“Like they were colluding against you?”
“What choice did Ben have? Either it was that or nothing. My mom was ready to take the money back and put it in trust for the kids. Ben was trying to act the peacemaker. But it was really hurtful.”
Marge said, “Is that when you started having affairs?”
“Maybe…I don’t know.” She shook her head and sat back down, looking at the ceiling as she spoke. “Ben was never around. Always doing something for someone else. For the kids, for the school, for my parents, for the community. I was always last.”
“Did you ever tell him how you felt?” Decker asked her.
“Tell Jesus what to do?” She pointed to her chest. “Moi?” She rubbed her eyes and looked away. “I got pregnant while we were engaged. The kid wasn’t his. I got an abortion and he married me anyway. Saint Ben. My first mistake. I shouldn’t have gone through with it. My mother loved Ben. I thought she might like me better because I chose someone she liked.”
Silence blanketed the room.
“Did you like Ben?” Marge asked softly.
“Sure I liked him. I loved him.” She slouched back into the oversized sailcloth chair. Her voice dropped to a hush. “I don’t think he liked me all that much. I mean, what kind of man marries a woman who fucks around on him?”
No one answered.
“You want my opinion? He filled his life with all these obligations to avoid me. To avoid sex. I don’t think he liked sex. At least not with me.”
“Maybe he was gay,” Oliver said. “Why else would he avoid sex with someone as gorgeous as you?”
That got a genuine smile. Every so often Oliver would do something like that and Marge remembered why she worked with him.
Melinda said, “I thought about that. I doubt if he had someone on the side—man or woman. His work and his extracurricular activities took up all his time.”
“Could he have been lying about some of his activities?” Marge asked her.
“He was always available for my phone calls. And he always left me his schedule—just in case. When I phoned him, he took my calls right away. Maybe he was wrestling with his sexual demons. Maybe that’s why he scheduled himself so tightly…so he wouldn’t have time to fool around.”
Marge said, “And in the meantime, you were home alone with two little boys making demands and no help. I’m a mother. I know it’s not easy.”
“Especially because I was on a very tight allowance…because of my ‘problem.’” She made quotation marks around the word with her fingers. “I had to beg for every dollar just like a kid. It was demeaning!”
“Who controlled the purse strings?” Decker asked. “Mom or Ben?”
“Both. Ben did the weekly grocery shopping, he bought clothes and supplies for the boys, he paid the bills, he paid all the expenses.” She gave a wry smile. “I was allowed to shop for my own clothing, but Ben had to account for every dollar spent or else Mom would take away my trust fund. That didn’t give me lot of latitude for my recreation.”
“By recreation do you mean gambling?” Oliver asked.
She picked up her coffee and took a gulp. It was lukewarm by now. “Everyone was so afraid that I couldn’t control my gambling that I started gambling just to prove them wrong. That’s when I got into deep debt.”
“How’d you pay it off?”
Melinda turned to Decker and raised an eyebrow. “I was creative. A couple of times I managed to forge Ben’s signature and withdrew my own money.”
“Did Ben find out?”
“If he did, he didn’t tell me about it. Maybe he was secretly glad. All this responsibility of taking care of me…I think it was a burden. And every so often, I’d win big at the tables and refill the coffers.”
Decker jumped into the touchy subject. “So when did you meet the Doodoo Sluts?”
The name caused her head to jerk back. “That part of my life was completely over before Ben was murdered. At least a year before.”
“I believe you,” Decker said, “but I need you to answer the question.”
“I met Primo first…at one of the poker casinos. I was about to bust and he bought me some chips. That night I won and Primo and I celebrated.” Again, she looked up at the ceiling. “Ben had taken the boys on a camping trip. No one was home. It wasn’t my first time being bad, but I hardly knew this guy.”
The room was silent.
Melinda said, “He drank, Primo did. He was loose with a buck. I liked that.” A shrug. “That’s it.”
