All right, Lucas said. Listen, the reason I came by…
Bet nobody would ever call you that, Ollsen said. The Boner.
Only cause I carry a big leather sap in my pocket, Lucas said. Id beat the tar out of them.
Oh, its a sap. And I just thought you were happy to see me.
Lucas held up his hands: All right, you win the war of wits. And they both laughed. But listen, the real reason I came around: You know about the Kresge killing, of course. Were investigating it, and Im wondering how well you know Wilson McDonald?
A sudden wariness appeared in her eyes, and she put a hand to her throat. You think Wilson did it?
No, we dont think anything, just yet. But he was one of the four people up there when Kresge…
Bit the bullet?
Exactly the words I was looking for, Lucas said. Anyway: How well do you know McDonald?
My parents knew the family quite well…
Does Wilson McDonald beat his wife?
Ah, Jesus, she said, softly. I wondered what Jim told you. What are you going to do, blackmail him with it? Wilson?
Domestic violence is not my department, Lucas said. Im just trying to get a reading on him, what kind of a guy he is.
Again, she hesitated, and Lucas added, This is all informal. There wont be any record of what you say.
But you could subpoena me.
If it got to that point, youd be morally obliged to tell us anyway, Lucas said.
She thought about that for a moment, then said, I was at a pool party last summerRush and Louise Freeman, he runs Freeman-Hoag.
The advertising agency.
Yes. Wilson got drunk. He was getting loud and hewent into the pool with his clothes onAudrey said he fell, but I saw it, and he looked like he was jumping in. Anyway, we got him out, and Audrey walked him around the house out toward their car, and they started arguing. And Louise went over to RushI was talking to Rush and she said something like, Rush, you better go around, theyre starting to argue. Something about the way she said it. So Rush went around the house, and I followed, and we both came around the corner just in time to see Wilson hit her right in the head. He just swatted her and knocked her down. Rush ran over and they started arguing, and I thought Wilson was going to fight him. But Audrey got up and said she was all right, and I got between the two guys. And they went off.
Nobody called the police? Lucas asked.
No.
I thought that was the correct thing to do, Lucas said. I mean with the lawer-doctor-advertising set. No violence.
She nodded. Ill tell you what, buster. If any guy ever hit me like that, his ass would be in jail ten minutes later. But… sometimes things are more complicated. Audrey didnt want it. She said he was drunk and didnt mean anything.
So that was the end of it.
Yes. Then, anyway. I was talking to Louise afterwards, and she said that hed beaten her up before. A couple of times a year.
And shed know?
Yes… Shes a little younger. Louise is. Shes Rushs second wife, used to be his secretary. She knows Audreys younger sister pretty well, I dont know how. The sister told Louise that Wilson beats up Audrey a couple of times a year. Sometimes pretty badly.
Do you think Wilson McDonald could have killed Kresge?
Yes, she said. Not just because I saw him hit Audrey. I was always a little afraid of him. I knew him whenI was littlehe was five or six years ahead of me at Cresthaven, and my brother knew him. Hes big and fat and mean; hes got those little mean eyes. Hes a goddamned animal.
Lucas nodded: Okay.
Even if he did it, you wont get him. Hes pretty smart, but most of all, hes a McDonald, she said. The Mc-Donalds… theyve got this family thing. They dont care what a family member does, as long as he doesnt get caught at it. She stopped: No, thats not quite right: they dont care what he does, as long as hes not convicted of it. In their eyes, not being convicted is the same as not doing it. That comes from way back. The first McDonalds were crooks, they stole from the farmers with their mill. The second or third generation were still crooks, and they made millions during the Depression with real estate scams that they ran through Polaris. And theyre still crooks. And theyve got very good legal advice.
But dont quote you.
Subpoena me first, she said. Then you can quote me.
Do you think Louise Freeman would talk to me?
Probably. Shes the kind whod have all the dirt, if I do say so myself.
SIX
A GRIM-FACED HELEN BELL STEERED HER TOYOTA Camry into the driveway at her sisters house and said, Audrey, youre crazy.
Its all right, Audrey McDonald said sharply. She had a small black circle under her left eye, now covered heavily with makeup, where one of Wilson McDonalds blows had landed. He must be sober by now. He had to work today.
He could have gone to work this morning and be drunk all over again, Bell said. She was four years younger than her sister, but in some ways had always been the protective one. Thats happened.
Ill be okay, Audrey said.
Youll never be okay until you leave him, Helen said. The man is an animal and doesnt deserve you. Even the police know it, nowyou said so yourself.
But I love him, Audrey said. On the drive over, Helen had gotten angrier and angrier with her sister, but now her face softened and she patted Audrey on the thigh.
Then youre going to have to see a doctor, together, she said. Theres a name for thiscodependency. You cant keep going like this, because sooner or later, it wont just be a slap, or a beating. Hes going to kill you.
You know what hes said about that, about a doctor, Audrey said. They dont go to psychiatrists in the Mc-Donald family.
But itd all be confidential, Helen protested. Times have changed. ..
After this bank thing is done with, Audrey said, as she pushed open the car door. Maybe then.
Bell watched her go. She hated McDonald. Shed never liked him, but over the years distaste had grown into this curdling, bitter-tasting hatred. Audrey would never remove herself from McDonald. Somebody else would have to do it for her, like a surgeon removing a cancer.
She liked the metaphor: Dan Kresge had been a cancer on the bank, and hed been removed. Good for the bank and everybody employed there. McDonald was a cancer on her sister: the sooner he was cut out, the better.
AUDREY EASED INTO THE HOUSE, MOVING QUIETLY, wary of an ambush. Was he in the tub again? In the study? She stepped into the kitchen, and the board that always squeaked, the one shed sworn two hundred times to fix, squeaked.
Audrey? Is that you? He was in the study; he sounded sober.
Its me, she said tentatively.
Jesus Christ, where have you been? Ive been calling Helen, but nobody ever answers. Hed been lurching down the hall as he spoke, a yellow legal pad in his hand, and when he turned into the kitchen, he spotted the black eye and pulled up. Holy cow. Did I do that?
She recognized the mood and moved to take advantage of it: No, of course not, she said sarcastically. Ive been hitting myself in the face with a broomstick.
Aw, Jesus… That was all shed get. He went on, But Jesus, we gotta talk. I got a cop following me around. And the boards gonna meet on Wednesday, but probably wont make a decision. Theyre talking about a search, for Christs sake.
A search? Thats just a way of slowing everything down.
I know that. Its me or ODell or Bone.
Have you talked to your father?
Just for a minute, to ask him to stay out of it for the time being. I thought it might be a little too obvious if he got out there. At this point.
Good thought… What about the cop?
Its this fuckin Davenport, McDonald said impatiently. He was talking to Bone today, and the word is, hes asking about me.
Whats he asking? Audrey asked. He doesnt think you…
I dont know; Im finding out. He could be a problem.
How can he be a problem? You didnt shoot anybody. His eyes slid away from hers: I know… but he could be a problem. He looked back: I mean, Jesus, if theres a search, you think theyre gonna pick a guy who the cops are investigating?