You think you know me pretty well (an Alex Sedaka thriller)

by David Kessler

  He pulled up in the street, not bothering to pull onto the driveway. He would only be a few minutes. Also he was tired. So tired that he didn’t notice the faint glow of the flashlight inside the living room.

  It was only when he had unlocked the door and pushed it open that he sensed something was wrong. He noticed a faint light go out just as he opened the door. A trick of the light, he thought as he stepped inside and switched on the living room light before closing the door behind him.

  It was then that he heard a sound. He raced into the bedroom just in time to see a man on the bed clambering out the window. Instinctively he leapt forward and grabbed the leg that was still inside the room. He yanked hard and the man let out a cry of pain. It was then that he noticed for the first time that the man was rather old – well in his fifties at any rate.

  The man pulled away and tried to kick his leg free. But Nat had locked the man’s leg in a tight overarm grip. The man tried to use one of his hands to push Nat away. But youth and strength triumphed over age and the man – who was not of particularly large build - found himself being dragged back.

  He still had the other leg over the window ledge, locked round it and creating a grip that made it hard to dislodge him from there. But when Nat shifted his attention from the man’s leg to his torso, using both his arms and hands to grab the man, all the fight went out of the intruder and he allowed himself to be dragged back in.

  He looked at Nat’s panting mouth and his intense eyes and – obviously fearful of Nat’s intentions – he pleaded with him not to hurt him.

  “I’m not resisting. Just tell the cops I didn’t resist, okay?”

  Nat well understood what was going through this man’s mind. He was a burglar, caught in the act of breaking into domestic premises. Under the three strikes rule that was a very serious offense.

  “Okay, I’ll put in a good word for you,” said Nat with a smile, whipping out his cell phone. “I might even be able to get you a lawyer.”

  “I’ve already got – ”

  He broke off abruptly. Nat, though, wasn’t listening and had keyed in 911 and reported the break-in to the police, adding that he had caught the burglar, but that the “perp” was cooperating. The police told him to wait there with the suspect. After the call ended, Nat closed the window and allowed the burglar to assume a sitting position on the bed.

  “What’s your name?” asked Nat.

  “I’m in custody. You’re not supposed to question me until you’ve read my Mirandas.”

  “I see you know the ropes,” said Nat with a smile.

  “I’ve been round the block a few times.”

  “Now why doesn’t that surprise me?” The burglar said nothing. “But I’m not a cop. Anyway, whatever you say to me now will not be used against you.”

  The burglar nodded, still showing signs of fear.

  “So what is your name then?” Nat persisted.

  “Kelly.”

  “Kelly what?”

  “No, Kelly’s my last name. Lee … Lee Kelly.”

  Nat froze. That name sounded familiar. He remembered his conversation with David Sedaka two hours ago.

  Lee Kelly was the burglar that Alex had taken a detour to represent at the arraignment.

  What a coincidence that he should break into my place now.

  21:57 PDT

  “Yes, he’s all right, apart from a broken nose. I just wanted you to know. It looks like someone is trying to sabotage us.”

  Alex was on the phone to Juanita as he pulled up outside the building that housed Jonathan’s apartment.

  “Be careful, boss. Whoever it was must be pretty desperate.”

  “My thoughts exactly. That means we’re onto something. You be careful too. If anyone comes to the office when Nat and I aren’t round – ”

  “Oh do me a favor Alex! I grew up around the Mission where they eat suits like you for breakfast!”

  “Sorry, you’re right. I’m sure you can handle yourself. But stay alert.”

  Alex ended the call and parked the car. As he walked up to the entrance he noticed a Suzuki motorbike parked just outside. It reminded him of the one that had overtaken him earlier.

  He walked up the stairs of the building and knocked on Jonathan’s door.

  “Who is it?” a tense, nervous voice called out from inside.

  “It’s Alex Sedaka!”

  “What do you want?”

