“Do you suppose Tony’s at home, but not answering? she asked. “What should we do, Goldy? I don’t know if he’d like my pressing the panic button before we can at least connect “
“Do you think you could tell me what happened?”
She sighed. But the painkiller must have been taking effect, because she began to talk, very softly. “It was too cold Friday night to camp, and I told Tony I couldn’t sleep outside. I begged for us to drive up the next day. He got mad and we argued. But we came back here, cooked some of that soup you gave us, and then argued more about going up to the campsite that night. We went to bed-Tony in the guest room, mind you. But then he came in and woke me up, said he thought he heard an intruder. You know I sleep like a rock, I didn’t hear a thing. But he was in a terrible state. He insisted on tiptoeing around the house, looking for some nonexistent burglar. Finally he calmed down. When I woke up the next morning, I lay here thinking, we’re going out to share a tent in the wild, and he can’t even get through one night without being a mass of nerves?” She managed a rusty laugh.
“But, why did you go out there at all? On Saturday, I mean? There was that terrible storm… .”
She sighed, touched one of the bruises on her cheek, then winced. “I didn’t want to go, but he insisted. The weather was a little warmer, and the fog had cleared, it was just windy. By the time we got the car loaded up, though, rain threatened again. Tony was in a rotten mood. I was ready to tell him to go by himself. Except that we were going in my car, that Miata of his can’t always do the rough-road stuff.[ I should have told him to rent a Range Rover. I should have told him a lot of things.” She frowned. “Think it’s too soon for me to have another pain pill?”
“Absolutely too soon. Wait and see what Yang says. At the campsite, did you see Macguire or his Subaru?”
Even shaking her head seemed to cause her pain.
“No. We got up there to the site by Grizzly Creek, and Tony started acting jumpy as a rabid squirrel. He kept talking about Albert, saying this was their favorite fishing spot. We pitched the tent and of course it started to pour. We used Sterno and heated up some more of your soup. He kept saying, ‘Did you hear something? Think somebodys out here with us? I said no fifty times, and then told him his paranoia was making me nuts and I was going to sleep. I was so tired I could have slept through a hurricane. Or so I thought until somebody grabbed me and pulled me out of the tent.”
“What? Who?”
“I don’t know. Somebody just started hitting me. I screamed and called for Tony. I tried to get my footing but it was muddy, dark, thunder blasting overhead, rain coming down like crazy… . It was like a nightmare. And it all happened so fast. I’d been in a deep sleep and then all of a sudden I was screaming my lungs out. But whoever was hitting me didn’t care. I finally managed to get out of the damn sleeping bag. I tried to hit back, grabbing at anything to use as a weapon. But this guy was strong. I thought it was a bear at first, but he grunted like a human. And what bear uses a piece of firewood to hit you? He hit me and hit me and hit me. Just as I was going down there was a flash of lightning, and I saw the guy moving away from me, and … he had no hair. It all went so fast. I thought, Where am I, where am I going, what am I supposed to do? I was l sure I was going to die.” Tears formed in her bruise-circled eyes.
“You fainted?”
“I was… I was… there was sand in my mouth and in my hair. The noise from the water was incredible… I finally figured I was on that sandy shoreline of the creek. With the rain coming down hard, and warm blood oozing over my face, I thought, Finally, finally, I get to rest. I was sure I was dead, or close to it. Later, in the night, I came to and the storm had become even more fierce, thunder, lightning, rain. I thought I heard someone calling me. ‘Marla! Are you here? Marla!’ “
“That was probably Macguire.” Her shoulders slumped. “I gasped, ‘Here! Here!’ But no one could have heard me over the creek and the storm. Besides, I thought I was hallucinating. My mind was so … mushy. Silly, even. My brain was laughing hysterically, saying, Nobody’s calling you, dummy, it’s Rochester wanting Jane Eyre! So there I was on the creek bank, every part of my body aching, wondering who would scream for me when I was about to kick the bucket. I knew I was dead.”
