Split Second

'Did you get a look at him?'

'No. My father's study had a door to the outside. He must have left that way.'

'What else did you hear?'

'Nothing. They started speaking in lower voices. Probably realized they might wake me up. I thought about going downstairs and seeing who it was, but I was scared.'

'Did your father ever mention who the visitor was, anything about it at all?'

'No. I was afraid to let him know I'd overheard, so I never brought it up.'

'Could it have been someone who worked at the college?'

'No, I think I would have recognized his voice.' There was something in her manner, a furtiveness, that Michelle didn't like, but she chose not to push it.

'Did you ever hear the name Ritter mentioned by the man? Anything like that?'

'No! That's why I never talked to the police about this. I… I was scared to. My father was dead, and I didn't know if anyone else was involved, and I just didn't want to drag anything up.'

'And the person had mentioned your mother, and you thought it might reflect badly on her somehow.'

Kate looked at her with hurt, swollen eyes. 'People can write and say anything they want. They can destroy people.'

Michelle took her hand. 'I'll do everything I can to solve this case without doing any further harm. You have my word.'

Kate squeezed Michelle's hand. 'I don't know why I should, but I believe you. Do you really think you can find out the truth, after all these years?'

'I'll give it my best shot.'

As Michelle rose to leave, Kate said, 'I did love my father. I still love my father. He was a good man. His life shouldn't have ended that way. That it did makes you feel like there's no hope for the rest of us.'

To Michelle, Kate sounded almost suicidal. She sat back down and put her arm around her. 'Listen to me. Your father's life was histo do what he wanted with. Your life is exactly the same. You've endured so much, accomplished so much, you should have more hope than anyone. I'm not just saying that, Kate, I mean it.'

Kate finally let out a tiny smile. 'Thanks.'

Michelle jogged back to the truck and climbed in. While King drove she filled him in on her conversation with Kate.

King slapped the steering wheel. 'Damn, so there was someone. The guy who was talking to her father could have been the man with the gun in the closet.'

'Okay, let's break this down. There were two assassins but only one followed through. Intentional or not? Cold feet, or was it all about setting up Ramsey?'

King shook his head. 'If intentional and you know you're not going to use your gun, why even bring it to the hotel?'

'Maybe he and Ramsey met beforehand, and the other guy had to at least make a pretense of intending to carry it off. Otherwise, maybe Ramsey gets suspicious.'

'Right, that could be. Okay, now we need to take a really hard look at Ramsey's background, probably back to college. If the man knew Regina Ramsey, and Arnold Ramsey talked about times changing, the answer might lie in the past.'

'And it also might explain why a Berkeley superstar was teaching at a little college in the middle of nowhere.'

Michelle once again slid into the backseat. 'You drive while I change back into my clothes.'

King focused on the road as his ears picked up the sounds of garments being pulled off and on. 'By the way, do you often strip to your birthday suit in the company of strange men?'

'You're notthat strange. And, Sean, I'm really flattered.'

'Flattered? About what?'

'You snuck a peek.'

50

The four met back at King's house late that afternoon. Parks placed a large file box on the kitchen table. 'That's the result of our search on Bob Scott,' he told Joan.

'That was pretty fast,' she commented.

'Hey, who you think you're dealing with, some Mickey Mouse outfit?'

King looked at her. 'Checking out Scott? I told you he couldn't have been involved.'

Joan eyed him intently. 'I like to verify things independently. It's not like any of us are infallible.'

'Unfortunately the reason it came so fast,' said Parks a little sheepishly, 'is because those dummies crammed practically everything in they could find about people named Bob Scott. So a lot of the paper is probably worthless. But there it is.' He put on his hat. 'I'm heading back out. I'll call if anything clicks, and I expect you to do the same.'

After he left, the three had a quick dinner out on the rear deck. Joan told them about her check on Doug Denby.

'So he's out of the loop,' said Michelle.

'Apparently.'

King looked puzzled. 'So according to the woman you spoke with at the law firm in Philly, Bruno didn't cheat when he was a U.S. attorney in D.C.?'

'If we can believe her. I tend to think she was telling the truth.'

'So maybe Mildred was feeding us a pack of lies about Bruno.'

'Now, that I can believe,' commented Joan. She glanced inside to where the box Parks had left was sitting on the table. 'We'll have to go through the files Parks brought.'

'I can start on it,' said Michelle. 'Since I didn't know him, I might not skim over stuff that the two of you might.' She excused herself and went inside.

Joan looked out over the water. 'It is really beautiful here, Sean. You picked a nice spot to start fresh.'

King finished his beer and sat back. 'Well, I might have to pick another spot.'

Joan glanced over at him. 'Let's hope not. A person shouldn't have to re-create himself more than once in a lifetime.'

'How about you? You said you wanted out.'

'To go to some island with my millions?' She smiled in a resigned way. 'Dreams more often than not don't come true. Particularly at my stage of life.'

'But if you find Bruno, you get the big payoff.'

'The money was only part of the dream.'

When King shot her a glance, she quickly looked away.

'Do you sail much?' she asked.

'In the fall when the powerboats are gone and the winds pick up.'

'Well, it is the fall. So maybe now would be a good time.'

King looked at the clear sky and felt the nice breeze against his skin. They had a couple hours of daylight left. He stared at Joan intently for a few moments. 'Yeah, now would be a good time.'

King showed Joan how to manage the sailboat's tiller. He'd attached a five-horsepower motor on the stern just in case the wind died down. They steered a course out into the main channel and then drifted.

Joan admired the spread of mountains encircling the lake, the green still vibrant, although the nip of fall was clearly in the air.

'Did you ever think you'd end up in a place like this after all those years of hotels and airplanes and pushing till