Another Senseless Killing (7) "I know you have a lot of questions, Ms. Blair. But without doing more tests --- well, it's too soon to have all the answers. And I'd rather not speculate." "I'm sure she understands." I answered for her. Margo looked back at me. Her eyes suddenly had dark circles. Dark circles and a glassy stare were not things to compliment her sensuous eyes. It was time to leave. I stood up and nodded to Juan. He stood to face me. Again he reached into the top drawer of his desk. This time he took out a large plastic baggie. "These are Kate's belongings. Her lipstick, her money --- about ten bucks --- and a small notebook." "Thank you." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I didn't look at the notebook." Juan said. "I probably should have, but I knew it was private." "I'll give it to Nick." I volunteered. Then I gently helped Margo out of her chair. I knew the ride back would be as silent as the ride to the morgue. "Come on, Margo. I'll drive you home." * I took Margo's keys and let us back into her apartment. We went right to the family room. I turned on the lamp nearest the door and we sat on the sofa quietly in the dim light for almost an hour. During that time, Margo just stared into space. I ached for her, but I knew there was nothing anyone could do. For now, I only listened to her faint erratic breathing. The kitchen clock kept up a soft steady hum and the faucet in the downstairs bathroom dripped to an even tempo. The only other sounds were occasional passing cars. I tried to bring her out of another dimension and into the present. "Do you feel like talking?" I hated to see her this way. Margo waited a long time to respond. Her voice was soft and raspy. "Her gorgeous face. Her --- her head. Oh, Manny!" She began to cry again. I felt helpless. I started to put my arm around her but she jerked away. Sorrow suddenly turned to rage. "What kind of an animal does something like that?" She was yelling. I didn't try to stop her. "It was Herb Rowland. I know it was him. That sick son-of-a-bitch!" "Margo." I said soothingly. "Why don't you try and get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow." I knew her thoughts were far away from this room. "Why, Manny? Why? " She was sobbing and yelling at the same time. "Why did this have to happen?" I could only shrug. "Do you want me to stay the night?" She stood up and stared at a blank TV screen for a long time. I waited patiently. She turned to me slowly and shook her head. She spoke so low I could barely hear her. "No. You go on home. And --- well --- thanks for helping me." "Forget it." I forced a smile. "You know how I feel about you. Well --- maybe you don't." "I--- I think I’ll lie down." She spoke dreamily. I realized she hadn't heard what I said. Maybe it was just as well --- for now. "I'll call you tomorrow." I said. But she was already out of the family room and on her way to bed. I let myself out of her apartment and made the long journey home. * “Goodbye, Bea.” I yelled up to my sister’s bedroom. “Feel better.” “Goodbye, Manny.” As I opened the front door she asked, “Is Arthur home?” I hesitated before answering. “No.” “Do you know where he is?” Probably in some sleazy hotel room whacking somebody off! “No.” I waited a few more seconds, then left. When I got to my office, Carmen Delvecchio was waiting for me. Her clothes were more wrinkled than the last time I’d seen her and her hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed in months. No wonder Alex didn’t stay home. My first thought was to leave. But I had to talk to her eventually. I opened the door and we went inside. I sat behind the desk and Carmen sat across from me. “I saw Alex.” She blurted out.” “Really?” “Well --- “ She shifted in her chair. “ --- I think I saw the little creep.” “Carmen.” What the hell was I thinking to take on this mouse as a client. “Either you saw him or you didn’t!” She just stared at me through her pinpoint pupils. “Look, Carmen --- “ “I think I saw him go into Cardo’s Restaurant.” I tried not to scream. “Cardo’s is an elegant and very expensive establishment.” “Well, shit! I know that. But --- “ “Okay. Okay!” I stood. “I’ll check it out.” She stood and I rushed up to her, gently but firmly pushing her toward the door. “If I find out anything, I promise you’ll be the first person I call.” I opened the door quickly. She turned toward me. “I like your painting.” “Uh --- thank you.” I pushed harder. Again she turned. “Can I ask you a personal question?” Here it comes. “Sure.” “Are you married?” I knew it! “N --- yes.” Before she could respond, I added, “Plus I got six kids.” I stood motionless watching the door as it closed silently behind her. XIII "Nick, when do you get used to things like --- coming to the morgue?" I followed Nick out of the patrol car hesitantly, then stood for a moment looking at the side entrance. "I get a fucking knot in my stomach just thinking about this place." Nick put his hand on my shoulder and squinted, deep in thought, then answered prophetically, "Never, Manny." The sign on the door said COME IN. Why? We went inside and the odor hit me across the face like someone swinging a dead catfish. Nick didn't bat an eye. "Hey, Morales." He yelled at the empty room. There was no response, so he yelled again --- louder. "Hey, Morales!" "Christ, Nick. Those vocal chords you got could raise the dead." "Well, Manny," Nick produced a wide grin. "we're in the right place then." I couldn't share his merriment. "What I