SW06 - The Innocent Woman

by Parnell Hall

  “What’s that?”

  “The petty cash box and the petty cash drawer—you didn’t point them out.”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Why not?”

  “They weren’t important. The important thing was a man was dead.”

  “And the petty cash drawer was only important because it was the thing that led you to discover that man was dead?”

  “Yes. Of course.”

  “But it was still important—in itself, I mean—because it indicated the office had been robbed.”

  “Well, sure.”

  “But you didn’t point it out to us.”

  Amy took a breath. “I don’t see what you’re making such a fuss about. I certainly told you about it as soon as I started making my statement. It’s not like it was something I was trying to hide.”

  “No, of course not,” the cop said. “I didn’t mean to imply that at all. I’m merely going over what happened. We arrived here, you met us at the door. Told us a man was dead. Took us in Mr. Fletcher’s office and showed us the body. Following that, I took you in here for questioning. Which is the first time you mentioned about the missing money and the petty cash drawer.”

  “Yes, of course,” Amy said. “What’s the point?”

  “The point is, I only have your word for that. The fact you discovered the drawer open, the cash box open and the money gone. And the fact you left them exactly as they were and didn’t touch a thing.”

  “Well, it happens to be the truth,” Amy said.

  “That may well be,” the cop said. “The fact is, you still haven’t pointed them out to us. That’s what I mean when I say I only have your word for it. So, just to keep the record straight, would you mind pointing out what it is you’re referring to in your statement as the petty cash box and the petty cash drawer?”

  “I’d be glad to,” Amy said.

  “Fine.”

  The cop got up, opened the door.

  Amy got up, started out.

  The cop stopped her. “I should tell you that, just as we have your assurance that you left everything exactly as you found it and didn’t touch the drawer, I want you to know that you have my assurance that we left everything exactly as we found it, and have not touched the petty cash box or the petty cash drawer.”

  Amy frowned. “Why do you say that?”

  “No reason,” the cop said. “I just want to be absolutely fair. Now please,” he said, “if you’d point them out to me, I think we can wrap this up.”

  “Certainly,” Amy said. She heaved a sigh of relief. Wrap this up—hot damn. She couldn’t believe how well she’d gotten through this. She stepped by the cop and walked into the room. “This is my desk here,” she said. “This is the petty cash drawer.”

  Amy walked around behind the desk to point out the drawer and stopped dead.

  All the desk drawers were shut.

  17.

  MARK TAYLOR HUNG UP the phone. “You’re not going to like this.”

  “Oh?” Steve said.

  “Yeah. The cop assigned to the case is Sergeant Stams.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah. Couldn’t be worse, could it? On the one hand, the guy’s not that swift. On the other, he’d like nothing better than to nail you.”

  “I know. With him it’s personal. Jesus Christ, this is all I need in this situation.”

  “In one way it could be good.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Tracy’s fingerprint. He’s the one cop who might be too dumb to find it.”

  “Fine,” Steve said impatiently. “What else did you get?”

  “That’s it. That’s all I know.”

  “You must have something.”

  “Give me a break,” Taylor said. “This is hot off the wire. If I didn’t have a pipeline into headquarters, I wouldn’t have this. The only word so far is Sergeant Stams was sent out to investigate a reported homicide at a jewelers on West 47th Street.”

  “No word on who phoned it in?”

  “None so far. You gotta understand. My man’s getting this information as it becomes available. He can’t show that much interest.”

  “Well, could he show some?” Steve said irritably.

  “Take it easy, Steve,” Tracy said. “This is my fault. There’s no need to take it out on Mark.”

  “I’m not taking it out on Mark. I just want to know what the hell’s going on.”

  “Don’t we all,” Taylor said. “Well, all we know now is your client’s gotten back to the jewelry store, phoned it in, and Sergeant Stams has responded. By rights he’s there now. Your client’s already told her story. And her instructions were to call as soon as the cops got cute, right?”

  “Right.”

  “She hasn’t called yet, so things must be fine.”

  “Yeah,” Steve said. He turned to Tracy. “You sure you hooked it up right?”

  Tracy gave him a look. “Steve, I do this all the time. Call-forwarding’s on. If she calls the office, it will ring up here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Why don’t you run downstairs and check.”

  “Check what?”

  “The answering machine.”

  Tracy looked at him. Shook her head. “Men,” she said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I bet you can’t program your VCR either.”

  “I don’t have a VCR,” Steve said. “What’s your point?”

  “For a bright man, you’re a moron when it comes to anything mechanical. How could the answering machine be on if I’m using call-forwarding? That’s the whole point. The call doesn’t go to the office, it’s transferred up here.”

  “Yeah, but if that wasn’t working, wouldn’t the answering machine pick up?”

  “The answering machine isn’t on. You don’t leave it on when you set call-forwarding.”

  “Why not?”

  Mark Taylor, who’d been looking back and forth, held up his hands. “Kids,” he said. “Let’s not quarrel. The fact is, if she gets her one phone call, I’ll get the news almost as quick as you will.”

