“You want to snag her now?” asked White.
“No, let the lady have a nice spa treatment. She might be in a better mood to answer our questions.”
White looked at him in surprise. “Decker, I didn’t expect that nuance from you.”
“Yeah, I actually shocked myself with that one.”
White parked the car and they settled down to wait.
“How is Alex doing?” asked White.
“Seems to be doing fine,” he replied. If conflicted.
“Nice of her to score this lead for us.”
“Yes, it was.”
“Guess she’d do anything for you, huh?”
He glanced over at her. “And where exactly is this going?”
“Just making an observation.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What do you expect Fellows to tell us?”
“Everything.”
“Seriously?”
“Why not shoot for the stars?”
“And end up always being disappointed?”
“There are far worse things in life than that.”
White was about to launch a retort but said, “I guess you’re right about that.”
An hour and a half later, Fellows walked out of the spa, her skin glowing, her fingernails and toenails painted aquamarine, and her hair shiny.
“I wonder how much all of that cost,” said White.
Decker opened his car door. “Who cares? Let’s go swing for the fences.”
Chapter 74
The flash of their creds made Fellows’s large eyes widen even more.
“You were the one who left a message last night. Look, why are you harassing me? Talk to my accountants. They’re handling everything. I just spend the money, I have no idea where it comes from. And I know nothing about taxes!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said White. “We’re investigating a series of murders.”
Fellows almost fell against her car. “Murders? Why the hell do you want to talk to me about murders?”
“Maybe we can go someplace very private and talk it through?” suggested Decker. “Like your home?”
They followed her back to her house, driving through the open gate after her.
“Wow,” said White as they pulled up in front of the three-story mansion set right on the water. “So this is how the other half lives.”
“It’s not half,” replied Decker. “It’s more like a handful.”
They were led inside by Fellows and passed a woman in a maid’s uniform. “Coffee, Jane, by the pool,” Fellows said to her.
“Yes ma’am.”
Decker looked around and noted a large shelf full of photos. He walked over and ran his gaze along them. “Your father?” he said, indicating one large photo of a group of people.
She crossed the room and joined him. “Yes. This actually is his home and all of his things are still out.” She gazed at her father’s picture. “He looked every bit the politician, didn’t he?”
“Were looks deceiving?” asked Decker.
“Did you ever watch the film The Candidate, with Robert Redford?”
“Yes.”
“Well, God bless him, that was my father. He was a delightful man. Loved to campaign, loved glad-handing people, loved the limelight, but was clueless about what the job entailed and didn’t want to put in the work. He never managed to write and pass a single piece of legislation in all his years on Capitol Hill. I’m not telling tales out of school, it was common knowledge.”
“And yet they reelected him over and over,” said Decker.
“Seems to be the norm now, doesn’t it? Okay, let’s get to it, shall we?”
They followed Fellows out to the rear lanai, where an infinity pool was situated along with luxurious plantings, furnishings, and sculptures. Just beyond was an enormous dock, where a boat large enough to qualify as a yacht was tethered.
“So, you have tax problems?” said White, looking around as they sat down at a table.
“Everyone in my income bracket has tax problems. As I said, my accountants are handling that.”
“And your husband?”
“Divorced. That’s why I have tax problems. My father inherited a lot of money. He had great financial advisors who turned that inheritance into a lot more money. He set up trust funds for me starting when I was a little girl. I was a millionaire many times over by the time I was a toddler. My ex-husband did his best to make me poor. But because of my prenup he’s poor, and I’m just working through some issues. I’ll still be rich when I die. Now, why are you here?”
Decker gave a brief description of the case before getting to the night in Miami in 1981. He did not mention Kanak Roe.
“Were you there with your father?” asked Decker.
She said sharply, “Where are you trying to go with all this? My father has Alzheimer’s.”
“We know. And where we’re going with this is, if you were there with your father, do you have any recollection of anything unusual that happened the night of the speech?”
“Okay, yes, I was there. My father was originally from New York, but we moved to Florida when I was little. My parents liked the weather, and the taxes were a lot lower than New York’s. We lived in West Palm at the time. I traveled with my father to Miami. I wanted to meet the president. I was only fifteen.”
“So, anything unusual?”
“Unusual how?”
“Anything out of the ordinary.”
“Not that I can think of. The president gave his speech, then my father followed him with his remarks. There was the photo op and shaking the hands of all the big donors. I got to meet Reagan. He was quite charming. And looked quite robust, considering he’d almost been killed not that long before. Then the president left. No one could leave before him — that’s standard procedure, you know.”
“And then what?”
“And then I went back to the hotel with one of my father’s aides. Then I went to sleep.”
“And your father?”
“I’m sure he came along later. He had some more people to glad-hand.”
“But you didn’t see him that night?”
The maid brought the coffees out and then departed.
Fellows took a sip of hers. “I don’t think I saw him after I got back to the hotel. I mean, I wasn’t a little child he needed to tuck in.” She paused and added, “Why do you think anything unusual happened that night?”
When she said this last part her gaze dipped, and her hand shook a bit, Decker noted.
White said, “That night a Secret Service agent saw something that, let’s just say, changed his life completely. He was never the same since.”
Fellows looked startled. “A Secret Service agent? You mean from Reagan’s detail?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not suggesting that the president—”
“No, of course not,” said Decker. “Reagan was in bed long before then, surrounded by his protection detail. And the agent in question was off duty. Some of his fellow agents went out for dinner and drinks, but he didn’t. He stayed at the hotel.”
Fellows looked thoughtful. “And that’s when you think he saw something unusual?”
“Yes.”
Decker watched her closely. “But since you never left your room and saw nothing, I guess you can’t help us...?”
White added, “And that means the recent murders we’re investigating, I guess the guilty people go free.”
Fellows shot her a stern look. “So now you’re trying to guilt me into talking, I guess?”
“We’re just trying to get to the truth,” replied Decker.