Tasha gave a minimal shrug, as though she found the question inconsequential. 'I guess not, no. But he doesn't go too many places without Payton.'
Curious, Monk considered asking why. Then Ainsworth interjected, 'You say they were here till eight or so. How do you remember that?'
' 'Cause I work weeknights over at the Double Rock Bar. Shift always starts at eight.'
'That your only job?'
'Yeah.' Tasha nodded toward a small shelf of what appeared to be textbooks. 'Days I go to City College,' she amplified with a touch of pride. 'I'm studying to be an accountant.'
Considering her, Monk felt the habitual melancholy he experienced on returning to the Bayview, this time at the depressing fact that, even while reaching for something better, Tasha Bramwell remained entangled with a man like Payton Price. 'Thuy Sen disappeared on a Tuesday,' he said. 'Got classes on Tuesday?'
'This semester I got three. But last semester—the Tuesday we're talking about—I only had but one. Bookkeeping.'
Tasha, Monk thought, either had an excellent memory or had reviewed her prior schedule. 'What time on Tuesday, Tasha?'
She smoothed her skirt, as though erasing an imagined crease. 'Three o'clock.'
'So you cut class?'
'Just that once.' Looking up at Monk, she finished in a prideful tone. 'I'm a good student—got an A in that course. Professor didn't grade us on attendance.'
Monk tried to imagine this ambitious girl cutting class to hang out watching soap operas with Payton and his sluggish, sullen brother. But there was no way, for the moment, to get at this. 'Do you know Eddie Fleet?' he asked abruptly.
Her lips compressed. 'I know Eddie.'
'What you know about him?'
'He pretended to be Payton's friend.' Her voice held quiet fury. 'But he's a stone liar, out for himself.'
'Know why he'd lie about Payton?' Ainsworth asked.
'Jealousy. The way he used to look at me like to made my skin crawl.'
'He ever hit on you?'
Her eyes flashed anger and disdain. 'He knew better. He knew not to get on Payton's bad side, that I'd tell him if Eddie tried a thing. Eddie likes his women too scared to come back at him.'
Monk considered her. 'I guess you've been talking to him,' he said more pointedly. 'Payton, I mean. Records say you've been visiting County Jail.'
Tasha sat straighter. 'Why wouldn't I? He's my boyfriend, and he's in bad trouble for something he didn't do.'
'So why didn't you just come to us, say where Payton was the day that little girl disappeared?'
For an instant, Tasha averted her head, and then she looked Monk straight in the eyes. 'I hadn't put two and two together—not till Payton finally remembered where we'd been. Then it all came back to me.'
'How?'
'About cutting my accounting class—'cause that's unusual for me—then seeing that girl's picture the next night on TV, working at the Double Rock.' Her voice filled with defiance. 'Payton would never do that with a child. I know him—he's gotten in trouble maybe, living down here, having to become a man before his time. But that's all. The rest is Eddie Fleet, using you to push my man aside for him.'
Silent, Monk regarded her, his expression conveying muted sorrow. 'You're a classy-looking young woman,' he said in measured tones. 'More important, you're sharp, and you've got plans. You could be someone in this world. Don't mess it up.'
A spark of fear surfaced in her eyes. 'How would I be doing that?'
Monk erased the sympathy from his face. 'Perjury,' he said flatly. 'This is an important matter—to us, to the city, and to that girl's family. We're going to find the truth about it.'
Tasha bit her lip, although her eyes, with an apparent effort, still met her interrogator's. 'I'm telling the truth, Mr. Policeman. You just don't like hearing it.'
* * *
'She's lying,' Monk told Mauriani. 'Payton put her up to it.'
'Sure he did. But as it stands, her story gives the brothers at least a shot at acquittal, if the jury's squirrelly enough.' Mauriani cocked his head. 'Though I suppose there's always the chance,' he added dryly, 'however small, that Yancey James may not have thoroughly vetted her story. Maybe you should check her out.'
'Right now,' Monk answered with a smile. 'Nothin' better to do.'
* * *
Four days later, in the courtroom of the judge who would try People of California v. Price, the Honorable Angelo J. Rotelli, Mauriani moved to exclude from evidence the testimony of Tasha Bramwell.
Angie Rotelli, another former colleague, regarded Mauriani sternly. 'On what grounds?'
'Surprise. Miss Bramwell was hardly unknown to the defense. And yet Mr. James disclosed her existence five days before trial. Aside from the dubious credibility this suggests, it's trial by ambush—'
