Hocus

“Gus—” Cookie tried again.

“No, I mean it. We used to say it that way, ‘one smart Cookie.’ Remember, Bear?”

“Yeah, he’s right,” Bear said, looking nervously at Cookie. “But I don’t—”

“Gus, Bear. Please,” Cookie said.

“You’re brilliant,” Gus went on. “The rest of us always assumed it was just the one guy doing the killing down in that basement, but Cookie here thinks differently from the average cop. I mean, that’s a hell of a suggestion. Maybe there was more than one person involved—”

“Sorry, Gus,” Cassidy interrupted. “You’re right, ol’ Cookie here is smart. But I’ve read the reports from that case, including the labwork. Other than the victims, there was only one man in that basement. There were several indications that it was only one man, but one piece of evidence was almost undeniable proof.”

He turned to Cookie. “You see, there was quite a bit of blood on the floor, and anybody who went all the way down those stairs couldn’t miss stepping in it. Until Frank went out to his car to make the call, no one had walked in and out of that basement except the killer.”

“Hmm,” Cookie said. “I suppose that rules out an accomplice.”

“As I said,” Cassidy continued, “spatter patterns and other evidence back that up. Those boys were just damned lucky that someone called the department about the suspected robbery. If not, who knows how long they would have been down there?”

“Those boys,” Bear said. “I mean, it isn’t too hard to understand that you might not be quite right after something like that, is it? Sitting down there for hours and hours….”

“Let’s not get morbid,” Cookie said. “I’m sure Bea didn’t want us to come over here just to make her think about such gruesome things.”

“I’m all right, Cookie,” she said. “You know I’m tougher than that.”

“Yes, well, I’m not so tough myself,” Cookie said. “I’m older than the rest of you. If you’ll forgive me, I’ve got to be going.”

Everyone stood, and the good-nights began. Cecilia left right after Cookie. Gus and Bear had driven over together and left soon after her. We waved good-bye from the front porch.

Bea and Rachel and Pete went back into the house, leaving me on the porch with Cassidy.

“I guess we both know who it is, now,” I said.

28

CASSIDY RAISED A brow. “Oh?”

“It’s Cookie, isn’t it?” I said.

“Now, what makes you think so?” he asked, although nothing in his voice indicated he disagreed.

“Bret Neukirk’s version of events that night may or may not be completely accurate, but there are certain parts of the story that he’s unlikely to have invented or misremembered.”

“Such as?”

“Such as what time of day they were traveling to Lake Isabella. He said they left the house at three in the morning and were pulled over by a patrol car. The Bakersfield department wasn’t so big or poorly managed that you could just drive a cruiser off the lot without anyone noticing. So they were probably pulled over by a car that was already in use.”

“Okay, I’ll buy that. We’ll assume it wasn’t a stolen cruiser.”

“Gus worked days,” I said. “He would have finished his shift by four in the afternoon. Bear would have been off by about two-thirty in the morning. Only Cookie would have been in a patrol car after three in the morning.”

“Yes, but if Bret had the time wrong by an hour or two, it could have been Bradshaw.”

“Maybe,” I said, “but he would have been pushing it — he would have been at the very end of the shift, planning to take two men hostage. But Nathan Cook had plenty of time.”

“Powell was there to help him — might not have figured on needing much time. It’s clear the boys were an unexpected complication,” Cassidy said. “I’m not arguing against your notion about Cook, though. He mentioned he had worked that shift.”

“Which is another thing that bothered me about him. This happened a dozen years ago. His memory is almost too good.”

“A dozen years ago for everybody,” Cassidy said.

“Sure. Every one of them seems to remember something about that day. There are reasons for them to remember it — Frank was important to them, for starters. Second, the Ryan-Neukirk case was so disturbing. And they have a memorable date to tie it to — because the bodies were discovered on a holiday. Boys and their fathers on Father’s Day.”

“Okay, so it made an impression that could last a dozen years.”

“Right. Gus can remember working that day,” I went on, “because like most people, he remembers where he was when he received shocking news. He first heard about the murders when he reported for work.”

“And Bradshaw?”

“Bear was a little less sure — when we first talked to him, he thought he was working, but that was because he remembered hearing Frank’s voice on the call. For him, the first memory of that day is an auditory one. It’s not surprising that he connected a call on a scanner with being at work. But even though he was mixed up about where he was, he clearly recalled the part of the memory that made the strongest impression.”

“But you think Cook ‘remembers’ too much?”

“Exactly. He said he was off that Saturday night and Sunday morning. He said he got a call from Bea on Sunday