Faye Kellerman: The Mercedes Coffin

Decker was rendered speechless.

Somehow Liam O’Dell had made it through the yellow tape and over to the scene. He was frantic, waving his arms and shouting over and over: “Why’d you do it, Mudd? Why’d you do it? Why’d you do it?”

Ryan answered. “Because Rudy is bad.”

The cops hoisted Ryan to his feet and pushed O’Dell aside. He tripped and almost fell on the ground. As he got up, he shouted. “Fuck, Mudd! Now you’re going to jail. You’re going to jail!”

Ryan turned around and smiled beatifically. “Irish, I’ve been in jail for the last fifteen years. Wherever I’m going, it’s got to be better.”

“Oh Christ!” Liam tried to run after him, but the cops held him back, threatening him with jail if he didn’t get the fuck out. He shouted, “I’ll get you a lawyer, Mudd.”

“Call my brother,” Goldberg shouted back. “He’s a lung doctor.”

IT TOOK A full week for Rina to even speak to him, and when she did, her conversation ran monosyllabic.

“I’m sorry!” Decker told her for the umpteenth time.

“It’s fine, Peter.”

“It was stupid. I admit it. It was stupid, stupid, stupid. It’ll never happen again.”

“I said it’s fine. I know you were just doing your job.” Rina tightened her robe. “I’m very tired. I’m going to bed.”

He heard the door close a little harder than it needed to. He sat at the dining room table in his pajamas, looking down at his dinner plate. The meat loaf had congealed and the vegetables were wilted. When he looked up, Hannah was looking at him with pity. “Not too hungry?”

“Not really.”

“I’ll wash your plate.”

“No, I’ll do it.” He checked his watch. “It’s almost ten.”

“Top of the morning,” Hannah said. “She’ll get over it.”

“Eventually, I suppose she will.” Decker said.

“She has a point. It was stupid, Abba.”

“Et tu, Brute?”

Hannah came over to him and hugged his neck. Decker patted her arm. “Thanks, Hannah, I needed a hug.” When he turned around to look at her, she was in tears. He took his daughter into his arms and embraced her tightly. She was wearing flannel bottoms and an oversized sweatshirt and looked so forlorn and vulnerable. Just when he thought his guilt level had topped out, it went up another notch. “I’m so sorry, pumpkin. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I was so scared!”

“I know, pumpkin. It was wrong for me to do something so dangerous.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“Of course.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“It’s hard to explain, Hannah. The situation just kind of ran away from me. I was so focused on saving those women, I didn’t see anything else.”

She was silent.

“I had on a bulletproof vest and a helmet.”

“Your job isn’t supposed to be dangerous enough to need those kinds of things.”

“Mostly it isn’t.”

“Except when it is.” She broke away from him and folded her hands in front of her chest. “You were already shot twice. What are you trying to prove?”

Decker sighed. “I’m not proving anything. Like I said, the situation just got away from me.”

“That’s no answer,” she harrumphed. “Well, it is an answer, but it’s a lame answer.”

“It is a lame answer, but it’s the only one I have.” Decker tried out a smile. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

Her face softened and the anger melted away. “I love you, Abba. I know that sometimes I can be difficult.” Her lip quivered. “I do appreciate you.”

“I know you do, Hannah, I know you do.” He held out his hands and she fell into his arms again. “Love you, pumpkin pie. Can I tuck you into bed?”

“I’m not ready yet. I have to sign off, I have to organize my backpack, I have to brush my teeth and hair and put on my acne medicine.”

“Tell me when you’re ready.”

“It may take a while.”

“I’m not all that tired. I’ll wait.”

DRESSED IN A coral silk blouse, a white pleated skirt, and white sneakers sans socks, Genoa Greeves looked a step away from the tennis court. Her legs were bare, her calves strong and muscular. Again, she had her laptop and took notes as Decker recounted the probable trail of events.

Ryan Goldberg had fallen madly in love with Melinda Little. Egged on by Rudy Banks, Goldberg had decided to be a man and confront Bennett Little. But being as Goldberg wasn’t quite right in the head even back then, he had asked for Rudy’s help-could he arrange the meeting and also come with him just to make sure things didn’t get out of control?

Decker said, “Ryan made a lot of mistakes…falling for the wrong woman…the wrong women. There were others. But this was a real bonehead thing to do.”

“Like inviting the fox into the henhouse,” Genoa said.

Decker continued.

Rudy arranged the meeting, but he knew that Bennett Little would never have agreed to meet with him. Little didn’t trust him, didn’t like him. As a matter of fact, Little had been so angry at Rudy Banks because of Darnell Arlington’s expulsion that he wouldn’t even talk to Banks on the phone.

“That much we got out of Goldberg. This is where conjecture comes in. I think Rudy did some improvising.”

“Go on.”

“If I had to lay out a scenario, it would probably be this. Rudy Banks called up Leroy Josephson, promising him a career as a rapper if he would just waylay Ben Little and bring him to a spot where Goldberg could talk to him. When Josephson asked how to do that, Banks probably gave him a gun and told him to use his imagination.

“Now, Little would never have met with Banks, but Little couldn’t resist a student in trouble. Just after he had phoned his wife to tell her that he was on his way home, I’m thinking that Leroy Josephson flagged Little down just as he exited the civic center parking lot. Probably Little stopped for him, they talked, and eventually Leroy got into the Mercedes. Maybe Leroy was invited into the car, maybe he forced his way in. Then Leroy pulled the gun on Little.”

“Why do you assume that?”

“Why else would Little have driven all the way out to the foothills? That was the designated spot where Ryan Goldberg and Rudy Banks were waiting for them. Also, Leroy had the gun drawn when he and Little got out of the car.”

“That’s awful.”

Involuntarily, Decker rubbed his neck. “Goldberg told us that all he had wanted to do was to talk to Little, to find out if Ben loved Melinda as much as he did. He told us that Little was patient with Goldberg’s pleas. He also remarked that Little didn’t seem surprised by the affair, he didn’t even seem upset by it. In the end, Little told Goldberg that it was up to Melinda. He couldn’t make that decision for her.”

Decker shifted in his desk chair.

“This part is where Goldberg’s memory got murky. Rudy was telling him things and Leroy was telling him things and Little was telling him things.”

“What things?” Genoa asked.

“Something like…are you just going to take that? Come on, Mudd, show him who’s boss.” A pause. “It appears that Rudy wanted a confrontation between two guys who weren’t anxious to fight. But words got heated. Mudd remembered someone coming after him, and he threw a punch. The next thing that Mudd remembered was Little lying on the ground. Rudy went over to Little and felt for a pulse. He told Mudd that Little was dead.”

“From a single punch?’

“Mudd was a big guy. Rudy also could have been lying. Rudy told Mudd to put Little in the trunk of his car and he’d take care of everything. Mudd complied. Then shots rang out. Mudd claims he didn’t know who did the shooting. Just that Little was dead.”