52 Steps to Murder Read Online Free PDF Page B

steps below me made him seem even shorter.
    Finally, our unwelcome visitor broke the silence.
    “Do you have any idea yet who killed her?”
    “I beg your pardon,” I replied.
    “I said, ‘Do you have any idea yet who killed her?’”
    “Sgt. Murdock, did I say anything about someone being murdered here today?” I asked, as I turned to face Lou.
    “Not that I recall,” my friend replied with a smile on his face.
    “Make a note, Sergeant, we must let the medical examiner know Mrs. Nelson was murdered. It will save him lots of time.”
    “Oh, come on, detective. A passel of police don’t show up when an elderly woman drops dead of old age,” our perceptive intruder interjected.
     I focused in on the little man who stood before me, a contrast if I ever saw one. His eyes twinkled, as if everything was a game to him. His nervous mannerisms told me this was a man who had something to hide. He stood with his left hand in his pocket, jingling keys and coins as he listened and talked.
    “I think there was a period of many days between the time when Mrs. Nelson dropped and when she died,” I replied.
    The nerd laughed at my statement.
    “I assume you’re talking about when she fell down the stairs,” the stranger said.
    “Is that what happened to her?” I asked.
    “Don't you know, detective?”
    “No, I wasn’t present when it happened. Were you here for the occasion? You weren’t by any chance standing behind her when she fell, were you?”
    The man laughed again.
    “Not guilty, your honor.”
    “By the way, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Lt. Dekker and this is Sgt. Murdock. And you are?”
    “I’m Stanley Silverman. I live across the street,” the man answered as he turned and pointed to his house with his free hand.
    Lou and I watched as our visitor quit jingling the coins and keys, removed a quarter from his pocket, and put it in his right hand. He slid it between his thumb and index finger and began to flip it under one finger and over the next without looking at his hand. The man is ambidextrous, I joked to myself. He jingles left-handed and flips with his right.
    I observed Stanley Silverman for a moment, and then continued my questioning.
    “And Mr. Silverman, do you have any answers about anything that went on here today, or are you only full of questions?”
    “I’ll scratch your back, Lieutenant, and you scratch mine.”
    I shuddered at the thought.
    “I don’t think that would be quite fair, Mr. Silverman. After all, my back is much larger than yours.”
    Stanley Silverman laughed again. Obviously he enjoyed my humor. I studied the interesting man who stood a couple of steps below me. I labeled him a paradox. On the one hand, the neighbor seemed to be in total control and as calm as a windless night. On the other hand, he seemed to suffer from paranoia. I was anxious to find out more about this man and what he had seen.
    “So, Mr. Silverman, why don’t you go first? Tell me anything you can think of about what went on here today.”
    Mr. Silverman began to tell Lou and me about what he had observed at Mrs. Nelson’s house that morning. He told us that when he first looked out of his front window that morning he noticed Irene Penrod leave Mrs. Jarvis’s house and head to Mrs. Nelson’s. I interrupted him and asked who Mrs. Jarvis was. He pointed to her house on the other side of Miss Penrod’s. Then I let him continue. He told us that Miss Penrod had an envelope in her hand when she left Mrs. Jarvis’s. Mr. Silverman said that it was quite common for Miss Penrod to visit Mrs. Nelson. He had no idea if Miss Penrod was Mrs. Nelson’s first visitor of the day, but he did know that Mr. Hartley entered the house with the mail before Miss Penrod left.
    I asked Mr. Silverman who left the house first, but the nosy neighbor didn’t know because he’d left the window.
    When I asked Mr. Silverman why he left the window, I got the impression he was lying when he told