Authors: Warren Hammond
I
REACHED
the fifth floor and Maggie was already there, waiting at the end of the hall. We walked toward each other, meeting in the middle.
“Sorry it took me so long to get here.”
“No problem,” Maggie said as she led me down the hall.
“How was work?”
“The same. How was your afternoon?” Maggie knocked on door number
511
.
“I got some dirt on Jungle Expeditions. That jungle adventure crap is just a cover. They do sex tours.”
Maggie nodded, not surprised at all. The door swung open, revealing a slightly heavy woman wearing a frumpy number. Maggie held up her badge. “Are you Inez Shenko?”
“Yes,” she said as she fiddled with her dated hair.
“I'm Detective Orzo, and this is Detective Mozambe. Can we come in?”
“Yes, of course.”
We entered her apartment, a plain-looking place with a decent view of the river.
“Can I get you some tea?”
“Please,” said Maggie.
Inez Shenko went into her kitchen.
My eyes inventoried the sitting room—floral print upholstery, cheap plastic angel figurines in glass cases, no vid system, no sign of a man.
Total square.
Inez came back in after having put some water on the stove. “How can I help you, officers?”
I hoped this line of investigation would yield some results. We decided to start with the only victims we could identify: Margarita and Hector Juarez. If it wasn't their daughter who did them in, it was somebody else, and lase-whipping them in their own home didn't match the MO of our offworld serial killer with the medieval fetish.
Maggie said, “I appreciate your willingness to speak with us. We'd like to talk to you about the Juarez family.”
“I've already told everything I know to Officer Davies.”
“Yes, we know. But I'm sure you're aware of the fact that Adela Juarez is due to be executed on the fifth.”
“Yes.”
“Well, it's standard procedure for us to conduct follow-up interviews just to make sure we have everything in order before we turn our records over to the Koba Office of Records.”
“I see.”
“So if it's not too great an inconvenience, could you please tell us how you know the Juarez family?”
“Sure,” she said. “I went to school with Margarita, and we've been friends ever since.”
“Did you see her regularly?”
“We'd get together a couple times a week and have lunch or go shopping.” She targeted Maggie as she said, “Sometimes we'd treat ourselves to a spa.” She said it like she was confessing a dirty little secret, like visiting the spa was the biggest curve in her otherwise square life.
“What can you tell us about her husband?”
“Well, Hector worked a lot. He had a very important job, you know.”
“Yes, we know. Why were they going to divorce?”
“They grew apart. He was always working, and she got lonely.”
“Who initiated the divorce?”
“That was Margarita. Hector was very upset about it.”
“He still loved her?”
“I suppose so, but the way Margarita talked, he sounded more interested in keeping his money than he was in keeping her. Excuse me.” She got up to tend to the whistling teapot.
Maggie and I waited silently until Inez came back with three cups of mellow green tea. “Where were we?” asked Inez.
I spoke up for the first time. “You were saying that Margarita was going to take Hector's money in the divorce.”
“Only what she was entitled to,” she responded, semi-offended.
Maggie blew on her tea. “How well did you know Adela?”
“Oh, I've known her since she was a baby. She was always a good girl. I think it's horrible that they're going to execute her.”
“You don't think she killed her parents?” I asked.
“No, I think she did it, but can you blame her? She just lost her head. She didn't know what she was doing. That lawyer she had did her a real disservice. He should've claimed temporary insanity.”
“I don't understand,” I said.
“Didn't you read Officer Davies's notes?”
I had read Ian's notes, but they claimed Inez thought Adela Juarez was a bad seed, a wicked little girl who couldn't be controlled. I sheepishly grinned. “Well, I didn't read them in their entirety.”
She shook her head at me like a disapproving schoolmarm. “Margarita was having an affair with somebody younger. She was so lonely.”
“Who was he?”
“She told me his name, but I didn't know who he was until after she died. If I'd known, I would've done something, taken her to counseling or something.”
“Who was he?” Maggie asked.
“Really, I don't know what Margarita was thinking.”
“His name?”
“Raj Gupta,” she whispered. “Don't you see? Adela must've found out about it.”
