Russell Andrews - Hades

"Yeah, I know."

"So? Did she?" Justin asked.

"You wanna know the truth? We hardly ever talked at all. And when we did, it was mostly me tellin' her about my other rich clients. She liked that. Liked to hear how impossible they were, the weird shit they used to do."

"The witness who said you talked to him about killing Evan, do you know who that is?"

"It's nobody. 'Cause I never said nothin' like that!"

"Dave," Reggie said, "how do you think your stun gun wound up being used on Evan Harmon?"

"You think I ain't been tryin' to figure this out? I don't know. The only thing I come up with is that somebody stole it, used it, and put it back. But I know how that sounds."

"It sounds ridiculous," Justin said. "But do you have any ideas of who could possibly have done it?"

"Look, I have plenty of friends who know I got one of those things. And some of 'em even know where I keep it. But why the hell would any of 'em use it to go and kill Evan? It don't make no sense. The guy was the money train. Why'd you want to stop it from comin' down the tracks?"

"It comes right back to you then. You're the only one with a motive."

"Which is what?"

"Mrs. Harmon."

Kelley turned away from Reggie to look at Justin. "I'm really not stupid. At least I'm not that stupid. Even if she told me she wanted to run away with me and spend the rest of our damn lives together, you think I'd believe that? Come on."

"Did she tell you that?" Reggie asked.

"No."

Reggie sighed. "Why don't you give us the names of the people who knew about the gun and we'll check them out anyway."

"Okay," Kelley said. "No problem. But I'm tellin' you, the only person who makes any sense for this is"-and now he looked directly into Justin's eyes-"that bitch. We both know what she is and what she can do."

"And what is it you think Abby Harmon can do?" Regina Bokkenheuser asked.

"Anything she wants to do," Dave Kelley said. "Which is why I'm fucked seven ways from Sunday."

Justin sighed, too, now. "What about the security system in the Harmon house?"

"It cost a fortune. And it's about the best there is."

"You install it?"

"Yeah. I started out as just an electrician. That's my real specialty."

"Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, no shit."

"How does it work?" Justin asked.

"It's simple really. A thing of beauty. Everything's connected to a central computerized system. Evan wanted it wired to his computer in his office-"

"At Ascension?" Reggie asked.

"No. His home office. He had a room upstairs that he used, you know, when he had to work out there. The guy was always at his computer; he worked all the time."

Justin and Reggie both turned at the sound of a door opening. Justin made a noticeable sound of disgust and when Reggie looked at him quizzically, he said, "This is the esteemed DA Larry Silverbush." And to Silverbush he said, "Regina Bokkenheuser, FBI."

"Yes," Silverbush said, "I know all about Ms. Bokkenheuser. Seems like you two make an ideal team." He turned to Kelley and said, "Morning, Dave. Got a good story for these two?"

"We're just trying to be as thorough as we can," Reggie said to Silverbush. "Mr. Kelley is being very cooperative."

"I bet he is." Silverbush smiled. "Mind if I sit in the rest of the way?"

Justin turned to Kelley. "It's your call, Dave. Our conversation is unconnected to Mr. Silverbush and his investigation."

"But we're all on the same side, aren't we?" the DA asked. "Truth, justice-all of that."

"I don't mind," Kelley said. "I'm not sayin' nothin' he hasn't heard before."

"Excellent," Silverbush said. "Go right ahead, as if I'm not here."

"We were talking about the security system," Reggie said to Kelley.

"Right. It was wired to his home computer. That's where the system could be operated from."

"What if the computer went down?"

"No problem. It didn't change the system, I mean, if the computer lost power, it's not as if the security system did, too. You'd just lose the ability to control it from that computer while it was outta commission. But there were backups for the control. For one thing, it could all be done by hand at each control point. As long as you had that password."

"Different passwords for hand controlled and computer controlled?"

"Yeah. Different passwords for every computer terminal, too."

"How many hand control points were there?"

"There was one by the gate at the end of the driveway. One by the front door, one by the back door, one by the stereo in the living room that operated the inside cameras. And there was one by the pool house that operated the outdoor cameras."

"That's it?"

"Well, there were remote hookups, too. You could operate the whole thing from a laptop. Each laptop had to be specially designated as authorized to handle the controls and each user was given a password, you know, so anyone who was workin' away at the computer couldn't just access the Harmons' security system."

"Who had laptop access?"

"Evan. On the laptop he used to travel with."

"Abby?"

Kelley nodded. "But I don't think she really knew how to use it. She didn't have much interest in it."

"Anyone else?"

Kelley hesitated, then nodded again, this time with one deep, long movement of his head back and forth. "Me."

"Your laptop could access the Harmon security system?"

"Yeah. Evan wanted it that way. I knew the house, I knew the system; if anything went wrong, he said he wanted me to be able to, you know, see what the problem was."

"So you could get into the system anytime you wanted?"

"Yeah."

"To change the settings or disable it-whatever you wanted."

"Yeah."

"Let me ask you something," Reggie said. "When you log on to the system, does the system register who the user is and what changes are made?"

"Yup. It logs it in the main computer and on the individual computer that's used."

"Should I ask?" Justin said. And when Kelley frowned glumly, Justin said, "Who was logged on when the system was disabled the night of the murder?"

"I was," Dave Kelley said.

"On the main system and on your laptop both?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah."

"Did anyone else know your password?"

"Evan and Abby," Kelley said.

"Where's your laptop now?"

"Evidence room," Silverbush said.

"And where was it the day of the murder?" Justin asked Kelley.

Kelley sighed and said, "In my truck, I guess. That's where the cops found it." As Justin and Abby stayed silent, Kelley added, "See what I mean? Seven ways from Sunday."

Silverbush's smile now spread across his entire face. And it was still there as he walked Justin and Reggie outside a few minutes later when the interview was over.

"I'm glad we could all share this experience," he said and extended his hand toward Reggie. "Good to meet you." He didn't bother to push his hand in Justin's direction. He just said, "I know you're trying to drag in all sorts of complications. But you're way off base. This guy did it. There's no question about it. And if we find out he did it with your girlfriend, they're both gonna get a needle in the arm."

"Always nice to see you," Justin said.

Silverbush had the same annoying smile on his face as he said, "You screwed it up when you were just a cop; you're screwing it up again working with the Feds. It's kind of reassuring to deal with someone who never learns."

"So what do you think?" Reggie asked. They were in the car heading into Manhattan, just a few minutes outside Riverhead, where they'd talked to David Kelley.

"What do you think?"

"I think I can see why Silverbush is going to prosecute. Kelley's right about being screwed. There's a lot of evidence against him. And there's a decent amount that links your-that links Abby."