“That's it,” she said. “If we find that, I'll just bet we find out a lot more at the same time.”
Time being short before the wake, we knew we were going to have to target one particular individual first. Did we do one of the innocuous ones first, or go for one who would produce a useful effect that we could use later? We decided to go for the latter.
“So, who first?”
She thought a second. “You think that Holly, a/k/a Huck, is the strongest personality up there?”
“Well, her or Kevin. She strikes me as the more stable one.”
“I'll go with Huck,” said Hester. “I think Kevin might be her most enthusiastic follower, though. And he might be her 'muscle' with the rest. Strong ally, you know.”
That seemed possible.
“So,” I said, “we concentrate on Holly slash Huck for our break?”
“Don't you think?” said Hester.
“Well, sure,” I said with some spirit. “Unless it turns out we have to concentrate on somebody else.”
It's nice to have a plan.
We relieved the two reserves that were stationed just outside the gate. They were curious about why we'd been summoned to the base of the bluff, and we told them that there had just been some weirdo up on the hillside. It had the advantage of being the truth.
They showed us two little plastic vampires, a small plastic gravestone, and a large paper bat.
“Where in hell did you get those?” I asked.
They'd found them hanging from the mailbox, and from the gate pillars. One of the women in the Mansion had pointed them out. Probably placed there by local high school kids. Halloween was close enough that the things were probably on sale all over. It was to be expected because of the coverage, I guess. I was glad it wasn't more than that.
“There are pictures of them in place,” said one of the reserves, a man named Vinton.
I was impressed that they'd thought to take photos, and said as much.
“Oh, it wasn't us,” he said. “One of the TV stations from Cedar Rapids had a crew up when we got here. They got 'em on tape.”
Great.
We radioed in when we got out of our car at the Mansion. It was 14:00 on the button. By 14:02 our plan was already in trouble.
Huck greeted us at the door, dressed in a black turtleneck and black slacks and shoes. Appropriate for the day. I noticed the tattoos on her face were gone. She ushered us into the parlor, with an explanation ready.
“I'm really sorry, but Hanna can't join us. She's not feeling very well, migraine I think, and she's lying down upstairs.”
No problem. Although I made a mental note that Hanna might just be the weakest link, and being kept out of reach. Sometimes it bothers me, that I think that way all the time. She could just as easily be having a real migraine.
“And, I'm sorry, but Toby's still taking a shower; he got up late.”
Two down. The two I'd have picked as the greatest liabilities. Interesting.
“That's just fine,” said Hester. “No problem.”
As we seated ourselves, me on the couch, and Hester in one of the overstuffed leather chairs, we were already down from five to Huck, Kevin and Melissa. So much for approaching the group as a whole.
“We would really like to get to the wake as soon as we can,” said Huck. “We feel we should be there for as long as possible.” She smiled, almost apologetically and, I thought, quite sincerely. “Edie's been our friend for quite a while.”
They'd arranged to limit the interview by controlling both the number of individuals present and the time spent. Not bad. I remembered what William Chester had said about them not going to cooperate, and gave him some points.
“We'd like to go, too,” said Hester. “Since Edie was Lamar's niece.” “Of course,” said Huck. “So, then, what can we do to help?”
“Well, for starters,” I said, “why didn't you let us know that Peel was up on the third floor?” I was really eager to see who was going to field that one.
“We didn't know he was there,” said Kevin, “and I don't think it's fair you should assume that we did.” “But you knew he and Edie were meeting up there sometimes, didn't you?” asked Hester.
“Sometimes, maybe,” he said, and made his first mistake. He was looking squarely at Hester, in order to appear sincere, and missed the look he got from Huck, which would have told him to let her speak. As it was, all Huck had gotten out was “Wuh-” before being cut off.
I spoke very quickly. “Sometimes in her room, sometimes the third floor, then?”
“Usually her room,” he said. “That's why we had no reason to suspect him to be on the third.”
I smiled at Huck. Just to let her know that I knew, too.
“But sometimes on the third floor?”
“Sure,” he said, just as Huck interjected, “We really don't know.”
“Anywhere else?” I asked.
This time it was only Huck, who said, “Now, wait. We don't really know those things. We're guessing,” and she shot Kevin a glance.
“Is there a reason,” I asked, “why you aren't letting Kevin speak for himself?”
“I am speaking for myself,” said Kevin. A little too quickly. And, again nearly simultaneously, Huck said, “I am letting him speak.”
I held up my hand. “Just a second. Whoa. One at a time.”
They exchanged irritated looks.
“Let's start again. Why don't you guys just listen up for a second, here, and I'll tell you some of what we know, and then ask some questions.”
They were quiet; I'll give them that.
“We've already established your knowledge of Peel.” That had been pure luck. There had always been the chance that Toby had tried to cover by giving us a wrong name. “We've already established your knowledge of a relationship between Peel and Edie.” I looked at the three of them. “We've already established that you knew that he was sometimes on the third floor.” I gave them a second to digest that. “I want to remind you that this is a murder investigation, and if you start to try to backpedal now, you may give the impression of complicity.”
Kevin proceeded, smoothly, to make his second mistake. “Let me remind you,” he said, “that you have neglected to advise us of our Constitutional rights.”
I looked at Hester. It had to be her. She nodded, and looked coldly at Kevin.
“A Miranda advisory,” she said, evenly, “is triggered by a custodial interrogation.” She didn't blink. “That's two complete and separate elements. Custody. Interrogation. This, right now,” she explained, “is a noncustodial interview. So, I'd suggest you lose the smart-ass attitude and pay close attention.”
I watched Huck and Melissa's reaction very carefully. They were why Hester had to be the one to put Kevin in his place. So far, it looked like they were getting the hint.
Kevin took the bait.
“Don't condescend to me,” he said. “I'm no fool.”
Hester made a little tent of her fingers, resting her elbows on the arms of her chair. “Want a second to consider the fact you're the only one in the room who had to say that?” she asked.
Huck jumped in and rescued him. That was fine. The fact that she had to do so wasn't lost on anybody. “Wait,” she said. “Like you said a second ago, let's just sort of start over, okay?”
“Sure,” I said. I was becoming fascinated, watching Kevin try to stare Hester down. I reached across the coffee table, and tapped him on the knee. He flinched, and looked at me.
“In all sincerity, I think you're not quite understanding what's going on here. Someone has been killed, and we're trying to get to the bottom of it. Someone you knew pretty well. Possibly while you were here. That's pretty weighty stuff.” I leaned back. “This isn't a game.”
“I'm not playing games,” said Kevin.
“Then it strikes me, Kevin,” said Hester, “that you're being very nonchalant about the death of someone who lived in the same house with you.”
“I'm sorry to have upset you,” said Kevin blandly.
“We're not upset,” I said, making some notes on my pad, “so much as we're curious about a lack of reaction.”