File M For Murder

TWENTY-THREE

Before I could say anything, Damitra Vane brushed past me into the entranceway. Her perfume was so overwhelming I felt like gagging. Had she bathed in it?

“Where is she? Where is the bitch?” The woman’s voice came out almost as a shriek. She was clearly agitated, her expression wild, her arms jerking, but that was no excuse for her ill-bred language.

My temper flared red-hot. “If you ever refer to my daughter in that tasteless, vulgar manner in my hearing again, Miss Vane, I will slap you six ways from Sunday. Are we clear on that?” I loomed over her, despite the ridiculously high heels she wore, and glared right down into her eyes.

I had never slapped a woman in my life, and I didn’t plan to start, but Damitra Vane didn’t have to know that. Her manner toward Laura infuriated me, and I was not going to tolerate it.

I wasn’t done. “Furthermore, unless you want to be kicked out of this house immediately, you will apologize.”

Damitra Vane stared at me and shrank back a couple of steps as I continued to radiate fury over her complete breach of manners. When she spoke, her voice came out as little more than a whisper.

“I’m sorry, I’m just very upset. I’m not thinking very good right now.” She paused to lick her lips. “Uh, who are you?”

I doubted her ability to think well under any circumstances. I’d never seen such a vacuous expression on a person in all my life. She looked like she had to concentrate just to get her mouth to open, and after that effort, she had little mental energy left to control what came out of it. I couldn’t help but agree with Sean’s evaluation of her. My cat was far smarter than this poor woman.

“I am Laura’s father, remember?” Her retention was obviously poor, since I had mentioned my daughter moments before.

“Oh, yeah.” Ms. Vane nodded. “Mr., um, Harvey?”

“Harris.” I was rapidly losing patience with this woman. “I think you’d best be on your way, Ms. Vane. My daughter has nothing to say to you.”

“Oh, yes I do.” I turned to see Laura bearing down on us like the proverbial avenging angel. “You’ve got some nerve showing up here. I thought you’d be out of the country by now.”

Damitra frowned. “Why would I go anywhere? I went to Mexico a month ago.”

Laura rolled her eyes. “How do you get dressed by yourself? Good grief, Damitra, I’m talking about Connor. Aren’t you afraid you’re going to be arrested for his murder? If I were you I’d light out back to Mexico.”

This was a side of Laura I’d not seen before, and I couldn’t really blame her for being so acidulous. Damitra Vane was a huge irritant, and I couldn’t take much more of her myself.

“I didn’t kill Connor.” Damitra’s face had an obstinate set to it now. “If anybody killed him, you did. He was coming back to me, and you couldn’t stand it.”

Frank appeared behind Laura, and Diesel trotted around Frank to stand in front of her. If a cat could glare balefully, Diesel was doing it. He made a rumbling noise low in his throat, and I recognized that sound. He didn’t like Damitra Vane.

Laura, quick to seize again on the woman’s vacuity and fear of my large cat, said, “Attack, Diesel. Rip her leg off.”

Frank made a muffled sound I assumed was laughter, and I was hard put not to guffaw myself. Our behavior violated all rules of Southern hospitality, but with a “guest” like Damitra Vane, the rules flew out the door.

Like Damitra Vane, as it turned out. She gaped at Diesel for a couple of seconds, heard him growl and saw him take a step forward. Before I could open the door for her, she jerked it open and sprinted out of it and down the walk, narrowly missing Kanesha Berry, who moved out of the way with maybe a second to spare.

How the woman ran in those high heels I hadn’t a clue, but as long as she was out of my house and out of my sight, I didn’t care—for the moment, at least. I considered her a strong suspect in Connor Lawton’s death. Should it turn out to be murder, I added to myself.

Kanesha proceeded up the walk, an intense frown on her face. I waited in the doorway with Diesel, who started chirping when he spotted the deputy. Despite the thorny relationship between Kanesha and me, Diesel liked her. She was still a bit uneasy around him, but she had at least learned to appreciate him.

