Perri O'Shaughnessy - Presumption Of Death

“Oh.”

“What did you think of his idea?”

“What did you think, Bob?”

“I think it sucks,” Bob said. His blue eyes blazed out of his face. “I want to live with you, Mom. We’re the family. You and me and Hitchcock. I like visiting Grandpa but forget it-it’s us, right? Right?”

“Right,” Nina said. “Don’t worry, honey. Go visit Isaiah and we’ll talk later.”

She and Paul drove together to the office. Paul hadn’t broached the subject of Bob again, though she felt the pressure of his patience, and Nina had already moved into work mode.

They stopped at the photo shop to pick up blowups of Wish’s photos, which had come out well, and carried the manila envelopes upstairs to the office. Sandy hadn’t come in-it was visiting hours at the jail-and Paul began telling Nina about his visit to the Robles Vista facility. The director had spent a long time with him and Paul was of the opinion that none of the residents had the physical ability to carry out the arson fire on the hill below them.

“These people are severely disabled,” Paul said. “Blind or wheelchair bound, almost all of them. One of the blind guys is very independent and works out, but the director thought it would just be impossible. Besides, as he pointed out, to torch their hillside could result in having Robles Vista burn down too. The handicapped facility is right above that model home.”

“Has Crockett talked to them?”

“Every resident has been interviewed. I talked to Crockett, and he says none of them could be a suspect, even if he didn’t already have Wish. Most of them seem to be resigned to moving, though there is a great deal of anger and insecurity.”

Nina said, “Okay. Scratch them. No jury’s going to buy them as alternate suspects. We’re back to Siesta Court.”

“Danny and Coyote and the Moneyman.”

“Elizabeth played me an interesting tape last night. From the Siesta Court block party I attended.”

He was on the computer. “About Elizabeth. I meant to say, uh, sorry about getting juiced last night. I don’t even know why I did that. So what about this tape?”

“I think Elizabeth just wanted to talk to me anyway. And I know you don’t drink that much, but Paul, with Bob around, we’re going to have to straighten up in general.”

Paul swiveled around so he was facing her. He looked like he was thinking that the good times were over.

Nina said, “I really want that chair, Paul. That is the most comfortable, coolest chair in the world.”

He leaned back and let a beatific expression cross his face. “It is.”

“So that’s a no? You won’t let me use that chair? I have to use this director’s chair?”

“Honey, without my chair, I’m nothing.”

“Not very chivalrous.”

“I’m much nicer to my wives. But let’s not go there this morning, we have work to do.”

Nina fidgeted uncomfortably, just to make him feel bad, but he was pretending not to see it. So she went over to him and sat down on his lap.

“A compromise,” she said as he put his arms around her. “Anyway, she taped a conversation in which several men were standing in a group apart from the rest of the party, having a quick conversation. Their voices were lowered, but you could hear some of it. They were toasting Danny’s death.”

“They were what?”

“I’m telling you. They said, ‘Good riddance.’”

Paul thought for a moment, then said, “They must figure Danny was responsible for the fires. Even so, it’s damn cold.”

“I think it might be more than that, Paul.”

“What do you mean? Who are we talking about, anyway?”

“Darryl Eubanks, George Hill, Sam Puglia, David Cowan, and Ted Ballard.”

“You think-what? One of them is the Moneyman?”

“One of them? Or all of them?” Nina said. “If it’s all of them, you see, there wouldn’t be six thousand two hundred fifty dollars missing from anybody’s account. They each could have pitched in part of the money to pay Coyote.”

“I don’t know. First of all, who’s going to set all these fires for a little over six grand? Ben already told me that Danny hadn’t had an influx of money. So was he not involved after all? It doesn’t make sense.”

“No, you’re right, but we have to start untangling this somewhere and I still feel this money in Coyote’s bank account is hard evidence of something.”

“Okay. What now?”

“I’m glad you asked me that, Paul.”

“What are you up to?”

“I’m going to call Debbie again. And ask her about the sum of twelve hundred fifty dollars, whether that rings any bells for any of the women.”

Paul was nodding. “Twelve-fifty times five. Six thousand two hundred fifty. I get it, even if it sounds extremely far-fetched. Can’t hurt. Meantime, I’m scheduled to go talk to the Boyz again and get them ready to testify. Maybe they’ll remember something else.”

Debbie was out on the deck, if the birds chirping madly in the background were any indication. “Just thought I’d check in,” Nina said.

“Sam wants to know if you’re going to subpoena any of us,” Debbie said. “For this court proceeding.”

“That’s not the plan at the moment. A preliminary hearing is a lot less thorough than a trial. There will only be a few witnesses, and at the moment I don’t see you and Sam as involved.” She added the lawyer’s private asterisk: But that could change.

“What with Britta still in intensive care and Danny’s death and the Cat Lady, I just can’t seem to get to the gardening or the housework. All I do is worry. I wish I knew what was going on.”

Nina felt a jab of conscience. She had told Britta, not Debbie, about the threat to the children. Maybe Britta hadn’t spread the word before she was assaulted. “Debbie,” she began, but Debbie was ahead of her.

“We had a prowler a few nights ago. Behind David’s house. Now we’re all wondering about this guy Coyote you told us about.”

“Debbie, I think you should worry. I think you should be careful.” She told Debbie about Donnelly’s death. Then, taking a deep breath, she told her Nate’s words about the children.

“Our children?” Her voice was tremulous. “Here in the neighborhood? What is he doing? Why would he hurt Britta and set fires and threaten the children?”

“I just don’t know. But, you know, I don’t agree with the police that there isn’t a possible danger.”

“I think Nate doesn’t make things up. He does get confused, though.”

“That’s true.”

“But-someone hurt Britta. I need to talk to Jolene and Tory. And David.” Now she was in a hurry to sign off, but Nina said, “Wait. There’s one more thing. You know how I told you about the money Coyote received from somewhere?”

“Yes, you got us in a tizzy and nothing came of it.”

“I made a mistake,” Nina said. “The amount was twelve hundred fifty dollars.”

There was a long silence at the end of the line.

“Okay, then, gotta go,” Debbie said, feeding her a big tablespoonful of phony cheer.

“Call me if anything comes up,” Nina said.

“You bet. Oh, absolutely. Bye now.”

When Darryl got back from the hardware store, Tory didn’t seem to be around, and the kids, who had been playing in the backyard when he left, must be with her. When he opened the back door, though, he heard them next door and he went out into the backyard.

Tory and Debbie were chattering on the deck and the kids were trampolining. “Hey, ladies,” he called. They looked his way and Tory called, “Be right there.” So he put away the paint in the garage for his Sunday project and settled down in his La-Z-Boy to watch ESPN. He didn’t feel so good and he just wanted to be left alone, so of course Tory came marching in a few minutes later and, would you believe it, picked up the remote and turned off the tube.