“And how did you move on from Primo to the others?”
Her eyes became steely. “I don’t see the relevance between my psycho past and my husband’s murder.”
Decker said, “Let me tell you why we think it is relevant. We know for a fact that there’s a common link between someone in your past and a prime suspect in Primo’s death.”
Melinda seemed confused. “But they have Primo’s murderers behind bars. Punk kids. Certainly I don’t know them. The paper said it was a carjacking.”
“It was way more than a carjacking, and we’re just beginning to put all the pieces together. But there’s a key player, and I think we both know who that key player is.”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Figure it out,” Decker said. “We believe your husband’s death can be traced back to someone in the Doodoo Sluts. Primo’s dead. That makes three members left. Go down the list.”
She remained silent.
“Melinda,” Marge said, soothingly. “You’ve held in this terrible secret for so long. Get it off your chest. Unburden yourself. Tell us your side of what happened to your husband—”
“But I don’t know what happened!” She cried out. “I don’t know what happened! If I thought it had something to do with the Doodoo Sluts, don’t you think I would have said something a long time ago?”
“Maybe you were too scared to talk,” Marge said. “But now it’s all going to come out. This is your one chance to tell us everything you know.”
“I’m in the dark!” Melinda cried out. “Can’t you get that through your heads? Why would one of the Doodoo Sluts murder my husband? Who are we even talking about, by the way?”
Decker said, “Rudy Banks is missing. And we’ve got a witness who has implicated him in Ekerling’s death.”
“Rudy?” Melinda gasped. She seemed genuinely shocked. “I…I…Rudy murdered Primo? I can’t believe…Rudy? They were friends!”
“They haven’t been friends for many, many years,” Marge said. “For the last ten years, they’ve been involved in multiple lawsuits with each other.”
Melinda shook her head. “I didn’t know. I walked away from those bad boys about a year before my husband was murdered, and I haven’t seen any of them since.”
Decker tried a different tactic. “Why’d you break away from the group?”
Melinda blew out air. “Because I felt tremendously guilty. It felt good for a while, and then it felt very dirty. I wasn’t getting any affection at home, but I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted out.”
“Especially after the band stopped giving you spending money,” Decker said.
She turned daggers onto his face. “Yes, especially after the band stopped giving me money. Don’t be so damn smug, Lieutenant. I’ve paid for my sins in more ways than you could count. After it was all over, I was haunted by a lot more than just nightmares.”
“Haunted by what?” Oliver asked. “That Ben would find out?”
“Uh, yeah, that, too. Look, guys, I’m exhausted. I can’t deal with this anymore. You’ve got to go.”
Something clicked inside Decker’s brain. “You weren’t afraid of Ben finding out, you were afraid of the band. And not the entire band, only one member. He was stalking you.”
Tears leaked from Melinda’s eyes. Decker gave Marge a barely perceptible nod.
“Tell us about it, Melinda,” Marge cooed. “Unburden yourself.”
When Melinda finally sp
oke, her voice was so soft Decker had to lean forward to hear her. “He’d show up as soon as Ben left for work and the kids were in school. And when he wasn’t bothering me in person, he’d phone me ten times a day. He was a big guy. I was terrified.”
Decker said, “You mean Ryan Goldberg. Mudd. He was obsessively in love with you, wasn’t he, Mrs. Warren?”
“He was crazy!”
“And it never occurred to you that he had something to do with your husband’s death?”
“Maybe…” The tears were streaming down her cheeks. “Even if I knew he did it, I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“You were afraid he’d come after you?” Marge asked.
Melinda wiped her eyes. “He was big, he was strong, and he was psycho! He thought I was going to leave my family and run away with him. I was petrified that if I implicated him in Ben’s death or even mentioned him to the police that my sordid past would come out, but even more important, I was scared that Ryan would come back and finish off the kids!”
Decker regarded her flushed face. Yet, he wasn’t totally satisfied. “So you did think that Ryan might have done it.”
