Secret Prey

THIRTY-TWO

TWO UNIFORMED COPS WITH A WARRANT STOPPED by the McDonald house at four oclock, and found it empty. Audrey McDonalds car license-plate number was put on the air, along with a description. She was eating at Bakers Square Restaurant, having waited impatiently all afternoon. Two cops went by while she was inside, but she missed them all going back home. At seven, the uniformed cops swung by her house again, and saw lights.

Audrey McDonald came to the door.

SHERRILL CALLED: WERE SUPPOSED TO GO OUT TOdinner tonight.

Damn it, Im sorrybut were busting Audrey Mc-Donald right now, Lucas said.

All right. Tomorrow for sure.

Tomorrow.

AUDREY WAS PROCESSED THROUGHTHE COUNTYJAIL, then taken to an interview room to wait for her attorney.

J. B. Glass arrived a half hour later, a little white wine under his belt. He found Lucas waiting outside the interview room with Sloan, and said, What the hell happened?

Your clients a serial killer, Sloan said laconically.

What, Sugar Pops or shredded wheat? Glass said.

Her mother and father for starters, Lucas said.

Yourereallytelling me Ive got a millionaire client who might be a serial killer? Glass asked in a hushed voice. He rolled his eyes to the heavens, the view toward which extended twenty-eight inches to the basement ceiling. I dont want to seem cynical, but… thank you, Jesus.

Then he was all business: I want privacy with my client.

Shes in the room, Lucas said.

Have you talked to her?

Nobodys talked to her, Lucas said. She opened the door to her house and said, I want my attorney. Nobodys said a word to her since, except Stand up, sit down, turn to the right.

Good. Glass nodded. Ill tell you, though, its gonna be a while before you can see her.

We can wait, Lucas said.

THEY WAITED. GLASS TALKED TO HER FOR A HALF-hour, asked Lucas if he could get a couple of cans of Diet Pepsi for them. Lucas walked through the dark hallways to a Pepsi machine, got two cans, walked back, passed them through the door.

Thanks, Glass said, as he shut the door.

Another twenty minutes passed, and then Glass opened the door and said, Come in.

Sloan led the way, carrying a portable tape recorder. Lucas nodded at Audrey. She fixed him for a moment with her cobra eyes, then broke off and looked down at the table. When Sloan was ready, and had a cassette running, he said, This is a preliminary interview with Mrs. Audrey Mc-Donald, in the presence of her attorney, Jason Glass, conducted by Detectives Sloan and Davenport.

He ran the machine back to make sure it was working, replayed the statement, pushed record again, added the time and date, and turned to McDonald.

Mrs. McDonald, you have been rearrested after the revocation of your bail granted after the killing of your husband, Wilson McDonald. .. The bail revocation, however, is based on what we believe was the murder of your mother, Amelia Lamb.

I did no such thing. I loved my mother, she said, calmly.

Mrs. McDonald, did you know that your sister saved a lock of your mothers hair after she died?

Yes, I knew that.

We had the hair sample analyzed by the state crime laboratory, Mrs. McDonald, and the hair was found to contain amounts of arsenic which would be lethal to a human being.

I dont know anything about that, she said.

Um, do you know where she livedMrs. Lambat the time she died? Glass asked Lucas.

In Lakeville.

Have the police inspected the house they lived in?

Not yet.

It was a very old houseyou find arsenic all over the place in those old houses. Its in the wallpaper, the paint, people used it all the time to spray for bugs. Mrs. Lamb may have had arsenic in her hair, but theres no reason to think that my client put it there. In fact, she did not.

Did you get large insurance payments from both the death of your father and your mother, Mrs. McDonald? Sloan asked.

She wont answer that, Glass said. He looked down at Audrey. Thats something weve got to look into ourselves, before we start discussing it.

Did you use the insurance payments to put yourself through St. Annes, where you met Sister Mary Joseph? Lucas asked.

Glass shook his head: Well refuse to answer that.

We have gray duct tape from your house with only oneset of fingerprints on it, said Sloan. The adhesive on the duct tape matches exactly adhesive taken off the door locks outside Susan ODells apartment. Did you put that tape there, Mrs. McDonald?

