Prayers for the Dead

24

Sitting at his desk, Decker sorted through the morning messages-four from Paul Sparks, three from Eva Shapiro, five from William Waterson on behalf of Dolores Sparks, and two from Michael. None from Maggie. More significant, none from Luke. Marge knocked on Decker’s doorjamb. He told her to come in.

“An advantage of my being off the Sparks case.” Decker stood and handed her the stack of phone slips. “I don’t have to return calls. Have fun.”

“Lucas Sparks is outside. He barged into your office this morning, demanding to talk to you. We almost threw him out.”

“You should have.”

“I would have except that I think he has something important to say.”

“I can’t talk to him.”

“He’s insistent, Pete-”

“I can’t do it, Marge. End of discussion.”

Marge pushed hair from her face. “Look, why don’t you explain to him personally why you can’t talk-”

“Marge-”

“Pete, if you let him go, we may miss something big.” Marge clenched her jaw. “How about if you talk to him while we all listen behind the one-way mirror?”

Decker considered the offer, feeling it was a mistake. But she was right. If Luke had something to say, stalling could give him cold feet. He took out a portable tape recorder from his desk drawer. “Bring him in the interview room. Give me about ten minutes.”

“All right!”

Marge left. Decker poured himself another cup of hard black coffee and downed an Advil, hoping to stave off a thrashing headache. Carefully, he reviewed his notes, then walked across the hall into the interview room.

In just a few days, Luke had lost weight. He was almost as thin as his brother. His clothes sagged, but he was washed and shaved, his hair clean and neatly combed. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and a pair of denims. His feet were housed in knock-off Doc Martens. He stood when Decker came in.

“Mr. Sparks. Please sit.”

Luke sat. So did Decker.

“I’ve got a bit of a problem,” Decker started. “I’m not on your father’s case anymore.”

“Why’s that?”

“Personal reasons.”

“You arrest my brother, then you chickenshit out when the heat’s poured on.” Luke nodded. “Typical of L.A.’s finest.”

Decker said, “Sir, there are five other-”

“You arrested him. You listen to me.”

“Okay, you can talk to me. But I want other people to hear what you have to say. Because I’m not doing solo interviewing.”

“Why were you pulled off? Incompetence?”

Decker ignored him. “You see that over there?” He pointed to a reflective wall.

“It’s a one-way mirror.”

“Right.”

“You’ve got other people listening in.”

“Right. Can you truck with that?”

“Fine with me. Just that you’re gonna look like an asshole and I thought you might want a little privacy.”

Decker said, “Mind if I turn on the tape recorder?”

“Go ahead.”

“Would you like something to drink?”

“No…no, thank you.”

Decker turned on the tape. “So tell me how I’m going to look like an asshole.”

Luke rubbed his face, stared at the one-way mirror, then looked back at Decker. “Yesterday, I got a phone call from Reggie Decameron. About seven-thirty…maybe eight in the morning. He sounded…strange. Calm but serious. Which is very strange for Decameron. He said he needed to talk to me about my family. When I asked him to be more specific, he said it was a private matter, too personal to talk about over the phone. We set a meeting time at ten. His house.”

Luke scratched his head.

“He was already dead when I got there. He and some other man. They were both…covered with blood…and glass.” His voice dropped to a whisper. He blinked hard. “Lots of broken glass.”

There was a long pause.

“It was all I could do to keep my stomach down. I would have left immediately except something caught my eye. There were about a dozen magazines…in plain brown wrappers.” He waited a beat. “They had my brother’s name on them.”

Again, he stopped talking.

“I picked one up, took off the cover. It was homosexual pornography. Explicit…revolting shit!”

The room was silent.

“I totally freaked. I ran outside, got in my car, and peeled rubber. A block later, I pulled over and threw up. I was shaking so badly, I couldn’t drive.”

Sweat had formed on Luke’s face, had deepened the color of his shirt under his armpits. Decker poured him a glass of water. Luke downed the contents in a few gulps.

“I must have sat there for…I don’t know…ten minutes. Maybe longer, maybe shorter. I knew I had to go back.”

“Why?”

“Obviously, I couldn’t leave crap like that with my brother’s name on top of two dead bodies. I thought it might…incriminate…I went back and this time I took all the magazines with me. I don’t know why I didn’t just throw them away. I think I wanted to confront my brother. Have him deny they were his.”

“Why would Decameron have your brother’s pornography?”

“I don’t know.” Luke shrugged. “I can only imagine it was because they were…involved.” He winced. “God, the thought is so disgusting!”

“If Decameron was your brother’s lover, why would he be calling you to talk about Bram?”

“I don’t really know. Maybe blackmail. Because everyone thinks we’ve come into money with our father’s death.”

