Grievous Sin (33 page)

Tandy shrugged. “Go ahead. You won’t find anything.”

Decker leaned against the back wall. “Sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

Tandy twitched.

Kill him!

Shut up! Just go away!

The voice receded.

“No, I
don’t
want anything to eat!”

“No need for the hostility,” Decker said.

“I’m not being
hostile,
” Tandy retorted. “I think I’m being very friendly, considering the circumstances.”

“You ever been to Marie’s apartment before, Tandy?”

“Of course I have.”

“When was the last time you were there…in Marie’s apartment?”

Tandy shrugged. “Maybe a year ago.”

“You weren’t there…let’s say…four days ago?”

“No.”

“What if I were to tell you I had witnesses who said they saw you there?”

“I’d say they were lying.” Tandy’s eyes were hot and angry. They met Decker’s straight on. “You have
no
witnesses. ’Cause I wasn’t
there.
”

“You haven’t been in Marie’s apartment lately?”

“No!”

“You didn’t come in and maybe rewind her phone messages?”

“No!”

“Tandy, would you take a lie-detector test for me then?”

Kill! Kill!

“Fuck you!” Tandy said out loud.

Decker was surprised by her vehemence. The girl blushed.

“Not you…never mind.” Tandy twitched. “What do you
want
from me?”

“Sure you haven’t been in her apar—”

“I already told you—
no
!”

“Which means if we search your condo, we’re not going to find
anything
belonging to Marie. After all, last time you saw her was a year or two ago, right?”

That
got her. Tandy turned pale.

Kill him!

The high one.

Kill him! Kill him!

Evil!

SHUT UP!

“Tandy?” Decker said.

She twitched and blinked. Her body became a series of small spasms. “Marie gave me lots of stuff. She liked me…loved me.”

“Gifts are one thing,” Decker said. “I’m talking about personal belongings of Marie’s. Things like maybe a lockbox filled with letters and photographs—”

“So Marie gave me the box for safekeeping. So what?”

“Ah, so you do know what I’m talking about,” Decker said. “You know about the box because you discovered it while you were staying with Marie during your so-called pregnancy? Of course, we all know you weren’t really
pregnant.
Not like the first and only time—”

Kill him now!

Decker said, “The second one was all in your imagination.”

Kill him!

No.

Yes.

No, you’re not real!

Kill him. KILL HIM!

“Tandy, are you here?” Decker asked.

A glow spread across the young woman’s cheeks. “Marie
gave
me the box, and you can’t
prove
any different!”

“Why would she give you her lockbox without the key?”

“Who says I don’t have the key?”

“I have the key, Tandy.”

“So she gave it to me without the key.” Tandy shrugged. “She didn’t want me looking inside.”

“You’re right about that, Tandy. I don’t think Marie wanted you looking inside. Because the box held all her personal mementos, some of them very, very private—”

“Shut up!”

Decker leaned across the table. “But you snooped anyway.”

“Shut up.”

“You found it while you were staying at Marie’s recovering from your shock at
not
being pregnant—for a
second
time.”

“I don’t have to listen to this.” She closed her ears and began to hum. “I can’t
hear
you!”

Decker yanked her hands from her head. “Tandy, Marie didn’t
give
you any box. You
stole
it from her apartment.”

“Shut! Up!”

“And we both know why Marie
wouldn’t
have
given
you the box. It contained love letters and photographs of her and your father. Probably very graphic love letters—”

“Shut! Up!”

“Man, what
betrayal
you must have felt!” Decker added. “You thought you found an angelic mother in Marie, and
irony of ironies, she turned out to be the very
bitch
that broke up your parents’ marriage!”

Tandy jumped out of her seat and threw the tape recorder against the wall.
“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”

Decker stopped talking. Tandy grabbed her hair.

“SHUT! UP!”

“I’m not talking,” Decker said.

“NOT YOU!”
She sobbed openly.
“THEM!”

Them?
The voices!
Decker realized. The panic seized him suddenly. The girl is
unbalanced,
you moron!

Decker said to the mirror, “Can I get Sergeant McKlintock in here?”

“I’ll get her,” Marge said.

Tandy threw herself at Decker, hugged him as tight as she could.
“MAKE THEM STOP! PLEASE!”

She started to hyperventilate. Decker’s heart did triple time. He shouted, “Get me Donna, damn it!”

The mirror answered, “She’s coming!”

“MAKE THEM…” She sobbed and gasped, her lips taking on a bluish tinge. “MAKE THEM…STOP!”

A moment later, Donna McKlintock rushed inside the interview room. She had been with the department for twenty years, the last ten serving as the on-site consultant in psychology, having earned an MFC in night schools. Over the years, she had counseled many victims of crime—both civilians and cops. Decker hoped she knew her stuff. Solidly built, she took her strong arms and peeled Tandy off Decker’s body. The girl immediately leeched onto Donna.

