The Face of Deception ed-1

by Iris Johansen

  Forget it. She stood up. Now I believe I have about twenty minutes more until your decorators finish with my lab. I think Ill go to my room and make a few phone calls too.

  Have I chased you off ?

  Dont be ridiculous. Im not that sensitive.

  Margarets gaze raked her face. I think you are. But you handle it damn well. She paused and then added awkwardly, I admire you. In your place, I dont think I could She shrugged. Anyway, I didnt mean to hurt you.

  You didnt hurt me, Eve said gently. Truly. I do have phone calls to make.

  Then go make them. Ill finish my coffee and then go nag those decorators and get them out of your way.

  Thank you. Eve left the kitchen and strode quickly to her room. What she had told Margaret had been partly true. Time had formed scars on the wounds and, in many ways, she was lucky. She had a worthwhile profession, a parent she loved, and good friends.

  And shed better check in with one of those friends, see if Joe had dug up anything more on Logan. She didnt like how the situation was shaping up, she thought grimly.

  No, shed call Mom first.

  It took six rings before Sandra picked up, but when she did she was laughing. Hello.

  I guess I dont have to ask if youre okay, Eve said. Whats so funny?

  Ron just spilled paint on his She broke off, giggling. Youd have to be here.

  Youre painting?

  I told you I wanted to paint your lab. Ron of-fered to help me.

  What color? Eve asked warily.

  Blue and white. Its going to look like sky and clouds. Were trying one of those new finishes that you do with garbage bags.

  Garbage bags?

  I saw it on TV. The receiver was suddenly cov-ered. Dont do that, Ron. Youre messing up the clouds. The corners have to be done differently. She came back on the line. How are you?

  Fine. Ive been working on

  Thats nice. She was laughing again. No cherubs, Ron. Eve would have a cow.

  Cherubs?

  I promise, just clouds.

  Good God, cherubs, clouds. Youre busy. Ill call you again in a few days.

  Im glad youre having a good time. Getting away is good for you.

  And it was obviously not causing her mother any problem. No more trouble?

  Trouble? Oh, you mean the break-in. Not a bit. Joe dropped by after work with Chinese food but left right after Ron got here. It turns out they know each other. I guess its not so strange, Ron being in the D.A.s office and JoeRon, you need more white in that blue paint. Eve, I have to go. Hes going to ruin my clouds.

  We wouldnt want that. Good-bye, Mom. Take care of yourself.

  You too.

  Eve was smiling as she hung up. Sandra sounded younger than she had ever heard her, and everything was Ron and how everything and everyone related to Ron. Nothing wrong with being young. Kids grew up quick in the slums and maybe Sandra would be able to snatch some of that childhood magic now.

  Why did that thought make Eve feel a thousand years old?

  Because she was stupid and selfish and maybe a little envious.

  Joe.

  She reached for the telephone again and then stopped.

  Logan had known she had gone to the cemetery.

  She didnt like the idea of that electronic beehive in the carriage house.

  She was being paranoid. Video cameras didnt necessarily equate to bugged telephones.

  But they might. Ever since shed arrived there shed had the vague sensation of being caught in a web.

  So she was paranoid.

  She stood up, dug her digital out of her shoulder bag, and punched in Joes number.

  I was just going to call you. How are things going?

  Theyre not going. Im treading water. He wants to involve me more than Im comfortable with. I need to know what Im looking at. Did you dig up anything?

  Maybe. But its pretty weird.

  Whats not weird about all this?

  It seems hes lately acquired an obsession about John F.Kennedy.

  Kennedy, she repeated, startled.

  Yeah. And Logans a Republican, so that by it-self is already weird. He paid a visit to the Kennedy Library. He ordered copies of the Warren Commis-sion Report on Kennedys assassination. He went to the book depository in Dallas and then to Bethesda. Joe paused. He even talked to Oliver Stone about the research he did for his movie JFK. All done very ca-sual and quiet. No urgency. Youd never even make the connection between his actions unless you were looking for a pattern, like I was.

  Kennedy. It was bizarre. That cant have any-thing to do with why Im here. Is there anything else?

  Not so far. You asked for out of the ordinary.

  Well, you certainly gave it to me.

