“Yeah, you seemed to know a lot about it.”
“While I was researching the case, I saw several pictures of Zelko. The pictures were in old news articles and Zelko had a beard, but Carl Samuels looks a lot like Zelko.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Robin headed to her room. The elevator car was still on the third floor. Just before Robin passed it, she saw someone moving on the second-floor landing. The car blocked her view. Robin walked back to the stairs and saw a shape disappearing into the hall that was directly below her.
Mrs. Raskin had told Robin that she and Luther lived in rooms under the Melville wing. Samuels and the caterers were also staying in rooms in that wing. Mrs. Raskin had also said that the west wing on the second floor was deserted.
Robin walked down the steps to the second-floor landing. There were no lights in the west wing. Robin stared into the thick shadows, but she didn’t see anyone. She walked into the corridor and squinted. Nothing moved. Robin stood still for a few seconds and listened, but the only sound she heard was her own breathing.
There were two doors on her left and two on her right. Robintried the first door on her left, but it was locked. She tried the door on her right. It was also locked, as was the last door on the left.
Robin crossed the hall and tried the last door. It opened. Robin stared into the room. There were no curtains on the solitary window. The rain was now a steady drizzle, and the clouds had parted. Dim moonlight barely illuminated the room. Robin switched on the light and found herself staring at an empty chamber whose only furnishing was a fireplace that was built into the far wall.
Robin frowned. She was certain that she’d seen someone on this floor. If she had, they were probably in one of the locked rooms, but there was always the possibility that her imagination had played tricks on her.
And what if she had seen someone in the hall? What business was it of hers, anyway? Robin shook her head to clear it. She had things to do tonight, and she had to accomplish them before the sun came up.
Robin went to her room and changed into jeans, a long-sleeve shirt, a sweater, and a hooded jacket. Then she slipped her handgun into the holster attached to her belt and took a flashlight out of her duffel bag.
Robin opened the door an inch to make sure that no one was on the landing. Then she left her room and tapped lightly on Ken’s door. Moments later, the door opened and Robin slipped inside.
“What’s up?” Ken asked.
“A lot.”
Ken listened as Robin related what Sheila Monroe had told her.
“Rockwell would definitely have a motive to kill Melville if he suspected that Melville was trying to prove he killed his wife,” Ken said.
“And he does some of his own stunts,” Robin added. “He looks like he’s going soft, but he could still be athletic enough to climb down to the elevator cage, go through the hatch like I did, and climb back to the landing.”
“Do you think Samuels is Zelko?”
“After Sheila told me her suspicions, I remembered a few things about Samuels that didn’t seem right. When the judge was killed, you and I stepped in to take charge, but Samuels just stood in back of the people on the landing and looked on like a spectator. I thought that was strange, because a real detective would have taken charge right away. And some of the things he said, like referring to the forensic experts as ‘the boys from the crime lab’ sounded like lines from a TV cop show.
“Then there was something else that seemed off at dinner. I couldn’t remember what was bothering me, until Sheila told me that Samuels could be Zelko. How did we know that Samuels was here?”
“He knocked on the door.”
“How did we announce our presence?”
“We used the call box by the gate. But the storm could have disabled it.”
“Wouldn’t the power have gone out to the house too, if it knocked out the power that works the call box?”
“I’m not an electrical engineer. I have no idea. And why wouldn’t he use the call box?”
“Zelko would want to cut the telephone lines, so no one couldcall to confirm his identity. If he used the call box, he wouldn’t have had the time to cut the wires. If he’s Zelko, he would have scaled the wall and cut the wires. If the wires have been cut, there’s a good chance there’s a homicidal maniac inside Black Oaks. And there’s only one way to find out.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Ken and Robin waited until three o’clock when everyone should have been in a deep sleep. Then they stood on the landing listening. When they didn’t hear anyone moving around, they went down the stairs and along the hall toward the front door. As they passed the tapestries, Robin saw the hanging with the wolf hunt out of the corner of her eye. She had the unsettling feeling that the wolf was watching her. She paused and looked at the tapestry. The wolf was still staring over its shoulder toward the hunters. Robin took a deep breath and followed Ken to the entry hall.
Ken placed a thick towel between the front door and the jamb so they could get back in without alerting anyone. When she walked under the portico, Robin stopped. It wasn’t raining anymore, but a stiff wind was pushing the temperature into the low thirties and bending the tops of the trees. Robin hunched her shoulders against the cold and scanned the grounds for any sign of Zelko. Dark clouds hid the moon and cast the grounds aroundBlack Oaks in deep shadows, making it difficult to see. She tilted her head and listened, but all she heard was the wind whipping through the trees.
“Let’s go,” Robin said as she stepped from under the portico and circled the mansion. She used the flashlight beam to find the electrical and telephone wires. They were on the side of the house. One set of wires were intact. The others had been cut.