Robert Liston - The Tower of Evil

Byerly recognized his own disappointment, yet he admired Amanda Sykes. Justin Wright did not deserve a woman like her. “When you had this meeting with Gould and Dragon did they want you to do something?”

“They said Jamie’s father wanted to see his son. They would take us to him the following morning.”

“Did you go?”

“No, Mr. Byerly. I felt uneasy about it. I’ve known for a long time that someone wanted Jamie out of the way. He was a threat-”

“To Whom?”

“I never knew.”

“You worked in Congressman Wright’s office. He was promoting family values in his campaign for President. Surely you realized the effect the mere existence of Jamie would have on-”

“I didn’t want to be involved in that. I didn’t want Jamie involved. That’s why I hid.”

“So you didn’t trust Victor Dragon and decided not to meet him. What happened?”

“I’d taken Jamie to a nearby park. There was a play castle for children.”

“It’s called Kid’s World and it’s in Alameda Park,” Doreen said.

“Jamie met a nice boy, Tommy. I’d struck up a conversation with his mother. She was the only person I knew in town besides Harry and Mr. Dragon.”

“So you asked Karen to baby sit Jamie. Then what happened?”

“I didn’t want to go back to the hotel the way I’d come. I was afraid it might lead them to Jamie. I took a circuitous route and ended up at the library downtown. I was lost. Then a limousine pulled up and I was told to get in.”

“Did you?”

“I had no choice.” She pointed. “That man there pulled me in.”

“That would be good ol’ Dirk, the pancake man.” Byerly laughed at the man’s glower.

“Who was in the car?” Lupe asked.

“Mr. Dragon and a woman I now know was Mrs. Kinkaid.“

“It’s a lie, I was never there.”

Lupe waved that aside. “Then what happened, Mandy?”

“They really didn’t want me, you see, they wanted Jamie.” She clutched the boy tighter. “They wanted me to tell them where he was. I wouldn’t.”

“Were you threatened?”

“Not in so many words, but I was locked in the tower and told I couldn’t leave until I revealed where Jamie was.”

“God, how awful for you,” Doreen said. “I was only there a day or so, but you were held how long? A week or 10 days? It had to be torture, positively medieval.”

He had to smile. Doreen was not helping Wright’s PR a bit.”

“The worst thing, DeeDee, was that I had no newspaper, radio or TV. I had no idea what was going on in the world, no idea whether Jamie was safe or not. I worried constantly.”

“Oh, my dear,” a voice said behind him.

“You poor thing, how awful for you.”

Edie Wright had the most sense of any of them. “Justin, I warned you not to get involved with the Fielding woman. I told you-”

“I should have listened to you.” He raised his voice. “I want all you good people to know I had nothing to do with any of this. I knew nothing about it and definitely would not have condoned such conduct.”

The voice of Dr. Joy did not live up to her name. “Oh shut up, Justin, you’re such a weasel.”

“May Jamie and I leave now? We’ve had quite enough of this place.”

“Just one more question,” Lupe said. “When did you last see Harry Gould alive?”

“On Monday, the day before I was…brought here.”

“The word is kidnapped,” Doreen said. “It’s okay to use it.”

Byerly laughed. “Darling, I didn’t know you were so good at calling a spade a-”

“Is abduction a better word?”

“Not much.”

“Please, you two, I trying to find out-”

“We’re sorry, Lupe,” he said. “You saw Harry Gould on Monday?”

“We worked out plans with Mr. Dragon for the next day, then he left. Harry said he had to go to his office, then work out at the gym. He’d meet us later for dinner. That’s the last I saw him. “

“He never met you for dinner?” Lupe asked.

She shook her head. “Nor the next morning. He was supposed to go with Jamie and me to meet…Jamie’s father. He never showed up. That’s why I became frightened, hid Jamie, and tried to get away.”

“I’ve heard enough, detective.” Buster Brogan stepped forward. “You did good work.” He turned. “Mr. Dragon, I want you to come downtown with me.”

“Are you arresting me?” His face registered both fear and defiance.

“I will, on suspicion of murder.”

“I murdered no one.”

“You were the last person to see Harry Gould alive. You certainly have a lot of explaining to do.”

“You phoned Harry at the gym,” Lupe said. “You got him back to his office to kill him. Sounds like premeditation to me.”

“I’m sure the DA will ask for special circumstances, Dragon. That means the death penalty.”

“Don’t forget kidnapping, sergeant,” Lupe said, “and other charges, too, I’m sure.”

“Yes.”

“And what about Mrs. Kinkaid?” Lupe asked. “She was part-”

“What about her indeed.” Dragon said. “The whole idea was hers.”

“Oh shut up, you asshole!”

“I’m not taking the fall, Joy, not for you.”

“You never did have any balls, Victor.”

Doreen laughed. “My, my, a lovers’ quarrel. The last time I saw you the bed was-”

“Oh shut up, you old bitch!”

“I’m taking both you and Dragon in,” Brogan said.

Dr. Joy turned to her husband. “Karl, are you going to let them do this to me?”

“It seems to me you did it to yourself.” He looked up. “Wheel me out of here, Josh.”

Deedee insisted Mandy and Jamie stay with them as long as they wished. Unwinding from the excitement, discussing the case, getting the pair fed and tucked in kept her occupied until quite late. But she was not so busy that she failed to notice the blinking light on the answering machine when they came home. Or, Walter listening to it surreptitiously, then quickly erasing it.

Walter went upstairs a little ahead of her and was fast asleep when she got in bed. She lay awake awhile worrying about the mysterious message, but soon fell asleep herself.

The next morning she waited till he shut off his electric razor, then asked, “So what was the message on the machine last night? A telemarketer offering low-cost, do-it-yourself divorces?”

He looked at her and grinned. “That’s good, honey. Actually he was selling a book on ancient Aztec love practices, including 87 positions never before known to European man-or woman.”

“Just what we need, dear, I hope you bought it.” She kissed his smooth cheek. ”What was the message?”

“I didn’t want you lying awake worrying.”

“A dentist drilling my teeth couldn’t have kept me awake. Was it Phil Van Zant?”

“The lab tests are in, he wants to talk to me.”

“Sounds ominous.”

He looked at her sharply. “Why say that?”

“If the tests were negative, he’d have said so. This way he gets to practice his bedside manner.”

“You don’t know that. He may want to tell me-”

“Not you, darling, us. I’m tagging along-whether you want me or not.”

Lupe now loathed the tanned face she once thought so handsome. Victor Dragon was an evil man, a murderer and kidnapper. Worse, Victor Dragon knew the law and how to reduce his sentence, if not escape entirely.

“I’ll happily tell you what happened in Gould’s office, Detective Hernandez-in exchange for immunity.”

It had been going on most of the night. She had slept little and felt tired, her nerves raw. “We already have you for kidnapping. Two women and a little boy will say-”

“It was all a misunderstanding, detective. No one was harmed, no ransom demanded. You’ll never get a kidnapping charge to stick.”