“Skinny?”
“I guess so.”
“You don’t have to guess,” Nina said.
“I didn’t notice anything unusual about his weight.”
“I will represent to you that Mr. Bova weighs two hundred and twelve pounds. Do you consider that skinny?”
“Not really.”
“You grappled with this man?”
“I bumped him and hit at his arm, and the gun went flying.”
“So you had physical contact with him?”
“Yes. He was hard-he worked out. That’s about all I could say.”
“Come on,” Betty Jo said. “You can do better than that. When you came into contact with him, was he taller than you?”
“I had my head down.”
“Did he weigh more than you? What do you weigh?”
“One seventy-four.”
“Did he weigh more than you?”
“I’d say so. Yeah, I was wrong. He wasn’t really skinny.”
Betty Jo didn’t like that answer. She moved on.
“After the shots, how much time elapsed before you heard the screaming of the motel clerk?”
“Does he know if it was the motel clerk screaming?” Nina interrupted.
“How long before you heard a woman screaming?” Betty Jo went on.
“Seconds.”
“How many seconds?”
“I had time to run almost all the way to my room. Approximately forty seconds, forty-five seconds.”
“She must have been very close, right?”
“Pretty close. I heard later she was at the Internet cafe next door.”
“Never mind what you heard. So you had attracted a lot of attention at Prize’s, winning all that money?”
“The pit boss was getting too interested.”
“You had made thirty-five thousand dollars at one five-dollar-minimum table?”
“At two tables.”
“Other people were watching you? Guests of the casino?”
“Sure. It was time to leave.”
“Did you ask for any security to carry this large amount of cash?”
“No, we were staying just across the street.”
“Did you make any efforts to avoid being followed?”
“He didn’t have a duty to do that,” Nina said.
Betty Jo said, “He might have. He was a pro in a dangerous business. If you can sue him to bring him here, I may as well sue him, too.” Elliott didn’t look too happy at this.
“Did you? What did you do to protect yourself from robbery?”
“There were three of us.”
“Anything else?”
“Tried to keep a low profile.”
“That didn’t work out, though, did it?” Without waiting for an answer, Betty Jo said, “You were standing right at the vending machine when this man appeared?”
“Yes. We were. Silke had just put in the money.”
“Defendant’s Four. Photo of the area around the vending machine.” The transcriber pasted an identification label on the photo and returned it to Betty Jo, who passed it to Elliott.
“How many ways in and out are there from this area?”
“Two. The street side, and the parking-lot side.”
“Three actually, aren’t there? Look again.”
“Oh, the staircase.”
“You weren’t boxed in, were you? If he came one way, you could run another way? You did run another way? And got away safely?”
“Yes.”
“The two people on the balcony-you saw them?”
“Just for a second.”
“You didn’t see the woman get shot?”
“No, I was running for my room when I heard the third shot.”
“The police report doesn’t mention any third shot. Where were you for the first two shots?”
“Going toward him.”
“And you say he shot in the air? Think he was trying to scare you?”
“You don’t have to guess,” Nina said again, but Elliott answered, “Yes.”
“And when you heard the third shot your friends were ahead of you, and had already run into their rooms? You were almost at your ground-floor room?”
“Yes.”
“So why would he fire a warning shot?”
Elliott stared at the table. “I’ve wondered about that, how it happened. He must have noticed them after he picked up the gun again. He must have just shot straight at them.”
“Excuse me,” Nina said. “Just to clarify the record, you’re speculating, right?”
“It just seems logical. We weren’t there anymore.”
“Okay,” Betty Jo said, “I want to suggest something to you. And I want you to search your heart and remember you’re under penalty of perjury, even if you’re not in court today. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“I suggest that there were a total of two shots, as Meredith Assawaroj told the police. Wait just a minute. I suggest that you were struggling with this bad guy, this robber with a gun, and you lifted his arm up, trying to get the gun, and the gun went off and hit the lady.”
“There were three shots, I know that much. I don’t care what the police reports say. And after the second shot, I saw them crouched up on their balcony.”
“Were you facing the robber?”
“Yes.”
“So he had his back to that balcony?”
“Yes.”
“You’re the one facing the balcony, struggling over a gun.” Betty Jo raised her arm and said, “I’ve got the gun and you’re going for it. You push my arm back and it goes off.”
“Objection,” Nina said. “Lack of foundation, calls for speculation, misstates the testimony. Counsel is testifying. Just for the record.”
Betty Jo said, “You want to get at the truth or not? Let’s end this here. This boy made a mad rush at an armed robber, and in the struggle an innocent bystander was accidentally killed, and it’s hard for him to admit.” She turned back to Elliott. “You seem like a nice boy.”
“Objection,” Nina said. In depositions, alas, there was no judge to rule on objections and make the lawyers behave; one could only object for the record. It would have to be sorted out later.
“Is it my turn?” Elliott said. “I looked her in the eyes as I turned and ran, and she was alive, crouching in a corner, watching.”
