Chasing The Dead

Chapter Forty-Five

Rossi met wheeler on the window side of the two-way mirror into the interrogation room where Ted Norris was sitting, rolling a soda can between his hands, a wadded-up sandwich wrapper from Subway and an empty bag of chips strewn on the table. He put the can down, fingered his nose, and stuck his hand down his pants, rearranging his package.

Wheeler said, “I talked to the detective who brought him lunch. He told me Norris bitched and moaned until he got something to eat. Since then, he quit complaining but he’s been doing a lot of squirming.”

“You think he’s more worried about us or Richie the Vig?” Rossi said.

“We still need to find out if Norris is blowing smoke about Richie, but if he’s telling the truth, he’s more worried about us if he’s got a lick of sense. Richie might break his legs, but he could get the needle for killing his ex.”

“Was it his car?”

“The damage to the front end of the Camry matches up nice and neat to the back end of Robin’s car.”

“You’re sure about it, even with the damage from when Norris hit Robin’s car in the parking lot?”

“Yeah. The nature and extent of the damage depends on how much force there was and what part of the vehicle absorbed the impact. The parking lot hit was low speed and the impact was bumper to bumper. The collision on Barry Road was at a high speed. The Camry had a license plate on the front end and one of the bolts holding it in place gouged the rear of Robin’s car above the bumper. I found traces of paint on the bolt that matched the paint from Robin’s car. So, yeah, it was the Camry. No doubt about that.”

“Proving it was his car isn’t the same as proving he was driving it.”

“Why, did you see something on the airport video makes you think it wasn’t him?”

“Nothing conclusive. Whoever was behind the wheel was careful not to look at any of the cameras,” Rossi said, summarizing what was on the video. “Look at Norris sitting in there, picking his nose and scratching his nuts, and tell me he’s smart enough to pull off that disappearing act.”

“Man could be putting on the dummy act.”

“Let’s go find out.”

Norris was slouched in his chair but bolted upright when Rossi and Wheeler breezed into the interrogation room.

“Did you talk to Richie? Is everything cool with him? ’Cause if it isn’t, I’ll turn state’s evidence on his ass and you guys can put me in witness relocation.”

“It’s called witness protection and I couldn’t tell you,” Rossi said.

Norris came out of his chair. “Whaddaya mean?”

“Sit down.” Rossi stayed on his feet, glaring at him until Norris did what he was told. “We haven’t talked to Richie.”

Norris started to get up again but caught himself. “Why not? What the hell have you been doing all this time?”

Rossi and Wheeler took their seats.

“Taking a look at your car.”

“My car? You found my car? Damn! That’s great!”

Norris thumped his hand on the table and sat back, grinning.

“Actually,” Wheeler said, “not so great, at least not for you. The damage to the front end of your car fits like a jigsaw puzzle to the damage on the back of your ex-wife’s car.”

“Hey, I told you what happened in that parking lot. I wasn’t paying attention and she stopped short.”

Rossi said, “We’re not talking about the parking lot.”

“Then what are you. .” Norris’s voice trailed off and his eyes bugged out as he realized what they meant. He raised his hands. “Hey, no way, man! No fucking way did I run Robin off that road!”

“Where were you between ten p.m. and midnight last Tuesday night?”

Norris’s eyes fluttered, his mouth hanging half open. “Uh, uh. . I was home.”

“Anybody with you?”

Norris shuddered. “No, man. I was alone, but c’mon, you gotta be kidding if you think I’d do that.”

Wheeler started to say something, but Rossi put his hand out, stopping him. He wanted to see how far Norris would go and how real it would look. Norris pulled his chair back to the table, propping his head on his fist, eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose, staying like that for a moment, until he took a deep breath and slumped in his chair.

“Look, she and I, we had our share of fights over the years, but she was my kids’ mother. I’d never do something like that. You got to believe me.”

