Faye Kellerman_Decker & Lazarus 05

by False Prophet

  At first no one moved. Then, reluctantly, Fern walked across the floor of the entry and started up the steps. The men followed a half flight behind.

  “What was that all about?” Oliver whispered.

  Decker said, “In the past, sis has warned bro when the police have dropped in. I figured we, the good guys, should have the advantage of surprise.”

  “Definitely.”

  Fern led them to a pie-shaped room. In contrast to the mellow lighting of the domed lobby, the office was harsh with the white glare of fluorescence. A young woman with poker-straight brown hair had her nose inches from her desk. She pulled a long strand behind her ear, then tapped the desktop with a pencil. She didn’t even bother looking up when Fern cleared her throat.

  “What is it, Fern?”

  “Police, Ms. Ness.”

  Kelley Ness snapped her head up. She wore a crew-neck red top. A thin gold choker chain showed off her long, graceful neck. Decker pulled out his badge. “Detective Sergeant Decker. This is Detective Oliver.”

  Kelley was silent. Not a bad-looking gal, Decker thought. Might even be pretty if she took off the scowl. She resembled her brother, but he was a better-looking boy than she was a girl. Decker wondered if that created friction between them. He thought Kelley’s eyes seemed scared and wondered why. Placing his badge back in his breast pocket, he said, “We’re here to talk to your brother, Mike. Is he around?”

  Kelley remained quiet.

  “Ms. Ness?” Oliver said.

  Kelley bit her lip, her eyes jumping between the men. “I’ll…I’ll call Mike’s room—”

  Decker covered the phone receiver with his hand. “Why don’t you just walk us over there? Heck, you’re working real hard, you could use a break.”

  “I…I don’t have time—”

  “Make time, Ms. Ness.” Oliver’s smile was drop-dead charming. “Please.”

  Slowly, Kelley rose from her chair. The crew-neck top was actually a dress. “I’m not sure where he is.”

  “We’ve got time for a guided tour,” Decker said.

  Kelley suddenly toughened her demeanor. “Decker…you were the one who saved Lilah yesterday.”

  Yeah, that did happen just yesterday, Decker thought. Seems like weeks ago. That’s what happens when you’ve been working forty out of the last forty-eight hours. Man, he needed sleep.

  “Lilah told me not to permit you into the grounds.”

  “Now that wouldn’t be very wise.”

  “No, not at all,” Oliver agreed.

  “Lilah’s a little miffed at me right now,” Decker said. “Anyway, I don’t want to see Lilah. I want to talk to your brother.”

  “What about?”

  Oliver scratched his head and positioned himself on Kelley’s right. “This and that, Ms. Ness.”

  Decker flanked her left side. “Shouldn’t take too long.”

  “In and out,” Oliver said, gently guiding her to the door.

  “Maybe a little longer than in and out.” Decker turned off the office lights.

  “Yeah, maybe a little longer.” Oliver shut the door behind him. “But not too much longer.”

  “No, not too much longer,” Decker repeated.

  Kelley looked back at her office as forlorn as a kid forced off to summer camp.

  “After you, Ms. Ness,” Decker said.

  Kelley sighed, then marched down the steps. To the left of the staircase was an open door leading to a dimly lit carpeted hallway.

  Oliver whispered, “Split the sibs?”

  Decker shook his head. “I want to see how they act together.”

  “Are they in cahoots?”

  Decker shrugged.

  Kelley stopped at the end of the hall, in front of room 12. She faced the door, raised her fist to knock, but didn’t complete the action. Oliver knocked for her. A muffled male voice said it was open. Decker turned the knob and allowed Kelley to cross the threshold.

  In a few seconds, brother and sister exchanged lots of nonverbal conversation. Neither one was pleased, but Ness looked composed. He sat cross-legged on the bed, garbed in gray sweatpants and a pink and black Body Glove muscle shirt. “Where’s the lady detective? I liked her. She was cute.”

  Oliver stuck his hands in his pockets and said nothing. Decker looked around the spartan room and leaned against the wall. Kelley sat down on the bed and patted her brother’s leg.

  “Where were you yesterday, Mike?” Decker asked.

  “Here.”

  “All day?” Decker said.

