Faye Kellerman_Decker & Lazarus 06

by Grievous Sin

  Once again Decker and Marge exchanged glances.

  “How’d you find out about your father and Marie?” Marge asked.

  Tandy blinked rapidly. “I just did.”

  “You just did?” Decker said.

  Tandy bolted up from her seat and began to pace. “Look, I spoke to you guys without a lawyer because I didn’t do anything wrong. But if you keep hammering away at my past, I’m going to walk out this door—”

  “Why were you using Lawrence McKay’s nursing license, Tandy?” Marge asked.

  Kill her!

  The high one.

  She hated the high one!

  The high one was malevolent. Malevolence. The wicked queen in Snow White. Mirror, mirror on the wall—

  “Tandy, why were—”

  “Stop!” Tandy whirled around and glared at Marge. “Just…oh, now I get it! It’s dig-up-dirt-on-Tandy time. Maybe I should get a lawyer.”

  Decker pushed the phone across the table until it rested in front of Tandy’s nose. “Be my guest.”

  Tandy stared at the machine. The room fell silent.

  Decker said, “Your dad was evil, Tandy?”

  Tandy looked at him blankly. “They both were.”

  “Your father and Marie?” Marge said. “Or your father and mother?”

  “All of them,” Tandy said softly. “They’re all very evil people.”

  “Including Marie,” Marge said.

  “Including Marie,” Tandy said.

  “How did you find out about Daddy and Marie?” Decker asked.

  “I just did.”

  “Did you recognize Marie when you saw her at the Golden Valley Home?” Marge said.

  Tandy’s eyes became sharp and focused. “Are you asking me if I recognized someone I last saw when I was five?”

  “Why are you using Leek McKay’s license, Tandy?” Decker said.

  “Because it was convenient! I didn’t want to have to go back to school just to learn things I already knew! Marie said I was better trained than most RNs she worked with. Why should I waste my time?”

  “Because it’s illegal to use someone else’s license.”

  “So arrest me!”

  Decker looked at the tape recorder. She had him. Yes, he could arrest her on the petty charge of impersonating a licensed professional. But the collar would make him look as if he were reaching. The woman was dancing around his traps. She was the sanest person he’d ever met.

  “Look,” Tandy said, “you have nothing to connect me to this kidnapping. You don’t even have anything to connect me to Marie. The only thing you have is my parents with a baby that Marie kidnapped. Marie probably panicked and thought of old Geoffrey. Like you said, they used to be lovers till she dumped him. Maybe she thought she could play him for a sucker ’cause that’s what he was.”

  “If you were only five years old, how’d you know Marie dumped your father?” Marge asked.

  Kill her, the whore!

  You’re a whore!

  Again Tandy’s eyes blinked. “Mom told me.”

  “So you knew Marie was your father’s lover when you met her at the home.”

  “No.” Tandy shook her head. “No, I didn’t. My mother never mentioned Marie’s name. Just called her the whore. Mom always referred to her as the whore.”

  Consistent with the way Hetty spoke. Decker said, “So how’d you find out that Marie was the whore?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  How did she find out? Decker wondered. Was Marie’s name buried in her unconscious? Did it pop up when she actually met Marie again? Or did Tandy come across some tangible evidence of the tryst? Maybe while she was staying in Marie’s apartment, she saw something. Yet Decker had combed Bellson’s apartment and hadn’t come up with a thing. He looked at Tandy. She smiled slowly.

  Back in control!

  “Look, even my parents aren’t saying I have anything to do with this. So you’ve got nothing on me.”

  “How do you know what your parents are saying, Tandy?” Marge asked.

  “If they implicated me, you wouldn’t be floundering. Either arrest me or let me go.”

  “You falsified your credentials,” Marge said. “That’s illegal.”

  “So I won’t work as a nurse anymore. Can I go now? Or are you going to charge me with impersonating a nurse?”

  Decker was quiet. She fit the profile of a baby kidnapper—an unbalanced person who longed for a child. To wit: the pseudocyesis. But he had nothing on her. On her parents, yes. On Marie, yes. But nothing on her!