“No, you look, Ted,” Rossi said, ticking the evidence off. “She got a restraining order against you during the divorce because you threatened her, and she got another one last week after what happened in the parking lot. You were out of a job and so broke you borrowed money you couldn’t pay back from a loan shark. You asked Robin for money and she turned you down. Now you’re totally fucked because Richie the Vig is going to take your car and break your legs, so you call Robin, beg her to bring money to you at your apartment. She shows up and tells you no means no. You have a fight. She runs out of the apartment and jumps in her car. You go after her in your car. She doesn’t know her way around your neighborhood and she’s so scared she turns the wrong way on Barry Road and ends up out in the country. By now, you’re so pissed you can’t see straight, and when you catch up to her, it’s full speed ahead and bam. So, yeah, I think you could do something like that and I think you did.”

Norris gripped the edge of the table with both hands. “No, I’m telling you, man. It wasn’t me. Yeah, I asked her for the money and she said no just like she’d always done, but that was all over the phone. And she wouldn’t set foot in my apartment on a bet. No way, no how.”

“Then who stole your car, ran Robin off the road, and dumped your car at the airport?”

Norris let go of the table. “The airport? That where you found my car?”

“Yeah. Economy Lot B. Ever since 9/11, the airport’s been blanketed with cameras. You can’t fart without it being recorded. We’ve got you on videotape, Ted, parking the car, getting out, and taking the shuttle bus to the terminal.”

Norris sat back, arms folded against his chest. “Okay, you don’t believe me, then show me the fucking video, because there’s no fucking way that’s me.”

“The camera doesn’t lie.”

“Yeah, but cops do, and you aren’t gonna scare me into admitting something I didn’t do, so take your fucking videotape and shove it up your ass.”

Rossi stood, lunging toward Norris, who scooted backward, his chair toppling over, leaving him sprawled on the floor. Wheeler grabbed Rossi’s arm, but Rossi shook him off and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Norris got to his knees, keeping his chair in front of him.

“What the fuck is the matter with that guy?”

Wheeler said, “I’m sorry about that. He gets wound up. You’re lucky it wasn’t just the two of you in here.”

“I oughta file a complaint against the son of a bitch.”

Wheeler nodded. “That’s your right. I can give you the number for the Office of Community Complaints or the website where you can download the complaint form and e-mail it in. There’ll be an investigation and you’ll have to provide a formal statement. After that, there’ll be a mediation and conciliation process.”

Norris rubbed his chin. “You let me outta here and I’ll forget the whole thing.”

“You’re going to have to help me before I can do that.”

“What do you want from me? I didn’t do it and I don’t know who did.”

“Can you think of anyone who might want to harm Robin?”

He rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? The woman was a saint. Her only sin was marrying me.”

“You only get to be a saint after you’re dead. What about someone she’d defended who wasn’t happy with the job she did?”

“I don’t know. We’ve been divorced a long time and we didn’t talk much. When we did, it wasn’t about her job. It was mostly about me fucking something up.”

“What about Robin’s social life? Was she seeing anyone?”

“Maybe. My youngest, Kimmy-she’s the only one that talks to me-a few months back she told me her mom had a new boyfriend but she was keeping it a secret.”

“How did Kim find out about it?”

“I don’t know, but Kimmy’s smart-scary smart. Not much gets past that girl. If she says Robin was seeing someone, you can bet on it.”

“Did she say who it was?”

“When I asked her, she said she didn’t know, but I got the feeling she did but didn’t want to tell me, so I didn’t push. I wasn’t looking to stir anything up, and if Robin had something going on, then good for her.”

Wheeler had asked Robin’s children whether she was seeing anyone and they’d said that their mother dated occasionally but hadn’t had a boyfriend in a long time. Except for Kim. She hadn’t commented. Wheeler didn’t think much of it at the time since Kim had said very little in response to any of his questions. He attributed her sullen demeanor and dismissive body language to a combination of angry grief and teenage angst.

Wheeler tried a different tack. “Did you have a spare key to your car?”

Norris brightened. “Yeah. I kept it in one of those magnetic hide-a-key things inside the wheel well, driver’s side, rear.”

“Who knew that?”

Norris threw his hands up. “Hell, I don’t know. It’s not like I advertised it. Wait a second. I told Richie so he wouldn’t break a window if he repossessed the car.”

“Anybody else?”

Norris thought for a moment. “Just Robin. She was always forgetting where she left her keys, so she hid a key like that. She got me to do it in case she needed the key to my car. After we split up, I kept doing it. Habit, you know.”

Wheeler got up. “Okay. Sit tight. I’ll see what I can do about getting you out of here.”