  This was strange. Jonathan hadn’t been so cagey last time Alex was here. Then again, last time Alex had phoned first. But still…

  “I just want to talk!”

  “Just a minute!”

  Alex heard a faint thumping and thudding, like doors or drawers were being opened and closed. He assumed that Jonathan had locked the door and taken the key out and was now trying to find it.

  After almost a minute, the door opened and Jonathan stood there looking sweaty and agitated.

  “I have to talk to you,” said Alex. “This has gone on long enough.”

  “Come in,” said Jonathan swallowing nervously.

  He moved aside to let Alex across the threshold. As soon as Alex was in Jonathan shut the door behind him. Something in Jonathan’s face drew Alex’s eyes, to the hand at his side.

  The next thing Alex saw was the hand lurching toward his torso and a sparkle of pocket-sized lightning, matched by a crackle of miniaturized thunder.

  And the next thing he felt was jolt of pain as his muscles stopped functioning, his vision became blurred and his legs gave out.

  22:04 PDT

  “The police are taking a long time,” said Nat, trying to pass the time and conceal his own fear as to why Lee Kelly was here.

  “You know what they say: you can never find a cop when you need one.”

  “So how come you didn’t take anything?”

  Lee felt a stab of fear, but recovered quickly. He was a pro after all.

  “I didn’t have time. You caught me, remember.”

  Nat wasn’t sure whether to face up his hole card. It might shock Lee into admitting something. But it would also tip his own hand – probably to Alex. And he wasn’t ready for that just yet.

  He regretted calling the police. If he had a little longer with Lee he might be able to get some answers out of him. But the police could arrive at any moment. Besides, he was kidding himself. He wouldn’t harm or kill this man, even if he had the opportunity. There were limits to how far he would go.

  He wouldn’t hurt the innocent … and this man was innocent – relatively.

  He heard a car screech to a halt and seconds later there was a knock on the door. The police had arrived. The next few minutes were spent on formalities as Nat showed his tenancy agreement to prove that he was the legal tenant of the house and signed the complaint. They wanted him to come to the police station to make a full statement, but he had already prepared his excuse.

  “I work for Alex Sedaka, the lawyer representing Clayton Burrow. I’m still working and my boss is going to be wondering where I am.”

  “Okay, can you come to the station in the morning?” asked the patrolman.

  “Sure,” said Nat. “No problem.”

  The patrolman closed his notebook while his partner, who had already cuffed Lee Kelly, led his man away.

  “Listen, maybe I shouldn’t say this, but off the record I hope they fry your client.”

  Nat looked shocked, but only for a second.

  “I’m not in the business of judging,” said Nat. “I just want to make sure that the system works – that includes defending a man in a capital case.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess I was out of line with that wisecrack.”

  But Nat wasn’t thinking of that. He was still thinking about why Lee Kelly should have picked his place to break into – and right after Alex had got him bail.

  22:08 PDT

  When Alex came to, he found himself handcuffed to a radiator in a bedroom. Jonathan was sitting on the bed looking at him. He did not look happy. He was
holding something in his hands, looking at it almost with fascination. It was a cell phone. As Alex’s eyes regained their focus, he realized that it was his own iPhone.

  But what was he planning to do?

  “Jonathan?”

  “You awake?” The voice was nervous. Alex had expected a trace of aggression, given the circumstances in which he had got here. But there was none. He could tell that Jonathan was more afraid than he was.

  “Yes. What’s going on?”

  “I didn’t mean to do it. I mean, I didn’t want a confrontation.”

  “Then why did you attack me?”

  “I mean with … He just grabbed me.”

  Alex was confused.

  “What are you talking about? Who grabbed you? Clayton?”

  “I mean at the lab! David.”

  “The lab?” Realization dawned on Alex. “It was you?”

  “I just wanted the hard drive. I didn’t want him snooping round anymore. I didn’t mean to attack him. I just wanted to grab the disk platters and run out. But he caught me and shoved me back against a wall. Look … is he all right?”

