The Guilty

Chapter 56

Victoria was not at home when they returned.

Priscilla was taking care of Tyler.

“Don’t know where she went, don’t know when she’ll be back” was all the normally loquacious Priscilla would say on the subject.

Robie’s phone buzzed.

It was Toni Moses. She wanted to see them.

“Is my dad okay?”

“He’s fine. But I’ve met with Aubrey Davis. And we need to do a pow-wow with the fine, upstandin’ prosecutor. Can you be here in thirty minutes?”

“Yes.”

With Reel driving they made it in twenty-eight minutes, although their car was caked with road dirt by the time they got to town. Reel parked in front of Moses’s office and they climbed out.

“Hey, Mr. Robie.”

Robie looked over to see Little Bill holding a plastic bag from the local supermarket.

They walked over to him.

Robie said, “Thanks for the help on the computer. My partner here says you’re really good.”

Little Bill said, “Hell, gave me somethin’ to do besides add to my scores on Kill or Be Killed.”

“You ever think about a career in cybersecurity?” asked Reel.

Grinnng, he said, “I’m from Cantrell. I ain’t thought about a career in nothin’, really.”

She studied him so closely that his grin disappeared.

She said, “You clearly have the technical skill. But do you have the drive?”

Little Bill looked at Robie and then at Reel. “My daddy is real sick.”

“But we’re not talking about your daddy. We’re talking about you.”

She handed him a card. “Think about it and then, if you want to pursue it, give me a call.”

Little Bill took the card. “Are you folks with the government?” he said.

Reel replied, “Does it matter who we’re with, so long as it’s not the bad guys?”

“I guess not.”

“Think about it,” said Reel.

Robie said, “How’s your dad doing?”

“The same.”

“I’ll be by to see him again.”

“Okay, thanks.”

And they left him there staring down at the card Reel had given him.

Robie said to her, “You have to be careful with making offers like that.”

“We still want the best and the brightest, right?”

Robie shrugged, and a minute later they were in Toni Moses’s small conference room. Aubrey Davis sat across from her.

The man looked like someone had stolen all of his toys, but the Mississippi prosecutor was evidently trying to put on a game face.

“Hey, there, Will. How you doin’? We still got to have us that drink.”

Robie and Reel sat next to Moses, who had papers and files spread out in front of her.

Robie looked at Moses. “So what’s happening?”

“What’s happenin’ is that with all of the stuff I’ve shared with my colleague over there, I believe it’s time he strongly reconsiders his case. And I wanted you two here to help convince him.”

Davis began to protest. “Look here, Ms. Moses, the defendant has been charged and it is my duty to—”

“To what?” broke in Moses. “Screw up your chance to be the next congressman from the fine state’a Mississippi? Because if you try this case and lose it, that’s exactly what you’ll be doin’. You couldn’t win an election for town drunk after that.”

Davis swelled with indignation. “I take umbrage at the accusation that I am puttin’ any political ambitions I may have over—”

“Aubrey,” she said, interrupting him again. “Do you or do you not want to find the real killer in this case?”

“Of course I do. How dare you suggest otherwise?”

“Then let’s get down to it. First things first. What do we do with my client?”

“He is still charged with murder,” said Davis promptly. “And he’s the only credible suspect we have.”

Moses looked at Robie. “What do you say to that?”

Robie kept his gaze on Davis. “Quite a few people have been killed,” he began. “And that nearly included my partner and me. I’m convinced that Sherman Clancy’s murder and the murders of the two Chisum girls were done by the same person.”

“Which lets Dan Robie out because he was in prison when Sara Chisum was killed,” said Moses promptly.

“If they were committed by the same person,” said Davis. “And from where I’m sittin’ that’s a mighty big if.”

Robie told him about the suspected serial killer that Special Agent Wurtzburger had informed them about.

“Why the hell didn’t he come and tell me that!” barked an obviously irritated Davis.

“No idea,” said Robie. “And on top of that, Clancy was blackmailing someone, which gives a prime motive for murder.”

