by Parnell Hall
“What’s that?”
“Talk. Tell everything you know. The killer can’t stop you from talking if you’ve already talked.”
“She has a point,” Becky said.
Melvin grimaced. “She’d have a point if you were dealing with a sane, rational human being.”
“Come on, Melvin, you’re not that bad.”
“Not me, damn it! You always have to make jokes. The point is, the rules of logic don’t apply. We’re dealing with a psychopath. He’s not going to want to kill me to keep me from talking. He’s going to want to kill me just for the fun of it.”
“I see your problem. I can’t solve it. The best I can tell you is to try to talk Harper into keeping you here. The police station will be open all day. If worse comes to worst, get someone like me to sit in the outer office with a gun in my purse.”
“You’d do that?”
“Not a chance. I got my niece in the hospital with a newborn in intensive care. I don’t know if they’re going home anytime soon, but when they do, I’m gonna be there for them. I’m not going to get locked into trying to clean up your mess. I’m just saying you should get someone.”
Melvin frowned.
Cora grabbed Becky by the arm. “Come on. While he’s thinking that over, let’s you and me have a little chat.” She raised her voice. “Keep an eye on the prisoner, Chief. We’re going for a walk.”
Becky, who didn’t want to make a scene in front of the chief, allowed herself to be wrestled out the door. As soon as they were outside she twisted violently away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I want to talk to you. Without the help of the police and my dear ex-husband. I want to find out what’s going on.”
“You know as much as I do.”
“No, I don’t. I actually know next to nothing. Which is a little weird, since I’m in it up to my eyebrows.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do I have to spell it out for you? This murder is a distraction, but the problem remains. At least, I think it remains. If it doesn’t, it will just confirm my theory.”
“You’re talking crazy, and you’re talking in incomplete thoughts. You dragged me out here. What do you want?”
“I’m talking about the blackmail. What did you think I was talking about? I made a blackmail payment. The blackmailer didn’t get it because Melvin grabbed the money. If I were the blackmailer, I wouldn’t be pleased. I would probably make my displeasure known.”
Becky said nothing.
“Did you hear from the blackmailer?”
“No.”
Cora nodded. “That’s what I thought. And you’re not going to hear from the blackmailer, because the person the blackmailer is blackmailing is in jail.”
“You’re jumping to conclusions.”
“Hell, I’m leaping to them. I don’t just think Melvin’s being blackmailed. I know it. And so do you. The killer and the blackmailer are both sending crossword puzzles. Ergo, the killer is the blackmailer.”
Becky frowned.
“The other way I know is you’re not trying to get Melvin’s money back.”
Becky looked at her sharply. “How do you know that?”
“You’re not, are you? Which tells the story. Ten grand’s not that easy to raise. If you needed it, you’d be trying to get it. So, even if you’re cutting me out of the equation, you’re not dealing with a blackmail demand.”
“What makes you think I’d cut you out of the equation?”
“The same reason you haven’t confided in me. Even when the whole deal went south. Anyway, that’s why you’re not after the money. You don’t need it now.”
“I see the point.”
“Do you? I’m glad to hear it. This is not rocket science. This is a deduction a child of three can make. The reason Chief Harper isn’t making it is because he doesn’t know about it. The only reason he doesn’t know about it is I’m not telling him. Because I am a good soldier holding up my end of the bargain. Whereas, everyone else is playing fast and loose with the truth.” Cora frowned. “Not me, I mean. I’m playing fast and loose with the police. But within our own conspiratorial circle of no-goodniks, I’m the one being lied to and left in the dark.”
“Cora.”
“Am I wrong?”
Becky took a breath. “You’re wrong about the blackmail.”
Cora snorted in disgust.
“I can’t talk about the blackmail,” Becky said. “As far as the murder goes, you know as much as I do. Melvin is convinced some character from his past is committing these murders solely for the purpose of screwing with his head.”
“Bill French.”
“Perhaps.”
“There’s no perhaps about it. That’s who it is. Melvin knows it, I know it, you know it. The police don’t know it because Melvin won’t let you tell them, which is the wrong way to go. You can’t hide from a guy like that. The only way to meet him is head-on.”
“You can’t meet him head-on when you’re in jail.”
“If you don’t try, you’re never going to get out of jail. Take my advice. Keep him out of county, get some protection, and tell what you know. You don’t want him talking to the cops, go on TV and make a statement.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“It’s not easy for me to say. If it was my problem, I’d go gunning for the creep myself.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Oh, there’s an idea. Go hunt the bad guy you won’t even acknowledge is bad. A fine position that would put me in.”
“If you kill him, I’m sure Melvin will talk.”
“Now you’re just screwing with me,” Cora said. “Go reason with your client. See if you can talk some sense into him.”
Becky frowned skeptically. “Melvin?”
Cora nodded. “Yeah. Who am I kidding?”
