“What?” Rosie asked.
“My sister is Bobbie Reddie. You know, Bobbie on the radio.”
“‘Speak to me’ Bobbie?”
“That’s right,” Jay said.
Rosie looked over the roof of the car.
“That’s how it works. As soon as I mention her name, people have their doubts. They think Bobbie is some kind of saint. You might have believed all of what I just told you, up to the point where I mentioned her name.”
Rosie looked at him again. “You came back for me. Everyone else ran, and you came back for me. All my friends, even some of my relatives, left me there. The police would never have caught you, if you hadn’t come back for me.”
Jay leaned his head to the left and wondered what was coming next. Usually, I’m the one running away, he thought. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying…” she began, then thought for a moment. “You figure it out.”
“I hope someone will help Cole when he figures it out,” Jay said.
“Cole? Who’s he?” Rosie sounded exasperated with the ever-expanding list of complications in Jay’s life.
“My nephew. If anyone knows what really happened to Kaylie and Charles, Cole does,” Jay said.
Rosie watched Jay.
“It’s only a matter of time before he disappears. He’s smart. He figures things out. The kid was reading at four. People think because he doesn’t say much, there’s not much going on in his head. They’re wrong. Cole used to talk with me. He’ll know what Bobbie did. And she’ll know it too. Cole will have to be dealt with before he says something to the wrong person.”
“Come on. Get behind the wheel. Follow me,”
Rosie said.
“Why?” Jay asked.
“Uncle Tran has got you an apartment. It’s definitely a step up from this place.” Rosie looked inside Jay’s car. “It’s even partially furnished. And, it has a bathroom. You could use some cleaning up, cracker.” She laughed and walked toward her car.
Monday, October 26
Chapter 18
“I’LL PICK UP Matt at school after she calls,” Arthur said.
“The room ready?” Lane dug into a grapefruit.
“It’s all ready.” Arthur stood up from the kitchen table then sat back down again. “I’m worried.”
“About your sister?” Lane went to pick up his glass of orange juice, then waited for Arthur to finish.
“Yes. What are we going to do? I mean, if…?”
Arthur asked.
Lane waited.
“I mean if Martha doesn’t make it?” Arthur’s eyes filled with tears. He used a paper napkin to wipe them.
“Then, we take care of Matt, I guess,” Lane wiped a non-existent speck off his black-wool slacks.
Arthur touched the side of Lane’s face. “Thank you.”
Lane shrugged.
“And I’m worried about Mrs. Smallway,” Arthur said.
“What? She’s got another party planned?”
“No. Well, maybe she does. She talked to Matt the other day. Apparently, when she was on Bobbie’s radio show, you were the main topic of conversation whenever they were off the air.”
An hour later, Lane and Harper met for coffee at the coffee shop on Kensington. Bryan, the manager of the coffee shop, with the blond-tipped and gelled hair, stood behind the counter. Bryan said, “The usual. A Rolo and and a regular. Black.”
Harper said, “You got it.” They sat down by the window. Outside, the traffic was lined up to the traffic lights more than a block away. Tail lights glowed an eerie red in the sunrise orange.
Harper pulled a folding keyboard from his pocket, set it on the table, and folded it open.
“It seems like every time I see you, you’ve got a new piece of equipment,” Lane said.
“It seems like every time I see you, you’ve got bigger circles under your eyes. Anyway, this baby has a camera and voice recorder along with word processing. After we interviewed Jay, I realized this will come in handy the next time we need to record a conversation.”
Lane laughed. “Does it dance?”
“No but you can dance if you want. It plays music, and it’s wireless.”
“Here you go.” Bryan slid their coffees onto the table.
“Thanks.” Thank god for coffee, Lane thought.
“No problem.” Bryan left.
“We need to go back over what we’ve done so far, to see what we’ve missed.” Lane lifted his coffee and closed his eyes with the pleasure of that first sip of the morning.
The screen flickered on Harper’s new toy. He leaned forward. “It’s all here. I downloaded the information last night. Remember the minister’s wife? We haven’t seen her yet. First on the list.”
Lane said, “Good place to start. And, what about Jay Krocker’s lawyer? I’ve got more questions I’d like to ask the kid. We’ll have to run that by the lawyer first.”
“Got his number here.” Harper pointed and smiled.
Lane decided Harper was just a big kid with his new toy.
Harper typed, sipped his coffee, and scrolled down his notes. “Two question marks here.”
“Question marks?” Lane asked.
“You know, when we think we’re not getting all of our questions answered, I put a question mark.” Harper turned the screen so Lane could see them.
Lane said, “Idaho Metals?”
“Remember how nervous the woman behind the counter was? Her name was Joan.”
“And his was Mike,” Lane said.
“That’s right.”
“You’re right, she was way too uptight. What’s the other question?” Lane asked.
“The case,” Harper said.
Lane heard the nervous tension in Harper’s voice.
Harper said, “You started out being sure that Bobbie was responsible. Isn’t that dangerous? I mean, if we start out thinking one person is guilty, then we may only see the evidence that makes our case.”
Lane thought, How can I explain that I just knew?
I knew Bobbie was guilty in a way I can’t define. I lived with someone a lot like Bobbie. I knew when I saw Cole, when I saw that sanitized kitchen. I knew something was wrong there. “Almost everything we’ve found out has pointed at Bobbie. The deaths of her parents.
The fire in Jamaica. The destruction of a perfectly good car. Eddie. And, don’t forget about what Jay had to say without any prompting on our part.”
“You have to admit, Eddie’s connection is pretty thin,” Harper said.
“Not if the DNA comes back as a match,” Lane said.
“I’m just saying we’ve got to be patient.”
“You’re right,” Lane said and thought, I know in my bones there’s something really twisted about Bobbie, but I can’t tell Harper that, I can’t tell anyone that because then it would mean I’d have to explain why.
“You’re sweating.”
Lane took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. “It’s hot in here.”
“You call the minister’s wife, and I’ll call the lawyer. We’ll see what we can set up for today,” Harper said.
“What about the auto wreckers?”
“They’re next on the list,” Harper said.
An hour later, through light traffic, they travelled northwest out of the downtown core. Harper drove.
“What were her directions again?” Harper asked.
“Go along John Laurie. Pass the sign by the church.
Take the next right,” Lane said.
“Can’t believe it took that long to get a hold of her.
Who could be stuck on the phone for that long?”
Harper asked.
“There’s the sign,” Lane said.
They read this side of the sign: Evil cannot touch me because I walk at the right hand of God.
Lane looked back and read the other side as they passed.
“What’s it say?” Harper asked.
“Friends of Bobbie show your support,” Lane said.
“What’s that mean?” Harper turned right.
“I don’t know. We go up the hill, take a right and then another,” Lane said.