Dead Ringer

no risk or weirdness.”

“Also you would have said no,” Carrier added, and Bennie felt a tension she couldn’t explain.

“Carrier, where were you while she was having lunch with this Ross?”

“We worked as a team, and I was backup. I sat at the next table, incognito, in case she got into any trouble.”

“As I was saying, Ross Pacine is an associate who works for Linette.” Murphy eased into a chair opposite Bennie, and Carrier into the chair next to her. “I went over to Linette’s to drop off some papers-”

“What papers?”

“An extra copy of our complaint, which I know is bogus, but it gave Ross the chance to ask me out. Which he did. So I said how about a late lunch instead, and he said sure. And we went to lunch and he had a few Amstels and he dished.” Murphy licked her glossy lips. “Linette is having an affair with the new receptionist, the one you call Miss Texas. He bought her a love shack at the Water’s Edge, down on Front Street. Near his house.”

“Ross knows this for sure?” Bennie asked.

“Everybody in the office knows it for sure. But Linette didn’t go see Miss Texas on Tuesday, the night Robert was killed.”

“You asked him that? Murphy, this could be dangerous.”

“Of course I didn’t ask, but I know just the same. Because Miss Texas had a breast job on Tuesday morning, paid for by Linette. I’m guessing she wasn’t in the mood for love that night.” Murphy folded her arms. “So where was Linette on the night of the murder? He wasn’t anywhere he was supposed to be, and he wasn’t even where he wasn’t supposed to be.”

“I thought he could have another mistress,” Carrier interjected.

“Ross said he doesn’t, Miss Texas would kill him.” Murphy raised an auburn eyebrow. “We think it’s time for you to talk to Linette. Ask him what he did Tuesday night, in some casual way, and see if he lies to you. Then Murphy and I can follow up.”

“Follow up?” Bennie repeated. “You two?”

Carrier was nodding eagerly. “And you know what else we found out? Ross says that Linette has a big goon who hangs around him from the old days, when he did criminal defense. This guy supposedly does all sorts of sleazy jobs for Linette, and I was thinking maybe Linette hired him to kill Robert. His name is Luke Deal.”

Oh, no. Bennie’s mouth went dry. “Luke Deal was tried for a brutal double murder ten years ago, in Bridesburg. The case made all the papers. Linette was his lawyer, and he got him off on a technicality, by suppressing his confession.”

Carrier’s face lit up “That’s incredible! Maybe Deal’s the one! We should definitely follow this up. I’ll research Deal online and find out where he lives.”

Murphy bubbled with excitement. “What if Linette was with Deal the night Robert was killed? They could have been in it together! I’ll call Ross and see if he wants to meet me for dinner, and afterward I’ll make up some excuse to stop by Linette’s office. I wonder if there’s a way I can slip away from him and sneak into the financial records and see if there are any suspicious payoffs and then-”

“Are you two nuts?” Bennie shouted, suddenly furious, and the associates looked at her in surprise. “Why do you think you can go running around after murderers!”

“What are you so mad about, boss?” Carrier asked, confused. “You do it all the time.”

Murphy frowned. “And why do you have to get so freaked out? We know what we’re doing!”

“I can take risks like that, but you can’t!” Bennie shot back. Then she heard herself shouting. She was so freaked out. She couldn’t let them get hurt solving this case. It made her realize something. She loved them. Loved them. The thought silenced her, at least for the moment. And the two girls, oblivious, kept chattering away.

“It only got dangerous when Ross made his move,” Carrier was saying with a smile. “He tried to grab Murphy’s knee under the table. Then I stepped in and saved the day, like Batgirl.”

Murphy looked askance. “You saved the day? Please. I handled him.”

“Oh, don’t even start with me! I was the one who dropped my fork and stabbed him in the ankle, accidentally on purpose. That’s why he yelped!”

“That’s not why! He yelped because I kicked him in the shin. It was nothing my Manolo couldn’t fix.” Murphy wiggled her overpriced designer pump, and Carrier laughed.

“No way! You needed me!”

“Who needs Batgirl when she has Blahnik?”

“Oh, blah blah Blahnik. You did!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!” Carrier gave her a playful shove, and Murphy shoved her back, less convincingly.

“Bennie, she hit me!”

Bennie let them bicker-her thoughts were going elsewhere. Her smile faded, and a chill came suddenly over her. Because she had realized something else:

She knew who had killed Robert St. Amien.

32

But there was a commotion outside her office, and Bennie and the associates jumped up and went for the door. The associates got there first and collided with a whirlwind of worsted wool, wrapped around a hysterical Vita DiNunzio. She was rushing headlong into Bennie’s office, her short little legs churning in their support hose and black orthopedic shoes, so quickly that Carrier and Murphy reflexively held her back, one on each arm, in her bunchy winter coat.

“You! You! Benedetta Rosato!” Mrs. DiNunzio was shouting, pointing her arthritic finger at Bennie. Her magnified eyes flared behind her thick glasses, and the wrinkled skin on her face was a streaky red. Only her hair remained unemotional, a perfect swirl of pinkish cotton candy. “My Maria! My Maria! My Maria, she’sa hurt!”

“Mrs. DiNunzio, hello, and what are you talking about?” Despite her confusion, Bennie extended her hand, but Mrs. DiNunzio took a taloned swipe at it. How had the woman gotten through Marshall? What the hell was going on? “Mrs. DiNunzio, Mary’s on a business trip. She’s in Washington. I’m sure she told you, she’s was coming home on the train today.”

“Washington! Washington! Maria is onna train! Onna train onna TV! ”

“What?” Bennie asked, bewildered, and Carrier jumped between them.

“Turn on the TV, Bennie,” she shouted over the din. “There must be something about Mary on TV.”

“Maria! Maria!” Mrs. DiNunzio kept shouting, waving her little fists and struggling to get out of the associates’ grasp. “Devil! Witch!”

Mary. Bennie hurried to the small Sony on her credenza and turned it on. She had wanted to tell the associates about Robert’s killer, but that would have to wait. The TV came on and the screen was showing news of a huge train derailment, with car after car crumpled hideously, lying sideways like a grotesque Jacob’s ladder beside a railroad track. Bennie gasped. “Oh, no. Not Mary.”

“It’s not Mary, it can’t be!” Murphy said, restraining Mrs. DiNunzio as she pointed to the bottom of the screen. The banner underneath the picture read, Outside Seattle, Washington. Murphy turned to the raving Mrs. DiNunzio. “The train crash isn’t in Washington, D.C. It’s in Washington State! Mrs. DiNunzio, you understand what I’m saying? This isn’t the same Washington! Mary is fine!”

“Maria! Maria!” Mrs. DiNunzio kept yelling at Bennie. “You no care about my Maria! You only love money! Money!”

Bennie tried to figure out what had happened. Mrs. DiNunzio had heard the word “Washington” on TV, had seen the wrecked train, and had made the wrong connection. There were no fatalities in the Washington State train wreck anyway. Evidently Mr. DiNunzio hadn’t been around to talk sense to her, and she wouldn’t listen to anybody else. Or even leave her kitchen, except to come here and try to kill Bennie.