No, I did not.

The questioning went on for half an hour, Audrey growing more and more angry. Finally, she turned to Glass and said, How much longer do we have to do this?

You want to stop now?

Yes.

Then were done, Glass said. To Sloan, No more questions. Sloan looked at Lucas, reached out to the recorder. Before he could turn it off, Audrey hissed at Lucas. You think youre so smart, but you just dont understand anything.

Sloan froze, then, as unobtrusively as possible, let his arm slide sideways and rest on the table next to the recorder. Sometimes you got the best stuff after the formal questioning was done.

I think I do, Lucas said. Ive talked to your friends, Ive talked to your sister. We dont have every piece, because you got rid of some of them. But theres enough left to hang you, Audrey.

So dumb, she said. She stood up, and turned toward Glass. Will there be another bond hearing?

Yes, tomorrow morning.

Gonna cost you a little more, this time, Lucas said. And when we finish all the paper on your mother, well just pick you up again. Itd be easier just to stay put. Mr. Glass could arrange for your sister to watch your house.

My sister… my sister, she said. She pushed her hands up through her hair, as though she were about to tear it out. My sister gave you a lock of Mothers hair?

Yes.

That was good of her. And my sister told you about this whole murder idea in the first place, didnt she?

Lucas looked at Sloan, then nodded. Glass opened his mouth to say something, then shut it.

And did my sister tell you that all those years when I was supposedly killing these people, her sole support came from us? From Wilson and me? That we gave her cash to keep her head above water? That if Wilson didnt do well, if he lost his job or lost a promotion, shed be hurt as much as we would? Did she tell you about our father feeling her up, about finding a box of rat poison in the machine shed and pouring it into Dads whiskey? Did my sister tell you all of that? Did she tell you about fighting with Mom about screwing boys out by the cornfield in Lakeville? And more than that, screwing them for money? Did you look at everything you have, and ask, What if her sister did it? And did you ask, if you send little Audrey McDonald off to prison, if she could tolerate it? Ill answer that for you: Im claustrophobic. I wouldnt last a year in a prison. Id find some way to hang myself. And then who gets my share of the money? My sister? Thats what she thinks…

Lucas was astonished: at that moment, he believed that Audrey believed. She was utterly convincing, a beetle-hard, scuttling young-old woman. Jesus, he said.

We gotta stop, Glass said convulsively. We gotta stop this.

He put an arm around Audrey to stop her: and for a moment, the womans dead cobra eyes gave something away, a spark, something almost like humor. Then the moment passed, and she was as sullen as ever.

Lucas looked after her as she left: What was this all about?

LUCAS AND SLOAN STOPPED AT A GREASY SPOON ON the way home, Lucas following Sloan out in separate cars. As they walked inside, Sloan said, What if the sister did it?

Lucas shook his head: No way.

Why not?

She was too young to kill her old man; I dont care if he was groping her. But the big thing is, why would she ever risk calling attention to that whole string of killings?

Even if she blamed them on McDonald, there was always the possibility that McDonald would be able to prove that he didnt do it. .. and if he could prove he couldnt do any one of them, then all of them would be in question. Nope. Whoever killed these peopleAudreyis too smart to have called attention to them.

But what… what if she saw Wilson McDonald going down, and shot Kresge specifically to pull McDonald down, so that Audrey would get his money? And then, when you get on top of Audrey, she decides to sacrifice Audrey? I mean, what if shes three layers back, waiting for Audrey to die in prison? Or even planning to poison her if shes acquitted?

No fuckin way, Lucas said. You gotta know the people.

They found a booth, ordered beer and fries: She scared the shit out of me, man. And Ill tell you what, Glass was looking at that tape machine like it was solid gold, Sloan said. Anybody who listens to that tape is gonna believe her too. Like a jury.

