Snowball in Hell - lanyon Josh - Страница 28
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«We have questioned him,» Matt said. «Now we're questioning you.» He turned to Claire. «Speaking of money, have you had time to remember where you got that five hundred dollars we found in your purse?»
«How is that your business?»
«I gave her that money!» Carl Winters was white with fury. «I put that money in her handbag on Saturday night. You mean, that's why you dragged us down here?»
«If that's the case, why didn't you say so?» Matt asked Claire evenly. He was starting to get mad. Why hadn't this obvious explanation been explored? What the hell kind of background checking had Jonesy and his men done that they hadn't uncovered Claire Arlen's pregnancy or the fact that her brother was occasionally financing her household? This was supposed to be Jonesy's case, and Jonesy had as much or more experience as anyone on the squad. Some bad mistakes had been made with this investigation, obvious things had been overlooked.
«I didn't know!» Claire was raging. «I never left the house or looked inside my purse until your apes pointed that money out to me.»
«Claire, honey.» Winters patted her shoulder awkwardly. «You mustn't get so upset. It's bad for the baby.» He turned to Matt. «I slipped that money inside her purse because they were broke, and Phil wasn't capable of taking care of her. He couldn't take care of himself!»
Something wasn't adding up.
«Why didn't your husband's family … if they knew you were going to have a baby?» It was like feeling his way in the
dark. All at once he was very much aware of how delicate this situation was, and that his own career might be riding on how he handled the next thirty minutes.
Claire flushed, and said, «They didn't know about the baby until Sunday night. I told Phil first, of course. I was hoping … I was giving him a little time to adjust to the idea … before I told Dad. But then when they told me he'd been kidnapped-«
«Wait a minute,» Matt said. «Are you telling me the kidnappers didn't call you?»
«Why would they call me? I don't have any money. Phil didn't have any money. They called Dad.»
The kidnappers had known for a fact that Claire Arlen would be unable to meet their ransom demand. Knew the Arlen family's domestic arrangements so intimately that they had gone straight to the old man right off the bat.
«So you never heard the voice of the woman who called with the ransom demand?»
She shook her head.
The office was silent.
«You think I would have recognized her voice,» she said slowly.
Carl Winters was looking from Matt to Claire bewilderedly.
«Let me ask you something,» Matt said. «Say your husband wasn't really kidnapped. Say the kidnapping was just an excuse to bump him off. Who would you say had the strongest motive for getting rid of Phil?»
«You can't ask her to answer a question like that!»
«I am asking her,» Matt said.
Claire said slowly, «Phil's brother, Bob. I guess Bob had plenty of reasons to wish Phil was dead.»
* * * *
Having barely recovered from the last time he was filled full of lead, Nathan was keen not to repeat the experience. And he didn't trust the way Pearl Jarvis held that Colt. Her hand shook, and she had a wild-eyed look he didn't like.
He said-not moving his gaze from the dead eye of the revolver aimed at his chest, «And here I was afraid it was you they were burying out back.»
Amazingly, she laughed. Her voice wobbled a little as she replied, «They're burying Big Al. He was the granddaddy of a lot of these gators. He was two-hundred and fifty years old.»
«That's a good long life.»
«His hide is so tough they can't use it for anything. But they're keeping his head. And his claws.»
«Is that so?»
She nodded tightly.
You found yourself a great little hideout,» Nathan said. «That's for sure.»
«Hideout? You make me sound like a criminal!» Her eyes narrowed. «I didn't do anything wrong.»
«Well, I know you didn't kill Phil,» Nathan said, «because you're frightened to death of whoever did. You've been running scared since it happened.»
The gun wavered, and he reached out and gently redirected her aim away from himself. After a moment she lowered her arm, finally taking a step back, letting Nathan
into the house. «You're that reporter, Doyle. Sid told me about you. He said you were trying to find me. You followed me to Little Fawn Lodge.»
«And Sid's boys followed me.»
Her gaze slid away from his. «Sid's just trying to look out for me.»
«Who's he trying to protect you from?»
She swallowed hard. «Want a drink?»
«Sure.» He followed her into an old-fashioned parlor, pausing for a moment on the room's threshold. There were lamps made from alligator feet, stools and chairs upholstered in alligator and crocodile skin, and a mounted alligator head on the wall.
Reading his expression correctly, Pearl said, «Yeah, and you should hear them bellowing at night. The alligators, I mean, not Sid's folks. B flat, I think.» She dropped the revolver on the wine cart with a clatter that did nothing for Nathan's nerves, and poured two thimblefuls of sherry from a small decanter. She offered a fragile amber glass to Nathan and made a face. «It's all they have here. Funny Sid coming from a family like this!» She swallowed the sherry in a gulp.
Nathan took a mouthful of sweet sherry, and controlled a shudder. «You know,» he said, «the safest thing for you to do is tell me exactly what you know. Once you've spilled your story there's no incentive for anyone to hurt you.»
«You don't think so? You think that wife of his wouldn't like me to pay for stealing Phil from her?»
«Is that what happened?»
She nodded, tears filling her eyes. «We were going away together. We were going to Buenos Aires.»
«After Phil's dad paid the ransom.»
She stared at him, and Nathan almost laughed.
«Well, nobody can find any trace of these kidnappers before or since Phil was nabbed. You and Phil set it all up, didn't you? So you'd have money to run away together?»
She nodded.
«What happened?»
She gnawed her lip. «Everything went fine. Phil picked up the money at the Observatory. They must have followed our instructions just like we'd planned. He was supposed to meet me in the back of the park. I was waiting in the car. He came hurrying along the path holding a bag, and I remember I turned the engine on, turned the headlights on so he could see. It was so dark and muddy. But a few feet away he stopped and turned around like he heard someone following him. Like someone called his name. And a man came running up the path behind him, and Phil stood there, and he shot him.» She stopped and covered her face. «Just like that. Shot him dead.»
«What did the man look like?»
She looked up out of her hands, and her face was horror-stricken. «I couldn't tell. Tall, thin. He was wearing a black rain coat and a black hat pulled low. I didn't recognize him; his face was just a pale blur. He fired at me-at the car-and I threw it into reverse and drove away. I should have run him over! But I panicked and I drove away.»
Personally, Nathan thought retreat had been Pearl's best bet. Phil's killer had been cold and steady as steel. «You're sure you didn't recognize this man?»
«I didn't get a clear look at him. First Phil was standing between us, and then-she gulped-all I saw was the gun.»
Chapter Nine
When he heard Nathan's voice on the phone Matt felt a warm rush. He'd been wanting to hear Nathan's voice, missing him, wanting to know that he was okay, wanting to tell him about the problems in the Arlen case. His men had made some serious mistakes in the investigation; Jonesy had let him down. Matt's career might be on the line. He wanted to talk to someone he could trust; he wanted to talk to Nathan.
But in the very next instant that warm rush gave way to chilled alarm. Didn't Nathan understand? Was he that lost to common sense? They hadn't been starting something; those two days at Little Fawn Lodge was all there could be between them, thinking anything else was crazy. Dangerous. They were neither of them the kind of men who wanted to go that route. They had careers, families, responsibilities; they weren't the kind of guys who gave into that kind of thing. Where was the future in it? There wasn't any future in it.
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