“Mind if we have a copy of that?” Dino asked.
“You can contact him through me,” Stone said.
They left Billy Bob to get some sleep, and Dino dropped him off at home.
“What did you think?” Stone asked.
“He was plausible,” Dino said. “But I wish I liked him more for the murder.”
“Why?”
“Then I wouldn’t have to think about arresting you.”
10
STONE WAS HAVING BREAKFAST the following morning when Helene came into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Mr. Stone,” she said.
“Good morning, Helene.”
“That was a terrible business yesterday with that girl.”
“Yes, it was; I’m sorry you had to be involved.”
“She must have been very cold natured,” Helene said.
“How’s that?”
“I mean, the house is heated pretty warm, and there was a down comforter on the bed.”
“I’m sorry, Helene, I don’t understand.”
“So why would she want to use an electric blanket?”
“Helene, I don’t own an electric blanket.”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “You told me to buy one last year, when you had a guest who was cold in that room, remember?”
That stopped Stone in his tracks. “Yes, I think I do, now that you mention it.”
“Well, she had it on, and it was turned all the way up. How do you think she could stand that?”
“I don’t know,” Stone said, and his mind was racing. He reached for the phone to call Dino, then stopped. What was his obligation, here? If the girl had been under an electric blanket after she was murdered, her body would have cooled more slowly, and the ME’s estimate of time of death, which would have been based on liver temperature, could have been off by hours. Reporting this fact to the police could tend to incriminate both his client and himself. The phone rang, and Stone picked it up.
“Hello?”
“It’s Dino.”
“Good morning.”
“Not really, not for you and your client, anyway.”
Stone’s heart sank. “What do you mean?”
“The ME called this morning; when he gave us the time of death yesterday, he didn’t know that the girl’s body was under an electric blanket. Apparently, one of his techs moved the blanket and didn’t remember to tell him until later.”
“Helene told me about the electric blanket just a minute ago. I was about to call you.”