by Terri Nolan
“Is Matt’s unfinished business related to my abduction?” she said.
“That’s tricky. Instinct says yes. On the other hand it’s extremely personal. Your abductor wanted to control you. He needed you broken, passive. It’s someone you know.”
Danny was right. The third man never spoke. In case she survived? “Leave it to you to scare the crap out of me just when I’m resolved to finish this shit. They make Emmett Whelan for it. Any thoughts?”
“Emmett’s not that stupid. Here’s something that’ll fry your brain. Why go to the trouble to set him up?”
“Jesus, Danny! Why indeed? He was being blackmailed. Maybe that’s a message to all the other schmucks being blackmailed. Pay up or we’ll tell your loved ones the truth and make you pay big time. So, Soto’s dirty business is extortion then?”
Danny winced. “We’re back to him are we?”
“Why the hell not? Matt and you were working together. It’s been confirmed by a hidden message from Matt since we last talked. Soto was Matt’s mentor. It’s a classic tale of the pupil turning on the master. Come on, Danny. Do you want the stuff Matt hid or not? Please don’t let what happened to me mean nothing. By God, there’s got to be some good that comes from it.” Birdie’s eyes pooled with pain and grief.
Danny let out a quiet, tortured sigh. Then his eyes grew hard. “There are many reasons why this investigation was buried so far underground. I couldn’t even get sealed warrants because of the threat of leaks. My job is to take the best case to my boss. One that is winnable. Let me stress that we’ll only have one shot. If Matt’s evidence is compromised in any way, it’s over. We won’t get another chance.”
“I understand,” said Birdie.
“Where’s Pearl?”
“Here, bro,” said Pearl, leaping up from the couch.
“I can’t do this,” said Danny, “but I certainly can’t control what my brother might say. Elizabeth, I leave you with this warning, don’t trust anybody.” Then he turned off the webcam.
“Danny always makes me the heavy,” said Pearl, slapping his head. “I hate this shit! Okay, buckle up, Tweety Bird. I’m gonna rock your world. Matt discovered that Soto is dirty. His partner is Deputy Chief Theodore Rankin and a third man of unknown identity.”
Birdie took a deep, painful breath of excitement. “That explains Rankin’s appearance at my house the night O’Brien showed up. Why don’t you know the name of the third partner?”
“Matt never told Danny and he never directly referenced him. He even refused to give an explanation.”
“I think I know. It’s a family member. Matt didn’t want to force me to divide my loyalties. But if Matt knew Soto was dirty, then why did he continue to work with him?”
“Soto let loose his prodigy early in the Paige Street investigation. He wanted to see how aggressive Matt would be and if he would manufacture evidence against Arthur.”
“To protect the true Paige Street suspect?” said Birdie.
“Most likely. During his unofficial investigations Matt discovered Soto’s true nature, but played along as long as he could. It wasn’t until Matt moved the evidence that Soto knew Matt knew. Shortly after, Matt was ambushed on a domestic call. Danny doesn’t think Soto was the triggerman, but he ordered the hit for sure. So, you see, Tweety Bird, Danny is just as anxious as you are.”
This seems right, thought Birdie. Matt directed Reidy to deliver the personal boxes so that she’d be curious and find the letter with the clues. The grand goodbye and the delivery were designed to pique her inquisitiveness sooner rather than later. Anyone looking at the transaction from the outside would see a lawyer delivering personal effects. Except that’s not how it happened. Because the whereabouts of the evidence boxes were unknown, Matt’s personal boxes became the subject of speculation and inadvertently acted as decoys to flush out interested parties.
Birdie was spent with worry. Matt had left her with a devastating authority: the power to destroy her family, the power to further break down a police department, the power to destroy evidence.
She had the power.
How she’d wield that power had yet to be determined.
thirty-nine
Tuesday, February 7
Day 270. Birdie and Detectives Seymour and Morgan huddled in the living room.