Chapter
39
Sherry’s eyes were red and her cheeks were caked with tears.
“Easy,” Aaron said. “Take it easy.”
“Good God, what’s happened?” Cora said.
“They won’t let me see my baby,” Sherry wailed.
“What?”
“They won’t let me!” Sherry twisted away from Aaron, sobbed into her pillow.
“Aaron?” Cora said.
“She’s running a slight fever. They’re afraid of infection.”
“The baby has a fever?”
“Sherry,” Aaron said. “They won’t let her near the baby with a fever.”
“Of course not,” Cora said. “Sherry. This is perfectly normal.”
“This is not normal! Normal I’d be holding my baby. I would be nursing my baby.”
“You will, I promise you. This is just hospital red tape.”
Cora stormed out of the hospital room down to the neonatal ICU. The doctor she’d talked to before was on duty.
“The kid’s doing fine. We want to keep her that way. No one sick is going near her. And that includes the mother.”
“That’s fine in theory, but my niece is distraught. She thinks the kid’s at death’s door. Nothing you can say is going to help. She thinks it’s the end of the world.”
The doctor nodded. “Postpartum depression. Not uncommon, particularly after a traumatic delivery.”
“If she could just see her baby.”
“She’d feel better until the kid came down with pneumonia. That’ll send her into a funk she won’t snap out of.”
“But—”
“Trust me, she’ll be fine.”
Cora cocked her head. “Remember Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment when she wanted the hospital nurses to give her daughter a shot?”
The doctor smiled, shook her head. “Nice try, Miss Felton.”
Chapter
40
The Channel 8 news van was parked outside the police station. Cora detoured around it, went inside to find Chief Harper at his desk.
“Melvin’s still here?”
“How come?”
Chief Harper leaned back in his chair, sipped his coffee from a paper cup. “He hired a bodyguard. Some New York firm. Guy’s on his way up.”
“That okay with you?”
Harper shrugged. “What do I care?”
Cora jerked her thumb. “Channel 8’s outside. You making a statement?”
Harper shook his head. “Not me. I think Becky is.”
“When?”
“She hasn’t confided in me.”
“Dan can’t find out from Rick?”
“I don’t really care. She’s probably waiting for prime time. Which is silly. If she makes a statement, they’ll rerun it all night.”
“That’s one theory.”
“You got another?”
“Sure. She’s waiting for the bodyguard to arrive.”
“Why? So she can show him on camera?”
“No. She’s not looking for publicity.” Cora considered. “Come to think of it, that’s not a bad idea. But, no, I think she just wants him here.”
“Why?”
“In case the statement pisses someone off.”
Harper frowned. “I don’t think I like that.”
“I didn’t think you would.”
“That’s practically implying she has no faith in the police.”
“Don’t get all macho on me, Chief. You wanna get shot just to prove how tough you are?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Of course not. Men!” Cora snorted in disgust. “So, you wanna tell me what you’ve got?”
“You won’t confide in me. Why should I confide in you?”
“Well, let’s think about that, Chief. Anything you give me, I’m going to give you my opinion. You get a fresh outlook free of charge. Plus you get to ridicule my theories. Your own are so bad, it must feel good to pick on someone else.”
“I’m not telling you anything you won’t see on TV.”
“I warn you, I have Cinemax.”
“What?”
“Come on, Chief. What have you got?”
“The girl can be traced to Melvin.”
“No kidding.”
“Yeah, but even without his admission. We found enough friends of hers who can put ’em together.”
“On the day of the murder?”
“No, but we can establish the relationship.”
“Big deal.”
“We can also establish she was cheating on him.”
“I’m shocked.”
“It furnishes a motive.”
“For what? For not marrying her? For dumping her and moving on to the next? Come on, Chief. If Melvin killed every woman who cheated on him—” Cora broke off. Her face flushed.
“It’s not all we have,” Harper said.
“So, what else have you got?”
“We’ve got a better motive for killing Tony di Marco.”
“That’s the guy in the Dumpster?”
“Yes, he is. And Melvin happened to owe him ten thousand dollars.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That figure ring a bell?”
“Why should it?”
“Melvin happened to be carrying that amount of money on him when he was picked up.”
“Sure. Wandering around the cemetery in the hope of paying off a dead man. You got any theories that make sense?”
“If he was going to pay off the dead man, and decided to kill him and keep the money.”
“Killing a dead man? That’s a serious charge, Chief.”
“That would leave him with ten thousand dollars, a gun in his hand, and in a rather murderous frame of mind to meet up with the lover who was cheating on him.”
Cora shook her head. “All you’ve got are wild theories, Chief. That’s not even enough to go to court.”
“I got more than that.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll tell Becky.”
“No, I won’t.”
“You’re working for her.”
“Becky and I are not exactly on the same page. You got something you want me to sit on, fire away.”
Chief Harper nodded. He shrugged his shoulders, said almost apologetically, “We got the murder weapon.”