  Maybe she didn’t have anything to do with the kidnapping.

  It was a little thing that bugged him. That one unanswered question. How did Tandy find out about her father’s affair with Marie?

  Surely, Marie didn’t tell her. Why would she do that?

  And she couldn’t have come across something in Marie’s apartment that clued her in. Decker had scoured the place. Nothing about Marie’s past except some old books. No letters, no photographs in her desk—

  Her desk!

  The key under it.

  The frigging lockbox!

  He stood, gave a quick glance to Marge, then smoothed his mustache. “You know your apartment is being searched. We pulled the warrant.”

  Tandy shrugged. “Go ahead. You won’t find anything.”

  Decker leaned against the back wall. “Sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

  Tandy twitched.

  Kill him!

  Shut up! Just go away!

  The voice receded.

  “No, I don’t want anything to eat!”

  “No need for the hostility,” Decker said.

  “I’m not being hostile,” Tandy retorted. “I think I’m being very friendly, considering the circumstances.”

  “You ever been to Marie’s apartment before, Tandy?”

  “Of course I have.”

  “When was the last time you were there…in Marie’s apartment?”

  Tandy shrugged. “Maybe a year ago.”

  “You weren’t there…let’s say…four days ago?”

  “No.”

  “What if I were to tell you I had witnesses who said they saw you there?”

  “I’d say they were lying.” Tandy’s eyes were hot and angry. They met Decker’s straight on. “You have no witnesses. ’Cause I wasn’t there.”

  “You haven’t been in Marie’s apartment lately?”

  “No!”

  “You didn’t come in and maybe rewind her phone messages?”

  “No!”

  “Tandy, would you take a lie-detector test for me then?”

  Kill! Kill!

  “Fuck you!” Tandy said out loud.

  Decker was surprised by her vehemence. The girl blushed.

  “Not you…never mind.” Tandy twitched. “What do you want from me?”

  “Sure you haven’t been in her apar—”

  “I already told you—no!”

  “Which means if we search your condo, we’re not going to find anything belonging to Marie. After all, last time you saw her was a year or two ago, right?”

  That got her. Tandy turned pale.

  Kill him!

  The high one.

  Kill him! Kill him!

  Evil!

  SHUT UP!

  “Tandy?” Decker said.

  She twitched and blinked. Her body became a series of small spasms. “Marie gave me lots of stuff. She liked me…loved me.”

  “Gifts are one thing,” Decker said. “I’m talking about personal belongings of Marie’s. Things like maybe a lockbox filled with letters and photographs—”

  “So Marie gave me the box for safekeeping. So what?”

  “Ah, so you do know what I’m talking about,” Decker said. “You know about the box because you discovered it while you were staying with Marie during your so-called pregnancy? Of course, we all know you weren’t really pregnant. Not like the first and only time—”

  Kill him now!

&nb
sp; Decker said, “The second one was all in your imagination.”

  Kill him!

  No.

  Yes.

  No, you’re not real!

  Kill him. KILL HIM!

  “Tandy, are you here?” Decker asked.

  A glow spread across the young woman’s cheeks. “Marie gave me the box, and you can’t prove any different!”

  “Why would she give you her lockbox without the key?”

  “Who says I don’t have the key?”

  “I have the key, Tandy.”

  “So she gave it to me without the key.” Tandy shrugged. “She didn’t want me looking inside.”

  “You’re right about that, Tandy. I don’t think Marie wanted you looking inside. Because the box held all her personal mementos, some of them very, very private—”

  “Shut up!”

  Decker leaned across the table. “But you snooped anyway.”

  “Shut up.”

  “You found it while you were staying at Marie’s recovering from your shock at not being pregnant—for a second time.”

  “I don’t have to listen to this.” She closed her ears and began to hum. “I can’t hear you!”

  Decker yanked her hands from her head. “Tandy, Marie didn’t give you any box. You stole it from her apartment.”

  “Shut! Up!”

  “And we both know why Marie wouldn’t have given you the box. It contained love letters and photographs of her and your father. Probably very graphic love letters—”

  “Shut! Up!”