“Make them stop!”
Tandy begged the psychologist.

Donna took a firm grip on the girl and began to walk her around the table. “You’re safe here, Tandy. You’re safe!”

“But
they’re here
!”

“You’re
safe
now, Tandy!” Donna reiterated. “While you’re with me, I won’t let anyone hurt you. And I won’t let you hurt anyone, okay?”

“Then promise me you’ll
make them stop
!”

Donna began to lead her out of the room. “We’ll talk. While you’re with me, I won’t let anyone hurt you. And I won’t let you hurt anyone!”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Donna led her out of the room. Decker looked at Marge, then ran his hand over his face. At times like these, practicing estate law looked downright tempting.

Inside the interview
room, Decker paced. “I can’t
believe
I was that
stupid
!”

“Stop flogging yourself.” Marge took a deep breath. “Need I remind you that someone was murdered?”

Decker stopped trampling the ground. “The body in the Honda was Lily Booker. Hennon made the I.D. this morning.”

“So stop thinking about Tandy and start concentrating on the
real
victim!”

Decker said, “We still don’t know that Tandy did it.”

“We don’t know she
didn’t
do it. She certainly is
crazy
enough to do it!”

“What freaked me out was how fast she turned!” Decker exclaimed. “I thought she was being sly…clever.” He blew out air. “Then all of a sudden…” He rubbed his hands together. His heart was still trotting.

Marge said, “For what it’s worth, you put a whole new slant on the case with that lockbox thing. I’d forgotten all about it.”

“So that’s how Tandy found out about her father’s affair. She was snooping in Marie’s apartment and came across some pictures or letters.
So what?
We’ve got nothing substantial to tie her to the kidnapping and murder.”

Marge said, “I think we got enough to book her. She has
no real alibi as to where she was at the time of the kidnapping. And the baby was found in her parents’ place.”

“It’s all circumstantial. They’ve stated that
Marie,
not Tandy, gave them the baby.”

Marge rested her chin in her palm. “Want to hear my personal theory of what happened…for what it’s worth?”

“Shoot.”

“Last Tuesday, around midnight, Tandy goes to visit Marie at Sun Valley Pres.”

“Why?”

“That is anyone’s guess. Girl’s nuts. Maybe a voice told her to go kill Marie. So she goes to Marie’s assigned nursery—Nursery J. But Marie isn’t there. As a matter of fact, no one is there—”

“Budget cuts,” Decker interrupted. “Or so they claim. What a crock of shit!”

“Can we go on?”

“Go on.”

Marge said, “So no one’s there. Tandy takes one look at those babies and loses it. Her head starts playing tricks on her. She thinks about the baby she was forced to abort. She thinks about the pregnancy that wasn’t real. Voices start telling her to do things. The impulses take over. She grabs a baby.”

Decker said, “Then, to Tandy’s surprise, Lily Booker walks in and confronts her.”

“Exactly. Say a fight breaks out. Or maybe Tandy just lashes out. Who knows what was going through that girl’s head?”

“She seemed so damn…
tormented,
Marge.”

“Rabbi, that doesn’t mean she can’t do damage.”

A good point. Lots of crimes are committed under delusion. Decker said, “Go on with your theory.”

Marge took another breath. “So Lily confronts Tandy. Now Tandy’s a strong girl, an iron pumper. She smashes Lily on the head and kills her. Wasn’t there a big indentation in her forehead?”

“Yep,” Decker said. “Hennon thought it was done with a hammer.”

“And the frontal bones had been smashed, remember?”

Decker nodded. “Keep going.”

“Okay,” Marge said. “Then Marie walks in and sees what happened. Quickly, Marie thinks up a plan.”

“Wait, wait, wait a sec.” Decker held up the palm of his hand. “Marie walks in and finds out that Tandy has just murdered Lily and is in the process of swiping a baby. Suddenly, you’ve got Marie abetting Tandy in murder and kidnapping?
Why
would she do that?”

“Marie loved Tandy. Or maybe she just felt plain guilty over what went on between her and Professor Geoff. Marie was a martyr type.”

“Don’t buy it, kiddo. Maybe if Marie had been Tandy’s biological mother…but she wasn’t. I don’t see Marie risking her neck to help a friend.”

“Maybe Tandy was in the midst of a breakdown,” Marge suggested. “Look how sorry you felt for her.”

“But I wasn’t looking at a fresh dead body.”

“And you’re positive that Marie isn’t Tandy’s mother?”

“According to Lita Bellson, it would have been impossible.”

“And you think Lita’s reliable enough to notice everything that went on in her daughter’s life?”

“I think she’d notice if her kid was pregnant.”

