Drop Shot

Chapter 38

The office was only about ten blocks away. Myron decided to walk it. Cars sat completely still on Sixth Avenue, though the lights were green and there was no visible construction. Everyone honked their horns. Like this ever does any good. A well-groomed man got out of a taxi. He wore a pin-striped suit, a gold Tag Heuer watch, and Gucci shoes. He also wore a green pinwheel hat and plastic Spock ears. New York – my kind of town.

Myron ignored the fumes and tried to think the whole thing through. The popular theory – the main theory, if you will – had gone something like this: Valerie Simpson had been abused by Pavel Menansi. Regaining her mental strength, she had decided to expose him. This exposure would have been detrimental to the financial well-being of TruPro and the Ache brothers! So they eliminated her before she could do any damage. It all added up. It all made sense.

Until this morning.

A major monkey wrench had been tossed into the main theory: Pavel Menansi had been murdered too, in a fashion similar to Valerie Simpson. Under the main theory, the murders of Valerie Simpson and Pavel Menansi were at cross-purposes. Why kill Valerie Simpson to protect Pavel Menansi, only to go ahead and kill Pavel Menansi? It didn't mesh. It wasn't profitable for TruPro or the Aches.

Of course, there was the possibility that Frank Ache had decided Menansi was too big a risk, that exposure was imminent and losses might as well be cut right now. But if Frank had wanted Pavel dead, he would have had Aaron do it. Pavel had been murdered between midnight and one. Aaron was dead by midnight. Myron mulled this over a bit and decided that Aaron's being dead made it extremely unlikely he was the killer. And moreover, if Frank had intended to kill Pavel, there would have been no reason to scare Myron off with the attack on Jessica.

On the street in front of him a pale woman with a bullhorn screamed that she had recently met Jesus face-to-face. She stuffed a pamphlet into Myron's hand.

"Jesus sent me back with this message," she said.

Myron nodded, glanced down at the ink smears on the pamphlet. "Too bad he didn't give you a decent printer."

She gave him a funny look and went back to her bullhorn. Myron stuffed the pamphlet into his pocket and continued walking. His mind returned to the problem at hand.

Frank Ache wasn't behind Pavel's murder, he thought. To the contrary, Frank Ache wanted Pavel saved because Pavel meant mucho dinero to TruPro. Frank Ache had even brought Aaron in to protect Pavel. He had ordered Aaron to harm Jessica and to protect Pavel. Killing TruPro's main tennis drawing card would make no sense.

So what did that leave us?

Two possibilities. One, we were dealing with two separate killers with two separate agendas. Seeing an opportunity, Pavel's killer had left behind a Feron's bag to put the blame on Valerie's killer. Or two, there was some other linkage between Valerie and Pavel, one that was not readily apparent. Myron favored this possibility, and of course it led back to Myron's earlier obsession:

The murder of Alexander Cross.

Both Valerie Simpson and Pavel Menansi had been at the Old Oaks tennis club that night six years ago. Both had been attending the party for Alexander Cross. But so what? Let's suppose Jessica had been right this morning. Suppose Valerie Simpson had seen something that night, maybe even the identity of the real murderer. Suppose she'd been about to reveal the truth. Suppose that was why she'd been killed. How would that tie in to Pavel Menansi? Even if he had seen the same thing, he hadn't opened his mouth in years. Why would Pavel start now? It's not as though he'd come forward to help poor Valerie. So what is the connection? And what about Duane Richwood? How did he fit into this equation, if at all? And Deanna Yeller? And where was Errol Swade? Was he still alive?

He headed east three blocks and then turned down Park Avenue. The majestic (if not ostentatious) Helmsley Palace or Helmsley Castle or Helmsley whatever sat straight ahead, seemingly in the middle of the street; the MetLife building huddled over it like a protective parent. For eons the MetLife building had been something of a New York landmark known as the Pan Am building. Myron couldn't get used to the change. Every time he turned the corner he still expected to see the Pan Am logo.

Activity was brisk in the front of Myron's building. He headed past the modern sculpture that adorned the entrance. The sculpture was hideous. It looked very much like a giant intestinal tract. Myron had looked for a name on the sculpture once, but in a typical New York move, someone had pried off the name plaque. What someone did with an ugly sculpture's name plaque was beyond comprehension. Maybe they sold it. Maybe there was an underground market for name plaques from works of art – for those who couldn't afford actual stolen artworks and thus settled for the plaques.

