Case of the Murdered Bride Ch. 02

"Uh, we were talking, and he got a phone call." Atkins said. "After that, he started wrapping it up and saying he had to go, and to call him again in a few days."

"How would you describe his personality?" I asked.

"He was a business owner, so he was in control, in charge. Pleasant enough fellow, talked with our waitress in a charming way." Atkins said.

"Okay." I said. "Mr. Atkins, you are not under arrest nor under suspicion of anything. However, I'm going to have to ask you to contact the Police Department if he contacts you, and I'm also going to have to ask you to not leave Town, or at least give the Police Department a call and let us know where you're going and what times you'll be away and will get back."

"Why?" asked Atkins. "What's it all about?"

"Mr. Rollins might be involved in the case I'm pursuing." I said. "And you're a connection to him, so I'm going to have to ask you to cooperate with us to that extent."

After Atkins had left, I asked Martin Nash what he thought of the interview.

"I just can't put my finger on it," said Nash, a bit of frustration in his quiet, even voice, "but there is something just not quite right about him. I just can't see where it is..."

"Let me help you with that." I said. "Don't you find it odd that Atkins says he never had met or knew Tom Rollins... but he makes the sales call directly to him?"

"I'm not sure why that's odd." Martin said. He had never been a business owner, like I had been and was now, so I clued him in.

I said "I find it strange that Atkins would go straight to the holding company president of a chain of restaurants instead of first going to the acquisitions or procurement officer first. And I'm then surprised that the company president went to dinner with Atkins instead of referring him to the procurement officer. So what does that mean to you?"

"That Atkins is lying?" said Nash. "That he's met the company president before, which is why he felt he could call him instead of the more obvious person?"

"Exactly." I said. "Now I'm not saying Atkins is lying, it could be as he said. But it's a strangeness, something to thing about, especially with Rollins being our 'groom', and that was the real reason he left the Atkins dinner... to meet Diane Lang. In fact-" I stopped, entering a reverie.

"Commander?" Nash said after a couple of moments of patiently waiting.

"Uh, sorry, Martin, I was just thinking of something." I said. "We really need to find this Rollins fellow..."

-------

Not long after getting out of the Atkins interview, the Chief called me and Cindy into his office for a meeting. I noticed two things: that this was a private meeting between the three of us; and that the Chief was wearing a black leather belt sash over his light blue uniform shirt. I was entitled to do the same, but neither of us normally wore the sash belt unless we wanted to be more formal than normal, but less formal than 'duty dress', and especially in public. Deduction: the Chief was about to take us somewhere, where he'd be 'in public'.

But before we left, the Chief had me tell what I'd recently learned: "Tom Rollins and his wife are part of the Swinging Scene in the City." I said, having easily obtained that information from three different sources. "He's an alumnus of the University here, and he's a friend of Tom Riordan's... which means he may be part of the parties those alumni throw for the players, as we learned about in the Jefferson Jackson case. In any case, apparently he and Diane decided to go out and play together as bride and groom... and I still don't know why her husband wasn't participating."

"I've gotten a report from Teddy Parker, Myron and Mary." Cindy said. "The Hotel video only shows the cabbie coming in and on the elevator, but not leaving. There are no cameras in the stairwells, and the sixth floor camera that overlooks that door and the hallway were apparently inoperable. We also don't have Atkins at all, on any camera at any time.

"In addition," Cindy reported, "Myron has already gotten Atkins's cell phone pings, and they pretty much show he stayed in the City at the hotel all night. His S.O.S. car was also parked in his hotel's parking lot, and remained there all night."

"So, it looks like Rollins or Lang." I said. "APBs are out for both of them, and we really need to find Rollins; he was either a witness on the scene, or he's the murderer."

Then I looked hard at the Chief and said "So, Chief? What's the real reason you brought just 'Crowbar 2' and myself in here? And I'll drive, but where are we going?"

"How do you do it?" the Chief muttered, but smiling under his big handlebar mustaches. "Yes, as I'm retiring, there are a few secrets in this County that I need to pass along to you. One of them, you're going to learn tonight. Captain Charles knows, but he may be retiring soon. The Fire Chief will also be telling a couple of trusted Fire Department personnel."

The Chief continued: "It has occurred to me that one reason we've not seen the criminals in the cameras like we should, is because they used a secret underground passage between the University Hotel and the Tower Condos."

"Ooooh, secret passage to the Conservatory!" Cindy said, her face lighting up, referencing the famous board game 'Clue'. "Something mysterious and exciting!"

"Yes." said the Chief. "Here's the story: the buildings were built simultaneously, and I was a Lieutenant with the Town Police here at the time. I recommended a secret passageway be constructed between the basements, in the event of a fire or hostage situation arising, and the University had the State money to do it. I want to take you there and show you the entrances, and maybe see if some footprints were left in the dust. So, Crowbar, how did you know?"

"You've dressed well." I said, referring to the belt sash the Chief was wearing.

"Oh, is that it?" said the Chief, then he said in admonishment "You should never reveal your tricks, Crowbar, makes you seem ordinary when you do."

"I am ordinary, Chief." I said. "I just happen to have a great Team and an extraordinary mother."

"Ordinary, my ass." said Cindy.

"Modesty is a human trait, Commander. I will excuse it." said the Chief, quoting a Klingon line from one of the 'Star Trek' TV shows. "Let's go to the University Hotel."

We drove to the University Hotel in my SUV. Going inside, Chief Griswold went to the Hotel Manager's office and let him know what we were about to do. A moment later, Chief Griswold led us to the stairwell on the side of the building away from the main road and nearest to Tower Condos. There was a gray metal door set into the far wall, which should have been the outer wall of the building by my reckoning.

The stairs to the basement were blocked by a door, with a sign that said there was no emergency exit from the basement, and to exit on this floor. That door was blocked, though people from the basement could come upstairs and open the door from the other side. However, the Chief bypassed that door and went to the other one. He unlocked it with a key and opened it. Behind the door was another stairwell!

"This is a secret second set of stairs." said Chief Griswold. We went into the room and closed the door behind us. The lights were on, but were dim. We went downstairs. At the base was a door that led to the publicly known stairs and to the basement hallway and to the meeting rooms, laundry rooms and other rooms that operated the hotel. Behind the stairs was another metal door with a simple sign that said 'No Entry. Authorized Personnel Only'. Chief Griswold's key opened it, and he reached in and flicked a light switch.

We descended the concrete stairs into a narrow passage. It was lighted at intervals by a string of powerful lights like those under a stadium corridor, or something of the kind. I noticed the floor.

"You're right, Chief, there's footprints here." I said, taking out my flashlight to give better, stronger light to what I was looking at. "Hmmm, some are very recent, but some seem to have been made a little while ago."

Cindy took out a flashlight that threw an eerie blue, fluorescent light. "There's drops of blood, here, too." she said. We slowly went down the hallway to the right turn. About twenty feet down the passage we saw a large, dark form.

It was a human body!

Rushing up to it, I observed that it was a man, and that he was wearing a tuxedo. Turning the body over, we immediately saw that it was Tom Rollins, the erstwhile play-acting groom!

We were too late. He was dead.

To be continued.