I 've Heard That Song Before

37

I don’t need any more proof that Carrington killed my sister,” Philip Meredith told Nicholas Greco the morning after the skeletal remains of Jonathan Lansing were found on the Carrington property. “My wife and I have talked it over. I’m going to the prosecutor’s office and tell them everything. That guy’s a serial killer.”

Greco was not surprised to get the phone call from Meredith. “I think that is a very wise idea,” he said. “And it is possible that there may be no need to make public any information concerning your sister’s relationship with another man. If Carrington is persuaded to admit to her death, the public assumption would be that he was trying to prevent the birth of a damaged child.”

“But his lawyers would know about it, wouldn’t they?”

“Of course. But as you can certainly understand, while they are trying to reach the best possible plea bargain for their client, they would not want the public to know that a man with Carrington’s great fortune would commit murder to save money.”

“And once he admits to killing Grace, I can file a civil suit?”

“Yes.”

“I know it may sound as if my first interest is the money, but it’s costing ten thousand dollars a month to keep my mother in her nursing home, and I need help. I don’t want to have to move her.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you for being willing to help me, Mr. Greco. I guess the prosecutor will take over now.”

This may be the shortest job I’ve ever had, Nicholas Greco thought as he amiably agreed with Philip Meredith. But after he replaced the receiver in its cradle, he leaned back in his chair. From the Internet he had obtained a copy of the page from People magazine that had been found on Grace Carrington’s body the night she was drowned.

Grace was wearing a satin maternity evening suit when she was found in the pool. Why would she put that page in a pocket of the jacket instead of leaving the magazine open on the table? Greco wondered.

Sometimes, when Greco was visualizing a situation, he asked himself, What would Frances have done? In this case, he knew the answer. A fashion-conscious woman would not have taken the chance of creating an unnecessary bulge in the pocket of a satin evening suit. In her own home, if she saw an item in a magazine that she wanted to follow up on, Frances would have put some kind of marker in the magazine or turned it upside down on the table, open to that page.

There was no mention in the prosecutor’s file of the magazine being with the evidence the investigators had collected. I must see what day that issue was on the stands or in the mail, Greco thought. And I am even more eager to have a meeting with the outsiders who were present at that dinner, the couple from Englewood, Nancy and Jeffrey Hammond.

I’m going to stick with this, even if I am breaking my cardinal rule, which is never to work pro bono, Nicholas Greco thought, smiling to himself. As Mother always reminded me, the laborer is worthy of his hire.