Interesting theory.

He entered the lobby. Three Lock-Horne hostesses sat on stools behind a tall counter, smiling plastically. They wore enough makeup to double as cosmetic counter girls at Bloomies. Of course, they didn't wear the official white lab coat of genuine Bloomie counter girls, so you could tell they weren't professional makeup people. Still, all three were attractive – model wanna-bes who found this more enjoyable (and put them in touch with more potential bigwigs) than waiting tables. Myron walked past them, smiled, nodded. None gave him the eye. Hmm. They must know how committed he was to Jessica. Yeah, that must be it.

When the elevator opened on his floor, he walked toward Esperanza. Her white blouse was a nice contrast against her dark, flawless skin. She'd have been great on one of those Bain de Soleil commercials. The Santa Fe tan without any sun.

"Hi," he said.

Esperanza cupped the phone against her shoulder. "It's Jake. You want to take it?"

He nodded. She handed him the phone.

"Hey, Jake."

"Some girl did a partial autopsy on Curtis Yeller," Jake said. "She'll see you."

Myron said, "Some girl?"

"Mea culpa for not being politically sensitive," Jake said. "Sometimes I still refer to myself as black."

"That's because you're too lazy to say African American," Myron said.

"Is it African or Afro?"

"African now," Myron said.

"When in doubt," Jake said, "ask a honky."

"Honky," Myron repeated. "Now there's a word you don't hear much anymore."

"Damn shame too. Anyway, the assistant M.E. is Amanda West She seemed anxious to talk." Jake gave him the address.

"What about the cop?" Myron asked. "Jimmy Blaine?"

"No dice."

"He still with force?"

"Nope. He retired."

"You have his address?"

"Yes," Jake said.

Silence. Esperanza kept her eyes on her computer screen.

"Could you give it to me?" Myron asked.

"Nope."

"I won't hassle him, Jake."

"I said no."

"You know I can find the address on my own."

"Fine, but I'm not giving it to you. Jimmy is one of the good guys, Myron."

"So am I," Myron said.

"Maybe. But sometimes the innocent get hurt in your little crusades."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Just leave him alone."

"And why so defensive?" Myron continued. "I just want to ask him a couple of questions."

Silence. Esperanza didn't look up.

Myron continued, "Unless he did something he shouldn't have."

"Don't matter," Jake said.

"Even if he-"

"Even if. Good-bye, Myron."

The phone went dead. Myron stared at it a second. "That was bizarre."

"Uh-huh." Esperanza still stared at her computer screen. "Messages on your desk. Lots of them."

"Have you seen Win?"

Esperanza shook her head.

''Pavel Menansi is dead," Myron said. "Someone murdered him last night."

"The guy who molested Valerie Simpson?"

"Yep."

"Gee, I'm so brokenhearted. I hope I don't lose too much sleep." Esperanza finally flicked a glance away from the screen. "Did you know he was on that party list you gave me?"

"Yeah. You find any other interesting names?"

She almost smiled. "One."

"Who?"

"Think puppy dog," Esperanza said.

Myron shook his head.

"Think Nike," she continued. "Think Duane's contact with Nike."

Myron froze. "Ned Tunwell?"

"Correct answer." Everyone in Myron's life was a game show host. "Listed as E. Tunwell on the list. His real name is Edward. So I did a little digging. Guess who first signed Valerie Simpson to a Nike deal."

"Ned Tunwell."

"And guess who had plenty of egg on his face when her career took a nosedive."

"Ned Tunwell."

"Wow," she said dryly, "it's like you're clairvoyant." She lowered her eyes back to her computer screen and started typing.

Myron waited. Then: "Anything else?"

"Just a very unsubstantiated rumor."

"What?"

"The usual in a situation like this," Esperanza said, her eyes still on the screen. "That Ned Tunwell and Valerie Simpson were more than friends."

"Get Ned on the phone," Myron said. "Tell him I need-"

"I already made the appointment," she said. "He'll be here at seven tonight."