Kay Scarpet - Cruel And Unusual Part 28

"What scarf?"

"Susanas Christmas present from me was a red silk scarf I bought in San Francisco. What youare describing is the envelope it was in, a glossy black envelope made of cardboard or stiff paper. The flap closed with a-small gold seal. I wrapped the, present myself. Of course my prints would be on it."

"So what about the three hundred dollars?" he said, avoiding my eyes.

I donat know anything about any money."

"Iam saying, why was it in the envelope you gave her?"

"Maybe because saw wanted to hide her cash in something. The envelope was handy. Maybe she didnat want to throw it away. I donat know. I had no control over what she dad with something I gave her."

"Did anybody see you give her the scarf?" he asked.

"No. Her husband wasnat home when she opened my Yeah, well, the only gift from you anyone seemed to know about was a pink poinsettia. Donat sound like Susan said a word about you giving her a scarf."

"For G.o.das sake, she was wearing the scarf when she was shot, Marino."

"That donat tell us where it came from."

"Youare about to move into the accusatory stage," I snapped.

"Iam not accusing you of nothing. Donat you get it? This is the way it goes, G.o.ddam it. You want me to baby you and pat your hand so some other cop can bust inhere and broadside you with questions like this?"

He got up and began pacing the kitchen, staring at tire floor, his hands in his pockets.

"Tell me about Donahue," I said quietly.

"He was shot in his ride, probably early this morning. According to his wife, he left the house around sixteen. Around one-thirty this afternoon, his Thunderbird' was found parked at Deep Water Terminal with him in it."

"I read that much in the paper."

"Look. The less we talk about it, the better."

"Why? Are reporters going to imply that I killed him, too.

"Where was you at six-fifteen this morning, Doc?"

"I was getting ready to leave my house and drive to Washington."

"You got any witnesses that will verify you couldnat have been cruising around Deep Water Terminal? Itas not very far from the Medical Examineras Office, you know. Maybe two minutes."

"Thatas absurd."

aGet used to it. This is just the beginning. Wait, until Patterson sinks his teeth into you."

Before Roy Patterson had run for Commonwealth Attorney, he had been one of the cityas more combative, egotistical criminal lawyers. Back then he had never appreciated what I had to say; since in the majority of cases, medical examiner testimony does not cause jurors to think more kindly of the defendant.

"I ever told you how much Patterson hates your guts?"

Marino went on. "You embarra.s.sed him when he was a defense attorney. You sat there cool as a cat in your sharp suits and made him look like an idiot."

"He made himself look like an idiot. All I did was answer his questions:" "Not to mention, your old boyfriend Bill Boltz was one of his closest pals, and I donat eves need to go into that."

"I wish you wouldnat."

"I just know Pattersonas going to go after you. s.h.i.t, I bet heas a happy man right now."

"Marino, youare red as a beet. For G.o.das sake, donat go stroking out on me."

"Letas get back to this scarf you said you gave to Susan:" "I said I gave to Susan?"

"What was the name of the store in San francisco that sold it to you?" he asked.

"It wasnat a store." He glanced sharply at the as he continued to pace.

"It was a street market. Lots of booths and stalls selling art, handmade things. Like Covent Garden," I explained.

"You got a receipt?"

"I would have had no reason to save it."

"So you donat know the name of the booth or whatever. So thereas no way to verify that you bought a scarf from some artist type who uses these gla.s.sy black envelopes."

"I canat verify it."

"He paced some more and I stared out the window. Clouds drifted past oblong and the dark shapes of trees moved in the wind: I got up to close the blinds.

Marino stopped pacing. "Doc, Iam going to need to go through your financial records."

I did not say anything.

"Iave got to verify that you havenat made any large withdrawals of cash in recent Months."

I remained silent.

"Doc, you havenat; have you?"

I got up from the table, my pulse pounding.

"You can talk to my attorney," I said.

After Marino left, I went upstairs to the cedar closet where I stored my private papers and began collecting bank statements, tax returns; and various accounting records. I thought of all the defense attorneys in Richmond who would probably be delighted if I were locked up or exiled for the rest of my days. I was sitting in the kitchen making notes on a legal pad when my doorbell rang: I let Benton Wesley and Lucy in, and I knew instantly by their silence that it was unnecessary to tell them what was going on.

"Whereas Connie?" I asked wearily.

"She's hoping to stay through the New Year with her family in Charlottesville."

"Iam going back to your study, Aunt Kay;a Lucy said without hugging me or smiling. She left with her suitcase.

"Marino wants to go through my financial records," I said to Wesley as he followed me into the living room.

"Ben Stevens is setting me up. Personnel files and copies of memos are missing from the office, and heas hoping it will appear that I took them. And Roy Patterson, according to Marino, is a happy man these days. Thatas the update of the hour."

"Where do you keep the Scotch?"

"I keep the good stuff in the hutch over mere. Gla.s.ses are in the bar."