Maggie and I waited at the Gupta household for Raj to show. His parents were treating us well, serving us black tea and crackers. “He should be home momentarily,” they had said. That had been over an hour ago.
I sipped my tea, wired on something other than caffeine. We'd found a loose thread in the Juarez case, and his name was Raj Gupta. Ian hadn't tied it all up as tight as he thought. Maggie and I were itching to pull on the thread, see if any fabric would come with it. We needed to find out why Ian would protect the kid. Assuming Ian framed Adela, why wouldn't he let Inez Shenko's statement stand? What better motive could he ask for? Adela's mother was screwing her boyfriend for chrissakes. But Ian went against his own interests in falsifying the report by leaving the affair out.
I squirmed in my seat. We were taking a chance talking to Raj, a big chance. If it got back to Ian that Raj had seen me at the cameraman's …
A door opened, and in he came. He recognized us at once and smiled politely. He took his wingtips off at the door—very adult shoes for such a young kid. Mrs. Gupta told her husband to make room for Raj on the couch.
“Actually, we'd like to talk to him privately,” I said.
The Guptas stepped out graciously. “How can I help you, officers?” said Raj.
Maggie took a sip of tea. “We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind.”
“Of course not,” he said with a slick grin.
“It's just a formality, Raj. We're just trying to get our paperwork all straightened out.”
“No problem. I'm glad to help. Hey, what were you doing at Yuri's yesterday?”
“I'm afraid that's police business.”
“Okay, no problem,” he said without the slightest hint of nervousness.
Maggie put her teacup down. “You work at the Libre?”
“That's right.”
“What do you do there?”
“I'm an intern. I do whatever they tell me.”
“Do you get paid?”
“No.”
“Then why do you do it?”
“For the opportunity.”
“You want to be a reporter?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you go to school?”
“No.”
“How can you be a reporter if you don't get a degree?”
“You don't need a degree. The camera loves me.”
I wanted to slap the smug little bastard. Maggie kept her tone neutral. “You were dating Adela Juarez?”
“That's right.”
“How did you meet?”
“We met at the Libre. She'd come in with her father from time to time, and we'd talk and stuff.”
“How long were you dating?”
“Maybe three or four months.”
I saw something from the corner of my eye. When I turned
to look, it disappeared back into the kitchen. I kept my eyes fixed on the doorway.
Maggie kept up the questioning. “How do you feel about what's happening to Adela now?”
He didn't hesitate. “She's getting what she deserves.”
“You think she killed her parents?”
“I know she did.”
“And how do you know?”
“She tried to get me to
lie
for her. She wanted me to say that she was with me all night.”
“And was she with you all night?”
“No.”
“Was she with you at all that night?”
“Yes. She snuck over and I let her in through my window. We did it a couple times in my bed and then she left.”
“When did she leave?”
“I don't know. I was sleeping.”
“Then how do you know she left?”
“She was gone when I woke up. She called me in the morning, when the police were at her house, and she told me to tell them that she was here all night.”
“Maybe she was.”
“She couldn't have been. Detective Davies said she killed her parents at two in the morning.”
“How do you know she wasn't in your bed at two? You just said you were asleep.”
“I never told Detective Davies that she
wasn't
with me at two. I just told him that I couldn't say she
was.
”
“Didn't you want to protect her?”
“Not after I found out what she'd done. You think I want a crazy bitch like that as a girlfriend? I date a lot of girls, but I draw the line at murderers.”
Maggie paused to rub her temples. A real piece of work this
kid. I returned to watching the door. It was back, a tuft of frizzy hair poking out. Slowly, the hair moved further into the doorway, followed by a pimply forehead, and then finally an eye. She saw me looking right at her and ducked back behind the wall.
Maggie saw her, too, but she kept her attention focused on Raj, whose back was turned to the doorway. Maggie asked why he thought Adela did it.
“She was pissed that they were divorcing.”
“You think she killed her parents just because they were divorcing? Doesn't that seem a little crazy?”
“Surprised me as much as anybody,” he said.
No longer afraid that she was going to get in trouble, Raj's puberty-stricken sister poked her head fully into the doorway. I threw a wink her way, getting a smile full of braces in return.
“Well, thanks for going through all that again,” Maggie said. “So you said you like to date a lot of girls?”
