Let Me Call You Sweetheart

39

It was 9:45 before Kerry got to the courthouse, much later than she normally arrived. Anticipating the possibility of receiving a bit of flack about it, she had phoned to say she had an errand and was going to be late. Frank Green was always at his desk promptly at seven o’clock. It was something they joked about, but it was obvious he believed that his entire staff should be on board with him. Kerry knew he would have a fit if he learned that her errand was to see Dr. Charles Smith.

When she punched in the code that admitted her to the prosecutor’s office, the switchboard operator looked up and said, “Kerry, go right into Mr. Green’s office. He’s expecting you.” Oh boy, Kerry thought.

As soon as she walked into Green’s office, she could see he was not angry. She knew him well enough to be able to read his mood. As usual he came directly to the point. “Kerry, Robin is fine. She’s with your neighbor, Mrs. Weiser. Emphatically, she is all right.”

Kerry felt her throat tighten. “Then what’s wrong?”

“We’re not sure and maybe nothing. According to Robin, you left the house at six-thirty.” There was a glint of curiosity in Green’s eyes.

“Yes, I did.”

“When Robin was leaving the house later, she said she noticed a strange car parked across the street. When she reached the sidewalk, the window on the driver’s door opened slightly, and she was able to see a hand holding some kind of object. She couldn’t tell what it was, and she wasn’t able to see the driver’s face. Then the car started up and veered across the street so suddenly she thought it would come up on the sidewalk and hit her, but it quickly went into a U-turn and took off. Robin ran to your neighbor’s house.”

Kerry sank into a chair. “She’s there now?”

“Yes. You can call her, or go home if that would reassure you. My concern is, does Robin have an overactive imagination, or is it possible someone was trying to frighten her and ultimately frighten you?”

“Why would anyone want to frighten Robin or me?”

“It’s happened before in this office after a high-profile case.

You’ve just completed a case that got a lot of media attention. The guy you convicted of murder was clearly an out-and-out sleaze and still has relatives and friends.”

“Yes, but all of them I met seemed to be pretty decent people,” Kerry said. “And to answer your first question, Robin is a level-headed kid. She wouldn’t imagine something like this.” She hesitated. “It’s the first time I let her get herself out in the morning, and I was bombarding her with warnings about what to do and not do.”

“Call her from here,” Green directed.

Robin answered Mrs. Weiser’s telephone on the first ring. “I knew you’d call, Mom. I’m okay now. I want to go to school. Mrs. Weiser said she’d drive me. And Mom, I’ve still got to go out this afternoon. It’s Halloween.”

Kerry thought quickly. Robin was better off in school than sitting at home all day, thinking about the incident. “All right, but I’ll be there at school to pick you up at quarter of three. I don’t want you walking home.” And I’ll be right with you when you trick-or-treat, she thought. “Now let me talk to Mrs. Weiser, Rob,” she said.

When she hung up, she said, “Frank, is it all right if I leave early today?”

His smile was genuine. “Of course it is. Kerry, I don’t have to tell you to question Robin carefully. We have to know if there’s any chance someone really was watching for her.”

As Kerry was leaving, he added, “But isn’t Robin a bit young to see herself off to school?”

Kerry knew he was fishing to find out what had been so important that she had left Robin alone at home at six-thirty.

“Yes, she is,” she agreed. “It won’t happen again.”

Later that morning, Joe Palumbo stopped by Kerry’s office and told her about his call to Dolly Bowles. “She doesn’t want to talk to me, Kerry, but I’d still like to go with you when you see her.”

“Let me phone her now.”

Her six-word greeting, “Hello, Mrs. Bowles, I’m Kerry McGrath,” led to being on the receiving end of a ten-minute monologue.

Palumbo crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair as with some amusement he watched Kerry try to interject a word or question. Then he was irritated when, after Kerry finally got an opportunity to say that she would like to bring her investigator, Mr. Palumbo, with her, it was obvious the answer was no.

Finally she hung up. “Dolly Bowles is not a happy camper about the way she was treated by this office ten years ago. That was the gist of the conversation. The rest is that her daughter and son-in-law don’t want her talking about the murder or what she saw anymore, and they’re coming back from a trip tomorrow. If I want to see her, it’s got to be about five o’clock today. That’s going to take some juggling. I told her I’d let her know.”

“Can you get out of here in time?” Joe asked.

“I have a few appointments I’m canceling anyhow.” She told Palumbo about Robin and the incident this morning.

The investigator rose to his feet and tried to close the jacket that always strained over his generous middle. I’ll meet you at your place at five,” he suggested. “While you’re with Mrs. Bowles, let me take Robin for a hamburger. I’d like to talk to her about this morning.” He saw the look of disapproval on Kerry’s face and hastened to speak before she could protest. “Kerry, you’re smart, but you’re not going to be objective about this. Don’t do my job for me.”

Kerry studied Joe thoughtfully. His appearance was always a little disheveled, and his paperwork was usually somewhat disorganized, but he was just about the best there was at his job. Kerry had seen him question young children so skillfully that they didn’t realize every word they said was being analyzed. It would be very helpful to have Joe’s spin on this. “Okay,” she agreed.