Faye Kellerman - Decker 06 - Grievous Sin

by Grievous Sin(lit)

  'It's fine.'

  'Leek, all of us here can't really understand why you helped Tandy out.'

  'I told you, she had dope on me.'

  'Leek, there's a mighty big difference between embezzlement and accessory to a murder.'

  'So what are you saying, Detective?' Beltran asked.

  'I'm just trying to figure out why he'd give Tandy - a girl who'd been blackmailing him for two years -ammunition to use against him.'

  'My client's motivation for accessory is irrelevant.'

  'Maybe I was trying to get on her good side,' McKay said. 'You know... pick up where we'd left off now that she looked so good.'

  Marge said, 'You'd want to pick up with a person who'd been blackmailing you?'

  Beltran said, 'I fail to understand where this is leading.'

  'Yeah, maybe I would'McKay insisted. 'She looks real good now.'

  'As I recall, didn't you say she was a little off?' Marge said. 'You said it repulsed you to have sex with her.'

  'She looked and acted different back then,' McKay insisted. 'She was so fat, I couldn't even tell she was pregnant.

  Decker threw out, 'That's because she wasn't.'

  'What'McKay whispered. 'What'd you just say?'

  Beltran said, 'I think we've had enough of this interview—'

  'Wait a minute!' McKay shouted. 'I want to know why you said that, Sergeant!'

  Decker paused. It was an off-hand comment. By McKay's reaction, he knew he'd touched upon something

  big. 'When did she tell you she was pregnant, Leek? Was it around two years ago... September, October?'

  McKay opened and shut his mouth. 'How do you—'

  Beltran said, 'Sergeant, I'm putting a stop—'

  'She wasn't pregnant, Leek.' Decker turned to Marge. 'That was when she went to the doctor with her pseudocyesis - her false pregnancy.'

  'That's right,' Marge concurred.

  'False pregnancy?' Leek cried.

  'Let's go, Mr McKay,' Beltran said.

  'No, wait a fucking minute!' Leek rose to his feet. 'Just wait a fucking minute! What do you mean, Tandy wasn't pregnant?'

  'Mr McKay, I strongly advise you—'

  'Shut up!' Leek shouted. 'Just shut up and let me talk to this guy for a second. Let me figure something out, okay?'

  Beltran bit his lip and folded his hands.

  McKay sat down and said, 'I'm sorry, Mr Beltran. But this is really, really important. What do you mean, Tandy wasn't pregnant?'

  Decker said,' When did she tell you she was pregnant?'

  'Around...' McKay exhaled into his hands. 'Around two years ago. Hallowe'en time - just before or just after. I remember because she told me at the home's big Hallowe'en party. I almost threw up on the spot.'

  Marge said, 'Leek, as of November, two years ago, Tandy Roberts was not pregnant. When she told you, she may have thought she was. But she wasn't.'

  'You can prove that?'

  'We have proof.'

  'Holy fucking shit!' McKay blanched. 'I got screwed for nothing!'

  Decker waited.

  'I can't believe... all this time.' McKay kept shaking

  his head. 'Shit! That little...' He looked at Marge, then at Decker. 'She told me she got an abortion. You mean to tell me she was never pregnant?'

  Marge said, 'As of November two years ago, Leek, she was not pregnant.'

  Leek wiped saliva away from his mouth. 'She told me she was pregnant. She swore... she wanted to have the baby. I told her no way I'd do anything with her ever again if she didn't get rid of it. She was fat! She was crazy! I didn't want to be connected to this girl for life!'

  The room was silent.

  'I told her if she ever wanted to see me again, she'd have to get rid of it.' McKay clutched his shaking hands together. 'She kept stalling and stalling. And then finally, around Christmastime, she announced to me that she was too far along to get rid of it. That it..." Again, he wiped his mouth. 'That it would be considered murder. Because the fetus was viable on its own.' He lowered his chin against his chest. 'She said she'd have to find a doctor who'd be willing... she'd have to do it illegally.'

  Beltran said, 'Lawrence, I don't want you saying any more.'

  'It doesn't matter now,' McKay said. "Cause if she wasn't pregnant, her whole story was bullshit!' He looked up at Marge and Decker. 'Unless you're lying to me.'

  Decker said, 'We're not lying, Leek. Go on. What happened after she said she'd have to do it illegally?'

  'I told her... to do it illegally. And I gave her a lot of money to do it illegally.'

  McKay looked at his empty paper cup and squashed it.

  'She said it would make us both murderers because the baby was viable. I said do it anyway. She made me sign this piece of paper. I don't remember exactly what she had typed out. Something that said I ordered her to do it... to get rid of it. In case she got caught. I was so desperate

  for her to do it, I signed the paper.' He wiped his mouth a third time. 'She's been making me pay ever since.'

  Decker nodded. McKay looked up. 'I've got some other information for you.'

  Beltran said, 'Lawrence—'

  'Let me handle this, Mr Beltran. I'm in control now. In control for the first time in two years.'

  'What kind of information?' Decker asked.

