Kay Scarpet - Cruel And Unusual Part 18

"Does she have a name?"

"Tanda."

"Thatas an interesting name."

Marinoas face was turning crimson.

"Whatas Tanda like?"

I asked.

"You want to know the truth, she ainat worth talking about."

Abruptly, he got up and headed down the hall to the bathroom.

Iad always been careful not to quiz Marino about his personal life unless he invited me to do so. But I could not resist this time.

"How did you and Tanda meet?"

I asked when he returned.

"The FOP dance."

"I think itas terrific that youare getting out and meeting new people."

"It sucks, if you really want to know. I havenat dated n.o.body in more than thirty years. Itas like Rip Van Wrinkle waking up in another century. Women are different from what they used to be."

"How so?"

I tried not to smile. Clearly, Marino did not think any of this was amusing.

"Theyare not simple anymore."

"Simple?"

"Yeah, like Doris. What we had wasnat complicated.

Then after thirty years she suddenly splits and I have to start over. I go to this friggina dance at the FOP because some of the guys talk me into it. Ia'm minding my own business when Tanda comes up to my table. Two beers later, she asks me for my phone number, if you can believe that."

"Did you give it to her?"

"I say, aHey, if you want to get together, you give me your number. Iall do the calling.a She asks me which zoo I escaped from, then invites me bowling. Thatas how it started. How it ended is her telling me she rear-ended somebody a couple weeks back and was charged with reckless driving. She wanted me to fix it."

"Iam sorry."

I fetched his present from under the tree and handed it to him. "I donat know if this will help your social life or not."

He unwrapped a pair of Christmas-red suspenders and compatible silk tie.

"Thatas mighty nice, Doc. Geez."

Getting up, he muttered in disgust, "d.a.m.n water pills," and headed to the bathroom again. Several minutes later, he returned to the hearth.

"When was your last checkup?"

I asked.

"A couple weeks ago."

"And?"

"And what do you think?" he said.

"You have high blood pressure, thatas what I think."

"No s.h.i.t."

"What, specifically, did your doctor tell you?"

I asked.

"Itas one-fifty over one-ten, and my d.a.m.n prostateas enlarged. So Iam taking these water pills. Up and down all the time feeling like I gotta go and half the time I canat. If things donat get better, he says heas gonna turp me."

A turp was a transurethral resection of the prostate. That wasnat serious, though it wasnat much fun. Marinoas blood pressure worried me. He was a prime candidate for a stroke or a heart attack.

"Plus, my ankles swell," he went on. "My feet hurt and I get these d.a.m.n headaches. Iave gotta quit smoking, give up coffee, lose forty pounds, cut down on stress."

"Yes, youave got to do all of those things," I said firmly. "And it doesnat look to me like youare doing any of them."

"Weare only talking about changing my whole life. And youare one to talk."

"I donat have high blood pressure and I quit smoking exactly two months and five days ago. Not to mention, if I lost forty pounds I wouldnat be here."

He glared into the fire.

"Listen," I said. "Why donat we work on this together? Weall both cut back on coffee and get into exercise routines."

"I can just see you doing aerobics," he said sourly.

"Iall play tennis. You can do aerobics."

"If anyone so much as waves a pair of tights near me, theyare dead."

"Youare not being very cooperative, Marino."

He impatiently changed the subject. "You got a copy of the fax you told me about?"

I went to my study and returned with my briefcase. Snapping it open, I handed him the printout of the message Vander had discovered with the image enhancer.

"This was on the blank sheet of paper we found on Jennifer Deightonas bed, right?" he asked.

"Thatas correct."

"I still cana't figure out why she had a blank sheet of paper on her bed with a crystal on top of it. What were they doing there?"

"I donat know," I said. "What about the messages on her answering machine? Anything?"

"Weare still running them down.. Weave got a lot of people to interview."

He slipped a pack of Marlboros out of his shirt pocket and blew out a loud breath of air. "d.a.m.n." He slapped the pack on top of the coffee table. "Youare going to nag me every time I light up one of these now, arenat you?"

"No, Iall just stare at it. But I wonat say a word."

"You remember that interview of you that was on PBS a couple months back?"

"Vaguely."

