by John Farrow
Others thought that that was as good an offer as was likely to come down the pike and encouraged Doi to comply.
‘Shut up! The fuck!’ she broke out suddenly, perhaps not getting her words in the order they were intended, adding on the expletive in deference to where they were. The room fell silent.
She considered her options. Everyone else waited. Doi dipped her head to whisper in Jodi’s ear. Jodi appeared to nod, as much as she could with the knife so near. Jodi then readjusted her body position, getting up off her bottom and on to her knees, then she walked on her knees a short distance forward, arms’ length away from Doi. Then remained on her knees, sitting back on her haunches, still captive.
To impress upon them all that she maintained her advantage, Doi warned, ‘Come at me anybody, I stab her right in the back. Don’t think I won’t.’
No one doubted her resolve.
‘OK, copper,’ Doi invited. ‘Talk.’
v
He did.
JODI & COURTNEY
i
‘Jodi’s in trouble now, isn’t she? A knife at her back. Not fun, but, when you think about it, not so unusual for you, is it, Jodi? You’ve known trouble from the day you were born. You’ve always had a knife at your back.’
To everyone present, a huge difference existed between a metaphorical knife and one with a tempered steel blade. Nonetheless, he had their attention and they waited for the tale behind his remark. Jodi kept her eyes on him, wary of what might be revealed. Cinq-Mars then appeared to turn reticent, as though emotionally moved by some stray thought and requiring time to recompose himself. That impression was not sustained, for when he spoke next his tone conveyed a confrontational, even a combative, edge.
‘Sad, isn’t it, how Doi lost her head and attacked her daughter with a hatchet? It’s also sad how Courtney went berserk and ambushed her best friend with a butcher knife. Something similar happened to Jodi when she went wild and shot up a convenience store. That’s how the story is told, anyway. Funny though, all that blasting away and she only shot a man in his right big toe. She also shot a Corn Flakes box dead center and put a few holes in the walls. Hit a couple of milk cartons. Still, there’s another key difference. Neither Doi nor Courtney were ever in trouble with the law prior to going bananas. Jodi, though, poor, innocent Jodi, who was induced by a boyfriend to stand guard while he emptied the till – Jodi has been in trouble with the law, if not from birth, then pretty much from when she learned to walk.’
‘Wouldn’t say that,’ Jodi said, objecting more to the exaggeration than the substance.
‘Fine. But I’ll say this. From the first day you had the ability to choose between right and wrong, you chose wrong every time.’
She shrugged, no longer disputing the characterization.
‘Jodi keeps you laughing. She and Court spend their time giggling at the world. So folks give her a pass – inmates, the guards, me, everybody – we think she’s just a kid gone wrong.’
‘That’s all she is,’ Courtney protested.
‘Think so? Jodi grew up in a biker family, did you know that? Her parents and siblings have lived outside the law since … well, you tell me, Jodi. Can you remember a time when you weren’t a petty criminal?’
That shrug again, half-resentful, partially proud.
‘Which raises a concern, don’t you think? Why she should suddenly lose her shit in a convenience store robbery? It really wasn’t that big a deal to her.’
The women looked at each other, then Temple stated what several were thinking. ‘Drugs?’
‘Not her thing. I’m saying that because I’ve seen her sheet and her medical screen from when she was admitted here. Blemishes, of course, but nothing to suggest behavior that way.’
‘Then what?’ Temple asked.
‘Here’s a clue. Think the opposite of Malka.’
They tried to think what that might mean but no one offered a response.
‘Malka, the puffball, pretended to be tough in here. Jodi, tougher than anyone knows, more bitter than anyone knows, more experienced than anyone knows or gives her credit for being, wanted to come across as a crazy girl who lost her head for a minute. But she’s cool, our Jodi. She’s collected. We’ve seen her in fights. So that part about going nuts? Pure virgin bullshit. I bet she took dead aim at that Corn Flakes box. Am I right about that, Jodi?’
She was thinking about it, what she should deny, what she might be willing to concede. She began once more with a shrug, then said, ‘I’ve hit a few barn doors in my time.’
