Let Me Call You Sweetheart

83

Driving north out of Manhattan ’s Greenwich Village, I Kerry was caught in the first surge of rush hour traffic. It was twenty of five when she pulled her car out of the garage on Twelfth Street. It was five past six when she turned into her driveway and saw Geoff’s Volvo parked in front of the other door of the two-car garage.

She had called home from the car phone as she was leaving the garage, and had been only partially reassured to talk to both Robin and Alison, the sitter. She had warned them both not to go out under any circumstances and not to open the door for anyone until she got home.

Seeing Geoff’s car made her realize that Alison’s car was gone. Had Geoff come because of a problem? Kerry turned off the engine and lights, scrambled from her car, slammed the door behind her and ran toward the house.

Robin had obviously been watching for her. The front door opened as she raced up the steps.

“Rob, is anything wrong?”

“No, Mom, we’re fine. When Geoff got here he told Alison it was all right to go ahead home, that he’d wait for you.” Robin’s face became worried. “That was okay, wasn’t it? I mean letting Geoff in.”

“Of course.” Kerry hugged Robin. “Where is he?”

“In here,” Geoff said as he appeared at the door of the kitchen. “I thought that having had one Dorso home-cooked meal on Saturday night, you might be game for another tonight. Very simple menu. Lamb chops, a green salad and baked potato.”

Kerry realized she was both tense and hungry. “Sounds wonderful,” she sighed as she unbuttoned her coat.

Geoff quickly moved to take it from her. It seemed natural that as he put it over one arm, he slid the other arm around her and kissed her cheek. “Hard day at the factory?”

For a brief moment she let her face rest in the warm spot beneath his neck. “There have been easier ones.”

Robin said, “Mom, I’m going upstairs to finish my homework, but I do think since I’m the one in danger, I should know exactly what’s going on. What did Dr. Smith say when you saw him?”

“Finish your homework and let me unwind for a few minutes. I promise a full report later.”

“Okay.”

Geoff had turned on the gas fire in the family room. He had brought in sherry and had glasses ready alongside the bottle on the coffee table there. “I hope I’m not making myself too much at home,” he apologized.

Kerry sank onto the couch and kicked off her shoes. She shook her head and smiled. “No, you’re not.”

“I’ve got news for you, but you go first. Tell me about Smith.”

“I’d better tell you about Frank Green first. I told him I was leaving the office early this afternoon, and I told him why.”

“What did he say?”

“It’s what he didn’t say that hung in the air. But in fairness to him, even though I think he was choking on the words, he told me that he hoped I didn’t think he would rather see an innocent man in prison than be politically embarrassed himself.” She shrugged. “The problem is, I wish I could believe him.”

“Maybe you can. How about Smith?”

“I got to him, Geoff. I know I did. The guy is cracking up. If he doesn’t start telling the truth, my next move is to get Barbara Tompkins to file a stalking complaint against him. The prospect of that shocked him right down to his toes, I could tell. But I think rather than risk having it happen, he’ll come through and we’ll get some answers.”

She stared into the fire, watching the flames lick at the artificial logs. Then she added slowly, “Geoff, I told Smith that we had two witnesses who saw his car that night. I threw at him that maybe the reason he was so anxious to see Skip convicted was because he was the one who killed Suzanne. Geoff, I think he was in love with her, not as a daughter, maybe not even just as a woman, but as his creation.”

She turned to him. “Think about this scenario. Suzanne is sick of having her father around her so much, of having him show up wherever she goes. Jason Arnott told me that much, and I believe him. So on the evening of the murder, Dr. Smith drives out to see her. Skip has come and gone, just as he claimed. Suzanne is in the foyer, arranging flowers from another man. Don’t forget, the card was never found. Smith is angry, hurt and jealous. It isn’t just Skip he has to contend with; now it’s Jimmy Weeks as well. In a fit of rage he strangles Suzanne, and because he’s always hated Skip, he takes the card, makes up the story of Suzanne being afraid of Skip and becomes the prosecution’s principal witness.

“This way Skip, his rival for Suzanne’s attention, is not only punished by spending at least thirty years in prison, but the police don’t look elsewhere for a suspect.”

“It makes sense,” Geoff said slowly. “But then why would Jimmy Weeks be so worried about your reopening the case?”

“I’ve thought about that too. And, in fact, you could make an equally good argument that he was involved with Suzanne. That they quarreled that night, and he murdered her. Another scenario is that Suzanne told him about the land in Pennsylvania that Skip had optioned. Could Jimmy have inadvertently told her about the highway going through and then have killed her to keep her from telling Skip? He picked up those options for next to nothing, I gather.”

“You’ve done a lot of thinking today, lady,” Geoff said. “And you’ve made a damn good case for either scenario. Did you happen to listen to the news on the way home?”

“My brain needed a rest. I listened to the station with the golden oldies. Otherwise I’d have gone mad in that traffic.”

“You made a better choice. But if you had listened to a news station, you’d know that the stuff Barney Haskell was planning to swap for a plea bargain is now in the U.S. attorney’s hands. Apparently Barney kept records like nobody else ever kept records. Tomorrow, if Frank Green is smart, instead of resisting your investigation he’ll request access to any records they can find of jewelry Weeks bought in the months before Suzanne’s murder. If we can tie him to stuff like the zodiac bracelet, we’ve got proof Smith was a liar.” He stood up. “I would say, Kerry McGrath, that you have sung for your supper. Wait here. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

Kerry curled up on the couch and sipped the sherry, but even with the fire the room felt somehow less than comfortable. A moment later she got up and walked into the kitchen. “Okay if I watch you play chef? It’s warmer in here.”

Geoff left at nine o’clock. When the door closed behind him, Robin said, “Mom, I’ve got to ask you. This guy Dad is defending? From what you tell me, Dad’s not going to win the case. Is that right?”

“Not if all the evidence we believe has been found is what it’s cracked up to be.”

“Will that be bad for him?”

“No one likes to lose a case, but no, Robin, I think the best thing that could ever happen to your father is to see Jimmy Weeks convicted.”

“You’re sure Weeks is the one who’s trying to scare me?”

“Yes, I’m about as sure as I can get. That’s why the sooner we can find out his connection to Suzanne Reardon, the sooner he won’t have any reasons to try to scare us off.”

“Geoff’s a defense attorney, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Would Geoff ever defend a guy like Jimmy Weeks?”

“No, Robin. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t.”

“I don’t think he would either.”

At nine-thirty, Kerry remembered that she’d promised to report to Jonathan and Grace about her meeting with Dr. Smith.

“You think he may break down and admit he lied?” Jonathan asked when she reached him.

“I think so.”

Grace was on the other extension. “Let’s tell Kerry my news, Jonathan. Kerry, today I’ve either been a good detective or made an awful fool of myself.”

Kerry had not thought it important to bring up Arnott’s name on Sunday when she told Jonathan and Grace about Dr. Smith and Jimmy Weeks. When she heard what Grace had to say about him, she was glad that neither one of them could see the expression on her face.

Jason Arnott. The friend who was constantly with Suzanne Reardon. Who, despite his seeming frankness, had struck Kerry as being too posed to be true. If he was a thief, if, according to the FBI flyer Grace described, he was also a murder suspect, where did he fit in the conundrum surrounding the Sweetheart Murder Case?