by Parnell Hall
“Hardly evidence, Mark. Your detectives left the building at eleven-thirty. Anyone could have come in and out after that.”
“Bullshit. We’re not talking speculation here. We have hard evidence that Kelly Blaine was seen with David Castleton around the time of the murder.”
“There again you’re speculating, Mark. We don’t know the time of the murder yet.”
“No, we don’t. But you wanna bet it turns out to be right around eleven o’clock?”
“No, I don’t, and neither do you. There’s no reason to assume it was. You start thinking that way, and then you will be in hot water.”
“I’m in it already.”
“Not at all. We have no information, and there’s no reason to believe the murder took place then. We’re investigating, we’re looking into it. Let’s take it slow and not go off the deep end.”
Taylor looked very unhappy. He took a sip of coffee, grimaced, shook his head. “Steve-”
“Mark,” Tracy said. “Come on. Steve wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
“You kidding?” Taylor snorted. “He’d slit his own grandmother’s throat for a client.” He looked at Steve. “And what about it, huh? You did some work for this girl, but it’s finished. So who the hell’s your client?”
Steve took a breath. “That’s why I say, Mark, there’s no reason to be hasty about this thing. Let’s take time here and find out where we stand.” He turned to Tracy. “But that’s a good point. No client. I’m sorry to spoil your fun, but I think you better get downstairs and check the answering machine in case the cops give Kelly Blaine her one phone call.”
“Shit,” Tracy said.
“Sorry,” Steve told her.
She smiled, shook her head. “The problem is, you’re right.”
Tracy went out. The intercom buzzed. Taylor picked up the phone, said, “Yeah?” listened a moment, said, “Okay, stick her in storage,” and hung up. “Marcie Keller’s here.”
“Okay, Mark. We’re gonna talk to her. Now you just listen careful, hear what I have to say, don’t go flying off the handle, everything’s gonna be all right.”
“You gonna send ’em to the cops?”
“I’m gonna see that everyone’s protected, make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
“That’s no answer.”
“Sure it is.”
“I asked a yes-or-no question.”
“There aren’t always yes-or-no answers.”
The intercom buzzed again. Taylor snatched it up. “Yeah?” He listened, said, “Okay, I’ll take it,” and started to punch the button.
“Hold on,” Steve said.
Taylor looked at him. “What’s the matter? It’s important. Preliminary medical report.”
“Buzz the switchboard, tell ’em to call back in half an hour.”
Taylor stared at him. “What?”
“We got more important business to take care of.” Steve jerked his thumb. “Those detectives you’re so worried about. Let’s take care of them first.”
Taylor couldn’t believe it. “This is the guy with the line to the medical examiner. He may have the time of death.”
Steve shrugged. “Yeah, and then again he may not. He may have just called to tell you they started the autopsy. There’s no reason to speculate. Let’s take care of business.”
“But-”
“Mark,” Steve interrupted. “It’s important here to get everything in the proper order. We don’t know the time of death. We’re hoping to learn it, but right now we don’t know. So let’s go talk to your detectives before we do anything else.”
Mark Taylor looked at Steve Winslow. He sighed and shook his head. “Damn it,” he said. “That’s what I thought you were saying.”
15
Steve Winslow sized up Dan Fuller as he and Marcie Keller filed into Mark Taylor’s office and sat down. Fuller was a stocky, muscular young man, with a broad, open face and curly brown hair. He had a sort of insolent macho air about him. The initial impression Steve got was handsome but not that swift. Steve smiled, thinking how this guy must have reacted to Marcie’s suggestion during last night’s surveillance.
When the detectives were seated, Mark Taylor looked at Steve Winslow, sighed heavily, and ran his hand over his head.
“Okay,” Taylor said. “You’re here because of the job you did last night and the job you did this morning. I want you to listen very carefully to what I have to say.
“Marcie, you met Steve Winslow, but Dan, you haven’t. For your information, Mr. Winslow is the client in the case in question. He is an attorney, he knows the law, and he has a few things he’d like to say to you.
“Before he does, I have a few things to say to you.
“First off, we have just learned that David Castleton, the man you were following last night, was found murdered in his apartment early this morning.”
Dan Fuller’s jaw dropped open. “What?”
Taylor nodded. “I’m afraid that’s right. Cleaning lady went in nine o’clock this morning, found him lying in a pool of blood, shot once in the heart.”
Fuller exhaled noisily, shook his head. “We’ve got to go to the cops.”
“Shut up, Dan,” Marcie said.
Fuller turned on her. “Hey!”
“You talk too much,” Marcie said. “Mark asked you to listen. Now shut up and listen.”
Mark Taylor held up his hands. “All right, you two. Let’s not bicker. You’ll get a chance to talk. Right now I’d like you to listen carefully and hear what I have to say.”
“I second that,” Steve put in. “It’s important that you hear exactly what Mark Taylor has to say. Later on, if someone should ask you, you may need to remember what he said. You may also need to remember what he didn’t say. So listen up.”
