Линда Ла Плант - Cold Shoulder

Ten minutes later Bickerstaff handed Lorraine the articles she had requested. She patted her pockets to make sure she had the cigarettes and lighter; she was no longer shaking but was feeling a buzz inside her. She was almost ready.

‘Get someone to take water and glasses in, but not to say a word, even if he asks a question.’

She watched an officer enter the room. They heard Lyall asking how long he was to be kept waiting but the officer didn’t even look at him. Lorraine nodded to Bickerstaff. ‘I’m ready.’

As she left the room, he murmured, ‘Good luck,’ but she didn’t turn back.

When Lorraine walked in, Lyall covered his surprise fast, turning away as she sat in the chair opposite. She paid him no attention but opened the dummy file and her notebook, carefully laid out her pens, cigarettes and lighter. Then she reached over to the jug and poured herself a glass of water.

Lyall cleared his throat again and tapped his foot. Bickerstaff waited.

Lorraine slowly got out the photographs of Holly and placed them in front of Lyall. ‘Please look at the photographs, Craig.’

He turned away.

‘She was only seventeen and she was beautiful, wasn’t she? Take a look at her pretty face.’

He glanced at the ten-by-six photograph. Then Lorraine pointed to the morgue shots, which showed the injuries that virtually obliterated her face, broken nose, eye-sockets filled with blood and the gaping mouth with the front teeth smashed.

‘Someone hammered her face, broke her skull, her nose, even her teeth. What kind of person do you think would do this? What kind of madness did this?’

Lyall wouldn’t look at the photographs but kept his eyes on the wall.

‘I keep on telling them that you couldn’t have done it but they won’t believe me, you know why? Because—’

‘I didn’t do that. I’m innocent.’ His voice was high-pitched, bordering on hysterical.

‘I know you are — of course you are — all you were involved in was blackmail. I know that but—’

‘Janklow did it, he admitted it — so why don’t you piss off and leave me alone? I want my lawyer here.’ He sounded less hesitant now, his voice lower.

‘Your lawyer will be here, Craig, but he’s just finalizing Nula’s release. She’s going, so I hope you’ve made arrangements for your share of any money you had, because she...’

Bickerstaff covered his face. She was really pushing it.

‘I don’t believe you,’ Lyall said sullenly.

‘Believe what? That she’s being released?’ Lorraine flicked through the dummy documents. ‘This is her statement. You can read it, if you like, but you won’t be released, Craig, because Nula has stated that you were involved in murdering this girl and David Burrows.’

Lyall sneered, ‘I know you’re lying.’

Lorraine pushed forward Didi’s photographs, the before and after shots. ‘Am I? That’s naïve of you, Craig. You know Nula killed Didi, even though she insists that you did it — that you drove her to the apartment, sat and drank tea, even offered her the banana bread. Didi lived on that banana bread of hers, didn’t she? Anyway, according to Nula, the three of you started to argue because Didi had kept a ring, one of Mrs Thorburn’s pieces. You’d all agreed to get rid of everything because the items could be traced, but Didi kept a ring. This one. Look at this picture, Craig — that is the ring, isn’t it? On the third finger of her right hand.’

Bickerstaff had no idea what Lorraine was talking about. What ring? Was it in the files? He turned to his back-up. ‘Get me the files down here, will you? And fast.’ He turned his attention back to the interview room.

Lyall’s fists were clenched so tight the knuckles stood out white. Lorraine placed in front of him the full-length mortuary shot of Didi in which she was wearing the ring.

‘Just nod if it is the ring, Craig. You don’t have to say anything. I’m only trying to help you, you must know that. I’m not even pressing charges about your part in trying to kill me.’

‘What are you?’ he snapped.

‘I’m a private investigator, not even attached to the station or the FBI, but because I was there in San Francisco they’re allowing me to talk to you. You both tried to kill me and you almost succeeded but what you didn’t know was that I was wired, so everything you said in that apartment has been recorded. That’s why you were both arrested in Las Vegas.’

He still didn’t believe a word.

‘Nula knew that she had to frame somebody to get herself released and that was you, Craig, because as soon as she saw me with the FBI agents she knew the game was up. She’s been talking since they brought her in. Look at these statements. Don’t you think it’s strange your lawyer isn’t here?’

Bickerstaff could feel sweat running down his back. He was relieved no one else was privy to what Lorraine was saying as all hell would have broken loose.

‘I never killed anybody,’ Lyall snapped, but his hands were shaking now.

Lorraine sipped her water. ‘I know that, Craig, but let me read you a section of Nula’s statement...’

Lyall was sweating even more than Bickerstaff, who couldn’t believe Lorraine’s audacity — the way she was lying.

She sifted through the dummy documents, and continued to talk quietly and calmly. She drew a page forward and started to read.

‘“It started as an argument between the three of us. Didi wouldn’t give the ring back, she said she couldn’t get it off her finger so then Craig said he would cut it off and she started to get hysterical.”’

‘That’s not true,’ he interjected. Lorraine held up her hand as if to tell him to be patient, then carried on reading in the same steady voice.

‘“Craig became more and more angry because Didi could get us all into trouble. We’d been selling Mrs Thorburn’s jewellery for years, bits and pieces. Art would find the buyer and we would just collect, but because of the killings it was dangerous for Didi to walk around showing off this big ring. It was a topaz with a row of diamonds around it and it was worth a lot of money.”’

Lorraine was making it up as she went along. All she had pieced together was that according to Janklow’s lists and description the ring belonged to Mrs Thorburn and it was possibly the ring Didi was wearing. She looked at Lyall. ‘I presume when she says Art she is referring to Art Mathews, is that correct?’

‘Why are you asking me these questions?’

‘I used to be a cop, now I’m freelance, insurance claims, that kind of thing. Before they charge you I want to get my facts straight and until your lawyer is available they can’t talk to you. There’s nothing illegal about it — there’s nobody else here.’

He was really sweating now. ‘You mean it’s true? They’re releasing Nula?’

She nodded, tapped the dummy file. ‘She’s given her statement and all I want to do is get onto her for my clients and before she skips the country. I don’t care who did what to whom just so long as I hold onto my job.’

Lyall tried to fathom how she was sitting in front of him. He knew she’d been dead drunk. How in hell had she got herself together?

Bickerstaff shook his head. Lorraine was giving to him, piece by piece, a section of the jigsaw puzzle, the stolen jewellery, the blackmail scam, but Lyall had not as yet implicated himself in any way.

Lorraine asked, ‘You took the photographs of Janklow, didn’t you?’

Lyall sighed. ‘Art did. Well, some of them, years ago when he had a studio in Santa Monica. Janklow had this thing about looking like his mother, you know, all dragged up. At first Art didn’t know who he was — he’d used some false name, they all do — and then he saw him at some society dinner with his mother, years ago, and started milking him. That’s all I know. I swear before God, I honestly had nothing to do with it. I didn’t even know it was going on...’ He trailed off. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ he said suddenly, helplessly.