where he was last seen?”
“Where?” I said softly. He was scaring me a little, not with his shouts but with what I guessed the answer might be.
He didn’t speak right away. He calmed himself, then said, “On Broadway, standing around outside the Wrigley Building. Maybe waiting for you to come downstairs, go out to lunch. Turns out a patrolman told him to move along before he learned we were looking for the guy.”
“Let’s start this conversation over. The Las Piernas Police Department is looking for Two Toes.”
“Right. Reed wants to question him. Based on what Two Toes told you, we think he might have been the last person to see Lucas alive. Then we picked up word on the street that the guy has Lucas’s ring and-”
“His ring? Wait-Carlos said the ring was taken after Lucas died. So you think Two Toes was there when Lucas died?”
“Maybe. If nothing else, Two Toes robbed a dead man. He also seems to hold you responsible for bringing the police into the Angelus. A couple of people heard him ranting that you had desecrated Lucas’s tomb.”
I wasn’t paying strict attention to what Frank was saying. I was still wondering if Two Toes killed Lucas for a lousy college ring. “Has Carlos come up with a cause of death?” I asked.
“He says Lucas had a heart attack, but-”
“Heart attack!”
“Hang on, let me finish. Carlos and Reed worked this out from the patterns of bruising. Carlos said Lucas might have grown dizzy, stumbled, grazed his forehead on the radiator, then collapsed to his knees, probably clutching his chest as he died. He said it would have been quick. There’s only one thing that’s bothering him.”
“What?”
“Lucas’s liver wasn’t in great shape. But his heart-Carlos can’t figure out why the heart gave out on him.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” he said, “that you might not have won Reed over, but Carlos was impressed by your concerns. With or without your concerns, he’s a very thorough man. He wants to make sure the heart attack wasn’t induced.”
“Induced…you mean by some chemical means? A poison? Maybe a drug?”
“Maybe.”
“Did Carlos check for injection marks?”
“Yes. There were no injection marks. Not even old ones, so your friend wasn’t a junkie.”
“The others said that. He hit the bottle, stayed away from drugs. He had real problems with booze, I guess, but even his street friends said he had been staying sober.” I thought for a moment. “He had a thermos with him in the hotel-”
“Carlos has ordered toxicological reports on the body. I’m sure they’ll check any food or drink that was in the room as well.”
“When did Lucas die?”
“Carlos isn’t positive, but he thinks it was probably about three days before you found the body.”
“The day Allan Moffett resigned.”
“Yes.”
I mulled this over. “Did Roberta have any information about Lucas?”
“No, not that she’s sharing with us. She said he didn’t give any family information when he signed up with the center-claims confidentiality about anything else.”
“Even though he’s dead?”
“It’s still privileged. We may get a warrant.”
I wondered if Roberta would tell me more about what was going on with Lucas, then I remembered my last conversation with her. Roberta probably wasn’t willing to speak to me about anything. Maybe I could try mending fences. That brought my thoughts back to my husband.
“Frank, about tonight-”
“Look, before you make up your mind, let me apologize about coming on so strong. I guess I sort of panicked. This Two Toes has a reputation for using his fists. I didn’t want him using them on you. I couldn’t reach you, and I started making arrangements. I wanted you to be safe.”
Safety. There’s no such thing, I wanted to say. Instead I said, “I understand, Frank. But Lisa Selman is coming over for dinner, remember? She’s coming over to the house at seven. I was going to cook dinner for the three of us.”
“Hmm. I forgot about that. Look,” he said, “could you reschedule the dinner?”
“I don’t know. Her dad’s in the hospital and-”
“You’re right. So she meets Rachel instead of your domineering, overprotective husband.”
“Somehow it won’t be the same. I’ll call Lisa and see if she’s willing to let Rachel sub for you.”
“Thanks, Irene.” There was relief in his voice.
NEITHERLISA NORRACHELobjected to the change in dinner plans. That settled, I took out the photographs that Claire and Tyler gave me and studied them for the one hundredth time. I dialed Booter Hodges.
“Hello, Irene! How nice to hear from you! What can I do for you?”
“I was thinking about Allan Moffett. You’re old friends, right?”
“Well, yes, although I hardly move in Allan’s circles.”
“Oh, c’mon, Booter. You’re even fishing buddies, aren’t you?”
There was the slightest pause before he said, “Oh, I may have gone fishing once or twice with him.”
“When?”
“Nothing lately. Five or six years ago we went once or twice, that’s all.” He forced a laugh. “Who has time to go fishing now?”
“Andre Selman has a boat.”
“No kidding? Well, what do you know about that?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Oh, maybe I heard something about it. Why do you mention it? Did you want me to ask Andre Selman to take you fishing?”
I laughed at that. “No, no thanks, Booter. I just thought you might have been out on his boat.”
“No, sorry. Never. I’ll have to ask him to show it to me-if I ever find a free moment. Now, I’m sure you’re busy, too. Don’t let’s waste time talking about fishing. Is there some way in which I may be of assistance to you?”
“Yes, I think you may. Tell me if the Alumni Foundation has heard from a graduate named Lucas Monroe.”
There was another pause, then Booter said, “I couldn’t give that information out, as I’m sure you know-privacy laws, of course. I know they’re a bother to you reporters-they can be pretty darn tough on an alumni foundation, too.”
“You remember him?”
“Who?”
“Lucas Monroe.”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of him.”
“Worked with Andre. Used to share an office with him.”
“How long ago?”
“Oh, back when you were fishing with Allan and the other boys.”
“Well, then, no wonder. We have thousands of students here, and I can’t be expected to recall a man who went to school here back in the 1970s.”
You blew it, I thought. Once or twice five or six years ago. Sure. “You haven’t heard from Lucas Monroe since the 1970s?”
“No-I mean, I’ve never heard from him.”
“But you mentioned the 1970s, not me, Booter.”
There was a pause, then he said, “I guess I assumed you were asking about one of your old friends, someone who went to school here when you did.”
