Дэвид Балдаччи - Redemption

“Mostly. But not always. Especially if this was last-minute. He had an office and a secretary. She would have kept his schedule.”

“We talked to her back then. But I was hoping you might remember something.”

“Well, I can’t help you there. And I don’t know why you’re continuing to bother with this. Hawkins committed the murders. That was clearly established at trial. Now, I have no proof of who killed him, but other things being equal it might be the woman who disappeared and then turned up dead from a suicide.” She took another sip of wine. “I admire her, actually. At least she had the courage to finish the guy. I didn’t.”

“Well, we don’t know that she did.”

Katz made a careless wave with her hand. “Whatever. You have your job to do. Anything else?”

“Do you happen to know Mitzi Gardiner?”

Katz looked puzzled. “Mitzi Gardiner?”

“You might have known her as Mitzi Hawkins.”

“God, do you mean his daughter?”

“Yes.”

“No, I didn’t know her. Why the hell would I?”

“You might have seen her at the trial. She had to testify.”

“No, I don’t recall that. But I remember her being mentioned by some of the other witnesses, including you. I’m not sure what she even looks like.”

“Well, her looks have changed a lot since then. For the better. She’s turned her life around.”

“Well, good for her. Couldn’t have been easy having a murderer for a father.”

“So you never talked to her? Interacted with her?”

“Never.”

“She lives in Trammel. Very nice place. Wealthy. She has a young child.”

“Good for her. I wanted kids too.”

Mars said, “You’re still young. Not too late.”

Katz smiled at him. “You’re sweet, but I think that ship has sailed.” She turned back to Decker. “Anything else?”

“Did you talk to your husband on the day of his death?”

“I’m sure I did. We did sleep together and get up together. Probably had coffee before we both left the house that morning.”

“I mean after that. During the day?”

“I really can’t recall. It’s been a long time.”

“But no mention of his going to meet with Richards?”

“No. I told you that before.”

“Just verifying.”

“Why do I feel like you’re trying to trap me?” she said darkly. “That would not be very nice, particularly since I have nothing to hide.”

“I’m just trying to figure out what happened.”

Katz finished her wine in one long drink and set the empty glass on the table. “Well, let me help you out with that. Hawkins murdered my husband and three other people. And then Susan Richards killed him and then killed herself. Case closed. There, that wasn’t hard.”

She stood and looked down at Mars. “How about we grab a drink before we head over to the club? I know a place.”

Mars stood. “Sounds good.”

“Melvin, we have something to do first, and then you can meet her there,” said Decker.

Mars eyed Katz. “You cool with that?”

“Absolutely.” She wrote down an address on a slip of paper and handed it to Mars. “I think you’ll have fun tonight, Mr. Mars.”

“Make it Melvin.”

“Just keep it professional,” said Decker in a joking manner.

“I’m always professional,” said Katz. “As your friend will find out tonight.”

As they walked back to their car, Mars said, “What do we have to do?”

“We’re going to wire you up for tonight.”

“And where will you be?”

“Right outside listening.”

“You sure you’re doing this for the case, or to keep me from doing something dumb with that woman?”

“Maybe both, Melvin. Maybe both.”

Decker was in the front seat of his rental car parked outside of a place called 10th and Main. That was also its literal location. It was the club Rachel Katz had referred to and of which she was a co-owner.

It seemed to be pretty popular, Decker noted. There was a bouncer out front who nearly equaled him in heft, and he had been vetting a long line of mostly younger and seemingly well-heeled men and women vying to get in.

Maybe his hometown was on the way back, he thought. Although he didn’t know if what amounted to an overpriced bar for well-off millennials was actually a good barometer of an improving economy for the average person.

He reworked his earpiece, and the noise from inside the club, communicated to him by the wire that Mars was wearing, came through loud and clear.

He settled in for a long evening.

Inside 10th and Main, Mars and Katz were seated in a roped-off section of the club, apparently reserved for VIPs. The music was loud, the bar crammed, and the dance floor full of swaying, already partially drunk people.

“So what do you think so far?” said Katz.

“Good vibe, lots of energy, and I can see your cash flow skyrocketing at the bar right now.”

“We put the bar there to maximize access to it from the tables and the dance floor.”

“Right. That way you get a continuous flow of business. And dancing makes people hungry and thirsty. And your table-to-patron ratio is good too. Pack ’em in, but without seeming to.”

“You sound like you know business.”

“Like I said, I dabble. Got some properties here and there. I like to work with low-income folks for the most part, give them a shot. Don’t make as much profit, but I don’t need the money.”

She sipped her cocktail and moved her head rhythmically to the music. “That’s very generous of you. I have a slightly different business model.”

“What’s that?”

“To get as rich as I possibly can.” She laughed and rattled the ice in her glass.

“Different strokes,” said Mars, grinning.

“How long have you worked with Decker?”

“Well, like I told you before, I don’t work with him. I’m not with the FBI or anything. But he and I are buds. We played college football against each other. I was a Texas Longhorn; he was an Ohio State Buckeye. I ran the ball and he tried to tackle me.”

“Did he?”

“He did as well as anybody did back then. Which wasn’t all that good.”

She laughed. “I respect a man who has confidence in himself.”

“I was up for the Heisman my senior year but lost out to a quarterback.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow. The Heisman? Did you play in the NFL?”

“I would have. But my career took a detour.”

“How so?”

“Death row in a Texas prison.”

Katz gaped until Mars grinned. She pointed at him. “Good one. I almost believed you for a second.”

Mars looked around. “This is an expensive buildout. Did you finance it, or do you have your own cash?”

“I have partners with their own cash. They bring the money, I bring the local know-how. I put the deals together and execute on the plan. My background as a CPA really comes in handy. This is our eighth project together in just the last three years. And we’re going to be expanding this same club concept to other cities in other states.”

“Long-range strategy. That’s a good thing. If you can streamline supply chains and consolidate your backroom and marketing operations, you can gain some economies of scale as you grow the business.”

She looked at him with a new level of respect. “Exactly. So, you’re here as Decker’s friend, but are you helping him with the investigation?”

“I guess I’m a sounding board for the guy. He’s Sherlock Holmes and I’m his Dr. Watson.”

“Is he really that good?”

“The FBI thinks so. And I’ve seen him do some incredible things. And somebody tried to kill the guy, twice. So there must be something to hide, right?”