The Final Detail

do

One thing.

Name it.

Tell me about the arrest.

Myron cleared his throat. What about it?

I've met Esperanza a few times over the years. I guess I find it hard to believe she'd kill Clu.

She didn't do it.

Bonnie squinted a bit. What makes you so sure?

I know Esperanza.

That's it?

He nodded. For now.

Have you spoken to her?

Yes.

And?

I can't talk about specifics mostly because he didn't know any; Myron was almost grateful

that Esper-anza had not told him anything but she didn't do it.

What about all the evidence the police found?

I can't answer that yet, Bonnie. But Esperanza is innocent. We'll find the real killer.

You sound so sure.

I am.

They fell into silence. Myron waited, mapping out an approach. There were questions that

needed to be asked, but this woman had just lost her husband. One had to tread gently lest one

trip an emotional land mine.

I'm going to look into the murder, Myron said.

She looked confused. What do you mean, look into?

Investigate.

But you're a sports agent

I have some background in this.

She studied his face. Win too?

Yes.

She nodded as if something suddenly made sense. Win always scared the crap out of me.

That's only because you're sane.

And now you're going to try to figure out who killed Clu?

Yes.

I see, she said. She shifted in her chair. Tell me something, Myron.

Anything.

What's your priority here: finding the murderer or getting Esperanza off?

One and the same.

And if they're not? If you learn Esperanza killed him?

Time to lie. Then she'll be punished.

Bonnie started smiling as though she could see the truth. Good luck, she said.

Myron put an ankle up on a knee. Gentle now, he thought. Can I ask you something?

She shrugged. Sure.

Gently, gently. I don't mean any disrespect, Bonnie. I'm not asking this to be nosy

Subtlety is not your strong suit, Myron; Just ask your question.

Were you and Clu having problems?

A sad grin. Weren't we always?

I hear this was something more serious.

Bonnie folded her arms below her chest. My, my. Back less than a day and already you've

learned so much. You work fast, Myron.

Clu mentioned it to Win.

So what do you want to know?

Were you suing him for divorce?

Yes. No hesitation.

Can you tell me what happened?

In the distance the fax machine started its primordial screech. The phone continued beeping.

Myron had no fear that they'd be interrupted. Big Cyndi had worked for years as a bouncer at an

S&M bar; when the situation called for it, she could be as nasty as a rabid rhino with a bad case

of piles. Er, even when the situation didn't call for it.

Why do you want to know? Bonnie asked.

Because Esperanza didn't kill him.

That's becoming something of a mantra for you, Myron. Say it often enough and you start to

believe it, right? I believe it.

So?

So if she didn't kill him, someone else did.

Bonnie looked up. If she didn't kill him, someone else aid she repeated. Pause. You weren't just bragging before. You really do have a background in this

I'm just trying to find out who killed him.

By asking about our marriage?

By asking about anything turbulent in his life.

Turbulent? She let out a stab of a laugh. This is Clu we're talking about here, Myron. Everything was turbulent. The hard thing to find would be patches of calm.

How long were you two together? Myron asked.

You know the answer to that.

He did. Junior year at Duke. Bonnie had come bopping down to the frat house basement dressed in a monogram sweater and pearls and, yep, ponytail. Myron and Clu had been working the keg. Myron liked working the keg because it kept him so busy he didn't drink as much. Don't get the wrong idea here. Myron drank. It was pretty much a college requirement in those days. But he wasn't a very good drinker. He always seemed to miss that cusp of fun, that floaty buzz between sobriety and vomiting. It was almost nonexistent for him. Something in his ancestry, he assumed. It had actually helped him in recent months. Before running away with Terese, Myron had tried the old-fashioned approach of drowning one's sorrows. But, put bluntly, he usually threw up before reaching oblivion.

Nice way to prevent alcohol abuse.

Anyway, Clu and Bonnie's meeting was pretty simple. Bonnie walked in. Clu looked up from the keg and it was as if Captain Marvel had zapped him with a thunderbolt. Wow, Clu muttered, the beer overflowing onto a floor so coated with beer that rodents often got stuck on it and died. Then Clu leaped over the bar, staggered toward Bonnie, dropped to one knee, and proposed. Three years later they tied the knot for real.

So after all these years what happened?

Bonnie looked down. It had nothing to do with his murder, she said.

That's probably true, but I need to get the full picture of his life, travel down any possible avenue

Bullshit, Myron. J said it had nothing to do with the murder, okay? Leave it at thai.

He licked his lips, folded his hands, put them on the desktop. In the past you've thrown him out because of another woman.

Not woman. Women. Plural.

Is that what happened again this time?

He swore off women. He promised me that there'd be no more.

And he broke that promise?

Bonnie didn't answer.

What was her name?

Her voice was soft. I never knew.

But there was someone else?

Again she didn't answer. No need. Myron tried to put on his attorney skin for a moment. Clu's

having an affair was a very good thing for Esperanza's defense. The more motives you can find, the more reasonable doubt you can create. Did the girlfriend kill him because he still wanted to be with his wife? Did Bonnie do it out of jealousy? And then there was the missing money. Wouldn't the girlfriend and/or Bonnie have known about it? Couldn't that be an added motive for murder? Yep, Hester Crimstein would like this. Throw enough possibilities into a trial, muddy the waters enough, and an acquittal is almost inevitable. It was a simple equation: Confusion equals reasonable doubt equals a not-guilty verdict.

He's had affairs before, Bonnie. What was different this time?

Give it a rest, Myron, okay? Clu isn't even in the ground yet.

He pulled back. Tm sorry.

She looked away. Her chest rose and fell, her voice fighting to stay steady. I know you're just

trying to help she said. But the divorce stuff it hurts too much right now.

I understand.