Mrs. Winslow's Daughter

I showed her daughter's name to Mrs. Winslow. I explained that there was almost no way it could be a coincidence. Robin had almost certainly been killed with her own gun. "That my dear," I said to Mrs. Winslow, "Opens up several new possibilities. If Tony knew about the pistol, but didn't mention it to the police, then he is going to up to his ass in it again. If on the other hand he didn't know, then no harm no foul. Robin might have had the pistol with her for protection. Someone might have taken it away from her, then shot her with it. What we are going to have to do is sweat some people tomorrow. It would sure be nice if I were a cop again."

"Why?" Mrs. Winslow asked.

"It is a lot easier to get information from a suspect when he has jail to look forward to. Without the trappings it's hard to get the same effect." I replied. I thought about it for a while. "With Johnny boy, maybe the job loss and the threat to tell his wife will work. On Tony, I have no idea unless we threaten to kill him."

"I can do that," Mrs. Winslow said evenly.

"Threaten or kill?" I asked.

"Either," she said quietly.

"Before you kill anyone, let's find out who needs killing," I suggested.

"I can wait," she said with a large smile. I wasn't sure whether she had changed the subject without me know it or not.

The next morning we began with Johnny boy. Mrs. Winslow kept an office at the headquarters building which she seldom used. On that day we both occupied it. John was summoned to the office around nine thirty.

"Come on in John and close the door behind you," she said icily.

"Mrs. Winslow, what can I do for you," bless his heart he tried to smile.

"John, Mr. Taft has some questions for you. If you want to keep your job, and your marriage, I suggest you answer them truthfully." Mrs. Winslow showed a cold side of herself which I had not seem before.

"I don't know what this is about but I can tell you Nora, I don't intend to sit here and be threatened," the whiner said.

"Shut the fuck up," I shouted loud enough to be heard outside. "You are going to sit there and you are going to answer my questions or I am going to kick your ass all over this room."

Johnny boy cringed. "What do you want?" he asked close to sobbing.

"You are going to tell us when and how your affair with Mrs. Winslow's daughter began," I demanded.

"I didn't have an affair with your daughter Nora, what kind of man do you take me for?" he asked. He at least tried to act indignant.

I tossed the telephone log on Mrs. Winslow's desk. "You called her twenty four times in the two months before her death. You met her twice a week at the Morrison Motel. Now either you come clean, or I go first to your wife then the cops," I threatened.

"What the hell are you talking about? I never called Robin, and I sure as hell never met her in a motel," he said.

"The telephone logs don't lie, asshole. You called her and you met her. Tell you what let's you and I drive over to Greenpoint. I expect that motel owner can identify you." Of course I knew he couldn't.

Instead of answering he bent to look at the logs. "These calls weren't made from the office. They are charges against my calling card. Someone must have stolen my number then used it to call Robin. As for the other let's go. If that will end this nonsense, let's just go see if the Motel man can identify me." His voice was quivering. I would have thought it a sign of fear, if I hadn't already determined that John was a wimp.

"You sit there and think about telling the truth, while I talk this over with Mrs. Winslow."

Outside the office, I said, "I swear I believe the little twerp."

"Me too," Mrs. Winslow said.

"Why did you two break it off?" I asked.

"Take a look at him. I got tired of mothering the twerp," she said. "It appealed to me for a while, but it got old after a few months."

"To tell you the truth, I doubt he could have moved the body, let alone ripped her clothes."

"So we are back to square one?" she asked.

"Maybe not, let's find out who could have used his calling card."

"Okay John," I said when we returned to the room. "I am about half convinced that Robin would never have had anything to do with a wimp like you. You tell me who else uses your card and I'll let you off the hook."

"Nobody else uses it with my permission, that would be against the company rules."

"John, somebody has been using that card. If that someone wasn't you, then all we really have to do is call some of the other numbers to find out who called them on that date. You need to get your head straight."

"Maybe it was my wife," he suggested.

"Why the hell would your wife call Robin?" I asked.

"She knew Robin from the gym. She might have called to change her appointment times or something," he suggested.

"You wife goes to the gym in Greenpoint," I said it sarcastically.

"No, my wife is an instructor at the Avery Gym. She had Robin as a client for a while," he suggested.

"What is your wife's name?" I asked trying to keep it casual.

"Molly," he said miserably.

My mind raced. "Did your wife suspect that you were having an affair?" I asked.

"I wasn't having an affair with Robin," he said again.

"Not Robin you ass, me." Mrs. Winslow said.

"I don't think so," he said less than convincingly.

"Come on John, spill it," I said as I slapped him from the chair.

He picked himself us with tears in his eyes. "She found out a few months before Nora ended it. We had a row, but I explained that I couldn't afford to lose my job. She hardly spoke to me for months. When our affair ended, Molly forgave me."

"Johnny boy, you sit right where you are for a while. I'll tell you when you can leave." I motioned Mrs. Winslow from the room.

"Come on Mrs. Winslow, we need to make a quick trip before Johnny boy calls his wife."

"Why," she asked.

"Unless I miss my guess, Molly killed Robin." I said.

"Why would she do that? If she knew about me and John, why didn't she just kill me."

"She would have been the number one suspect in your death. Besides Robin's death would cause you a great deal more suffering than a quick death.

"Shouldn't we call the police?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. I expect she will deny it for a while in any event. I just want to make her start thinking."

When we arrived at the gym, Molly met us in the lobby. It was an accidental meeting. She seemed to be in a hurry to leave the building.

"I see John called you," I said.

"I knew you had figured it out when he told me that you had left him sitting in the old bat's office." While she spoke she pulled a very small automatic pistol from her bag.

Mrs. Winslow hid behind me. I guess we can call off the divers at the lake. It looks as though you kept the pistol. Tell me something, I am curious."

"I don't have time to talk. I am on my way out right now."

"This won't take a second. If you tell me then I will step away, otherwise you are going to have to shoot me. I expect someone will come running even with the sound of that toy."

"Hurry up," she shouted.

"Why were you meeting Robin at that motel?"

"Why do you think. Her mother seduced my John, so I seduced her daughter. It seemed like a fair trade."

"So why did you kill her? Just to strike back at her mother again?" I asked.

"Hardly, I had done enough to her. I knew that someday she would find out. No, I killed her because she threatened to tell my husband about the affair. She had somehow gotten it into her mind that my kids were suffering because I am a closet lesbian. There was no talking to her. Now if you don't get out of the way, I am going to add an old man to my list of killings."

I stepped aside to reveal Mrs. Winslow holding a much larger pistol. I waited to see what would happen. Molly tried to drop her pistol but before she could release it completely Mrs. Winslow shot there three times in the chest.

People came running from everywhere. It was a mad house for a while. After hours of police interrogations, I found myself again at the Winslow house with a glass of iced tea in my hand.

"So Edgar, why didn't you tell the cops a different story?" she asked.

"You shot her. I didn't much care one way or the other," I replied.

"So, the case is solved and there is no reason for us not to sleep together."

"Only that I would be afraid to now," I replied remembering how she looked when she pulled that trigger three times.

"If I were you, I would be more afraid to refuse," she said.

The end.