“We’re not connected and stop begging for my forgiveness.”
He turned to face her. “Maybe with time....”
“You’re never going to get it.”
He pointed to the empty silver coffee pitcher. “Would you like something stronger? Mrs. Wolfe makes a dynamite Bloody Mary.” He reached over and buzzed his secretary.
She nodded “Sounds good. After that story, some form of medication is exactly what I need.”
She got up slowly from her chair, walked over, and looked out at the peaceful panorama that was his backyard. Flourishing greenery surrounded everything in view. Green beyond green. Half way down the gentle slope of lawn, an old man in gray coveralls wearing a wide brimmed straw hat attended to the hibiscus that lined the stone walkway leading to the boat dock. No question Freddy enjoyed a lush lifestyle.
She wondered if he would lose all this when the Privado affair became public? Likely not, he came from a moneyed family. The rules are different if you have money. But can it buy forgiveness? Would his constituents forgive him? That was a different question. It seemed to Sandy that a politician on a beach with a naked dead girl was a dead politician. Yet, other politicians had done worse, even been convicted of their transgressions, and somehow resurrected a public career. Frederick Kidde didn’t appear to have that spark within him.”
She turned back from the charming vista to look at him. He stood with his head down as though he had just confessed his guilt before a judge and was awaiting his sentence. “Does your wife know any of what you just told me?”
His head snapped up. “Oh god, none of it.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “She wouldn’t believe it of me anyway. She thinks I’m a bit uptight when it comes to sexual matters.”
“Imagine that.”
The office door opened abruptly. They sat in awkward silence while Mrs. Wolfe brought in the drinks. Sandy smiled politely. She was certain the secretary had overheard that last comment. She must be questioning their relationship, and wondering what sexual subject could keep the conservative congressman engaged for hours with this young woman.
She stared at Sandy then at him. “You know, Mr. Kidde, you’ve a stack of important messages waiting.” He nodded sheepishly in reply. She shook her head and closed the door behind her.
They looked at each other, listening to the retreating footsteps of Mrs. Wolfe on the hardwood floor. Then in a lower voice he said, “I’ve been living with this nightmare for months now.” He took a sip of his Bloody Mary. “Did you follow the story in the papers? She was nude when they found her.”
“No bikini,” Sandy added. “I wasn’t down here then, but I went back and read it all.”
“That’s right. Both the top and bottom parts were gone. Of course, the newspaper sensationalized her being found naked. Plus her being shaved...down there...really made a titillating story.”
“I brought the police report. They aren’t looking for you. You could have come forward at any time.”
“May I see that report?” He found his glasses, flipped through the report, and then started over and read carefully. Only three pages, but fifteen minutes later he was still studying it. He put it down. “No mention of DNA in here.”
“No DNA was found.”
He frowned. “Must be a mistake. DNA must have been found.”
“No, I confirmed that fact with my police friend. Apparently, the tide touched the body enough that she received the equivalent of a saltwater douche. The semen traces were also unusable.”
“I guess I just assumed they found Toby’s DNA. The way he stared down at her like a cannibal.” He handed the report back. “I was thinking Toby, but someone else might have passed by. Paper said it was a hangout for kids. I hope a bunch of teens didn’t get to her. Possibly some cop stumbled across her while checking the beach for teenage drinkers, or turtle egg poachers and he couldn’t resist.”
She was tired of him, wanted him out of her sight. Was there anything left? “Let’s do this, Freddy. I know the police up there in Park Beach. I’ll arrange a meeting with Detective Chip Goddard. He trusts me, I practically live with him. The media won’t know a thing about it.”
“They will eventually. Damn it all, I’m a Congressman.”
“Being in the public eye is your problem all right. If you were Joe Blow, you’d just turn you self in, be scolded by the police and be done with it. Now, the only solution is for you to preempt Abby by going to the police first. You will then have come forward innocently. They’re already investigating Abby for blackmail because they found the money. She’s not going to keep you out of it.”
