'It's not what you think,' she said, changing to a resigned tone. 'This
was all Townsend and Gunderson. Townsend found out about Clarissa's
affair and used it to guilt-trip Clarissa into ruling for Gunderson in
exchange for the hospital donation.'
Like all coconspirators, she was spinning a version that undoubtedly
shifted the blame from herself but which nevertheless contained some
undercurrent of truth.
'So what was the videotape for?' Chuck asked. 'And what were you
doing with it?'
'Clarissa brought it over here a couple of weeks ago to show me. She
must have left it. Townsend initially had it made to get an upper hand
in the divorce, but then he told her he'd mail it to Caffrey s wife
unless she convinced Caffrey to vote in favor of development in
Glenville. I guess Gunderson stood to make a lot of money, and
Townsend would be rewarded in kind.'
'Could that be it?' Russ asked me.
I shook my head. 'If Gunderson and Townsend hooked up at a cocktail
party and reached this one-time deal to help Gunderson's Railroad
District project, how would Gunderson even know that Clarissa could get
to Caffrey? Or if Townsend's the one who thought of this, how would he
know that Gunderson had investments out in Glenville? It doesn't make
any sense.'
'So what's your theory?'
'Susan's the link. She pretends she's a trophy widow, but she learned
everything she knows from Herbie. I think she, Gunderson, and MTK are
all still in bed together. They were bribing Jane Wessler at the city
for the Railroad District licenses. When
Wessler went on maternity leave without giving Gunderson his permit,
Susan turned to Clarissa. I always thought it was weird that Clarissa
hadn't told Susan about her relationship with Caffrey. I think she
did, and that her best friend turned around and used it to convince her
that she owed this to Townsend. Then even that wasn't enough. She got
that videotape and told Clarissa she'd mail it to Caffrey's wife if
Clarissa didn't deliver Caffrey's vote.'
Back in the holding room, Susan's explanations continued to contain
just enough truth to confirm at least part of what I suspected. Chuck
and Ray had broken the news to her about the blood in the basement.
Her demeanor changed again, and this time she feigned sadness for the
loss of her friend. She even managed to shed some tears. 'It wasn't
me. It was Townsend. Clarissa called me Saturday, completely
hysterical. I guess she told him that morning that she wasn't going to
go along with Gunderson anymore. If they were going to mail the
videotape, she was willing to go to the police. She was over here
telling me about it when Townsend showed up. They went down to the
basement to have a private conversation, and the next thing I knew
there was yelling. It sounded like a terrible struggle. I ran
downstairs.' Her voice cracked for effect. 'Oh, my God, I couldn't
believe it. Townsend told me I had to help him, or he'd tell everyone
I'd been in on it. I realized how it would look. My house, my
husband's old business partner I panicked.'
'You didn't panic.' Chuck spoke quietly, but was convincingly
disgusted. 'You went shopping, Susan. You went and picked out an
outfit to dress your dead friend in, so it would look like she died
Sunday. You hired carpenters for a fucking remodel. Don't lay this
all on Townsend.'
I made a mental note to have a handwriting analyst check the charge
receipt for Clarissa's purchases last Saturday at
Nordstrom. My guess is that the signature would be close, but not
quite right. I was also pretty sure that, as much as Susan had joked
about Clarissa being the reluctant shopper, we'd find out that Susan
hadn't bought anything for herself that day.
'But it was his idea,' Susan was insisting. 'He's the doctor. He's
the one who cooked up this whole thing about using the food in her
stomach. You tell me, how could I come up with that myself? I still
don't even understand it.'
Russ poked me in the side with his elbow. 'She's got a point there.'
I nodded. 'Sure. Townsend came up with the idea of throwing us off
with the take-out container from Sunday, but she's still the doer. You
met Townsend. It had to have been the other way around. Clarissa
confronts Susan; Susan kills Clarissa and then tells Townsend he'd
better help or she'll pin it all on him.'
'It would certainly explain why the guy's been a walking corpse. But
what about the poly?'
'He passed it because of the questions.' I told him about the
transcript of Townsend's interview. He was asked if he'd been at the
hospital Sunday, if he killed Clarissa, and if he hired, solicited,
ordered, or asked anyone to kill her. But they neglected to ask the
money question: 'Do you know who killed your wife?'
Chuck was asking Susan to walk them through the rest of the plan.