“Who was he blackmailin’?”

“I take it you haven’t talked to Sheriff Monda,” replied Robie.

“Meanin’ what exactly?”

“Meaning that we already told him the person being blackmailed was Nelson Wendell.”

Davis sucked in a breath. “Bullshit! Nelson Wendell! He died just recently.”

“I know he did. We’ve just come from talking to his son, Bobby Wendell.”

“But they are one of the finest families in Mississippi. Hell, in all the south.”

Moses eyed Davis severely. “Don’t tell me that the Wendells are going to be backin’ your congressional run?”

“I haven’t even decided whether I’m goin’ to run or not,” snapped Davis. He turned to Robie. “And what did Bobby Wendell tell you? What was his daddy bein’ blackmailed for?”

Robie took out the photo and passed it over to Davis.

The man looked down at it and then flinched. “What the hell is this?”

“Sherman Clancy’s blackmail tool.”

Davis looked up. “Pedophilia?”

Robie nodded.

“Are you tellin’ me this is Nelson Wendell?”

“Yes. Bobby Wendell confirmed it was his father. The picture’s from many years ago, of course.”

Davis studied the photo and then his features became resigned. “My God. I guess money and bein’ from a fine family don’t matter a’tall.”

Reel said, “For the record, you can find scum in the rich, the middle class, and the poor.”

Robie added, “And while of course he wouldn’t admit to it, it’s nearly certain that Bobby sent a bunch of goons after Pete Clancy when he decided he wanted a piece of the blackmail action after his father died. I saved his butt from them. Then they kidnapped Sara Chisum to use her as bait to try to kill me and my partner here.”

Davis nodded slowly, his penetrating gaze on Robie. The “aw shucks” demeanor of the man had completely disappeared. And in that look Robie seemed to realize that the insufferable man might actually be a cagy prosecutor.

“Did Bobby Wendell have Sara Chisum killed?” asked Davis.

“I don’t think so but I can’t be sure. Same answer on whether he killed Clancy and Janet Chisum.”

“So who then? This serial killer just happens on the scene and starts killin’ folks that are blackmailin’ rich folks? And Clancy I get, but how did the Chisum sisters get involved?”

“Clancy probably told them while he was drunk and having sex with them,” replied Robie.

Davis shook his head. “The Devil gets inside’a you, no tellin’ what trouble you’ll get into. So the girls were after money too? They bit off mor’n they could chew. But your gut says you don’t think the Wendells killed them?”

“No, I don’t think so. Bobby tried to get these photos back. And the men we killed were part of that effort. And after she was nearly murdered by those guys, I seriously doubt that Sara would have arranged to meet with them alone late at night in the woods.”

“But that just leaves this serial killer person,” said Davis.

“No,” said Reel, tapping the photo. “That leaves whoever took this picture.”

“And how do we find this person?” asked Davis.

“Working on it,” said Robie.

“You said you talked to Sheriff Monda?”

“We did. And with only Pete the blackmailer’s word to go by he’s not touching the Wendells with a ten-foot pole.”

“But you said that Bobby Wendell said this was his father.”

“Yes. But that only gets us so far. And he’ll have lawyered up by now, so no one will be talking to him.”

Davis sat back. “Shit,” he muttered. “You think somethin’s nice and straightforward and then before you know it it’s all twisty-turny like the damn Mississippi River.”

“Huh, who would’a thought life wasn’t black-and-white,” said Moses.

Davis shifted his gaze to her. “Okay, Toni, okay, I get your meanin’ loud and clear.” He looked at Robie. “So what do we do now?”

“The killer is still out there and we have no idea who it is.”

“But what do we do with your daddy?” said Moses.

Davis said, “I’d leave him in jail. He’d be safer there. But—”

“But what?” asked Robie sharply.

Moses answered. “That was the other reason I wanted you to come in. The judge has set bail for your father. And he’s paid it. Which mean he gets out in about twenty minutes.”