BKM01 - The Locked Room Murder by McGovern Nancy

Author:McGovern, Nancy [McGovern, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amazon, cThriller
Amazon: B01LMGCMDS
Publisher: McGovern Books
Published: 2016-09-03T22:00:00+00:00

*****

Chapter 6

Blake Dowell

Steve’s office was little more than a two room deal on the fourth floor of one of the buildings downtown. The cleaner who had found him was a lady who’d worked there for twenty years.

Camilla Smith smiled and welcomed them into her little cottage.

“Nolan,” she said. “Right on time. I have coffee ready, and maybe some nachos if you’d like.”

“Sounds delicious. Thanks for agreeing to see us, Mrs. Smith. I know you’ve had a terrible day.”

“Terrible doesn’t begin to cover it,” Camilla said with a shudder. “I moved here from Milwaukee a long time ago, you know. Back then, we’d find a body every once in a while. Sometimes a suicide, sometimes a murder. Cleaners, we see it all. But I moved here thinking I’d never have to go through that horror again.” She looked at Bluebell’s pale face. “Of course, he wasn’t a body to you. He was your boyfriend.”

“Was,” Bluebell agreed. “Poor Steve.”

“I heard the Sheriff had arrested you, and I said to my son that there’s no way you could have done it. I’ve seen you at the office once or twice, and you always seemed so deeply in love with Steve.”

“I.. was. Am.” Bluebell kept herself from tearing up by pinching her wrist under the table. “Mrs. Smith, I just wanted to know… did you see anything funny? I mean...”

“I know.” Mrs. Smith nodded. “Well I’ve told the police and I don’t mind telling you. I started my shift at 5 am. The fourth floor has four offices, one in each corner. I was done with the Dowell Ad Services office, which is diagonally across from Steve’s, and moved on to Steve’s last. You’ve seen the place, right? A main door of wood, then as you walk in, there’s a few cubicles and an inner office with a glass door.”

Bluebell nodded.

“I vacuumed up a bit outside, and then, as soon as I went inside, I knew something was wrong. Through the glass door, I could see a trail of blood. When I went up to the door, it was locked. I could see Steve inside, lying next to his desk. It was horrible.”

With effort, Bluebell contained herself. “Poor Steve,” she said.

“Poor Steve indeed.” Camilla sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Was he facing the desk or away from it?” Nolan asked.

Camilla frowned. “I suppose he was looking toward the desk. If I had to guess, he was walking toward his chair to sit down when he was struck. But I’m just a cleaner. It’s up to the police to find out. The weird thing is, I had one set of keys, the landlord’s office at Madison had the second set, and Steve had the third on him.

“Those keys are expensive too. I’m sure he didn’t have any copies. So I just don’t understand how it happened. The windows are all sealed because they have the AC on 24/7. The doors were very definitely locked, I know, because my first instinct was to try and open them. Then I realized… it would be better to call 911.

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