“That's right.”
“Did Adela know?”
“I don't think so. You think I'd tell her?”
“How do you think she would've reacted if she found out?”
“I guess I'm lucky she never did, or it might be me that got whipped to death.”
“Were you ever serious about Adela?”
“Listen, I thought Adela would be a lot of fun. I mean you've seen her, right? She's hot as they come, but she had …
issues.
”
“What kind of issues?”
“She was all clingy, you know what I mean? We went out a couple times, and it was like we were married or something.”
“If it bothered you so much, why didn't you just break it off?”
“She was my boss's daughter. I wanted to let her down easy.”
“By having sex with her?”
“Like I said, she was hot.”
“How many other girls were you seeing?”
“I don't keep count,” he said, self-satisfied.
“Did Adela know any of these other girls?”
“I don't think so.”
“How about Margarita Juarez? Adela knew her, didn't she?”
Raj went instantly icy. His smarmy grin frosted over. Behind him, his sister covered her delighted mouth.
“What?” he asked.
“You heard me,” Maggie said with steel in her voice.
He laughed. “You must be crazy.”
“Quite a triangle you got yourself into, Raj. Did Adela catch you in bed with her mother? Or maybe Hector found out about you. I can't imagine his surprise, finding out that not only were you deflowering his precious daughter, but you were also poking his wife.”
He was nervous now. His face was flushed, and he sputtered out the words, “You can't prove that.”
I checked out the sister. She was loving every minute of it. She was giggling, her hands clamped over her mouth.
Maggie decided to push him. “Maybe you're the one that killed them, Raj. Maybe Hector found out about you, and he was going to fire you. There goes your dream of working in front of a camera. It's not like there are any other news agencies on this planet. Lagarto Libre's the only game in town.”
He shook his head no.
“You had to kill him, didn't you? He was going to ruin your life. And you had to kill Margarita, too. If you hadn't, she would've told on you.”
Raj kept shaking his head, and now he was biting his lip. I sat on the edge of my seat, reading the signals he was giving off—hand wringing, foot tapping. He kept reaching up to scratch a
nonexistent itch on his cheek. He was close to tipping.
Keep pushing, Maggie.
Maggie switched to a motherly voice. “Just tell us the truth, Raj.”
“No,” he said. “I'm not going to talk to you anymore.” He was shutting down.
Maggie is screwing this up. Stop fucking around with the nice tone and push him, hard.
“C'mon, Raj, just tell us the truth,” she said lamely.
I looked at Raj. He had his arms crossed. He was clamming up tight. “I'm not saying another word,” he said.
Son of a bitch. I'll do it myself.
I tried to put my finger in his face, forgetting my fingers were all wrapped up tight. I had my whole shaky karate-chop hand pointing at his nose. “You better start talking, you little shit. Adela's going to get gassed, and I don't have time for your bullshit—”
“Mom! Dad! They're harassing me!”
“Be quiet you little—”
“Mom! Dad!”
Shit.
The sister disappeared an instant before Mr. and Mrs. Gupta came rushing in. “What's going on here?”
“They're harassing me,” Raj griped.
Maggie was glaring at me.
Fuck me.
“Call our lawyer,” said the father.
“No need to do that,” I said. “We were just leaving.”
I followed Maggie to the door, utterly defeated. I took one last peek back—mother and father standing together, behind their son, and way over, in the corner, was the sister, making very deliberate eye contact with me.
Maggie laid into me the instant the door closed. “Dammit, Juno. I had it under control. What were you thinking?” I circled around to the side of the house as Maggie kept jawing.
“Don't forget that
I'm
the cop.” I ignored her and picked my way into the overgrown jungle that clung to the side of the house. “Where are you going?”
“I'll be right back.” I got soaked by large drops of water that shook loose from the vines above as I rustled my way alongside the house, breaking through any vines that tried to hold me back. I made it to the back patio and looked at the windows, trying to guess which one was hers. She made it easy by flicking her light on and off.
Smart girl.
I crept up to her window and attempted a one-handed chin-up, winding up on my ass. I found a patio chair and pulled it over to the window then stepped up, reached my hand through the bars, and rapped lightly on the glass.