The Seventh Commandment by Lawrence Sanders

he said, sneezing again, "but why do I need it?"
    "I went up to see the Starretts' servants today. We talked in the kitchen. There's a knife rack on the wall. Nice cutlery. Imported carbon steel. One of the knives is missing. An eight-inch chefs knife. We have one at home. It's a triangular blade. Close to the handle it's about two inches wide."
    Wenden set his cup back on the saucer. It rattled. "How long has it been missing?" he asked, staring at her.
    "I didn't ask them," Dora said. "But when I noticed it, Clara and Charles glanced at each other. I think it probably disappeared at that cocktail party the night Starrett was killed, but the servants didn't want to come right out and say so."
    "Why didn't you lean on them?"
    "How the hell could I?" she said angrily. "You're a cop; you can lean. I'm just a short, fat, housewife-type from the insurance company. I've got no clout."
    "All right, all right," he said. "So I'll lean on them. If the knife disappeared on the night of the murder, that opens up a whole new can of worms."
    "It also clears three in this cast of characters," she said. "Olivia and the two servants stayed in the apartment for dinner and presumably were still there when Lewis went for his walk. Did you check the whereabouts of the others at the time of the killing?"
    The detective looked at her indignantly. "You think we're mutts? Of course we checked. They all have alibis. None of them are rock solid, but alibis rarely are. Felicia was at a new restaurant down on Spring Street. Confirmed by her date-a twit who wears one earring. Helene and Turner Pierce were at a theatre on West Forty-sixth Street. They have their ticket stubs to prove it. Father Callaway was down at his church, passing out ham sandwiches to the homeless. He was seen there. Eleanor and Clayton Starrett were at a charity bash at the Hilton. Sounds good, but there's not one of them who couldn't have ducked out and cabbed back to East Eighty-third Street in time to chill Lewis. They all knew his nightly routine. Hey, what do I call you?"
    "Call me? My name is Dora."
    "I know that, but it's too domestic. Will you be sore if I call you Red?"
    She sighed. "Delighted," she said.
    "Could I have another brandy, Red?"
    "You're not going to pass out on me, are you?"
    "Hell, no. I'm just getting my head together."
    She brought the brandy bottle and set it on the cocktail table in front of the couch.
    "Help yourself," she said.
    "Some for you?"
    "No, thanks," she said. "I'm not driving to Queens."
    He laughed and poured more brandy into his teacup. "I could make that trip even if I was comatose, I've driven it so many times. Okay, let's assume someone at the cocktail party lifted the knife. Eliminate Olivia and the servants; that leaves us with six possibles."
    "Here's my second goody of the evening," Dora said. "Remember I told you I was going to ask my boss to run Father Brian Callaway through our computer."
    "Sure, I remember. Come up with anything?"
    "His real name is Sidney Loftus. He's a con man with a sheet as long as your arm."
    "Oh-oh. Anything violent?"
    "I don't know. I told you our data base includes only insurance fraud. You better run Callaway, or Loftus, through your records."
    "Yeah, I better."
    "And while you're at it, do a trace on Helene and Turner Pierce. I asked my boss, but we have nothing on them in our file."
    "Why should I check out the Pierces?"
    "Callaway's most recent scam was a stolen car game in Kansas City, Missouri. That's where Helene Pierce comes from."
    "How do you know?"
    "She told me."
    Wenden studied her a moment, then shook his head in wonderment. "You're something, you are. Red, how do you get people to talk?"
    "Sometimes you tell things to strangers you wouldn't tell your best friend. Also, I come across as a dumpy homebody. I don't represent much of a threat, they think, so they talk."
    "A dumpy homebody," he repeated. "I'm beginning to believe you're more barracuda." He sneezed again, wiped his swollen nose with