  “Yes, all day. Where else would I—?” Shit! Ness told himself to slow down or he was going to trip up again. “No, of course not all day. I saw you at Lilah’s ranch yesterday, didn’t I? After the accident. I went to pick vegetables for the kitchen, remember?”

  “Then you came back here?” Oliver asked.

  “Yeah, I had to lead my afternoon aerobics class.”

  “Then where’d you go?” Decker said.

  “I went on break, then came back for the final yoga class.”

  “Then what?”

  Slowly, Ness uncoiled his legs from the lotus position and stood. “What’s the point of this?”

  “We don’t have a hard-on for you, Mike,” Decker said. “We’re just trying to retrace your day, maybe even help you out. So how about cooperating with us?”

  Ness was quiet for a moment. “Sure. You want me to go over my day, I’ll do the best I can. I don’t remember exactly what I did after yoga, which means I probably went straight to my room. I went to my room and stayed there the entire evening. Kell visited me.”

  “Yes, I did,” Kelley said, bobbing her head up and down.

  Ness threw her a look that told her to shut up. “Kell was here, Eubie Jeffers was here. But there was lots of time I was here by my lonesome. I watched a little TV, put on some tapes. What else can I tell you?”

  “What movies did you see?” Oliver asked.

  “Not tapes as in movies,” Ness said. “Videos of me doing exercise routines. It’s not narcissism. I like to see what kind of muscles I’m working out. If I’m not getting enough triceps action, I add more tri exercises. If the hamstrings are being overworked, I reduce the stress there. Want to see them?”

  Decker remembered Marge telling him about the tapes and shook his head. “Where’d you eat dinner, Mike?”

  Ness eyed him for a moment. “Dinner?”

  “Yeah, dinner. Simple question. Where’d you eat?”

  “He had dinner with me,” Kelley said.

  Both detectives looked at her. Ness grimaced as if he’d sucked lemons.

  “With you?” Oliver said.

  “Yes, with me,” Kelley said in a small voice. “Is that so unreasonable? A brother and sister having dinner together?”

  “No,” Decker said.

  “You have dinner with your sister last night, Mike?” Oliver said.

  “Yes.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Of course he’s sure!” Kelley said.

  “You and he ate at the spa?” Decker said.

  “In my office,” Kelley said.

  “But here at the spa,” Decker said.

  “Yes, my office is at the spa, Detective,” Kelley said.

  Decker said, “So if I asked people around the spa where you were at dinnertime, Kelley, not a soul would remember seeing you in the dining room.”

  Kelley’s mouth dropped open, her cheeks pinkened. “Well, maybe I talked to a few women.”

  “But you didn’t eat with them,” Oliver said.

  “Maybe I took a bite or two—”

  “But not dinner,” Decker said.

  “Maybe I ordered just to be polite—”

  “Kelley, shut up!” Ness growled.

  Decker glared at her. “Ms. Ness, unless you’re sure of exactly what you’re saying, don’t buy yourself a heap of trouble.”

  Ness said, “Leave her alone. She’s trying to help me. She doesn’t know squat about anything.”
>
  “What’s anything, Mike?”

  “Damned if I know. What’s this about? Are we back with Lilah’s rape? I thought you guys arrested Totes this morning for that. What do you want with me?”

  “How old are you, Mike?” Decker asked.

  Again, Ness eyed him warily. “Twenty-eight.”

  “Twenty-eight?” Decker asked. “You’re sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. What? You wanna see ID or something?”

  Oliver grinned at Decker. “That would be nice.”

  Ness closed his eyes, then opened them and smiled. “Clever. So you must have found my wallet. Why didn’t you just ask me if I lost it? Why all the subterfuge?”

  Nobody spoke.

  “Well, that’s a relief!” Ness said. “I couldn’t get through to cancel my credit card. Now I’m glad I didn’t keep trying. Where’d you find it?”

  Casual, Decker thought, natural. The kid was good.

  “Where’d you lose it?” Oliver asked.

  “Hey, if I remembered where I lost it, I would have retrieved it myself.”

  “Funny, you being here all day and the wallet was found far, far away from here, Michael,” Decker said.

  Ness shrugged. “Where was it found?”