“Oh, Marla, I’m so sorry “
She held up a hand to stop me. “When I woke up it was just past dawn. I think. Anyway, our campsite was a mess. I limped to my car, but it was locked. I must have lost the keys when the guy Albert attacked me. I finally hobbled out to the main road. A family going to church brought me home. I tried to call Tony but my line was dead.” The tears brimmed over. The painkillers were slurring her speech. “I was dying to call you… or come over… if we just had a taxi service in this hopeless town.
. .”
“Don’t,” I said firmly. “Everything will be fine now. I’m here with you.” I supported her as she stood shakily and walked, haltingly and with evident pain, toward the staircase. “My van’s parked out front. Do you want me to bring it around back, or can you make it down the steps?”
“Let me try to walk to your car. It’ll be good for me, Im so cramped up.
We inched down the steps across the runner, then to the front door. I told Marla to hold on to a side table. I opened the door, and we both gasped.
Standing on the flagstone entry were two investigators dressed in plain clothes: Hersey and De Groot.
“Well!” said De Groot. He regarded the two of us with theatrical astonishment, his thick black eyebrows pulled upward. “Going someplace, ladies?”
12
“What is it, what are you doing here?” I asked. It felt like such a stupid question. Nevertheless, these guys had already proven they could make me feel idiotic. The pair eyed us with an undisguised mixture of hostility and suspicion that made me squirm.
“Aren’t you going to ask us about Schulz?” De Groot wanted to know. Before I could frame a response, he held up his hand and smirked. “He’s fine. At least the last time we saw him he was.” He quirked his eyebrows as if he were going to say more, but then seemed to think better of it. Blandly, he appraised Marla’s battered face. “Ms. Korman?”
With an uncharacteristic lack of resolve that made me want to put my arms around her, Marla replied, “Yes? What is it?”
“Can we come in?” I stepped between the cops and Marla. “No, I’m sorry, you can’t,” I replied curtly before she had a chance to respond. “As you can see, my friend’s in pain. Her doctor wants me to bring her in right away. We’ll talk to you later.”
Hersey ignored me. He stepped to one side and addressed Marla. “Got into another fight, did we, Ms. Korman?”
Marla said tonelessly, “It’s a long story.” I felt her embarrassment acutely. No woman likes to be seen covered with bruises and cuts: I knew that all too well from my personal experience with the Jerk.
My tone to the two investigators was icy. “Would you , please leave? We’re under doctor’s orders, on our way l to the hospital. My friend is hurt.”
“I’m sorry,” said De Groot. But he wasn’t. Cold, moist air billowed into the foyer. De Groot ran his fingers through his slick black hair. “We’re under time pressure, I’m afraid, Mrs. Schulz. If you take Ms. Korman here to the doctor, we’ll just have to follow you I down and talk to her there.”
“You’re joking,” I said. Again, he wasn’t.
“It won’t take long,” said Hersey.
“Oh, let them in,” said Marla dejectedly. “Let’s get this over with, then I’ll go see the doctor.” She turned away from the door and started to limp toward the kitchen. Over her shoulder, she said, “I don’t mind if you talk to me, as long as Goldy can stay with me.”
Her gait was pained and self-conscious, and I loathed Hersey and De Groot for their insensitive intrusion even as I jerked the front door open so they could enter.
They didn’t remove their dripping raincoats, and I decided this must be some kind of psyc
hological ploy: We don’t want to be unprotected in this house. I didn’t care. I just wanted them to ask their questions and I leave. Hersey craned his thick neck upward to scrutinize the lushly carpeted staircase. Was he looking for someone? Hard to tell. De Groot peered at a framed painting. Executed in bold strokes, it showed a woman holding a cup of coffee.
“You won’t know this one,” I said defiantly. “It’s by a woman, a Colorado artist whom Marla is patronizing.”
De Groot said, “Yeah. I see she has plenty of money to pay people to do what she wants. Painting pictures. Driving her to the hospital. Sticking with her while she’s questioned.”
