Chapter 3

It was time for Chief Inspector Tower to face the facts.

That was the thought that ran through Martha Goodpenny's brain as she escorted the caterers out the front door of her town house. She strode resolutely back into the study and saw Chief Inspector Tower pouring himself another whiskey from her Harry's private stock. Not that he would have cared being under the sod for more than a few years.

"Would you like one, Martha?"

She felt more like the guest than the hostess but that was Roger's way no matter where he was or who he was conversing with. He was a man who couldn't stand not being in control even when he was caught red-handed with a tasty fresh female recruit by his less-than-pleased spouse.

"Yes, please, Roger, it has been a terribly long day."

Martha paused to draw the curtains on the bay window looking out on the parking quadrangle with its gravel paving. The last caterer truck was just pulling away and she was not sorry to see them go and for the dinner party to be finally concluded.

"We have to talk, Roger."

He handed her the whiskey allowing his fingers to trail across her palm like the touch of Venus fly-trap searching for prey. She had to hide her smirk of dismay at his overt display of male sexual "leaning-in" in hope of some positive reaction.

Martha put the glass on the table and walked to the other bay window and bent forward so her buttocks stood out against the silk material of the evening gown that left no doubt she was not wearing any girdle. She caught Roger ogling her bum and it was her cue to start clueing him in on the actual facts of the case because he was mired in some silly "profile" analysis of the murderer. Sometimes the brainy police types managed to "think" themselves into the wrong direction and were loath to admit it when things turned south.

"Roger, my niece was not killed by some pervert with a hatred of his mother and a fatal attraction for knives to solve his issues."

He looked at her with a blank face because he knew she always had a slew of facts to back up her theories. Roger was smart enough to keep his powder dry until he had all the facts in front of him. His biggest flaw was in relying too much on the "think tanks" of the division to guide his investigations. It was exactly the opposite of how her Harry had always formed his own analysis of the crime scene.

"My dear Chief Inspector, there are three perfectly logical reasons why your investigation is headed in the wrong direction."

The amused high-ranking policeman sat on the sofa and waited for her to continue.

"In the first case, your forensics should have already informed you that the knife wounds were performed "post mortem" making the death due to the result of the fall and what caused the fall."

Roger finished off half of his whiskey with a pained look on his face.

"Secondly, even though there were no signs of non-consensual interference, my niece's reputation was a bit tattered when it came to making new male friends. It would not be out of the question for her to be entertaining a new "friend" in her boudoir on the spur of the moment."

The Chief Inspector slowly poured the whiskey into his glass topping off the remains of the previous libation. He looked like he wanted to say something but he held his tongue until Martha completed her statement of facts.

"My last point is that my first and second point lead to the conclusion that this was a murder by a professional assassin made to look like suicide and that some mysterious third party stepped in to draw our attention to the hard cold facts of a well-planned homicide."

Chief Inspector Tower sloshed down the remainder of his drink and cleared his throat. Martha sat silently perched on the edge of the sofa with her dinner dress covering her knees but showing enough of her under thigh to cast her in a sensual and appealing honey trap of mature femininity. She was perfectly well aware of this but her logic dictated she should use every weapon at her disposal in this reversal of course strategy for the investigation.

"Martha, I must admit some of what you say has already crossed my mind and the previous line of investigation is far too pat for my liking. I think we have been led on a merry goose chase and I for one am unhappy with the work of my forensic people. It is all these young things from the University that have switched from good old police work to relying on "scientific" evidence that even a rookie policeman would deduce was planted to throw us off the trail."

Martha accepted the refreshed drink that Roger had poured for her doing her best to just sip it and drink it too quickly because she was beginning to feel a bit light-headed and ready to do something risky and out of character for her.

Her face was a bit flushed but she didn't think it was from the drink or from the fireplace. The pressure building up in her loins from the proximity of a suitable male her own age was running rampant and she decided to move things along by asking Roger if he could help her remove an eyelash or piece of dirt from her eye as it was "most uncomfortable". She handed him her hanky and lifted her face up for his close personal inspection only scant inches from her mouth and lips.

It was a rather transparent ploy but Martha was at her wit's end trying to get Roger to initiate some sort of physical contact without further delay. Somehow or other, he either got the message or let the whiskey rule his actions and he was kissing her with a deep, soul-searching intensity that her departed spouse rarely engaged in. It was exactly what she wanted but the shock of it drained her of all logic and she allowed him to explore her body with his busy hands like a schoolboy lover impatient to reach the Promised Land.