Long Shadows

Chapter 86

Decker took out the photo of his wife and daughter as he lay in bed in his room.

Recently, he had felt compelled to take it from his wallet each night before turning in. He looked at the twin faces, studied the eyes, the mouths, the slopes of their necks. He, of course, remembered exactly when it had been taken. He had actually been the photographer. It was just a picnic at a local park. A rare day off for Decker that had coincided with Cassie’s scheduled time away from the hospital where she worked as a nurse. Molly had been home because it was a teacher workday, and she was the one who suggested the picnic. At first, Decker had not been too thrilled with the idea. There were some chores for him to do around the house, and social outings, even just with his family, were awkward for him. But Molly had persisted, and they had all joined in to make the food for the picnic. And it had been a truly glorious day. The sun bright and warming, the flowers in bloom, the breeze invigorating, the company the best in the world. Every bite of the simple luncheon the most wonderful food that Decker had ever had.

Because it was the last time.

A week later he had no family left.

He slowly put the picture away in his wallet and closed his eyes.

I would much prefer to be at that park with them, instead of being here trying to solve another crime.

White had turned out to be fine as a partner, but even with that... Change, way too much damn change.

And then there was the letter from the Cognitive Institute. Things happening. Things changing.

Me changing. Irreversibly so.

Alone.

He slept and then awoke when the night was about its darkest.

He rose and went to the window and looked out at the paradise of Ocean View, Florida.

Some paradise. Stacked with bodies and blackmailers.

He went back to sleep and woke at nearly eight o’clock.

As he showered, he thought about the case, not at a broad, macro level, but at the building-block stage because that, he had come to believe, was where the real answers were to be found. That and the little inconsistencies that later turned out to be important.

First up was the revelation about Barry Davidson. Tyler had said his father had not left the premises. And now this neighbor had come forward to corroborate that. The result: Davidson was a free man. Then who had killed Cummins?

The key to the murders of Draymont and Lancer was finding out who they had been blackmailing. And to blackmail someone, you had to find out a dark secret. On Capitol Hill they had done that by, presumably, listening at keyholes, shadowing people, taking photos or recordings of indiscretions.

He thought back to something that Kasimira Roe had said. She had been blackmailed by Draymont and Lancer after they had discovered that she was seeing a married person. But she had also said that the pair had blackmailed other clients, and, in one case, Draymont had stolen some jewelry.

He sent Roe an email and got a reply back a few minutes later.

Judith Kilroy, with an address in West Palm.

After traversing the state of Florida once more, Decker and White arrived at Judith Kilroy’s home, a large, oceanfront stucco house with wavy palm trees out front. Decker knew he could have simply called the woman, but he liked to see the people he was talking to. And doing that on a computer was just not the same thing, at least to him.

Kilroy was in her early sixties and dressed casually, although the jewelry she had on was anything but casual. She led Decker and White into a room with a lovely view of the Atlantic, which, for some reason, Decker found slightly nauseating.

“I’m as certain that that man robbed me as I am of my own name. How dare they claim I was trying to get out of paying the bill? My husband’s firm was footing that. And besides that, we’re rich, for God’s sake.”

“And who made that claim?” asked White.

“Some woman. I forget her name. She called and made up a pack of lies. I was never that insulted in my life. When it first happened my husband was considering legal action, but then we decided it would be too much of a hassle, and the necklace was insured.”

“I understand. But why were you so sure he stole it?”

“I caught him in my bedroom. That’s where I kept my jewelry. That necklace was there before he went in there, and then it was gone right after he left. No one else was in the house during that whole time. Oh, he did it all right.” She took a deep breath and composed herself.

Decker looked around the grand space. On one wall were photos of Kilroy and presumably her husband and their children over a series of years.

“The passage-of-time wall, I call it,” said Kilroy as she noted what Decker was looking at. “It goes by so fast. But when your kids are little and the days seem like they’re forty-eight hours long, you just can’t see that. And everyone with grown kids tells you that they grow up in the blink of an eye and will be out of college and on with their lives before you know it. And young parents listen but never really believe it.” She paused. “Until it happens to them. I was fortunate to be able to stay home with my kids while my husband worked his way up the corporate ladder. I will never exchange that experience for anything. I understand a lot of people don’t have that opportunity. Still, I miss the days when my kids were all at home.”

Decker glanced at a stricken White, who looked like she might be sick to her stomach.

He said quickly, “Anything else you can tell us about Alan Draymont?”

“When I found the necklace missing I confronted him, but he denied having taken it. He was so smug and condescending. Said I was mistaken, but he could understand my being upset at having misplaced something so valuable. Can you believe that? The arrogance.”

“That must have been traumatizing,” said Decker.

“Yes, indeed it was.”

“Did anyone contact you later?”

“Contact me? What do you mean?”

“We think that the man and the woman you spoke with were involved in a blackmail ring. So I was wondering if they tried to do something like that with you. Perhaps to get you to drop your claims about the necklace being stolen.”

Kilroy set her lips firmly. “In order to blackmail someone, they have to find something to blackmail with. And my husband and I have led an exemplary life. A scandal for my husband was wearing a brown belt and black shoes.”

“I’m sure.”

“Is there anything else?” she asked.

“I guess not,” said Decker, rising and pulling up a still-distracted White with him.

“Sorry about that,” said White as she drove them back to Ocean View.

“Sorry about what?”

She glanced at him and let out a curt laugh. “Thanks.”

“My wife, Cassie, worked long hours. She was a nurse. She hated being away from Molly, but we couldn’t make it on just my paycheck. And my schedule was beyond ridiculous, so she worked full time and carried the laboring oar at home, too.”

“I think you’ve just described a lot of marriages, Decker.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“Did she regret it? Your wife?”

Decker glanced over at her. “Some days she’d come to bed crying.”

“What’d you tell her?”

“If you want the truth, I never really knew what to tell her. I just held her until she stopped crying.”

“Maybe that was exactly what she needed,” said White in a wistful tone.

“I hope so,” replied Decker.