jane added. “I see. I think the Johnsons were here the whole time. Billy Joe couldn’t even walk through the house in his snowman costume without knocking things down. I can’t imagine how he could have climbed a ladder in that outfit.“
    “Unless he removed it,“ Shelley said.
    “Looked to me like it would have taken a helper to get him in and out of it,“ Jane said. “Didn’t it button up the back? I think he and Tiffany were just too obvious to have sneaked out without being noticed.“
    “Why were they in costumes?“ Mel asked. Jane shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe wherever they’re from, a party always means a costume party. They obviously have a touch of exhibitionism about them, too, as you can tell from the house decorations.“
    “Okay, let’s go house by house on the rest. Start at the corner.“
    “That’s a couple with little kids who were, fortunately, at their grandparents’ for the night or they might have brought them along. Terrors, those kids,“ Jane added. “One of them was actually kicked out of kindergarten for—“
    “Jane!“ Mel said sharply. “I don’t care what the kid did in kindergarten. Were the couple here during the relevant time?“
    “Yes, she was part of the crowd watching the movie. She has a real shrill laugh that I kept hearing. And he was in the basement with the guys.”
    Mel was taking notes. “Names?“ he asked, and wrote down her reply. “Your basement doesn’t have an outside entrance, does it?”
    Jane shook her head. “You’ve seen my basement, Mel. No outside exit. Shelley, who were the other guys in the basement?”
    Shelley reeled off a couple names, which Mel wrote down along with the rest of the movie-watching crowd. Jane marked off the book rep who’d been gossiping with Mel’s mother, a single mother who brought along her new baby and wouldn’t even let anyone else hold it, and a skier with a broken leg and crutches. They’d accounted for about three-quarters of the people on the block.
    Mel ran his hand through his hair. “We’ll have to confirm all of them, but at least I know who’s at the bottom of the priority list. Now, what about the others? Whose house is this empty box?“
    “Oh, that’s our Julie Newton. The dim bulb who caused all this,“ Jane said.
    “You know where Julie was during that hour?“
    “Up in my bedroom calling security people,“ Jane said, embarrassed now by that loony idea.
    “Your bedroom overlooks the Johnson’ house, doesn’t it?“ Mel said.
    “Yes, I could see the top of the ladder poking up— Mel, you don’t suspect Julie, do you?“
    “Jane, my job is to suspect everyone. Do you know she was there? Could she have seen Lance King climbing the ladder?“
    “I—I guess so. And she told me she couldn’t get any security people to come out. I have no way of knowing if she actually called anyone or not. But Julie’s such a flake!“
    “Flakes have been known to kill people,“ Mel said. “I want to check out your bedroom window.”
    The three of them traipsed upstairs.
    “Pretty good view in the daylight,“ Mel said, gazing toward the Johnson house. “And at night, with all the decorations lit up—there aren’t any in the backyard, though. Is there a floodlight in back?”
    Jane nodded. “My bedroom is lit up like a carnival at night from that window.”
    There was a light tap on the door and Addie walked in. “Oh,“ she said with mock surprise—which she didn’t do very well. “I