  Decker shrugged. “At a murder scene.”

  Kelley gave an involuntary gasp. Ness stared at her, then at Decker.

  “Got any answers, Mike?” Oliver asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  “Want to hire a lawyer?” Decker said.

  “A law—Why would I need…?”

  “Up to you,” Decker said.

  “Michael, don’t say any more.” Kelley stood. “I’m going to hire a lawyer.”

  “But I don’t need a…I don’t know how my wallet got to a murder…what…whose murder are we talking about?”

  “Good question,” Oliver said.

  “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

  Decker said, “How many murder scenes do you know about, Mike?”

  “You mean Kingston Merritt?”

  “Michael, shut up!” Kelley ordered.

  Ness said, “Hey, everyone close to Lilah and Davida knows about Kingston being killed last night. It’s terrible, but I didn’t have anything to do with it. I don’t know how my wallet got there. Jesus, I just met the man a few days ago. We had a little run-in. Hey, your lady detective was there when it happened. Maybe Merritt got mad at me and stole my wallet.”

  “Kingston Merritt stole your wallet?” Oliver said.

  “I don’t know.” Ness began to pace. “I don’t know, okay?”

  Decker recognized panic in the kid’s voice. The old gut told him that Ness was involved. Now it was just quibbling over the extent. “Where were you yesterday, Mike?”

  “Is he being officially questioned?” demanded Kelley.

  “If you’d like, ma’am, I can read him his rights,” Oliver said.

  Kelley said, “This is totally absurd!”

  “No, Ms. Ness, it’s the law.” Oliver Mirandized Ness. “Okay, let’s go down to Booking—”

  “Booking?” Kelley shouted. “You’re not serious!”

  Ness said, “I swear I don’t know a damn thing about…I wasn’t there…I mean, my wallet…” He buried his head in his hands. “Look, you want to book me—”

  “Michael, shut up!” Kelley screamed.

  “Kelley, get me a lawyer. I’ll meet him at the station—”

  Kelley jumped off the bed and blocked the doorway. “I won’t let you go with them, Michael! You can’t!”

  “Kelley—”

  They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

  “Expecting anyone?” Oliver said.

  Ness closed his eyes and said, “No one.”

  Decker opened the door, surprised to see Justice Ferris and Don Malone. The Burbank detectives were flanking a light-skinned black man with his arms drawn behind his back, secured with nylon handcuffs. Donnie was in standard-issue detective’s wrinkled brown suit. Justice was garbed in black suit, black shirt, black lizard boots, and a white tie. He looked like a Hollywood producer or a pusher.

  “Who’re you?” Ferris asked Oliver.

  Oliver said, “Devonshire—Homicide.”

  Again, Kelley gasped aloud, then covered her mouth as she backed into the wall.

  Nice, Decker thought, she was involved too. Her hands were shaking, her forehead suddenly sheened with sweat. Decker looked at Ness. Kid’s face was contorted with rage.

  “You fucking bastard!” Ness spat. “You set me up!”

  “It wasn’t like you think, Mike!”

  “Shut up, Eubie!” Kelley screamed.

  Jeffers clamped his lips together. Decker made the necessary introductions and asked what was going on.

  Malone said, “Mr. Jeffers here has just been Mirandized for the murder of Kingston Merritt. He has willingly come forth with some important information. Seems he had a partner—”

  “You bastard!” Ness repeated.

  “I had to, Mike,” Jeffers whined. “But it isn’t like you think!”

  “Eubie, shut up!” Kelley barked.

  “What do you want with Mr. Ness?” Malone asked Decker.

  “Murder one—” Oliver said.

  “What!” Ness said. “I didn’t kill anyone!”

  “So what was your wallet doing at the murder scene?” Oliver asked.

  “I wasn’t there. My wallet was.” Ness pointed a finger at Jeffers. “This fucking asshole took it and set me up!”

  “I did not!” Jeffers protested.

  “Wallet?” Ferris asked. “What wallet?”

  “We’ll swap notes later,” Decker said to Malone. “You have enough to bring Ness in?”

  “Enough for a twenty-four-hour hold based on Jeffers’s statement.”

