Dead Ringer

by Lisa Scottoline

  “We didn’t release that information yet.” Needleman frowned. To his right stood a cabinet with skinny drawers labeled BODY CHARTS, SUBPOENA BLANKS, and INJURY FORMS. He was wearing his suit, and tie, and a grayish five o’clock shadow. “How’d you hear that?”

  “I was with the family when you told them.” Bennie put a hand on the knob of the interrogation room. “Can’t I see him?”

  “It’s not a zoo.”

  “It’s not?” Bennie sidestepped him, yanked on the knob, and stole a glimpse of the suspect before Detective Needleman closed the door.

  “Hey!”

  “Sorry,” she said, but she’d gotten her mental picture. A young white man slumped in the chair, smoking a cigarette. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, with tall combat boots, and his hair had been shaved into a fade that hinted at a militaristic bent. “So who was that fine citizen?”

  “Did you put the brother up to calling me?” Needleman pressed her away from the door, his eyes flinty behind his glasses. Two detectives bustled past, putting on their jackets with a backward glance.

  “No, I didn’t. He called on his own. I gave you good press, but I guess he had a few questions. He’s upset.”

  “Whatever. You’re not supposed to be here.”

  “Why not? I haven’t interfered with the police all day. All I did was visit the family, which you knew I was going to do. You even said it was okay.”

  “Like it matters what I say.”

  “On the contrary, I crave your approval.” Bennie smiled. She was trying to lighten the mood, and failing. “Of course, I had to come down when I heard. I wanted to see the suspect. Find out what you have on him. Who is he? What’s the story?”

  “What do you want to know?”

  Bennie groaned. “Needleman, can you give me a break? I’m not the enemy, I’m just a lady who cares about this case. Is that so terrible? It’s gonna be in the papers anyway.”

  “Okay, fine.” Needleman pursed his lips. “The story is, his name is Ronald Johnson. Twenty-six years old. Unemployed. Record of three ag assaults in the nineties.”

  “What weapon did he use for the aggravated assaults?”

  “Knife, all three times. A onetime member of a militia group, white supremacists, out in western PA. The FBI got a file on him. Fits the serial-killer profile to a T.”

  “Sounds like it.” Bennie was trying to be supportive.

  “We placed him under for the Chiamel murder. That’s Claude Chiamel, the Belgian banker. He’s suspected of the St. Amien murder, too, but we don’t have enough for that yet. It’s just a matter of time, which is what I told the brother. Georges.” Needleman cocked his head. “How the hell you pronounce that anyway?”

  “Just like Curious George. So Johnson is under arrest for the Chiamel murder, but not the St. Amien. He’s only a suspect in St. Amien.”

  “Correct. The suspect.”

  “What’s the evidence to support the murder charge in Chiamel?”

  Needleman shook his head. “I’m not giving that up, Rosato.”

  “Don’t be that way, Detective. I just taught you French.”

  “Sorry, I told you the same thing I tell the press. You’re not the defense and you’re not the family. End of story.”

  Bennie gritted her teeth. “I was with the victim’s son, Julien, when you spoke with his brother. Julien wanted to come down here with me, but I told him to stay home. I didn’t want to put the kid through it. You really want me to bring him? I could call him right now.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “You’re right, and maybe I don’t need to. Does Mr. Johnson have a lawyer?”

  “He’s waiting on a public defender.”

  “What a coincidence! I’m a defense lawyer. Perhaps I should offer my professional services, twenty years’ experience in murder cases. Then I’d be defense counsel, entitled to everything. Should I do that?”

  Needleman scoffed. “You want to defend the knucklehead who killed your client?”

  “I don’t know that he killed my client. In fact, I highly doubt it. He may have killed the Belgian, but I’m not buying into your tourist-killer theory yet.”

  Needleman leaned over. “You are such a pain in the ass.”

  “Come on, let’s be friends.” Bennie forced a smile. “So tell me what you have on Ronald Johnson to support the charge in Chiamel.”

  “Ample physical evidence.”

  “Is that all you’re going to tell me?”

  “That’s it.”