meant was --- " "Hey, fellas." Juan Morales seemed to emerge from the wall. The Milky Way he was eating was lost in his huge hands. His wide smile displayed a mouthful of chocolate. "Nice to see you both again." "Juan," I said, "I got to tell you coming here is on a par with sky diving." "Ah." He hit my arm playfully. "It could be worse." I couldn't think of anything worse than smelling obnoxious odors and being surrounded by stiffs. But then I suddenly thought of Margo. Juan was right. Morales went to his desk and took out his yellow pad. Then he motioned for us to sit down. "How is Mrs. Blair?" he asked. I responded. "I'm sure she slept all day." "Best thing in the world for people in that situation." He took a final bite of his candy bar and threw the crumpled wrapper into the wastebasket. "It's bad enough to see someone messed up like that, but for it to be your own sister --- " He shook his head sympathetically. "You work a lot of hours, Morales." Nick said. "Comes with the territory." He jotted down some notes and turned the page. "Ron Weherle, my associate, was supposed to be in charge of this one --- until he quit yesterday." "Why did he quit?" I didn't really care. I just needed to get my mind off where I was. I thought making meaningless small talk would help. It didn't. "I don't know why he quit." Juan shrugged. "Lots of people just aren't cut out for this sort of work --- know what I mean?" "Yeah, Juan." I responded quickly. "I know exactly what you mean." "So." He smiled. "I guess that kinda puts me in charge." The odors were slowly working their way from my nose to my intestines. How does Nick do it? "This woman," Juan slapped at the notebook. "was a fucking punching bag." Nick opened his jacket and folded his arms. "Listen to this." Morales continued. “There was a recently healed hairline fracture of the jaw and two cracked ribs. There are lots of contusions from --- what looks like having been hit numerous times across both cheeks." He looked at us over his glasses. "And that's all noticeable, even with early decay." I could feel my intestines try to get out of my body. And listening to Juan’s grisly description only added to my distress. Nick seemed frozen to his seat. "Now, I believe the cause of death to be an instantaneous hemorrhage into the brain as a result of a severe subcutaneous hematoma brought on by a powerful blow to the head." Juan spoke nonchalantly, as he turned the page. "In other words, the whole side of her head was bashed in. The ear was gone, the eyeball was out of its socket, and three teeth had been knocked out." I could picture Kate’s once perfect face, and I had to turn away. "What a fucking waste!" Nick's voice was full of emotion. Everything inside me felt sour. I wanted to yell obscenities. "Yes." was all I could come up with. "This was definitely Kate Blair --- right?" Nick Foley was a cop to the end. Morales nodded passively. "We checked old hospital and dental records. The fillings and a tiny crack on her left back molar matched perfectly." He turned the page. "I've just seen this recently, since Wehrle left, so you'll have to bear with me for a moment." "You found all this out in a hurry." Nick said. "The fax machine and computer technology are truly incredible." He spoke to us but never looked up. "There is a small scar on her left knee --- a scar on her upper lip --- two scars on her right thigh." He turned another page. "She had a broken collarbone --- healed, from years ago." Juan scratched his head. "And there was an old scar on her left lung --- an old lesion. Probably histoplasmosis." He laid the tablet down and pushed it to one side. "Now, combine all of this with a positive ID from her sister --- and caramba!" "Juan." Nick leaned in a little. "How long has she been dead?" Morales pursed his lips and squinted. "That's difficult to say." "Just approximately." Nick pushed. "I would say she's been dead for --- maybe --- ten or eleven days." "Which puts it around --- " Nick consulted a tiny calendar in his shirt pocket " --- October first or second." "Now don't hold me to the dates, fellas. That was just an educated guess." "Juan," Nick said, "your educated guesses are usually quite accurate." "We also found some hair and skin under her fingernails." He added. I began to drown under another wave of nausea. My stomach was on borrowed time. I had to get the hell out of here! The medical examiner continued. "The lab is still analyzing everything. We should know something in a few days." Juan picked up the notebook and turned several pages, reading through them quickly. "And that's not all." Again he looked at us over his glasses. "This I found interesting and you're going to have to take my word for it." "Haven't we been doing just that?" Nick asked. "Yeah. But this is a little different." I glanced at the clock. It was five after eight. "Ron and I spent a lot of time studying this one." "What?" I asked as I shifted in my seat. Nick didn't move "The inside of Kate Blair's nose was --- " Morales looked at us. " --- fucked up." "Is that a new medical term?" Nick smiled. I give Foley credit for being able to find something in this fucking mess to smile about. Juan ignored him. "The insides of her nose were as smooth as the head of my dick." Juan's choice of words threw me. I didn't think he was capable of displaying such a warped sense of humor. It was something I would have said. "There was no hair and no lining." Juan put the notebook aside and folded his hands on the