WE’LL GET A BOLO out on the Avalon and this guy,” said the Alabama police officer guarding the crime scene, after Decker had informed him of their conversation with Bray. “It’s a little sketchy, but it’s worth a shot. It’s not like we have a whole lot else to go on.”
Decker wasn’t holding out much hope that the guy was even still in the state of Alabama. Even if he had been around when Regina Montgomery’s duplex had blown up, he had a big head start.
He rejoined Davenport, Mars, and Jamison in the SUV that Bogart had rented previously. “There’s no more we can do here,” he said. “Let’s head back to the hotel.”
On the drive there Mars said, “Tell me about her son, Tommy?”
“He goes to the local high school. He’ll be a senior next year. He’s already got some college offers. He’s a running back, like you were.”
“And what happens to him when all this is said and done?”
Decker said, “If he has relatives somewhere, he’ll probably go and live with them. Or maybe his football coach will let him stay with him until he graduates.”
Mars nodded and looked out the window where the rain was still beating down and showing no signs of letting up. And the weather was turning chilly.
“Why?” asked Decker, watching Mars curiously.
“No reason. Just…just wanted to know. Tough for a kid, losing your parents.”
“Tough for an adult too,” replied Decker.
* * *
At the hotel they found that Bogart had paid for their rooms for a few more days. And that the rental vehicle was good for the same amount of time.
“I hope that doesn’t come back to bite him in the ass,” said Davenport. “He’s taking a big risk by doing that, especially after he was ordered off the case.”
“We were all ordered off the case,” said Jamison.
“It’s a shame that the team didn’t last,” said Davenport. “It could have been really fulfilling.”
“If you go now you can probably still be on the team,” said Decker. “Assuming they’re going to reconstitute it.”
She stared at him. “Do you want me to leave?”
“I want whoever is going to stay to be one hundred percent committed to solving this case.”
“I take it you’re referring to me not wanting to investigate in the pouring rain?” said Davenport sharply.
“I’m referring to exactly what I just said,” replied Decker in an even tone.
Davenport looked ready to fire a response back, but then her expression changed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She looked nervously down at her hands. “I just can’t get that execution out of my head. It changed…a lot for me. Made me unsure if I really wanted to do this.”
Jamison put a hand on her shoulder. “I can understand that, Lisa. I chickened out and didn’t even go.”
Davenport gave a hollow laugh. “I wish I had been as smart as you and done the same.” She looked over at Decker. “I guess you think I’m kind of a wimp.”
Decker shook his head. “I know a lot of so-called tough guys who would never have gone to see it in the first place.”
“But I lost my nerve.”
“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it. We need your talents to solve this thing.”
Davenport glanced at Jamison, who gave her a supportive smile and then looked back at Decker. “I appreciate that. And I will give you everything I have. So what’s our next step?”
“We need to get some traction on at least one lead. Either here or in Texas. The fact that Regina was killed shows that we’re on the right track. She was paid off to have her husband lie and say he killed Melvin’s parents. That tells us that twenty years later there are people out there connected in some way to the original crime. Including, perhaps, the real killer.”
Mars stirred. “But I can’t wrap my head around why someone would go to all this trouble to save me all these years later.”
“That might speak to the motivation,” said Decker.
Davenport nodded in agreement. “That’s actually an important point.” She looked at Mars. “You might have an ally out there that you don’t know about.”
“But how is that possible?” Mars asked. “And why now?”
Decker said, “We have to figure out the timing.”
It was past dinnertime and they were all hungry. They had a quick meal at a restaurant a block over from the hotel. Back at the hotel they said their good nights after Decker admonished each of them to think about the case and come ready the next morning with ideas to pursue.
Decker took the elevator to his room, washed up, and was just about to undress and climb into bed when someone knocked on his door.
He rose and said, “Yeah?”
“Do you have a few minutes, Amos? I’d like to talk.”
It was Davenport.
He debated silently for a few moments.
Obviously sensing his hesitation, she said, “It really won’t take long.”