“I’m not walking into a police station without an attorney.”
“Fine. Get your attorney. Just get in there first. Get your associates together and start planning damage control. Then when Abby rings the bell on you, it’ll be old news by the time reelection comes around. Politicians have done a hell of a lot worse and survived. You meant her no harm, even tried to save her life. It’s understandable and very human why you didn’t come forward the next morning. You thought the police were on the way and thought you had left her in responsible hands.” She bit her tongue, he didn’t deserve her kind, non-judgmental words, but she wanted him to come forward.
“It almost sounds okay, the way you say it. What if they try and accuse me a something besides simply leaving?”
That gave her pause. “What else is there?” As soon as she said it, she thought of the unsolved shooting of Toby. She approached the subject obliquely. “Toby being murdered certainly helped your situation, didn’t it?”
“No, it hurts me. It makes the entire situation more serious, more dramatic.” He studied her face. “Surely, you’re not back to thinking I shot him?”
“You or one of your minions.”
“But he was shot after Abby contacted me. If I shot him, I’d still have to worry about her blackmailing me.”
Another thought occurred to her. “Perhaps you didn’t shoot him to stop the blackmail. Perhaps you shot him because he was the only living soul who could connect you to Privado Beach.”
“In that case I’ll have to get rid of you now, won’t I? You now know the story.”
“I’ve no proof. You could simply deny it. Okay, if you’re not connected to the Toby murder, then there’s no reason not to go to the police. You’ve nothing to worry about. The police have no idea how she ended up on the beach and Toby can’t talk. You can tell them whatever you want about the trip and all that.”
“I appreciate you’re trying to help, but you don’t realize how politics works. If this gets out, regardless of how I spin it, I’ll not be reelected. Sorry, I’m not turning myself in. If you go to the police, I’ll deny we ever talked.”
“But that wasn’t the deal. You said you’d come forward and I said I’d help you. I already have by getting you the police report and suggesting how you can handle this. And here’s some more help. Do you know State Attorney Lawrence Moran?”
“Casually. I met him at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball.”
“So, you’re both in the same party. Good. Did you know Moran wants to run for U.S. Senator? Does that bother you?”
He shook his head. “I’m not interested in the Senate. My House seat is safe. I can be a congressman for life if I can get this behind me. I see what you’re getting at, but I’m not going to call Moran and ask him to get me out of this and in return, I’ll help him in his campaign. That’s an ethical violation for both of us.”
“That’s not what I’m thinking. Let me set up a confidential meeting with the police. Of course, they’ll immediately advise State Attorney Moran. He’s not going to prosecute a failure to report violation with flimsy supporting evidence. He’ll drop everything immediately. He’s not going to mess with you. He wants your eventual support. You still have time. Abby might not even realize we’re on to the blackmail scheme. Please, Freddy, get your name into this voluntarily before Abby gives the police her version.”
&n
bsp; “If she mentions my name, she’s admitting to blackmail. She won’t do that.”
“Her ex-husband followed her here. They’ll trace the money.”
“I’ll deny I ever set eyes on Abby, and Toby won’t be telling anyone anything. Therefore, I’m not connected to any blackmail plot. If I deny everything, it won’t be worthwhile to pursue her for blackmail without my testimony. Easier to get her for murder. Also, I don’t want Moran to have this over me.” He stopped long enough to drain his Bloody Mary. “I’ve changed my mind. Now that I’ve read the police report, I can see they’ve nothing that links me to this. I’ll go on my merry way.”
“It won’t work. The media will be involved at some point and they could care less what you deny or whether the charges are true. You can’t keep yourself out of this.”
“Is that a threat? You said you wouldn’t tell.”
“Wait a minute. I was onto the blackmail scheme when I walked in here. I won’t promise to keep that part quiet. As of now, they’ve no reason to question me about what you told me about the trip or the beach scene. But if they ask me under oath, I must tell what I know.”
