“I said I know what you did in the barn. Not everything, of course,” I added. “But enough to know that you lied to the cops.”
I felt a twinge of guilt as I said this, since my conscience reminded me that I hadn’t exactly told the cops everything either. But, at least, I was only committing sins of omission. Not even omission, really—delay. I hadn’t told the chief any bald-faced whoppers under direct questioning.
Endicott finally appeared to notice the fallen box, and squatted down beside it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, his eyes fixed on the box flaps and his hands poised over them, as if he were trying to get up enough nerve to open the box and view the damage within.
“Come on,” I said. “I know what you told the chief—you were snooping in the stuff Gordon had dragged into the barn—his stash, I think you called it. And he caught you, and had a good laugh at your expense, and you left. Only we both know that’s not exactly how it went.”
“I didn’t kill him,” he said. “If you saw what I did, you’d know that.”
“Then what the hell were you doing?”
“I was just hiding the body,” he said. He abandoned the idea of examining the breakage, picked up the box, and began walking, briskly. But not so briskly that I couldn’t keep up, despite the weight of my box.
“Hiding the body?” I repeated.
“He was already dead when I found him,” he said, over his shoulder. “I walked in and found him lying there, dead, in the middle of the barn floor, and I knew if anyone else walked in and saw us there, they’d think I killed him. Everyone knew how much I hated him. So I thought if I could only hide the body—to make sure it wasn’t found right after I left the barn …”
“So you hid it,” I said. “Where?”
“Farther back in the barn,” he said. “Right beside the ladder to the loft.”
I nodded. That tallied with what Professor Schmidt had said.
“And then you just strolled out and pretended nothing had happened. And lied to the police.”
“I was in shock!” he said, with a shudder. “I get queasy at estate sales, just thinking about the possibility that someone might have died in the house—I’d never even seen a dead body before, much less touched one.”
“And why should I believe you?” I said. “You lied about talking to him, and let an innocent man get arrested.”
“Well, I’m innocent, too, and if I told the truth, I’d have been arrested,” he said. “I figured with all those forensic things they can do nowadays, they’d find the real killer soon enough.”
“Oh, and a town like Caerphilly has a big budget for forensics, right?” I said. “And with all the murders they have here, they probably have some really experienced, top-notch evidence technicians, too.”
As I said it, I apologized mentally to Cousin Horace, who was a pretty decent evidence technician. But Endicott didn’t know that. And it was true about the budget. I’d been to Caerphilly County Board meetings, so I knew how miniscule the chief’s budget was, and thanks to Dad’s passion for anything connected with crime, I had a fair idea how far into the hole the forensic part of the weekend’s investigation had probably put the county, to say nothing of the overtime costs. Maybe that was why the chief was so eager to arrest Giles.
Just as Endicott was visibly eager to get away from me. He kept walking faster, no doubt hoping to lose me, and by now we were traveling at a brisk jog, our boxes clinking rhythmically as we ran.
“I’m sorry,” Endicott gasped out, finally. “It’s not as if I had a lot of time to think it through.”
“And you had a good reason to want him dead,” I said. “He was costing you money—and threatening to cost you more, wasn’t he?”
“Not enough to kill him,” Endicott said, in a shocked tone. “Only a few thousand dollars. I could well afford that. How do you think I’ve managed without a shop for nearly two years? I deal in antiques—well, not as a hobby; I try to keep things very businesslike. But I don’t need to make a living at it. I don’t need the money; I inherited enough money to live quite comfortably.”
“And enough money to hire a top-notch defense attorney if you need one,” I said. I was starting to worry about all the running we were doing. I was getting seriously winded, and I had about twenty years’ advantage on Endicott.
“If it comes to hiring a lawyer, yes,” he said. “Though I hope it doesn’t. Think of the scandal.”