“Who are you,” I said, “and why are you calling me at three o’clock in the fucking morning?”
“Did you like it, Alex?”
“Like what? What are you talking about?”
“I knew he’d tell you about it, at least, but I can’t believe he actually woke you up and made you drive all the way out there to see it.”
I felt a burning in my stomach. Concentrate on his voice. Keep your mind clear. Let the face come to you.
“I can’t tell you how happy it makes me feel, Alex. It makes me feel like we’re connected now. I didn’t know if that would ever happen.”
I couldn’t place that voice. I had no idea who this person could be.
“What did you think, Alex? What did you think of my work?”
“Are you referring to the murder that took place last night?”
“I wouldn’t call it murder,” he said. “Nobody will miss him. I saw him talking to your friend, you know. They didn’t see me, but I was there. I didn’t like what he was saying to Edwin. He was a very bad man, Alex. So I figured, if I can’t do something good for you yet, at least I can do something good for your friend.”
“Who are you?”
“Edwin seems like a very charming little man, Alex. I’ve been watching him. I was a little jealous at first, I have to admit.”
“Goddamn it, who are you? ”
“I’ll be talking to you, Alex. Sleep tight. It won’t be long now. I’m so glad we’re finally going to be together.”
CHAPTER FOUR
The morning came slowly, darkness giving way to a muted November light, dulled by the perpetually gray clouds and then filtered through the pine trees outside the window. The light found me sitting in my bed, my back set against the rough contour of the log wall, my eyes half open.
I hadn’t slept since the phone call. After my heart had stopped racing, I had sat down on the bed and gone over every word he had said, every nuance of his voice, and still I could not come up with a face or a name. I finally settled into a sort of exhausted trance, just sitting there, staring at the phone.
And then it rang. I had never in my life heard a sound as loud. By the time I got my breath back, the phone rang a second time and then a third. I got off the bed and picked up the receiver without saying anything.
“Hello?”
I didn’t think it was the same voice. I waited.
“Hello, Alex?” It sounded like… Uttley?
“Lane, is that you?”
“Yes, Alex. Are you all right? Did I wake you?”
“No,” I said. “I’m fine. I just… I’m fine.”
“Sorry to call so early,” he said.
“I was already awake,” I said. “Believe me.”
“Good, good,” he said. “Say listen, I know this is going to sound strange. I just got into the office here, and I’ve got this phone message. This guy says he’s going to kill me.”
“Hold on, Lane,” I said. “This is very important. Tell me exactly what he said.”
“Let’s see, he said that he had one of my business cards, and he didn’t want me talking to his wife anymore, and that if he ever saw me, he would kill me.”
“What? One of your business cards?”
“That’s what he said.”
“He didn’t want you talking to his… oh, wait a minute. I think I might know what that was. When did he leave the message?”
“I think it was Friday night sometime.”
“Ah, okay,” I said. I let out a long breath. “I know who that is. You remember I was going to stop by the trailer park to see if I could get some statements on that accident.”
“Yeah, on the Barnhardt case. With the legs. Jesus, with all the excitement the other night, I forgot all about it. I should have stopped by the hospital, too. See how the poor guy is doing. Goddamn it.”
“I did talk to one woman who saw the accident. I left your card. That must have been her husband who called you.”
“Great,” he said. “Killed by a jealous husband, and I never even got to meet her.”
“He’s probably just thumping his chest. If he was really going to kill you, he would have just come by the office. He has your address, after all.”
“Jesus,” he said. “Why did I become a lawyer, anyway?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s nothing.”
“Are you sure you’re all right? You don’t sound so good.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “There was just this…” I stopped.
“What? What is it?”
“I’ll tell you about it later,” I said. “Listen, I’ll stop by the trailer park on my way over there. I’m sure I can smooth things over.”
“You’re coming into the office?”
“Thought I might.” I couldn’t bear the thought of staying here alone today. Just me and the telephone.
“Good,” he said. “When you’re in town, you can stop by and see Chief Maven. He wants to have a little chat with you.”
“Great,” I said. My life was getting more interesting by the minute.
As soon as I hung up, I picked the receiver up again and dialed Edwin. He answered on the fifth ring.
“Edwin,” I said. “It’s Alex. Is everything okay over there?”
“Alex? What time is it? What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to make sure everything was all right.”
“Alex, I told you I was coming straight home last night. And that’s what I did. I swear.”
“I believe you, Edwin. That’s not what I mean. I was just wondering if you had gotten any phone calls in the middle of the night.”
“No, I didn’t. What’s going on?”
“It’s probably nothing,” I said. There was no sense in scaring him yet. “Right now, I need to know about the bookmaker. Tony Bing was his name, right?”
“Yes, but why do you have to know about him?”
“Please, Edwin, you just have to trust me on this one for a little while. When you met with him, was it always at one specific place?”
“Yeah, there’s this bar in the Soo called the Mariner’s Tavern. That’s where he always was if I needed to see him. But usually, I just talked to him on the phone.”
“I understand. But when you did see him, it was always there?”
“Yes, as far as I can remember.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Let me see. I guess that would have been last Monday night. I stopped by to give him his money.”
“Edwin, if you paid the man on Monday, why were you going out to pay him again on Saturday night? And why were you going to his motel room? You just said you only saw him at that bar.”
“For Christ’s sake, Alex, what’s with the third degree here? I’m not even out of bed yet. The reason I went out to see him on Saturday is because I lost more money, okay? I lost the game on Thursday night. Colorado was just about to score, they had the ball on the five yard line, and then that idiot throws an interception.”
“Save it, Edwin.”
“Yeah, I know. Don’t get me started.”