‘You grew up with a pistol in your hand. You can hit a milk jug at twenty yards, I bet, let alone a Corn Flakes box at ten. A regular Annie Oakley. You can hit a man’s big right toe when you’re standing next to him. He was wearing sandals, so you could see your target. Thanks for not inflicting more damage on him than that, although that was enough.’
Given the option of denying a compliment or accepting it, she chose to agree that she could shoot.
‘I don’t get it,’ Temple said, which was what most of them, or all of them, were thinking.
‘Malka fakes being tough. Jodi’s the opposite. She’s in here pretending to be a snowflake.’
‘How come?’
‘Because she was sent here. Isn’t that the truth, Jodi? She got arrested on purpose. She’s inside on a mission.’
They gazed at her, wondering, putting two-and-two together, adding things up and perplexed that she wasn’t denying it, when Cinq-Mars interrupted that chain of thought by saying, ‘Doi. Don’t even think about doing what you’re doing.’
Attention promptly switched to Doi. The older woman relented under their scrutiny. Her torso visibly sagged. An urge to plunge her knife into the young woman’s back dissipated.
Courtney spoke. Still in defense of her friend. ‘Jodi didn’t kill Flo. She couldn’t’ve. Flo would’ve thrown her through a wall.’
‘I’m not saying she did kill her, not yet anyway. Remember, Court, as I’ve done with everyone else, I’m relating Jodi’s dark side first. We can talk about whether she’s innocent later. Here’s what everybody needs to know about her – and Jodi, correct me if I’m wrong. I’ve had to guess at this, that, and the other thing.’
The young woman didn’t know whether to give him her whole attention or continue worrying about the knife at her back. She kept trying to look over a shoulder at Doi without making her concern obvious. ‘Eyes front,’ Doi would whisper, her voice threatening, and Jodi would quiver. Knowing well the story of Doi hacking up her daughter redoubled her peril in the moment.
‘Can I hold her hand at least?’
Courtney was asking the question, not of Cinq-Mars, but of Doi. The older woman nodded consent. Courtney worked her way over on her knees, then settled in front of Jodi and to one side. Not concerned that her hands were blood-covered from her wounds, she clasped Jodi’s left hand in both of hers.
‘So what’s Jodi’s big mission?’ Temple asked.
Cinq-Mars shot a glance her way and smiled. ‘Interesting that you, of all people, should ask.’
‘Oh yeah? How come?’
‘She’s probably here because you are.’
That befuddled the room, and Temple especially.
‘Doi – I need to talk about you for a second, before getting back to Jodi. I don’t think you really understand what sets you apart in here.’
‘I know what sets me apart.’
‘No. You don’t. Whatever you think it is, it’s not that. It’s not being older. Malka’s older, too. It’s not being someone who harmed a family member. Talk to Roz about that. It’s not being someone who’s never been involved in a life of crime. Courtney, same deal. So I have a third question for you to think about, because it’s important to what we’re discussing, to help us get to the bottom of this. It’ll help us figure out who killed Florence and perhaps – perhaps even Isaure. Which is what you asked me to do, Doi. I’m hoping you’re thinking hard about your answers to my two questions: How d
id you come across the knife, and what set you off today? Now, we have one more. This: What sets you apart from everyone else in here? I think it’s important. It might be a key.’
He wanted, of course, to deflect her inner rage, to deter her instinct to lash out with a knife in her hand. He wanted her to sense that she could depend on him for sympathy, or better yet, depend on his help.
‘How can I keep talking about everyone individually,’ Cinq-Mars lamented, and walked in circles within a small square, ‘when the first thing you do when you arrive here is figure out who’s in with you? Who will be your buddies? Who do you guard against? Everybody gave Flo a wide berth, except maybe Abigail. Flo was volatile, and scary, so you can’t blame anyone for that. But some people come inside with certain alliances already in place. Some are even under orders. They have a job to do.’
The women glanced around, perhaps assessing their alliances, or readjusting them. What he said was true, they knew that.