  “Man, what betrayal you must have felt!” Decker added. “You thought you found an angelic mother in Marie, and irony of ironies, she turned out to be the very bitch that broke up your parents’ marriage!”

  Tandy jumped out of her seat and threw the tape recorder against the wall. “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”

  Decker stopped talking. Tandy grabbed her hair.

  “SHUT! UP!”

  “I’m not talking,” Decker said.

  “NOT YOU!” She sobbed openly. “THEM!”

  Them? The voices! Decker realized. The panic seized him suddenly. The girl is unbalanced, you moron!

  Decker said to the mirror, “Can I get Sergeant McKlintock in here?”

  “I’ll get her,” Marge said.

  Tandy threw herself at Decker, hugged him as tight as she could. “MAKE THEM STOP! PLEASE!”

  She started to hyperventilate. Decker’s heart did triple time. He shouted, “Get me Donna, damn it!”

  The mirror answered, “She’s coming!”

  “MAKE THEM…” She sobbed and gasped, her lips taking on a bluish tinge. “MAKE THEM…STOP!”

  A moment later, Donna McKlintock rushed inside the interview room. She had been with the department for twenty years, the last ten serving as the on-site consultant in psychology, having earned an MFC in night schools. Over the years, she had counseled many victims of crime—both civilians and cops. Decker hoped she knew her stuff. Solidly built, she took her strong arms and peeled Tandy off Decker’s body. The girl immediately leeched onto Donna.

  “Make them stop!” Tandy begged the psychologist.

  Donna took a firm grip on the girl and began to walk her around the table. “You’re safe here, Tandy. You’re safe!”

  “But they’re here!”

  “You’re safe now, Tandy!” Donna reiterated. “While you’re with me, I won’t let anyone hurt you. And I won’t let you hurt anyone, okay?”

  “Then promise me you’ll make them stop!”

  Donna began to lead her out of the room. “We’ll talk. While you’re with me, I won’t let anyone hurt you. And I won’t let you hurt anyone!”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.” Donna led her out of the room. Decker looked at Marge, then ran his hand over his face. At times like these, practicing estate law looked downright tempting.

  35

  Inside the interview room, Decker paced. “I can’t believe I was that stupid!”

  “Stop flogging yourself.” Marge took a deep breath. “Need I remind you that someone was murdered?”

  Decker stopped trampling the ground. “The body in the Honda was Lily Booker. Hennon made the I.D. this morning.”

  “So stop thinking about Tandy and start concentrating on the real victim!”

  Decker said, “We still don’t know that Tandy did it.”

  “We don’t know she didn’t do it. She certainly is crazy enough to do it!”

  “What freaked me out was how fast she turned!” Decker exclaimed. “I thought she was being sly…clever.” He blew out air. “Then all of a sudden…” He rubbed his hands together. His heart was still trotting.

  Marge said, “For what it’s worth, you put a whole new slant on the case with that lockbox thing. I’d forgotten all about it.”

  “So that’s how Tandy found out about her father’s affair. She was snooping in Marie’s apartment and came across some pictures or letters. So what? We’ve got nothing substantial to tie her to the kidnapping and murder.”

  Marge said, “I think we got enough to book her. She has no real alibi as to where she was at the time of the kidnapping. And the baby was found in her parents’ place.”

  “It’s all circumstantial. They’ve stated that Marie, not Tandy, gave them the baby.”

  Marge rested her chin in her palm. “Want to hear my personal theory of what happened…for what it’s worth?”

  “Shoot.”

  “Last Tuesday, around midnight, Tandy goes to visit Marie at Sun Valley Pres.”

  “Why?”

  “That is anyone’s guess. Girl’s nuts. Maybe a voice told her to go kill Marie. So she goes to Marie’s assigned nursery—Nursery J. But Marie isn’t there. As a matter of fact, no one is there—”

  “Budget cuts,” Decker interrupted. “Or so they claim. What a crock of shit!”

  “Can we go on?”

  “Go on.”

