I responded to say I would be there in less than ten.
I hurried to the car, put my newest purchases in the trunk, then drove to the sheriff’s department a few blocks away.
By now the deputies and personnel at the front desk knew me, and the deputy on duty today simply waved me on to Kanesha’s office. I headed down the hall.
Kanesha’s door was open, but I knocked to alert her to my presence. She seemed engrossed in her computer. She turned toward the door, frowning. The frown didn’t go away, but she motioned me in and asked me to shut the door.
“You’d better sit down,” she said. “What I’ve got to tell you is pretty shocking. Threw me for a loop, I can tell you.”
Alarmed, I almost stumbled into the chair and sank into it. I had never heard Kanesha say anything like this. “What is it?”
Kanesha said, “Got a short prelim report from the autopsy. Minimal information, but one significant thing. Gerry Albritton was born a male.”
TWENTY-SIX
Looking back, I felt grateful that Kanesha had warned me to sit before she shared her news. I didn’t know when I had been more shocked than I was at hearing that Gerry was evidently transgender. My mind began to clear, however, and questions occurred to me.
“She must have had surgery, correct?” I asked.
Kanesha nodded. “The information is only preliminary, like I said, but the pathologist estimates that it was done at least twenty years ago, probably longer.”
“I would never have guessed,” I said.
“In addition, she’d had plastic surgery on her face, but it’s difficult to say how extensive it was.”
“Maybe that’s why Melba thought she looked familiar. She might have known Gerry as a man, but she would never think to link the man she knew with Gerry.”
“For the moment, I don’t want this to go any further,” Kanesha said. “That’s a good point, though, about Melba. I might consult her on this to see if she can come up with potential names for me to check on.”
“I won’t say anything to Melba,” I said, “or to anyone else, though I don’t think I’ve ever sat on information this sensational before.”
“It’s a twist I would never have expected,” Kanesha said. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it and figure out all the implications for her murder.”
“It will certainly add to the list of potential motives, I should think,” I said.
“If the killer knew it,” Kanesha said.
I felt chagrined. “Of course. I wonder if anyone involved in the case knew anything about her past.”
“So far no one has admitted to it,” Kanesha replied. “Finding out who this woman used to be may be an impossible task.”
“There must be a link somewhere,” I said. “Unless she systematically destroyed everything that could provide that link.”
“It’s possible she did,” Kanesha said. “I never met the woman when she was alive, so I really don’t have a grasp yet on her personality. Give me your take on her.”
“Let me think a minute.” I recalled my meetings with Gerry and tried to put together some cogent thoughts to share with Kanesha. What had Gerry’s personality really been like?
“The first thing I’ll say,” I told Kanesha, “is that Gerry was hard to read. She came across as brazen.” I gave a short description of the first time I met the woman. “At the time I was a bit freaked out, I guess, at her flirting. It’s not anything I’m used to. That put me off, I have to say, and I tried to stay away from her after that.”
“Did you see her again before the party?” Kanesha asked.
“A few times when I was out with Diesel, walking to work,” I said. “I always made the excuse of needing to get to work, though, so I could keep the conversations short. She wasn’t as flirtatious at those meetings.” I thought for a moment. “I also saw her the morning of the party. Someone had destroyed her decorations, and she was outside looking at the damage. I walked over to talk to her.”
“Did she have any idea who had caused the damage?” Kanesha asked.
“She said she had a few ideas, but she didn’t mention any names,” I said. “She asked me a few questions, like whether I was interested in selling my house and whether Helen Louise owned her building. Then she got a text message, and not long after that I left.”
“Before you went to the party, how would you have summed her up?” Kanesha asked.
“Forceful. Determined. Attractive. Intelligent.” I grimaced. “I didn’t think a lot of her taste in interior—or exterior—decoration. The inside of her house is way too modern for my taste, and that Christmas display is unbelievably tacky.”
“I agree with you on that,” Kanesha said. “Do you think that was deliberate?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it was,” I said. “I think she liked being provocative. She obviously had courage, too.”
“Why do you say that? About courage,” Kanesha said.
I took a moment to think about how to express what I meant. “I don’t completely understand what brings a person to the realization that she or he was born in the wrong body, so to speak. I haven’t experienced it myself, and no one that I’m really close to has, either. But I think to act on that realization, especially to face the necessary surgeries and other treatments, takes a lot of courage. If Gerry faced all that successfully, I don’t think she’d balk at much else, do you?”
“No, I think you’re right,” Kanesha said. “I hadn’t thought about it that way, frankly.”
“I have a question for you now,” I said.
“Go ahead,” Kanesha replied.
“Why did you share this particular bit of information with me?” I said. “You’re not always forthcoming on the details of the cases you’re working on when I’m around.”
“No, I’m not,” Kanesha said. “This case is so different from any other I’ve worked. I’m great at solving problems and pulling together and interpreting evidence. Intricate police work is what I’m really good at, but sometimes you make these imaginative leaps that pull things together into a picture I hadn’t quite grasped yet. Do you understand what I mean?”
“I do, and I’m extremely flattered,” I said. “I’ll be honest with you: Everything seems jumbled most of the time, but then suddenly the pieces shift, and I can see everything in a different way. It’s hard to explain, but it just happens.”
Kanesha smiled tiredly. “I wish I could get it to happen. The thing is, I’m hoping you’ll be able to do that in this case. I need every bit of help I can get if I’m to have any hope of solving it.”
“All I can say is, I’ll do my best,” I replied. “Whatever information you do have about her life, I’ll need to see, however.”
“I believe you now know pretty much everything I know at this point,” Kanesha said, “but I’ll put together a summary for you and e-mail it later. How’s that?”
“Sounds good,” I said. “Are you still working on the assumption that she was killed by poison put into her snifter of brandy?”
“Yes,” Kanesha said. “I have a deputy working on compiling statements from witnesses. I want to be able to track her movements and those of the snifter during the party, but that’s going to take some time. Before I forget, I want to thank you for encouraging Mr. Harville to bring his wife in. That was an interesting story they told.”
“I’m relieved that Milton realized how important it was to tell you, and that Tammy agreed to come with him. Is Tammy still a suspect?” I asked.
“She claims to have an alibi for the time she was absent from her home—an alibi that also allegedly explains her use of a disguise. I’m considering her a suspect until her alibi can be corroborated. Plus, we’re going through statements from witnesses at the party to see if anyone mentions seeing her or a woman fitting the description of the disguise she was wearing. All this is going to take some time, given some of the details I’m not at liberty to share.”