'More like a promise. Take it however you like. All I'm telling you is, if I were you, I wouldn't leave town. You stay right here in Ashland until I say you can go, got it?'
'Come on, Fraymore. Don't go dishing out orders. Remember me? I'm the one who brought you that videotape the minute I saw it. If I weren't on the up-and-up, why would I do that?'
'You tell me. To throw me offtrack maybe? What I can't figure out for the life of me is why a man in your position would get involved with that little two-bit piece of baggage in the first place. Seems to me as though someone with Bentleys and Porsches out the kazoo wouldn't bother with someone like her.'
So that was it. He thought I was messing around with Tanya Dunseth. 'I already told you. Tanya's my daughter's friend.'
Fraymore smiled a mirthless, chilly smile. 'Tell your daughter from me that she should choose her friends a little more wisely next time. And so should you. I don't know who Tanya Dunseth is, but I can sure as hell tell you who she isn't. I've been checking into the bio information she gave the Festival. None of it adds up.'
My mind zipped back to the lunch at Geppetto's with Jeremy and Kelly talking about Tanya Dunseth's blighted childhood. 'You're saying none of it checks out? Her parents didn't die in a house fire when she was a little kid?'
'That's exactly what I mean. The parents Tanya Dunseth listed on her job application aren't just deceased. They never existed in the first place. And, according to the hospital in Goldendale, neither does she. Not only that, I have physical evidence linking her to both victims.'
'What kind of evidence?'
'Now, now, that would be telling, wouldn't it. So take this as a warning, Detective Beaumont. If you're somehow in on all this, I'm going to find out and nail your ass to the ground. And if you're not, then stay the hell out of it!'
I could feel the circle of proof tightening around Tanya Dunseth's neck. I couldn't tell for sure if Fraymore actually believed I was in on it, or if he was using me to carry a message to Tanya, hoping to provoke her into doing something stupid.
'Are you going to arrest her?' I asked.
'You just don't understand, do you, fella? You just don't comprende the words MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. Let me put it another way. Stay the hell out! I may not arrest Tanya Dunseth today or tomorrow or even next week-but I will eventually. In the meantime, I'll be watching her very closely. I wouldn't want Little Miss Porno Flick to slip away.
'I'm not booking her today, and not because I think she's innocent, either. I'm what you might call a fiscally responsible cop. I don't want the city of Ashland to have to pay room and board on her until it's time-until I've built an airtight case. When I do get around to arresting her-and you can count on it that I will-then you can bet I'll make it stick. Watch yourself, Beaumont, or some of her crap will land on you.'
'Wait just a minute. What if Daphne Lewis and Martin Shore were in on something together? What if they were trying to blackmail or discredit Tanya Dunseth?' I asked. 'Why else would that video show up here after all this time?'
'So what if they were?' Fraymore agreed. 'Blackmail's no reason to rub people out. That's not the way it works. Maybe you should take Tanya Dunseth aside and explain the facts of life. That's why we have courts of law in this country, so people don't have to go around killing other people just because they've got their noses out of joint.'
'Is there a connection between Shore and Daphne?'
Fraymore shrugged. 'You tell me. I'm looking. I haven't found one yet, but I will. I'm that kind of guy.'
The hospital door opened, and Ralph Ames emerged. He's from sunny Arizona. Unlike the rest of us, he keeps a pair of sunglasses in his pocket at all times. He slapped them on his face before taking two steps into the glaring sunlight.
'I understand that guy's your attorney,' Fraymore growled, watching a tanned and fit Ralph Ames stride confidently toward us across an expanse of grassy lawn. 'What's he doing here?'
'He came for the wedding.'
'Not because you had some idea you might need him?'
'No, because he's a friend of the family,' I replied.
Nodding sagely, Fraymore stood up. 'Sure he is, and I'm a goddamn monkey's uncle. Do me a favor. Tell this ‘friend of the family' that he should stick around for a day or two. If I get lucky, he may wind up doing some legal work after all.'
Fraymore walked away then, leaving me alone. The emotional turmoil of the past few days had taken its toll, but I wasn't in such a fog that I didn't recognize a barefaced threat when I heard it. The oversized detective crammed his bulk into the Lumina and slammed the door, speeding away in a spray of gravel.
As I watched him go, a very real sense of apprehension settled over me. I didn't worry that he'd find any evidence linking me to Tanya Dunseth. There wasn't any. Not yet. But, given sufficient imagination and vindictiveness, damning evidence could easily be manufactured. From the way he acted, the things he said, I knew for sure that Gordon Fraymore was a vindictive man-vindictive and probably jealous as well.
He was a moderately successful detective on a tiny police force. In terms of official rank, we were on much the same level. But there are hazards connected with being a big fish in a very small pool.
Not only that, the guy drove a damn Chevy. It's both laughable and sad, but the American male has not yet escaped the mental trap of believing you are what you drive. A Lumina doesn't stack up very well against a Porsche 928. I had given away a Bentley for the hell of it as well as for a sizable tax deduction, while Gordon Fraymore would most likely never even touch one.
With someone like him, an old-fashioned, piss-in-your-soup-type threat can be ignored only at your own peril.
Sure as hell, Tanya Dunseth wasn't the only one in what the Laredo Kid would have called deep caca. So was J.P. Beaumont.
CHAPTER 10
Ames joined me on the concrete bench, nodding in greeting. 'What was that about?' he asked. Your friend Fraymore looked distinctly unhappy when he rumbled out of here.'
'He's no friend of mine, and don't let appearances fool you. He's happy as can be. He just threatened to throw me in jail.'
'Well,' Ames returned mildly, 'in that case, it's a good thing I'm here.'
I scowled. 'Funny, those were his very words. You two must be on the same wavelength.'
Ralph grinned. 'How come he wants you behind bars?'
'For interfering in his investigation.'
'Oh,' Ralph said. 'Too bad, but that being the case, I could just as well go tell Alex it's no deal.' He got up and started away. I couldn't figure out what was going on.
'Wait a minute,' I said. 'What's no deal? What are you talking about?'
Ralph stopped in midstride and turned back. 'I've decided to look into Tanya Dunseth's situation. Alex thought maybe you wouldn't mind riding along out to the farm to make introductions. But it's not necessary, certainly not with Fraymore on your tail. It isn't worth it.'
'Hold on. Are you saying you intend to drop everything and hang around here to personally handle whatever criminal charges Fraymore may lodge against Tanya Dunseth?'
Ames nodded. 'If there are criminal charges, yes.'
'You'd do that for someone who A: You don't know and B: Is probably guilty as sin?'
'That's pretty much the size of it,' he replied cheerfully.
I decided the man had gone off his rocker. 'How can you, when you don't even know what the charges are?'
'No problem,' Ralph smiled. 'Fraymore will tell me eventually. He has to, you know.'
Usually, I appreciate Ralph Ames' droll sense of humor. Sometimes I even enjoy it. This was not one of those
