“Not much.” He gave me another of his Cheshire-cat grins.
“But you said Humberto had to be interrogated because there was a new piece of evidence.”
“No,” Tom patiently replied, “I said he had to be questioned. I also said there was new evidence, which there is. I didn’t say the two were linked.”
“You are a dog that is sly, Tom.”
The photocopied sheet was burning a hole in my pocket. Still, I thought it would look too suspicious to the guards if I turned on the interior light to read the sheet, which might, after all, contain nothing. I needn’t have worried. At the bottom of the hill, the guards all looked as if the police presence was making them wish they could disappear.
22
Outside the gates, Lolly swerved left behind Ferdinanda. But where Ferdinanda continued on Aspen Meadow Parkway to get to Main Street, Lolly turned on the road that would lead to her apartment building. I used the cell to phone Boyd, asking him to walk out when Ferdinanda arrived. I said we’d be along shortly and that he should tell her something that would sound plausible, like that we’d gone for ice cream since we hadn’t finished dessert.
He chuckled and said it was no problem.
In her apartment parking lot, Lolly got out of her VW and came over to our car, where she climbed in the back. She’d taken off her wig.
“Nice do,” said Tom, looking at her in the rearview mirror. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have black and blue hair.”
“I could dye it for you,” she replied, slamming the door.
“No, thanks.” Tom killed the engine and turned around to face Lolly. “Okay, Lolly, I want to hear it from the beginning.”
“I don’t want to be prosecuted for prostitution.”
“Who said anything about prostitution?” asked Tom innocently. “That’s not my department. Homicide is. So, tell me your story.”
Lolly obliged. She gave a quick summary of the DUI, her parents, Julian’s loan, her signing up with an escort agency, her liaison with Humberto, and wearing the necklace to a charity shindig. It wasn’t until she got to the bit about Father Pete telling her to do good, and her helping Ernest, that her voice faltered.
“I got him killed,” she said guiltily. “That damn Humberto.”
There was silence in the car.
“No, you did not get Ernest McLeod murdered,” Tom said firmly. “You helped him with a client’s needs. That’s all you did. So, you have no idea where the necklace is now?”
“Nope.”
“Is there anything else you want to share?”
Lolly told him about Humberto being furious that the necklace had been stolen, his suspicion of her, his guards tearing apart her parents’ house and Lolly’s apartment, and the subsequent cash payments. Then her eyes strayed to my face in the rearview mirror. I looked straight back with as blank an expression as I could muster.
We were thinking the same thing. It was one thing for Ernest to ask Lolly to do unlawful acts, which she was now confessing. It was quite another thing for the wife of a police investigator to ask her to drug her mark, do an illegal search, and photocopy receipts in the mark’s wallet. She knew she shouldn’t mention what she’d done today unless I told her to.
I didn’t. I figured, if I found something out from the wallet receipts, great. I’d tell Tom without mentioning my source. If I didn’t discover new evidence, well, then, no harm, no foul, and I would avoid being soundly scolded.
“Anything else you want to tell me?” Tom asked, his voice nonchalant.
“How’s this? Humberto still suspects me of something,” she lied smoothly. “I don’t know what. Earlier, I told Goldy that he’d redecorated, repainted, the works, after the break-in. He also installed security cameras, including in the bathrooms. I mean, that’s illegal, isn’t it?”
Tom sighed. “No, I’m sorry to say. It isn’t against the law to spy on people in your own home. But it should be. Still, I want you to be extra careful. Humberto may be responsible for the murders of two, or possibly three, men. He may have killed them, or he could have had them killed. Has he ever mentioned anything to you about being in Fort Collins? One of the murders is of a gas station attendant up there.”
Lolly shook her head. “He doesn’t tell me that much about his life, except stuff that isn’t true.”
Tom shook his head. “Still, I’d feel better if you dropped out of sight for a few days.”
“No can do,” said Lolly, shaking the black and blue hair. “Humberto knows where my parents live, and even though I’m not on speaking terms with them, I don’t want Humberto coming after them. Don’t worry, I know how to handle Humberto.”
Tom thought about this for a moment. “All right. I just want you to call me if you find out anything, or if you think you’re in danger.”
“Oh-
Tom grinned. “Is there anything else you can tell me that might be pertinent?”
“Your computer guy? Kris? He’s a fraud.”
I said, “You weren’t too nice to him on that USB port thing.”
“Nice?” said Lolly, her blue eyes wide. “Who cares about nice? A real data-processing geek would have known, in answer to my question, that I needed to buy a USB hub. That guy’s a liar. I don’t know how he made his money, but it wasn’t starting a computer business in Silicon Valley, or any other valley, for that matter. He’s from Minnesota. He knows something about chemistry, because he tried to jump in with an answer to the medical isotope question. But you could know that from high school, unless you’re Donna Lamar. Still, I’ll bet Kris built up his fortune selling farm equipment. It’s just not as sexy as a Silicon Valley start-up.”
“Lolly?” asked Tom. “You want to apply to work at the sheriff’s department? I’m not kidding, we need a mind like yours.”
“I’m flattered,” said Lolly. “But I’m sure I make more money turning tricks. See you cats later.” She got out of the car.
“Be careful, Lolly,” said Tom.
“No worries.”
When we got home, the streetlights indicated something different about our house.
“What the hell is that?” asked Tom. We both stared at one of the pine trees in our front yard.
A carved wooden mask was nailed to the trunk. Tom shook his head as he pounded ahead of me up the new wheelchair ramp.
“Hey, guys!” said Arch when we came through the door. He was sitting in the living room with Yolanda, Boyd, and a very smug-looking Ferdinanda. “Did you see the cool Santeria mask that Ferdinanda made? I helped her nail it to the tree out front.”
“What does it mean?” Tom asked coolly.
Arch’s face dropped at Tom’s tone. Yolanda looked at her hands, while Boyd, clearly in mental discomfort, straightened his shoulders. Ferdinanda lifted her chin.
“Tom!” Ferdinanda said. “You let me worry about what it means.”
“It’s our front yard,” Tom replied evenly.
Ferdinanda sighed. “It’s to ward off evil spirits.”
“I thought that’s why we all went to church,” Tom replied.
“This is extra,” Ferdinanda said.
“What is the significance of that mask?” asked Tom.
“The exact significance?” said Ferdinanda. “After all these years, I forgot. You know what? I’m tired.” She yawned, stretched her arms over her head, and turned the wheels of her chair toward the dining room. “I’m going to bed.” Then she stopped. “Hey! Where’s the ice cream you were out buying?”
“I forgot,” said Tom, before starting up the stairs. I bade everyone good night, then gave Arch a stern enough