She dabbed her eyes. “I thought it was a possibility, even though he told me he didn’t do it. He swore that he didn’t lay a finger on Ben.”
Decker said, “So he was still coming around after Ben was murdered?”
“He came a couple of times. That’s when he swore he didn’t do it.”
“And you believed him?”
“I don’t know what I believed,” Melinda said. “All I know is he finally stopped showing up at my doorstep. I had to convince him that if he didn’t leave me alone, the police would think he murdered Ben. I told him that, for his own sake, he had to hide out for a while and that I would contact him when it was safe.”
“And he agreed to that?”
“All I know is he stopped coming around and we never had any more contact.”
“Did you wonder why he stopped seeing you, stopped trying to contact you?” Decker asked her.
“No, I didn’t wonder why. I was just relieved. After Ben died, I was so stunned. I was scared, I was broke, and I was crazed. I had two kids to support, and I had no one to turn to. I suppose that I assumed that Ryan got bored waiting for my phone call and moved on to another woman. He was an easy mark. A little flattery and he’d give you anything he had.”
“He gave you money.”
“He gave me lots of money until the other band members took over his bank account.”
“You were angry at them?” Marge asked.
“Of course. I was furious. But it was the best thing that happened to me. It made me realize how low I’d sunk. I tried to call it quits with Ryan, but then I realized he was in love with me.”
Oliver said, “So why didn’t you just dump him?”
“Because I was afraid he’d say something to Ben. And I felt a little sorry for him…he seemed like a gentle giant until he started showing up at my house ten times a day. Then all pity flew out the window.”
“So you think if anyone murdered Ben, it was Ryan?”
“I don’t know.” She threw up her hands. “It’s over. Ben’s dead. I’ve moved on.”
Decker said, “What was your relationship with Rudy Banks like?”
“It was torrid and it was brief. Rudy was a good-looking guy and a total psychopath. We had an affair and then poof, it ended, which was fine for both of us.”
“Did you know that Rudy was a North Valley student and that he knew your husband?”
Melinda looked confused. “I don’t…I seem to recall him being a local.”
“Rudy didn’t like your husband,” Marge said. “He claimed that your husband got him expelled from high school.”
“News to me,” Melinda said.
Oliver said, “Your husband also busted up Rudy’s drug business.”
“Rudy had a drug business?”
Her surprise seemed real. Decker said, “Rudy sold drugs to North Valley High. He used ghetto kids as runners because they were easy targets. One of his runners was Darnell Arlington. When Darnell got suspended, the whole business collapsed.”
Melinda said, “I didn’t follow what went on in my husband’s school.”
“But you knew Darnell Arlington.”
“I knew that my husband had a special interest in him. And I knew that Darnell had a grudge against Ben when he got expelled. But he had an alibi and that was that.”
“Rudy never mentioned anything about knowing your husband?”
“No, of course not. I wouldn’t have gone with him if he had. When I met him, he was pure punk—lots of drugs, kinky sex, and angry music. He was young, he was really good-looking, he was wild, and for a while, he was very exciting. Then it got boring. When he stopped giving me cash, I hooked up with Mudd, who was very generous. Why else would I have a fling with Ryan? It certainly wasn’t his dashing looks.”
Decker could see the calculated shrew inside the respectable woman. He said, “Where did Liam O’Dell fit into the string?”
“You don’t need to know all the sordid details, okay? It ended with Ryan. I did not murder my husband and I don‘t know who did!”
Decker raised a finger. “You cheated on your husband. You stole from his bank account. You resented his time away from you and his disinterest sexually. So tell me why I should believe that you had nothing to do with your husband’s murder.”
“How about this!” Melinda snapped back. “The police spent hours checking me out. They checked out my story on the evening of the murder and it was all true. They checked my phone records. They checked my financial records. They checked insurance policies. They checked if I had ever purchased any weapons. If I was cheating on him at the time…which I wasn’t, by the way. I had come to appreciate how much I had. I truly loved Ben.”
