Carter walked up the staircase and banged on the basement door.
“ELLIOTT!” he screamed.
He heard Elliott run down the hallway and unlock the door. Carter opened it up.
“Did you figure it out?” Elliott asked.
“Not yet,” Carter said. “But I have an idea.”
Elliott groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I need your help,” Carter said. “Come inside.”
Elliott walked inside the basement and shut the door behind him. After the two walked down the staircase, Carter asked: “Show me the trap.”
Elliott pointed to the trap. It lay close by where Freeman’s body lay. Carter hadn’t noticed it because Freeman’s dead body made everything that lay around it practically invisible.
The trap looked more like a box, but there appeared to be a lid to it. The inside of the trap was probably where the contraption used to kill the rat was found.
The suspects all were surprised to see Elliott in the basement with them, but before any of them could say anything, Carter turned to them and firmly said: “Nobody is leaving the basement.” After that, nobody said a word.
Carter turned back to Elliott and asked: “Do you remember how the suspects were standing before you left the basement to go ask your wife a question?”
Elliott nodded. “I actually do. With everything that had happened, I actually couldn’t keep the picture off of my mind. You’d be surprised.”
“Okay then, show me.”
Elliott pointed to the right side of the trap. “This is where Freeman was standing,” he said. “Freeman stood on the left side, Cruz stood next to him on the right side.”
He pointed to the side opposite of where Freeman was standing. “Howard and I stood on that side. I was on the left, he was on the right.”
He pointed to the side on the right of where Freeman was standing. “Anderson and Stewart stood there.” He pointed to the opposite side of that and said: “Jenkins and Sullivan stood there.”
Elliott turned to Carter and asked: “Do you got that?”
“Um…sort of,” Carter said.
“Here,” Elliott said, pulling a pen out of his pocket. “I’ll draw a picture.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a napkin and drew on it with the pen. After about a minute, he handed the napkin to Carter.621Please respect copyright.PENANAg2uxFo0Ose
Carter looked at the drawing.621Please respect copyright.PENANA52mr4GuJD7
“This’ll do,” he said.
“Good,” Elliott said. “But how is that going to solve the murder?”
“You’ll see,” Carter said. “Please leave the basement and lock the door again.”
The suspects moaned.
“Um…okay,” Elliott said. He walked up the stairs and closed the door. Once again, Carter did not take his eye off the door until he heard it lock.621Please respect copyright.PENANAWRqIBMVvIy