Michael McGarrity - The Judas judge

"Langsford's not in jail?"

"He got bailed out by his sister and ran off," Lee explained. "That sucks," Robert said.

"Did Langsford use a credit card to book his hotel room?" Sedillo asked.

"Nope."

"Too bad. We would have a tighter case if he'd used one of the victims' charge cards."

"I'll see you in a little while, LT," Robert said.

"Good job, Bobby."

Lee walked down the corridor and knocked on Kerney's door. "We've got some good news, Chief," he said, when Kerney opened up.

Kerney heard Sedillo out and shook his head. "I'm losing my touch, Lee. I didn't think Eric Langsford had the chutzpah to pull off the murders, let alone the capacity to do it."

"It's looking more likely all the time," Lee said.

"Did Duran tell you everything he learned?"

"Just the highlights. I told him to get back here fast."

"Do you have a good description of the ruby ring?"

"Yep. It's an oval ruby lady's ring, about a carat in size, surrounded by diamonds, with a gold band."

"That will do. Let's call the victims' families. You take three, and I'll do the others."

Lee went back to his room to make his calls while Kerney pulled out a list of phone numbers and started dialing. He struck out on the first two and punched in Linda Langsford's number.

"Did you find Eric?" she asked, after he identified himself.

"No, but we may have recovered a piece of jewelry taken during the crime spree."

He described the ring and listened to Linda's sudden intake of breath.

"My father gave my mother a ring just like that on their twentieth wedding anniversary."

"Do you have a fax machine at home?"

"I do." She gave Kerney the number.

"I'll fax a photo of the ring to you for confirmation."

On the way to Lee Sedillo's room, Kerney thought about Eric's rip-off of his father four years ago. He wondered if Kay Murray would be able to ID the ring as one of the items Vernon had turned over to Eric. If not, a reasonable assumption would be that Eric had taken the ring from the motor coach after the murder.

That would simplify Kerney's life, let him pull the pin on his shield, and finally get out of the cop game for good. He stopped at Lee's door. He was good at his job and he liked the work.

Did he really want to quit just because he was about to become rich enough to buy a ranch? Or was the Shockley shooting making him feel like he had to bail out?

Kerney checked by phone with Linda Langsford after faxing a picture of the ring to her. She positively identified it as once belonging to her mother, said it had been promised to her, and wanted it returned as soon as possible. She hung up without waiting for a response.

The agent who'd showed a photograph of the ring to Kay Murray reported back that Eric had taken the item from his father during his staged robbery. That cooled Kerney's hopes for conclusive evidence needed to link Eric to the murders.

Eric still remained the only viable suspect in the case, so Kerney decided an early morning trip to El Paso was in order to meet with Brandy Wine and see what more he could learn about Langsford.

Agent Duran's report had included a fact sheet on Ronda Shields, aka Brandy Wine. She was twenty-four years old, a native of Nebraska, and had been runner-up in a statewide beauty pageant during her senior year in high school. She had two solicitation convictions out of southern California and a drug possession bust in Phoenix. No arrests had been made since her arrival in El Paso six months ago.

Before leaving, Kerney made sure Lee Sedillo had the team looking for Eric Langsford, working background investigations on the Langsfords, Murray and Gibben, and canvassing all businesses along the murder route one more time.

Ronda lived in an apartment on the west side of El Paso within striking distance of a major shopping mall and the Interstate. Her limp blond hair was pinned carelessly behind her ears, and her red-rimmed eyes looked wide and vulnerable.

Agent Duran's report noted that Eric had commented on Ronda's resemblance to his sister. Kerney saw the similarities: she was the same height and weight as Linda, and her blond hair was a perfect match.

Ronda led Kerney into a cove kitchen where two large bird cages on the floor held a noisy cockatoo and a squawking parakeet. Birdseed crunched under Kerney's feet as he joined her at a counter that separated the kitchen from a dining area. She sat stiffly on a stool and winced, and while there were no visible signs Ronda had been beaten, Kerney guessed she'd been punished in some unpleasant way by her pimp for withholding the ring.

"You called Eric Langsford kinky," Kerney said. "What did you mean by that?"

Ronda lit a cigarette and blew smoke in Kerney's face. "I said he was flaky. Kinky has a whole different meaning. I don't do kinky. If a client wants that, I walk."

"Okay, flaky. How so?"

"Guys get off on different things. He wanted me to pretend like I was, like, a Lolita. All innocent and seductive, if you know what I mean. So, I baby-talked him and acted all coy."

"And he wanted you to call him Daddy."

"Yeah."

"Any spanking?"

Ronda shook her head. "That's not what I do."

"Did he ask?"

"No. He was into watching. I'm a pretty good actress. He just sat on the bed drinking whiskey from a bottle. I'd say something to him like did he want to see my panties, then I'd do it, and he'd call me a bitch or a slut."

"Went no further than that?"

"He asked me to take a bath, and he watched through a crack in the door."

"Just watched?"

"Well, no. When I got out of the tub, he dried me off with a towel."

"Was he aroused at any time?"

"Yeah, in the bathroom. He jacked off, and then I got dressed and left."

"Did you lend him a hand?"

Ronda made a face at Kerney's word play. "That's real cute. No, he just wanted me to watch, and believe me, it didn't take long."

"Was he free with his money?"

"He gave me a nice tip."

"How much?"

"A hundred dollars."

Eric had given Kerney the impression he'd been short on cash during his drinking binge. Yet he'd not only paid for an expensive hotel room, but also an expensive woman, whom he'd tipped heavily.

' "What denomination were the bills?"

"Five twenties."

"Did he flash a bankroll?"

"No, he kinda snuck the bills out of his wallet."

"You told the other officer Eric wanted you to act the part of his sister."

"That's what I meant about the Lolita thing. He was real excited about that."

"Excited?"

"Like animated, if you know what I mean-ready to get started right away."

"Did he talk to you about it in any detail?"

"No, he just told me what he wanted me to do."

"What did you do to get him to send you the ring?"

"Nothing, I swear. I thought he was just acting like a big shot and trying to impress me."

"Did he tell you what he was going to give you as a present?"

"No, he said it would be a surprise, something pretty, and I'd like it."

"Had Langsford ever been your client before?"

"No, but Crystal saw him once."

"Who is Crystal?"

"Betty Cook is her real name. She works with me. I can give you her phone number."

Kerney left and used a public phone to speak to Crystal, who reported that Eric had asked her to undress and masturbate while he watched from the bathroom door.

"Did he make any other requests?" Kerney asked.

"When he called for the date he asked for a blonde. But there wasn't one available. So Mario had me wear a wig. He wasn't too happy when he found out I was a redhead."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. But he didn't tip me, and I put on a really good show."

He stopped at the hotel and asked the reservation clerk to check if Langsford had any prior stays at the hotel. She came up with four overnight registrations and calls to three additional dating services in the last year, all occurring around the time Eric received his quarterly checks for serving as a corporate board member for one of his father's companies.