Stephen White - Cold Case

Satoshi continued, and a change sang in her voice, indicating that she was surprised by the memories she was having.

"You know what else? I saw it again on the news a few days later. Tami's mom was driving it. It was a… I don't know what kind. But it was white. A white car. That was the one that Mariko had said that she liked. It belonged to Mrs. Franklin." She smiled to herself and added, "I haven't thought of any of this stuff in years." "You saw what?" Sam and I asked simultaneously.

"The Franklins' car was parked down by the stable. I guess Mrs. Franklin had come out to the ranch while we were inside with Dr. Welle" Sam pressed.

"Was Gloria there? Mrs. Welle? When you were at the ranch, before or after meeting with Dr. Welle, did you see Mrs. Welle?"

Satoshi shook her head.

"No, we didn't see anyone else while we were there. But I never knew Mrs. Welle. She's the one who was murdered in that house, right?

She was the one who was shot?"

I interjected, "Yes, she's the one who was killed there. Satoshi, there were housekeepers at Dr. Welle's ranch-two of them. Women. Did you see either of them that day?"

"No." She didn't hesitate.

"What about cowboys? There were two hands who worked at the ranch full-time.

Did you see either of them?"

"No. No one else. Only Dr. Welle." She pursed her lips.

"What are you two thinking? Are you thinking that Dr. Welle had called Mrs. Franklin and told her what Joey had done to me and that's why she came over to the ranch? I don't think that's possible; Dr. Welle was with me the whole time.

I don't recall him leaving the room at all. I didn't see him call anyone." I said, "No, that's not what I was thinking."

Satoshi moved her tongue between her teeth for a moment. She cocked her head to one side.

"Are you suggesting Dr. Welle and Joeys mom were-No. Is that what you're thinking? That they were having an affair? That that's why she was at the ranch?" Sam shrugged. I said, "I don't know that they were having an affair. But I guess that it would explain some things."

"Like?" Satoshi was tired. She should have been able to answer this question herself.

I said, "Like why Dr. Welle never encouraged you to report what Joey did to the police."

Satoshi wanted to use the bathroom before we locked up the flower shop. As soon as I heard the door close behind her, I said to Sam, "Every time I blink my eyes, it appears that Raymond Welle is deeper and deeper into this mess."

"Go on"

"If he's screwing Joey's mother, he's going to have a difficult time being objective about her kid raping someone."

Sam shrugged.

"Sure. But so what? It still doesn't tell me why that would have led him to kill the two girls."

"What if Mrs. Franklin and Welle were having an affair and the two girls found out about it? "

"Yeah? So? You think they put their heads together and decided it would be easier to cover up a double murder than to cover up an affair? You think parents go around murdering their children after the kids discover that the parents have been sneaking around doing a Lewinsky? I don't think so-there'd be dead kids everywhere." I stifled another yawn and suppressed an argument that the number of dead kids in the world was way too high for my comfort level already. Sam appraised me critically before he said, "You know, I'm beginning to get the impression that you don't think too well after midnight. You're sounding kind of goofy."

I was feeling a little bit defensive.

"You have to admit it's a mess. The whole situation."

"Of course it's a mess. But what does that tell us? Nothing. You're out looking for suspects, Alan. It doesn't work that way. Look for evidence. We found some evidence tonight-evidence that Mrs. Franklin was at the ranch. That may help lead to a suspect. It may not. It may be Welle. It may not."

Satoshi walked back into the room. She'd apparently been listening to the argument. She said, "I told him pretty much the same thing about Joey, Sam" She faced me.

"You know, Alan, you've already told me that you've been suspicious that Raymond Welle might have been sleeping with my sister, right?"

"It wasn't exactly my accusation. But yes."

"And now you're considering the possibility that he was having an affair with Joey's mom. Right?"

I wanted Satoshi to sit down, but she remained standing. I said, "Yes. That's one conclusion."

"So are both suppositions true? Or only one? And which one? His motivation would change, depending on who he was sleeping with, right?"

"Right." Sam had been correct. I wasn't thinking well.

"Maybe he was sleeping with both of them. I don't know."

"And maybe neither?"

"I suppose that's possible, too."

Sam and Satoshi walked down Pearl toward the Mall and, I guessed, toward Sam's old Jeep Cherokee. The downtown bars had just emptied out and there were a few dozen pedestrians still loitering as though something interesting was about to happen. I had parked on Ninth in front of where Treats used to be. The building that housed the bakery was now history. I still missed the wonderful breakfast rolls and muffins at Treats.

And I missed the trifle at Southern Exposure. And the grits at the original Dots Diner. And the omelettes at the Aristocrat. The Irish stew at Shannon's.

Fred's wonderful pie. And the brats on brown bread at Dons Cheese and Sausage.

When I was finished reminiscing about the Boulder that existed before Subway and Starbucks, and before the Gap and Banana Republic, I realized I wasn't as convinced as Sam that Welle wasn't implicated in at least five different ways in the murder of the two dead girls. But I was also exhausted. I had to force myself to concentrate to remember the final part of Satoshi's story-the part when she described to Sam and me what had happened after Mariko had driven her home from her visit to see Raymond Welle at the Silky Road Ranch.

Satoshi said that Mariko had folded her into the front seat of the car as though she were a small child. She took her home and she did what she could to offer comfort. She brought her tea and she smuggled some American candy into her room.

Satoshi thought it had been a Three Musketeers bar. Satoshi remembered that she had really liked them when she was young.

Sam, I could tell, was pleased at the detail of her recollection.

Mariko had plans to see Tami that night. Satoshi said that at some point her sister left her alone in her room and went to get ready to go see her friend.

Satoshi watched out the window as Mariko walked away to meet Tami. Satoshi didn't know where the two friends were supposed to meet.

She never saw her sister again.

I sucked down coffee the next morning while Lauren stood at the sink with her back to me and grumbled that she wished she could do what I was doing. I growled back, "What? Stay out till three o'clock and feel terrible in the morning?" She showed no sympathy as she said, "No. Have real coffee for breakfast. With caffeine."

After my second cup I offered an apology for my intemperance and gave her a quick we-both-have-to-get-to-work rendition of the previous night's marathon with Sam and Satoshi. She found the possibility of a romantic liaison between her ex-brother-in-law and Cathy Franklin intriguing. But she didn't have time to discuss it; she had to get to a breakfast meeting.

Her purse in one hand, her briefcase in the other, she said, "Oh, I almost forgot, Flynn Coe called after you left last night. She said she had a present for you. The mystery man? The one Dorothy Levin mentioned in the note she scribbled on the fax? They managed to identify him through hotel phone records.

His name is Winston Mcgarrity. His phone number is by the phone in the bedroom.

Bye. Love you. Oh, and something big is breaking with the forensics on the case.