“Marie’s a tall girl. She could hide a pregnancy.”

“You’re selling, Marge. But I’m not buying.”

“All right,” Marge said. “I don’t know why Marie would help Tandy, but let’s assume she did. Maybe Marie just panicked and didn’t think rationally.”

Decker hit his shirt pocket. The bottle was still there, thank you, God. He took it out and popped a couple of Advils into his mouth. Swallowed them dry.

“Marie helps Tandy,” Decker said. “We’ve got two things going on. One, the baby. Two, the disposal of Lily’s body. Even if Marie agreed to help Tandy dispose of the body,
why would she let Tandy take the baby? If Tandy indeed took the baby?”

“Say Tandy was nuts. Maybe she wouldn’t leave without the baby. Marie didn’t want either one of them to get into trouble. She panicked and just wanted to shut Tandy up. So she let her keep the baby.”

“Marge—”

“Let me just go on with my story, as fucked up as it is, okay?”

Decker nodded.

“So.” Marge cleared her throat. “So Tandy takes the baby over to her parents’ house, and Marie drives her car with Lily’s body up to Angeles Crest. Marie pushes the car over the cliff, and Tandy picks her up later on. Marie splits town for good, tells Tandy she’ll take the heat—”

“
Why
would she do that, Marge?”

“Because she thought she was Jesus Christ and was dying for Tandy’s sins. I don’t know!”

“But that’s a big blank.”

“Maybe she was atoning for the affair. Remember how Paula said she liked the parable of the prodigal son?”

“Okay. So even assuming Marie agreed to take the heat, we’ve got a few problems. Starting with the baby. It was
Marie
who took the baby over to Tandy’s parents.”

“According to Hetty, who’d be more than willing to let Marie take the blame.”

Decker said, “Marie could be dead, for all we know.”

Marge didn’t speak for a moment. Then she said, “Well, I like my theory.”

“Yeah, it sounds okay.” Decker paused a moment. “You know what bothers me?”

“What?”

“Can you picture Marie and Tandy leaving the hospital with
both
the
baby
and
Lily Booker’s body
unnoticed?”

“Everyone we interviewed said the place was short-staffed that night. You yourself said the hospital was a tomb.”

“But it’s the
physical element.
Even if Tandy is a big,
strong gal and Marie is a nurse who knew the ropes, how did they leave the hospital carrying a dead body—a
bloody
dead body—and a squalling baby? Or even a sleeping baby, for that matter. That’s a lot of weight.”

Marge thought for a moment. “You’re right. Lily was a big woman. Maybe they got help.”

Decker suddenly grinned. “Who’d help them, Margie?”

“Can’t be Daddy Geoff. He’s practically an invalid. How about Mom? She’s a toughie, to put it mildly.”

Decker said, “Could have been Mom, but think about her physically, Marge. Hetty’s a broomstick. We need someone strong, Marge. Someone who’s used to toting deadweight bodies. And maybe someone who owes Tandy some favors.”

Marge hit her forehead. “Leek McKay. I
told
you that guy was a scumbag! If he’s gone because you played nice guy—”

“Don’t say it, don’t say it!” Decker ran his hands through his hair. “I’ve been doing nothing but fucking up lately!”

“Maybe it’s sleep deprivation.”

“It’s bad work.” Decker shook his head. “Marie’s missing. I’ve got no idea where she is. Tandy’s with Donna at the moment. She’s not going anywhere. I’ve got nothing on tap. Might as well go get me some evidence.”

Decker closed the door to the interview room and leaned against the wall next to Deputy D.A. Kurt Pomerantz. A moment later, a uniformed officer joined them both. Decker smiled at her. Nervously, she smiled back, her eyes focusing on a spot across the squad room. The blue was barely out of her teens, probably a rookie. Decker thought of Cindy. He hoped she’d gotten police work out of her system.

Pomerantz brushed his palm over his balding forehead and unbuttoned his jacket, exposing a sizable gut that came with beer-drinking and middle age. The deputy D.A. rocked on his feet as he talked. “I can tell you this much. Beltran’s going to ask for all charges dropped in exchange for McKay’s cooperation.”

“McKay was an accessory.”

“A phone call from the hospital to McKay does not a case make, Pete.”

“It was made right around the kidnapping, Kurt. Fits beautifully into our time frame.”

“It’s a lousy phone call, Pete. McKay’s a nurse. Maybe someone at the hospital wanted to consult with him.”

“He’s never worked for Sun Valley Pres. And who the hell would be calling him at
midnight
to consult?”

“Trace it to the nursery, your case’ll look better.”

“We’re trying. It takes time.” Decker paused. “We’ve also got bags of ash from Marie’s burnt Honda. If McKay put the body into the car, he left some evidence transfer. Now, at least I know what to look for.”

