“Okay, if you think that’s a good idea…” He didn’t look like he thought it was. I wasn’t so sure myself, but I didn’t know what else to do.
There was a receptionist sitting there at the front desk. I waited for her to get off the phone and then I asked her if I could see Chief Maven. She told me that Chief Maven was extremely busy at the moment, and asked me if I wanted to leave a message. I asked her to please call him and tell him that Alex McKnight wished to speak to him immediately regarding today’s arrests. She thought about that for a second, then picked up the phone and called him. “He’ll see you now,” she said. “Do you know where his office is?”
“I’m afraid I do.”
He was waiting at his door when I got there. I went in and sat down in my usual chair.
“I assume you wish to add something to your original statement?” he said. “The one you gave to the officers on the night in question? I’ve got some paper here if you want to write it down.”
“Am I a suspect now?”
“Not at this time, no. But if you do know anything else about this matter, and you wish to make a statement now…”
“I don’t know anything else.”
“Even though your best friend and two of his friends all appear to be involved in this, you have no further information yourself?”
“They were not involved,” I said. “The only other information I have for you is that you’ve made a big mistake.”
He leaned back in his chair. “A big mistake. So I should be letting them go right now. Is that what you’re saying?”
“I want to ask you a couple of questions,” I said.
“McKnight, I got a lot of work to do here.”
“First of all, when can I see Jackie?”
“When he makes bail,” he said. “Assuming he does. It hasn’t been set yet.”
“Did he ask for a lawyer?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t talked to him yet.”
“What’s on this videotape you’ve got?”
“I can’t discuss that.”
“You said Prudell made the tape,” I said. “I don’t see how that was possible. He called Vargas that night. He was apparently following his wife around. According to Vargas, she was at a hotel with Swanson. If he was tailing her, how could he have taped anything at Vargas’s house?”
“Same answer,” he said. “I’ve got nothing to say about that right now.”
“He wasn’t there,” I said. “It’s as simple as that. Even if he supposedly came over to the house, I tell you, he wasn’t there. What could he have taped?”
Maven looked at his watch.
“Those three men were lying on the floor,” I said. “At gunpoint. What the hell can be on a videotape that would implicate them? This doesn’t make any sense.”
“I can see why you’re puzzled, McKnight. I’ll say that much.”
“Vargas did this,” I said. “You’ve got to realize, Maven, this is all Vargas. I had a run-in with him yesterday. He warned me he was going to do something.”
“I’d advise you to stay away from Vargas. In fact, I’ll do more than just advise you…”
“What did you find in Jackie’s bedroom?” I said. “Money from Vargas’s safe? Is that what it was? Is that what you found at Bennett’s and Gill’s?”
Maven just looked at me.
“You said receiving stolen goods? Does that mean the money? There were no other ‘goods’ stolen. They just trashed the place and left.”
“McKnight…”
“Whatever it was, you don’t think it could have been planted there?”
“I’ll keep that theory in mind,” he said. “Are we about done here?”
“That’s my friend in there,” I said. “This is a man who once turned around and drove a hundred miles back to a restaurant, just because he realized he hadn’t left enough money on the table. If you think he had any part in this, you’re wrong. And I’m sure that goes for Bennett and Gill, too. Something is very wrong here, Chief, and I’m gonna find out what it is.”
“I figured you’d get to that one, McKnight. Only this time, you’re not a private eye anymore, remember? This time, you’re a material witness who happens to be about one inch away from being detained yourself. What you will do is remain in the general area in case I need you. What you won’t do is get in the way of this investigation. I realize that’s a tricky concept for you. So I’ll make it simple. Go home to Paradise. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. That’s it. Think you can do that?”
I stood up. “Just out of curiosity,” I said before I went to the door, “what happened to the ‘new Chief Maven’ I was talking to a couple of days ago?”
“He’s still here,” he said. “For you, I figured I’d bring out the original model. Just for old times’ sake.”
When I got back out to the lobby, business had picked up. Ham O’Dell was there now, towering over everybody and looking like he wanted to break something. I saw a pair of men from the Sault tribe, as well.
“Alex, what the hell is going on?” Ham said. “Nobody will talk to me. I came in this morning and the place was closed down. There were cops all over the place. They said my dad had already been arrested.”
“We’re all gonna work on this together,” I said. “Jonathan, did you get hold of the bondsman?”
“He’s on his way,” he said. “I figured Ham could use him, too.”
“You’ll need ten percent of whatever the bail is,” I said. “Can you both do that? If not, I can help out.”
“Whatever it is,” Jonathan said, “I’ll get it.”
“Same for me,” Ham said.
“You might want to ask those gentlemen over there about Gill,” I said. “But I don’t imagine they’ll need a bondsman. The tribe will probably bail him out.”
“God knows they have enough casino money,” Ham said.
I let that one go.
“Did you reach Jackie’s lawyer?”
“I did,” Jonathan said. “He’s on his way, too.”
“Okay, then both of you guys better just sit tight here. I don’t know how long they’ll be in there, but it’ll be a while before the bail is set.”
“What are you gonna do?” Jonathan said.
“I’m gonna find an old friend,” I said. “And talk to him about a videotape.”
Chapter Ten
I drove the few blocks from the City-County building to Leon’s office on Ashmun Street, parked the truck on the street, and climbed the narrow set of stairs to his office. Through the window I could see he wasn’t there. There was no sign on his door indicating when he might be back.
I went back down to the street, got in the truck, and thought about what to do next. Leon’s probably with Vargas, I thought. I wasn’t sure I was ready to knock on Vargas’s door and ask for him. The hell with it, I thought. If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.
I drove over to the east side of town, to Vargas’s house on the river. There was a blue Miata in the driveway, a Saab in the open garage. Leon’s little piece of crap red car was nowhere to be seen.
Okay, so I don’t have to go knock on Vargas’s door, I thought. Not yet, anyway.
Instead I went back through the middle of town and caught I-75 going south. A few miles later, I got off at the Rosedale exit, made my way over to Leon’s house, near the Chippewa County Airport.
As soon as I was on his street, I saw him come out the front door of his house. He put a briefcase into his car, and then got in himself. He started to back down his driveway. I pulled the truck in behind him, blocking his way.
I got out of the truck. He didn’t move. He stayed in the car, staring straight ahead. His windows were already down, so I didn’t have to rap my knuckles on them to get his attention. He was not only wearing a tie today-the man actually owned a suit.
“Leon,” I said. “We have to talk.”
“I have to go meet my client.”
“You can do that. Right after we talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Alex.”
“Oh yes,” I said. I leaned my forearms on the hood of his car, my face not more than twelve inches from his. “Yes, there is.”
“What are you going to do?” he said. “Are you going to assault me now?”