  Kelley stepped forward and proclaimed in an orator’s voice, “Mike didn’t kill anyone and neither did Eubie!”

  “Kelley, shut up!” Ness said.

  She ignored her brother and faced Malone. “I don’t know what you have against Eubie, but I do know Eubie fingered Mike just to protect me—”

  “What?!” Ness said.

  “Michael, I’m so sorry!” Kelley said, “I was going to tell you, but…” She looked down at the floor, then up again. “Eubie asked me to help him remove a body from Kingston Merritt’s office—”

  “You got my sister involved in this, you fuckhead?” Ness shouted.

  “Mike, please!” Jeffers pleaded. “I couldn’t do it by myself—”

  “Shut your fucking trap! You make me fucking sick!” Ness turned to his sister and lowered his voice. “As for you…”

  “I did it, okay?” Kelley shouted over him.

  “I’m going to read you your rights, Ms. Ness,” said Oliver.

  “I removed the body, that’s all I did—”

  “Wait until I get this out, ma’am,” Oliver said, pulling a card from his pocket.

  “I can’t!” Kelley turned to Decker. “Listen to me, please! Both Dr. Merritt and Russ…Russ Donnally was the other body…both were dead when Eubie and I arrived. You must believe me! All Eubie and I did was carry Russ out of Dr. Merritt’s office. He was already dead! Both of them were dead!”

  “Why’d you gasp when we mentioned homicide, Kelley?” Decker said.

  Kelley wiped tears from her eyes. “I burned Davida’s limo.”

  “With Russ inside.”

  “He was already dead.”

  “Then why’d you burn him, Kelley?”

  Kelley looked downcast. “Maybe someone would think it was a drug bust gone sour. Russ was a speed freak and a head.” She lowered her head. “It might have been okay except I dropped my brother’s wallet—”

  “What were you doing with your brother’s wallet?”

  “I dressed myself in Michael’s clothing. If anyone saw me, they’d think I was a man and be looking for two guys. Unfortunately, I had to choose the one jacket that
had Mike’s wallet. I didn’t even know I had it until Mike told me it was missing.”

  Ness said, “For Christ’s sake, why didn’t—”

  “Michael, please!” Kelley took a deep breath. “Look, you’d better have clear-cut evidence that links Mike to the crime other than his wallet and Eubie’s say-so. Eubie was just naming Mike as his accomplice to protect me.” She glanced at her brother, then dropped her gaze. “Eubie and I are lovers.”

  Ness’s face lost all expression. Slowly, his mouth drew upward in an off-balance rendering of a smile. “Dead meat, Jeffers!”

  “Mike, please,” Jeffers begged. “I needed help.”

  “Dead…dark…meat!”

  Ness lunged so quickly, he caught everyone off guard. The impact of his charge at Jeffers knocked Malone forward. Ferris managed to catch his partner before he hit the ground. Decker was on top of Ness within seconds, pulling Ness’s hands off Jeffers’s throat. After he’d freed Jeffers’s neck, Decker had no trouble subduing Ness, forcing him spread-eagled on his stomach, hands across his back.

  “Stop it!” Kelley yelled as she pounded Decker’s back.

  Oliver pulled her from Decker.

  “Leave my brother alone!” shouted Kelley as she struggled in Oliver’s grip.

  “You wanna help your brother, just back off!” Oliver shouted.

  The room fell still. Decker tied Ness’s hands behind his back with his belt, keeping him prone on the floor. All that Kelley had spilled was inadmissible because she hadn’t been advised of her rights. But at least they’d know how to question her.

  Malone said, “Who’re we taking in to book?”

  Decker lifted Ness upward, keeping a solid hold on Ness’s arm. He looked at Jeffers. “You want to press charges against him for assaulting you?”

  “Leave him alone,” Jeffers whispered.

  “Answer the question, Eubie,” Decker said. “Do you want to press charges?”

  “No.”

  Decker jerked Ness around. “You gonna behave yourself?”

  “I’ll behave myself.” Ness glared at Jeffers.

  “I mean it, Mike,” Decker said. “Don’t you even fucking look at Eubie, ’cause if you make the wrong move, your ass is gonna be a plaything for some real big boys tonight. Get what I’m saying?”