“You’d better cool it,” I said. De Groot looked down at the cherry buffet under the painting, which held a large Steuben vase filled with dried sweetheart roses. I was about to follow Marla when Hersey crooked a meaty finger in my direction.
“We know she wants you with her. But when we’re talking to her?” His voice brimmed with menace. “If you say anything-you blink, you wink, you clear your throat you’re going outside. Understand?”
“Why are you here?” I shot back. “Does Captain Shockley know you’re conducting this kind of interrogation, when a woman should be in the hospital?”
He grinned. “Shockley sent us.” “I insist you wait to question her until I call Tom.” Hersey scowled. “You want to talk to somebody?
Go home and call Shockley. He’s real interested in your friend Marla Korman.”
Without a word I stalked into the kitchen. De Groot and Hersey sauntered in after me.
Evidently, De Groot had appointed himself in charge of this interrogation. And from the way the two policemen were acting-notebooks out, eyes noting each detail of the room, interrogation was precisely what they had in mind. I just hoped codeine-tranquilized Marla recognized the threat this posed.
De Groot smiled humorlessly at her. “We’re here to ask you about Tony Royce.”
Marla sank into one of the chairs and regarded De Groot dolefully. “Is he all right?” she asked sadly. “Did you find him?”
“No, not exactly. When was the last time you saw hi?”
Marla shook her head and looked away. Tears of embarrassment again welled in her eyes. “It would have been… Saturday night.”
“And where was that?”
To my horror, Marla began to sob. She stumbled across the room to the cabinet where the paper towel rack was mounted. Balancing herself against the counter, she ripped a towel off and dabbed her bruised eyes. Just don’t throw the towel into the trash with all the bloody ones, I implored her silently. She didn’t.
Staring out at the swirling fog, she struggled to compose herself. Finally she murmured, “We were… up at a camping site. By Grizzly Creek.”
De Groot asked, “And what were the circumstances of this last time you saw him?”
“There was a fight. Somebody dragged me out of our tent and beat me up. I think it was Albert Lipscomb.”
“So there was a fight?” De Groot repeated, with a glance at his partner, who gave a barely perceptible nod. “Okay, then, Ms. Korman, I need to tell you that you have the right to remain silent.” Goose bumps raced up my arms. “Also,” De Groot went on in a friendly voice, as if he were reciting a recipe, “that anything you say can and will be held against you. You have the right to an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”
“I can afford an attorney-” Marla spat. “What the hell do I need “
“Hey!” I hollered. “Hey! Don’t say another word, Marla! What’s going on here? What’s she a suspect for? Are you arresting her? You just stop right there. I’m calling my husband.”
Hersey stabbed his finger at me. “What did I say to you? Now you just shut up, or you can drive your little caterer’s van right back to your kitchen, you got that? Tom Schulz is not involved in this case.”
I turned to Marla. “Don’t talk. Let’s just go to the doctor.”
“She’s not going to any doctor,” Hersey interjected ominously. “She can either stay here and answer our questions or she can come down to the department and answer our questions.”
“Excuse me!” Marla yelled. Her bloodshot eyes were wild. “I have nothing to hide! I didn’t do anything except defend myself against an attacker! Why aren’t you out looking for him?”
“That’s what we’re trying to ask you about, if Mrs. Schulz here will be quiet,” De Groot said gently.
Marla squeezed her eyes shut. Why had the cops Mirandized her without an arrest? If she was a suspect, her state of mind wasn’t helping to clear her. Unfortunately, the codeine was kicking in big-time. I cursed’ myself for letting her take three pills. Finally she said, “Okay, look. I’ll answer your questions, and then I’m going to the doctor, you got that? Now exactly what do you want to know? I’m trying to tell you what happened. I was attacked. One minute I was in my sleeping bag, the next, somebody was whaling away at me.
De Groot thought for a moment, as if he wanted to be in charge of the conversation, and resented having Marla wrest control from him. “Can you describe your attacker?”
Marla said tentatively, “Well, there was so little time… but it seemed to me … that it was a man, very strong. Medium height, build. I saw the back of his bald scalp in a flash of lightning, as I was going down… .”