  Alex remembered that Jonathan had never been a bully. He was the kid who stood up to the bully even when he knew he was going to get beaten. He was not the sort of person to take pleasure in hurting an innocent man.

  “He’s fine. His nose may be a bit crooked unless he gets it set, but aside from that he’s fine.”

  Jonathan permitted himself a smile.

  “Okay…”

  “Okay,” Alex echoed. “So now … can you let me go?”

  “Let you…?” Jonathan seemed to snap out of a trance. “Oh yes! Of course.”

  Jonathan leaned forward and was about to insert the key into the lock of the handcuff on Alex’s wrist when he paused.

  “If you didn’t come here about David, what did you come here for?”

  “I came here to ask about Dorothy and why she went to England.”

  “I don’t know anything about that. I didn’t even know she went to England. I don’t even know if it’s true. I’ve only got your word for it – and you’re trying to save that scumbag Burrow.”

  “It’s true I’m trying to save him. But a lawyer’s not allowed to falsify evidence: he could get disbarred.”

  “Some lawyers are ready to risk disbarment.”

  “Not me … and not for someone like Burrow.”

  “Well even if it’s true, I don’t know anything about it.”

  “Oh, I think you do. You see, your mother told me that she heard you and Dorothy talking about the rape a few days before she vanished.”

  “Heard us?”

  “It was just whispering through the walls. But she heard Dorothy crying and she heard the word rape.”

  “So? I knew about the rape. I never denied that.”

  “Yes, but the rape took place on Dorothy’s eighteenth birthday: that would be April the first. Your mother heard you and Dorothy talking about it: a week before she vanished. That was on the 16th May.”

  “So what?”

  “Well I was wondering why she would be talking about it then?”

  “Why shouldn’t she?”

  “Surely if she wanted to talk to you about the rape, she’d’ve talked about it before?”

  “Maybe she did.”

  “So what brought it up again six weeks later?”

  “Maybe she couldn’t bring herself to talk about it sooner.”

  “Maybe,” Alex agreed. “But I think that she decided to talk to you then because she had just found out that she was pregnant. When she realized she was pregnant, that was the trigger. She had to talk to someone.”

  “Why would it take her six weeks?”

  “Oh she would’ve suspected before, Jonathan. But she was probably in denial. May 16 is round about the time she would have finally realized.”

  “And what if it was?” asked Jonathan slowly.

  “And we know that she had an abortion. So maybe she was talking to you about her intention to have an abortion.”

  “Again,” said Jonathan irritably, “so what?”

  “Well she had the abortion in England. So if she talked to you about the pregnancy and having an abortion – and if she had the abortion in England – then don’t you think that would suggest that she probably talked to you about going to England for the abortion?”

  Jonathan opened his mouth to speak. But no words came out. He looked away, unwilling to meet Alex’s eye.

  “You see, Jonathan, I’m not trying to corner you into an admission that you knew what Dorothy was planning – although I think you did. But the thing that has me puzzled is why she went to England for an abortion. Why not have it done right here?”

  Jonathan finally turned to look at Alex.

  “And is that just a question? Or do you have some sort of an answer in mind?”

  “Well she booked the ticket right after her father blew his brains out. And then there’s the whole question of who she blamed for her pregnancy.”

  “Well I think that, at least, should be obvious,” Jonathan sneered.

  “Oh I’m not doubting for a minute that Clayton Burrow got her pregnant. But the question isn’t who made her pregnant, but rather who she thought was responsible at the time. And remember, Clayton Burrow raped her once. What are the chances of getting her pregnant with one shot?”

  Alex studied Jonathan for a reaction. But there was none. He pressed on.

  “And then there’s another thing: we’ve found some files on Dorothy’s computer that suggests some resentment toward her father. I told you about that reference to him ‘ripping the clothes’ off of her, didn’t I? So could it be that Clayton wasn’t the only one who forced himself physically on Dorothy? Could it be that her father routinely forced himself on her?”

