"Are you in place, Murphy?" Remington asked, speaking into the two way radio that he was holding.
"I-am," he said in an aggrieved tone. Laura could hear him grunting, and met those blue eyes in a curious stare. "Damn."
"Problem?"
"No. Just trying to get hidden behind some crates. Wanted to make sure there wasn't anyone in there who might come after me for trespassing," he said through the crackling connection.
"Keep your eyes open."
"Will do."
Remington put the radio on the dash of Laura's Rabbit as his own eyes focused on the front entrance to the Hopewood Gallery. "You don't think this will work, do you?" Laura asked him, watching his changing expressions.
"Hmm. It's a bet Felicia and her partner won't be going through the front door- or the back one."
"Which leaves the skylights," she said. "The only way to watch THEM is to be up on the roof. And if I remember correctly, there's not much of a place up there to hide-" her voice trailed off as her gaze moved to the building across the street from the Gallery. "How about watching from a higher perch?" she suggested.
Remington followed her gaze to the top of the building in question. It was abandoned- an old apartment building now scheduled for demolition to make way for a parking garage, according to the sign posted in one of the front windows. There was a rather large "NO TRESPASSING" sign as well, Remington noticed. "Laura - you've no idea what kind of shape that building is in. It's been condemned-"
"Why don't we find out?" Laura said with a smile, opening her door. "What's wrong, Mr. Steele? Afraid we might catch your friend and discover that she DID kill Philip Carson?"
Their eyes met and a silent battle ensued before Remington opened his door. "Very well, Miss Holt," he said, picking up the mental gauntlet she had thrown before him. As an afterthought, he grabbed the radio. "Let's go."
***
Daniel rose as the maitre'd led Mildred across the restaurant to the table. "There you are, Miss Krebs. I was beginning to think you'd stood me up."
Mildred smiled as she let him take her wrap and give it to the hovering maitre'd. "I almost didn't come," she admitted, sitting down across from him.
"Why?"
"Well, I know that you reserved this table for you and Miss Holt tonight- I'm probably a pretty poor substitute for her-"
"To be honest, Mildred, I'm really rather relieved that things happened as they did," Daniel said as he poured her a glass of wine.
Mildred's eyes widened. "You mean that man being murdered?"
"Oh, no. I meant that Laura and Harry were forced to cancel any plans they'd made to go on that stake out."
"Oh. Why? The way Miss Holt was talking earlier-"
"It was all an act, Mildred. Laura's rather- feeble attempt to make Harry jealous and admit that he had no plans to marry Felicia- or anyone else, for that matter."
"You're sure of that?" Mildred asked, her expression revealing that she had some doubts. "What I saw looked pretty darn convincing."
"I think of Laura like a daughter," Daniel informed her. "The idea of - anything else is out the question. Even IF my son weren't totally round the bend over her."
"Well, he's NOT going to marry Felicia. Did you know that all along?"
Daniel sighed. "Not only did I KNOW about it, I'm responsible for bringing Felicia to Los Angeles in the first place."
***
The building was easy to gain access to. The back door had been jimmied- probably by a homeless person or drug dealer, Remington thought as he and Laura entered. Touching her shoulder, he lifted a finger to his lips, signaling for quiet.
He listened for sounds of others in the building, but all he heard were the scurrying sounds of rats and mice moving into hiding places as their domain was invaded. The stairway was narrow and dark, and as Laura placed a foot on the first step, a loud creak of weakened wood echoed through the building.
Laura froze as Remington's hand clasped around her arm. "Keep to the edges," he warned in a quiet voice that Laura noticed didn't carry in the empty building.
She nodded. "Okay," was her reply, and she winced as her own voice seemed to bounce off the walls.
Again they waited to see if the sound of Laura's voice brought anyone else out.
Once Remington was satisfied that they were alone in the building, he urged Laura onward, following her as lightly as he could, aware that while Laura's slight frame mightn't cause problems for the weak stairs, his heavier weight would. He had visions of the stairs collapsing with them both, sending them into the basement of the building.
They encountered no resistance until the came out onto the third floor and found themselves standing before the door marked "TO ROOF" in faded lettering. Laura grasped the knob- but it the door didn't open. "It's jammed," she whispered.