  Ill keep looking. He changed the subject. I ran into your moms current flame tonight. Rons a nice guy.

  She thinks so. Thanks for keeping an eye on her for me.

  I dont think Im going to have to do much more of it. Ron seemed pretty protective himself.

  I havent met him yet. Moms afraid Ill scare him off.

  You might.

  What do you mean? You know I want whatevers best for Mom.

  Yep, and youll kick ass until you get it for her.

  Am I that bad?

  Joes voice softened. No, youre that good. Look, Ive got to go. Diane wants to catch a nine oclock movie. Ill call you when I know anything more.

  Thanks, Joe.

  Forget it. I probably didnt help you much.

  He probably hadnt, Eve thought as she hung up. Logans interest in JFK might be just coincidence. What possible connection could there be between the ex-president and her present situation?

  Coincidence? She doubted if anything Logan did was coincidental. He was too sharp, too much in con-trol. His search for information about Kennedy was too recent not to be suspicious, and if hed tried to keep his interest in Kennedy under wraps, it was for a reason.

  What reason? It couldnt be of

  She stiffened with shock.

  Oh, my God.

  SEVEN

  The library was unoccupied when she entered a few minutes later.

  She slammed the door closed, flicked on the light, and strode toward the desk. She opened the right-hand drawer. Just papers and telephone books. She slammed it shut and opened the left-hand drawer.

  Books. She pulled them out and set them on the desk.

  The Warren Commission Report was on top. Be-neath it was the Crenshaw book on the Kennedy au-topsy and then a well-thumbed book titled The Kennedy Conspiracy: Questions and Answers.

  May I help you? Logan stood in the doorway.

  Are you crazy, Logan? She glared at him. Ken-nedy? Youve got to be out of your mind.

  He crossed the room and sat down at the desk. You appear to be a little upset.

  Why should I be upset? Just because youve brought me here on the wildest goose chase ever con-ceived by man. Kennedy? she repeated. What the hell kind of crackpot are you?

  Why dont you sit down and take a deep breath. He smiled. You scare me when you loom over me like that.

  Bullshit. This isnt funny, Logan.

  His smile vanished. No, its not funny. I was hoping it wouldnt come to this. I tried to be so careful. I take it you didnt just decide to ransack my office out of curiosity. Joe Quinn?

  Yes.

  I heard he was very smart. He shook his head. But youre the one who sicced him on me. Why couldnt you have just left it alone?

  You expected me to wander around in the dark?

  He was silent a moment. No, I guess I didnt expect it. But I hoped. I wanted you to go into this unprejudiced.

  Id be unprejudiced no matter what I suspected. You have to be when you do my kind of work. But I cant believe you want me to help you dig up Kennedy.

  No manual labor is required. I just need you to verify

  And get shot in the process. For Gods sake, Kennedy is buried at Arlington Cemetery.

  Is he?

  She went still. What the devil a
re you saying?

  Sit down.

  I dont want to sit down. I want you to talk to me.

  Okay. He paused. What if it isnt Kennedy buried at Arlington?

  Heaven help me, not another conspiracy theory?

  Conspiracy? Yes, I guess that about covers it. But with a slight twist. What if it were one of Kennedys doubles who was shot in Dallas? What if Kennedy died before the Dallas trip?

  She stared at him in disbelief. Kennedys doubles?

  Most public figures have doubles to protect both their lives and their privacy. Its estimated Saddam Hussein has at least six.

  Hes a dictator of a third-world country. No one could get away with that here.

  Not without help.

  Whose help? she asked sarcastically. Little John-John? Maybe brother Bobby? Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Youre nuts. Its the most outrageous thing Ive ever heard. Who the hell are you accusing?

  Im not accusing anyone. Im just looking at possibilities. Ive no idea how the man died. He had all kinds of health problems that werent public knowledge. His death could have been by natural causes.

  Could? My God, are you suggesting the cause might not have been natural?

  Youre not listening. Dammit, I dont know. The only thing I do know is that a deception that exten-sive would have involved more than one person.

  A White House conspiracy. A cover-up. She smiled mockingly. And isnt it convenient for you that Kennedy was a Democrat? You can paint the op-position as a bunch of unscrupulous connivers not worthy of winning the election this year. What a co-incidence that a massive smear like this might trans-late to a victory for your party.

