Black River

FIFTY-NINE

The call went to Detective Dan Grant’s voice-mail. O’Brien said, “Dan, its Sean. You’ve got the wrong guy for the murder of Jack Jordan. Call me.” He disconnected and looked at Laura, arms folded across her breasts, eyes heated. “Laura, let’s sit down.”

“Why were you fighting with Cory? He’s family.”

“Maybe you couldn’t see it from your angle, but Cory pulled a knife on me. I was about to take it away from him when Paula opened the back door. Let’s sit at the picnic table, under the shade, okay? There is something I need to tell you.”

She followed him and they sat on opposite sides of the table. O’Brien chose his words carefully. “Cory Nelson is not family. He’s not the man or the person you think he is, Laura. The reason he pulled a knife from the grill and wanted to kill me is because I told him that I know he’s the one who murdered Jack.”

She held her left hand to her mouth, gold wedding ring shining in a dapple of sunlight breaking through the boughs of an oak tree. “No, no you’re wrong. That can’t be. He’s like an uncle to Paula.”

“I wish I was wrong. I’m sorry, but it’s true.” O’Brien told her how he knew what happened to Jack and said, “Odds are that Nelson killed Ike Kirby and the hotel clerk too. Now he has the Civil War contract.”

“Oh dear God.”

“After I speak with the detectives, police will probably have Cory in custody in a couple of hours.”

Laura’s face was drained. Pale. Lips tight. Mouth turned down. She watched a cardinal eat from a birdfeeder in the backyard. “Why? How in God’s name could he have done these horrible things? Killed Jack and two other people…even killing the dog next door.”

“Greed. Jealously. A psychopath colors outside the lines. It often begins after using a black crayon on the page of their delusional mind to eliminate the face of the victim. Total detachment.”

“I feel so naïve. So duped by Cory. But now it’s making more sense. All the phone calls…phone calls of concern for me and Paula, he said. The meals he brought over to the house. The glasses of wine he poured to help me, as he put it, ‘take the edge off.’ I told him how the stress of Jack’s death, of becoming a single parent, the theft of the diamond, the contract, and even the painting you’re looking for — how all of it had made me really depressed for the first time in many years. That, on top of the threat’s I’d received made me scared and vulnerable. He was preying on my weak moments. He was causing those weak moments! I was so stressed my body has been in knots. After I told him that, he began massaging my shoulders one afternoon in the kitchen. When he tried to go further down, I stopped him. He made light of it and said there were more knots in my lower back. I trusted Cory. What if police can’t find him?”

“They’ll find him.”

She looked away, seeing but not seeing the white tufts of cottonwood seed drifting in the wind from a large tree in her neighbor’s backyard.

“When Nelson’s arrested, I’m hoping they’ll find the diamond stolen from Jack and the Civil War contract stolen from Ike Kirby.”

“Dear God…this means you think Cory killed three people for those two things.”

“It looks that way. If they find the diamond and contract on Nelson, they’ll be returned to you. It’ll be up to you to decide what happens to them.”

“And I’ll do what Jack wanted to do, return the diamond to England. As far as the contract, since there’s no more Confederacy, there is no one to return it to. England’s still here.” She looked over at Max on the ground and raised her eyes to O’Brien without lifting her head. “What if Cory isn’t arrested soon and he comes back? He has a key to the front door, and he knows the alarm code. I have to change the locks.”

O’Brien stared at her for a long second then looked at the open wooden gate where Nelson had fled. Laura said, “You look deep in thought. Why are you staring at the gate?”

“I don’t think Nelson will be back, but that doesn’t mean you and Paula are safe. If police can’t tie Nelson to the theft of the diamond, some may think it was never stolen, but rather hidden in your house like the contract was concealed. Do you have a place, maybe a relative’s home, somewhere you can go to for a while?”