and then itd turn out to be a guy in McDonalds department. Nope. She even waited longer than she should have. And why in Gods name would she offer her mothers hair? If she knew her mother had been poisoned…
They ran over it for another hour, building the case against Audrey. In the end, Sloan said, Youll have to admit, most of it could be built the other way.
Naw: juryd never go for it. And remember, she killed her old man.
Sloan shook his head. Just wish there was some way to pry the sisters apart. Put one of them in Kansas while somebodys getting killed in Minnesota.
As Lucas put the beer bottle to his mouth, the light went off in his head: Oh, shit, he said, the bottle frozen in front of his face.
What?
In the Arris killing. We never looked at that tape for women.
Huh. Wheres the tape?
My place. St. Paul gave me a copy of it, and I left it at my place.
Can I come along?
THEY STUCK THE TAPE IN LUCASS VCR, AND THE BAD picture came up on the screen. They watched Arris go by, followed by several women, and then, a minute later, another woman, walking rigidly down the hill. There she is, Lucas said.
Thats fuckin Helen, Sloan said.
No, no, thats fuckin Audrey, said Lucas. He ran the tape back. Look at the way she walks.
Looks like fuckin Helen to me.
Remember, this is eight years ago. Audreyd be thirty. Helen would only be in her mid-twenties… They look alike, but that woman is not twenty-six.
Sloan was on his hands and knees, peering at the screen. Goddamn. Could be Audrey.
Is Audrey, Lucas said.
Selling it to a juryll be hard, Sloan said. Youll get one dumb shit on there wholl believe nothing but his own eyes, and his eyesll say its Helen.
I wonder if we can get this enhanced somehow, Lucas said. Maybe the Feebs?
I dont know… Tell you the truth, if there was a way to ditch the tape, Id do it. It confuses things. But now that I keep looking at it, I think youre right. She moves like Audrey does. Shescuttles.
THE PHONE RANG AS THEY RAN THROUGH THE TAPE one last time. Sherrill. Did you get her?
Yeah, I thinkbut its gonna be a close call, Lucas said.
You want me to come over and comfort you?
He didnt, especially, but he said, Come on over.
Nah. You dont sound like you mean it, she said. Tomorrow night, though.
And she was gone.
Fuckin cop-women, Lucas said.
Thats what youre doing, Sloan agreed.
Fuckin was an adjective, not a verb, Lucas said.
Couldve been a verb, Sloan said.
SLOAN LEFT, AND LUCAS SAT IN HIS STUDY FOR awhile, doodling, running through the case in his mind, looking for loose ends. He didnt find many, except to note that theyd have to reinterview half the people who worked at the bank. Theyd have to find witnesses who saw Audrey McDonald firing the Contender pistol; theyd have to find witnesses who would testify about promotions, and who was competitive for them…
He finally trundled off to bed, lay restlessly for a while, finally fell asleep.
IN THE MORNING, HE MOVED SLUGGISHLY AROUND, looked at the clock: already nine. He dressed, stopped at a fast-food place for French toast, then headed downtown. He called the county attorneys office and got Kirk.
Had the bail hearing yet?
Yeah. The judge was a wee bit skeptical about the arsenic. J. B. did a pretty nice job. We got the bail up to a million, but she was ready for it.
Shes out?
Twenty minutes ago, Kirk said.
How about the arrest warrant on her mother? Were slowing down on that. J. B. brought up this stuff about the old house they used to live in, and we heard about this business with her sister, so were gonna have the housechecked and depose the sister. I mean, weve got her on a million, I dont think shell run.
SHERRILL DROPPED BY AT MIDMORNING, CARRYING A doughnut and two cups of coffee. Shes out, I hear.
Yeah, Lucas said in disgust. Ill tell you what: if she was a black guy with a record, shed be washing dishes in Stillwater by now.
Sloan told me about that whole rap about her sister: thats pretty weird.
Yeah, I dont understand that, Lucas said. Its a fucked-up defense. You put Helen on the stand, the truth is gonna come out.
You dont think theres any chance that Audreys telling the truth? That its Helen?
No, I dont.
The one thing thats hard for me to get over is her appearance, Sherrill said. Shes only five years older than me…
Really? I thought you were sixteen…
Shut up. Im being serious. The thing is, if you take the attack on Elle, where somebody beat her up with a ball bat, who do you think would be most likely to do that? Helen, who looks pretty active, pretty good shape, still young? Or Audrey, who looks old, slumped over?
Whatever she looks like, shes only thirty-eight, Lucas said. She
He stopped, put a hand to his forehead. What? Sherrill asked. A stroke?
Aw, man, Lucas said. He picked up the phone book, talking fast: I think this might have gone through my head the night we were at St. Annes, the night Elle got hit, but it went away; its like itwasa stroke…
What, what?
If Elle takes the phone call, and grabs her keys, and runs out the door and gets jumped… whoever called her mustve been standing right there. Mustve been calling from the bushes. Mustve used a cell phone, not a payphone. All the other tips weve had have come from pay phones, it mustve blocked me off or something…
Sherrill snapped her fingers: Phone records.
Absolutely.
The man who could get the records was away, but was expected back before lunch. In the meantime, the company would try to reach him, to hurry things up.
Lucas said to Sherrill, If this pans out, shes dead meat.
What if its Helens phone?
Thatd be a problem, Lucas said.
So we wait?
We wait. Lucas looked at his watch. Shouldnt be more than an hour or so.
DEL STOPPED IN: IM BEING HAUNTED BY THESE OLD ladies, he said.
Tell them if they insist on going to jail, theyll be raped by bull dykes, Sherrill suggested.
I think some of them are gonna need to be rehabbed, Del said. Theyre all getting different lawyers; theres gonna be fifty-eight lawyers to deal with.
Too bad the pinking shears thing wasnt fatal, Lucas said nastily. Think how much better off youd be.
Thats the truth, Del said sincerely. Jesus, what a mess.
Whenre you going to Cancuґn? Sherrill asked.
In a week, he said. Hope this is done by then. Id hate to have it hanging over my head for the whole time Im down there.
THE THING IS, SHERRILL SAID, AFTER DEL HAD GONE, what if Helen really loves Audreytheyve been through a lot together, and theyre sistersand decides to help her out? What if we go talk to Helen, and she starts taking the fifth? Audrey gets on the stand, blames everything on Helen, and Helen refuses to talk…
I dont think that would happen. Audrey killed their mother and.. .