‘Jodi, for instance, since I’m still on you: I suspect you’re the primary source for weapons. In the yard, from the yard, and from time to time into this unit. You’re connected to Marie-Philomène since you’re both connected to the same gang. Flo, too. A Hells Angels lady. But where the Hells once ruled with impunity, inside and outside, a rival gang is forming. Which side anyone is on – if you were on a side; some of you weren’t – is changing underfoot. Allegiances can shift, depending on events on the outside. That’s one reason why Jodi, not Temple, is running weapons on the inside. Temple’s satellite gang is now tight with the Rock Machine. That’s a change. Jodi’s – and remember, with her it’s a family business – Jodi’s satellite gang, a small, mean one from Ontario, a pack of killers, is connected to the Hells and connected to the young woman who had acid thrown in her face by Florence. An existing grievance there, an existing motivation.’
‘I didn’t kill Flo,’ Jodi reiterated. If she hadn’t defended herself, Courtney would have done so on her behalf.
‘To be determined, but that’s not the issue at the moment. Everyone here makes the same claim – “It wasn’t me” – so save your breath. No point repeating it.’
Jodi shrugged. Hers was the hostile shrug of the dispossessed, of the person who disregarded any opinion that differed from her own or was more nuanced. Vehemence was her baseline attitude.
‘Weapons have shown up in this unit. The garrote that killed Flo. The knife in Doi’s hand today. We have to think about Temple for that, but also Jodi. Just like Temple never killed anybody herself, not that we know of, the same is true for Jodi. It would be out of character for her to kill Flo herself, and certainly a feat beyond what we might expect of her little body tangling with Flo’s mass. I know where I’d lay my bet even if Jodi had a garrote. She’s not physically capable of taking her on, not by herself. She may have been a target of Flo’s. She might be able to make a case for self-defense, although in all my conversations that has never come up. Perhaps Courtney was a target, for sex, violence, or both, and Jodi wanted to protect her friend the same way Courtney is fighting to make the case for Jodi today. The two of them might have done it together. That’s slightly more feasible and helps make them each other’s alibi. Anything’s possible, of course.’
‘Then what’s the point?’ Jodi remarked. ‘Anything’s possible, so any of us could have done it. If nobody admits to it, you’ve got nothing. A bunch of stories. Those stories don’t tell us who did it, who didn’t do it. They don’t say I did it any more than anybody else. Add it up and you got nothing.’
Cinq-Mars appeared to agree, but tagged on, ‘Except this. There’s no way you went berserk on a job. You got arrested on purpose. Violent enough to do time, but you tempered your level of violence to keep the years down. Enough to get into a pen, not enough to be here forever. Then your mob connections worked to see you transferred to Lady Jail. Stranger things have happened. Look at Abigail.’
On cue, everybody looked.
‘She was probably transferred in here so that the mob could kill her. But only after they found out where she hid their money. That has to come first.’
ii
Abigail performed a twisting motion with her hand, as if she was working an invisible screwdriver. Cinq-Mars wondered what the action indicated, but it was Quinn who posed the question. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I thought he was smarter,’ Abi said to her. Then tempered her remark. ‘Or better informed.’
‘How so?’ Cinq-Mars asked.
‘Digging in the screws, but you screwed up, Émile.’ Others smiled when she called him by his first name. ‘Jodi’s connected to a gang connected to the Hells. Did you say that or not?’
‘I did.’
‘Flo was connected to the Hells. Everybody knows that. How can you pin the murder on Jodi when she’s in the same gang? She wouldn’t dare kill one of her own.’
‘You’re giving me cause to proclaim her innocence?’
‘Keeping it fair is all.’
‘Will you let me get back to you on that?’
‘You will anyway, if you want. I can’t stop you.’
‘Thanks. See that, Courtney? Your friend has an advocate who’s made a point in favor of her innocence. What do you think?’
Courtney looked at each of them for a moment, then determined, ‘I think that’s great.’
