The Original Alibi

Chapter 18

On the way out, Charles stepped around the Christmas tree near where I had first seen Karen. “The general would like to see you, Mr. Kile.” I felt confused. Charles noticed and cleared that up. “The general is feeling much better. He asks that you come to his small private study off his bedroom. He occupies the west wing at the top of the stairs; I’ll take you up.”

Karen’s room had been to the east at the top of the stairs. There was also a door to the right, past her suite, which she had said was Eddie’s room.

The general’s small study was about twelve feet by fifteen, not all that small, with thick carpeting. Low music played in the background, music similar to what Mackie played in his bistro. The temperature was a bit warmer than downstairs and the general was in shirtsleeves, again khaki. He insisted on standing to greet me. We shook hands. His shake seemed weaker than it had been only a few days before. His eyes a bit more hooded.

“Popinjay?” He laughed, and then coughed. “Fop? That was a bit thick, don’t you think? Even for a writer?”

I looked at him. He grinned. “Oh. I heard the whole thing. You didn’t see him at all during the first several days of your investigation, left him to wonder, then a full frontal attack. Great strategy. May I ask if you learned anything from it?” When I continued to look at him, knowing he had somehow overheard, he explained. “This room is directly above the main study. I had it fixed so that I can listen or not to whatever is going on in there. I arranged for it while building the house. No one else is aware, so I ask you to keep it under wraps. Over time I have fashioned the study into the place where family members gather to talk seriously. However, there are other rooms that afford me this same … access, shall I say?”

“General, I certainly hope, when our country again finds itself engaged in combat that the defense department will invite you to participate.”

The general laughed. “There are advantages to being an old man. Not many mind you, but a few. Young people, even those well into middle-age, have this notion that we curmudgeons have minds which deteriorate in direct proportion to the wasting of our bodies. Their self-indulgence on this point can easily be played against them.”

“So, you simply come up to this room and it becomes spy central.”

“It is helpful to know what people say when you are not about. How that confirms or contrasts with what they say when you are with them. Dozing in a chair after dinner or toward the end of a family meeting can briefly allow similar access. We old folks are assumed to be unreliable, even as to being awake. Ten minutes of strategic dozing is often more informative than hours spent as an active participant in conversation.”

“Don’t you feel a bit guilty using such tactics on your own family?”

With some effort, the general crossed his legs. “No more than they should feel using the tactics of waiting until they think I can’t hear to say what they really think.”

I reached out and touched his arm and smiled. “I see your point, General. You put this in place some years ago, then, while the house was still under construction?”

“Some plans are for near term use. Others have a longer horizon and are refined as time passes.”

I looked toward a slight knock on the door. Then Charles came in carrying a tray with what I knew had to be some Irish on crushed ice. The general smiled. “Would you indulge me, Matt? Please enjoy that for the both of us.” After I nodded, he said, “Now tell me, did your getting in my grandson’s face tell you anything?”

“You heard it all, General. What do you think?”

“Yes, the question in answer to a question. However, I heard only Eddie’s words. You saw his face, perhaps smelled his sweat. I could do neither.”

“No, General. I don’t think my bracing of your grandson told me any more than I knew before. Except for learning he is smart and handles pressure well. He may be made of sterner stuff than even he knows. Of course, that has nothing to do with whether or not he killed Ileana Corrigan.”

“That was my read as well,” the general said. “And thank you for sticking up for me. Eddie is smooth, but for reasons known only to Eddie, he remains confident he is superior to all others. Feeling so, showing respect is not easy for him. Nonetheless, he feigns it well in the company of outsiders. I know of no one who does not find him affable and courteous. Still, you got his goat a bit. I don’t recall ever having heard him threaten to pummel another man.”

“I did have him out of sorts for a moment. But he quickly recovered his composure. That’s when I knew he would not open up. General, in light of it being eleven plus years since the death of Ileana Corrigan and in light of your clandestine method for overhearing, what have you learned? Did Eddie kill your unborn great grandson?”

“If I knew that answer, I would not have needed you. The investigation would have been over and we would have advanced to the penalty phase.”

I asked the general if I could step out and use the men’s room. He offered me the use of his which sat between his bedroom and the adjoining study we were in. I had hoped he would. After using it for the justifying reason, I took a few plastic storage baggies from my pocket and collected a significant wad of hair from his brush. I put two cotton swabs from his waste basket, each soiled with ear wax into a second bag. Several used facial tissues went in a third. After that I flushed, washed my hands, and went back to the study to rejoin the general.

“I understand your daughter spends more time with you than does your grandson. Is this true?”

“Karen is very attentive and strives to be a companion and a help. Eddie avoids everything beyond token appearances. And, may I add, Karen displays that same attitude and interest in this old war horse whether I am with her or as far as she knows, not around. I’m guessing you wonder why I’m leaving so much more to my grandson than to my daughter.”

“That’s none of my business, General.”

“I appreciate that, Matt. Go on, now.” He motioned with his fingers, raising them in an upward manner. “Enjoy your drink. Would you like another?”

“Would we, General?” After he nodded, he smiled and pressed a button on the desktop. Within less than a minute, Charles entered with the tray on his outstretched hand, the drink obviously made before the general summoned it. The general and Charles worked together like a priest and his acolyte.

“As I was saying, I appreciate that, Matt, but you know more about this family now than anyone outside it so I think an explanation is in order. I have thought about being more generous with Karen. I continue to think on it, but in the end I’m afraid I’m a hopeless chauvinist, unable to think of substantial wealth going to a woman. I do have a meeting with my attorney this afternoon. Reginald Franklin, you remember him. He came to your office to arrange your first visit.”

I grinned, “Reginald Franklin, the third, as I recall.” I took a large portion of my fresh drink. The general stayed quiet while I did so.

“I know. I know,” the general said. “He’s a bit stuffy, pretentious, but he is an excellent attorney and a quite honorable man. After Charles, Reggie is my longest and most loyal ally. I think I am the only person alive who calls him Reggie. I think he likes it, but would never confess it. His wife calls him Reginald.”

“I’m glad you told me of your eavesdropping system, General.”

“As I told Charles, we shall trust your integrity, Matt. I wanted you to know in the event you wished to make use of it in some manner. My only concern is that you don’t alter what you say or how you say it in deference to my feelings. I want you to handle things without concern for my possibly hearing them. Agreed?”

“Agreed, General.” I finished my last drink.

The general licked his lips.

I walked out.