  Bennie bit her tongue because she had officially quit cursing again. “Fibers, blood, prints? Is it bigger than a breadbox?”

  “Ample physical evidence.”

  “Do you have ample physical evidence in St. Amien?”

  “The tests aren’t back. When the tests come back, I believe we’ll have ample physical evidence against Johnson.”

  “If the results go the way you expect. But right now, you have no ample physical evidence linking Johnson to St. Amien.”

  “Technically.”

  “Technically matters. It’s the difference between the right guy and the wrong guy.”

  “He’s the doer, Rosato.” Needleman’s mouth set in a firm little line that Bennie was beginning to think he should patent.

  “When will the tests come back?”

  “Some of them, day or so.”

  Bennie nodded. So that meant they had fibers and maybe a print or two. Stuff they could test here, in the Roundhouse. DNA, as in blood, had to be sent to Maryland for testing, which took weeks. “What’s Mr. Johnson have to say?”

  “Nothing. He’s not talking until his lawyer gets here. But I’ll tell you what you’re gonna see on the TV news, only because one of the witnesses went live at five. Johnson bragged to a couple guys in a bar on Juniper that he was on a one-man campaign to ‘clean up America.’ Admitted out loud that he killed Chiamel, and St. Amien, too. Said he was gonna get himself an A-rab next. And he wasn’t even drinking. Three witnesses heard it, and they’re all willing to testify.”

  “So you got a tip.”

  “Yes.”

  Bennie considered it. “Did Johnson give you an alibi on Chiamel or St. Amien before he clammed up?”

  “No, he wanted a lawyer from the jump.”

  Bennie was trying to keep an open mind. “You really think he’s the doer in both murders?”

  “Yes.”

  “The MO is the same?”

  “Identical.”

  “Why don’t you fill me in? Convince me.” Bennie glanced around the room. “Come on, everybody’s too busy to care if we actually get along. Maybe we can help each other. We both want the same thing. You tell me stuff, and I tell you stuff.”

  Needleman stepped closer. “Okay, I’ll bite. Here’s the MO. Victim is taken from behind, at the mouth of an alley. Same time of night, same type of vic. Older man, well dressed, foreign, speaks with an accent. Stabbed in the back with a common knife, dragged into an alley, turned over and knifed until subdued. Ten to twelve stab wounds, indicative of rage. Robbed and left for dead.”

  Poor Robert. Bennie was so glad she’d talked Julien out of coming. It was tough even for her to hear. Detectives were usually present at autopsies and heard the findings. Needleman was essentially telling her what was in the autopsy report.

  “Also, Johnson lives a few blocks from both scenes, in Center City. Twice divorced. Lives with mom, she works at night. You know the profile, the skinhead type. Impulsive, angry, underachiever. Badly socialized, a loner. Can’t hold a job or a marriage. Blames his problems on everybody else. A victim.”

  Bennie’s eyes narrowed. “But this killer should be a planner, if your theory is true. He follows tourists around and systematically kills them. He’s cleaning up America. It’s part of a plan.”

  “Not that well organized a plan. Opportunistic.”

  “So he’s a planner, but a bad one. Like me,” Bennie said, and they both laughed. “Detective, I’m trying to believe, but it just
isn’t working, partly because the other possibilities make so much more sense to me. And if you would investigate them, maybe we’d find the aforementioned ample physical evidence. But you’re not looking, and now you think you got your man.” Bennie wanted so badly to persuade him. “What if Johnson didn’t kill St. Amien, only Chiamel? They’re similar victims, you’re right, but they’re still two different men. St. Amien was involved in a very contentious lawsuit, worth millions of dollars, and he was represented by a woman with a very nasty twin.”

  Needleman laughed again. “Okay, tell me what you know, Nancy.”

  “Brace yourself,” Bennie began, and she filled the detective in on her history with Alice, telling him the details of the night at the river and the break-in at her house. Detective Needleman listened politely, which Bennie regarded as progress. “Well, whaddaya think?” she asked when she had finished.

  “I’m trying to believe, but it just doesn’t work for me,” Detective Needleman answered, with a hint of sarcasm.

