'What cops?'
'Don't bullshit me. Are they, yes or no?'
'No.'
'Okay, I'll just assume you're lying about that. Here's what I think. I think my talking to your mother about the Ritter assassination might have led to someone killing her.'
'Ritter? That's crazy. They killed the man who did that.'
'Can you be sure he was acting alone?'
'How the hell
'Exactly. So, again, how was your mother killed?'
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
Michelle decided to try a different angle. 'I only met with yourmother for a little while, but I definitely liked what I saw. She was a real pistol who said what was on her mind. You have to respect that. She was a lifetime of wisdom rolled up into one very tough shell.'
'Yes, she was,' said the son. 'And go to hell.' He hung up.
'Damn,' said Michelle. 'I thought I had him.'
'You do. He'll call back. Give him time, he has to ditch the cops.'
'Sean, he just told me to go to hell.'
'So he's not the most subtle person in the world. He's a guy. Just be patient. We're not multitaskers like you women; we can only do one thing at a time.'
About thirty minutes later the phone rang.
Michelle looked at him. 'How'd you know?'
'Guys are suckers for a good phone voice. And you said all the right things about his mother. We're suckers for our mothers too.'
'Okay,' said the son over the phone, 'they found her in the bathtub, drowned.'
'Drowned? So how do they know it wasn't an accident? Maybe she had a heart attack.'
'There was money stuffed in her mouth, and the house had been ransacked. I don't call that a damn accident.'
'House ransacked and money stuffed in her mouth?' repeated Michelle, and King raised his eyebrows.
'Yep, a hundred bucks. Five twenties. I found her. I had called that night but she didn't answer. I live about forty miles away. I drove over. Damn! Seeing her like that.' His voice broke off.
'I'm sorry. And I'm also sorry that I never even asked your name.'
'Tony. Tony Baldwin.'
'Tony, I'm sorry. I visited your mother to talk about the Ritter assassination. I was interested in how it happened. I found out she was there that day and still lived in Bowlington, and I went to visit her. I talked to two other former maids too. I can give you their names. That's all I did, I swear.'
'Okay, I guess I believe you. So you got any idea who did this?'
'Not yet, but starting right now, finding out is my number one priority.'
She thanked him, hung up and turned to King.
'Money stuffed in her mouth,' he said thoughtfully.
'My money,' said Michelle miserably. 'I gave her that hundred dollars, five twenties, for answering my questions.'
King rubbed his chin. 'Okay, robbery wasn't a motive. They wouldn't have left the cash. But they searched the house. The person was looking for something.'
'But the cash in her mouth. My God, that's gruesome.'
'Maybe not so much gruesome as making a statement.'
She looked at him curiously. 'What sort of statement?'
'Maybe a fatal one, for both of them. Who would have thought it?'
'What are you talking about?'
'I can't tell you.'
'Why the hell not?'
'Because I haven't finished thinking about it, that's why. It's just the way I do things.'
Michelle threw up her hands in frustration. 'God, you are so maddening.'
'Thanks, I really work at it.' King looked out the window for a while and then finally stirred. 'Okay, this is a small town, and we're bound to attract suspicion, particularly with so many cops around. Let's head out and find a place to stay. We'll wait until late tonight before we hit it.'
'Hit what?'
He looked at her. 'I can be as nostalgic as the next person.'
Michelle scowled. 'Do lawyers always find it impossible to actually answer a question directly?'
'Okay, I think it's about time I paid the Fairmount Hotel a visit. Is that direct enough for you?'
27
They approached the hotel from the rear, careful to stay close to the thick tree line. The two were dressed identically and moved in tandem. They waited a bit at the edge of the trees, scanning the area ahead for signs of anyone. Satisfied, they moved out, quickly covering the ground between the forest and the fence surrounding the hotel. Scrambling over, they dropped on the other side. One of the pair pulled a pistol, and then they made their way down the rear face of the hotel. They found a side door that they forced open. In another moment they disappeared inside the dark space.
King and Michelle parked a good distance away from the Fairmount Hotel and covered the rest on foot. As they approached the building, they ducked back into the woods as the chopper, its searchlight racing over the ground, shot across overhead.
'This is actually exciting,' said Michelle as they emerged from the trees and threaded their way to the hotel. 'You know, sort of being on the other side of the badge for a change.'
'Yeah, it's a thrill a minute. Just think, I could be at my house with a nice glass of Viognier in front of a blazing fire reading Proust instead of skipping merrily through the environs of Bowlington, North Carolina, while dodging police choppers.'
'Please tell me you don't actually read Proust while drinking wine,' she said.
'Well, only if there's nothing good on ESPN.'
As they drew near to the hotel, King ran his gaze along the jumbled facade. 'This place always struck me as something Frank Lloyd Wright might have designed if he'd been strung out on heroin.'
'It is pretty ugly,' agreed Michelle.
'Just so you understand Clyde Ritter's sense of aesthetics, he thought the Fairmont was beautiful.'
The gap in the fence Michelle had used on her earlier visit had been sealed. So they were forced to go over the fence. King looked on a little enviously as Michelle clambered over with much greater ease than he would probably demonstrate. He was right. He almost fell on his face coming down the other side when his foot caught in one of the links. She helped him up without comment and led him down the side of the building. They entered through the same place she'd used on her first visit.
Inside she pulled out a flashlight, but King held up a warning hand. 'Wait a minute. You said there was a guard.'
'Yes, but I didn't see him around when we came through.'
King looked at her strangely. 'Actually as I recall, you said the second time you came you ran into the guard, but the first time there wasn't anyone.'
'He could have been making his rounds on the other side. They probably just patrol the perimeter.'
'Yeah, probably,' said King. He nodded for her to turn on the flashlight, and they made their way toward the lobby.
'The Stonewall Jackson Room is just down this hall,' she said.
