Hour Game

Chip, and she sort of cut you off. But if you came by again, I know she'd see you. She needs someone to talk to right now.'

'What exactly would she tell us?' asked King.

'I'm not totally sure,' admitted Eddie. 'But at least you can get her side of things instead of just this trash in the paper.'

'I'm sure Chip and his men will do that.'

'But she'd be more comfortable with you. Between you, me and the wall, Chip and Mom don't really get along all that well.'

'Even though he saved your life?'

'I don't know how to explain it. I only know it's true.'

'He speaks very highly of her.'

'Maybe I wasn't clear. Mom doesn't really care for him all that much.'

'All right, we'll speak to her. But, again, that won't stop people from gossiping.'

Dorothea broke in. 'Since Eddie keeps beating around the bush, let me say it straight out. There's no way in the world that Remmy had anything to do with that man's death. But if you find whoever did kill Junior, that would stop all the talk.'

'Right,' said Eddie. 'And then maybe you'll find who murdered Dad too.'

'So you think it might be the same person?' asked King.

'It just seems very coincidental that Junior was charged with burglarizing my parents' home, and then in quick succession he and my father are killed.'

'That was actually my idea,' said Dorothea proudly. 'And the reason I'm here. I got to thinking about this last night. What if somebody is using this string of murders to hide the killings of Bobby and Junior? And if so, it must be connected to what was stolen.'

'That's actually something we're considering,' admitted King.

'See!' exclaimed Dorothea, pointing at her husband. 'I told you!'

'All right, Dorothea, all right,' Eddie said. 'So you think it's possible, Sean?'

'Anything's possible,' said King vaguely. 'Will your mother be home today?'

'Yes, but the funeral's tomorrow. A lot of people are coming in for it.'

'Then we'll talk to her after that. What time's the service?'

'Two o'clock. There's a service at Christ Church and burial's at Kensington. You're welcome to come, of course.'

Dorothea hunched forward. 'So do you have any leads, anyone you suspect so far?'

'It's an ongoing investigation, Dorothea. We can't comment on that,' replied King.

'I just thought that if we helped you, you might fill us in on things,' she said bluntly.

'Sorry, it doesn't work that way. But since you're here, I have a question to ask you. You visited Bobby in the afternoon on the day he was killed?'

Dorothea stared at him blankly. 'That's right. So what?'

'What was the purpose of your visit?'

'He was my father-in-law. I wanted to see how he was doing. It wasn't the first time, and I was there long before he was killed.'

'And that night you went to Richmond. What time did you get there?'

'I don't remember. It was late. I went to bed.'

'What hotel?'

'The Jefferson. I always stay there.'

'I'm sure you do. And I'm sure they can give us the exact time you arrived.'

'What the hell are you getting at? I came here this morning to try and help you, not to be interrogated.'

'And I'm trying to help you. If you were at a hotel ninety miles away when your father-in-law was being killed, you have an ironclad alibi. I'm sure the FBI has already checked into this as well.'

Dorothea stared at King for a few more moments, then rose and stalked out. Eddie thanked them both and quickly followed. King and Michelle watched through the window as they went to their cars.

Michelle said, 'You don't think she was at that hotel at ten o'clock, do you?'

'I think she was somewhere she doesn't want her husband to know about. And I'm sure Bailey has already found that out but not bothered to tell us. Her answer about seeing Bobby before was total B.S. I checked at the hospital.'

Michelle watched as Eddie climbed in his car. 'I wonder how a nice guy like him ended up with a witch like her?'

King looked at her and smiled. 'Going sweet on Eddie Battle?'

Michelle's face flushed. 'Get serious, Sean.'

'Do you have anything planned for tomorrow afternoon?'

'Maybe a run.'

'It's canceled. We're going to a funeral.'

'Why?'

'It's a little-known fact that killers very often go to their victims' funerals.'

'Well, we didn't go to the other funerals.'

'There haven't really been any others. Rhonda Tyler's parents apparently didn't want to be bothered, so she was buried in a potter's field near Lynchburg. I went to the burial. The only other people there were the gravediggers.'

'I'm surprised no one from the Aphrodisiac went. Like Pam maybe.'

'I think they just want to forget it even happened.'

'Talk about hiding your head in the sand.'

'And Steve Canney was cremated without a service.'

'That's a little unusual for a big football star.'

'His father didn't see it that way.'

'How about Pembroke?' asked Michelle.

'Her parents were so embarrassed by what she was doing with Canney when she died, they buried her at an undisclosed location out of the area.'

'Hinson?'

'Her parents took her remains back to New York where she was born.'

'So what do you make of Eddie and Dorothea's coming by?' she asked.

'Eddie I understand. His mother probably put him up to it. Her dutifully loyal son is a perfect tool for her. Dorothea's presence was far more interesting. She claimed it was to tell us her theory on the killer. I'm surprised she'd given it that much thought actually. I think she came principally to fish for information.'

'Maybe she's just bucking for a bigger piece of the estate. Not that she needs it.'

'No, I think she might,' replied King.

'What do you mean? She's the queen of local real estate.'

'Dorothea's become involved in some questionable real estate ventures that went south very recently.'

'You did some checking?'

'I was getting tired of letting Chip Bailey have all the fun.'

'And you haven't told him this?'

'He's FBI, he can find out for himself.'

'So Dorothea needs money, and she's trying to get in Remmy's good graces in order to get it.'

'That could be.' He checked his watch. 'I've arranged interviews with Roger Canney and Pembroke's parents starting in about an hour. After we finish with them, you may want to go shopping.'

'Shopping? For what?'

He ran his gaze over her. 'Jeans and a Secret Service windbreaker just don't cut it for proper funeral attire.'