“You look much better,” said Seymour. “How are you feeling?”
“Every day is better than the last,” said Birdie.
“Glad to hear it. We’d like to clear old business before continuing. We’ve positively determined that the fugitive John O’Brien killed Martin Reidy.”
“Fugitive O’Brien? Not unexpected, but I thought you had determined a connection with Reidy on January eleventh.”
“You have a good memory,” said Seymour. “The use of the same weapon didn’t necessarily prove who pulled the trigger. We had a ballistics match; nothing more at that time.”
“Do you have a motive?”
“Not at this time. Also, FID concluded that O’Brien shot himself.”
“As expected.”
Morgan pulled a document from his jacket. “We have a warrant for those boxes that belonged to Matt Whelan.”
She didn’t bother looking at the paper. “I already told you that the boxes are no longer in my possession. A warrant can’t make them materialize, but you are more than welcome to search my home.”
“Where are they?” said Seymour.
“Father Frank Whelan has them,” she said. Forgive me, Frank. “Father Frank is … was Matt’s confessor as well as brother. He has the protection of privilege. I don’t think any court could compel the release of personal property from a priest. Besides,” she added, “I’m not sure what he did with them.”
S&M communicated with nonverbal signals in a manner all partners share. She detected they weren’t surprised. “We’ll come back to that issue later,” said Seymour. “During our investigation into your abduction, we found a room rented by Emmett Whelan at the Cecil.”
The Cecil was a rundown, extended-stay hotel full of junkies, prostitutes, transients, and poor families. Its new owners refurbished the lobby and raised the rents in hopes of moving out the lowlifes and attracting tourists to downtown.
“The desk clerk positively identified Emmett from a six-pack as the man who rented a room. Inside were items relevant to the murders.”
“Such as?”
Seymour looked at Morgan, who shook his head.
“Everybody’s dead,” she said, directing her comment to Morgan. “What harm can come of it? Are you going to put dead men on trial?”
“Okay,” said Seymour. Morgan gave him a why do I bother stare. “Names, home addresses, work addresses, vehicle plate numbers and descriptions, photos of all the parties involved. O’Brien’s fake passport, a boarding pass, clothing, maps of the city, cash.”
“How much cash?” she said.
“A hundred K,” said Seymour. “Money for a quick hit?”
“But not enough to kill yourself. Can’t take it with, ya know?” Birdie didn’t hide the sarcasm. “I gave Emmett a check for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars on the thirteenth. That was after Reidy’s murder. My take is that he was being blackmailed. According to my bank statement, he cashed it the same day.”
“Three days prior to your abduction,” interjected Morgan.
“So what? It’s all nice and tidy, isn’t it? At the pump house, you happen to find three dead guys. At the Cecil, you find after-the-fact evidence pointing to Emmett. He was a cop, forcryingoutloud. Do you think he’d be dumb enough to house O’Brien? I bet you don’t even have a credit card or cash receipt.”
Birdie continued with a bit of flourish, “My guess is that Emmett used the money to pay off the blackmailer. That person planted a hundred as proof of Emmett hiring O’Brien and the other fifty was used to pay off the de
sk clerk. Oh, and let’s not forget the probable anonymous tip leading you to the Cecil in the first place. In one swoop you have the perpetrator for Reidy’s murder; O’Brien’s death—because Emmett must be blamed for
abducting me—one identified, the other not—and Emmett. It makes a complete circle. Emmett did it all!”
By the time Birdie finished, S&M stared at her as if she were a crazy woman.
“That was a grand demonstration, Miss Keane,” said Seymour. “But we have other evidence. The gun recovered at the pump house was Emmett’s service weapon. He was the only one that tested positive for GSR.”
“Emmett was set up.”
“Okay, here’s a tidbit for you,” said Seymour. “How can a person force a cop to shoot two men and then himself without a struggle? Emmett was ambidextrous. He shot left-handed, wrote right-handed. That’s not common knowledge.”
