“Would you care for some?”
“No, thanks,” said Hester. “We just had brunch.”
“Oh?” asked Jessica, handing Tatiana a water bottle. “Where?”
“The Geneva Inn,” said Hester.
“Oh, very nice,” said Jessica. “That's where you're staying?”
“I am,” said Hester sweetly. She gave them the name of our motel. “Do you know the place? These two are staying there.”
“Wow,” said Tatiana. “Who'd you piss off?”
“It's a long story,” I said. “But it's worth it, just being here. I don't think I've heard Jamal playing 'Poinciana' in fifteen years.”
“I'm impressed,” said Jessica, in a warm tone. “So, what can we do for you?”
“Well,” said Hester, “we have a few questions. Some things have come to light, and we need to see what you can tell us about them. Clarification, really.”
“Do I need my attorney?” asked Jessica.
“You're not a suspect,” I said.
“Why don't you just tell me what you want to know, and I'll decide whether or not I need an attorney with me,” said Jessica.
Reasonable. Not quite the way I'd hoped, but it was a good chance to get her mind moving in a direction we wanted.
“Fair,” I said. “And Tatiana? What about you?”
I really think she was both surprised and flattered that I'd asked.
“I'll just listen, if this is for both of us.”
“Good,” said Hester. “I think it might be.”
Jessica reached into the gym bag and pulled out a Swiss Army knife, which she opened and used to slice the cheese for both of them. “Go ahead,” she said.
I leaned back in my chair, and pushed my legs out in front of me, trying to look relaxed. I pulled a little notepad from my pocket. They're really handy. You can pretend to be writing, to buy yourself some time. I also put on my reading glasses. They're handy tools, since they can emphasize questions, when you look over the top of the frames at your witness. “Well, to begin with, we know that it was Dan Peale upstairs, who ran on us.”
“Ah.” That was all Jessica said.
“And, we know he killed Edie.”
“For certain?” asked Jessica. Very calm.
“It looks like it. The evidence is compelling.” I wanted to draw her out on that point.
“Mind if I ask what kind of evidence?”
“Nope. Mostly testimonial, supported by some physical evidence, and some observations.”
“Really? Whose?”
“Whose observations?” I love a good game.
“No. Testimony, if I can ask.”
“Toby's.”
First point to me, as her eyes widened. “Really? Where would he hear that?”
“He didn't,” I said. “He was there when Dan killed her.”
Tatiana reacted that time, while Jessica just stared at me.
I shrugged. “I was surprised, too, to tell the truth.”
“When did he tell you that?”
“When we arrested him,” I said.
It got pretty quiet for a few seconds.
“I'm just not sure what to tell you at this point,” I said. “Let me explain the sequence of events, here.”
I started off with the pursuit of Peale the night Borman was attacked, and while Jessica and company were still at the Mansion. As I talked, she interrupted once, to tell me that their muscles would be getting stiff, and did I mind if they sort of stretched them while I talked. No, as a matter of fact, I didn't. I think that was a mistake, though.
When I interview somebody, I watch for cues they send my way, to tell if they're being truthful, or are becoming nervous, or seem to be inventing things. Gamblers call them “tells,” and that's a fine term for it. I listen to their voice. I watch their eyes. And I check the body language. If I'm really attentive, I can tell a lot about an answer regardless of the verbal content. But when Jessica, and then Tatiana a few minutes later, started to stretch and contort, the normal tells were taken right out of the picture. When they'd hold an awkward position, for instance, they would send spurious signals. Sometimes, when they'd answer, I couldn't see their eyes. Their exertions would strain and contort their voices, just a little, and made it very hard to judge expression. I was stuck with relying solely on content.
When I got to the part where Toby had stuck a stake in Edie's chest, though, both dancers seemed shaken.
“That's horrible,” said Jessica.
“It's sick,” said Tatiana, “is what it is.”
I continued, and when I got to the part about Toby telling us about his holding Edie, despite knowing Dan was killing her, Tatiana stopped her stretching, and just stared at us with a horrified expression.
“But, it was likely that it was an accident, wasn't it?” asked Jessica.
“No. Not at all.” I leafed through my notepad, pretending to search for what I was about to say. I was not going to give them Huck's name under any circumstance. “Dan Peale wanted to experience death,” I said, and then tried to make it appear as if I was reading from my notes, “ah, here we go, 'secondhand.' ” I looked back at Jessica. “To do that, it looks like he not only had to bleed Edie to death, he had to make her fully aware she was going to die.”
“Oh,” said Jessica, “No. I simply don't believe that. Not for a minute.”
I did note that Tatiana was silent.
Hester came in from her position of observer for the first time. “All the physical evidence, and all the testimonial evidence, are in complete agreement with that fact,” she said. “Trust me.”
“I believe you think you're right,” said Jessica. “I know you're being honest with me. But if you're relying on the testimony of that Toby, after he mutilated Edie's body… ”
“Oh, no. No, we're not,” I said.
“What?”
“Hell, Toby didn't decide to go after the body with a stake,” I said. I had her.
“But you just told us… ”
I was paying special attention to Tatiana, who was absolutely hanging on our every word. I spoke slowly, for best effect. “Dan told Toby to do it.”
“Impossible!” Jessica was quite convincing at that point. It was the strongest vibe I got from her during the interview.
“Not in the age of cell phones,” said Hester, with a smile.
We let that sink in for a minute.
“Can I have a turn?” asked Harry.
I know Harry Ullman pretty well, and I trust him implicitly. If he wanted in at this precise point, I knew it was a good idea.
“Sure, Harry,” I said.
“When was the last time this Dan went mountain climbing?” he asked. “I mean, the last time you have knowledge of.”
Jessica looked startled. Too bad, because it gave Tatiana a slender opening.
“Last August, wasn't it?” she asked Jessica.
I could see Jessica's mind racing. She didn't know why Harry had asked, and the sudden change of direction had thrown her off.
“Possibly,” she said. It was the only answer under the circumstances. She was fast. She was also cool. She looked directly at Harry. “Why do you ask?”
“Just a second,” he said. “I have another question first. Would that be okay, and then you can see where I'm goin' with this?” He grinned apologetically. When Harry gets humble, I know he's on to something. “I can't think of any other way to say it.”
“All right.”
“Do either of you know of a gal named Alicia? Works on the gaming boat at Freiberg?”
Jessica and Tatiana exchanged glances. Tatiana shrugged. “No,” said Jessica. She sounded believable on that point.
“Well, this Dan dude knew her, and he went and did his mountain climbing thing with the ropes and stuff behind her second-floor apartment. Asked her to let him in, I'm told. She told him no.”
“That's bizarre,” said Jessica.
“It gets worse,” said Harry. “This Alicia had a boyfriend named Randy Baumhagen. Ever hear of him?” Both dancers shook their heads.
“Well, Randy Baumhagen got invited in by Alicia, where Dan didn't,” said Harry, “and it looks like that pissed Dan off. Dan snuck up behind him one night, and whacked him in the head with a blunt instrument.” He watched the disbelief on both women's faces. “No shit, ladies, that's what he did. Know what else he did that night?”