Secret Prey

JIM BONE. AND MARCIA KRESGE AND KERIN BAKI.

He chewed on the end of his pencil. Baki was a little thinwhat would she get out of the killings? Her job? An assistants job didnt seem heavy enough, but hell, it might to the assistant. Bone, of course, had that reputation as a ladies man, and supposedly had been sleeping with Kresges wife. What if he was also sleeping with the assistant? And if he was, so what? There might be some kind of twisted connection between an illicit relationship between Bone and Marcia Kresge, and the killing of Dan Kresge, but even if they had a relationship, how could that lead to the killing of ODell?

Blackmail? He remembered one of Bones colleagues saying that Bone wouldnt tolerate blackmail. Could ODell have tried? But Bone, if he wasnt bullshitting about the phone records, pretty much had an alibi. Of course, the phones could be finessed.

Then there was Mr. X.

A Mr. X who might be killing for the reason everybody suspectedto stop the mergereither to save his job or simply as an expression of the general feeling at the bank. But if the killer was a Mr. X, hed be almost impossible to find. And nobody knew what jobs would be lost yet. And why would he kill ODell, whod taken a stand against the merger?

The killing of ODell, Lucas decided, had been an insane risk. Neither the McDonalds nor Bones group had enough to gain by killing her, to take the risk. If anybody had come along while the killer was going up and down in the elevator, theyd have been cooked…

Lucas frowned, thought about that for a minute, then called Dispatch. Is Swanson still at the ODell apartment?

Yes, I believe so. You want his phone number?

Give it to me. He wrote the number at the top of his suspect sheet, then punched it into the phone.

Yeah. Swanson.

This is Lucas. Is Louise Compton there yet?

Yeah, right here, want to talk to her?

Put her on.

Hello?

Ms. Compton, sorry to bother you… Could you tell me the exact words that Ms. ODell said to you when the doorbell rang? Did you actuallyhearthe doorbell ring?

No, I didnt hear the bell… She just said, Theres somebody at the door, and the next thing I heard was the shots. Comptons voice was breaking up under the stress of the killing, and ranged from hoarse squawks to sudden squeaks; every word was like a nail on a blackboard.

Was she a good friend of yours?

No, not sociallyshe was my boss. Oh, God, I cant believe…

You wouldnt know who she was seeing socially… in a sexual sense, I mean.

I… I dont think she was seeing anyone. Not at the moment. Not for quite a while. She has a friend over at North, but hes gay. They sort of squire each other around, when she needs an escort. Or he does.

And she said that Audrey McDonald had already left?

Yes. She said she put Audrey in the elevator, and ran right back to call me.

She put Audrey in the elevator.

Thats what she said. And thats what she usually doesyou know, the elevator is right by her door, she steps out to see you off. Like stepping out on the porch to say goodbye to someone.

And she always did that?

She always did for me.

Thank you. Let me talk to Officer Swanson again. Swanson came back and Lucas said, So whyd she say, Somebodys at the door?

I dunno. To get to the other side?

Im serious. Whyd she say that? Shes got a guard downstairs, who calls up before he lets anyone in. Or youcan get up from the second floor skyway, but youve got to have a key card to run the elevator. At least I think you do. I noticed a key card slot when I was riding up. ..

Huh. Youre right. And I would have thought of that too in about five minutes.

So it had to be a friend with a key card who was coming over unexpectedly.

Or somebody else who lives in the building.

You heard what she said about Audrey? Lucas asked.

Yeah, ODell put her in the elevator.

The elevator dings whenever the door opens, right?

So if Audrey had just stood there, and let the doors open again after they closed…

It wouldve dinged and if ODell was out there she probably wouldve seen the doors opening.

Goddamnit. See what happens if you get on there and push thedoor closebutton, or thedoor openbutton, or both at the same time. See if you can get back off the elevator…

Okay.

And check and see if Audrey went out past the guard or what… what time she left the place.

I already checked. She left at ten fifty-three.

And the guard says thats right?

Thats what he says. He checked her out.

Shit.

Besides, if Audreyd just made a deal, whyd she kill ODell five minutes later?

I dont know, Lucas said. There could be a million fuckin reasons.

Ill tell you what, Swanson said. I bet its a fuckin boyfriend that we dont know about. Either somebody in the building shed been screwing, or somebody at the bank. I vote for a key card.

Ive got the same problem with that as Ive got with this firebombing of Weather. People start saying it could be random, but Im saying if its random, its weird. Anyonecould get firebombed by a random nut, butnotWeather: not with her recent history. Anyonecould get shot by a pissed-off boyfriend, butnotODellnot with her recent history.

I see what you mean, Swanson said.

Still: Check with the guards and see how many key cards ODell had, and see if you can find them.

Do that, Swanson said. What else?

Nothing else.

I could go over and beat up Audrey McDonald for a while.

Hell, just phone her old man and tell him to do it. Then you can drop by for the confession.

You see her leg? Swanson asked, his voice dropping.

Yeah, I saw her leg.

I once saw a stripper in a carnival who had bruises like that. Her old man beat her with a rolling pin.

Thats some business were going to do after we finish with this, Lucas said. Were gonna haul McDonalds blubber-butt down to City Hall and put him away.

He rang off Swanson and called Sloan. Sloan answered on the second ring: Sloan.

Can you talk? Lucas asked.

Not really. I could step outside.

Did you ask Bone about Kresge?

Let me step outside.

After a moment of shuffling around and some conversation that Lucas couldnt make out, Sloan came back and said, Well, Im in the can. Bone says the phone reception here is better.

So whatd they say?

Yeah, they have a relationship, and it started before her old man diedbut not until after the separation. At least, thats what they say.

How did you read it?

I think theyre telling the truth about that. They got together at a particular party, and a number of people know about it and know that the party is when it started. I can check all that, but I think theyre probably telling the truth.

One thingI took Bone back in the kitchen to ask him about Kresge, and he said hed appreciate it if I didnt talk about Kresge around his assistant. He said he didnt want the gossip getting around the bank, but I got the feeling that he was lying about that. I think the reason was a little more personal, and Im wondering if hes boning the assistant?

One more bone joke from anybody and theyre fired…

Fuck you, Im civil service. Anyway…

I dont know; shes pretty chilly, Lucas said.

Really? I think shes pretty comfortable with Bone.

Now Lucas was surprised. Sloan was the personalityreading genius in the department. Is that so? Huh.

She also doesnt have a completely solid alibi. Kresge does, sort of. She was talking to some other guyand I get the feeling she may be boning this other guy toowhen Bone called with the news that McDonald had left and there was no deal. But this was like on call waiting. She told Bone shed come over, and then she switched back to this other guy and told him that something had come up with the bank, and they talked about it for a few minutes. Maybe five, ten minutes, because they talked about some other stuff too. And then she hurried right over to Bones place and got there about twenty after eleven, and from her place she really doesnt have time for another stop.

Okay.

And to tell you the truth, shes a pretty funky chick; I dont think shed kill anyone. Shes not crazy enough.

What about Baki? Lucas asked.

I dont know. I cant read her very well. Very pretty; and she looks at Bone like a wolf looks at a sheep.

Huh. You about done there?

Yeah. Unless you want me to torture somebody.

Not tonight. Ill see you in the morning.

Shits gonna hit the fan tomorrow morning, dude. TheStar-Tribunehas the police guy standing outside of ODells, and a business guy standing downstairs here.

Freedom of the press, Lucas said.