“I’ll deny that as well. You must have made up such a crazy story to save your own skin.” He stood and threw his shoulders back in an attempt to regain his dignity.
“Don’t say absolutely no. At the very least, discuss this with a trusted attorney.”
He opened the office door and motioned for her to leave. “I’ll follow you out.” They walked quietly through the house. He started talking again when they were outside. “I’d never be able to explain it all. The hitchhiking, the motel stop, the bikini. Makes me sound obsessive.”
“Some might jump to that conclusion.”
“It was a mistake to bare my soul to you. My emotions overcame me. Although I do feel relieved after unloading all this. After seeing the police report, this seems to be an unimportant case for them. I’m waiting. Maybe it won’t play out the way you say. I’m not trading a possible crisis for a certain one.”
“You’re absolutely making the muddled choice once again.”
When they got to her car he said, “I realize she was manipulating me to some extent.”
“To some extent? Freddy, she was molding your libido in her hands like soft clay.”
“There you see? Being a woman, you understand what was going on in her mind. In many ways, she kept telling me the rules. I didn’t want to understand the rules because that would have left me hopeless. I kept living on that hope.”
“And that hope pushed you beyond reality.” She needed to maintain his cooperation. Possibly, he would change his mind and come forward. “There are times when a woman must play keep-away regardless of who the man is or whether she likes him.”
To Sandy’s way of thinking, what he’d described as mere infatuation easily rose to the level of a fanatical obsession. And he still didn’t seem to realize it was fateful. With such intense passion, perhaps it was inevitable that something dramatic would result. Nothing good could have come from it.
“To me she’ll always be a beautiful puzzle that I failed to solve.”
“You fell in love with her.”
“Pretty much.”
Chapter Twenty-six
While driving back to Park Beach, Sandy continued to digest the fascinating Kidde versus Betty Jo adventure. She now knew more about what had happened last November leading up to the beach scene than any other person. More even than Kidde. She was the only one who had access to the official facts from the police investigation, the schizoid thinking of Toby, and now the emotional perspective of Congressman Kidde. He would never again share the sensual details of his fantasy journey with anyone. She was certain of that.
She definitely felt a curious connection with the victim. A strange sisterly empathy with ill-fated Betty Jo Hodges. Not with the exotic dancing part, and not with the issues that apparently remained with her because of George. But an understanding of her attitude and reactions after riding for hours fending off the impassioned congressman. Sandy could look unemotionally at the saga of Freddy Kidde; he was unlikely to ever gain insight into his behavior and comprehend what went wrong.
She regretted her failure to persuade him to come forward. He was making a mistake, she thought. Although she had provided some amateur psychotherapy to him, it was uncertain whether the information he disclosed would help solve any of her own problems.
She hit Dial #1. Chip agreed to meet her at the Coffee Spot on the beach. He also admonished her to stop using her phone while driving. Can’t get the cop out of the guy, she thought.
Within the hour, they were in the Coffee Spot with its red-topped chrome stools and old-time diner decor. They first were acquainted there and it became their favorite rendezvous place. Chip had parked his unmarked vehicle next to her MX-5 behind the building and entered through the kitchen. They took their favorite rear booth with Chip facing the front door as usual. The waitress recognized them and was on the way with the thick mugs of coffee before they had settled in.
“It was sad, Chip, watching a man confess to human weaknesses that he himself doesn’t understand.”
“It’s sad enough for a man is to confess to the weaknesses he is aware of.”
“Freddy...we’re on a first name basis now...also had difficulty understanding his foolishness.” She blew on the hot coffee and sipped. “I felt sympathy and pity for him at the same time. You were right, Chip. The beach body was a stripper after all. She was stranded and Kidde picked her up in Virginia. They stopped overnight but it was plutonic, no thanks to him. Even separate motels. The stop at the beach was innocent, on the way to her mother’s home in Fort Lauderdale. Then it gets weird. Toby had spotted them when they got gas in Jacksonville and followed them down the beach. Toby saw her choke to death. This is all according to Kidde of course.”