Lucas shook his head again: Not if they listen to Helen at the same time. Helen is just… an innocent. She picked up on McDonald because the pattern became so clear to her over the years. She talked to them often enough that she knew when a promotion was up, and then shed read about some guy from the bank being killed, and then itd turn out to be a guy in McDonalds department. Nope. She even waited longer than she should have. And why in Gods name would she offer her mothers hair? If she knew her mother had been poisoned…

They ran over it for another hour, building the case against Audrey. In the end, Sloan said, Youll have to admit, most of it could be built the other way.

Naw: juryd never go for it. And remember, she killed her old man.

Sloan shook his head. Just wish there was some way to pry the sisters apart. Put one of them in Kansas while somebodys getting killed in Minnesota.

As Lucas put the beer bottle to his mouth, the light went off in his head: Oh, shit, he said, the bottle frozen in front of his face.

What?

In the Arris killing. We never looked at that tape for women.

Huh. Wheres the tape?

My place. St. Paul gave me a copy of it, and I left it at my place.

Can I come along?

THEY STUCK THE TAPE IN LUCASS VCR, AND THE BAD picture came up on the screen. They watched Arris go by, followed by several women, and then, a minute later, another woman, walking rigidly down the hill. There she is, Lucas said.

Thats fuckin Helen, Sloan said.

No, no, thats fuckin Audrey, said Lucas. He ran the tape back. Look at the way she walks.

Looks like fuckin Helen to me.

Remember, this is eight years ago. Audreyd be thirty. Helen would only be in her mid-twenties… They look alike, but that woman is not twenty-six.

Sloan was on his hands and knees, peering at the screen. Goddamn. Could be Audrey.

Is Audrey, Lucas said.

Selling it to a juryll be hard, Sloan said. Youll get one dumb shit on there wholl believe nothing but his own eyes, and his eyesll say its Helen.

I wonder if we can get this enhanced somehow, Lucas said. Maybe the Feebs?

I dont know… Tell you the truth, if there was a way to ditch the tape, Id do it. It confuses things. But now that I keep looking at it, I think youre right. She moves like Audrey does. Shescuttles.

THE PHONE RANG AS THEY RAN THROUGH THE TAPE one last time. Sherrill. Did you get her?

Yeah, I thinkbut its gonna be a close call, Lucas said.

You want me to come over and comfort you?

He didnt, especially, but he said, Come on over.

Nah. You dont sound like you mean it, she said. Tomorrow night, though.

And she was gone.

Fuckin cop-women, Lucas said.

Thats what youre doing, Sloan agreed.

Fuckin was an adjective, not a verb, Lucas said.

Couldve been a verb, Sloan said.

SLOAN LEFT, AND LUCAS SAT IN HIS STUDY FOR awhile, doodling, running through the case in his mind, looking for loose ends. He didnt find many, except to note that theyd have to reinterview half the people who worked at the bank. Theyd have to find witnesses who saw Audrey McDonald firing the Contender pistol; theyd have to find witnesses who would testify about promotions, and who was competitive for them…

He finally trundled off to bed, lay restlessly for a while, finally fell asleep.

IN THE MORNING, HE MOVED SLUGGISHLY AROUND, looked at the clock: already nine. He dressed, stopped at a fast-food place for French toast, then headed downtown. He called the county attorneys office and got Kirk.

Had the bail hearing yet?

Yeah. The judge was a wee bit skeptical about the arsenic. J. B. did a pretty nice job. We got the bail up to a million, but she was ready for it.

Shes out?

Twenty minutes ago, Kirk said.

How about the arrest warrant on her mother? Were slowing down on that. J. B. brought up this stuff about the old house they used to live in, and we heard about this business with her sister, so were gonna have the housechecked and depose the sister. I mean, weve got her on a million, I dont think shell run.

SHERRILL DROPPED BY AT MIDMORNING, CARRYING A doughnut and two cups of coffee. Shes out, I hear.

Yeah, Lucas said in disgust. Ill tell you what: if she was a black guy with a record, shed be washing dishes in Stillwater by now.

Sloan told me about that whole rap about her sister: thats pretty weird.

Yeah, I dont understand that, Lucas said. Its a fucked-up defense. You put Helen on the stand, the truth is gonna come out.

You dont think theres any chance that Audreys telling the truth? That its Helen?

No, I dont.