  It might.

  You bastard. I dont like smear campaigns. And I dont like being used, Logan.

  Understandable. Now, if youre through venting your displeasure, will you listen to me for a moment? He leaned forward in his chair. Eight months ago I got a call from a man named Bernard Donnelli, a mortician who owns a small funeral home outside Baltimore. He asked me to meet him. He told me just enough to intrigue me, so I flew to Baltimore the next day. He was scared and met me in a parking garage at five in the morning. He shrugged. No imagination. He must have thought he was Deep Throat or something. Anyway, he was more greedy than he was scared and offered to sell me information. He paused. And an object that he thought I might find valuable. A skull.

  Only a skull?

  The rest of the body was cremated by Donnellis father. It seems that the Donnelli Funeral Home has been used for decades by the Mafia and Cosa Nostra to dispose of bodies. The Donnellis be-came known to the mob as being very discreet and reliable. However, one particular disposal made Donnelli Senior very uneasy. Two men appeared one night at Donnellis home with a mans body and, though the money they paid him was extraor-dinary, he was uneasy. They werent his regular cus-tomers and couldnt be counted on to play by the rules. They tried to keep him from seeing the corpses face, but he caught one glimpse and it was enough to scare him shitless. He was afraid theyd come back and cut his throat to eliminate him as a witness. So he rescued the skull and hid it away to use as a weapon and an insurance policy.

  Rescued it?

  Not many people know that it takes a tempera-ture of twenty-five hundred degrees and a burning time of at least eighteen hours to completely destroy a skeleton. Donnelli managed to position the body so that the skull would partially avoid the flames. When the two men left after forty-five minutes, Donnelli retrieved the skull and burned the rest. Donnelli used the skull as a tool for blackmail, and before he died he told his son, Bernard, where hed buried the skull. A rather macabre legacy but profitable, very profitable.

  Donnelli died?

  Oh, he wasnt murdered. He was an old man and had a bad heart.

  And who was he blackmailing?

  Logan shrugged. I dont know. Donnelli Junior wouldnt tell me. The deal was for the skull.

  And youre saying you didnt press him?

  Why would I tell you that? Of course, I tried to get it out of him. All hed tell me was what Ive told you. He wasnt as gutsy as his father and he didnt like living on the edge. He offered me the location of the skull and the story in exchange for enough money to set him up in Italy with a new face and identity papers.

  And you took the deal?

  I took it. Ive paid more for prospects with less potential.

  And now you want me to bring that potential to fruition.

  If what Donnelli told me was the truth.

  It isnt. The entire story is crazy.

  Then why not go along with me? Whats the harm? If its not true, then youll come out with your pocket full of my money and Ill come out with egg on my face. He smiled. Both prospects should bring you extreme pleasure.

  Its a waste of my time.

  Youre being well paid to waste it.

  And if theres any truth at all to the story, its not smart for me to go around digging up

  But you said there wasnt any truth to it.

  Its too wild to think its Kennedy, but it could be Jimmy Hoffa or some Mafia goon.

  Providing I havent paid through the nose for a fairy tale.

  Which youve probably done.

  Then come with me and well find out. He paused. Unless you think you couldnt do the job with an unprejudiced mind. Theres no way I want you putting Jimmy Hoffas face on this skull.

  You know damn well Im too good to do that. Dont try to manipulate me, Logan.

  Why not? Im good at it. We all do what were good at. Arent you even a little bit curious to find out if Donnellis telling the truth?

  No, its just another wild-goose chase.

  Not so wild if they tried to scare you off. Or per-haps youd rather forgive and forget what happened to your lab?

  Manipulation again. Strike where it hurts. She turned away. Im not forgetting anything, but Im not sure I believe

  Ill double the contribution to the Adam Fund.

  She slowly turned back to him. Dammit, youre paying too much for too little. Even if its true, it all happened a long time ago. What if nobody cares that the Democrats did a massive cover-up?

  What if they do? The climate is right. The public is sick to death of being manipulated by politicians.

  Just what are you up to, Logan?

  I thought you had me figured out. Im just your run-of-the-mill low-life tycoon trying to stack the deck.