  'If you want to hear it, I want you to drop everything against me,' McKay said. 'And I mean everything! I want to be able to walk off the witness stand a free man. I've had enough shit hanging over my head.'

  'Tell me what you have and we'll think about it,' Pomerantz said.

  'Not good enough.'

  'I can't help you if you won't help me.'

  'Let me talk to him first,' Beltran said.

  'No games, please,' McKay insisted. 'Yes or no. You want to hear what I have to say? It's good. I guarantee you.'

  'Leek, I can't make a deal on that basis,' Pomerantz said. 'Help me out. Give me a hint.'

  'It's about Marie Bellson.'

  Decker looked at Marge, then at Pomerantz, but said nothing.

  Beltran said, 'Lawrence, if you were involved in any way with Marie's demise—'

  'Marie's not dead!' McKay said. 'At least so far as I know. I certainly didn't kill her. You want to hear what I have to say?'

  'Give me more of a hint,' Pomerantz said.

  'C'mon, Mr Pomerantz!'

  Marge said, 'Leek, we're trying to help—'

  'Okay. I think I know where she might be.'

  'Good Lord,' Decker said. 'Where?'

  'All charges dropped,' Leek said.

  Decker looked at Pomerantz. Pomerantz said, 'If it pans out—'

  'Uh uh,' McKay said. 'She may have split from where I think she is. I can't be sure of that.'

  'How about this, Counselor?' Decker said. 'How about... if it can be shown that Marie was where Mr McKay thought she was, we'll drop charges against him.'

  Pomerantz was quiet. Decker kept a neutral expression, starved for information on Marie. They needed something! Tandy had to be locked up. She was dangerous!

  Finally, Pomerantz said, 'All right. If we can show that Marie Bellson was at any time at the location pinpointed by Mr McKay, I will drop all charges pending against Mr McKay.'

  'Right on!' McKay clapped his hands. 'Could you have done any better, Mr Beltran?'

  Beltran smiled wearily.

  'Spit it out, Leek,' Decker said.

  'Two days after the kidnapping, Tandy cornered me at the gym. She wanted me to write a letter of recommendation for Marie Bellson using the Home's stationery. Tandy wanted me to write it and sign it because if the clinic called and asked for Mr McKay at the home, there'd be a real person there to take the call. Turns out that it was unnecessary. No one called. At least, to my knowledge no one called.'

  'Did you write the letter?' Decker asked.

  'Of course!' McKay asserted. 'I still thought I was an assessory to murder - the abortion murder, not the black lady.'

  'Where'd you address t
he letter, Leek?'

  'To a clinic in central California, not far from Berkeley but more inland. Where all the immigrants work on the

  farms. I wrote this wonderful letter saying what a saint Mary Whitson was. She was using the name Mary Whitson.'

  'Whitson's her mother's maiden name,' Marge said.

  'Do you remember the location of the clinic?' Decker asked.

  'Spanish-sounding town. Tecale or Tecome or Tecate. Something like that. It had a rural route address. That much I remember.'

  'Do you have the exact number?'

  'Not on me. But I can retrieve it.'

  'Retrieve it!' Decker said.

  'You bet, Sergeant!' McKay broke into a smile. 'Anything to help Tandy fry.'

  Marge slammed down the receiver and clapped her hands. 'They got Bellson!'

  The entire squadroom broke into cheers. She stood up and gave Decker a high-five. 'The bastard was right on the money. McKay's going to walk, the lucky little sucker!'

  'She was where he said she was?'

  'Twenty miles south. The address McKay wrote to was a post office. The town's sheriff was able to pinpoint the exact location of the clinic. And she was using the name Mary Whitson. The locals were very unhappy. Seems Marie spoke Spanish and had amassed a following in just a few days.'

  'She was an experienced nurse,' Decker said. 'Can't take that away. Did she offer resistance?'

  'Nope.' Marge patted Decker on the back. 'Think you can smile? We're almost there.'

  'Almost, but not quite.' Decker paused. 'Well I tell you one thing. I ain't about to give her kitten back. Poor little thing almost starved to death.'

  'Keep the kitten, Pete,' Marge chuckled. 'In the meantime, how about if I start the paperwork. And you can take the afternoon off and tend to your wife and kid and kitten.'

  'It's a good offer, Rabbi,' Hollander said. 'If I were you, I'd take it.' He bit into a bagel loaded with cream cheese, then held it aloft. 'I brought this in your honor. I wanted to practice being ethnic for your party on Sunday.'

  'Practice makes perfect.' Decker walked to the middle of the floor and announced, 'Regarding my baby's party on Sunday... everyone's invited.'

  Again, a round of rowdy cheers.

  Decker said, 'Food, champagne and beer on the house, but you've got to stay and listen to a half-dozen rabbis sermonize about the wonders of God and my kid.'

  The room filled with boos and hisses.

  Decker laughed. Marge slipped his jacket over his shoulders. 'Go home.'

  'I want to talk to Marie,' Decker said.

  'We probably won't get her in until tomorrow, Pete. Go home.'

  Decker didn't move. 'We found out Leek's motivation for helping Tandy. He thought she had him on some ridiculous murder charge. But why did Marie help Tandy? What was her motivation? It can't just be guilt about the affair with Tandy's father.'

