hands.
Lieberman couldn't remember seeing someone do that since Mary Astor in the The Maltese Falcon.
'I gotta tell you this,' Lieberman said, scratching his head and smiling. 'My mother, can you imagine this, a widow for ten years, a woman almost seventy years old, has a heart attack in the tub where she's taking a bath with the son of my father's partner, Bernie Witt. Bernie couldn't have been more than…' Lieberman looked at Rozier now and continued, 'your age.'
The result was more and better than Lieberman had expected.
Betty Franklin looked as if she were going to collapse. She caught her breath and moved to the nearby table for the comfort of a cigarette.
'Can we come to the point, Detective?' Rozier said, being careful, Lieberman was sure, not to look at Betty Franklin, who was fumbling with a lighter.
'Sorry,' said Lieberman. 'Long night. Hard day. Family problems.'
'I would like to get to my office,' Rozier said.
'One or two questions and…' Lieberman opened his hands, 'I'm on my way.'
'Do you mind if Mrs. Franklin goes in the other room while we finish talking?' Rozier said. 'I think she's been upset enough by the last two days-'
'But it's Mrs. Franklin I want to talk to,' said Lieberman.
Betty Franklin almost dropped the lighter she was about to use.
'Me?' she said, looking at Harvey, who still avoided her eyes.
'I'm sorry to say this,' Lieberman said, looking deeply pained as he sat back down, hands folded in his lap. The chair may have been an antique, but it wasn't comfortable. Still, Lieberman did his best to look as if he would be content to sit there for hours. 'But my partner, Hanrahan-' Lieberman shook his head. 'He thinks Mr. Rozier is somehow involved in what happened to his wife. Or at least that he knows something.'
'Your captain told me-' Rozier began with indignation as Betty Franklin managed to make it to a chair, where she sat with perfect posture, an unlit cigarette in her hand.
'And your complaint was heeded. Bill's been reprimanded, but… he won't stop, and I'm afraid Captain Kearney's told him to make some more inquiries. To stay away from you, mind you, but to make more inquiries.'
'This is crazy,' Rozier said, taking a quick glance at Betty Franklin to see how she was holding up. 'I think I'll ask you to leave now, Lieberman.'
'Suit yourself,' Lieberman said, rising from the chair. 'Mrs. Franklin, could you accompany me to the station for a few questions?'
A definite gasp escaped from Betty Franklin.
'Hold it,' said Rozier, stepping in front of Lieberman angrily. 'She's not leaving here or answering any questions till I talk to Ken. Are you crazy, Lieberman?'
'I'm the cop you requested, remember?' Lieberman said. 'I think we should get some answers, give them to Hanrahan and Kearney, and show them that you couldn't possibly be involved.'
'It's horrible,' Betty Franklin said with a shudder.
'Horrible,' Lieberman agreed with a sympathetic sigh.
'A man's wife is murdered, and he is immediately suspected,' Rozier said. 'Is that the way it's done?'
'Usually,' said Lieberman. 'Or when the husband dies, the wife is suspected. It's stupid, simpleminded, shows a lack of imagination on the part of the police, but you'd be amazed at how often it turns out to be true. Not this time, of course. You've been cooperative, helpful. I told the captain, but-'
'Detective, please stop babbling and ask your questions,' Betty Franklin said, her voice low, just within control.
'I really don't think-' Rozier began.
'You were sitting next to Mr. Rozier all through the concert?' Lieberman asked, stepping between Rozier and Betty Franklin.
'I could see him the entire time,' she said, looking at Rozier, who stood with his fists clenched.
'That wasn't my question,' said Lieberman. 'Were you sitting next to him?'
'We had seats together. Dana, Harvey, Ken, and I,' she went on. 'And… because Dana had been ill, Harvey insisted on sitting in the back, where he could step out and phone her, check on her. You know?'
'And you spent the entire concert looking… how many rows back?'
'I don't know. Eight, ten,' she said.
'You spent the entire concert with your head turned, looking at Mr. Rozier?'
'Not the entire concert,' she admitted. 'But frequently. We, Ken and I, were concerned.'
She was working hard at not meeting Rozier's eyes now.
'Enough, Lieberman,' Rozier said behind him, but Lieberman went on.
'Are the lights on during the concert?' he asked.
'On stage, yes. The room is not completely dark, but the lights are down.'
'My partner is there right now,' Lieberman lied, just as he had lied about his mother in the bath. 'He's having them turn the lights down to concert level and someone is going to sit in the seat where Mr. Rozier was sitting and my partner is going to sit where you and Mr. Franklin were sitting. What do you think he'll see?'
'I… I,' she stammered.
'Lieberman, I was at the concert, goddamn it. I remember everything about the performance, every nuance, every slip. I'll never forget a second of it. It's a nightmare I'll always have. I should have been home with Dana. I should-'
Lieberman turned completely around now to face Rozier as Betty Franklin rose to take Harvey's hand. Harvey Rozier's eyes met those of Abe Lieberman and Harvey could see that the detective was no longer buying any of this or trying hard to pretend that he did.
'My partner's a suspicious man,' said Lieberman. 'He's seen just about everything. You own a tape recorder, a small one you can carry around?' 'Tape recorder?' asked Rozier,
'A little one,' said Lieberman, showing an approximate size with his hands.
'Everyone owns a tape recorder,' said Rozier. 'What are you trying to say?'
'Me?' Lieberman pointed to himself and looked at Mrs. Franklin. 'Nothing. Bill thinks you could have taped the concert, listened to it later. Crazy idea. I said it was crazy. I said if you wanted to kill your wife, you'd hire someone to do it. But Bill, Bill says you wouldn't trust anyone, wouldn't put your life in anyone else's hands. I'm afraid my partner has as low opinion of you as you do of him.'
'Get out, Lieberman,' said Rozier. 'Now.'
'I'm going to have to insist that Mrs. Franklin come down to the station and sign a statement swearing that you were not out of her sight for more than twenty minutes. Simple as that and I'm out of your life. I'm telling you, Mr. Rozier, Captain Kearney won't let it go till she does.'
'Lieberman, why the hell would I want to kill Dana?'
'Mrs. Franklin,' Lieberman answered and let a beat fall before he went on. 'Think before you answer. Was there a time of more than twenty minutes during which you could not swear Harvey Rozier was in that room? I'll be asking your husband the same question.'
Rozier put his arm around Betty Franklin's shoulder.
'I don't know,' she said with a sob. 'I don't know. But Harvey didn't kill Dana, and he didn't have anyone paid to kill Dana. He wouldn't, couldn't…'
'Because he loved her,' said Lieberman.
'He couldn't,' she said, and Lieberman believed that she believed.
'I'm going to ask Kenneth Franklin to begin a suit against the Chicago Police Department, you and your partner, and the city of Chicago,' Rozier said, pointing at Lieberman. 'You've badgered me and my closest friends into a near breakdown.'
'That's your right,' said Lieberman, walking toward the front door.
'I will no longer talk to you or any member of the police department without my attorney present,' Rozier went on, helping Betty Franklin into a chair. Lieberman left the Rozier house without another word He had found a possible motive but still lacked evidence.
There was a bed, a dresser, a table with two chairs, and an overstuffed chair in George Patniks's room.