“I disagree. He wore his gun on the left side. That’s a simple observation. But there’s one piece of irrefutable evidence yet to be revealed. When the rape kit is processed, and the DNA doesn’t match, how will you explain your hurry to convict a dead man for a crime he didn’t commit? Murder is messy. Rape is messy. And yet, you show up at my door with a tidy package. It’s much too convenient. What is the broader issue here? It’s why. Why would Emmett hire a guy to break into my home and look through boxes that he likely could’ve gotten from his own brother?”
“Actually,” said Seymour, “they were in the possession of Martin Reidy prior to Matt Whelan’s death.”
“So? It still doesn’t answer the question.”
“We go where the evidence leads,” said Morgan.
“I know,” she said. “But don’t you think that two smart RHD detectives are being hand-fed a case? But like you said, you go where the evidence leads.”
Morgan looked like he wanted to tell her off. Instead, he turned away.
Seymour said, “We’re doing a courtesy by being here to give you an update.”
She threw her hands up. “I appreciate that. It’s just a little frustrating. How would Emmett know a jobber from Ireland? How would he know the guy from Louisiana? What is the connection? It’s like a completed test with an A, but no one has bothered to check the answers.”
Morgan snorted and shook his head.
“We know about the minor child,” said Seymour. “Emmett was angry with you for telling his wife. He wanted revenge. He wanted you to suffer. During your captivity he became despondent and finished it off.”
“There’s a major flaw in your why. I didn’t tell his wife.”
“She’s the one who told us you did.”
“What?” said Birdie, dumbstruck. “Why would Eileen lie?” Was she so angry at Emmett for what he had done, or was she mad at Birdie because she knew about April before Eileen did? “Okay,” said Birdie, “you’re going to believe whatever you want. Just do me a favor. Get a subpoena for the local call log of my house from the phone company. You’ll see that I never called her. And the closing date for my cell phone is the fifth, which means I’ll have my bill in a few days. You’ll see.”
“We already have the records,” said Seymour. He flipped through his portfolio of notes. “We have a call originating from your home phone to the Whelan household on Sunday, January fifteenth.”
“Wait … I called Eileen because Emmett was passed out on my lawn.”
“And why was that? He was upset with you for telling his wife and he got drunk and confronted you. You had opportunities to call her previous to the lawn incident. You had been out that morning.”
“Are you kidding me? I didn’t tell her. Why would she say something that wasn’t true?”
“Why does anyone lie?” said Morgan.
“We also have Deputy Hughes’ statement,” said Seymour. “He witnessed Emmett threaten your life later that same day. ‘I really want to kill you right now.’ Isn’t that correct? And there were other witnesses: your father, Captain Keane, and his sergeant.”
Birdie nodded in defeat. They wouldn’t believe her, no matter how much she protested. Their minds were set. “You better leave now.”
Seymour said, “We’ll be in touch.”
Morgan softened and gave her another of his pitiful smiles.
“Seymour,” she said as she escorted them down the turret toward the front door, “tell me one thing, did you get an anonymous tip about the room at The Cecil?”
He turned and said, “Yeah. We did.”
_____
Birdie hobbled up the stairs to catch the ringing phone. She caught it before it went to voicemail.
She huffed out a breathless hello.
“What’s wrong?” said Ron.
“Whoa. Hold on.” Birdie wheezed until her breath grew shallow. “Sorry. I hurried to get the phone.”
“Why were you hurrying?”
“I escorted S&M out. They just left.”
“What did they have to report?”
“Evidence of Emmett’s malfeasance.”
“Credible?”
“After-the-fact from an anonymous tipster.”
“Hum. The worst kind. How can you be so certain it wasn’t Emmett?”
“Because the man was a smoker. Emmett’s not. And there was a particular smell about the man that’s … I don’t know … familiar … but not. It’s hard to say. I spoke with my ADA friend yesterday. He doesn’t think it was Emmett either, but he says it’s somebody I know.”