The one thing thats hard for me to get over is her appearance, Sherrill said. Shes only five years older than me…

Really? I thought you were sixteen…

Shut up. Im being serious. The thing is, if you take the attack on Elle, where somebody beat her up with a ball bat, who do you think would be most likely to do that? Helen, who looks pretty active, pretty good shape, still young? Or Audrey, who looks old, slumped over?

Whatever she looks like, shes only thirty-eight, Lucas said. She

He stopped, put a hand to his forehead. What? Sherrill asked. A stroke?

Aw, man, Lucas said. He picked up the phone book, talking fast: I think this might have gone through my head the night we were at St. Annes, the night Elle got hit, but it went away; its like itwasa stroke…

What, what?

If Elle takes the phone call, and grabs her keys, and runs out the door and gets jumped… whoever called her mustve been standing right there. Mustve been calling from the bushes. Mustve used a cell phone, not a payphone. All the other tips weve had have come from pay phones, it mustve blocked me off or something…

Sherrill snapped her fingers: Phone records.

Absolutely.

The man who could get the records was away, but was expected back before lunch. In the meantime, the company would try to reach him, to hurry things up.

Lucas said to Sherrill, If this pans out, shes dead meat.

What if its Helens phone?

Thatd be a problem, Lucas said.

So we wait?

We wait. Lucas looked at his watch. Shouldnt be more than an hour or so.

DEL STOPPED IN: IM BEING HAUNTED BY THESE OLD ladies, he said.

Tell them if they insist on going to jail, theyll be raped by bull dykes, Sherrill suggested.

I think some of them are gonna need to be rehabbed, Del said. Theyre all getting different lawyers; theres gonna be fifty-eight lawyers to deal with.

Too bad the pinking shears thing wasnt fatal, Lucas said nastily. Think how much better off youd be.

Thats the truth, Del said sincerely. Jesus, what a mess.

Whenre you going to Cancuґn? Sherrill asked.

In a week, he said. Hope this is done by then. Id hate to have it hanging over my head for the whole time Im down there.

THE THING IS, SHERRILL SAID, AFTER DEL HAD GONE, what if Helen really loves Audreytheyve been through a lot together, and theyre sistersand decides to help her out? What if we go talk to Helen, and she starts taking the fifth? Audrey gets on the stand, blames everything on Helen, and Helen refuses to talk…

I dont think that would happen. Audrey killed their mother and.. .

Lucas trailed off and Sherrill said, What? Again? Something else?

Yeah. What if Helen wasnt here to defend herself?

HELEN WAS WORKING AT THE AUTO PARTS PLACE. LUCASfound the name in the Yellow Pages, called her. Youve got to take time off, and meet us at your house, Lucas said. Im sorry, but this is critical for both you and Connie. Ill talk to your boss if you want.

Lucas took the Porsche. Sherrill, getting the go-ahead from Frank Lester, trailed in a city car. The bomb squad was ten minutes behind her, a crime scene crew a few minutes behind that.

Lucas thought of the lie that Audrey had told during the interrogation, how harsh, straightforward, howhonestit seemed. But not unrehearsed. And there was a smugness about her when they came to take her away. She must have known that whatever case she could make against Helen would be denied by Helen, and that Helens denials might even be provable in some cases. She may have understood that Helen was simply more believable than she was. She might even have understood that finding a hank of hair with arsenic in it didnt mean much unless Helen was there to swear that the hair had been taken from her mother

…

She must have deduced that the police case rested squarely on Helen; and that if Helen was dead, Audrey had all kinds of defenses available.

And that little spark in her eyes, that smugness at the very end.

She thought Helen was out of it. How would she do it? Shed used firebombs, guns, and poison. Guns were out, because she couldnt have known that shed be free. Some kind of bomb was possible. Some kind of poison.

HELEN ARRIVED: RESISTED. I KNOW AUDREY. SHE would never do anything like this. Never. Weve been together since we were children.

Mrs. Bellwere pretty sure she killed your mother and father…

She says she didnt, Bell said stubbornly.

We think she did. And if you dont think theres any chance, why did you give us that lock of hair?