  Marge turned him to the door. 'Why don't we ask her once we have her in custody?' She gave him a gentle shove. 'Go home!'

  Walking through the door to his house, Decker heard the TV blaring at head-splitting volume. To his utter shock, he saw a medium-sized sturdy man staring at the tube. His hair was thick and dark, his ruddy complexion spotlighted by a sunbeam. The man wore jeans and a white shirt, sleeves rolled up to expose thick, tanned forearms.

  Dad!

  Lyle Decker was posed two inches from the box -hence the overdrive decibel level: Dad was hard of hearing. Grinning, Decker jogged to his father and turned him around. They exchanged hugs.

  'What are you doing here?' Decker asked.

  'What?'

  Decker muted the volume and raised his voice. 'What a great surprise! What are you doing here?'

  Dad said, 'Your mom said it's time we come out and see our new granddaughter. See the old one, too. So we came out.'

  'You closed the store, Dad?'

  Dad shrugged. 'We're old now. Life is short. Besides, when Mom says come out, we come out.'

  Decker laughed and shook his head. 'Where is Mom?'

  'Baking and cooking with your wife, your big daughter, your mother-in-law, and the baby-nurse - all of them been chatting like magpies. Speaking of pies, they're baking lots of pies for your party. Apple, strawberry, cherry, apricot and peach. No boysenberry. Fresh is too expensive. Smells good, doesn't it?'

  Decker became aware of his nose. 'Yes, it smells very good.'

  'Your barn's a mess, son.'

  Decker smiled. 'Yes, it is.'

  'I bought some two-by-fours. Figured I could make myself useful as long as Mom dragged me out here.'

  'Dad, you don't have to do that.'

  'Heck, it's better than sitting around, listening to the ladies chirp.' He patted Decker's back. 'You got a beautiful little girl, son. Two of 'em. Good Lord, Cindy's big and wonderful. You and Jan did something right.'

  Decker slapped his dad's back. 'Good role models. Let me say hello to everybody. Then I'll meet you in the barn.'

  'Your boys are out there now. I got them sortin' nails. It's okay if they help?'

  'It's fine.'

  'Good. Put some meat on their bones. Especially the younger one. He's as skinny as a stick.'

  'Jake's thin but healthy.'

  'Yeah, he's a wiry guy. But a little muscle wouldn't hurt him none.' The old man looked over his son. 'You still look good.'

  Decker smiled. 'The yearly physicals force me to stay fit, Dad.'

  'Don't do much for your brother,' Lyle said. 'He's got a gut on him bigger than a sumo wrestler. You come out to the barn when you're done with the womenfolk. And get outa that suit. Can't fix a barn in a suit.'

  'I'm aware of that, Dad.'

  The elder Decker smiled. 'Good to see you, son.'

  'Good to see you, too.'

  Dad walked outside. Decker was about to turn off the TV when he saw a promo for the six o'clock news - a tearful and joyous Lourdes Rodriguez being handed a pink-blanketed bundle. Matty Lopez was at her side. He looked happy, but less so. Impending fatherhood had suddenly become a reality for the teenager.

  Decker switched off the picture and went inside the kitchen. As per his father's lament, the place was as noisy as a chicken coop. Mom was as no-nonsense as ever, her salt-and-pepper hair tied in a bun, a starched white apron neatly covering her dress. Her weight was perfectly proportioned to her five feet eight inches - as it had been all her life. Ida Decker was a slender, strong woman with busy hands and an opinion on everything.

  'How's it going, ladies?' Decker asked.

  The women broke into high-pitched welcome squeals. His mother smiled at him, the corners of her eyes webbed with crow's-feet. Decker smiled back and gave her a warm embrace.

  'I don't believe you're here.' Decker turned to Rina. 'Did you know about this?'

  'Of course I knew about this,' she answered. 'I wanted it to be a surprise.'

  To his mother, Decker said, 'I can't believe you actually came.'

  'Your wife invited us out, so we came.'

  'I've invited you two out at least fifty times over the last twenty years,' Decker said. 'You never came once for me.'

  'Oh, don't give me that nonsense,' Mom said, a gleam in her eye. 'I came for the wedding.'

  'Gee thanks, Mom.'

  Rina gave Decker a peck on the cheek. 'Talk respectfully to your mother.'

  'Yes, you talk nice to her,' Magda echoed.

  Decker said, 'I'm getting out of here.' He glanced around the room, saw Hannah sleeping in her cradle. He bent down and gently kissed his daughter on her nose. 'Are they teaching you early to be a female chauvinist?'

  'Peter, you're talking too loud,' his mother scolded. 'You're going to wake her up. And furthermore, you're going to make our cakes fall.'

  Cindy beat her chest. 'Go fix a barn and be macho, Dad.'

  'Good idea.'

  Decker left the room and no one said goodbye. Too wrapped up in pie dough. A moment later, Cindy came to his side and gave him a hug. 'Isn't it nice to have everyone here?'


  'It is... in theory.'

  Cindy slugged him playfully. 'You're such a cynic'