desk. "I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I would rather confer with an ENT man before I render a diagnosis." "Ah." Nick said, twirling an invisible handlebar mustache. "So now we have mystery and intrigue." "I've only seen one of these since I've been a coroner, Nick. I just want to be certain." I was tired, weak and nauseous. If I didn’t leave soon, Nick would have to carry me out. Nick stood. He must have read my mind. "Okay, Juan. Call me when all the tests are finished." I couldn't stand up fast enough. Morales stood as well, then raised his right hand. "I promise." I started for the door. Juan's words stopped me. "Oh. I forgot the clincher. Ready for this?" He didn't wait for an answer. "After Kate's head was bashed in, she was shot." We both stared at the medical examiner. "Jesus Christ, Juan, you're full of surprises." Nick said. "That doesn't make sense." I added "Why would anybody do that?" "Well, I wondered the same thing." Juan said. "Then I remembered a couple of years ago a husband crushed his wife's skull in with a Magnum forty-four. Then he unloaded it into her chest." "I repeat." I said agitatedly. "Why would anybody do that?" "The psychologist I spoke to at that time said either the husband wanted to make sure she was dead and did it with full senses, or he had a violent temper and snapped at that moment." Nick started to speak, but just nodded. I knew Juan wasn't finished. "So if that's the case," Morales said, " the shooting would be a more irrational act than the cracking of her skull." "I see." Nick said. I wondered if he did. "Getting back to Kate Blair. One of the bullets was lodged in the lining below the left lung. Ballistics has it, and preliminary tests show it's a thirty-eight. And guess what?" Nick's eyes lit up. "Don't tell me this bullet matches the one that killed Curt Warner." "Bingo!" "I'm a son-of-a-bitch!" "The only thing that has me stymied is the trajectory of the shots." "Meaning what?" Foley asked. "The shots were fired at a slight angle from her right side to --- " Morales used his whole body to demonstrate. " --- left center and slightly upward. Then the bullet went through the chest, through the heart and out the back, between the cervical and thoracic vertebrates. "Morales," I said, "I'm sure you'll figure it out." "If I don't," Juan added elatedly, "I'm certain Lieutenant Foley will." "Nick." I was pleading. "Can we go?" Once outside, Nick turned to me and said seriously, "You know, Manny, you don't look too good." * XIV "This has got to be the longest Goddamn light in the world." I said as I sat impatiently next to Nick Foley, pounding rhythmically on the steering wheel. I was about to go through the red light when it turned green. "Seeing her sister like that had to be a terrifying experience for your client." "Yeah. The worst. But I thought she handled it pretty well --- considering." I somehow ended up behind an Atlas moving van. I leaned on the horn. "Relax, Manny." "Large trucks make me nervous." I hit the horn again. A large bearded face popped through the truck's window. It turned toward me. "What's your problem, asshole?" Neither Nick nor I responded. We both stared, wondering what the rest of the man's body looked like. But we would never find out because he pulled away and turned the corner, quickly disappearing out of sight. "Is she taking any time off work?" Nick asked. "About a week of hibernation." "Good idea. Trauma like that can screw up your mind and body for quite a while." "As bad as Margo felt, she still wanted to go with us today." I turned right on a yellow light. "It didn't take much to talk her out of it." We drove for a while. I stopped for another light. A motorcycle whizzed past us and went through the red light. "What a fucking moron!" I thought out loud. "So basically your job is done, isn't it? I mean you did find her sister." The light changed and I took off. "But let's face it, Nick. You and I both know it wasn't how my client wanted it. It was the last thing she expected." "Manny, there are no guarantees --- not in this business." I hesitated a second before I agreed. "You're right, Nick. There really aren't." I stopped to let an elderly woman pushing a baby carriage cross the street. She smiled and waved. Nick and I returned the smile and waved back. "I just hope Margo won't be too pissed that I included the police. No offense, Nick." "Manny, we've discussed this before. This is no longer a missing person's case. Now it's a homicide. She has no choice." I didn't argue. I knew he was right. "Have you had a chance to get some of her views on all of this?" Nick asked "Some. She says a guy named Herb Rowland may have a lot to do with Kate's death." "Herb Rowland?" Nick's face reddened. "You know him?" "If it's the same guy, he and I had a couple of major run-ins several years ago." Nick rubbed his stubbly chin. "I thought that small time hood was still incarcerated." "Apparently not. At least not according to Margo." "So Rowland is out." Nick looked like he was ready to put his fist through something. "That's too bad." "And his name was in Kate's address book." I added. "Really?" "I peeked." I said "Well --- you are a detective. And detectives have always been known to --- " He looked at me sheepishly. " --- peek." "Anyway, Margo was sure Kate was seeing this Rowland. Why else would she be carrying his name around?" "Good point." "Margo is also sure that he physically abused her."
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