  “Yeah, I suppose,” Steve said. “Still—”

  The phone on Mark Taylor’s desk rang. He scooped it up. “Yeah?... What you got?” He listened a moment, said, “Get back to me,” and hung up the phone. “You’re not going to like this.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “I gotta call ’em as I see ’em. Word is, Stams made an arrest.”

  “Shit. They say who?”

  “No, but who else? All I got is a report Stams is on his way downtown with a suspect in tow.”

  “Damn it,” Steve said. “I told her the minute things got sticky to clam up and call.”

  “Maybe he wouldn’t let her.”

  “Let her, hell. If he took her in, he’s gotta Mirandize her.”

  “Yeah, but we’re talkin’ Stams.”

  “Right. If he didn’t, it’s a hell of a break.” Steve shrugged. “Except with Stams, I wouldn’t put it past him to lie and say he did.”

  “Think he could get away with it?”

  “I don’t know,” Steve said impatiently. “But that’s beside the point. If. Amy followed instructions, the minute Stams looked at her funny she should have started screaming she wanted to call her lawyer. If she’s on her way downtown, things are not going as planned.”

  “No kidding,” Taylor said. “So whaddya want to do?”

  “Till she lights, there’s nothing I can do. I would like some better reports.”

  “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” Taylor said. “Can you suggest anything practical that I’m not doing?”

  “No. Yes. There’s a man runs a music store on the ground floor. Find out who that is, whether he’s the guy was working there earlier tonight.”

  “What’s the name of the store?”

  “I didn’t notice.”

  “Makes it a bit harder,” Taylor said dryly. He sn
atched up the phone, punched in a number. “Mickey, it’s Mark. Consider yourself on the clock. There’s a music store on West 47th Street.” He cupped the receiver, turned to Steve. “What’s the address?”

  “Damned if I know. Tracy?”

  “Got it,” Tracy said. She whipped open her notebook, read the address to Mark Taylor, who relayed it over the phone.

  “Got that?” Taylor said. “I want to know the name of the shop, the name of the owner, and who was working there tonight.” He turned to Steve. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah. Find out where the guy is now.”

  “Can he know why we’re askin’?”

  “The less he knows the better. Just line him up.”

  “You got it,” Taylor said. He relayed the instructions and hung up the phone. “Okay,” he said. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah. Fletcher’s partner. Marvin Lowery. Get a line on him, find out where he was this evening. You don’t have to go back any further than five o’clock, because up till then he was in court.

  “Same thing with the detective—that’s Samuel Macklin. Only in his case, after he testified I don’t think he stuck around—he had no reason to. So you have to trace his movements from mid-afternoon. Find out if he went back to his agency, or home, or whatever.”

  “Will do,” Taylor said. He picked up the phone and started to dial. Another line on his phone rang. He pushed the button, took the call. “Yeah?” he snapped. Then, “No, no, wait a minute. Who are you calling?... Yeah, hang on.”

  Taylor looked up from the phone. “It’s her.”

  18.

  AMY DEARBORN HAD BEEN crying.

  Steve Winslow didn’t need her red eyes to tell him that— he’d been able to tell on the phone. As he looked at her through the wire-mesh screen in the lockup, he felt sorry for her, sure. But he also felt angry and impatient. So it was all he could do to appear sympathetic and calm.

  “Tell me about it,” he said.

  Amy snuffled once. “It’s a mess.”

  “So I gather,” Steve said. “But you’d better define this mess, so I can start doing something about it.”

  “It’s not my fault,” Amy said.

  “I didn’t say it was.”

  “I can tell. From your tone.”

  “Forget my tone,” Steve said. “It’s been a long day. I need your story. I don’t want to drag it out of you. Pull yourself together and tell me the score.”

  He lip trembled. “They tricked me.”

  “Who tricked you?”

  “That cop.”

  “Sergeant Stams?”

  “I don’t know his name. He sat there with a blank look. He seemed so stupid.”

  “Yeah, that’s Stams. What happened?”

  “I told your story. Just like you said.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “He seemed to be buying it. I had no idea anything was wrong.”

  “What was wrong?”

  “The drawer.”

  “What drawer?”

  “What drawer do you think? The petty cash drawer.”

  “What about it?”

  “It was shut.”

  “What?”

  “It was shut. The damn drawer was shut.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Me either. But that’s what happened.”

  “Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” Steve said. “Are you telling me that you told Stams you found the petty cash drawer open, and when you went to look at it, it was shut?”

  “That’s right.”

  “The cops didn’t close it?”

  “He said they didn’t.”

  “He said they didn’t?”

  “Yes.”

  Steve groaned. “Don’t tell me. You told Stams the drawer had been robbed. He showed you the drawer was shut and asked you what the hell you were talking about?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you try to tell him?”

  “Well, I—”

  “Shit.”

  “Well, it was your bright idea,” Amy said. “Going back there. Pretending it was the first time. How was I to know someone had been there after me?”

