enough to tamper and get away with it. Or if he’s the killer and premeditated her murder, he did his tampering in advance.”
“Excellent point. Premeditation by someone who thinks he’s smarter than we are. He tampers in advance, then checks into Bellevue because he’s allegedly afraid the killer will get him next. In other words, he’s manipulating the hell out of everyone. And probably having a good time doing it.”
“I’m objectively presenting possibilities,” Benton said. “Here’s another one. He’s not the killer but knows everyone will suspect he is, and by checking into Bellevue, he earned the right to see me, to see Kay, and perhaps convince somebody who matters that he’s innocent and in danger.”
“Don’t tell me that’s what you really believe.”
“What I believe is he thinks Kay is his sanctuary. No matter what he did or didn’t do.”
“Yes, he has her because he can’t trust me. I believe my new moniker is ‘superbitch.’ ” Berger smiled. “Or at least I hope it’s new—the super part of it, anyway.”
“In his mind, you dissed him.”
“If you’re referring to when he called my office a month ago—like half the crazies in the city do every day? True. I wouldn’t talk to him. Nothing unusual about that. A lot of calls I never even hear about, much less take. He referred to me as a ‘superbitch.’ Adding if something bad happened, it would be my fault.”
“And who was it he said this to?” Benton said. “Marino? During their phone conversation last month?”
“It’s on tape,” she said.
“Hope that never makes its way into the press.”
“That certainly wouldn’t be helpful. Because something bad did happen. Very, very bad, indeed. There’s no question we have to be careful with Oscar Bane. Ordinarily, I’d be much more vigorous with someone in his situation. And by the way, I do suspect he murdered his girlfriend. It’s what makes the most sense. And that certainly would make his paranoia situational. He’s afraid of being caught.”
She picked up her briefcase as she pushed back her chair, and her skirt hiked up enough for him to see the hollow between her slender thighs.
“Without proof,” Benton said, “we shouldn’t dismiss what Oscar says. It’s possible he’s being followed. We don’t know for a fact he’s not.”
“That, Nessie, Bigfoot. Anything’s possible. Seems to me, no matter what, I have a PR bomb ticking, a legal bomb ticking, because we didn’t take him seriously when he called last month. And what I don’t need is the Little People of America picketing One Hogan Place. I definitely don’t need another problem. Seems I have more than my share. Which reminds me, and I’ll just say it.”
She paused to collect her coat, and they passed through the crowded cafeteria.
“If there’s a scandal,” she said, “do I need to worry that Kay might discuss it on CNN? Could that be why Oscar gave us no choice about getting her here? He wants the news coverage?”
Benton stopped at the cashier’s desk to pay the bill.
When they were outside the cafeteria, he said, “She would never do that to you.”
“I had to ask.”
“Even if she were the type, she can’t do it,” Benton said as they walked toward the atrium. “She’s either his physician or she ends up your witness.”
“Not sure Oscar thought of all that when he demanded an audience with her, demanded she pay a house call,” Berger said. “Maybe he thought he was giving her some grand pre-interview.”
“I don’t know what the hell he thought, but I shouldn’t have talked her into it. I shouldn’t have let anybody talk her into it.”
“Now you’re sounding like a husband. And by anybody, you obviously mean me.”
He didn’t answer.
Her high heels clicked on polished granite.
“If and when Oscar’s charged,” she said, “it may turn out that what he’s telling Kay is the only information we ever get that might be remotely reliable. It’s good she’s examining him. Good for a number of reasons. We want him happy. We want him treated extremely well. We want him safe and everyone around him safe.” She put on her coat. “When Marino interviewed him over the phone, Oscar started throwing around the term hate crime. He said he was a little person, made that point repeatedly to Marino, who of course didn’t understand what a little person was. Had to ask him. Oscar, by now quite agitated, answered, ‘Fucking dwarf.’ Said that’s why he was being followed, targeted. It was a hate crime in progress. . . .”
Berger’s cell phone rang.
“Kay’s going to have to be told Marino’s here,” she added as she put on her wireless earpiece.
She listened for a moment, and anger touched her face.
“We’ll see about that,” she said. “This is completely unacceptable. . . . Did I expect it? Well, it’s become the pattern, now, hasn’t it, but I hoped . . . No, no, no. I can’t. Certainly not in this case . . . Well. I’d really rather not . . . Yes, she is, but due to certain circumstances, I hesitate . . . Indeed, I did. Who the hell hasn’t seen it?” She looked at Benton. “Then maybe you understand why I don’t want to do that . . . Uh-huh. I’m hearing you. I got it loud and clear the first time you said it. I suppose I could find out if she’s willing and get back with you. But I wouldn’t blame her for wanting to get the hell out of here, catch the last shuttle to Logan. . . .”
She ended the call.
They were outside the hospital now, on the sidewalk. It was almost four, and getting dark, and very cold, and their breath was as thick as smoke.
“Marino doesn’t mean to hurt people,” Benton felt compelled to say. “He didn’t mean what happened.”
“You’re saying he didn’t mean it when he raped Kay.” Matter-of-factly as she put on gray mirror-finished glasses that hid her eyes. “Or is what’s all over the Internet today untrue? I wish to hell you’d sent him to some office other than mine. He’s fully involved in this goddamn case, and there’s no way to keep the two of them apart indefinitely. You have to talk to her.”
“What’s in that gossip column gives a false impression.”
“A forensic linguist would have a field day with that statement. But I’ll take your word for it. What’s on the Internet’s a complete fabrication. Glad to hear it.”
She pulled on kid-leather gloves and turned up the collar of her shorn mink coat.
“I didn’t say it was completely untrue,” he replied.
He stared at the distant Empire State Building, lighted red and green for the holidays, a warning beacon flashing atop its spire to remind aircraft to stay clear. Berger placed her hand on his arm.
“Look,” she said in a gentler tone. “You should have told me the real reason Marino left Charleston, left Kay, is because of what he did to her. I’m going to work very hard at being understanding. I know what it must have done to you. Of all people, I should know.”
“I’ll fix it.”
“You won’t fix anything, Benton. What you’ll do is move forward. All of us have to move forward and be smart each step of the way.”
She removed her hand from his arm, and it felt like rejection.
“It’s astonishing you’d do anything to help him,” Berger added. “You’re quite the friend to him, I must admit. But if we’re talking motive? My guess? You hoped if you helped him, covered up for him, it would make what he did untrue. But now the world knows. You want to guess how many calls I’ve had today? About that goddamn column?”
“You should ask him. He was drunk. Don’t fire him.”
“Every rapist I’ve locked up was drunk or on drugs or both or it was consensual or she started it or it didn’t happen. I won’t fire him unless he brings it upon himself. I’ve decided this is Kay’s battle. Not yours. Not Lucy’s. Although I fear Lucy’s not likely to see it that way.”
“Kay’s dealt with it.”
Hands in her pockets to ward off the cold, Berger said, “Really. Then why this big to-do about her not knowing he works for me? Why the secret? I thought it was all about his walking off the job, decompensating because of you and Kay, because he was jealous—which has always been as obvious as the Empire State Building you seem fixated on. He decided it was time to let her go and clean up his act. Stupid me. I never called Kay to