"I donat want to drink your good stuff."

"Well, I do."

I began building a fire.

"I called your deputy chief as I was driving in. Firearms has already taken a look at the slugs that were in Donahueas brain. Winchester one-fifty-grain, lead, unjacketed, twenty-two-caliber. Two of them: One went in his left cheek and traveled up through the skull, the other was a tight contact at the nape of his neck."

"Fired from the same weapon that killed the other two?"

"Yes. Do you want ice?"

"Please."

I closed the screen and returned the poker to its stand. "I donat suppose any feathers were recovered from the scene or from-Donahueas body."

"Not that I know Of. Itas clear that his a.s.sailant was standing outside the car and shot him through the open driveras window. That doesnat mean this individual wasnat inside with him earlier, but I donat think so. My guess is Donahue was supposed to meet someone at Deep Water Terminal in the parking lot. When this person arrived, Donahue rolled down his window and that was it. Did you have any luck with Downey?" He handed c.o.ke my drink and settled on the couch.

"It appears that the origin of the feathers and feather particles recovered from the three other cases is common eider duck."

"A sea duck?" Wesley frowned. "The down is used in what, ski jackets, gloves?"

"Rarely. Eiderdown is extremely expensive. Your average person is not going to own anything filled with it."

I proceeded to inform Wesley of the events of the day, sparing no details as I confessed that I had spent several hours: with Nicholas Grueman and did not believe he was even remotely involved in anything sinister.

"Iam glad you went to see him," Wesley said. "I was hoping you would"

"Are you surprised by how it turned out?a'

"No. It makes sense the way it turned out: Gruemanas predicament is somewhat similar to your own. He gets a fax from Jennifer Deighton and it looks suspicious just as it looks suspicious that your prints were found on an envelope in Susanas dresser drawer. When violence hits close to you, you get splashed. You get dirty."

"Iam more than splashed. I feel as if Iam about to drown."

"At the moment, it seems that way. Maybe you ought to be talking to Grueman about that " I did not reply.

"Iad want him on my side."

"I wasnat aware that you knew him."

Ice rattled quietly as Wesley sipped his drink. Bra.s.s on the hearth gleamed in the firelight Wood popped, sending sparks swarming up the chimney.

"I know about Grueman," he said. "I know that he graduated number one from Harvard Law School, was the editor of the Law Review, and was offered a teaching position there but turned it down. That broke his heart. But his wife, Beverly, did not want to move from the D.C. area. Apparently, she had a lot of problems, not the least of which was a young daughter, from a first marriage who was inst.i.tutionalized at Saint Elizabeths at the time Grueman and Beverly met. He moved to D.C. The daughter died several years later."

"Youave been running a background check on him," I said.

"Sort of"

"Since when?"

"Since I learned he had received a fax from Jennifer Deighton. By all accounts, it appears hea's Mr. Clean, but someone still had to talk to him."

"Thatas not the only reason you suggested it to me, is it?"

"An important reason but not the only one. I thought you should go back there."

I took a deep breath. "Thank you, Benton. You are good man with the best of intentions."

He lifted his gla.s.s to his lips and stared into the fire.

"Please donat interfere," I added.

"Itas not my style."

"Of course it is. Youare a pro at it. If you want to quietly steer, propel, or unplug someone from behind the scenes, you know how to do it. You know how to throw up so many obstacles and blow out so many bridges that someone like me would be lucky to find her way home."

"Marino and I are very involved in all this, Kay. Richmond P.D. is involved. The Bureauas involved. Either weave got a psychopath out there who should have been executed or weave got somebody else who seems intent on making us think someone is out there who should have been executed."

"Marino doesnat want me involved at all," I said.

"Heas in an impossible situation. Heas the chief homicide investigator for the city and a member of a Bureau VICAP team, yet heas your colleague and friend. Heas supposed to find out everything he can about you and whatas gone on in your office. Yet his inclination is to protect you. Try to put yourself in his position."

"I will. But he needs to put himself in mine."

"Thatas only fair."

"The way he talks, Benton, you would think half the world has a vendetta against me and would love to see me go up in flames."

"Maybe not half the world, but there are people other than Ben Stevens who are standing around with boxes of matches and gasoline."

"Who else?"

"I canat give you names because I donat know. And Iam not going to claim that ruining you professionally is the major mission for whoever is behind all this. But I suspect itas on the agenda, if for no other reason than that the cases would be severely compromised if it appears that all evidence routed through your office is tainted. Not to mention, without you, the Commonwealth loses one of its most potent expert witnesses."

He met my eyes. "You need to consider what your testimony would be worth right now. If you took the stand this minute, would you be helping or hurting Eddie Heath?"

The remark cut to the bone.

"Right this minute, I would not be helping him much. But if I default, how much will that help him or anyone?"

"Thatas a good question. Marino doesnat want you hurt further, Kay."