  “You could have checked the desk.”

  “Why would I check the desk? Why would it even occur to me that drawer wouldn’t be open?”

  “Hell,” Steve said.

  “I’m sorry you’re taking it so hard,” Amy said, sarcastically. “I’m the one in jail.”

  “Right,” Steve said. “But you don’t have to do anything about it. I’m the one who has to get you out. So try to pull yourself together and give me the facts.”

  “I don’t know the facts.”

  “You know what you told the police, don’t you?”

  Amy said nothing.

  “Come on, give me a break,” Steve said. “What did you tell the cops?”

  “Nothing much.”

  “You must have said something. Stams drags you out there, shows you the drawer. It’s a big shock. You must have said something then.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You didn’t say, That can’t be right?”

  “Maybe I did.”

  “You didn’t say, The cops must have closed it?”

  “I may have said that.”

  “And then Stams starts working on you: I thought you called us from here; I thought you called us right away; I thought no one was in here between the time you called us and the time we got here. So if you found the drawer open, who closed the drawer?”

  Amy said nothing. Looked down.

  “Didn’t he say something like that?” Steve said.

  “Yeah.”

  “So what did you say then?”

  “I said, I want to call my lawyer.”

  “That’s all.”

  “Yeah, that’s all.”

  Steve exhaled. “Well, thank goodness for small favors. Okay, you called your lawyer and I’m here. What can I do for you?”

  Amy looked at him. “Get me out of here.”

  “That may not be so easy. First let’s have your story. What did you tell the cops?”

  “I told them everything.”

  Steve grimaced. “You don’t know how bad that sounds. What do you mean, everything?”

  “I mean about being arrested and the trial.”

  “That’s okay. What about tonight?”

  “I went out to dinner with a friend.”

  “Where?”

  “At a restaurant near my apartment.”

  “When?”

  “From six-thirty to seven-thirty.”

  “What happened then?”

  “He had to work, and I went home.”

  “At seven-thirty?”

  “Right.”

  “Who’s the friend?”

  “Larry Cunningham.”

  “Known him long?”

  “Why?”

  “For one thing, it tells me how good a witness he’ll be. Anyway, he left you at the restaurant?”

  “That’s right.”

  “That’s what you told the cops?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is that what really happened?”

  “Yes.”

  “He left and you went home?”

  “Right.”

  “What happened then?”

  “I told the cops I watched TV for a while, then I got the idea about cleaning out my desk.”

  “That’s what you told them?”

  “Yes.”

  “But that’s not what happened?”

  Amy looked at him. “You know what happened. I didn’t watch TV. I went right down.”

  “Why?”

  Amy blinked. “What?”

  “Why did you go down then? That’s the one thing that makes no sense. The trial’s over, you’re found innocent. What was so important about cleaning out your desk?”

  “Nothing really, but...”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t know. I just wanted to do it because I could.”

  “Becau
se it’s there?” Steve said. “The mountain climbing defense. I’m sorry, but that’s hard to swallow.”

  “Well, it happens to be the truth.”

  “That’s fine,” Steve said. “So, you went there to clean out your desk. Tell me, did you take any bags with you? Or cartons? Anything to put your stuff in?”

  “No.”

  “No? Why not? How were you going to carry your stuff?”

  “There were plenty of bags and cartons in the office.”

  “Good answer,” Steve said. “You were obviously prepared for that one—you came right in with it. Did the cops ask you that too?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Steve nodded. “Which is why you’re prepared. Now. But tell me—when the cops asked you—were you prepared then? Did you come right back with the answer, or did you have to think about it?”

  Amy stuck out her chin. “You know, I really resent this.”

  “Oh?”

  “You’re acting like you don’t believe a word I say.”

  “No, I’m acting like a lawyer. Your story has to stand up, have no holes in it whatsoever. If I can pick it apart, the D.A. can pick it apart. If that happens, you’re through. Which is why I had you clam up and stop talking. I can’t take the risk till your story’s air-tight.” Steve exhaled. “Try and understand the concept. Right now you’re keeping quiet, but at some point I’ve got to decide do you tell your story or not. The way things stand right now, you don’t. But if you ever do, it’s going to depend on your being able to answer questions without blowing your cool. So if my questions piss you off, try to think of them as a dress rehearsal.” He smiled grimly. “And if you think I’m skeptical and sarcastic, wait’ll you hear the D.A.”

  Amy glared at him defiantly for a moment. Then her eyes faltered. She shivered slightly. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.” Then her face hardened. She looked back up at him. “No, it’s not okay. Where do you get off making a pompous speech like that? You have to decide if you’re going to let me tell my story. I told my story. I came to the office to clean out my desk, found the petty cash drawer robbed and the body on the floor. That’s what I told the cops, and that’s why I’m on the hook. So you tell me, what the hell can I tell ’em now that’s gonna account for that petty cash drawer being shut?”

  Steve exhaled. Shook his head.

  “Damned if I know.”

  19.