“So he claims she was a stripper hitchhiker and not his mistress. I don’t buy that, sounds like a cover story to me. Why wouldn’t a stripper go for a big-deal congressman?”
“That’s what he would like to know. You’d believe it if you listened to his pathetic story of abject frustration.”
“And Toby followed them so he could rob them.”
“My, what a suspicious nature you have. I’m telling you this isn’t your routine Florida small town murder mystery. So, Toby gets one look at her in Jacksonville and was overcome with a severe case of the hots. After she choked, Toby wanted Kidde out of there so he could play around. He talked Kidde into leaving her in his hands, so to speak. Kidde took off. Toby stayed behind. Supposedly waiting for the police to show up.”
“Now I’ve got it,” Chip said. “So, Toby finds out Kidde’s identity—sees him on TV or something—and demands hush money. But Kidde didn’t do much wrong. Why did he pay Toby?”
“He absolutely positively didn’t want to be connected to a naked dead woman. Sure, he exercised bad judgment in not coming forward the next day when he learned she was abandoned. Would that be a crime?”
“He could claim he assumed the police arrived as expected.” Chip shrugged. “I know you want me to keep silent about all this. But Moran might just close the Privado Beach body case now with this new information. Why would Moran go after Kidde? It’s a nothing case of failure to report. Kidde is powerful and Moran wants to run for senator. He’ll need Kidde on his side.”
“I told Kidde that. For now, please withhold the info. I may have to divulge it later if he doesn’t come forward.” She motioned for more coffee. “Want to hear something horrible? The woman had been raped before at age eighteen. By a family friend. She didn’t press charges. And then this happens. If I believed in curses, I’d say that woman was cursed. And once again the evil perpetrator won’t be punished.”
“Drop it, Sandy. No doubt it was Toby, the fanatical way he was telling you about movies and magic pills. He went at that body like a shark smelling bloody water. Too bad he didn’t meet his fate earlier. But providence has punished him, if
you want to think of it that way. Anyway, everyone has lost interest. Give it up. It’s all been investigated. You’d better worry about yourself now.”
“I’m going to try to deal my info to Moran. Get this. Abby showed up at Kidde’s house and told him not to worry about Toby anymore. That’s more than a hint she was going to do away with Toby. She wanted the blackmail scheme all to herself. There’s your motive. The police have already found the ten grand in Abby’s house. So Moran can possibly add blackmail to her charges, if not murder.”
“So you think you’ll give this to Moran and he’ll be so grateful he’ll drop the charge against you? I don’t think so.”
“All this makes it clear it was indeed Toby who Abby intended to shoot that night at her house. She yelled his name as she fired. Therefore, Abby’s attempted murder of Toby over money has absolutely nothing to do with me. And that also makes shooting Bruce Banks a mistake having nothing to do with me. Ipso facto, I didn’t conspire. The defense rests. The charge against me has to be dismissed.”
“Not bad. Get to Moran fast and have the deal come through your attorney. It’d kill Moran to say yes to your face.”
“You’re right. I need to get to Kagan on this immediately. Moran could call him at any time.”
She dialed Kagan. “Jerry, we’ve got Congressman Frederick Kidde involved in this right up to his designer necktie. Yes, that’s who I said. We finally have something to deal to Moran. You’ll need to meet with him as soon as you can. Let’s get together tomorrow and I’ll fill you in. Right now I’m going to give you the abbreviated version.” She continued talking to Kagan for another ten minutes.
Chip finished his coffee. “You had me check out Kevin Olin. You suspicious?”
“He asked me out for drinks to discuss the case. Thought I'd check for a record. That’s all.”
“Isn’t he trying to get custody of his daughter? You know, the noncustodial parent has been known to kidnap the child? Are you sure about this guy?”
“Doesn’t fit. He did say, in order to gain custody now, he’s going to inform the court that the shootings and Abby’s failure to report the child missing is evidence of reckless and improper parenting.”
The Price of Candy Page 20