  There was a ghost of a smile on Jonathan’s face. But it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. Alex continued.

  “Dorothy was estranged from both her mother and her … and Edgar Olsen. You told me at our first meeting that Dorothy got a raw deal. When I asked you to elaborate on this all you said was that there are sins of commission and sins of omission. Could one of those sins of omission be a mother turning a blind eye to a husband’s sexual abuse of her daughter?”

  “You got any more theories?”

  Alex knew that he was playing a dangerous game. Jonathan may not have been violent in the past, but he had zapped him with a taser just now and he had him handcuffed to the radiator.

  “Well all of this leads to the question of whether Dorothy believed that it was her father who got her pregnant. And that in turn leads to the question of how she might have reacted to that belief.”

  “You think, after years of abuse, she suddenly took it into her head to get revenge?”

  “This wasn’t just abuse. Now she was pregnant, remember. A whole different ball game. And it certainly must have thrown her hormones out of whack.”

  “Let’s say it’s true. So what? What are you here for? And what does it have to do with Clayton Burrow? You can’t say that my father killed Dorothy, because he died before she did. So it’s a nice theory, but it doesn’t really add up to a hill of beans as they say.”

  “No, not in itself. But it would explain a number of things. For example, why did Dorothy go to London to have an abortion? Possibly to get away from the US before she got arrested for murder. Even if they eventually decided that Edgar’s death was suicide, she wasn’t to know that at the time. Those evidence technicians are very good at recognizing when a crime scene has been staged. Maybe she panicked and fled.”

  “You said it explains a number of things,” said Jonathan. “That’s only one.”

  “Well, then there’s the money. She paid the London clinic forty thousand pounds. That’s a sizeable chunk of her inheritance. Why would she do that? Could it be that they found out what she had done and started blackmailing her?”

  “A clinic? Blackmailing someone?”

  “Maybe n
ot the clinic itself. Maybe someone on the staff using the clinic as a conduit for the money.”

  Alex was staring at Jonathan, still waiting for a reaction. Finally Jonathan smiled.

  “It’s a very interesting theory, but there’s just one problem: you’ve got it backward.”

  22:11 PDT

  Lee Kelly had stayed silent throughout the drive to the police station. It was not like him to get caught doing a job, but to get caught twice in one day was particularly embarrassing. However, it wasn’t professional pride he was worried about. It was prison.

  This was a domestic burglary – and they were taken much more seriously. The fact that he did it while out on bail made it all the more grave.

  But there was more to it than that. The person whose house he was breaking into was that of his own lawyer’s legal intern, Would that fact come up in the case? And the reason he was doing it was because Alex had asked him to. He was not supposed to breathe a word of this to anyone. It could get Alex disbarred. But was he to think about himself first, or his lawyer? If he kept quiet, could Alex save him? Could Alex keep him out of prison? Would the truth come out in spite of his silence? Did Nat realize the connection?

  As they searched him they found the passport – Dorothy’s passport. But the overworked cop at the desk didn’t even bother to look inside it. He just logged it as “US passport” and bagged it along with everything else in Lee’s possession and marked the evidence bag. The only job of the custody officer was to secure the prisoner and inventory the items in his possession at the time of arrest and bag them up and store them until he was released. It was up to the assigned case officers to investigate.

  Of course, Lee knew that they might look at it later. But the risk was small. Would Nat tell the police about it? Would he even know it was gone? Nat had seen Lee trying to flee empty-handed. Would he even realize what Lee was there for?

  The custody officer had also found the picture of the young woman. He was about to bag it up with the rest of Lee’s possessions when Lee spoke.

  “Can I keep that? It’s my mother.”

  The custody officer looked at the picture and then back at Lee skeptically. This man was born in the fifties. The picture was in color and looked like it was more recent than that - and it was of a young woman. If it had been this man’s mother when she was young, he would have expected it to be an old black and white picture. But still…