“Honestly, I don’t know. But Brett was still alive because when we walked inside, we saw him fooling around with Klementina Harwood. She was sitting on his lap, and he was trying to stick his tongue in her ear.”
Jack remained impassive. “And what was Julian’s reaction to that?”
Ellery sighed. “I don’t think he liked it. Who would?”
“Did he speak to Brett?”
“No. That was right after we ran into you, so maybe that helps you pinpoint the time.” He remembered he’d gotten snarky and Jack had gotten distant and cool, but it felt long ago. Though not as long ago as the easy camaraderie of their lunch Tuesday afternoon. That felt like another lifetime.
“Did you remember something?” Jack’s lashes flicked up. He regarded Ellery closely.
Ellery shook his head. “No. We—Julian and I—were going to find somewhere we could talk and actually hear each other, but we kept running into people. At one point we stepped back out to get another drink and listen to the band.”
“How was Julian’s mood?”
Ellery considered Jack for a moment. “Romantic.”
Jack’s eyes flickered. “Did he talk about Brett?”
“Nope.”
“Right. So you spent how long listening to the band and being romantic?”
“We weren’t—” Ellery stopped. “It must have been around 11:30…maybe? I’m not at all clear about the time. I know we came inside and Julian introduced me to his mother.”
“I thought you’d already met Marguerite?”
“I had. It was just…a sweet gesture.”
“Huh,” Jack said in the tone of one who was naturally distrustful of sweet gestures. “There was an altercation at 11:35.”
This was the part Ellery really didn’t want to get into. “Yes. I’m not exactly sure what happened. Klementina Harwood was swinging her pearls around, kind of like a pretend stripper, and she must’ve hit Brett in the face. I’m not sure if he thought she did it on purpose or what, but he slapped her.”
Jack made a check mark against his notes, so this appeared to confirm something he already knew.
“Go on,” he murmured.
“They were both really drunk. Julian went to talk to them, and…”
“And?”
Ellery half closed his eyes, trying to remember. It had all happened so fast. But if he viewed the scuffle as movements in a choreographed fight sequence?
He said slowly, “I think Brett was the aggressor.”
Jack stopped writing. “It’s important to get this sequence of events right. You’re saying Brett attacked Julian without provocation?”
Once again, Ellery replayed the events of earlier in his mind. He grimaced. “No. I think…Brett said something to Julian—”
“What did he say?”
“Momma’s boy? Something idiotic. And Julian reacted—”
“Reacted how?”
Ellery considered his words, but it was all going to come out anyway. “He started to throw a punch, but Locke Lombard stepped in. I think Brett pushed Locke or tried to get around him to Julian, but everybody jumped in and hurried Brett outside.”
“Then what?”
“Well, Klementina was crying and yelling that he couldn’t treat her that way and he hadn’t seen the last of her. I’m amazed you didn’t hear her. Then she stormed off. You showed up. That was pretty much the end of it. I ran into Mayor Sweeny, and we chatted for a while.”
“How long before you saw Julian again?”
Ellery sighed. “You know, I had a lot to drink tonight, Jack. I wasn’t watching the clock.”
“I get that,” Jack said, “but the timeline here is important. If you can be more accurate, that could be helpful to Julian.”
Or it could be not helpful to Julian. But Ellery didn’t say that. No need to state the obvious.
“It couldn’t have been too long. He came back for a minute to tell me he had to make sure everything was ready for the fireworks display. He said he’d be right back.”
“How did Julian seem at that point?”
“He seemed fine. Apologetic.” Ellery searched for the word. “Solicitous.”
Jack’s gaze did that little flicker again.
“I went upstairs, the fireworks started, and Julian joined me on the balcony not too long after that. There were a bunch of other people up there, and I’m sure someone will have noticed the time.”
The time Julian joined them. Not the amount of time he was gone. And naturally, it was the latter Jack was interested in.
“Did you see Brett at any time after Julian went to check on the fireworks display?”
Ellery had known that question was coming. He didn’t want to answer, but lying was not an option. “No.”
“Did you see him at any time after he went outside with Julian and the others?”
“No, but there were others. It wasn’t like Brett and Julian went out there on their own.”
Jack was watching him closely. “After Julian joined you on the balcony, did you remain together until the ghost hunt began?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
Jack leaned back in his chair. His tone was neutral as he asked, “What was Julian’s mood when he joined you on the balcony? How did he seem?”
Calls for speculation on the part of the witness, Your Honor! But this was an investigation, not a trial, and Jack had to begin somewhere. In this case, he had to rely on the observations of every potential witness.
“He seemed fine. He seemed…playful. In good spirits.” Ellery added, “He sure didn’t seem like he’d been running through a graveyard. He wasn’t disheveled. He didn’t have any blood on his clothes. He seemed fine. Normal.”
He thought about Julian’s grazed knuckles. Jack would notice those for himself when he interviewed Julian. Ellery didn’t have to go out of his way to point the finger of suspicion.
Jack tapped his pencil on his notepad for a second or two. He said finally, “Whose idea was it to walk up to the mausoleum?”
Ellery admitted, “His.” He added quickly, “He said the view of the cove was better up there, and it was.”
“Whose idea was it to open and enter the mausoleum?”
“His.”
Jack was relentless. “Who discovered the body?”
Ellery sighed. “Julian did.”
Jack nodded, made a final note, glanced up at Ellery. “Thanks. That’s all. You’re free to leave.”
Ellery opened his mouth, saw a certain bleakness in Jack’s gaze, and swallowed his words.
Chapter Ten
Ellery woke to golden sunlight, a cold wet nose in his ear, and the buzz of his cell phone.
He blinked, trying to orient himself. His mouth tasted like the moldy linoleum he and Jack had ripped up in the kitchen, his thinking was fuzzy, and he had a definite headache. It had been so long since he’d had a hangover, it took him a few seconds to recognize the symptoms.
Ugh.
Watson moaned as though he too was suffering ill effects from the night before, and burrowed his head more firmly into Ellery’s neck.