The Cover Story
Page 27
“But Anna’s going to be okay?” asked Charlie.
“We still don’t know. Her family’s with her. She’ll be in the hospital for a while.”
“Okay, one last thing,” said Liz. “Was the assault on Catherine Reisman a coincidence?”
“Oh, no,” Branigan answered. “Marianne, Catherine and Emma orchestrated that to lay the groundwork for the attack on Anna in the newspaper office. They wanted to create the idea there was a male attacker on the loose.
“Detective Scovoy was suspicious of Catherine’s injuries from the start. He found a bloody paper towel in the bathroom trash that led him to a bathroom wall that’d been wiped clean. But there were still traces of blood smeared on it.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Liam.
“That Catherine allowed Marianne and Emma to bang her face on the wall.”
Liz and Charlie instinctively brought their hands over their noses.
“Marianne convinced her she was going to have to get plastic surgery for the bump in her nose anyway. Now she could get it sooner.”
“You are kidding!” Liz exclaimed in horror.
Branigan rolled her eyes in agreement, and continued. “The point was to direct everyone’s attention to the idea of a violent man roaming the student center. Catherine and Emma came to see me the next day, maybe trying to get information and maybe planting the idea of Gamma Delts being targets. I’m not really sure. When they told me their sorority colors, I got an inkling that it might be them. But I had completely bought into their goody-two-shoes reputation. I couldn’t make sense of it until I saw the hazing video.”
The five sat back in silence for a minute.
“Who was driving?” Charlie asked. “The hearse?”
“Catherine. But Detective Scovoy says that as passengers Marianne and Emma will be charged exactly the same. And Marianne was the one who hit Maylene with the crowbar. Plenty of blame to go around.”
Liam clamped a hand on Malachi’s leg. “We thought the streets were rough, didn’t we, my friend?”
Malachi stood to leave. “Streets can’t hold a candle to mean girls.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Branigan drove from the Delaneys’ house directly to her farm, where she found not only Cleo but Chester Scovoy waiting for her.
“You didn’t forget our date, did you?” he asked, as Cleo bounded happily between them.
“I most certainly did not,” she said. “Just couldn’t get away any earlier.”
“Where would you like to go?”
“How would you feel about staying in?”
“Surely you don’t want to cook after the week you’ve had.”
“Not cook, maybe, but ‘fix’. I can cut up some veggies and put out dips and wine and cheese.”
“Sounds like dinner to me.”
They walked through the dusk into the house. Branigan flipped the thermostat up and turned on the gas in the fireplace. “These two rooms will warm up real quick,” she said, placing a bottle of pinot noir and two wine glasses on the kitchen island.
Chester filled the glasses. Holding them aloft, they clinked.
“To Greeks,” he said sarcastically.
“Not going to drink to that,” she said.
“Okay, then, to two murders and one attempted murder solved. And three murderers arrested.”
Branigan took a sip. “I still cannot believe they went so far to cover up a hazing.”
Chester ran his hand through his hair in a gesture Branigan had come to hold dear. “I’m no psychiatrist, but I think it had a lot to do with that damned legacy of theirs. They were so perfect with their hair and their pearls and their housekeepers and their engagements; so almost … typecast. That pledge hazing would have brought all that crashing down.”
“Not nearly as low as it’s crashed now.”
“You got that right. We had officers out there all day gathering evidence. They said the Gamma Delta Phi house was shut down, and the campus was full of parents packing up their kids. The whole school is taking a hit.”
“I feel sorry for the administrators. There’s no way they could’ve known.”
“Apparently, those girls fooled everyone. As did Dr Eckhart.”
“She fooled my grandparents,” Branigan conceded. “They had a lot of respect for her.”
“That’s what is so weird to me – that a grown woman decades away from that sorority silliness could be drawn in.”
“Maybe she was drawn in at first,” Branigan said slowly. “But later, I think she was simply scared of them. Scared for herself, but also scared for Mackenzie and Charlie and Anna and anybody else who got in their way. She knew I was going to see Mackenzie early on, and she didn’t tell them.”
“That reminds me. I talked to Mackenzie and her family before they headed back to Columbia. Nice people. Her brother asked me to thank the good-looking reporter for her help.”
Branigan grinned. “He did not.”
“No, really. He couldn’t leave for Columbia fast enough to suit me.” Scovoy smiled. “And Mackenzie asked me to convey her apology for misleading you back in December.”
“I understand why she did it. She was sending a message to the Gamma Delts that she was taking the blame for the accident, that she wouldn’t tell the truth. That was a lot for her to carry by herself.”
“Right up until Jim Rogerson got there and told her Marianne, Catherine and Emma were in jail. I’m telling you, those girls had everyone scared to death.”
“I guess they looked pretty invincible for a while there.” She moved to the refrigerator and pulled out baby carrots and broccoli and celery.
Scovoy popped a baby carrot into his mouth. “Oh, one more thing,” he said. “We also made a copy of Ralph’s video and gave it to the college president in case he wants to take action against Jones Rinehart and the Robies. Without a victim, there’s nothing we can do. But he can make things hot for them.”
Branigan nodded. “I don’t know about you but I’m ready to talk about something else. Namely, that this was my last story involving the Grambling PD.”
He eyed her warily over his glass. “It was?” He waited a beat, and when she didn’t answer, he asked, “Did Tan take you off, or did you remove yourself?”
“A little of both,” she said. “He’s right. I can’t see you socially and have you as a source. It got uncomfortable even this time. I found myself holding back on calling you when I would’ve pushed with anybody else. Luckily Jody was there to cover, but still, it was not a good situation.” She blushed.
The detective smiled. “I think I’m flattered.”
Branigan grew a little flustered. “I don’t want you to think I’m expecting anything,” she started. “I can still deal with Cannon County law enforcement. I’ll just need to keep my distance from Grambling PD. No biggie.”
She frowned as she attacked the celery, then glanced sideways to find Scovoy grinning.
“I have to tell you, it’ll make my life easier,” he said. He raised his glass again. “To the Cannon County sheriff and deputies. They don’t know what’s about to hit ’em.”