"I hope you plan to speak with Dr. Cantor," Angela said. "I'd heard he really had it out for Hodges."
"Cantor's on the list," Calhoun assured her. "But I wanted to start at the top and work down. Sherwood's grudge involved a piece of land. Traynor's beef was far more personal."
Calhoun went on to explain the Traynor-Hodges-Van Slyke triangle, concluding with the suicide of Sunny Traynor, Traynor's sister.
"What a terrible story," Angela said.
"It's like a TV melodrama," Calhoun agreed. "But you'd think that if Traynor felt compelled to do anything about Hodges, he would have done it back then, not now. Besides, Hodges had hand-picked Traynor to take over the hospital board well after the suicide. I doubt he'd have done that if he and Traynor were still at odds. And Van Slyke's child, Werner, works for the hospital today."
"Werner Van Slyke is related to Traynor?" David questioned with surprise. "Now that smacks of nepotism."
"Could be," Calhoun said. "But Werner Van Slyke, Junior, had a long-term friendly relationship with Hodges. He'd taken care of this house for Hodges for years. His position at the hospital is probably more a result of Hodges' doing than Traynor's. At any rate, I don't suspect Traynor of murder."
"How can you be sure?" Angela questioned.
"Can't be sure of anything except Hodges' murder," Calhoun said. "After that we can only deal in probabilities."
"This is all very interesting," David said, "but have you come up with a suspect or at least narrowed the list down?"
"No, not yet," Calhoun said.
"How much have we spent to get to this dubious crossroad?" David asked.
"David!" Angela snapped. "I think you're being unfair. I think Mr. Calhoun has learned a lot in a short period of time. I think the important question now is whether he believes the case is solvable."
"I'll buy that," David said. "What's your professional assessment, Mr. Calhoun?"
"I think I need a cigar," Calhoun said. "Would you folks mind if we were to sit outside?"
A few minutes later they assembled on the terrace. Calhoun was utterly content with his smoke and another beer.
"I think the case is definitely solvable," he said. His broad, doughy face intermittently lit up as he puffed on his cigar. "You have to know something about small New England towns: they are more the same than they are different. I know these people and I understand the dynamics. The characters are generally the same from town to town, only the names are different. Anybody's business is everybody else's. In other words I'm sure that some people know who the killer is. The problem is getting somebody to talk. My hunch is that the hospital is involved on some level, and no one wants it to get hurt. And there's a chance it could get hurt because Hodges made the hospital his life's work."
"How have you gotten your information so far?" Angela asked. "I thought New Englanders were closed-mouthed, reluctant to talk."
"Generally true," Calhoun said. "But some of the best people for town gossip happen to be friends of mine: the bookstore owner, the pharmacist, the bartender, and the librarian. They've been my sources so far. Now, I just have to start eliminating suspects. But before I begin I have to ask you a question: Do you want me to continue?"
"No," David said.
"Wait a minute," Angela said. "You've told us that the case is definitely solvable. How long do you think it will take?"
"Not too long," Calhoun said.
"That's too vague," David said.
Calhoun lifted his cap and scratched his scalp. "I'd say within a week," he said.
"That's a lot of money," David said.
"I think it's worth it," Angela said.
"Angela!" David pleaded. "You told me you were going to drop this Hodges affair."
"I will," Angela said. "I'll let Mr. Calhoun do everything. I won't talk to a soul."
"Good Lord," David said dejectedly as he rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Come on, David," Angela said. "If you expect me to live in this house then you have to support me in this."
David hesitated, then thought of a compromise. "Okay," he said. "I'll make a deal. One week, then it's over no matter what."
"All right," Angela said. "It's a deal." Then she turned to Calhoun. "Now that we have a time constraint, what's the next move?"
"First I'll continue interviewing my list of suspects," Calhoun said. "At the same time there are two other major goals. One is to reconstruct Dr. Hodges' last day, assuming he was killed on the day he disappeared. To do this I want to interview Hodges' secretary-nurse who'd worked for him for thirty-five years. The second goal is to get copies of the medical papers that were found with Hodges."
"They're in the custody of the state police," Angela said. "Having been on the force, can't you get copies easily?"
"Unfortunately, no," Calhoun said. "The state police tend to be inordinately guarded when it conies to evidence in their custody. I know because I used to work for a while in the crime-scene division up in Burlington. It makes for a kind of 'catch-22.' The state police with the expertise and the evidence aren't motivated to expend a lot of time and effort on this kind of case because they take their cue from the local police. If the local police don't care, then the state police let it slide. One of the reasons the local police don't care is they don't have the evidence to go on."
"Another reason is that they might be somehow involved," Angela said. She then told Calhoun about the brick through the window, the threatening notes, and the police's response.
"Doesn't surprise me," Calhoun said. "Robertson's on my list. He couldn't stand Hodges."
"I knew that," Angela said. "I was told that Robertson blames his wife's death on Hodges."
"I don't give that story a lot of significance," Calhoun said. "Robertson's not that stupid. I think the sorry episode about his wife was just an excuse. I think Robertson's anger toward Hodges stemmed more from Hodges' behavior which we know was less than diplomatic. I'd bet my last dollar that Hodges knew Robertson for the blowhard he is and never gave him any respect. I sincerely doubt that Robertson killed Hodges, but when I was talking with him, he gave me a funny feeling. He knows something he wasn't telling me."
"The way the police have been dragging their feet they have to be involved," Angela said.
"Reminds me of a case when I was a state trooper," Calhoun said after another long pull on his cigar. "It was also a homicide in a small town. We were sure the whole town, including the local police, knew who'd done it, yet no one would come forward. We ended up dropping the case. It's unsolved to this day."
"What makes you think Hodges' case is any different?" David asked. "Couldn't the same thing happen here?"
"Not a chance," Calhoun said. "In the case I just told you about the dead person was a murderer and a thief himself. Hodges is different. There are a lot of people who hated him, but there's also a bunch who think he was one of the town heroes. Hell, this is the only referral hospital in New England outside of the big cities, and Hodges was personally responsible for building it up. A lot of people's livelihood is based on what Hodges created here. Don't worry, this case will be solved. No doubt about it."
"How will you manage to get copies of Hodges' papers if you can't do it yourself?" Angela asked.
"You have to do it," Calhoun said.
"Me?" Angela asked.
"That's not part of the deal," David said. "She has to stay out of this investigation. I don't want her talking to anyone. Not with bricks coming through our window."
"There will be no danger," Calhoun insisted.
"Why me?" Angela asked.
"Because you are both a physician and an employee of the hospital," Calhoun said. "If you show up at the crime-scene division up in Burlington with the appropriate identification and say that copies of the papers are needed to take care of patients, they'll make you copies in a flash. Judges' and doctors' requests are always honored. I know. As I said, I used to work there."