  Marge said, “So no one’s there. Tandy takes one look at those babies and loses it. Her head starts playing tricks on her. She thinks about the baby she was forced to abort. She thinks about the pregnancy that wasn’t real. Voices start telling her to do things. The impulses take over. She grabs a baby.”

  Decker said, “Then, to Tandy’s surprise, Lily Booker walks in and confronts her.”

  “Exactly. Say a fight breaks out. Or maybe Tandy just lashes out. Who knows what was going through that girl’s head?”

  “She seemed so damn…tormented, Marge.”

  “Rabbi, that doesn’t mean she can’t do damage.”

  A good point. Lots of crimes are committed under delusion. Decker said, “Go on with your theory.”

  Marge took another breath. “So Lily confronts Tandy. Now Tandy’s a strong girl, an iron pumper. She smashes Lily on the head and kills her. Wasn’t there a big indentation in her forehead?”

  “Yep,” Decker said. “Hennon thought it was done with a hammer.”

  “And the frontal bones had been smashed, remember?”

  Decker nodded. “Keep going.”

  “Okay,” Marge said. “Then Marie walks in and sees what happened. Quickly, Marie thinks up a plan.”

  “Wait, wait, wait a sec.” Decker held up the palm of his hand. “Marie walks in and finds out that Tandy has just murdered Lily and is in the process of swiping a baby. Suddenly, you’ve got Marie abetting Tandy in murder and kidnapping? Why would she do that?”

  “Marie loved Tandy. Or maybe she just felt plain guilty over what went on between her and Professor Geoff. Marie was a martyr type.”

  “Don’t buy it, kiddo. Maybe if Marie had been Tandy’s biological mother…but she wasn’t. I don’t see Marie risking her neck to help a friend.”

  “Maybe Tandy was in the midst of a breakdown,” Marge suggested. “Look how sorry you felt for her.”

  “But I wasn’t looking at a fresh dead body.”

  “And you’re positive that Marie isn’t Tandy’s mother?”

 
; “According to Lita Bellson, it would have been impossible.”

  “And you think Lita’s reliable enough to notice everything that went on in her daughter’s life?”

  “I think she’d notice if her kid was pregnant.”

  “Marie’s a tall girl. She could hide a pregnancy.”

  “You’re selling, Marge. But I’m not buying.”

  “All right,” Marge said. “I don’t know why Marie would help Tandy, but let’s assume she did. Maybe Marie just panicked and didn’t think rationally.”

  Decker hit his shirt pocket. The bottle was still there, thank you, God. He took it out and popped a couple of Advils into his mouth. Swallowed them dry.

  “Marie helps Tandy,” Decker said. “We’ve got two things going on. One, the baby. Two, the disposal of Lily’s body. Even if Marie agreed to help Tandy dispose of the body, why would she let Tandy take the baby? If Tandy indeed took the baby?”

  “Say Tandy was nuts. Maybe she wouldn’t leave without the baby. Marie didn’t want either one of them to get into trouble. She panicked and just wanted to shut Tandy up. So she let her keep the baby.”

  “Marge—”

  “Let me just go on with my story, as fucked up as it is, okay?”

  Decker nodded.

  “So.” Marge cleared her throat. “So Tandy takes the baby over to her parents’ house, and Marie drives her car with Lily’s body up to Angeles Crest. Marie pushes the car over the cliff, and Tandy picks her up later on. Marie splits town for good, tells Tandy she’ll take the heat—”

  “Why would she do that, Marge?”

  “Because she thought she was Jesus Christ and was dying for Tandy’s sins. I don’t know!”

  “But that’s a big blank.”

  “Maybe she was atoning for the affair. Remember how Paula said she liked the parable of the prodigal son?”

  “Okay. So even assuming Marie agreed to take the heat, we’ve got a few problems. Starting with the baby. It was Marie who took the baby over to Tandy’s parents.”

  “According to Hetty, who’d be more than willing to let Marie take the blame.”

  Decker said, “Marie could be dead, for all we know.”

  Marge didn’t speak for a moment. Then she said, “Well, I like my theory.”

  “Yeah, it sounds okay.” Decker paused a moment. “You know what bothers me?”