Canary (26 page)

Valentine explained for Sean Clarisse's theory regarding Bander's gas-company uniform. “How many times have you seen a man in a utility uniform—or even a fireman or a policeman, for that matter—and not given him a second glance? All you remembered was the uniform, right?”

Sean thought a moment and then nodded slowly. “Yes, that's right.”

“Exactly,” Clarisse said, “and when Bander killed at night, he made sure it was very late at night. That way he had not only darkness but time on his side.”

“He also had a bottle of chloroform in his pocket,” Valentine said, and told Clarisse how he'd discovered the bottle under the edge of Sean's sofa. “My guess is that Bander hid it there just before I buzzed the apartment.”

“Chloroform?” Clarisse asked.

Valentine nodded. “He carried it in a poppers bottle.”

“Really?” said Clarisse. “But just one quick hit from a bottle of chloroform wouldn't be enough to render someone completely helpless, would it?”

Valentine reached about and pulled his bandanna from his back pocket. “Not if he poured it on one of these and held it over someone's nose and mouth—the way some people do with amyl.”

“Very clever,” Clarisse conceded.

“It was perfect,” Valentine continued. “Who knows where Bander got the chloroform? Maybe he made it himself. It can be used as a solvent, too, you know. So in case something went wrong and he got blood on his uniform, he could clean it up on the spot.”

“Do you think Bander's killings were premeditated?” Clarisse asked.

“We'll never know for sure.”

“Well, there must be a reason Bander stopped killing after Newt was dead.”

“The heat was on after that,” said Valentine. “A lot of attention in the press. And the police have been all over for the past month or so.”

“Also,” said Sean, “Bander and I were together almost all the time during that period.”

Clarisse uncrossed her arms. “Well, I'd just like to know one thing. Since B.J. is off the hook and Newt's dead—
who
tried to kill me in the steam room at the health spa?”

“Nobody can prove it, but I'd bet anything that it was B.J. who put the broom handle in the door, but I don't think she was trying to kill you. I think maybe it was just her and Newt trying to teach you a lesson for being so nosy.”

“What about Ruder and Cruder?” Sean inquired.

“Aha!” Clarisse chimed in. “I've thought that one out. The night Ruder and Cruder were killed, B.J. was with Newt. When Bander ran into them, he must have realized they were on their own for once. So, he suggested they all go off to that building undergoing renovation down the street from Newt and Niobe's. He might have known about the place already— maybe he'd even worked on it, setting up the lines. Ruder and Cruder probably got excited about the prospect of carrying on with an honest-to-god repairman amid plasterboard and sawdust.”

“And apparently it was pretty exciting,” said Valentine.

“We were really lucky tonight,” said Sean, touching his throat.

“You certainly were,” said Clarisse soberly, looking at Valentine. “With Sean changing jobs and Niobe leaving also, I could have been left to run this bar single-handedly—reaping profits left and right, wintering in Aruba, summering in Milan…”

“Clarisse,” Valentine said, “you'd hang yourself with black crepe for the rest of your life if anything actually happened to me.”

“Depends on the designer,” said Clarisse. She stood and straightened one sleeve of her blouse. “You both realize, of course, that the media will go absolutely wild when they get wind of what's on that tape you gave the police. A reporter's dream, having an attempted murder, a confession by same murderer, and the breathtaking—no pun intended—accidental death of a notorious killer, all on tape. You'll be interviewed on the Today show. ABC will do a Movie of the Week about it. I think Faye Dunaway should play me.”

“Now that Marjorie Main is dead?” Valentine asked.

All the characters and events portrayed in this work are fictitious.

CANARY

A Felony & Mayhem mystery

PUBLISHING HISTORY
First edition (Ballantine): 1986
Felony & Mayhem print and digital editions: 2014

Copyright © 1986 by Nathan Aldyne
All rights reserved

E-book ISBN: 978-1-937384-95-1

For
Kate Mattes

You are reading a book in the Felony & Mayhem “Traditional” category. We think of these books as classy cozies, with little gunplay or gore but often a fair amount of humor and, usually, an intrepid amateur sleuth. If you enjoy this book, you may well like other “Traditional” titles from Felony & Mayhem Press, including (available as print books):

S.F.X. Dean
By Frequent Anguish
Such Pretty Toys

John Norman Harris
The Weird World of Wes Beattie

Marissa Piesman
Unorthodox Practices
Personal Effects
Heading Uptown

Daniel Stashower
Elephants in the Distance

Peter Watson
Landscape of Lies

For more about these books, and other Felony & Mayhem titles, or to place an order, please visit our website

www.FelonyAndMayhem.com