"Jennifer Deighton taped it. The tape was in her VCR and we started playing it and there you were."

"What?" I asked, amazed.

"Of course, you werenat the only thing featured on that particular program. There was also some c.r.a.p about an archaeology dig and a Hollywood movie they filmed around here."

"Why would she tape me?"

"Itas just another piece thatas not fitting with anything else yet. Except the calls made from her phone the hang ups. It looks like Deighton was thinking about you before she was whacked."

"What else have you found out about her?"

"I gotta smoke. You want me to go outside?"

"Of course not."

"It gets weirder," he said. "While going through her office, we came across a divorce decree. Appears she was married in 1961, got divorced two years later, and changed her name back to Deighton. Then she moved from Florida to Richmond. The name of her ex is Willie Travers, and heas one of these health nut types - you know, into whole health. h.e.l.l, I canat think of the name."

"Holistic medicine?"

"Thatas it Still lives in Florida, Fort Myers Beach. I got him on the phone. Hard as h.e.l.l to get much out of him, but I managed to find out a few things. He says he and Miss Deighton continued feeling friendly toward each other after they split and, in fact, continued seeing each other."

"He came up here?"

"Travers said shead go down there to see him, in Florida. Theyad get together, as he put it, afor old timesa sake.a Last time she was down there was this past November, around Thanksgiving. I also pried out of him a little bit about Deightonas brother and sister. The sisteras a lot younger, married, lives out West. The brotheras the eldest, in his mid-fifties, and manages a grocery store. He had throat cancer a couple years back and his voice box was cutout"

"Wait a minute," I said.

"Yeah. You know what that sounds like. Youad know it if you heard it. No way the guy who called you at the office was John Deighton. It was somebody else who had personal reasons for being interested in Jennifer Deightonas autopsy findings. He knew enough to get the name right. He knew enough to get it straight that heas supposed to be from Columbia, South Carolina. But he didnat know about the real John Deightonas health problems, didnat know he should sound like heas talking through a machine."

"Does Travers know his ex-wifeas death is a homicide?" I asked.

"I told him the medical examiner is still running tests."

"And he was in Florida when she died?"

"Allegedly. Iad like to know where your friend Nicholas Grueman was when she died."

"He has never been a friend," I said. "How will you approach him?"

"I wona't for a while. You only get one shot with someone like Grueman. How old is he?"

"Somewhere in his sixties," I said.

"He a big guy?"

"I havenat seen him since I was in law school."

I got up to stir the fire.

"Back then Gruemanas build was trim bordering on thin. I would describe his height as average."

Marino did not say anything.

"Jennifer Deighton weighed one-eighty," I reminded him. "It appears her killer yoked her and then carried her body out to her car."

"All right. So maybe Grueman had help. You want a far out scenario? Try this one on for size. Grueman represented Ronnie Waddell, who wasnat exactly a pencil-neck. Or maybe we should say, isnat exactly a pencil-neck. Waddellas print was found inside Jennifer Deightonas house. Maybe Grueman did go to see her and he didnat go alone."

I stared into the fire.

"By the way, I didnat see nothing in Jennifer Deightonas house that could have been the source of the feather you found," he added. "You asked me to check."

Just then, his pager sounded. Snapping it off his belt, he squinted at the narrow screen.

"d.a.m.n," he complained, heading into the kitchen the phone.

"Whatas going a What?"

I heard him say. "Oh, Christ. You sure?"

He was silent for a moment. He sounded very tense when he said, "Donat bother. Iam standing fifteen feet from her."

Marino ran a red light at West Cary and Windsor Way, and headed east. Grille lights flashed and scanner lights danced in the white Ford LTD. Ten-codes crackled over the radio as I envisioned Susan curled up in the wing chair, her terry cloth robe pulled tightly around her to ward off a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. I remembered the expression on her face shifting constantly like clouds, her eyes revealing no secrets to me.

I was shivering and could not seem to catch my breath. My heart beat hard in my throat. Police had found Susanas car in an alleyway off Strawberry Street. She was in the driveras seat, dead. It was unknown what she had been doing in that part of town or what might have motivated her a.s.sailant.

"What else did she say when you talked with her last night?"

Marino asked.

Nothing significant would come to mind.