were last here. I'm a hunter. I don't hate what I kill. Just the opposite. I respect what I kill. I honor my kill. I consider the animal brave and noble. Killing, in fact, can be merciful. That's why I kill with one shot. Not Billy Lee Palms, of course. I wanted him to have at least a few moments
of agony and fear. And of course, I would never show Clu Haid mercy.
Myron tried to sort through it. But
And then he heard yet another click. His conversation with Sally Li started uncoiling in his head.
The crime scene
Christ, the crime scene. It was in such a state of disarray. Blood on the walls. Blood on the floor.
Because blood splatters would show the truth. So splatter some more. Destroy the evidence. Fire more shots into the corpse. To the calf, to the back, even to the head. Take the gun with you. Mess things up. Cover up what really happened.
Oh God
Sophie nodded at him.
Myron's mouth felt dry as a sandstorm. Clu committed suicide?
Sophie tried a smile, but she just couldn't quite make it.
Myron started to stand, his bad knee audibly creaking as he rose. The end of his marriage, the failed drug test, but mostly the past coming back at him it was all too much. He shot himself in the head. The other shots were just to throw the police off. The crime scene was messed up so no one would be able to analyze the blood splatters and see it was a suicide. It was all a diversion.
A coward to the end, Sophie said.
But how did you know he killed himself? Did you have his place bugged or under
surveillance?
Nothing so technical, Myron. He wanted us to find him me specifically.
Myron just stared at her.
We were supposed to have our big confrontation that night. Yes, Clu had hit rock bottom,
Myron. But I was not through with him. Not by a long shot. An animal deserved a quick kill. Not
Clu Haid. But when Jared and I arrived, he'd already taken the gutless way out.
And the money?
It was there. As you noted, the anonymous stranger who sent him the diskette and made all
those phone calls was blackmailing him. But he knew it was us. I took the money that night and
donated it to the Child Welfare Institute.
You caused him to kill himself.
She shook her head, her posture still ramrod. Nobody causes someone to kill himself. Clu Haid
chose his fate. It was not what I intended but
Intended? He's dead, Sophie.
Yes, but it was not what I intended. Just as you, Myron, did not intend to cover up my
daughter's murder.
Silence.
You took advantage of his death, Myron said. You planted the blood and gun in my car and
office. Or you hired someone to do it.
Yes.
He shook his head. The truth has to come out, he said.
No.
I'm not letting Esperanza rot in jail
It's done, Sophie Mayor said.
What?
My attorney is meeting with the DA as we speak. Anonymously, of course. They won't know whom he represents.
I don't understand.
I kept evidence that night, she said. I took pictures of the body. They'll test Clu's hand for powder residue. I even have a suicide note, if need be. The charges against Esperanza will be dropped. She'll be released in the morning. It's over.
The DA isn't going to settle for that. He's going to want to know the whole story.
Life is full of wants, Myron. But the DA won't get it in this case. He'll just have to live with that reality. And in the end it's just a suicide anyway. High profile or not, it won't be a priority. She reached into her pocket and took out a piece of paper. Here, she said. It's Clu's suicide note.
Myron hesitated. He took the note, immediately recognizing Clu's handwriting. He started reading:
Dear Mrs. Mayor,
The torment has gone on long enough. I know you won't accept my apology and I can't say that I blame you. But I also don't have the strength to face you. I've been running away from that night all my life. I hurt my family and my friends, but I hurt nobody so much as I hurt you. I hope my death gives you some measure of comfort.
I am the one to blame for what happened. Billy Lee Palms just did what I told him to. The same goes for Myron Bolitar. I paid off the police. Myron just delivered the money. He never knew the truth. My wife was knocked out in the accident. She also never knew the truth and she still doesn't.
The money is all here. Do with it what you will. Tell Bonnie that I'm sorry and that I understand everything.
And let my children know that their father always loved them. They were the only thing pure and good in my life. You, of all people, should understand that.
Clu Haid
Myron read the note again. He pictured Clu writing it, then putting it aside, then picking up the gun and pressing it against his head. Did he close his eyes then? Did he think of his children, the two boys with his smile, before he pulled the trigger? Did he hesitate at all?
His eyes stayed on the note. You didn't believe him, he said.
About the culpability of the others? No. I knew he was lying. You, for example. You were more than a delivery boy. You bribed those officers.
Clu lied to protect us, Myron said. In the end he sacrificed himself for those he loved.
Sophie frowned. Don't make him out to be a martyr.
I'm not. But you just can't walk away from what you did.
I did nothing.
You made a man the father of two boys kill himself.
He made a choice, that's all.
He didn't deserve that.
And my daughter didn't deserve to be murdered and buried in an anonymous pit, she said.
Myron looked up into the stadium lights, letting them blind him a bit.
Clu was off drugs, he said. You'll pay the rest of his salary.
No.
You'll also let the world know and his children that in the end Clu wasn't on drugs.
No, Sophie said again. The world won't know that. And they also won't know Clu was a
murderer. I'd say that's a pretty good bargain, wouldn't you?
He read the note again, tears stinging his eyes.
One heroic moment in the end doesn't redeem him, Sophie said.
But it says something.
Go home, Myron. And be glad it's over. If the truth were ever to come out, there is only one