She became suddenly angry.
“Look, I’ve been cooperative. I’ve told you everything and I’ve talked without a lawyer. What more do you want from me?”
Oliver said, “Really quickly…you were interviewed at the time by Arnie Lamar and Cal Vitton. They’re the ones who cleared you?”
Melinda rolled her eyes. “I don’t know who cleared me, but they were the primary investigators in my husband’s case and, yes, I spoke to both of them many times. If you don’t believe me, go ask them.”
“I can ask Lamar; Vitton is dead.” When she didn’t react, Oliver added, “Suicide.”
She flinched. “When was this?”
“Right when we reopened your husband’s investigation,” Oliver said.
“Interesting timing,” Marge added. “Do you think his suicide might have had something to do with your husband’s demise?”
“How would I know?” She began to tap her foot. “Can we wrap this up?”
Decker said, “Rudy Banks moved out of his apartment about a week ago. Since then, no one has heard boo from him. And his disappearance also neatly coincided with our reopening the case.”
“Didn’t you tell me that you had a witness who implicated him in Ekerling’s murder? Or was that utter bullshit?”
“No, it’s absolutely true. We do have a witness.”
“Then maybe he felt you were closing in on him and he took off.”
“It doesn’t worry you?” Decker asked. “Vitton’s dead and Rudy’s missing?”
She didn’t answer.
“Well, how about this?” Decker said. “Probably one of the reasons that you stopped hearing from Ryan Goldberg is that he had a serious mental collapse. His breakdown was so serious, he underwent shock therapy. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago. He’s completely decompensated.”
“Did he bring me up?” Melinda asked.
Decker digested the question. Talk about narcissism. Or maybe it was fear. “No.”
“Why’d you go to see him?”
“Initially I went to get some information about Primo Ekerling. Then Rudy went missing and I went back to Ryan for information about Rudy�
�and to make sure he was okay. Now Ryan appears to be missing as well.”
Melinda’s reaction was slow shock. “Ryan’s missing?”
“Maybe he’s lost, maybe he packed out. We can’t locate him.”
She bit her thumbnail. “Should I be worried?” When none of the detectives answered, she cursed out loud. “God, this is just terrific…just fucking terrific! Ekerling is dead and two maniacs are missing plus the police are breathing down my neck. I think it’s time I hired a lawyer!”
“Sure, do that,” Decker said. “And while you’re at it, you might also consider hiring a bodyguard.”
CHAPTER 38
DECKER TOSSED MARGE the keys to the Crown Vic. “You drive. I need to think.”
No one spoke for the first ten minutes of the ride back to the Valley. Oliver put his hands behind his head, lay back, and closed his eyes. Decker had popped open a can of root beer and was sipping it while reviewing his notes and making diagrams. He said, “Okay, let’s have a go at it. Melinda Little Warren. Lying or not lying about her involvement in her husband’s murder?”
“Even though she is a liar, in this case I vote not lying,” Marge said. “She spoke to us without a lawyer.”
“To play devil’s advocate, maybe she knew that once a lawyer was involved, her current husband would find out about her past and dump her.”
“True, but if she was in real trouble, I don’t think she would hesitate to hire the best legal mouthpiece in the country. She certainly could afford it.”
“Or at least her husband could. How much money does she have on her own? And what if her current husband is like her past husband? What if he holds all the purse strings and she knows he’d be reticent to hire a lawyer to defend her?”
“All true, but the fact that she did speak without a lawyer to me means either she thinks she’s clever enough to beat the system or she doesn’t have anything to do with Ben Little’s murder. Plus she was checked out thoroughly by Vitton and Lamar, and they couldn’t dredge up anything against her except Ben’s insurance policy. I think Ben was worth more to her alive than dead. He allowed her to tap into her trust fund. And, as a woman, I think part of her really liked her husband.”
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