Upside Down

56

Winter had turned off his phone at the club, so he turned it on and called Detective Manseur to fill him in on the conversation with Bennett in his office. He described the couple: “Short woman in leather with long hair and a young dark-haired man in a black Lincoln Town Car. They were in Bennett's office just before we got there.”

“They aren't with Homicide, Vice, or Narcotics,” Manseur told him. “They could be uniforms on special assignment, but if they were working with the detective bureau, I'd know about them.”

“I don't think Bennett had anything to do with the Trammels' hit-and-run,” Winter told him. “He was easy to read because we came out of the blue and rattled him good. I don't think he ever expected to be connected to anything, because he didn't have a straight story and he mentioned his close friendship with Suggs. By the time we left he was almost under control, but I'm sure he's never heard of Hank.”

“But it has to be connected to Kimberly Porter,” Manseur said.

“Oh, Bennett's tangled up in that. Proving it is going to be a different matter. He'll lawyer up.”

Adams, overhearing the conversation, nodded, agreeing with Winter's assessment. “He's a narcissistic jerk. He thinks he's bulletproof and smarter than everybody else. He'll get more pissed if you criticize his lousy office decor than if you accuse him of a crime,” Adams said.

Winter said, “Amber didn't take any money from him, but she might have taken something worth killing her for. That charade probably allowed him to get the cops to locate her. I'd bet Suggs helped him with that. Maybe Bennett found her, he went postal, and Suggs is trying to cover for Bennett.”

Manseur said, “I don't think Bennett confronted Amber in Porter's office and there was an argument that escalated. The choice of the weapon says that whoever did it was there to kill Amber all along.”

“If Faith Ann saw Bennett do it, and Bennett ran to Suggs-his pal-that could explain why Suggs immediately started stacking the deck against her.”

“It's worth considering, but I can't imagine Suggs risking everything to cover up a murder for Bennett. Kimberly Porter wasn't exactly popular with our department.”

Winter had an incoming call, so he asked Manseur to hang on while he took it. “Yeah?”

“Daddy,” Rush said.

“I can't talk now, Rush. I'll call you back.”

“But it's super-important.” Rush sounded frantic.

“Okay, hang on and I'll be right back.”

“But-”

He returned to Manseur. “I gotta take this other call,” Winter told him.

“Keep me posted,” Manseur said.

“We're going to meet Nicky Green. I'll call you back as soon as we get there.”

“No problem,” Manseur said. “Suggs knows you are coming this morning. I told him I was going to talk to you. So we've talked. You didn't tell me about Kimberly Porter, right?”

“No, I didn't tell you squat.”

Winter switched back to Rush. “What's up, Rush?”

“I've been trying to call you, but I kept getting the voice message.”

“I had it off for a meeting.”

“Faith Ann called. I told her you'd-”

“When?”

“I don't know for sure. Maybe about fifteen or twenty minutes ago-”

“From where?” Winter interrupted. “Rush, where did she call from?”

“The aquarium. It's near-”

“I know where the aquarium is,” Winter said.

“I told her Hank was alive. She didn't know. Daddy, she's real scared. She said a policeman killed her mother. She says the cops are trying to kill her too.”

“I'm not far from there. If she calls back, tell her I'm on the way.”

“I'll call her back.”

“You know her number?”

“She has her mother's cell phone. You want the number?”