‘Mmm. I hope that helps you to leave her alone, Doi.’ He engaged the woman who still held the knife with a steady look, and while no one was certain, most everyone thought they saw her nod in the affirmative. Progress.
Cinq-Mars turned then and winked at Abigail. They both knew that the others were forgetting his original statement, that either gang might have had an interest in knocking off Flo. One gang might have wanted to do so out of revenge, the other because they were frustrated that she was not scaring the hell out of Abigail, then getting her to talk as a result of their intimidation.
‘Now. Who’s left?’
‘Me,’ Courtney said.
‘I left you alone while you had a knife at your throat. I’m glad that’s changed. Maybe now we can talk more freely.’
‘I had nothing to do with killing Florence.’ She smiled rather sweetly. ‘Everybody knows that.’
‘But everybody was involved with killing Flo,’ Cinq-Mars contradicted her. ‘None of you are innocent of that.’
Temple objected to that remark. ‘What are you saying? I had nothing to do with killing Flo.’
‘Everybody did,’ he insisted. ‘No one befriended her. The one exception was Abigail, but for her to befriend Flo was literally the kiss of death and Abi—’ He paused to think it through. ‘Abi probably knew that. For the rest of you, isolating her, always keeping your distance, that left her vulnerable. It made her afraid and for good reason. No wonder she went off to solitary so often. She erupted and did things and went off to solitary partly because she was pissed off with all of you and angry inside, and partly because she couldn’t take being so alone, and partly for her own protection. She felt safer in solitary. Imagine that. Nobody ganged up on her there. When you all ignored her, she felt ganged up on.’
‘I couldn’t be friends with her,’ Courtney protested. ‘You know why. She might do things.’
‘You were afraid. I get that. Still, Abigail proved you wrong. Flo didn’t do anything to Abigail except protect her from the rest. At risk to herself, possibly. But this points out where you are perhaps more than complicit, Courtney.’
‘How?’ She wasn’t challenging him. She feared his condemnation too much.
‘When you make friends with someone, Court, you let yourself slide under that person’s influence. Jodi’s been guiding you toward a life of crime. You want Abigail to teach you to be a swindler, but come on, really? No. You don’t want that, not really. But you let Jodi think that way because you think that way with Jodi. The point is, if someone wanted to convince you to help kill Flo, you’d probably go along with it. That’s what you do. You went along with your
boyfriend being unfaithful until you couldn’t take it anymore, then broke out in a rampage. Maybe you went after totally the wrong person, but you did what you did, probably because you were trying to express yourself, instead of being somebody’s puppet. But inside Lady Jail, you’re still somebody’s puppet and you still mistake that for real friendship. Until you become your own person, you must be considered a suspect, because you let yourself be influenced by others against your better nature.’
Courtney stared back blankly at him, then slowly withdrew her hand from Jodi’s.
‘Now cheer her up,’ Abigail instructed him.
‘What would I do without you?’ Cinq-Mars asked, the sarcasm in his tone so over-the-top that many smiled, including Abigail. ‘But she’s right, Court, I need to cheer you up now. Let’s face it. Killing Flo took planning, subterfuge, execution. None of that fits you. Perhaps you were a silent witness, but I don’t see you in on the planning, and honestly, not in on the execution, either. Not cold-blooded. If you were to kill, it would have to be part of a rampage.’
He let his words sink in, and the women around the room gazed at the floor, some the ceiling, contemplating all that. When they came back to Cinq-Mars they realized that only one person remained on his agenda. That would be Doi, the one who had sabotaged their routine for the day.
Cinq-Mars, however, had a different plan.
iii
‘Will you do something for me, Courtney? The prison reads your letters home before they’re mailed. As I said I would, I’ve read a number of them myself. I don’t have any on me, but I imagine you’ve got one on the go. You’re about due. Will you read a bit of your letter to us all.’
‘Why?’
‘I think it will be educational. Informative.’
‘Do I have to? I don’t want to.’
‘You’re a daughter who writes to her mother. I think Doi, who’s a mother who hasn’t heard from her daughter for quite some time, might like to hear one of your letters.’