Long Shadows

Chapter 81

Decker came down the following morning to the hotel lobby to meet White. As he crossed the lobby to go into the restaurant, someone approached him.

Gloria Chase was dressed, at least for her, in a subdued fashion. The dress was just above the knee, not all that tight, and the heels were barely two inches tall.

She held up an envelope. “Was this from you?” she asked.

“Have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Got a minute to chat?”

She led him over to a seating area where they wouldn’t be overheard.

They sat, and she crossed one long leg over the other, her expression dejected.

“Just when you think you know someone well enough to walk down the aisle with them.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Do we have to play this game?” she snapped.

“Have you spoken to him?”

“More than that. I told him I would not be marrying him, ever. I also gave him back his crummy ring before the collection people came after me for it.”

“Was he living beyond his means?”

“My people did a quick check on him, which I should have done when I first met him. He owes everybody. It’s not that he’s a bad lawyer. He makes good money. It’s that he has a gambling problem, which is why he really wanted to go to Vegas for the honeymoon. To gamble away my money.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you really?”

He glanced at the envelope. “Proof’s in the pudding, as they say.”

“Right. You could have let me marry him and there would go all my money.”

“I wasn’t so much worried about your money as I was about your safety.”

“You really think he’s dangerous?”

“That prostitute didn’t assault herself.”

She pursed her lips. “Have I been a complete fool?”

“The hardest thing for someone to do is admit they’ve been suckered. It’s easier to say the emperor is wearing his new clothes when he’s really stark naked, right up until the moment everything goes to shit and you have to pay the price for your bad judgment.” He leaned forward. “But moving on — do you stand by your alibi for him?”

She played with the latch on her purse. “Let’s just say that I was not counting the minutes when he was gone. I was actually in the shower and getting... spruced up.”

“So, longer than twenty minutes?”

“I think he found out when he needed an alibi for and then ‘reminded’ me how long he was gone. I can’t say for sure how long he was out, actually.”

“An hour or more?”

“I take a while to spruce up. So, yes, clearly an hour or more.”

“And you’ll stick to that if it comes to legal proceedings?”

“Count on it.”

She rose and so did Decker. She put out her hand, which he shook.

“Thank you, Agent Decker.”

“Thank you for being candid.”

“It’s not my usual forte, but an old dog can learn new tricks, I guess.”

“I guess so,” said Decker, thinking about himself.

As Chase was leaving, White walked over to Decker. “The cops turned up nothing on the two guys from last night. They were long gone and left behind no clues.”

“Not surprising.”

White looked in the direction of Chase. “What did she want?”

“To tell me she’s not marrying Langley, and she has no idea how long he was gone the night Cummins was killed. But it was at least an hour. So that puts Langley right back onto the suspect list for Cummins’s murder.”

“The motive? I mean, he was seeing Chase. They were planning to get married. She was loaded. She was his ticket out. So why would he kill the judge?”

“It doesn’t have to be about money. Cummins rejected him. With a guy like Langley, I doubt he took it well. So with what he thought was an ironclad alibi, he probably figured he could kill Cummins and he’d just argue he couldn’t be in two places at the same time and Chase would back him up. And even if she didn’t, once they were married, her lips would be legally sealed.”

“So now you think he’s good for the murder?”

Decker said, “Well, we know he is capable of violence.”

“Yeah, and he’s also a jerk.”