“Have you?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. We have. Me and all my siblings. Dad left us insurance money. Maybe Decameron wanted a piece of the action. For all I know, I was the first one and he was going to hit on all my sibs. He knew my family, my parents’ beliefs. He’d know we’d do anything to prevent this from coming out. For my mother’s sake. Everyone knows Bram is her golden boy.”

“You’d do anything to prevent it from coming out?”

“Not anything. Certainly not murder. But I, for one, would have certainly paid the sleazeball off to keep quiet about my brother.”

“You would have paid him off?”

“Absolutely. His calling me up like that. I smelled something rotten.”

“Yet you came when Decameron called.”

“Yes, I did.” Luke poured himself another glass of water and drank it. “And that is…the end of my story.”

Decker said, “When you saw the bodies, why didn’t you call the police?”

“And admit I was there? Are you crazy?”

“You’re admitting you were there now…with a lot more dire consequences.”

“You arrested Bram. I couldn’t let him take the rap for me.”

“The rap?”

“I met with him after I left Decameron’s house. Called him up and told him to get his ass over to his apartment because we had things to talk about. I showed him a magazine, shoved it in his face actually. I wanted him to tell me it was a mistake, for God’s sake!”

“Did he?”

“No.” Luke shook his head. “No, he didn’t. He just took my bloody clothes, my shoes, and the magazines. Told me not to worry, that he’d take care of it. At that point, I was so glad to rid myself of that shit, I just let him do it.”

Decker sat back in his chair. “But you’ve suddenly come to your senses. Now you’re being a man and bailing out your brother.”

Luke glared at Decker. “I realize it’s hard to believe a slime like me could be noble, but yes, it’s true.”

Decker said, “You know, if I were to believe any part of your story, I’d believe the part about your brother and Decameron. Which would mean that Bram, more than anyone, would have a reason to shut Decameron up.”

“Except Bram wasn’t there. The evidence you have against him is mine! Sure, the bloody clothes fit him. Because we wear the same size. And yeah, the shoes fit him too. Because we have the same shoe size. Maybe you even have blood evidence, because picking up the magazines, I sliced myself several times. You don’t have his blood, pal. You’ve got my blood. We’re identical twins.”

Decker hoped his face was registering neutral. Inside, he could feel his heart taking flight in his chest. He waited a beat, then said, “We have other things.”

“You found my cross, then.”

Decker couldn’t hide his astonishment. He was silent for a long time. Then he said, “Didn’t know you were that religious.”

“I’m not but old habits are hard to break.” Luke looked at the mirror. “How you all doing over there?”

“Luke-”

“It was given to me when I…when Bram, Paul, and I were confirmed as teenagers. We all got the same present-a Walkman and a gold cross engraved with the name Sparks on the back. No initial, mind you, just Sparks. Our crosses are interchangeable. My parents weren’t big on personalization.”

Decker was silent.

“Anyway,” Luke continued, “mine has had a loose clasp for years. Never got around to fixing it. Maybe I secretly wanted to lose it. Not in a pile of dead bodies, but God works in mysterious ways.”

“I’m supposed to believe this?”

Luke said, “This morning, while I was taking a shower, thinking about what I had to do, I noticed my neck was bare. I looked around my apartment, couldn’t find it. I knew what must have happened. It came off at Decameron’s place. Then I knew why you arrested Bram.”

He leaned over the tabletop.

“If Bram wears anything over his shirt, it’s a Roman Catholic crucifix-a big silver thing with Jesus on it. But he also wears his boyhood confirmation cross inside his shirt. You booked him, you stripped him of his personal belongings. Go back and check your bags, Lieutenant. You’ll find his cross there. Would it make sense for Bram to be wearing two identical crosses? Man, even he’s not that fanatical.”

Luke grew impatient.

“Look, my brother didn’t murder Decameron. He wasn’t even anywhere near the house. He was with my mom in the morning, at his church in the afternoon.”

Decker was quiet.

“Yes, I know there were time gaps. Maybe he sneaked into Decameron’s house between Reggie’s phone call to me and before he visited my mother. That means he had to have been there around seven-thirty in the morning.”

“So?”

“Decameron had another guy there, both of them dressed in business suits. Who the hell does business at seven-thirty in the morning? No one. Because they were murdered later on. Make sense?”

Decker didn’t respond. His head was buzzing.

“I’ll tell you what doesn’t make sense,” Luke said. “If Bram had anything to do with the murder, you’d think he’d leave porno around with his name on it? Sort of like a giveaway, don’t you think?”

