Harlan Coben - Drop Shot

"Thank you."

"I've seen this kinda thing before, Bolitar. The girl is going to need help."

"I know."

"Any chance she offed him herself? Frankly I wouldn't give a shit but…"

Myron shook his head. "She was locked in from the outside with a chair. It couldn't have been her."

Dimonte gave the toothpick a little chew. "Thoughtful killer," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't want the girl to see what happened. He made sure she had an alibi by locking her in with the chair. And most of all he saved her from going through any more of Menansi's hell." He looked at Myron. "I'd probably pin a medal on the guy if he hadn't also killed Valerie Simpson."

Myron said, "Me too." It made him wonder.

The office was only about ten blocks away. Myron decided to walk it. Cars sat completely still on Sixth Avenue, though the lights were green and there was no visible construction. Everyone honked their horns. Like this ever does any good. A well-groomed man got out of a taxi. He wore a pin-striped suit, a gold Tag Heuer watch, and Gucci shoes. He also wore a green pinwheel hat and plastic Spock ears. New York – my kind of town.

Myron ignored the fumes and tried to think the whole thing through. The popular theory – the main theory, if you will – had gone something like this: Valerie Simpson had been abused by Pavel Menansi. Regaining her mental strength, she had decided to expose him. This exposure would have been detrimental to the financial well-being of TruPro and the Ache brothers! So they eliminated her before she could do any damage. It all added up. It all made sense.

Until this morning.

A major monkey wrench had been tossed into the main theory: Pavel Menansi had been murdered too, in a fashion similar to Valerie Simpson. Under the main theory, the murders of Valerie Simpson and Pavel Menansi were at cross-purposes. Why kill Valerie Simpson to protect Pavel Menansi, only to go ahead and kill Pavel Menansi? It didn't mesh. It wasn't profitable for TruPro or the Aches.

Of course, there was the possibility that Frank Ache had decided Menansi was too big a risk, that exposure was imminent and losses might as well be cut right now. But if Frank had wanted Pavel dead, he would have had Aaron do it. Pavel had been murdered between midnight and one. Aaron was dead by midnight. Myron mulled this over a bit and decided that Aaron's being dead made it extremely unlikely he was the killer. And moreover, if Frank had intended to kill Pavel, there would have been no reason to scare Myron off with the attack on Jessica.

On the street in front of him a pale woman with a bullhorn screamed that she had recently met Jesus face-to-face. She stuffed a pamphlet into Myron's hand.

"Jesus sent me back with this message," she said.

Myron nodded, glanced down at the ink smears on the pamphlet. "Too bad he didn't give you a decent printer."

She gave him a funny look and went back to her bullhorn. Myron stuffed the pamphlet into his pocket and continued walking. His mind returned to the problem at hand.

Frank Ache wasn't behind Pavel's murder, he thought. To the contrary, Frank Ache wanted Pavel saved because Pavel meant mucho dinero to TruPro. Frank Ache had even brought Aaron in to protect Pavel. He had ordered Aaron to harm Jessica and to protect Pavel. Killing TruPro's main tennis drawing card would make no sense.

So what did that leave us?

Two possibilities. One, we were dealing with two separate killers with two separate agendas. Seeing an opportunity, Pavel's killer had left behind a Feron's bag to put the blame on Valerie's killer. Or two, there was some other linkage between Valerie and Pavel, one that was not readily apparent. Myron favored this possibility, and of course it led back to Myron's earlier obsession:

The murder of Alexander Cross.

Both Valerie Simpson and Pavel Menansi had been at the Old Oaks tennis club that night six years ago. Both had been attending the party for Alexander Cross. But so what? Let's suppose Jessica had been right this morning. Suppose Valerie Simpson had seen something that night, maybe even the identity of the real murderer. Suppose she'd been about to reveal the truth. Suppose that was why she'd been killed. How would that tie in to Pavel Menansi? Even if he had seen the same thing, he hadn't opened his mouth in years. Why would Pavel start now? It's not as though he'd come forward to help poor Valerie. So what is the connection? And what about Duane Richwood? How did he fit into this equation, if at all? And Deanna Yeller? And where was Errol Swade? Was he still alive?

He headed east three blocks and then turned down Park Avenue. The majestic (if not ostentatious) Helmsley Palace or Helmsley Castle or Helmsley whatever sat straight ahead, seemingly in the middle of the street; the MetLife building huddled over it like a protective parent. For eons the MetLife building had been something of a New York landmark known as the Pan Am building. Myron couldn't get used to the change. Every time he turned the corner he still expected to see the Pan Am logo.

Activity was brisk in the front of Myron's building. He headed past the modern sculpture that adorned the entrance. The sculpture was hideous. It looked very much like a giant intestinal tract. Myron had looked for a name on the sculpture once, but in a typical New York move, someone had pried off the name plaque. What someone did with an ugly sculpture's name plaque was beyond comprehension. Maybe they sold it. Maybe there was an underground market for name plaques from works of art – for those who couldn't afford actual stolen artworks and thus settled for the plaques.

Interesting theory.

He entered the lobby. Three Lock-Horne hostesses sat on stools behind a tall counter, smiling plastically. They wore enough makeup to double as cosmetic counter girls at Bloomies. Of course, they didn't wear the official white lab coat of genuine Bloomie counter girls, so you could tell they weren't professional makeup people. Still, all three were attractive – model wanna-bes who found this more enjoyable (and put them in touch with more potential bigwigs) than waiting tables. Myron walked past them, smiled, nodded. None gave him the eye. Hmm. They must know how committed he was to Jessica. Yeah, that must be it.

When the elevator opened on his floor, he walked toward Esperanza. Her white blouse was a nice contrast against her dark, flawless skin. She'd have been great on one of those Bain de Soleil commercials. The Santa Fe tan without any sun.

"Hi," he said.

Esperanza cupped the phone against her shoulder. "It's Jake. You want to take it?"

He nodded. She handed him the phone.

"Hey, Jake."

"Some girl did a partial autopsy on Curtis Yeller," Jake said. "She'll see you."

Myron said, "Some girl?"

"Mea culpa for not being politically sensitive," Jake said. "Sometimes I still refer to myself as black."

"That's because you're too lazy to say African American," Myron said.

"Is it African or Afro?"

"African now," Myron said.

"When in doubt," Jake said, "ask a honky."

"Honky," Myron repeated. "Now there's a word you don't hear much anymore."

"Damn shame too. Anyway, the assistant M.E. is Amanda West She seemed anxious to talk." Jake gave him the address.

"What about the cop?" Myron asked. "Jimmy Blaine?"

"No dice."

"He still with force?"

"Nope. He retired."

"You have his address?"

"Yes," Jake said.

Silence. Esperanza kept her eyes on her computer screen.

"Could you give it to me?" Myron asked.

"Nope."

"I won't hassle him, Jake."

"I said no."

"You know I can find the address on my own."

"Fine, but I'm not giving it to you. Jimmy is one of the good guys, Myron."