  “Why not? We know my twin is trying to get me.”

  “Rosato, if your twin is out to get you, why wouldn’t she just get you? Why kill your client?”

  “She’s toying with me, Detective. She’s closing in. By killing someone I care about, who is important to my business, she hurts me. She’s saying, I can take you anytime. Then she makes her move.”

  Needleman frowned with genuine concern. “If you think this, you should have security.”

  “I do. Thanks. And I’m getting a TRO against her, for what that’s worth. Look, even if it’s not Alice, there are suspects far more likely than some skinhead.” Bennie launched into telling him about Bill Linette and his whereabouts last night, taking him through her interview with the waiter he had missed and about the steak knife and Mort Abrams. “Well?”

  “I have to tell you, I listened to you, I really did, but I just think we got the bad guy, right in there.” The detective nodded at the door behind him. “I been in this business too long, and I like this guy. I really like him.” Bennie knew the term was detective-speak for he’s a killer, but didn’t remark on the irony. “He’s the type of scumbag we’re looking for. Not some broad who’s got a grudge against her sister, or some fat-cat lawyer or his client. The two murders, back to back, it is too clear a pattern, especially in Center City, which never gets this kind of action.” Detective Needleman nodded, more convinced as he went on. Bennie knew the syndrome. She did the same thing. “My hunches come out of thirty years’ experience on the job. I wouldn’t have told the brother unless I was sure. Johnson is the guy who killed both men.”

  “Why do you dismiss the others so easily?”

  “I don’t dismiss them, and I didn’t. But right now I got the doer in Chiamel, and when the tests come back, we’ll see what they tell us on St. Amien. If it doesn’t pan out, it doesn’t pan out.” Needleman touched her shoulder, in a comforting way. “I know you care about your client, and I know you’ve been under a lot of strain. Why don’t you just do your thing, and let us do ours, with Johnson.”

  “So you’re not gonna buy it, are you,” Bennie said. It was a statement of fact, not a question.

  “Sorry.”

  “Me, too.”

  Needleman inclined his head. “You gonna lay off now?”

  “Me?” Bennie didn’t have to think twice. “Never.”

  Bennie hit the parking lot outside and threaded her way through the umpteenth gauntlet of reporters. They had the scent of a big story about to break and it had sent them circling and barking. They shouted questions in her ears. Shoved cameras in her face. Flew boom mikes on metal poles at her. She shot forward, pressing ahead, through the crazed reporters and out to the street. And to David. But he wasn’t there.

  Relax, you just don’t see him.

  Bennie hustled through the press. A cameraman jostled her, making her drop her briefcase. She bent to pick it up and was almost knocked over from the other side. Suddenly, it was a mob scene. Reporters surged toward her, screaming questions. Blocking her in. She couldn’t go forward, she couldn’t go back. She couldn’t see the street over the cameras. She was trapped. Vulnerable. Unprotected. Was Alice in this crowd? Where was David?

  “Get out of my way!” Bennie yelled, swinging her briefcase. The reporters kept shouting. The motor drives kept clicking, the videocameras filming. She had to get free, free of all of it. She had to save herself. She had to go.

  She broke into a jog out of the parking lot, then accelerated to a run even in her pumps, ignoring the shock each time her foot hit the pavement. She didn’t know where David was and she didn’t care anymore. Her cell phone began ringing but she didn’t answer it. She kept running, panting hard, her heart pumping like the athlete’s heart it was, and she paid no mind to the stares of the people on the street or to the perspiration soaking her blouse and suit or to the pain in her lungs and ache in her knees. She took the pounding like the punishment she deserved, for getting Robert killed, and for causing so much pain to Julien and Georges. And part of her took the punishment for Alice, too.

  For the crime of being the chosen one.

  29

  Bennie had thrown herself on her couch, head back against the hard wooden frame, legs splayed, trying to catch her breath. Listening to her heart thunder in her chest. Feeling the hardness of every muscle in her legs, pumped taut and engorged with blood, still racing. She had fumbled her way through the backdoor, dropped her briefcase on the floor, thrown her purse on the couch. She had run all the way home, from the east end of town to the west, well over an hour, and was only now coming back to herself.