“How do you know she wasn’t hit?” Betty Jo said. She had a loud clear voice and she talked like a school principal. Elliott had a hangdog look. A guilty look, even, but so would anybody subjected to Betty Jo. Nina was worried at the beating Elliott was taking, but she couldn’t help appreciating the other lawyer’s style. “Well? She could have just been shot, couldn’t she? Crouching there in the corner, poor little thing, while you macho boys slugged it out and the shots went a-flyin’. How far away was she?”
“Fifty to sixty feet. Forty feet on the horizontal, ten feet up. The square root of two hundred and sixty.” He took out his calculator. “Fifty-two point zero-zero-six feet. That’s an estimate.”
“Can you swear to me under penalty of perjury that she wasn’t hit when you looked at her for that split second?”
Elliott shook his head.
“Speak up!”
“I can’t be positive.”
“There wasn’t any third shot. Nobody else heard it but you, Elliott. All you have to do is admit it and you can spare us all a world of misery. Haven’t you had enough misery already?”
“Objection,” Nina said. “That question is irrelevant, incompetent, and immaterial, and the rest is just badgering.” Her objection went into the record, but Betty Jo could ignore it here, and that’s exactly what she did. Silke had heard a third shot, but Silke couldn’t attest to that anymore. Dave couldn’t remember, and Raj was dead, too.
Elliott placed his hands on the table, palms down, and looked at them. “I don’t know anything anymore,” he mumbled. “I can’t go on. I don’t feel well.”
Betty Jo had th
e audacity to lean across the table and pat his hand. “Just tell us the truth, now, honey.” She gave Nina such a glare that Nina didn’t pipe up with another objection. Her suspicion was fair. She was trying to get at the truth. Elliott wasn’t Nina’s client, after all.
Maybe Betty Jo was right. Maybe Elliott had done just what she said. Nina couldn’t prove differently. Hard to believe Elliott could lie, though.
Elliott wasn’t lying now. He wasn’t saying anything.
“Two shots or three shots?” Betty Jo said, waiting expectantly.
“Three shots.”
Betty Jo threw down her tablet, stood up, and said, “I won’t sit here and listen to this bucketful of lies any longer.” She picked up her Hermès briefcase and walked out.
“Whew,” Sandy said. The transcriber raised her eyebrows and said to Nina, “Now what?”
“We’re finished,” Nina said.
Wish was waiting in the outer office to take Elliott back to the house. He didn’t mind being the babysitter as long as he had access to Nina’s computer and phone at the cabin. But Elliott said, “I’m slept out. I have to do something.”
“It’s better for you not to go out until your flight tomorrow,” Wish told him. “Nina?”
“What do you have in mind?” Nina said.
“I want to play some cards. Wish can come.”
“I can’t protect you in a casino,” Wish said, but he added again, “Nina?”
“There’s no safer place on earth than a casino,” Nina said. “But how about getting there and getting back?”
“We could take my van. It’s pretty discreet,” Wish said. Nina was acutely aware that Elliott was not in her custody and that he would not fare well staring at the wall of Bob’s bedroom. She said, “Be careful. Both of you.” Elliott brightened a little.
“Did I do all right?” he asked. “The thing is, that lawyer almost made me believe it was a straight robbery. I could almost see me lifting the man’s arm, when she lifted her arm. But I don’t think I did. I hit his arm, and the gun went flying. And there were three shots.”
“You did fine,” Nina said. “Thanks.”
But as he pulled on his parka, Elliott said, “Maybe it was a robbery and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe I’m trying to find some sense in this when it’s all random. Some criminal saw me win some money and all this other stuff happened.”
“Go play some cards,” Nina said. “Rest your mind.”
When the door closed behind them, Nina said to Sandy, “She’s so good she has me half-convinced it was all Elliott’s fault. Did you call Sergeant Cheney?”
“He’s got a call in to the Heddesheim police. He said he’d phone when he hears anything.” Sandy had returned to her desk and was looking at something on the Net. “Wish wants you to check this out. Come around here.”
It was a porn site, the writing, whatever there was of it, in a foreign script. The site had a.thailand html.
“ Thailand?”
“Brittney” posed in red leather underpants. She had red lips and spiky black hair, a slight body that didn’t seem right for the togs. She smiled for the camera. She was riding a large gray mutt, canine species, and swung some sort of spiked ball on a chain in the air, like an elf-queen going into battle. The background colors were comic-book. There were several stills, all involving the dog.
“That’s Meredith Assawaroj! The clerk at the Ace High! I saw her photo in one of the newspaper accounts of the shooting!”
“She’s a naughty girl,” Sandy said. “Not to mention, we had to pay twenty bucks to get this site up, and I’ll be getting porn spam for the next year on this computer. I hope it’s worth it.”
“It’s disgusting. Look at that!”
“I wish Willis hadn’t.”
“Did Wish say anything else?”
“He just said to have a look. He interviewed her and he was following up.” Meredith had her hands full with the dog.
“She still works at the Ace High,” Sandy said. “You have court at three.”
“What’s the weather prediction?”
“Eighteen inches of snow.”
“I wish Bob were home. He’d be excited. Did you send the copies of the tape and the napkin to Mick?”