“Some evidence would be nice.”

Decker said, “I think McKay’ll bite. I think he’d love to get Tandy off his back. The girl had been blackmailing him for years to use his license. The girl is also psychotic—maybe even homicidal. I think he’s afraid of her. I think he’d love to see her locked up and out of his hair.”

Pomerantz said, “He’s not going to screw himself just to get her locked up.”

“It depends,” Decker said. “Maybe having her loose would be worse for him than doing a little community work.”

Pomerantz waited a beat. “True. I’ll do what I can to put the squeeze on Oscar, but he’s no dunce. You want a cup of coffee?”

Decker said, “I’ll get it. What do you take?”

“Cream, no sugar.”

Decker turned to the uniform. “Officer?”

“No, thank you, sir.”

Decker stifled a smile and brought back two cups of coffee. A moment later, McKay’s counsel emerged from the room. Oscar Beltran was Hispanic, in his early thirties, and had been with the Public Defender’s Office for the last five years. Decker nodded to the rookie, and the kid turned to go back inside the interview quarters.

“Position yourself near the exit,” Decker said.

The kid nodded and closed the door behind her.

Eyes upon the young patrol officer, Beltran said, “They keep making them younger.”

Decker said, “What are you complaining about? You’re not exactly an old fart.”

“I feel like an old fart,” Beltran said. “Must be the job.”

“It’s defending all those psychos, Oscar,” Pomerantz said.

Beltran laughed. “Everybody’s entitled to representation, Counselor.”

“Ain’t that lucky for old Leek McKay,” Pomerantz said.

“Kurt, you’re after the wrong person,” Beltran said. “McKay’s small time—a petty criminal.”

“Ain’t no petty criminals, Counselor,” Decker said. “Just petty crimes.”

“Are we going to dance, or are we going to talk?” Beltran said. “Without McKay, you don’t have anyone for the Booker murder. We all know that, so let’s not putz around.”

“Putz?” Decker smiled. “I like your Spanish.”

“In deference to you, Sergeant,” Beltran said.

Pomerantz said, “We’ve got a phone call from the hospital to McKay, Oscar. It doesn’t look good for your man.”

“Kurt,” Beltran said, “you don’t have a case with a
phone call
!”

“Au contraire,”
Pomerantz said. “I think we can make a good one.”

“Fine,” Beltran said. “Make your case, and I’ll see you in court.”

Decker said, “Oscar, we know that
I
can get Golden Valley Home for the Aged to press a multitude of embezzlement and fraud charges against your client. And they’d stick like glue. Either way, McKay’s going to get charged.”

“Big difference between embezzlement and accessory to murder,” Beltran said.

Pomerantz said, “Murder and kidnapping—”

“Murder only. He doesn’t know shit about the kidnap—”

“So you say,” Pomerantz broke in.

Beltran said, “You want to play poker, I’ll call your bluff. Take what you’ve got to court.”

“Fine, I’ll call Golden Valley.” Decker looked at Pomerantz. “Let’s go for time, Kurt. I think we can get one to three—”

Beltran said, “Who’s pleading this, Kurt? You or him?”

“The man used to be a lawyer,” Pomerantz said. “Old habits are hard to break.”

“C’mon,” Beltran said, “you want to let loose a nutcase like Tandy Roberts, boys? I don’t think so. You want her running around doing mischief when she should be in treatment? I don’t think so. And without my boy McKay, you don’t have anything on
her
!”

Pomerantz said, “Bottom line: What will you buy?”

“Everything dropped in exchange for cooperation. And I mean everything. No embezzlement, no accessory, no payback, no community service—”

“Suspended proceedings with probation,” said Pomerantz. “First year served in county jail
if
beyond a doubt McKay is only an accessory. Because if it’s murder, all bets are off.”

“All charges dropped, Kurt.”

“Why should we drop all charges?” Decker said. “At the very least, he’d get probation with embezzlement, Oscar.”

“So charge him with embezzlement. You want his cooperation, Pete, all charges dropped.”

“Suspended proceedings with five probation,” Pomerantz said. “No jail time.”

“No dice,” Beltran said.

“Oscar, be flexible!”

“All charges dropped.”

Decker remained stoic. He wanted to charge Leek McKay—the nurse deserved to do time—but he wanted Lily Booker’s killer—or killers—even more. Maybe it was Marie. Maybe it was Tandy. Without McKay, he’d never know. If McKay had to go free in the bargain, he could live with that. None of the men spoke for a few moments.

Finally, Pomerantz said, “Suspended proceedings with
one year probation. No jail time. With embezzlement, we could tie him up with at least two, maybe three, years probation, not to mention countless hours of community service and possible payback to the home. Go back to your client and ask him if what we have to offer is satisfactory.”