  Bear sat at her feet, swishing his tail against the floor, in sheer delight that he’d been freed from the basement, even if his mistress had lost her marbles. Bennie had no idea why she had run home. She had no idea what time it was. It was still light outside, but it was waning. Her cell phone rang and rang. She caught her breath, groped for her purse, shoved her sweaty hand inside it, and rummaged around. The cell felt smooth and familiar in her palm. She opened the phone. Oh yes, I remember now. I’m a lawyer. I talk on the cell phone all day.

  “Bennie, are you there? Are you okay?” It was David, sounding as hysterical as a SEAL gets. “What’s the matter?”

  “I’m okay. I’m fine.” Bennie brushed wet curls from her forehead. Her suit and shirt felt glued to her body. “I’m really fine.”

  “What happened? Why did you run like that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You weren’t being chased.”

  “I know. I had to get away.”

  “Bennie, you have to answer when I call. I’ve been dialing and leaving messages since you got in. I was a minute from calling 911.”

  “Sorry.” She tried to think, but her brain was too tired. The phone hadn’t rung, or she hadn’t heard it. “Did I blow it? Did Alice see you?”

  “No. No. I let you run on, I knew where you were going. You are so quick, woman. You haul ass!”

  Bennie smiled. “Thanks, I think.”

  “I don’t think I was seen.”

  “Did you see her?”

  “No.”

  “Have you seen her at all?”

  “No, but she’s there. Bet on it. This is when it matters, at night. If she makes any move on you, it’ll be after dark.”

  “I don’t know, David.” Bennie raked her hair back again, wiping her cheeks. “I don’t know if this makes sense.”

  “Why? What do you mean?”

  “How long can we do this? Maybe she’s not even there. Maybe this whole thing is crazy. I should just give up. I have so much to do.”

  “Bennie, listen to me.” David seemed to bear down. “You listening?”

  “No, I have calls to make. I should call the office. See if DiNunzio called in.”

  “Forget about work now.”

  “I should call Julien, the St. Amiens. I said I’d call if I had anything new to report.”

  “Forget it for now. It can wait u
ntil the morning.”

  “We got the case back again.”

  “That’s nice, dear. Now, no more shop talk. Can you turn it off?”

  “I should call Carrier and Murphy, and tell them to follow up on Linette. I should call Sam and tell him I’m back in business on the class action.”

  “Linette can wait. Sam can wait. Everything can wait. For now, just rest. Don’t think. Breathe.”

  “I am.”

  “No phone calls. No work. No nothing. You need to get calm.”

  “I know.”

  “Nothing works if you fall apart, does it?”

  “No.”

  “’Ain’t nobody happy when Mama ain’t happy.’”

  “Huh?”

  “You never heard that?”

  “No.”

  “The gist is, we have to take care of you now. You don’t have any food in the house, do you?”

  Bennie snorted. “What do you think?”

  “Any booze?”

  “Does Gatorade count?”

  “Only original flavor. The blue sucks.”

  Bennie laughed. She was beginning to like this conversation. It was a working girl’s version of phone sex.

  “Get yourself something to drink. Water, at least.”

  Her mouth did feel parched. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten. She’d left the Palm doggie bag in the office refrigerator.

  “Go now. Take the phone with you. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine,” Bennie said, but when she got up, she felt dizzy. She sat back down. “Where are you anyway?”

  “I’m out back. I checked your alley, your backdoor, and back windows. Everything looks fine. I like your new bars, in the back.”

  “Do you have your water yet?”

  “Coming, Mother.” Bennie rocked herself off the couch, one, two, three, and stood until the dizziness passed, then kicked off her shoes and padded into the kitchen. Her feet were wet, and between her toes her foot powder had turned to Spackle. “Here I go, into the kitchen.” She left pasty Desenex footprints that Bear crouched to sniff, but she didn’t tell David. Athlete’s foot wasn’t first-date conversation.