By the time I’d sent Rebecca home she had calmed down a lot. It probably helped that I didn’t mention my little encounter with her sister. I just told her that I had no idea where Lulu was. Which was, in fact, the truth. I needed time to think, and meanwhile, the less she knew the better.
Rebecca was clearly shook up, but she would be ok. As for me, well, I can put on a pretty good show when I need to, but now that I was alone in my office again, it wasn’t so easy. Sometimes the old shadows have a way of getting a little too close, and it can get hard to think with all the crowding. When that happens, I’ve got a system.
I took out the bottle of JD Single Barrel, and put it on the desk in front of me. Then I got a clean glass and poured myself a very generous shot. After I’d tossed that one back, I poured myself another. This one I would nurse for a while, while I thought things through.
Until Rebecca had made the connection, I hadn’t thought of Lulu as a suspect. But it made sense — she certainly had motive, and there was one obvious way she had opportunity: She could have gotten past all the security by posing as her sister. Once inside, a single shot with a silencer would finish the job. Then she could have gotten out the same way she came in. All very neat and easy.
What bothered me more than anything was that I hadn’t even thought of this angle until Rebecca spoke up. Was I getting too close? It was hard for me to think of Lulu as a killer, but the shamus in me couldn’t deny the possibility.
Yet there was something nagging in my gut, something that didn’t add up. I just couldn’t put my nose on what it was. What I needed was a little shot of wisdom. And Mister Jack Daniels wasn’t doing the trick.
It was time to see the owl.