"Let me try," Remington said, pulling on the door. It didn't budge. Taking his lighter, he started the flame for some light. The door wasn't warped that he could see, and a closer inspection revealed no sign of it being out of square. He knelt to take a closer look at the lock in the flickering flame. "Hold this," he told Laura, then looked around, realizing that she wasn't there. "Laura?" he asked in a quiet whisper. Pulling his lock pick from his jacket, he was forced to douse the lighter to use both hands. It had been a long time since he had had to do something like this, he thought as he felt for the doorknob and the lock.
As he felt the lock give, Laura's hand touched his shoulder. "I found another way," she said into his ear.
"Dammit, woman, don't sneak up on me like that," he hissed back, searching on the floor for his lock picks. "I got the door open."
"We can use the fire escape," Laura said at the same time. "We can access it from the window at the end of the hall."
"Let's go this way," Remington suggested, pulling the door open and glancing up into the short flight of stairs to the roof.
"The door up there's probably locked, too," Laura told him, pulling on his arm. "This way."
He glanced in the direction she was pointing. "Laura, considering the condition of the stairs IN the building, I'm not sure I want to put my trust in a rusted fire escape that's been out in the elements. Come on. And keep quiet. Might as well announce our arrival to the world," he muttered, going up the steps, letting the lighter illuminate his path.
Grasping the doorknob, he sighed, refusing the meet Laura's eyes as she said, "Locked, hmm?"
"Hold the lighter," he told her. "Won't take a sec-"
"I still say we should use the fire escape," Laura said, but she took the lighter as he started to work on the lock.
They both heard a "click", and their eyes met. Remington rose, returning the two files to their place, then retrieved his lighter before moving to turn the doorknob.
The door wouldn't budge. "It must be locked from outside somehow," Laura told him.
Remington put a shoulder to the door, then shook his head. "Not locked. Blocked by something. Where was that fire escape again?"
They accessed the rooftop after a precarious climb up a creaking metal ladder that Steele worried would break away from the crumbling bricks at any moment. The moonlight shed light on their progress to the side of the building closest to the Gallery.
Laura picked up a coil of rope. "What's this?" she asked as Remington examined a rope that was tied around a pipe and out across the chasm between the buildings.
"Look at this," he told her, and Laura followed the rope to the top of the Gallery building. "They're over there, aren't they?"
"Looks that way."
She pointed. "See that section of skylight? The light's different. They went in there." As she watched, Remington pulled at the knot in the rope. "What are you doing?"
"Removing their means of returning over here. Without this, they'll have to go over the side of the Gallery-"
"And we'll be waiting," Laura finished, smiling as he tossed the rope away and watched it fall to hang down the side of the building across the way. Then he went to the stairway door and removed the length of pipe holding the door closed.
"Come in, Murphy," Remington said into the radio. "The mice are trapped. Make the call. And be ready."
***
"Lovely, don't you agree, my dear?"
Felicia watched her partner examine the Black Star in the dim lighting. "We've no time for admiring it, Malcolm. Let's go."
"I suppose you're right," he said with a sigh as he placed the diamond into a velvet sack which he then placed into a pocket. Turning toward the rope that was suspended from the hole in the skylight, he said, "After you, my dear."
As Felicia lifted herself up the rope. She said, "I still don't understand why Philip isn't here, Malcolm."
"I explained, Felicia. He wasn't necessary to this evening's activities. Now, do hurry. I thought you were the one who wanted to get out of here."
On the roof, Felicia said, "When I spoke to him earlier today, he was still talking about being here. When did he change his mind about helping?"
"After I explained that it would be best if he stayed at the hotel," Malcolm replied, coiling the rope around his shoulder before leading his partner to the edge where they had left the rope strung across.
"Malcolm, the rope is gone!" she said.
He looked over the edge. "No, it's not gone, Felicia. It's hanging here-" he told her, lifting some of it to show her. "That knot didn't come untied by itself."
"Locals, perhaps?" Felicia suggested.
"Perhaps. I know they use that building from time to time." He cautiously pulled the rope up. "We'll just take this to the back of the building and repel down the side," he decided.
"Bad idea," Remington said as he came from the rear of the building. Laura had been wrong about hiding places up here, luckily. "The police are already waiting in the alley. Actually, the entire building's surrounded."
Felicia glanced over the edge. "He's right, Malcolm. There's a police car down there."
