go, is when I found the coat missing.”
It sounded right to me. The reporters needed that story for the Monday morning papers. “I have one more question. Did you let it go that way or did you ever report it to the police?”
“Well, when I got home, I forgot all about it. I had so much to tell my parents. But the next day, I remembered and I told my mother. I told her maybe it meant that a man had killed Mrs. Talley and stolen Robert’s coat.”
“Yes,” I said, encouraging her.
“And my mother, God rest her soul, she said, ‘Call that policeman and tell him.’ ”
“And did you?”
“I called the police station and asked for Detective O’Connor. But he wasn’t there. So I left a message. I saidone coat was missing from the apartment and maybe someone had taken it.”
“Did Detective O’Connor call you back?”
“Never.” It sounded very final.
“I don’t suppose you remember who you told.” I threw it out, knowing there was no chance.
“No.” She sounded thoughtful. “I talked to one, then another. It’s so long…It was a funny name, you know?”
She remembered something. I almost crossed my fingers. “Yes,” I said, encouraging her again.
“Like a fruit.”
“A fruit?” I echoed. “You mean like apple or pear or plum?”
“Something else. I don’t know. It’s too long to remember such a little thing.”
“Magda, I’m going to check the file and see if it’s mentioned anywhere. This is really very important. Thank you so much for calling.”
“God bless you, Christine,” Magda said.
I said my good-byes and hung up, my heart beating as though I had been running. It was real and it was tangible. Someone had pushed the coats aside, looking for something he could put on to cover his bloody clothes. Someone else had killed Mrs. Talley. I had it now, the physical evidence—or lack of it—that I had been searching for. There had been a killer, and he had gotten away with it for forty years.
But today his luck had run out.
12
I awoke with the kind of exuberance one needs to get moving early. But that left me with five hours before ten o’clock, Jack Brooks’s starting time at work, the earliest I could call him. I ran, meeting Melanie and thanking her for Sunday dinner—she had called and invited me over, and I had gone and loved it—and then I came back, dressed, ate, and sat down at the dining room table to look over my notes.
I had to find out which apartment on the fifth floor the Talley’s had lived in and see who had lived beneath them, whether that woman might still be alive, whether she would have a different opinion of the Talleys from the fairly benign ones I had heard. Then I had to figure out what to do about locating Patrick Talley’s family. I had some ideas about that, and perhaps I would begin after talking to Jack Brooks.
At eight-thirty the phone rang.
“Hello?” I answered, wondering who would be calling so early.
“Hi, it’s Jack. I didn’t get you up, did I?”
“Been up since five, did my exercise and had my breakfast. What are you doing at work before nine?”
“I’m calling from home. I wanted to get you before you left. Tried you yesterday, but you were out.”
“I went up to New Hope and spent some time talking to the psychiatrist who got James Talley into the group home.”
“You’re really moving.” He sounded impressed, and that made me feel pretty good.
“Jack, I found out something very exciting last night. Magda called back.”
“You found her?”
“On Saturday. Infant of Prague paid off. She didn’t have much that was new when I saw her, but last night she did. When the police were ready to take the twins into custody, she went to the closet for their coats, and Robert’s coat was missing.”
“She look anywhere else?”
“She says Mrs. Talley was tidy and methodical. Also, Magda was probably the last person to bring the boys back to the apartment. They’d been out on Good Friday morning—and
she
It sounded right to me. The reporters needed that story for the Monday morning papers. “I have one more question. Did you let it go that way or did you ever report it to the police?”
“Well, when I got home, I forgot all about it. I had so much to tell my parents. But the next day, I remembered and I told my mother. I told her maybe it meant that a man had killed Mrs. Talley and stolen Robert’s coat.”
“Yes,” I said, encouraging her.
“And my mother, God rest her soul, she said, ‘Call that policeman and tell him.’ ”
“And did you?”
“I called the police station and asked for Detective O’Connor. But he wasn’t there. So I left a message. I saidone coat was missing from the apartment and maybe someone had taken it.”
“Did Detective O’Connor call you back?”
“Never.” It sounded very final.
“I don’t suppose you remember who you told.” I threw it out, knowing there was no chance.
“No.” She sounded thoughtful. “I talked to one, then another. It’s so long…It was a funny name, you know?”
She remembered something. I almost crossed my fingers. “Yes,” I said, encouraging her again.
“Like a fruit.”
“A fruit?” I echoed. “You mean like apple or pear or plum?”
“Something else. I don’t know. It’s too long to remember such a little thing.”
“Magda, I’m going to check the file and see if it’s mentioned anywhere. This is really very important. Thank you so much for calling.”
“God bless you, Christine,” Magda said.
I said my good-byes and hung up, my heart beating as though I had been running. It was real and it was tangible. Someone had pushed the coats aside, looking for something he could put on to cover his bloody clothes. Someone else had killed Mrs. Talley. I had it now, the physical evidence—or lack of it—that I had been searching for. There had been a killer, and he had gotten away with it for forty years.
But today his luck had run out.
12
I awoke with the kind of exuberance one needs to get moving early. But that left me with five hours before ten o’clock, Jack Brooks’s starting time at work, the earliest I could call him. I ran, meeting Melanie and thanking her for Sunday dinner—she had called and invited me over, and I had gone and loved it—and then I came back, dressed, ate, and sat down at the dining room table to look over my notes.
I had to find out which apartment on the fifth floor the Talley’s had lived in and see who had lived beneath them, whether that woman might still be alive, whether she would have a different opinion of the Talleys from the fairly benign ones I had heard. Then I had to figure out what to do about locating Patrick Talley’s family. I had some ideas about that, and perhaps I would begin after talking to Jack Brooks.
At eight-thirty the phone rang.
“Hello?” I answered, wondering who would be calling so early.
“Hi, it’s Jack. I didn’t get you up, did I?”
“Been up since five, did my exercise and had my breakfast. What are you doing at work before nine?”
“I’m calling from home. I wanted to get you before you left. Tried you yesterday, but you were out.”
“I went up to New Hope and spent some time talking to the psychiatrist who got James Talley into the group home.”
“You’re really moving.” He sounded impressed, and that made me feel pretty good.
“Jack, I found out something very exciting last night. Magda called back.”
“You found her?”
“On Saturday. Infant of Prague paid off. She didn’t have much that was new when I saw her, but last night she did. When the police were ready to take the twins into custody, she went to the closet for their coats, and Robert’s coat was missing.”
“She look anywhere else?”
“She says Mrs. Talley was tidy and methodical. Also, Magda was probably the last person to bring the boys back to the apartment. They’d been out on Good Friday morning—and
she
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