Chapter
41
Cora was incredulous. “You’re sitting on the murder weapon?”
“We’re not sitting on it. The prosecutor wants to introduce it in his own way.”
“Yeah, by sitting on it.”
“He intends to make a statement. He’s waiting on the ballistics evidence.”
“How long does it take?”
“Okay, he has the ballistics evidence. He’s waiting on the news cycle.”
“Which is what you think Becky’s doing. Which is why you think it’s a bad idea.”
Harper said nothing.
“Oh, of course,” Cora said. “He’s waiting her out. Becky’s going to make a statement. He’s going to let her commit herself before he hits her with the murder weapon.”
“And you’re not telling her.”
“That’s hardly fair.”
“It was your deal.”
“I didn’t know this was it.”
“Are you going to tell her, yes or no?”
“Where was the murder weapon found?”
“Ah.”
“Ah? This gets worse and worse. Ah?”
“It was in Melvin’s car.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake!”
“A totally legal search, for which a warrant was duly obtained. We followed all proper procedures.”
Cora had some choice comments about warrants, searches, legal and otherwise, as well as the people making searches, the people issuing warrants for said searches, and prosecutors in general and one in particular.
“That’s rather unkind to Henry Firth,” Harper observed.
“I didn’t call him Ratface.”
“I think that’s the only thing you didn’t call him. He’s only doing his job.” As Cora seemed inclined to donate her opinion of the Bakerhaven prosecutor’s job, Harper quickly put up his hand. “You may not like it, but the facts are the facts.”
“The facts aren’t the facts. The facts are what the killer wants you to believe. Do you really think Melvin’s stupid enough to leave the gun in his car? The gun he just fired into a woman? And how the hell did the gun get from the cemetery to his car, can you tell me that?”
“His car was at the cemetery.”
That caught Cora up short. It shouldn’t have. He had to get there somehow. But she hadn’t even thought of it. The case was tying her up in knots. Was she losing it?
Cora took a breath. “His car was at the cemetery. So your theory is he shot her in the cemetery, went back to the car, stashed his gun, then went back and wandered around the cemetery waiting to be caught.”
“He killed her in the cemetery. He started to leave. Just before he drove off, he remembered something he forgot. Something crucial. The girl was already dead. He didn’t need his gun. He left it in the car, went back to get the incriminating evidence.”
“What incriminating evidence?”
“The ten thousand dollars, of course.”
Cora looked at him. “The ten thousand dollars he got to pay the dead loan shark, but gave to the dead girl instead?”
“He didn’t have to give it to her. Maybe she took it. Maybe that’s why he killed her.”
“He killed her for the ten grand, but it slipped his mind to take it?” Cora said sarcastically.
“Well, we don’t have all the facts yet.”
“I’ll say. You got one fact, manufactured by the killer to lead you down the garden path, and you fall for it hook, line, and sinker. You’re so happy with it you don’t even stop to think of the contradictions.”
“What contradictions? You’re not offering any contradictions. You’re offering theories of you own, w
hich aren’t any better thought out than the ones you’re objecting to.”
“They aren’t any better thought out because I just heard the ones I’m objecting to. How long have you been sitting on this?”
“We searched his car this morning.”
“Not till this morning?”
“We had to get a warrant. We got him dead to rights. We’re not going to blow it on an illegal search.”
“That’s what you think.”
“That’s what I know. Everything’s done according to the book, and if there’s any problem with the evidence, it’s not my fault.”
“And that’s what it comes down to,” Cora said disgustedly. “Not whether or not it’s legitimate, but who gets the blame.”
“If you had my job, that would be a concern.”
“If I had your job, I’d kill myself. Chief, how did you get from arresting bad guys to making sure it’s not your fault?”
“Gee, it wouldn’t have anything to do with the legal system, would it? The fact if I don’t, Becky Baldwin will hang me out to dry.”
Cora took a breath. “Never mind that. Damn you, I can’t believe you did this. Get me to promise not to tell Becky, and then hit me with the murder weapon.”
“I had to.”
“What do you mean, you had to?”
“The alternative was not to tell you at all. I didn’t want to do that. What with your relationship with the suspect.” As Cora started to flare up, he added, “Yes, yes, I know, you have no relationship with the suspect. The point is I didn’t want to keep it from you. But I have to keep it from Becky. You see what I mean?”
“I see what you mean. I don’t appreciate it.”
“You don’t?”
“No. This is the justice system. It’s not supposed to be some game between opposing counsel. But that’s what it’s degenerated into.”
“I admit it’s deplorable. You going to screw me over? It’s not like you have to sit on the information long. You probably weren’t going to see Becky before then.”
“No. I should just let her blindly make a statement.”
“How can it hurt her? I mean, more than the murder weapon itself will? What’s she going to say that will make it worse?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t, either. So, that’s the story. You going to keep quiet?”
Chapter
