No, you probably wouldnt. Youd probably go after him with a baseball bat… But yes, a woman might do that.
Im not talking about some kind ofpro formadefense. Im talking about really believing in the defense. But at the same time, betraying him to the police anonymously, then denying it even to the police.
This isnt a theoretical question.
No.
Then youre dealing with a badly abused woman who needs treatmentif its not too late for treatment. Some people, if theyre abused badly enough, will identify with and even love their abusers, while another side of their personality is desperately trying to get out of the relationship. Just to use a kind of laymans terminology, you could say you have a condition of… mmm… stress-induced multiple-personality disorder. The part of her personalitythat sincerely defends her husband may not even know that the other part of her personality is betraying him.
Shit… Excuse me, Lucas said. So even if I broke her out from her husband in, say, a murder case, she could be impeached as being nuts.
Nuts is not accepted terminology, Lucas, she said.
But she could be impeached…
Worse than that. If she were required to testify in the presence of her husband, she might flip over and start defending himlyingbecause he so dominates her personality.
All right.
Will I be meeting this woman?
Probably not, Elle. Ill tell you about it next time we talk. Right now, Im running.
Take care.
You too.
BONE LIVED IN A HIGH-SECURITY BUILDING MUCH like ODells, and not more than a five-minute walk away. Lucas dumped the Porsche in a no-parking zone outside the glass front doors, and when a security guard came to the doors, flashed his ID and was admitted to the lobby.
I need to talk to James T. Bone, Lucas said.
Dont know if Mr. Bone is in. He often goes out at night, the guard said, moving behind the security console.
Ring him and let it ring about fifty times, Lucas said.
The guard did that, and after a few seconds, said into the phone, Mr. Bone, this is William downstairs. Im sorry to bother you, but theres a police officer here asking to see you… Yes, Deputy Chief Davenport, and he says its urgent. Yes sir.
He hung up the phone: Mr. Bone is on fourteen, he said. Take the elevator on the right.
BONE WAS WAITING IN THE HALLWAY OUTSIDE HIS apartment door: as Lucas got off the elevator, he realized that this hallway also had only two doors, as had ODells. Something ticked at the back of his mind, but the thought was gone as Bone stepped out and said, Whats going on?
Bone was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but was barefoot.
You alone?
No, actually, I have a friend here… Come on in. What happened?
Lucas stepped inside. A woman, about Bones age, was sitting on the couch.
This is Marcia Kresge, Dan Kresges wife. We were just talking strategy.
Was Wilson McDonald here an hour ago? Lucas asked.
Bone looked at his watch: Well, more than an hour. He left here probably at ten-thirty or ten forty-five.
Ten-thirty. Have you been here ever since?
Yes… Marcia got here about…
About eleven-twenty, said Kresge.
So what happened to McDonald? Bone demanded.
Did you make a deal with McDonald? Lucas asked, ignoring the question.
Bone looked at Kresge, then back at Lucas: No. Whats he done?
So youre out of the job. Because he made a deal with Susan ODell.
Oh, no, Im not out of it at all. Bone shook his head. Wilson thinks he can deliver several votes to Susan. He doesnt know it, but he cant. Well, maybe one. The rest are still up for grabs. Now what the hell happened?
Lucas looked at Kresge, then back at Bone, interested in their reactions. A couple of minutes after eleven oclock, somebody rang the doorbell at Susan ODells apartment, and when she opened the door, shot her twice in the head with a handgun. ODells dead.
And they were, as far as Lucas could tell, stunned. Astonished.
Bone, who didnt seem given to sputtering, sputtered, Thats not possible. I just talked to her tonight.
What time?
Seven oclock or so. He looked at Kresge. About the Community College deal.
Kresge was solemn: You know what? Its a crazy man. We could be next.
Mr. Bone, I dont want to imply anything, but youre the obvious beneficiary of all thisthe top job is opened up by a murder, then the main competition is eliminated. Again, I dont mean to imply anything, but we really have to pin down where you were, and what you were doing all evening. He turned to the woman. And the same with you, Im afraid.
Do you really think Id do this? Bone asked. He sounded more curious than afraid.
Lucas thought for a moment and then said, I dont know you well enough to say. But even if I didnt, I have to make sure. If McDonald left here a little after ten-thirty, and you were here alone, and the woman didnt get here until eleven-thirty… who has an alibi?
I wasnt alone, Bone said. Im sorry, I should have said so… My assistant, I think you met her at the bank, the blonde? Kerin Baki? She was here. We were working on a presentation for the board.
When did she leave?
A few minutes after Wilsonshe was heading down to the bank. Shes probably still there, Bone said. And between the time she left and the time Marcia got here, I made a half-dozen phone calls. There must be some way to get at phone records.
Lucas nodded. Well get those.
And Bone said, Ill tell you something else: We know exactly how many votes Ive got, which is nine. And we know how many Susan had, which is seven. Im one vote away. At least three votes are uncommitted, and we were just working out ways to get one of those three. Because when we get one, all the others will come. He hopped off the couch, and started to prowl the apartment as he talked. So what Im saying is, I think I had the top job. Thismight knock me outor slow things down. If the board thinks theres the slightest chance that Im implicated, Im dead meat. Better to hire somebody else, and apologize to me later, if Im innocent, than get stuck with a CEO who turns out to be a killer.
You know who the real beneficiary is? Kresge said. Wilson McDonald.
He made a deal with her, Lucas said.
Kresge made a rude noise: She might have made a tactical agreement with him, just to grab the top slot. But after shed gotten rid of Bone and a few other people, shed have gotten rid of McDonald. She and Jim were actually friends, in a waybut she hated McDonald.
But everybody says McDonalds out of it.
Not if theres nobody else left, Kresge said. She looked at Bone. Jim darling, Id be very careful if I were you. Very careful.
BONE AND KRESGE AGREED TO STAY AT THE APARTMENT until Sloan got there. Lucas talked to Sloan by phone, and Sloan said he was nearly done with the McDonalds.
What do you think? Lucas asked.
When I talk to Mrs. McDonald alone, shes pretty straight, Sloan said. When I get her around her old man, shes a fucking ventriloquists dummy.
I talked to Elle Kruger about that. She said severely abused women can get like that.
We need to give McDonald a good look, Sloan said. Something tells me hes involved. I dont know if I think that because hes really involved, or because I just dont like the sonofabitch.
Listen, when you get to Bones… get him aside and talk to him about his sex life. Who hes screwing. Because I