A setup. If so, why wouldn’t Bram talk? Decker stared at the priest’s twin, trying to buy time to collect his thoughts. He said, “Leaving pornography in plain view makes about as much sense as Bram using his real name for the subscription.”

Luke didn’t talk for a moment. “No, that doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“I never saw the wrappers. So I don’t know if you’re shitting me or what.”

“You have the magazines?”

“We have magazines.”

“But not the wrappers.”

“No.”

“He threw the wrappers away. Why didn’t he just throw the magazines away?”

“Why didn’t he?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he was pressured for time. He was on his way to see some kid in a hospital. Or maybe he didn’t feel comfortable tossing the shit in his apartment Dumpster. Maybe he thought someone might see him. The magazines were addressed to a post office box.”

“Do you remember the number?”

“No. Course you could get it from my brother.”

“He isn’t talking. Can you get it for us?”

“Me?” Luke laughed bitterly. “No, if he’s not talking to you, he wouldn’t talk to me.” He paused. “I can’t in my worldly thoughts begin to fathom why Bram would use his real name. Even if he had them delivered to an anonymous post office box.”

Decker said, “Maybe he got a thrill out of being bad. Or maybe he was about to come out.”

“That doesn’t sound like Bram. He’s not the bad boy type. And he’s very discreet…or so I thought.” Luke shrugged. “Bram’s always been a mystery to all of us.”

“Why hasn’t Bram told us about you being there?”

“Why do you think? He’s protecting me.”

“He thinks you murdered Decameron?”

“Who the hell knows what he thinks? When Bram decides not to talk, he doesn’t talk. Look, I was there. But I didn’t kill anyone. You want me to make a more complete detailed statement, I’ll be happy to comply. Just spring my brother. I’m tired of him being my fall guy.”

“You were willing to pin it on him yesterday. You stood by while we arrested him.”

“I was in shock, I don’t do well under pressure.” He lowered his head. “And I was mad.”

“Mad?”

Luke sighed. “I always knew Bram wasn’t exactly girl crazy. As a matter of fact, the guy never had a girlfriend after Dana…my wife. He used to date my wife. They broke up in high school and I never thought about her. We remet at our five-year high school reunion. She thought I was Bram. Bram didn’t show. Anyway, we talked and one thing led to another.”

“How does Bram feel about you marrying his ex-girl?”

“He never stated an opinion on it. Truthfully, I think he feels I was stupid for marrying her.”

“Maybe he’s jealous.”

“Nah, he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about Dana. Maybe that’s why I knew that he was probably that way.”

“You mean gay?”

“Yes. Okay, if you’re gay, okay. But be private about it, for God’s sake. Especially if you’re a priest! Yesterday, after seeing that shit, I thought to myself…why should I fuck myself up over his perversions. Especially if he was going to be so careless about leaving it around.”

“So why are you here?”

Luke buried his head in his hands, then looked at Decker. “Because, as corny as it sounds, I love my brother. I would never hurt him…not intentionally…not anymore…”

He looked up, spoke to the ceiling.

“A long time ago, Bram and I had a falling-out. My fault. I don’t think he suffered much, but I sure as hell did. I missed him. Missed…talking to him. People talk to Bram. Because he truly listens.”

He made a swipe at his eyes.

“Are you going to spring him or not?”

“First, I’ll have to evaluate what you’ve told me. Then I’m going to need a formal statement from you. Someone else will have to take it. Agreed?”

“Fair enough.”

“You’re going to be detained for a while. Anyone you want to call?”

“No one.”

“A lawyer?”

“Nope.”

“You may want to call your family. Let them know what’s going on.”

“They’ve been calling here left and right. They’re furious at you.”

“No doubt.”

“I’ll call Paul. Get them off your back if you want.”

“Up to you.”

“I’ll do it.” Luke said. “I owe you something for listening to me. By the way, I know why you took yourself off the case.”

Decker said nothing.

Luke said, “Ten years ago, my parents threw us boys…the triplets…a twenty-fifth birthday party. Tons of people. I hated every minute of it. Actually, I think Bram and Paul hated it, too. We went along with it for my parents’ sake…actually for my mother’s. She loves playing hostess…showing off her cooking. Anyway…like I said, there were lots of people there.”

He paused, regarded Decker with arched eyebrows.

“Lots of people. But your wife’s face is a hard one to forget.”

Decker was silent.

Luke said, “I saw her picture on your desk. Recognized her right away. Her husband had been Bram’s friend. I guess you knew that.”

Decker remained quiet.

“Her late husband’s loss was your gain-”

“You get a charge out of pissing me off?”

“It’s a free country.” Luke’s smile turned into a grin. “Better behave, Lieutenant. There are video cameras on you.”

Without speaking, Decker walked out of the room.