safe there, and they’re bound to arrest this guy soon. Do you have someone who could stay with you tonight?”
She nodded, just as Eddie came to the connecting door to say that Lieutenant Graham was on the phone.
“Tell him I’ll be right there. And, Eddie, would you mind driving Corinne to her office?”
I locked the door behind them, then picked up the phone. The detective was all business. “You were at Angela Sims’ building this morning. Why?”
“I saw the police and went in, that’s all. Lieutenant, you’ve got to find Lester Foy He murdered Angela.”
“You’re sure of that, are you?”
“Don’t tell me you think she fell, for God’s sake! People don’t fall off their own balconies. He broke in there last night and—”
“What makes you think someone broke in?”
“Don’t tell me Angela let him in! A guy with a bat tattooed on his head?”
“We don’t know who she let in, if anyone. What we do know is that two weeks ago a woman was raped in a building two blocks away. Her assailant threatened to push her out a window if she resisted him.”
“And you think the same ‘assailant’ killed Angela?”
“All I think is that it’s a far more likely hypothesis than your obsession with Lester Foy. He has no record of violence.”
“It’s not an obsession! He was stalking me at the cemetery, and this morning he chased Corinne through the Pike Place Market.”
“Chased her?”
“Well, followed her.”
“Did he threaten her in some way? Were there witnesses?”
I kept forgetting: in Graham’s eyes, Skull was still just a petty thief and Corinne was still the girl who cried wolf. “I don’t think so. But you should talk to her. She’ll be at her desk at the Sentinel in a few minutes.”
“Excellent idea,” he said dryly. “Any more suggestions about how to do my job?”
“No, I guess not. Wait, what about Tommy Barry?” I’d been calling the hospital every day to check on Tommy’s condition. Some slight improvement, they kept telling me, but still no visitors. “Are you still guarding him?”
“Round the clock.”
“Good.” I could imagine the scene the sportswriter must have witnessed. The dim corridor, the shallow water lapping on stones, and Dracula looming over the fallen gypsy queen. Did Foy know there was a watcher in the shadows? Maybe he hadn’t seen Tommy clearly enough to identify him again. Or maybe he was casing the hospital as well as stalking the women who turned him in. “Tell your people to look out for those tattoos. Or maybe a rubber Dracula mask.”
“Ms. Kincaid, I really don’t believe that Lester Foy was at that party.”
“Why not?”
“In any case, he’ll be picked up on the bail violation.”
“And how long will that take? Foy must know that Corinne saw him at the Market today. He’ll go into hiding for a while, and then come after us again!”
“I assure you, we’re doing all we can. Good-bye.”
I hung up, frowning in concentration. Skull had to be drawn out into the open before he killed again. And I thought I knew how to do it.
I paced along the picture windows lining the front of the office, and stared out unseeing at the pewter surface of the lake. It won’t really be dangerous, if I handle it right. And what else can I do? I just have to get a message to him…
By the time Eddie returned, I had my plan. But first I had to make some explanations.
“What in the Sam Hill is going on around here?” Eddie demanded. “Who’s Lester Foy?”
“He’s the purse-snatcher from the bridesmaids’ luncheon last month. Have a seat and I’ll tell you the whole story.”
Of course, I edited the story, telling him about Angela’s death and Corinne’s panicked flight, but nothing of my newly hatched scheme. Eddie seemed to take it all very calmly, until I told him I was going downstairs to rest for a while. He insisted on coming with me, peering ferociously up the dock toward the parking lot with every step. Then he checked through all the rooms, including the inside of my miniscule bedroom closet. If Graham was right, this was sheer paranoia and a waste of time. But I didn’t object.
On his way out my front door, Eddie inspected the dead bolt. “You keep this locked, sister.”
“I promise.”
“And you should have one of those peephole things. For Christ’s sake, anybody could be standing out there and you wouldn’t—”
“I’ll have one put in tomorrow! Besides, it’s daytime. Foy’s not going to show his face until—I mean, he’s probably