“What’s going on with Ms. Vane?” Kanesha stopped a couple of feet away from me on the walk. She smiled down at Diesel. “What did you do, sic the cat on her?”

I couldn’t help but laugh, and Kanesha’s startled gaze met my eyes. “Actually, yes, Laura threatened her with Diesel, and she apparently believes that my cat is some kind of exotic hunting feline that preys on humans. So off she went.”

Kanesha shook her head, while a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “If she goes to the police and wants to bring assault charges, I’ll volunteer to be a character witness for the cat.” Then her expression sobered. “She’s not in much of a position to bother you and your family. There are a number of questions for her to answer.”

“Please, come in,” I said, stepping back into the house and motioning with my right hand. Diesel scooted behind me. Frank and Laura had disappeared. “Questions like what her earring was doing in Lawton’s apartment? Was it under his body on the sofa?” I’d thought a lot about that earring since yesterday and concluded it must have been beneath the corpse.

Kanesha grimaced as she walked past me and Diesel. “No comment.”

I took that as a yes.

Ralph and Magda Johnston popped out of the kitchen, but they stopped short at the sight of Kanesha. They exchanged uneasy glances before they advanced toward us.

“Morning, Miz Berry.” Ralph’s nervous smile made me suspicious. Did he feel guilty about something?

Magda had a sickly yellow cast to her skin now, and she bobbed her head at Kanesha and muttered a few words I didn’t hear clearly.

“Morning, Mr. Johnston, Miz Johnston.” Kanesha nodded at the couple who were now inching themselves toward the front door, their eyes locked on the deputy.

“So glad Laura is okay,” Ralph Johnston said to me as he and Magda reached the door. Magda nodded. “We must be going, though.”

“Thanks for stopping by,” I said as I opened the door for them. Diesel warbled, but I didn’t think either one of them noticed. They couldn’t get out the door and down the walk fast enough.

I shut the door behind them and turned to Kanesha. “Strange behavior, wouldn’t you say? They acted like they were terrified of you.”

Kanesha stared at me for a moment, her expression deadpan. “I have that effect on some people.”

The woman did have a sense of humor after all. I sputtered with laughter, and Diesel meowed a couple of times. Kanesha maintained her demeanor, though I would have sworn I saw one corner of her mouth twitch slightly.

“Come on in the kitchen,” I said when I stopped laughing. “Laura’s in here with a visitor.” I motioned for her to precede me.

When we walked into the kitchen, Diesel ahead of us, Laura and Frank sat at the table, involved in an animated discussion. I worried that Laura was overdoing it, because to my eye she was beginning to look a bit flushed—a sure sign that she was tired and needed rest.

Sean was there as well. He nodded and gave me a thumbs-up to indicate he’d been successful in copying the files on the thumb drive.

The conversation broke off as Laura and Frank caught sight of Kanesha. Sean and Frank stood, as properly reared Southern men should do when a woman enters a room. It might be interpreted negatively in other parts of the country, but here in Mississippi it was just plain good manners, not chauvinism.

Kanesha nodded in response to Sean’s greeting. “Afternoon, Mr. Harris, Miss Harris.” She regarded Frank with her customary enigmatic expression.

“Frank Salisbury, ma’am.” Frank stepped forward and extended a hand. “Friend of Laura’s.”

Kanesha gave his hand a quick shake. “Chief Deputy Kanesha Berry.” Then her attention focused on Laura. “I have some questions for you, Ms. Harris. I realize you’re probably tired and not feeling all that good after what you went through the past couple of days. But I need answers.”

“I understand, Deputy.” Laura smiled, but I could see the strain in her face. She had overtired herself, and I should have been more zealous about keeping people away from her so she could rest.

“Good. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?” Kanesha shot pointed looks at Sean and Frank.

“Here’s fine with me,” Laura said.

Sean said, “I’ll get out of the way, then.”

Frank, however, frowned and stood beside Laura. “Are you sure you’re up to this, darling?” He regarded her with evident concern.