“Going down where?”
“At the side of the creek, after he hit me several times, I fell, and I guess I passed out. I came to in the morning, and got a ride back to town.”
De Groot went on: “When you got back to town, did you report this assault?”
“No, I didn’t, Officer, because our phones were dead. Is there something illegal about that?”
De Groot didn’t answer her question. “You don’t have a cellular phone?”
She sighed. “It’s in the Mercedes.”
“Where was Royce when this stranger was clobbering you?”
Marla clutched the paper towel and carefully eased herself back into the chair. “I don’t know. I thought he was there at the campsite, but it was so dark, and I was just trying to fend off this person… .”
“How did the fight end?” Marla faltered. “I told you, it happened so fast, bam, bam, bam, and then I passed out by the creek. That’s how it ended. When I came to, I stumbled out of there and down a path to the paved road. I flagged down a passing car.”
“Your Mercedes was there. Why didn’t you just drive home?”
“Because I couldn’t find my car keys, ‘that’s why!
The key ring must have gotten lost during the fight. Anyway, when I woke up, Sunday morning I guess it was, I was dazed and terribly disoriented, and I couldn’t find my keys. When I finally made it out to the road, this nice young family drove me home.”
De Groot said, “Did you happen to get the nice young family’s name?”
Marla huffed. “What was I going to do, write them a thank-you note? No, I didn’t get their name. I wouldn’t have remembered it anyway, the state I was in.
“Well… how old were they?”
“I don’t know. Young.”
“What did they look like?”
Marla searched her memory, but the painkillers were preventing access. She shook her head. “I truly can’t remember.”
“Do you remember what kind of car this nice young family drove?”
“I was in pain,” Marla said through clamped teeth.
“I don’t know what kind of damn car it was. They drove me home, they were going to church.”
“Did they offer to call us?”
Marla sighed. “Oh, yes. But I said I would do it.” She shivered and wiped her face with the paper towel. “Then got into my house, where the phone did not work.” She looked angrily at De Groot. “I was dizzy, Officer! In pain. Bleeding. I wiped off the blood, showered, and took an indeterminate number of painkillers. When the phone came back on this morning, I tried to call Tony twice. You
can check his machine if you want. I wouldn’t even be going to the doctor if Goldy hadn’t shown up this morning.” She grimaced.
Neither policeman said anything for a moment. Then De Groot spoke.
“Before the car ride. Let’s go back to that, shall we? You and Tony,” he prompted, “Saturday night, had been doing… what?
Marla replied, “We pitched the tent on a mound in case it started to rain, which it did. So we used a camp stove to heat up some food Goldy had made for us. Now that I do remember,” she said with a smile for me. “It was chicken soup and it was terrific. After we ate, we put our trash in the trunk of my car, you know, because of the threat of bears and other wildlife “
Hersey interrupted with, “What else was in the trunk of your car?”
“What else?” Marla repeated blankly. “Well, let’s see. Tony had a gun “
“What kind?” De Groot demanded. Marla’s nose wrinkled. “Oh, I don’t remember. I think it was a pistol. Anyway, it wasn’t loaded, but he said you had to bring it because of wildlife. Mountain lions or whatever. What else… Tony and I put our backpacks in there, clothes and whatnot “
“Two backpacks?”
“I think so, two or three. It was raining hard, and we brought the lantern inside the tent. We closed the flaps and zipped them up. Then we shared some wine, and eventually we decided to … go to sleep.” She gave a small, embarrassed chuckle. “Anyway, we’d been asleep for a while, or at least I had, when something attacked us.” A confused expression shadowed her face. “At least, I think whoever it was attacked both of us.”
De Groot leaned forward intently. “And where was Royce? During this attack?” He still sounded skeptical that any attack had taken place.
“That’s what I can’t tell you. I couldn’t see anything. I kept calling out for him, but he never said a word. And then I thought, it’s Albert, he’s come back and… he wants something… or … he’s angry with me, because we had that argument at the., party, and now all the investors are suspicious… .”
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