Sandra Brown - Ricochet

“Did she ask what we want to talk to her about?” he asked DeeDee now.

“I told her it was a delicate subject and that we wanted to protect her privacy as much as possible.”

“Huh. She didn’t pursue it?”

“Nope.”

“She say anything about the judge?”

“Only that she intended to ask him to join us.”

“Shit.”

“But I dissuaded her, again hinting that she would want to keep this confidential.”

“He’ll have our hides if he finds out about it.”

DeeDee said, “I’m banking she won’t be the one to tell him. If Judge Laird is right, she never knew that he had knowledge of her affair. Why would she confess it to him now?”

“It may be the lesser of two evils. She may own up to the affair if she’s faced with an indictment.”

“Admit to committing adultery, but deny murdering Trotter.”

“Not a tough choice,” he said. “Especially if your husband has already forgiven you.”

“Hubby also knows the ins and outs of murder trials,” DeeDee said. “He knows the best defense attorneys, and price wouldn’t be an issue. The judge could save her skinny tush.”

But would he? Duncan wondered. Not if Elise’s claim that he wanted to kill her was true.

“We could clear up a lot of this if we could talk to Napoli,” DeeDee remarked, breaking into his thoughts.

“Kong says he’s got no leads. They can’t even locate his car. No airline ticket or bus ticket.”

“Boat rental?”

Duncan shook his head as his desk phone buzzed.

“Maybe Napoli was raptured, taken straight to heaven.”

“That was going to be my next guess.” He answered the phone and was informed that Mrs. Laird had arrived and was in the lobby. He covered the mouthpiece. “Where should we do this? Interrogation room?”

“Let’s keep it as friendly as possible,” DeeDee suggested. “How about right here?”

He told the receptionist that Detective Bowen would come down and escort Mrs. Laird to the VCU. While DeeDee was gone, he wedged another chair into his cramped office, then caught himself checking his shirttail and straightening his necktie. What the hell? he thought querulously. He didn’t have a date with her; this was an interrogation.

DeeDee was chattering like a magpie, making friendly small talk as she led Elise down the space that separated the detectives’ desks. Elise, on the other hand, didn’t say anything until she reached the open door of his office. “Hello, Detective Hatcher.”

“Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

He offered her a chair. DeeDee took the other. He sat down at his desk. “We-”

“Should I call a lawyer?”

“If you like,” he replied.

She glanced at DeeDee, then back at him. “Before you ask me a question, I have one for you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Why are you investigating the shooting at my home as though it’s a homicide?”

“We’re not,” DeeDee said.

But Elise’s gaze didn’t waver from his. “What do you know, or think you know, that prevents you from accepting that I shot that man in self-defense?”

“If you polled the murderers in prison, Mrs. Laird, probably ninety-nine percent of them would claim they killed in self-defense. We can’t simply take their word for it.”

“Nor mine, it seems.”

The softened pitch of her voice hinted that she was referring to more than just the question of self-defense. He hadn’t taken her word about Cato Laird wanting her dead, either. “Nor yours,” he said.

She took a steadying breath. “Why did you ask me to come here today?”

“What about the attorney?” DeeDee asked.

“First, tell me what this is about.”

“Coleman Greer.”

Caught completely off-guard, she breathed out in a gust. “What?”

“You knew the late Coleman Greer, All-Star first baseman for the Atlanta Braves.”

She darted a look toward Duncan, then addressed her nod to DeeDee. “I knew him well. We were friends.”

“Friends?”

“Yes.”

No one said anything for several moments. Duncan and DeeDee waited to see if she would elaborate, but she appeared shell-shocked. Finally she looked at Duncan. “What about Coleman?”

Before he could answer, DeeDee said, “He was an amazing athlete.”

“He was very talented.”

“Were you a fan?”

“More his friend than a fan. I don’t follow the sport that closely.”

“How did you two meet?”

“We grew up together.” Seeing their surprise, she continued. “Junior high. High school. We were from the same small town in central Georgia.”

“Were you high school sweethearts?”

“No, Detective Bowen. Friends.”

“Did you maintain this friendship after high school?”

“That was difficult. Coleman got a baseball scholarship. After college he was drafted into the minors. I’m sure you know all this,” she said to Duncan.

“I know about his baseball career. I don’t know about his personal relationships. That’s what we want to know. About your relationship with him.”

“Why? What relevance does it have?”

“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”

“There’s nothing to determine,” she said. “How did you even know that Coleman and I were friends?”

“We have our ways.”

It was such an inane statement that Duncan echoed the look of derision that Elise shot DeeDee. He said, “You lost contact with him while he was in college and the minor leagues?”

“Playing baseball consumed all his time. We sent birthday cards, Christmas greetings. But beyond that, we didn’t stay in close contact.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

She looked away, said quietly, “A few days before he died.”

“Before he killed himself,” DeeDee said bluntly.

Head lowered, Elise nodded.

“Did he give you any indication that he planned to end his life?”

She raised her head and glared at DeeDee. “If he had, don’t you think I’d have done something to stop him?”

“I don’t know. Would you?”

DeeDee’s harsh question left her dumbfounded. She stared at DeeDee for several beats, then turned to Duncan. “I don’t understand this. Why are you asking me questions about Coleman?”

“They’re painful for you?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“He was my friend!”

“And lover.”

“What?”

“I need to repeat it?”

“No, but you’re wrong. We weren’t lovers. We were friends.” DeeDee made a snorting sound of disbelief, but Elise ignored it. Her attention was focused on Duncan. “I thought this was about Gary Ray Trotter. What does Coleman have to do with that? With anything?”

“When did you reestablish contact with him? More contact than birthday cards and such.”

“He called and invited me to come see him in Atlanta.”

“Was your husband included in this reunion?”

“No, this was right when Coleman started playing for the Braves. I hadn’t even met Cato. Later, after I was married, I invited Coleman to our home for dinner. Cato is a Braves fan, so he was delighted to learn that Coleman and I were friends.”

“They liked each other?”

“Very well.”

“Except for that one dinner, did they ever socialize?”

“Coleman arranged for us to sit in a box at one of the home games. We met him afterward for dinner. As far as I know, those are the only two occasions he and Cato were together.”

Duncan got up from his chair and sat on the corner of his desk, so he’d have the advantage of height and would be looking down at her. “You know very well that they never saw each other again, because it would’ve been messy to have your husband and your lover-”