do what you wanted. You knew how decent Dick is. You gambled that he would sacrifice his career to save you.'
'This is absolute nonsense,' Crease said.
'Look at the evidence. Paul Baylor didn't say that Gary Yoshida's interpretation of the blood spatter evidence was wrong, he only gave a theoretical alternative to Yoshida's explanation. If Yoshida was right, you lied all along. You also profited the most when your husband died. You and Brademas go way back. Who does it make more sense for him to work with? And you were the only one who knew about the report that implicated Brademas, the only one who could tell him where to find Dick.'
'She saved my life, Laura,' Quinn said.
'No, Dick, she didn't save your life when she killed Brademas. She took care of a witness who could hang her. Brademas became a liability as soon as you found his name on that report.'
'But why didn't she wait until Brademas killed me? With both of us dead there would be no way to prove that her case was rigged and she would be free of the murder charges.'
'With you dead, there would be no one who could tell the voters about the conspiracy to frame her. She needed you alive to save her campaign. It all fits, Dick. She's been playing you since you were assigned to her case.'
Quinn stood up. He should have been furious, but he was too stunned to be angry.
'Where are you going?''
'To the police.'
''Don't do that, Dick,' Crease implored desperately.
'Don't be ridiculous.'
'I'll make you a deal.'
''There's nothing you can offer me.'
'But there is. I can offer you your career. In order to implicate me, you'll have to confess to fixing my case. No one can prove what you did if you don't go to the police. Keep quiet and you'll stay on the bench, you won't be disbarred, you won't have to worry about criminal charges and the disgrace.'
Quinn suddenly saw Crease's real face. An image of Marie Ritter spread-eagled on the hotel bed flashed in his mind and he remembered the terror he felt in the garage and as he lay waiting for death on the cold marble floor of the courthouse.
'Not a chance. If I have to go to jail, I will, but you're not walking away from this.'
Quinn turned his back to the senator.
'God damn it, Quinn, you'll ruin us both,' Crease shouted.
Quinn and Laura kept walking. There was an end table at Crease's elbow. She opened a drawer and pulled out a gun.
'Stop,' she yelled. When Quinn did not look back, Crease squeezed the trigger. Quinn's right/leg flew out from under him and he fell to the floor. Laura screamed. Quinn stared at Crease, dazed. Blood was spreading along his pants leg near his knee. Crease took a pair of handcuffs from the drawer and tossed them to Laura. She made no move to catch them and they fell at her feet. Crease cocked the gun and pointed it at Laura.
'Tick them up and cuff him,' she ordered.
'I'm not . . . ,' Laura started, but Crease smashed her across the cheek with the revolver, driving her to her knees. Quinn threw himself at Crease, but she stepped out of reach and he collapsed sideways, grimacing with pain. Crease pointed the gun at Quinn's head and spoke to Laura.
'Do as you're told or I'll kill him.'
Laura looked at Crease wide-eyed. Crease cocked the revolver and Laura retrieved the cuffs.
'Get your hands behind you,' Crease told Quinn. Laura snapped on the cuffs.
'Was it the money? Did you kill your husband for his money?' Quinn asked to stall for time.
Crease shook her head wearily.
'I didn't care about Lamar's money. I cared about Lamar and I killed the bastard because he was going to leave me.'
Crease's voice caught and her eyes watered.
'I loved him. He's the only man I ever loved. I gave Lamar everything and he threw my love in my face.' A tear ran down Crease's cheek. 'Fargo wasn't the first tramp he'd played around with, but she was the one he was going to substitute for me. It was history repeating itself. As soon as one of his wives started to age, Lamar would trade her in. I tried to talk him out of it. I did everything I could. I really loved that son of a bitch, but I told him I'd see him dead before I'd let him make me into one of his discards. He didn't believe me.'
'What if you were wrong about me? What if I did fix the case so that you were convicted?'
'I thought of that possibility. If I saw that you were trying to help the prosecutor convict me I would have released the photographs to the media and moved for a mistrial claiming that you had been blackmailed into fixing the case. But I never had to do that, because I had you doped out one hundred percent.'
Quinn felt like a complete fool.
'What we didn't count on was that police report with Jack's name on it,' Crease said. 'If it weren't for that ...' She shook her head.
'Did Brademas help you for the money?'
'Of course. And he was in love with me. He had been since we were on the force together. We were even lovers before I married Lamar. Jack had been shaking down drug dealers. Internal Affairs was after him, but they didn't have the evidence to make a case stick. He resigned to avoid a further inquiry. I got him his job in security at Hoyt Industries for old time's sake.
'When Lamar started cheating on me I became Jack's lover again, out of spite. But he never meant anything to me. When I decided to kill Lamar, persuading Jack to help me was easy. Then he started to get out of control. He was just supposed to kill Ritter, not torture her. I was furious when I heard what he'd done. I wanted to frame you for Ritter's murder, but you would never have killed her like that. Then you told me about the police report and I knew Jack was a liability I could not afford.
'When we got to the courthouse, I told Jack that I would follow him as backup. He thought that he was supposed to kill you and take the report. But I would never have let him kill you. Laura is right. You were worth more to me alive so you could tell everyone how I saved your life.'
'Why did Brademas go after me in the parking garage?'
'We wanted to make sure that the order suppressing evidence would stand. I couldn't risk having it set aside if you told someone that you had fixed my case. Then you came to me for help. I decided that you would be of more use to me alive, because you would be my proof of the plot to frame me for Lamar's murder.'
Crease suddenly looked very tired.
'We've talked long enough,' she said. 'Are both of your cars in back of the house?'
Quinn and Laura nodded.
'Get him up and help him outside,' Crease told Laura.
'Don't do this,' Quinn begged. 'I'll make the broadcast.'
Crease shook her head. 'It's too late for that. I'd never be able to trust you.'
'For God's sake,' Quinn started.
'Move,' Crease ordered, 'and no more talking.'
Quinn hobbled forward into the hallway. Crease followed at a safe distance.
'I love you,' Quinn whispered to Laura.
'What did I say about talking?' Crease asked angrily.
A second later, a gunshot exploded in the hall.
Chapter 26.
A young cop was waiting at the front door of the Hoyt mansion when Anthony and Dennis drove up. Two marked cars were parked along the other side of the turnaround. The officer told them where everyone was and Anthony and Dennis walked along the front of the mansion until they found a slate path that led toward the pool. The path continued along the side of the house. Eventually, they rounded a corner and saw an ambulance and two parked cars. Richard Quinn was lying on a stretcher. A medic was working on his leg. A second medic was working on a nasty gash on Laura Quinn's cheek. Through the open back door, Anthony saw a forensic expert circling a third
