We all sat quietly, thinking of the implications, but I was the one who asked, “That was before you ran all those other scams, as Fred and Bill and all those other folks, right?”
“Well, I knew a hundred fifty thousand wouldn’t last forever, and a man’s got to make a living. I invested the money,” Norman explained. “Because I knew I wanted to do something with food. A restaurant, a gourmet shop… I was looking around, considering my options. But the money, it wasn’t adding up fast enough. So when I met some people who knew Victor and they said they could get me into a game…”
In a not-so-good imitation of a Vulcan mind meld, I stared at Norman, and when he still didn’t get it, I laid it on the line.
“The hundred and fifty thousand, Norman. Have you ever wondered where Howard got it?”
He shrugged. “Don’t ask, don’t tell. Nobody else knew the money was there and I figured someday, somebody might buy that cabin and find it. Or somebody might buy the land and knock the cabin down and find it. Either way, I had as much right to that money as they did. More, seeing as how Howard told me I could have it.”
“Yeah, but don’t you get it?” Tyler had kept silent as long as he was able. “If Howard got that money illegally-”
The truth was dawning. I could tell because Norman ’s face went from pale to ashen. Because I couldn’t stand to watch him suffer, I leaped out of my chair, checking the clock above the kitchen sink as I did. “I’ve got just enough time to hit the library before it closes,” I said. “I’ll meet you all at Bellywasher’s this evening.”
“But, honey…” I was already at the front door when Eve found her voice and called after me. “What on earth are you looking for?”
Jim knew. I could tell from the look he gave me when I turned around. Of course, Tyler did, too. Norman would figure it out himself eventually. So I told Eve, “I’m going to find out where a small-time con like Howard Fish got a hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
THE NEAREST BRANCH OF THE ARLINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY closes at five on Saturdays so I didn’t have much time. I raced through my research, then raced over to Bellywasher’s, copies of the microfiche pages I’d discovered in hand.
By the time I got there, though, Saturday evening dinner pandemonium had started, and I had to squeeze my way through the line outside the door. Jim was behind the bar mixing martinis. Eve was busy making sure a table of eight near the window was happy and comfortable. Tyler was nowhere to be seen.
Neither was Norman.
I pushed through the swinging doors that led into the kitchen and found Marc and Damien slammed with orders and Heidi, our one and only waitress, busy loading plates onto trays. She was frazzled and I instantly felt obligated, so I stowed my notepad and microfiche copies in the storage room where we kept the clean linens and did the only thing I could do-I pitched in and helped.
By the time there was enough of a lull for me to ask about Norman, my T-shirt was dotted with marinara and so were my hands. I grabbed a towel to wipe them clean, retrieved the papers from the storage closet, and headed out to the alley behind the restaurant where (Marc and Damien assured me) they’d last seen Norman.
Sure enough, there he was, sitting on an overturned fruit crate and admiring Jim’s motorcycle.
I didn’t waste any time.
“Who was the other guy?” I asked Norman.
I was hoping for more in return than a blank look, but since a blank look was all I got, I had no choice but to work with it.
I waved the copies under his nose. “I found an article about Howard Fish. When you knew him, he was in prison for a bank robbery.”
That got Norman ’s attention. He looked a little green around the gills. “Does that mean I’ll have to pay the money back?” he asked.
“That’s the least of your worries.” I slapped the copies down on the lid of a nearby trash can and paged through them until I found what I was looking for. “One guy-Howard-went to prison for the robbery,” I told Norman. “But see here…” I pointed, but I never gave him time to look before I forged on ahead. “Two guys. Two guys, Norman.” I stabbed a finger at the article. “Two guys were accused of the robbery. That means-”
All the green drained from Norman ’s face. “I never knew,” he breathed. “That means there’s another guy out there.”
“Yeah, and something tells me he’s looking for his money. I don’t know what the cops are going to say about you paying back this money, but I know one thing. That guy who was Howard’s accomplice, he’s convinced it’s payback time, Norman.”
Sixteen
OF COURSE THE BIG QUESTION WAS WHAT WE WERE going to do about all this.
It says a great deal about how baffled I was (not to mention how worried I was for Norman’s safety and how much I wanted to see justice done for Greg), that I realized beyond the shadow of a doubt that at this stage of the game, there was only one person who had the answer.
But when I left Norman in the alley and went into my office, I didn’t expect to find him sitting in my desk chair.
I closed the door, blocking out the hum of voices from the restaurant, and turned to where Tyler sat. “Howard Fish had an accomplice,” I told him.
He didn’t look surprised. Honestly, did I expect him to?
Tyler leaned back and made himself comfortable. “I know that. Guy by the name of Matt O’Hara. I went back to the station and made some calls after we left your place. That’s how I know. And before you can ask, no, I don’t know where this O’Hara character is. He’s had a couple run-ins with the law, I do know that. He’s got a record in Arizona and Texas and a couple other states. He just got released from prison in Alabama. I’m having some files faxed over and with any luck, Norman will recognize his picture. O’Hara might be the guy we’re looking for.”
“So the question now is-”
“You might as well know this right away, I’m not here to talk to you about Norman.” Tyler ’s a well-chiseled kind of guy. Angular face. Angular body. He folded his arms across his broad chest and stared at me the way I imagined he’d stared at hundreds of perps over the years. I knew how they felt, too. Just looking into Tyler ’s icy blue eyes made my stomach jump and my blood whoosh inside my ears. “You don’t like me, Annie.”
I was prepared to talk about the case, and what we should do, and how we could assure Norman ’s safety. I was not prepared for a heart-to-heart. When it comes to Tyler, I don’t think I’ll ever be.
I wasn’t prepared to get too close to him, either, which was why I stayed put near the door instead of sitting down in my desk chair. I eyed him up, and I suppose I was trying to gauge his mood as well as his sincerity. I should have known better. Cops-especially cops like Tyler -don’t give away their thoughts. Not easily. And not to just anyone.
But remember, I’d known Tyler for a long time. I also knew he was the kind of cop-and the kind of man-who appreciated hearing the truth. The simplest course of action seemed to be to cut to the chase.
“You broke Eve’s heart.” I shouldn’t have had to point this out, but since guys can sometimes be unconscious when it comes to emotions, I figured it wouldn’t hurt. “You called off your engagement to her. Now you show up and-”
“You think I’m going to do it again.”
“I think a guy who’s already engaged should remember he’s already engaged and not hang around the woman who he used to be engaged to before he got engaged again.”
The fact that he followed my logic says something about Tyler. I’m not sure what, but something.