"And she said that Audrey McDonald had already left?"
"Yes. She said she put Audrey in the elevator, and ran right back to call me."
"She put Audrey in the elevator."
"That’s what she said. And that’s what she usually does-you know, the elevator is right by her door, she steps out to see you off. Like stepping out on the porch to say goodbye to someone."
"And she always did that?"
"She always did for me."
"Thank you. Let me talk to Officer Swanson again." Swanson came back and Lucas said, "So why’d she say, ‘Somebody’s at the door’?"
"I dunno. To get to the other side?"
"I’m serious. Why’d she say that? She’s got a guard downstairs, who calls up before he lets anyone in. Or you can get up from the second floor skyway, but you’ve got to have a key card to run the elevator. At least I think you do. I noticed a key card slot when I was riding up…"
"Huh. You’re right. And I would have thought of that too in about five minutes."
"So it had to be a friend with a key card who was coming over unexpectedly."
"Or somebody else who lives in the building."
"You heard what she said about Audrey?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, O’Dell put her in the elevator."
"The elevator dings whenever the door opens, right?"
"So if Audrey had just stood there, and let the doors open again after they closed…"
"It would’ve dinged and if O’Dell was out there she probably would’ve seen the doors opening."
"Goddamnit. See what happens if you get on there and push the door close button, or the door open button, or both at the same time. See if you can get back off the elevator…"
"Okay."
"And check and see if Audrey went out past the guard or what… what time she left the place."
"I already checked. She left at ten fifty-three."
"And the guard says that’s right?"
"That’s what he says. He checked her out."
"Shit."
"Besides, if Audrey’d just made a deal, why’d she kill O’Dell five minutes later?"
"I don’t know," Lucas said. "There could be a million fuckin’ reasons."
"I’ll tell you what," Swanson said. "I bet it’s a fuckin’ boyfriend that we don’t know about. Either somebody in the building she’d been screwing, or somebody at the bank. I vote for a key card."
"I’ve got the same problem with that as I’ve got with this firebombing of Weather. People start saying it could be random, but I’m saying if it’s random, it’s weird. Anyone could get firebombed by a random nut, but not Weather: not with her recent history. Anyone could get shot by a pissed-off boyfriend, but not O’Dell-not with her recent history."
"I see what you mean," Swanson said.
"Stilclass="underline" Check with the guards and see how many key cards O’Dell had, and see if you can find them."
"Do that," Swanson said. "What else?"
"Nothing else."
"I could go over and beat up Audrey McDonald for a while."
"Hell, just phone her old man and tell him to do it. Then you can drop by for the confession."
"You see her leg?" Swanson asked, his voice dropping.
"Yeah, I saw her leg."
"I once saw a stripper in a carnival who had bruises like that. Her old man beat her with a rolling pin."
"That’s some business we’re going to do after we finish with this," Lucas said. "We’re gonna haul McDonald’s blubber-butt down to City Hall and put him away."
He rang off Swanson and called Sloan. Sloan answered on the second ring: "Sloan."
"Can you talk?" Lucas asked.
"Not really. I could step outside."
"Did you ask Bone about Kresge?"
"Let me step outside."
After a moment of shuffling around and some conversation that Lucas couldn’t make out, Sloan came back and said, "Well, I’m in the can. Bone says the phone reception here is better."
"So what’d they say?"
"Yeah, they have a relationship, and it started before her old man died-but not until after the separation. At least, that’s what they say."
"How did you read it?"
"I think they’re telling the truth about that. They got together at a particular party, and a number of people know about it and know that the party is when it started. I can check all that, but I think they’re probably telling the truth.
One thing-I took Bone back in the kitchen to ask him about Kresge, and he said he’d appreciate it if I didn’t talk about Kresge around his assistant. He said he didn’t want the gossip getting around the bank, but I got the feeling that he was lying about that. I think the reason was a little more personal, and I’m wondering if he’s boning the assistant?"
"One more bone joke from anybody and they’re fired…"
"Fuck you, I’m civil service. Anyway…"
"I don’t know; she’s pretty chilly," Lucas said.
"Really? I think she’s pretty comfortable with Bone."
Now Lucas was surprised. Sloan was the personalityreading genius in the department. "Is that so? Huh."
"She also doesn’t have a completely solid alibi. Kresge does, sort of. She was talking to some other guy-and I get the feeling she may be boning this other guy too-when Bone called with the news that McDonald had left and there was no deal. But this was like on call waiting. She told Bone she’d come over, and then she switched back to this other guy and told him that something had come up with the bank, and they talked about it for a few minutes. Maybe five, ten minutes, because they talked about some other stuff too. And then she hurried right over to Bone’s place and got there about twenty after eleven, and from her place she really doesn’t have time for another stop."
"Okay."
"And to tell you the truth, she’s a pretty funky chick; I don’t think she’d kill anyone. She’s not crazy enough."
"What about Baki?" Lucas asked.
"I don’t know. I can’t read her very well. Very pretty; and she looks at Bone like a wolf looks at a sheep."
"Huh. You about done there?"
"Yeah. Unless you want me to torture somebody."
"Not tonight. I’ll see you in the morning."
"Shit’s gonna hit the fan tomorrow morning, dude. TheStar-Tribunehas the police guy standing outside of O’Dell’s, and a business guy standing downstairs here."
"Freedom of the press," Lucas said.
FIFTEEN
Jim Bone had his head in his refrigerator when the phone rang. He picked up the kitchen extension and Kerin Baki said, "Mr. Bone, this is Kerin."
"Jesus, Kerin, it’s five-thirty. Have you been to bed?"
"No. Too much to do." She sounded wide awake. "Nancy Lu just called me. McDonald called Brandt out at his farm, and Brandt’s asking for an emergency board meeting at ten o’clock. We’ve got to be ready." Nancy Lu was the board secretary.
Bone had been drinking milk out of the carton. He swallowed and said, "All right. Do they want the pitch today? What’d she say?"
"No pitch. They just want to sort things out. But I think you’ve got to go for it today. If you wait, things could get out of control."
Bone scratched his head: "I don’t think they’d give it to me today, but we might kill McDonald off."
There was a second of silence, and then Baki said, "Try to be more careful with your language. You talk that way all the time, and it could cause trouble."
Bone grinned at the phone and said, "Yes ma’am."
"Bring in your blue suit with the thin chalk line-is that clean?"
"Yes…"
"And the red-horsey Herme`s necktie and the usual shoes and so on. Also, wear jeans and one of those mock turtlenecks and the black leather motorcycle jacket and your cowboy boots. I’m not sure which you should wear and we have to talk about that. Don’t shave-you still have that electric razor in your office bathroom?"