Killer's Choice

'What has Theodore Boone done in connexion with getting custody of his daughter Monica?' Kling asked.

'I don't see what bearing that has on the case you're investigating, Mr Kling,' Dobberly said. His voice, in complete contradiction to his fragile appearance, was loud and booming. He spoke as if he were addressing a jury. He spoke as if every word he uttered were the key word in his summing up.

'You don't have to see the bearing, Mr Dobberly,' Kling said gently. 'Only the police do.'

Dobberly smiled.

'Will you tell me, sir?' Kling asked.

'What did Mr Boone tell you?'

'Counsellor,' Kling said gently, and Dobberly reared back slightly at the word, 'this is a murder investigation. Let's not play footsie.'

'Well, Mr Kling,' Dobberly said, still smiling, and Kling repeated, 'This is a murder investigation,' and the smile left Dobberly's face.

'What do you want to know?' Dobberly asked.

'What's he doing to get his child?'

'Now?'

'Yes, now.'

'Mrs Travail refuses to release the child. Under the law, Ted… Mr Boone can take forcible possession of her. He prefers not to handle it that way. For the child's sake. We have asked instead for an ex parte court order. We may have it any time within the next week or so. That's it.'

'When did you apply for the court order?'

'The day after Annie was killed.'

'Had Mr Boone made any prior attempts to gain custody of the child?' Kling asked.

Dobberly hesitated.

'Had he?'

'Well, they've been divorced for almost two years, you know.'

'Yes.'

'I had handled Ted's law affairs before that. When they decided to get a divorce, they naturally came to me. I tried to prevent it. But… well, people have their own reasons, I guess. Annie went to Las Vegas.'

'Go on.'

'Ted came to me about six months later. He said he wanted Monica.'

'You told him the courts had awarded the child to Annie, and that was that. Am I right?'

'Well, no, not exactly. That's not exactly what I told him.'

'What did you tell him?'

'I told him that the courts have been known to reverse their decision regarding custody. If, for example, the mother is shown to be unfit.'

'How do you mean?'

'Unfit, Mr Kling. If, for example, she is raising the child in a house of prostitution. Or if, for example, it is shown that she is a drug addict, or an alcoholic.'

'But this was not the case with Annie.'

'Well…' Dobberly hesitated.

'Well?'

'Mr Kling, I always liked Annie. I don't like to talk against her. I'm telling you this only because my client felt he could base a case upon it. When we made our appeal…'

'You made an appeal?'

'Yes. In an attempt to get a reversal of decision.'

'When was this?'

'We entered the appeal almost a year ago.'

'What happened?'

Dobberly shrugged. 'Court calendars are jammed, Mr Kling. We were still waiting when Annie was killed. I have withdrawn the appeal. There is no need for it now. Mr Boone has the legal right to that child now.'

'This appeal,' Kling said. 'On what was it based?'

'We were trying to show that Annie was an unfit mother. You must understand, Mr Kling, that if she failed to dress the child properly, or if they lived in a poor neighbourhood, or if she had too many—ah… boy friends…well, none of these would be sufficient reasons to support a claim of unfitness. You understand that.'

'Yes,' Kling said. 'What was unfit about Annie?'

Dobberly sighed heavily. 'She was a hopeless drunkard,' he said.

'Boone never mentioned that,' Kling said. 'Neither did her mother.' Kling thought a moment. 'Did this have any connexion with the fact that she worked in a liquor store?'

'Perhaps. I haven't seen Annie since the divorce. She was not a drunkard then.'

'Then she became one between the time of the divorce and the time you made your appeal, is that right?'

'Apparently. Yes. Unless her alcoholism was kept secret during the time I knew her. I wouldn't know about that.'

'You know Boone well, am I right?'

'Fairly well, yes.'

'He told me he made no attempt to see either Annie or the child until six months after the divorce. Yet he claims he loved both very much. Can you offer any explanation for his behaviour?'

'Certainly,' Dobberly said.

'What?'

'He was hoping he'd get her back. Annie, I mean. He stayed away from her and the child because he thought she'd miss him, thought she'd want him again, thought she'd "come to her senses," as he put it.' Dobberly shrugged sadly. 'It didn't work that way, Mr Kling. And finally, Ted faced the facts. It was all over. That was when he decided he wanted Monica. If he couldn't have Annie, he would at least have the child. That's the way his thinking went, Mr Kling.'

'I see. Have you ever met Mrs Travail?'

'Ted's mother-in-law? Never. From what he says about her, she seems to be the mother-in-law who's in all the nasty jokes one hears.'

'She speaks very highly of him.'

'Does she?' Dobberly raised his eyebrows. 'I'm surprised.'

'Why?'

'Well, as I said, Ted seems to dislike her intensely.' Dobberly paused. 'You don't seriously believe he killed Annie, do you?'

'I don't seriously believe anything yet,' Kling said.

'He didn't kill that girl, Mr Kling, believe me. I'm willing to bet my life on that. The boy's harmless. Annie Boone took a lot of happiness out of his life. He was only trying to recapture a little of it by getting his daughter back. He would no more do murder than you or I.'

'I would, Mr Dobberly,' Kling said.

'In the line of duty, yes. Legal murder. If you had to. But Ted Boone didn't have to.'

'How else would he have gotten his daughter back?'

'I already told you, Mr Kling. Annie was a drunkard.'

'I have only your word for that, so far. And you admitted you hadn't seen her since the divorce. I hardly think you'd make a capable witness as to whether or not she was a drunkard.'

'Ted can tell you,' Dobberly said.

'If Ted Boone committed murder, he can tell me a lot of things, all of which might be untrue.'

'He's not a criminal type. I used to be a criminal lawyer many years ago, when I first began practice. Those were booming days for criminals. I was very busy. I got to know criminal types. Surely, Mr Kling, you are familiar with criminal types.'

'Surely, Mr Dobberly, you are familiar with the fact that most murders are not committed by people with previous criminal records.'

'Yes. But I do not feel that Ted Boone is capable of murder.'

'I hope you're right. What kind of a girl was Anne?'

'Pretty, vibrant.'

'Overly intelligent?'

'Average, I would say.'

'Overly quick?'

Dobberly shrugged. 'Average.'

'Would you say she had outgrown Mr Boone?'

'No, I don't think so. They both seemed to have grown in social experience. Naturally, I didn't have very much to do with them. That is, I only saw them occasionally. Whenever Ted needed the services of an attorney. It was Anne, you know, who wanted the divorce. Ted didn't. I tried to keep them together. I always do. But she wanted it. It was a strange thing. They seemed very well matched.'