"Then it's a good thing we have the famous private detective Remington Steele to get us safe passage, eh, my girl?" Malcolm questioned.
"Me?" Remington questioned. "And why would I help you escape, Malcolm?" Remington asked.
Malcolm grabbed Felicia and pressed the gun he now held to her head. "To keep from seeing Felicia killed, of course. She's told me that you and she are old friends."
Remington met Felicia's green eyes, asking a silent question. "Really? And did she happen to say HOW we knew each other?"
"Only that you two were pretty close back in England, before you came to the States," Malcolm confirmed, his hold on Felicia tightening. "Now, I want you to tell your friends down there to move off and let us go."
Remington saw Laura in the shadows behind Malcolm. "You're the one who killed Carson, aren't you?" he asked.
"Killed?" Felicia asked, struggling. "You killed-"
"He wanted more money. He was a fool. When I refused his demand, he threatened to go to the authorities about our plan." The hammer was pulled back on his gun. "Don't make me tell you again, Steele."
Remington slowly lifted the radio toward his mouth. "I've been asked to tell you to move off," he said into it. His eyes met Laura's. "NOW." He dropped the radio and dived toward Felicia as Laura pulled on the rope that had somehow become entangled around Malcolm's feet.
She jerked the rope as hard as she could, knocking Malcolm to the floor. The gun went off, and Remington winced as he felt something graze his arm. He made sure Felicia was safe. "Stay here," he ordered, then rose to his feet to try and help Laura.
But Laura was calmly standing over Malcolm, his gun in her hands. "Are you all right?" she asked, her eyes flicking quickly to his shoulder, then back to Malcolm.
"Just a scratch," he assured her, as he searched Malcolm's pockets and came up with the velvet pouch that contained the Black Star. Retrieving the radio, he said, "Murphy?"
"Everything okay up there, Steele?" Murphy replied. "We heard a gunshot."
"We're fine. Tell Jarvis that we have Philip Carson's murderer up here, if he'd like to come up and take him into custody."
"On my way, Steele," Jarvis replied.
"You can come out now, Felicia," Remington called out. The only response was the sound of gravel scattering. "Felicia?" he called out, going toward the sound.
He found one of the ropes tied off and hanging over the edge, in the one spot where the police hadn't covered. There was no sign of Felicia.
Laura looked at him as he returned. "Where is she?"
"Gone."
***
Murphy went home after Jarvis took Malcolm into custody, leaving Laura and Remington to return to his apartment. "Not exactly the reunion dinner I had in mind," he told her as they prepared a simple meal composed mostly of leftover roast beef and canned vegetables.
"Reunion?" she questioned. He winced as he reached for something. "Let me look at your arm," she told him. Removing his jacket, it was Laura's turn to wince at the blood stains on his white shirt. "I thought you said it was nothing?"
"A flesh wound. I've had worse."
"Take off your shirt," she ordered, turning to find a towel and run some cold water on it.
It WAS just a flesh wound, as he'd said. But Remington figured he could get a little mileage from her concern. "I have a confession to make," he told her.
Laura pressed the damp rag to the wound. "A confession?"
"Umm. You were right. About why I was seeing Felicia."
"Really?"
"Daniel thought it might change your mind to see someone else wanting to marry me."
Laura went still. "Daniel? Daniel was in on this?"
Remington went still as well, realizing that he'd just made a mistake. "Well, it was- both our idea, actually. I asked for his help- made him an offer he couldn't refuse, I suppose," he told her, trying to coax a smile from her.
"And what offer might that have been?" Laura asked, tossing the rag into the sink. "Grandchildren?"
"I had something a bit quicker in mind. I - offered him something he's been wanting for some time. Me."
"Why that- that- treacherous, two faced, snake in the grass--- that-that CON MAN!" Laura ranted as Remington stood watching her warily.
"Uh, Laura, you ARE talking about my father, you know."
"Oh, sure. NOW you take up for him! I can't believe that he meddled like that!"
"I ASKED him for his help, Laura. It's not his fault, it was mine for agreeing to try his plan."
She whirled to face him. "Well, he's NOT going to get away with it! I think it's time that Daniel Chalmers learned his lesson, don't you?"
"Laura, what are you planning in that devious mind of yours?" Remington asked, not really sure he wanted to know.
To Be Continued…