“Why?”
“Because I had already shot him.”
Chapter 3
Ray scanned the circle of windows that looked down on the pool, certain the entire town was watching and had heard what she said. At first, he could only stare, giving her a look a father would give a child. He grabbed her arm. “To your room, now—fast!” She led the way up the steps to her second floor room.
The motel room was dimly lit, heavy drapes drawn. She blocked his hand when he reached for the light switch. “Don’t spoil the mood.” She tossed her sunglasses on the nightstand, kicked off her sandals, let her hair fall loose, and got onto the bed. She adjusted the bikini and leaned back casually against a mound of pillows. “I liked your dimly lighted bedroom when we made love at your place last weekend.”
“I didn’t have a lamp.” He leaned against the desk, away from the bed. That was as close as he dared. Was she wild enough to kill a second man? “Now call the police!”
“Don’t shout. I’m sorry now I killed him, but it’s not as if anyone knows I did it. Nobody even knows I was there.”
“Well everyone knows I was here. You had us down there chitchatting about your bikini. Call them now.” In a high-pitched voice he said, “Yes, Officer, that’s the man who was sitting by the pool with the bikini murderer.”
“No! I don’t want to get involved.”
“A bit late for that, Loraine.”
“What I meant was they don’t know I’m involved.”
“Did you give a second thought to getting me involved? I can’t believe this. Of course, they’re going to catch you. You didn’t kill a stranger, you knew this guy. You’d be a suspect in any case. Just as I’m now a suspect because I know you. Know you? Hell, I slept with you. I slept with a murderer.”
“Do you have to use that word? Well, what do you want?”
“I want the clock turned back. I haven't been here, you haven't seen me, nobody has seen me, and I haven’t been out of my apartment all morning.” He wanted to shake her by the shoulders. “And I want you to put on some clothes.”
“In a minute, I’m still a little warm.”
“So, what happened?”
“Well, Tammy Jerrold is my girlfriend and Sonny Barner is one of her men friends. She’s popular if you get my drift. When I went to Tammy’s place, Norma Martin was already there. Norma’s her best friend, after me of course. We saw Tammy and felt so sad for her. You should have seen her. Norma told her to let it go. She and Tammy are truly a pair, shuffling men back and forth. But I couldn’t stand it. Men shouldn’t do that. I was mad.”
“You went after him.”
“I got his address and went to his house to tell him off. I figured it’s the least he had coming. Didn’t want him to get away with it by claiming she agreed or something, you know. Well, he got mad at me. Can you believe it? The rapist, or whatever you call him, gets mad at me. He told me to get the hell out of there. We started arguing and when I didn’t leave he got his gun out.”
“You stood there, he pointed a gun at you?”
“Yeah, but guns don’t bother me, grew up with them. You should have seen the expression on his face when I just grabbed the damn thing. Bastard was shot with his own gun. Now that’s some sort of poetic something.”
A wild story but it described self-defense. Ray felt slightly better.
“I know all about guns. My daddy had guns.” She pointed to a small box resting on top of an overnight bag against the wall. “That one’s about as small and light a .38 you’re going to find. Feels good to a woman. Don’t bother with peashooters, that’s what daddy called .22s, not enough smack. Take a look.” She pointed to the glossy cigar-box-size carton sitting in plain sight.
Ray was startled. “The gun’s in there?”
“No, no, that’s a different gun, that’s my gun. Bought it yesterday. Was going to use it to shoot him but got scared. As it turned out, I didn’t need to buy it anyway.”
Ray turned on the desk lamp and carefully picked up the new gun box by the corners. On the top was a multi-color picture of a small revolver nestled in the folds of an American flag. Printed across were the words Ladysmith Special. Cautiously he opened the box, handling it by the edges. Inside he saw a small revolver, only about six inches long, wrapped in plastic and nestled in Styrofoam. It appeared the gun hadn’t been fired, never even unpacked.
“You say this gun has nothing to do with the shooting. Where’s the actual murder weapon—as they say?”
“Guess it’s still there, beside Barner. Should we go get it?”
“What’s this ‘we’ stuff? Why did you bring that new gun with you here?”
“Would look funny if they found it at my place, I’d have to explain.”
“The police could be swarming your place right now.”
“Don’t need it now. Maybe I’ll take it back to the store for a refund. What do you think?”
“You shouldn’t go anywhere near that store ever again.” He realized the police would construe any advice he gives her as conspiracy.
“What should I do with it?”
“Get rid of it, I don’t know how. It screams out premeditation.” He thought throwing it off a bridge would be smart, but he didn’t say that aloud, didn’t want her to repeat those words to the police.
“You could get rid of it for me.”
“No thanks, I never saw this gun.” He gave the box a symbolic push away with his fingertips. “Why did you phone me? You got me involved in this mess by calling me here and confessing a murder. Now I need help too. What am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know, I thought we fit pretty well after the party, and you seemed to like me.”
“So, you called me over for old times’ sake to see if I might want to get involved in a murder?”
“Well, can’t you help? Aren’t there certain things you’re supposed to do in these cases?”
“Yes, get a lawyer.”
“Don’t know any lawyers. Tammy sort of knows one. She smashed into a couple of parked cars last year. She gave this lawyer a trade, that’s what she called it, for helping her out. No, I mean don’t we have to do things about the body, the gun, things like that? Should we move him?”
Ray gave her an eye roll. “You’ve really screwed me up. You’re forcing me to call the police.”
That seemed to surprise her. “Hey! That’s not right. Don’t do that. I was in trouble and believed I was calling a friend. I wouldn’t have phoned you if I thought you were going to turn me in. You’re not involved.”
Ray sat shaking his head. “I now have criminal knowledge of a murder, and I’m helping you—to some extent. That makes me an accessory after the fact.”
“I don’t know about that stuff.”
“Well the police do. Sorry, you’re giving me no choice. As soon as they arrest you, they’ll come after me. No question about it. The only action I can take now is to report it before your arrest, before my name comes up. I have to appear open and cooperative.”
“You don’t like me.” She squirmed on the bed and folded her arms across her chest.
He didn’t think she understood. “You’ve a good case of self-defense. You were angry about the guy raping your girlfriend, very understandable. You were so infuriated thinking the bastard might get away with it that you went to his place to tell him off. He had to pay for what he had done. He pulls a gun. Luckily, he’s the one that got shot and not you. The defense rests.” Again, he had conspired with her by opening his mouth and giving her a feasible script to run with. He could hear her telling the police, “But officer, that’s what he told me to say.” He was getting in deeper.