“All right,” Taylor said. “Here’s the situation. You were assigned to conduct a surveillance on the decedent, David Castleton. It is possible that your surveillance might turn out to have some bearing on the murder investigation. In the event that it did, it would be your duty to turn over what information you have to the police.”
Fuller frowned. “Are you saying that’s the case?”
“I thought I made myself clear,” Steve said. “I told you to listen carefully to what Mark Taylor said so you’d know what he didn’t say. I think Mark has given you a very fair and accurate assessment of the situation.
“But let me add to it. I am the client in this case, and I am an attorney at law. Anything I know I have the right to withhold from the police because of my attorney/client privilege. You’re detectives. You don’t have that privilege. Therefore, you must be very careful at all times to make sure you are not obstructing justice and withholding evidence from the police. If you willfully withhold information from the police, knowing it to be evidence, you could be in serious trouble. As an attorney, I am advising you not to do that. I am also advising you to be very clear in your own minds about what is and what isn’t evidence so you are able to make the right decision.
“In making that determination, there are certain facts I want you to remember. First of all, will you please make note of the fact that as soon as he learned of the murder, the first thing Mark Taylor did was to call you in here and inform you of it. The second thing he did was tell you that should the information you had turn out to be evidence, it was your duty to report it to the police. Also make note of the fact that Mark Taylor immediately informed you of all the facts of the case in order to help you in making that decision.
“Now, the next thing Mark Taylor was about to do was to ask you if you had any questions. In order to make sure you understood the situation thoroughly and in order to further assist you in making your decisions. Am I right, Mark?”
“Absolutely,” Taylor said. “If you have any questions, the time for them is now. So, do you have any questions?”
“Yeah,” Fuller said. “Should we go to the cops?”
Mark Taylor frowned.
“That is a q
uestion better addressed to me,” Steve Winslow said. “As an attorney, I have to look out for my client’s interest. I also have to look out for your interests, and Mark Taylor’s as well. We have a situation here that might require your communicating with the police. In the event that it does, Mark Taylor and I both advise you to do so. At the present time, we are collecting information and examining facts in order to make that determination.”
Mark Taylor rubbed his head. He looked very unhappy. “Any more questions?”
“Yeah,” Marcie Keller said. “You say you’ve given us all the facts at your disposal?”
“That’s right.”
“What about the time of death?”
“We don’t know the time of death. We’re looking into it, but as yet we have no information on the subject.”
“All right,” Marcie said. “Then at the present time, I don’t think the information we have is sufficient to warrant us going to the police. We had David Castleton under surveillance yesterday. For all we know, he was killed early this morning. Is that right?”
Taylor shrugged. “It’s entirely possible. We don’t know.”
“Let me point out the time element is of major importance,” Steve Winslow said. “For instance, if it should turn out David Castleton was killed early this morning, or even any time after midnight, the surveillance you conducted on him would be wholly irrelevant.
“Unless, of course, Kelly Blaine were to be charged with the crime. Then your testimony would be of prime importance. Because you had Kelly Blaine under surveillance from the time she left David Castleton’s apartment building last night until after his body was discovered this morning. In that case, she could not have done it, and your testimony could clear her. Because between the two of you, you can account for her whereabouts every minute from the time she left Castleton’s building until the time of her arrest.”
Marcie Keller’s eyes widened. “Arrest?”
“Yeah,” Fuller said. “See, you don’t know everything. See why I said we gotta tell the cops?”
“Is that true?” Marcie asked. “Is she under arrest?”
“I’m sorry,” Taylor said. “I forgot. Dan knew that, you didn’t. I didn’t mean to keep it from you, I’m just somewhat rattled and I didn’t realize you didn’t know. Yeah, the cops picked Kelly Blaine up about a half hour ago.”
Marcie Keller frowned. “On what charge?”
Taylor shrugged and held up his hands. “That’s just it. We don’t know. It just happened, and we have no information as of yet.”
“Which is why,” Steve put in, “we are not in a position to advise you at this point. Other than what we already have. We are making the facts available to you as we have them, so you are able to act in your best interests. So that you may obey the letter of the law.”
Marcie Keller looked at Steve Winslow. “This Kelly Blaine-is she your client?”
Steve Winslow took a breath. “I have represented Kelly Blaine in the past. It is conceivable I might represent her in the future. In the meantime, I am doing everything legally possible to protect her interests in the event that situation should arise. At the present time, it is my every intention to protect her as my client.”
Marcie nodded. “And you’ve told us everything you know?”
“We’ve given you all the information we have at the present time.”
“I see,” Marcie said. She turned to Mark Taylor. “Mr. Taylor, when I began work for you, I told you that I was an actress, that I took this job part-time to supplement my earnings, but my primary concern was my acting career. I feel my acting has suffered as of late. Because of my work for you, I’ve had to miss auditions and haven’t had the time to make the rounds. I need to get back on track. For that reason, I regret to inform you that until further notice I will be unable to work for your agency. It’s not that I didn’t like working here, and I certainly hope there will be a job opening for me after I get things straightened out. But right now, I really have to concentrate on my career.”
