“I understand your reason for confessing. But, it’s no sale. Sergeant Fidgery will come for Karen as soon as I call him. Are you able to continue with your duties? Care for the general, I mean. If not, I’ll arrange for someone right away.”
I had Axel on standby. He had spent part of the morning getting groceries for Clara Birnbaum. Buddha was on standby to bring him if I called.
Charles’s cell phone rang. He answered it. After a brief pause, Charles said, “Right away, General.” Then he turned to me. “The general, sir, has instructed me to bring Eddie and Karen to the study. I suggested we come to him, but he insisted we always use the study for family business. He has asked me to attend and wishes that you stay. He is coming down in his chair and said he can handle it with the elevator.”
I nodded.
“Mr. Kile, this is not over. I will make a full confession and I can provide support including the whereabouts of the two million the general paid me for the alibi. Karen will be released.”
“It’s with the cops now,” I said, “and the district attorney.”
“If there is nothing else at the moment, Mr. Kile, I should go and get Eddie and Karen to head down here.” Charles bowed slightly, and left.
I wasn’t sure, hell, I had no idea why the general wanted this meeting. The one thing I knew that Charles didn’t was that the general had heard my conversation with him and also with Eddie. I assumed the general, used to being in command, could not see this play out with him on the sidelines.
We would soon know.
Chapter 36
Karen came in first and walked over to me clearly unsure of herself after my having tossed her fanny out of my condo the last time we were together. “What’s going on, Matt?”
“I have no idea. Your father has asked us all to assemble. He’s on his way down. Given his health, I assume he has something final he wishes to say to you all. He asked that I stay.”
Eddie came in and when Karen saw his confused expression, she shrugged, adding, “The general wants to talk with us all. That’s all we know.”
Charles came in a moment later, leaving the double doors to the study open wide. A minute or so later, the general wheeled through the open doors. Charles walked over to him. When he got close, the general took his hand out from under his lap blanket. In it he held his Welrod British pistol. The one reportedly stolen years ago. He raised it and without hesitation shot Charles in the chest. Then he worked the bolt-action and shot him a second time.
The general had heard Charles confess and believed him as I did. It was too late for me to do anything, for anyone to do anything. It happened too quickly, too unexpectedly. I draped a napkin over my hand, went to him and took the Welrod with my fingers. I put the British assassin’s pistol on the table; the smell of the firing still flavoring the air.
The general wheeled himself around Charles’s body and positioned himself so we were looking at him and not Charles.
He looked directly at Eddie. “Charles killed Ileana and your son, my great grandson. He deserved to die and I wanted to be certain the sentence was carried out in my lifetime. He got swift, certain justice. We need more of that.”
“But,” Karen said, “but how do we know?”
“It’s true,” I said. “It all fits. Charles killed them. He spoke to Jackson, Montoya and the Yarbroughs using his own voice, none of them knew him. He disguised his voice to that of a woman when he called the general to sell the alibi, and the second call telling him to throw the satchel with the extortion money over the cliff.” I looked at the general. He nodded.
“But,” Karen said, waving her arms, “that doesn’t prove Charles was the killer.”
“Karen, I’m sorry to be blunt. There isn’t enough time to do otherwise. Charles was your father. Your birth father anyway. He felt you were entitled to more of the estate. You lived as the general’s daughter and treated him with respect and dignity. To the contrary, Eddie did nothing to show love for his grandfather. Before you condemn the general, you should recall that you offered me a chance to do something similar. Your reason was greed. The general’s reason was justice.”
“I always suspected it was one of us,” Eddie said. “That ate at me. But given the friction between us, Mr. Kile, why would you not conclude I was the killer?”
“I was investigating a murder, not judging a popularity contest. You don’t have the stomach for murder. Now before you feel insulted, don’t be. Not having the stomach to kill for any reason is not something to be ashamed of.”
“But why not me?” Karen asked. “I mean, after I asked you-” She stopped, letting her words hang up in her throat.
“If you had killed Ileana, you could have simply killed Eddie as well, but you couldn’t kill Eddie, he was family. You would have expected Eddie to come apart after being arrested, and humiliate himself in front of the general who would then amend his will. That is exactly what Charles anticipated. But Eddie has more inside than any of us gave him credit for having, and held it together through that ordeal. Later, with the general dying and the will not changed, time was running out and you became desperate enough to approach me. As for Cliff, had he helped you kill Ileana, your relationship with him could not have lingered on the same level it has for these past eleven years. And, had he killed for you before, you would have used him to kill Eddie, not come to me. You’re guilty of nothing more than greed poisoning you into inviting me to murder Eddie. In the end, you wouldn’t have gone through with it. You couldn’t kill Eddie, but Charles had several years of covert action behind enemy lines.” Before I finished, Karen had begun nodding.
“Mr. Kile,” Eddie said, “if Charles killed Ileana, why would he frame me and also provide an alibi for my release? The frame alone would have gotten me out of the way.”
“Charles saw himself in a difficult position. All Karen’s life, he had given up knowing her as his daughter for one purpose, to afford her the opportunity to share in the general’s estate. He dedicated himself to the belief she was entitled. His conflict came from his concurrent devotion to the general. He could not bring himself to be the cause of you going to prison for life or possibly being put to death. Juries can be incensed when unborn children are murdered. So, Charles crafted a solution that adequately balanced the things he held dear. He expected you would fall apart upon being arrested. And the general, after seeing you crying and begging, would reconsider the division of his estate.”
Eddie stood up, lowered his head and stayed quiet, then spoke calmly. “Mr. Kile, I see no reason for our calling the police. Nothing here will be changed for the general, only for the rest of us. The general will never see a prison. Likely never even a courtroom. If you agree, what can we do?”
“Karen, do you agree with what Eddie just said? I understand this is all very confusing and difficult for you, not to mention sudden.”
She sat still for what seemed longer than it was. Then she nodded, at first almost unnoticeably, then stronger. “Yes, nothing will be accomplished by bringing the police in. I was nearly as guilty as Char-my father. How should we handle it?”
I disassembled the Welrod and wrapped in a newspaper and handed it to Eddie. “Drive over the Terminal Island Bridge and toss this piece by piece. Stop in an empty lot several miles off the route you drive and burn the newspaper. Then come back immediately. We call the police when you return. Karen, you and Eddie were in here with the general. The shot came from outside, through the opened door. I arrived about five minutes later. After I helped settle things, I spent some time looking around outside. Then we called the police.”