Laura patted his hand and said, “I’ll be fine. You go on, and I’ll call you later.” Frank didn’t appear convinced, but he didn’t argue. He gave her a quick kiss before he nodded and followed Sean out of the kitchen.

“Can I offer you anything to drink, Deputy?” I moved toward the sink. “Laura, honey, what about you?” I intended to stay in the room unless Kanesha threw me out.

“Wouldn’t mind some water,” Kanesha replied.

“Nothing for me, Dad,” Laura said.

While I filled a glass with cold water from a pitcher in the fridge, Kanesha walked over to the table and sat down in the chair recently vacated by Frank.

Diesel, I noticed, took up position between Laura and Kanesha. He looked back and forth between them.

Kanesha thanked me when I handed her the glass of water. I sat down at the other end of the table from Laura, and all I got from Kanesha was a raised eyebrow. Then she turned back to Laura.

“The incident this morning.” Kanesha had a sip of water, then set the glass on the table. “Tell me everything you remember, from the moment you arrived on campus.”

Laura nodded and took a couple of deep, calming breaths before she answered. “I walked to campus from here. Must have been about seven when I left the house, and I rambled around campus for a while. I glanced at my watch when I reached the building, and it was a couple minutes past eight.”

Kanesha pulled a notebook from her uniform pocket, along with a pen, and jotted the times down. “Did you see anyone in the building when you arrived?”

Laura frowned. “No, I didn’t. But I heard someone, in the stairwell. I always take the stairs, helps me keep fit. When I was about halfway up the first flight—there are two short ones per floor—I heard footsteps above me, but I didn’t think anything about them until now.”

“You didn’t catch a glimpse of this person?”

“No.” Laura shook her head. “When I reached the second floor, I exited into the hallway and walked down to my office. Oh, I stopped by the staff lounge on the way to see if anyone was there, but there wasn’t. So I went on to my office and pulled out my notes on the play to work on.”

Kanesha made more notes. There was silence for a few moments while she wrote. She looked up at Laura. “Clear and concise, like your father.” The ghost of a grin hovered around her lips, then disappeared.

Diesel chose that moment to meow rather loudly, and Laura and I both smiled. Kanesha glanced down at the cat, her expression bland.

“You were working on your notes,” Kanesha said, prompting Laura.

“I meant to, but I couldn’t seem to focus.” Laura frowned. “I just stared at the wall for a long time. Eventually I needed to go to the bathroom. I remember going down the hall to the ladies’ room near the stairs. And I obviously made it back to my office, but I’m afraid that’s where my memories of the morning end. Until I woke up, that is.”

“How long would you say you sat in your office before you went to the bathroom? Kanesha drained her water glass as she waited for an answer.

Laura thought about it for a moment. “Probably thirty minutes, at least. I seem to remember checking my watch at one point, and it was about eight forty-five. I think.”

“Good.” Kanesha nodded. She turned to me. “What time did you arrive on the scene?”

I had been thinking about that and trying to remember. The morning’s events seemed oddly distant now, but I forced myself to concentrate. “Sean called me about nine to say he couldn’t get Laura to answer her cell phone, so I decided to see if she was in her office. I ran, along with Diesel, from my office to Laura’s, and it took only four or five minutes, maybe. So I’d say I found Laura in her office, with Magda Johnston kneeling over her, between nine-ten and nine-fifteen.”

Kanesha made more notes as she resumed questioning Laura. “What you’ve told me so far is from your visual memory.” She waited for Laura to nod in the affirmative before she continued. “But there are other kinds of memories, auditory memories, or scent ones. Think about it for a moment. Did you hear anything or smell anything in the moments before you were struck?”

Laura stared at the deputy for a long moment. “That’s really strange,” she said finally. “There was an odd smell. But what was it?” She had a look of deep concentration.

Neither Kanesha nor I said anything. Diesel, however, chose that moment to warble. “No comments from the peanut gallery,” Kanesha said in a low voice.

Laura didn’t appear to have heard either the cat or the deputy. Suddenly she smiled. “Motor oil. That was what I smelled. Motor oil.”