She turned to Dan Fuller, who was staring at her open-mouthed. “Come on, Dan. Let’s get out of here. These guys got work to do.”
Dan blinked. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Come on, Dan. There’s no use sitting here. These guys have told us everything they know. Let’s go get some breakfast.”
“Breakfast?”
“Yeah. I don’t know about you, but I just got yanked out of bed and dragged down here on ten minutes’ notice. I haven’t eaten anything and I’m starved.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Come on, Dan,” Marcie said. She grabbed his arm and literally yanked him out of his chair. “Let’s get something to eat and talk this over. If you’re not hungry, you can have some coffee and keep me company.”
Marcie practically dragged him out the door.
“That,” Steve said, “is one hell of a girl.”
“I’ll say,” Taylor said. “Christ, Steve, on top of everything else you just cost me an operative. If not two.”
“More than likely,” Steve said.
“Think she’ll whip Fuller into line?”
“Hell, yes.” Steve grinned. “The way she’s going I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time breakfast’s over she talks him into getting married so they wouldn’t have to testify against each other.”
Taylor shook his head. “Steve, I don’t like this.”
“Relax, Mark. You’re in the clear. You just told them everything you knew and advised them to contact the police if the information should warrant it. If they fail to do it, you’ve still discharged your duty.”
“I could still go to the police myself.”
“With what? Hearsay? You don’t know anything, Mark. You only know what other people have told you.”
Steve clamped his hands together. “Okay, Mark. That’s out of the way. Let’s see if we can get that medical report.”
16
Tracy Garvin was at her desk when Steve Winslow pushed open the door.
“She call yet?” Steve said.
“No. What’s up?”
“What about Mark? Did he call?”
“I thought you were just with him.”
“I was. I mean while I came down in the elevator.”
Tracy looked at him. “No, he didn’t call. What’s going on?”
Steve ran his hand over his head, exhaled. “I’m sorry. I’m a little worked up. We’re waiting on the medical report.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Mark’s man called in the with the medical report, but we were tied up and couldn’t take it. The guy hasn’t called back yet, and Mark can’t reach him.”
“Then what are you doing down here?”
“I wanted to see if the girl called.”
“You could have called me.”
Steve waved his hand. “I know, I know. I just had to get out of there. Mark was driving me nuts.”
“Oh yeah? What about?”
“I more or less sent his detectives underground.”
“What?”
“Marcie Keller and Dan Fuller. Mark and I had a talk with them. Afterward they took off. If Marcie Keller has her way, I doubt if we’ll be seeing them again for a while.”
Tracy took off her glasses, folded them up. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me you told them not to talk?”
“No. We told them exactly what had happened, told them everything we knew and advised them if it became relevant it was their duty to go to the cops.”
“Then why is Mark upset?”
“Because Marcie Keller’s interpretation of what’s relevant is apt to be rather narrow.”
“So, you basically threw on a coat of legal whitewash and told the detectives to disappear.”
“I’m sure that’s how the police would interpret it.”
“No wonder Mark’s upset.”
The phone rang. Tracy scooped it up, said, “Steve Winslow’s office.” She looked up at Steve. “It’s Mark.”
&nbs
p; Steve was too worked up to bother going into his office to take the call. He walked over to the desk and took the phone from Tracy. “Yeah, Mark.”
“The guy called back with the medical report.”
“And?”
“It’s the worst. They put the time of death last night between eleven and twelve.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. We’re in it now, so what the hell do we do?”
“Notify your detectives immediately.”
“I don’t know where they are.”
“That, of course, makes it harder.”
“Damn it, Steve, it’s not funny. What do I do?”
“I told you. Notify your detectives. Make every effort to reach ’em. That’s all you can do right now.”
“Steve, I don’t like it.”
“I hate it like hell, but there you are. They charge the girl yet?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Okay, keep digging.”
Steve hung up the phone.
“So?” Tracy said.
“They put the time of death between eleven and twelve last night.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“So what’re you gonna do?”
“You heard what I told Mark.”
“Yeah. So what about you? What’s your responsibility in this?”
“Absolutely none. I have professional privilege. I’m protecting the confidence of a client.”
“Is she a client?”
Steve sighed and shook his head. “Damn it. You know, you always ask the key questions. She was a client. And I have every expectation she’s gonna be calling me any minute. But the fact of the matter is, no, my job for her was finished and all this other shit I did on my own. Damn, why hasn’t she called yet?”
“Why wait?”
“What?”
“Why wait for the phone call? Why don’t you just go down there and see her?”
“As her attorney?”
“Yes.”
Steve sighed again. “That’s the whole thing, Tracy. I don’t know what her story is. It sure wasn’t what she told us-at least, not entirely. So what have we got? We’ve got some woman prancing around in the nude, extorting money from businessmen, having rendezvous with young playboys who wind up dead. I don’t know what’s going on, but until I hear her story I don’t wanna commit myself to being her lawyer. If it turns out she killed David Castleton, I don’t wanna have anything to do with her.”
