Death in Paradise

Chapter Sixty-three

Shaw came to her front door in a pale blue sundress.

"Well, hello," she said.

"May I come in?" Jesse said.

"Of course."

Carrying a manila envelope, Jesse walked through the gleaming air-conditioned house and sat again in the atrium.

"Thank you for calling last night," she said.

Jesse nodded.

"Is Norman still in jail?"

"He'll be out this morning," Jesse said. "I wanted to talk with you first."

"I'm not clear what he was arrested for. Drunk driving?"

"We found him in a motel room with an underage prostitute," Jesse said.

He could hear Joni Shaw breathe in sharply.

"Oh, God!" she said.

"It's not the first time," Jesse said.

She didn't say anything for a time. She studied Jesse's face as if she were looking for something.

"Are you sure?" she said finally.

Jesse opened the manila envelope and slowly spread out Dick Pettler's pictures of Shaw. Joni Shaw looked at them for a moment then pushed them away.

"Those are little girls," she said.

"Yes."

"How long ago were those pictures taken?"

"During a previous marriage," Jesse said.

"I don't…" she said. "I don't know what to say."

"It gets worse," Jesse said.

"Worse?" Joni Shaw said.

There was no way to ease it in.

"We're pretty sure he killed one of them."

"Killed?"

"Does he own a gun?"

"A gun? You mean he shot someone?"

Jesse nodded. Joni Shaw had her arms folded across her chest as if she were hugging herself.

"Mother of God," she said.

Jesse didn't want to bombard her. He waited for her to reorganize.

"You know this stuff?" she said.

"Yes."

"Jesus," she said. "The fucking pervert."

"Does he own a gun?" Jesse said.

"I guess I sort of knew it," Joni Shaw said. "You know how you know something and you don't know it?"

Jesse nodded.

"He was out a lot, and drunk nearly all the time," she said.

Jesse nodded again.

"Look at me," she said. "If you were married to somebody like me, wouldn't you stay home nights?"

"Yes."

"He wasn't a big deal in bed," she said. "All that stuff in the books? Bullshit! Most of the time he was too drunk to get it up."

"Did he own a gun?" Jesse said gently.

"Probably too old for him," she said. "How old was the kid you caught him with last night?"

"She admits to fourteen."

"Fourteen? Jesus Christ!" she said. "Sick bastard."

I'll circle the gun, Jesse thought.

"You love him?" he said.

Joni Shaw looked puzzled for a moment. She hunched her shoulders, still hugging herself.

"He's famous… He's got money… We didn't have much of a sex life but he was nice to me most of the time…" She looked suddenly straight into Jesse's eyes. "And sex is easy to get."

"I would think so," Jesse said.

"He was never…" She paused. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jesse said. "He was never…?"

"He was never a mean drunk," she said. "And when he was sober he was really quite charming."

"So it was a happy marriage."

"Sure. He was a good provider. And I," she said, "made him look, ah, potent."

"Did he own a gun?" Jesse said.

Joni looked at Jesse as if she'd never heard the question before.

"A gun?"

"Un-huh."

"Yes," she said. "I'll show you."