“You already knew that … because of the personal nature.”
“In my heart.”
“What else is going on? Are you eating? Exercising?”
“Such a nag. By the way, the recordings were endearing the first day, but now they’re intrusive and irritating and beginning to piss me off. Being helpful is okay, but I’m getting control vibes and that is the fastest way to chase me off. I don’t live my life with a set of rules and a fixed schedule. I’ll eat and exercise when it fits into my ev—” She almost said “evidence recovery plan,” but she didn’t want Ron to know that she’d hatched a plan. He was now in the men’s gossip circle and she didn’t want any babysitters.
“Yes?” said Ron. “When exercise fits into my what?”
“My everyday life.”
“Which is, at least for now, rest, therapy, and recovery, so what are you up to?”
“Nothing strenuous. Matt’s estate paperwork mostly. You know, paying bills, making arrangements for the sale of the Koreatown house.” Birdie spent the next few minutes trying to convince him. By the time they disconnected she wasn’t sure he believed her cover story.
forty
The moment Birdie placed the phone back in the cradle, it rang again. “What’d you forget?”
“Gracias a Dios que he podido comunicarme contigo,” said the frantic voice on the line. It was Denis’ girlfriend, Mica. Birdie didn’t have the energy.
“Mica—” Birdie protested.
In Mica’s panic she reverted to her native Spanish; her cool and seductive voice hidden in angst. “Es urgente. Necesito verte ahora mismo. Encuéntrame en Casa Cleary.”
Not wanting a repeat of her breakfast with Denis, Birdie asked with trepidation, “¿Estará Denis allí?”
Mica started to cry. “Ven ahora mismo. Necesito tu ayuda. Trajiste la llave.” The line dropped dead.
“Why me?” said Birdie aloud. “Why now?”
Birdie’s harsh treatment of Mica after the sex episode hadn’t fazed her. So, her current distress had to be seriously big to rattle her. Maybe if Birdie comforted Mica, Denis would return the favor and consider forgiveness without conditions.
Good karma trumped Birdie’s trepidation.
As Birdie backed out of the drive, a Crown Vic pulled in and blocked her departure. Thom jumped out from the passenger side.
She threw the Taurus into park
and opened the door. “What’s going on?”
George stepped out of the car, trying hard not to stare at Birdie’s damaged body.
“What?” insisted Birdie.
Thom and George had a silent discussion. Finally, George said, “Denis is missing.”
“That’s why Mica’s frantic. She just called me.”
“Mica filed an MP. He’s MIA for almost two weeks,” said George.
“She’s his handler, manages his life. Since when does she not know where he is? Better yet, why does she think he’s missing?”
“She had him scheduled for a hitch,” said George. “When Denis didn’t return and wouldn’t answer his cell she contacted the customer. Apparently, he never showed for the assignment. She called the airport and was told that his helicopters were grounded. And he’s missed an important meeting.”
“Oh-kay,” said Birdie. “Why are you here?”
“You two were close at one time,” said Thom. “We thought you’d like to know.”
“Fine,” she said. “You drive. Mica wants me to meet her at Casa Cleary.”
From the cramped back seat, she said, “There’s an entire division for missing persons. Why are you two involved?”
“My sister, Gloria, works in that division,” said George. “She came across the name and thought it sounded familiar.”
“Why would she know the name?” said Birdie.
“I may have mentioned the name in reference to you,” said George.
“And George thought you’d like to know,” added Thom. “He tried to call, but the line was busy and you never pick up call waiting. He thought about coming over, but didn’t want to come alone in case the new boyfriend was still here.”
“You lie,” said George.
She had to smile. Cops were the biggest gossips and the biggest babies.
“It’s likely Mica didn’t know you’ve been indisposed of late so I wonder why she didn’t try and reach you prior to now,” said Thom.
“Notifying the ex-girlfriend was probably a last resort,” said Birdie. “Denis cheated on me with her.”