Dead Ringer

“I have a question,” Murphy said, her lovely face turning grave. “What happened to you last night, Bennie? I saw you on TV, bitching out the reporters.”

“I’m back on the sauce.”

Murphy raised a perfectly groomed brow. “This could be the only explanation for your eyeliner.”

“A for effort?”

“No. Anything more from Alice? I got you a hearing for next week.”

“I’ll take it. Meantime, no more break-ins, lots of new locks, and David surveilled the street last night and this morning.”

“That working out okay with him?”

“Good as can be expected,” Bennie answered. She suppressed: He food-shopped for me and I think I’m in lust. The kids didn’t have to know everything about Mommy and Daddy.

“Boss,” Carrier broke in, barely able to contain herself. “I did some research last night on Linette.”

“You did?” Bennie asked, surprised. It was what she had been going to call the associate about before David stopped her. “What did you learn?”

“I found out he lives in a town house in Society Hill, on Delancey. I have the address in my office. It’s one of those huge ones.”

“Really.” It would have been Bennie’s first question last night. Perhaps the world could turn without her. “Good for you, Carrier.”

“But wait, there’s more. What we want to know is what Linette was doing the night of the murder, assuming he didn’t hire anyone to kill Robert.” Carrier barely took a breath before answering her own question. “Dinner ended before nine, according to Abrams, and at that hour there are two basic possibilities for most lawyers in America. Back to the office, or give it up and go home.”

Bennie smiled.

“Now. We know that Linette didn’t go back to the office, because of what Murphy learned from the sign-in log at his building. So let’s give this jerk the benefit of the doubt and say that he intended to go back to the office, but changed his mind and went home instead.” Carrier’s voice took on a logical cadence. “Now, to get to his house from the Palm, it’s about ten blocks. We know he didn’t have a car, Abrams told us that. That means Linette could walk, go by bus, or take a cab.”

Bennie nodded. “Door number three, the cab. He’s too self-important to take a bus, much less walk.”

“I thought so, too.” Carrier held up a finger, her china blue eyes keeping a secret. “Now, we know that he didn’t go back to the office. So we need to eliminate the possibility that he went home.”

“How do we do that?”

“We do what I did. First question. What is the way that most lawyers, especially ones with major dough, get a cab at that hour?”

“They call a radio cab, Penn Call. We did it at Grun.”

“Right, and we did it at Stalling and Webb, too. It’s easiest. They come right away. You charge it to the firm, you sign a receipt for the fare and the tip. It costs nothing and it’s instant. So I made a basic assumption, that if Linette changed his mind about going to work, he would have taken a Penn Call cab home. You with me?”

“I don’t know.” Bennie was dubious. “It’s not that hard to get a cab at a hotel like the Hyatt, where the Palm is.”

“True, but Abrams would have seen Linette grab a cab there, especially because he had to wait for the valet to get his car. Abrams didn’t say he had seen Linette do that. So it’s logical to assume that if Linette got a cab, it wasn’t at the Palm.”

“Okay,” Bennie said. The reasoning held up.

“So let’s say Linette walks toward his office and then decides to go home. There are so few cabs in this city, it’s not New York, and I think he’d save himself the hassle and do what the rich lawyers do. Phone Penn Call.” Carrier paused. “So I called Penn Call, pretending to be Linette’s secretary. I told them that he’d left his Montblanc pen in the cab last night, and asked if they knew which cab he took from the Palm to his house.”

Bennie smiled. “Cute.”

“They said if he had taken a cab, the driver would have turned in the receipt. But guess what? They had no record he took a trip from the Palm to his house, and they checked all the receipts. They even asked the drivers. And yes, Linette does have an account with Penn Call. He uses them exclusively. The dispatcher told me he even keeps them on speed dial, on his cell.” Carrier couldn’t hide her pride. “And by the way, they also told me they didn’t take him anywhere else that night either. Linette was not in a Penn Call cab the night Robert was killed.”

Hmm. Bennie was worried about something. “What if the cab company-”

“Calls and tells Linette?” Carrier held up her traffic hand. “Don’t worry, I thought of that. I called back as the secretary, saying I’d made a mistake and please not to tell my boss I screwed up.”

“Smooth.”

Carrier grinned. “So let’s review. What have we learned? That Bill Linette didn’t go back to the office or to his house on the night St. Amien was murdered. So, where was he?”

“Interesting.” Bennie mulled it over. “Of course, there are other places to go.”

“We’re talking about Philadelphia.”

Murphy’s lovely green eyes shifted to Carrier. “Judy, how many married men do you know?”

“My dad,” Carrier asked, nonplussed, and Bennie smiled while Murphy followed up.

“Well, I know more than a few, because they hit on me all the time. I’m not bragging, I’m just giving you a field report. Nine times out of nine, if a man is hitting on me, he’s married.”

“You’re kidding,” Carrier said, so surprised she couldn’t finish her second doughnut.

“If Linette didn’t go home on a night he told a client he was going back to the office, I bet you he’s got a chick somewhere.” Murphy pushed aside her coffee. “And he’s probably set her up in an apartment in town, within walking distance of his office, for his convenience.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s the standard offer. Platinum AmEx, BMW convertible. It’s minimum wage.”

“Whoa,” Carrier said, but Bennie was remembering her visit to Linette’s plush offices.

“Linette has a receptionist who looks like Miss Texas.”

“Now you’re talking,” Murphy said. “I’d start there.” She turned to Carrier. “Sorry to shoot your theory, Jude.”

“It’s not shot, Murph. We just go digging.”

“What do you mean?”

“We find some reason for you to go over to Linette’s office and see if he hits on you.”

Murphy sniffed. “Of course he’ll hit on me. I’m practically undefeated.”

“Are you two nuts?” Bennie interrupted.

“What?” they both asked, in unison. The phone started ringing but everybody ignored it.

“Have Linette hit on you, Murphy?” Bennie couldn’t believe the words coming out of her own mouth. “It’s crazy, dangerous, and revolting! And it wouldn’t prove anything!”

“It could,” Murphy answered.

“Like what?”

“We don’t know yet. We’d be investigating.” Murphy looked as if she were actually considering it, sipping her coffee and narrowing her eyes. “We have to find out what Linette’s up to, then confront him.”

Carrier joined in. “Or turn him in. Or catch him in a lie. It’s not the whole picture yet, boss. It’s just a piece. That’s how we always do it. Piece by piece, like a puzzle.”

“What? No we don’t. It’s not a puzzle!” Bennie wanted to tear out her moussed hair. The only problem with Mama was the kids. “I do not send my associates to seduce killers!”

“I bet we could crack this case, Bennie,” Murphy added.

“Absolutely not!” Bennie’s good mood vanished. She reached for her coffee but it was cold. The intercom starting buzzing on her phone, and she picked up. “Yes, Marshall?”

“Got Sam on line one. He says it’s really important.”