“Geez, perhaps someone should explain that to her.”
He continued with the bizarre story leading up to his arrest. She interrupted occasionally to get the spelling of a place or name. While the narrative went on, and his sister made notes, he noticed that all the other visitors and the young officer had left. Visiting hours were over. Sergeant Lewis remained, evidently permitting them to stay.
When Ray finished she said, “Self-confidence is one thing, but wearing a thong at seventy? I think age twenty-five should be the absolute limit. Obviously, she set you up. Loraine’s a bad, bad girl, and she’s used you. I know something about users. But I don’t get why she came up with the rape or the Barner shooting. You said you didn’t have sex with her Saturday morning at the motel. Did she come on to you at all?”
“Does lying naked on the bed with her legs spread count?”
“Then forget about her being the one who was just raped. Unless she’s an inflatable doll, she wouldn’t be eager for sex so soon. For some reason, she actually did want to have sex with you again, probably to tie you closer. Anyway, she read you like a book, apparently an easy thing to do in your case. I’m beginning to doubt your judgment when it comes to women. I remember your ex-wife was a doozey too. You married the first girl who was nice to you, didn’t you? Mom told me she wrote on her body?”
“I didn’t know mom knew that.”
“On her body, you mean like on her hand?”
“No, on her breasts and stomach. Can we talk about it later?”
“You mean sexy words like, come and get it?”
“No, bizarre symbols. I’m not sure. I never got that close. Never got to see the boob job I paid for either.”
“Never got close? Poor guy, I never thought about that. Let’s see, you went without getting laid starting a couple of years before the divorce, I’ll bet, and then tried to catch up with a seventy-year-old.”
“She appeared younger by candlelight.”
“Of course she did, and after a few drinks and with the flickering candlelight, at times she even seemed to move—almost lifelike.”
“Oh, she was lifelike alright. I’m not going to explain further.”
“I’m sure she really knew how to bounce a bed.”
“Sandy, age wasn’t a part of it. Do I wish that she were actually interested in me, of course? But, seventy’s not so bad. You’ll find out about this age thing for yourself one day.”
“Maybe, in which case I’d insist on very few candles and lots of booze. How many women at that party turned you down before you hit on Granny?”
“It wasn’t like that. I’m not like that. I never thought about leaving with her. Never dreamed she wanted to spend the night with me, and then she unexpectedly phoned me and—oh well, one damn thing led to another.”
“I’m dying to get a look at that woman. How about this Tammy, are you certain she’s being straight with you? Not that you’d have the faintest idea one way or the other.”
“She called the cops on me but that was a normal reaction. She was close to the victim so was upset about his death.”
“Why were you running around like Dudley Do-Right anyway?”
“What’s wrong with helping people? After all, I didn’t help you.”
“So, you went for the granny-sex to ease your conscience about me?”
“I’ve had some bad luck with women, now drop it.”
She stood and reached for her brief case. “Job one is to get you out of here. That means we’ll start our own investigation. Give me your attorney’s name. I can do legwork for him and for you. Start getting your ideas together. I’m not a lawyer and I’m not qualified to handle your defense. I am, however, absolutely incredible at running around and pissing people off. Did you sign a statement?”
“Yes, was that wrong?”
“Not if you told the truth. I need a copy of it. Your attorney will have it. I’ll go see him and then crash.”
“Lawyer is Jeremiah Kagan. He’s probably still alive. You can stay at my place.”
“Cops most likely got a warrant and tore up your place. Know a good motel, someplace with an Internet connection?”
“Try the InnTowner,” he said half joking. “And Sandy, it’s great to see you.”
“Well, take a fast look at me, because I don’t intend to hang around here letting you screw up my life for very long.”
Chapter 11
During those first few days after the shooting of Senator Towson, the citizens knew only that the nearest thing to a celebrity the town had ever known was murdered. Their astonishment soon changed into outrage. The anger would worsen if they became aware of certain undisclosed details. Neither the citizens nor the media were yet aware of the alleged rape, the suggestion of a Sonny Barner murder, or the names of the townspeople disclosed in the suspect’s statement.
State Attorney Moran and Chief Oehlert had good reason to be worried. It was just a matter of time before details would leak out.
Early on Wednesday morning, Moran summoned Goddard to his office. The chief was already there pacing around nervously, and explaining they couldn’t locate Sonny Barner. “He runs his exterminating business out of his house. No sign of him there and his answering machine is full. If he’s alive, he stopped functioning.”
Moran studied the folder on his desk. “According to Reid’s statement Loraine Dellin shot him. You should be out looking for his body, Goddard. Do me a favor and find it before some reporter trips over it.”
The detective took the chair opposite Moran’s desk. “I don’t believe he’s dead. He was Towson’s exterminator and serviced his apartment the afternoon of the homicide. CSI found a service receipt from Barner Exterminating at the crime scene. It was marked 2:15 p.m., Saturday. So, he might be a second victim, but he looks more like a suspect to me.”
The chief didn’t get it. “Are you talking about the timing?”
Moran referred to his notes. “Reid’s statement has Loraine shooting Barner on Friday. Now we learn that the next day he’s working in Towson’s apartment. Obviously, she didn’t shoot him, at least not on Friday, and Reid is lying.”
“Or Loraine lied to him about shooting Barner,” Goddard added. “Apparently, Barner and Towson were both alive Saturday at 2:15 p.m. Question is, was Towson still alive when Barner left?”
“Barner could have shot him then or gone back later and shot him.” Moran started thumbing through the folder. “Okay, so need to rule out a second murder. But if Barner’s not dead then where is he? Now, what about the rape of Tammy Jerrold?”
“Tammy says it never happened and is intensely afraid the allegation might become public,” the chief said.
“We don’t want it public either. People would go crazy if a rape was tossed into this homicide.” Moran held up the folder. “Plus, look at the names we’ve got: Barner, Loraine, Tammy, and Norma Martin. They may or may not have anything material to do with Towson’s murder, but what if these names get out?”
“Fortunately, we have a good suspect in jail,” the chief said.
“That reporter, Linda Call, is asking me for an interview.” Moran frowned. “I can handle her but we need a response ready in case the details of Reid’s statement become public. Goddard, give me another briefing, I may want to point you in a different direction.”
Goddard opened his notebook. “You have the M.E. prelim: Towson died from a single shot to the chest from a .38, most likely a revolver, close range, died quickly. CSI found a second slug in the wall behind.”
The chief said, "So, two shots were fired and one missed."
"Let me go back over some crime scene details," Goddard continued. "Shooting was in the master bedroom. They found him in his underwear—t-shirt and boxers. A stylish robe was on the bed nearby. He may have been dressing or undressing. His blood was limited to the antique rug under his body except for minuscule traces leading out of the bedroom. Someone has his blood on the bottom of his or her shoes.”