Jeff Sherratt - Guilty or Else

“She said-”

“Hey, man, let me finish. Okay?” He paused for a second, trying to gather his words. “I work until dark on the trees. Dig them out, dig new holes to plant them. I come back manana to finish. Miss Gloria came out of the house, had a package or something. I go to wash up, and she invited me into her kitchen for a cold cerveza . I drank one, went to my truck to go home, but the battery, it was no good.”

“You were in her house?” The police report said nothing about his prints being in the house or on a beer bottle. “How long were you in there?”

“Twenty minutes, half hour. I dunno.”

I scribbled on my tablet, trying to juggle the police report, my briefcase, and write at the same time. I figured it would be a miracle if I could read my notes when I got back to the office.

Needing to establish a time line, I glanced back at the report. She died between eleven P.M. and two A.M. “Okay,” I said. “You worked until dark, say around eight, had a beer and stayed until at the latest, nine. Then what?”

“I walk home. Waited. Then I went out, got a battery, come back to Senorita Gloria’s house, started my truck. The cops grab me when I got back home again.”

This story had more holes than Ben the Bum’s T-shirt.

“Hold it, Ernesto. You walked home? Isn’t that a long way from Gloria’s house?”

He shrugged. “Ah, four, five miles, not far.”

“Then later, you left your home and got a battery somewhere? All the stores are closed in the middle of the night. Where did you get the battery?”

“Midnight auto supply.”

“Midnight auto supply-You boosted a battery?”

“ Ah chingado ! I did not steal, I borrowed it.”

“Explain.”

“I waited ’til two o’clock, everybody sleeping by then. I walked, had pliers, jumper cables. I found a truck just like mine, pero newer, took the battery, carried it to Gloria’s house. Jump started my truck-”

“You jump started your truck?”

“ Si .”

“Where’s the battery you stole, if you didn’t put it in your truck?”

“I told you, I borrowed it. I drive back to where I borrowed the battery and put it back in the guy’s truck. Then I drive home. The cops, they were waiting.” His eyes begged me to believe him.

“What about the blood on your truck, the stuff under the seat? The body in the backyard?”

“In the dark, I don’t see no blood, and I don’t look under no seat. I don’t go into the backyard. I did not even get my tools out of the yard. Anyway, I was coming back on Sunday to finish the job, clean up the yard, fill in the holes where I moved the trees, you know. But right then, I had to hurry. I had to get out of there and put back the battery that I borrowed.”

“Okay, let me get this straight. You say that about the time of the murder, you were at home. Then later, you walked the streets looking for a battery to steal. That’s your alibi?”

“To borrow.”

“And nobody saw you?”

“When you borrow things in the middle of the night, nobody is supposed to see you.”

I jotted some more notes. I had a lot more questions and wanted to go over his story again, but the deputy approached and tapped my shoulder.

“That’s it. Let’s go. You’re out of time. The interview is over.”

Rodriguez’s knuckles turned white as he twisted his hands on the bars. I studied his tired face. “Hang in there, Ernesto. We’ll beat this thing together.”

“ Si, amigo ,” he said.

I shoved my notes in my briefcase and snapped it shut.

The guard placed his hand on my shoulder. “This way to the real world, buddy,” he said, leading me away.

Obviously, Rodriguez wasn’t a suicide risk. They’d brought him to that cell for a purpose. I wondered how long it would take for the clandestine tape recording to make its way to Roberta Allen’s desk.

I drove to the Regency and turned into the curved blacktop driveway that ran under the restaurant’s white Greco-Roman portico, waved at the parking attendants, and pulled into a spot on the east side of the building. Although I rarely frequented the Regency-too expensive for my budget-they knew me from being here on occasion with Sol.

Everyone in Downey knew Sol and went out of their way to treat him like royalty.

Marilee, the hostess, stood at her pulpit located at the entry to the dining room, greeting new arrivals as they strolled in through the double doors. I caught her eye.

“Emilio will take you to the back booth in station five, Mr. O’Brien.” She gave me a wink. “When Miss Allen arrives, we’ll bring her to your table.”

At precisely twelve thirty-five, Roberta Allen arrived with Emilio in tow. She slipped into the seat directly across from me, set her briefcase down and picked up and examined her spoon. Finding an imperfection, she polished it with her napkin. She placed it back on the table, rearranged the silverware into a straight line, and then turned to the waiter.

“I’m pressed for time. Emilio, bring me a chef’s salad, please. Roquefort on the side and iced tea.” She turned to me. “Did you order, Mr. O’Brien?”

The barbecued ribs sounded good, but what the heck. “No, I didn’t, Miss Allen, but I’ll have the same.”

Emilio scribbled on his pad and hurried off.

She reached across to shake my hand. “What do you say we skip the Miss and Mister routine? I’ll call you James and you can call me Bobbi. Deal?”

I shook her hand. “Deal. But, Bobbi, call me Jimmy.”

“Jimmy and Bobbi, sounds like a couple of grade school kids at recess.” She smiled.

“Golly gee willikers, wanna play marbles?” I said.

She laughed. “Hopscotch?”

“As long as we don’t play dodge ball.”

The laughter stopped. “What do you mean?”

“Are you going to hold out, not give me everything you have?”

She flicked an invisible bit of something off the table linen and leaned forward. “Like what? I’m not holding back.”

I was referring to my suspicion that my interview with Rodriguez had been recorded and the tape given to her. But I had no real evidence, so I figured I’d let it pass-for now.

“Jimmy, there is something new that just came across my desk this morning.”

“I’m listening.”

“The police can prove Rodriguez was in the house. His fingerprints were found on empty Coors bottles in the kitchen. He drank several beers, wanted to party-she didn’t, and he killed her.” She announced this like it was a fact carved in granite and handed to her on the mountain.

“He worked hard all day, had one beer to relax, then he left,” I said.

She leaned back, rolled her eyes, and gave me that oh brother look women do so well. “If that’s your story, stick to it. It’ll be a short trial.”

“Bobbi, a wise man once said, ‘It ain’t over till it’s over.’” The wise man was Yogi Berra, but I didn’t think she knew who he was. “We’ll see how it plays out.”

“I’m sure we will.” Bobbi opened her briefcase and extracted a file about two inches thick; half a dozen rubber bands held it together. “Here are copies of the reports, photos, everything, all the evidence so far.” She handed me the file.

“This is everything?”

“I told you I’d give you all I had. Now, quit being a jerk.”

I sat the file on the table and started to unravel the rubber bands. “Are the cops looking at anyone other than Rodriguez?”

“When you study the file, you’ll see the police were very thorough, meticulous. All the facts pointed to your guy.”

“Look Bobbi, I can sense you’re a straight arrow, least I hope so, and I appreciate your cooperation. And I’m sure if you win, you don’t want the decision overturned because of lack of disclosure, but I wouldn’t be able to handle any last minute surprises. A ghost in the machine, so to speak.”