“He wants five hundred dollars to grant you his wisdom.”
“Grr. Fine. I’ll make out the check.”
The plows were out, but the boulevard still had several inches of fresh powder and the snow kept coming, straight down on this windless dark day. Though it was only noon, Christmas lights strung merry colors along the way. Few cars were out.
Meredith sat in the overheated motel office, reading a Thai newspaper. The lipstick was still red. She had a complicated arrangement of piercings in her ears and a pointed chin. She jumped to her feet and said, “Welcome to the Ace High. How may we serve you?”
Nina gave her a business card. Her face closed.
“I can’t talk now. I’m on duty.”
“When someone comes in, I’ll stop.”
“I already talked to your boy.” She meant Wish. “I don’t know anything.”
“Are you still posing for porn photos?” Nina said. Meredith’s eyes veiled and her expression hardened.
“So what?” she said. “You want to buy one? You can’t blackmail me. It’s totally legal. My lawyer said so.”
“Does Mr. Bova know about it?”
Meredith laughed. “He loves them. Why are you here, bugging me? Go away.”
Nina stood her ground. She was five feet three, but Meredith was at least three inches shorter and quite a bit younger. It was nice to have a physical advantage for once, but Meredith wasn’t the kind of girl who responds well to pressure. “Okay,” Nina said, “I can’t put any pressure on you. I didn’t mean to sound accusatory.”
“Brittney” folded her arms. “You’re damn straight.”
“How about if I buy you lunch?”
“Why? You don’t care about me. Nobody does.”
“I won’t ask you any questions. Let’s just have lunch.”
“You’ll just hassle me.”
Nina shrugged. “I’m hungry, and I want to eat well, and I don’t have anyone to eat with.” Meredith didn’t buy that, but she seemed to like the idea of having lunch bought for her.
“Where?” she said.
“You pick.”
“It’s snowing.”
“The heater in my truck works fine. I’ll drop you back here.”
“You’re buying?”
“Damn straight,” Nina said with a smile.
Meredith said, “You want to buy me lunch at the Summit restaurant, I’ll go.”
“Why not?” Nina said.
“I have to set up the answering service.” She did that, and put on a furry coat. She wore black leggings and ankle boots. She kept casting sideways glances at Nina that said, You’re a fool.
It was a long shot, a whim really, but Nina had a feeling.
“I don’t really have a lawyer,” Meredith said over her halibut. She drank some wine and dabbed at her lips. “I always wanted to come to this place.”
“Mind if I ask how old you are?” Nina said.
“Twenty-six.”
“Were you raised in the mountains?”
“You know I wasn’t. You know I still have an accent. I was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand.”
“Oh,” Nina said. “I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place.”
“No snow there. I can’t believe how hard it’s snowing. It scares me. But we’ll have so much business from the snowboarders. We get a lot of people from England and France and Germany.”
Nina added some olive oil to her salad.
“What are those little green balls on your salad?”
“Capers. They’re-you know, I’m not sure what they are.”
“So do you despise me? Because of the photos on the Web? You don’t think I really gave permission for those things to be in every bedroom in America, do you?”
“Is that why you’re eating lunch with me?” Nina said. “Because you need a lawyer to help you get those photos off the Web?”
“What are my chances? The creep is my ex-boyfriend, of course. He’s in Bangkok.”
“Did he take the photos?” Nina asked.
“Every one. He set it up. He brought the dog. My boss-Mr. Bova-doesn’t really know.”
“Did you sign anything?”
“It wasn’t like that. It was a joke at the time.”
“When did he post the photos?”
“Over a year ago.”
“Did he use your real name anywhere?”
“No, he used the Brittney name.”
“We found the site by Googling your real name.”
“God damn it!” For such a small girl, she spoke with a lot of force.
Nina stabbed a small tomato and said, “I’m sorry, Meredith. If he were in California, even somewhere in the U.S., maybe I could do something.”
Meredith finished her wine. “I think I’ll tell my cousin back home. I’m mad enough to confess to him. My cousin will take care of it. This is good food. Could I see a dessert menu?”
She chose crème brûlée with a drizzle of raspberry syrup. “It upsets my stomach, but so what.” Nina watched her eat, drank her coffee, and let her talk. Snow fell from the sky, and another day in her life was passing. Meredith wasn’t going to solve the case for her. She relaxed and started thinking about the two cords of wood due to be delivered on Saturday, and that it would take her days to stack it without Bob.
“I have to get back.”
Nina got out her credit card.
“I still don’t know why you did this,” Meredith said when they were back in the Bronco with the heater on, compacting snow with the studded snow tires as they moved slowly down the street on their way back to the Ace High. “I told you I wouldn’t say anything.”
“It’s all right,” Nina said. “You already told the truth. No need to make you tell it over and over.”
Meredith pulled down the visor and applied lipstick. “I like my job. I need it.”
Nina kept her eyes on the road, nodded.
“You’re making me feel bad.”
“Why?”
“There is something I didn’t tell, because I’ll lose my job.”
Nina stopped the Bronco right in front of the office.
Case of Lies Page 27