Raffi Yessayan - 2 in the Hat

“Prints?”

“Nothing. I took the gun apart before fuming it. No ridge detail on anything, the receiver, the slide, the barrel, not even the magazine or the ammunition.”

“Wiped clean?”

“Seems that way.”

“That’s what I expected. Thanks, Reg.” Figgs hung up and turned his attention back to the barber. “Why did you let Stutter Simpson stay here?”

“His mom is an old friend. Told me her son was in trouble, afraid to be seen anywheres. I let him crash till things cooled down.”

“You ever see him walking around with a big gun,.40 caliber?”

“I told him he could stay here, no guns. I don’t want no drama coming down on me. Told me with his record if he got popped with a heater, he’d be going federally.”

“Where’d he go last night?”

“Said he was going over to see his mom, then to visit his grandmother in the hospital. She’s been having panic attacks since Junior got killed. Said he wanted to let her see he was okay.”

“Did he take a gun with him?”

“Like I said, I ain’t seen no guns.”

The old man was old school all the way. No lying to the authorities. Grady was telling the same story Stutter Simpson had. Figgs pulled the ring on the shade and let it snap, unlocked the door, and stepped into the bright October sun.

The Dukes County Courthouse was situated next to the Old Whaling Church and across the street from the so-called Amity Town Hall of Jaws fame. One of the older buildings in Edgartown, built in the early 1800s, the courthouse was brick with two white pillars and four granite steps. It was not hectic like South Bay. Angel Alves sensed a laid-back attitude in everyone from the lawyers and the cops to the defendants.

A short distance from the courthouse was the wharf and, not more than five hundred feet of water away, Chappaquiddick Island. He and Marcy had gone over once when they were dating. They took their bicycle over on the raft, barely big enough to carry a few cars and some passengers with bikes. They rode to the Chappaquiddick Dike Bridge. Looking over the side of the bridge, Alves saw that the water below was little more than a glorified stream.

It was after eight thirty when Alves made his way up the stairs of the courthouse. He flashed his badge to the blue shirts manning the tight space adapted to accommodate the metal detector, and they waved him through. The District Attorney’s office was on the second floor. The tiny single room, which he’d heard used to be the foyer of the ladies’ room in grander times, now served as Andi Norton’s office.

She was on the telephone. She shot him a smile. “Someone just came into my office,” she said. “I have to go. Talk to you later.”

She hung up the phone and stood to greet Alves with a hug. “It’s nice to see you, Angel.”

“What a great courthouse,” Alves said. “Easy commute, old building, stress-free environment. I could get to like this place. And I start my day with a hug from a gorgeous redhead.”

“Not everyone gets the hug. Just the cute Homicide detectives from Boston. Otherwise, my husband would get jealous. That was Will on the phone. Have a seat.”

“He’s smart, keeping an eye on you,” Alves winked.

“So what are you doing here on the Island?” she asked. She pointed to his gun and badge. “It doesn’t look like you’re down here on vacation. You looking for a witness?”

“You could say that.”

“If you had called ahead, I could have had someone from the P.D. or the Sheriff’s Department help you find him.”

“I know where the witness is.”

“I bet I know him if he’s involved with a murder.”

“I came here to see you, Andi.”

The young woman seemed to shrink back in her chair. “What about?”

“I need your word you won’t tell anyone we spoke. Not even that jealous husband of yours.”

“I don’t know if I can do that. Am I in any trouble?”

“No. I promise. I just need information. And I don’t want anyone to find out I was here. Not Wayne Mooney. Not Connie.”

“Why would I talk to Connie?”

“I thought maybe you might still be friends.”

“We’re not. Not my choice, although I hate to admit it.”

“I know this is awkward, and I’m sorry. I need to ask you about him.”

She instantly went from good-buddy Andi to lawyer full of piss and vinegar, as his mother used to say. “What’s going on? Angel, is Connie in trouble?”

“Andi, you know I can’t talk about an investigation. I need to ask you some questions and I need your honest answers.”

She picked up on his formality and the seriousness of his tone. She knew enough about interviewing witnesses. She nodded.

“What happened between you two?”

“I can honestly say I don’t know. I thought things were going well. I knew from the beginning that he wasn’t interested in me for just one thing, if you know what I mean.”

Interesting, considering that she was quite a good-looking woman.

“Connie took an interest in my career. I wouldn’t be the lawyer I am without his help. He gave me my first trial, taught me how to work up a case and prep for trial. He was an amazing teacher. And a real gentleman. He never tried to do more than kiss me. He was affectionate, but he never forced the issue. Because of Rachel.”

He wanted to ask about her young daughter. Tell Andi how he wished he and Marcy and the twins could come over on the ferry, spend the day with Andi and Will on South Beach, drive over to Oak Bluffs and let the kids ride the old carousel and reach for that one brass ring.

“By the way, Rachel’s doing great. She loves the ocean, walking on the beach, collecting shells. Moving here was the best thing I could have done for both of us.”

He nodded, but it still seemed odd to him. Why didn’t their relationship, which ran its course over a period of almost a year, never move beyond the affectionate peck stage? “If everything was going so well, why’d you break up?”

She thought for a second. “I don’t know. Maybe it was the stress after Nick’s disappearance and Mitch’s suicide. At first, we helped each other out. It was hard to come to work without Nick and Mitch. Connie was almost in denial, trying to convince himself that Mitch couldn’t have been a killer. Then he started getting a little religious on me, talking about how he knew Mitch’s victims were in a better place.”

Alves had never known Connie to be religious. “How was he with Rachel?”

“Great. He tried not to act like a father toward her.” Angel must have had a look, because she quickly added, “That’s a good thing. The worst is a guy who tries to insinuate himself into a child’s life to get to the mother. Every single mother has dated plenty of those guys.”

That made sense. “When did things start to fall apart?”

“After law school, I focused my attention on studying for the bar exam. Connie and I talked on the phone, but only saw each other once a week, on the weekend. My plan was to wait until after the exam and then maybe…” She looked at him, almost shyly, and he was walloped by her-her looks, yes, but beyond that, her intensity. “Angel, I did love him. I didn’t want to make him wait too long.”

“You’re doing great, Andi. You’ve got to tell me anything you think might help me understand him. So you never…”

“No. I hope I’m not telling you more than you want to hear.”

“You know yourself, sometimes it’s the smallest detail that makes everything fall into place.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry, Angel, it doesn’t get any more graphic than that. After I took the bar exam, I started interning in the DA’s office again. Everything was good between Connie and me. I tried to get him to go away on a romantic weekend-a bed-and-breakfast in New Hampshire -one of those couples deals with the champagne and spa treatment. He kept finding excuses. Then I tried to get him alone for a romantic dinner at my condo-Rachel tucked away at my parents. He showed up. But he was expecting me and Rachel. When it dawned on him that we were alone, that I had ulterior motives, he kind of freaked out.”