He opened the door. She stood there with a bottle of beer in each hand.
He eyed them and then looked down at her. “I’m on a diet.”
“Which is why I got light beer. Only ninety calories. After today you probably need the carbs.”
They sat and sipped their beers.
“Well?” asked Decker.
“We got off to a bad start.”
He shrugged. “It’s good.”
“I think being open and honest is the best policy.”
“Okay.”
“So here’s my open and honest statement. I made my decision to join the team only after Bogart told me about you.”
Decker took another drink of his beer, sat back in his chair, and listened to the rain falling outside. “And why was Bogart telling you about me a deciding factor?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I sincerely was interested in the offer from Ross. It sounded fascinating and I had pretty much done everything I could in my field. And I like to seize opportunities. I’m a classic Type A overachiever. Only child, two academic, doting parents. Excelled at every level. I was also a distance runner in college at Stanford before I went on to Columbia.”
“Impressive. But it didn’t answer my question.”
“I wasn’t meaning to brag about myself. The fact was, it was you that led me to join the team when Ross called.”
“You mentioned something like that when we first met.”
“I know I did.”
“And the parallels in my case and Melvin’s. You thought it might make a fascinating case study.”
“Exactly.”
“And I told you it would have nothing to do with my cognitive anomalies. That the focus would be on Melvin’s guilt or innocence.”
Davenport sipped her beer. “And I told you that would be a wasted opportunity.”
“I know, but how exactly?”
“I wanted to see if you would allow me to include you in a professional study. The fact that you have turned your unique mental abilities to fighting crime only heightened the uniqueness. I thought it would make a wonderfully compelling paper or even a book. It might even be a bestseller,” she added enticingly.
Decker finished his beer. “I have no interest in that whatsoever.”
She looked at him resignedly. “Which I knew would be the case about five minutes after I met you.”
“So where does that leave you?”
“I already told you that I’m here until the end. I’ll give you my all to solve this case.”
“Why?”
She started to say something but then hesitated, tearing off a bit of the bottle’s label. “I could give you a standard professional answer that would be mostly gobbledygook. Or I could go with the truth.”
“I’ll take the latter.”
She sat forward and stared directly at him for the first time. “It was the execution. The way that man died. Maybe he deserved it. I’m not going to get into a debate on the pros and cons of capital punishment. But Melvin Mars is innocent and was very nearly executed. How many other innocent men have been put to death?”
“As I said before, one is too many,” replied Decker. “So why did you show up here tonight?”
“Like I said, we got off on the wrong foot. Don’t get me wrong, it was all my fault. I just wanted to square things before we moved forward to tackle this case to the end.”
“Okay, consider us square.”
She smiled weakly. “Just like that?”
“Just like that. But tomorrow is a new day.”
Davenport nodded as she got his meaning. “I guess we all have to prove ourselves. Every day.”
“That’s the way I’ve always seen it.” He held up his bottle. “Thanks for the light beer.”
She rose. “Thanks for listening.” She turned to leave but then looked back at him. “Ross told me about your family. I’m so very sorry, Amos. So very sorry.”
He stared back at her but said nothing.
“How hard is it not to ever forget?” she said, her expression matching the sad tone of her words.
“Harder than you might think.”
She left.
Decker put the bottle down and went over to the window where outside the rain was now bucketing down.
He let the frames of his perfect memory whir back to their encounter with Regina Montgomery.
Cartier watch.
Three boxes from Neiman Marcus.
Two boxes from Chanel.
Two from Saks.
One from Bergdorf Goodman.
One from Jimmy Choo.
Then there was the Hermès purse.
He pulled out his computer, went online to each of those retailers, found the items he had seen, and priced them out.
He totaled them in his head.
Fifty-four thousand dollars and change.
The Hermès bag had cost over nineteen thousand alone. The watch was another fourteen thousand. The Jimmy Choos another grand.
Decker shook his head.
To carry stuff, tell time, and encase your feet, only thirty-four thousand bucks.
But that told him that whoever was behind this had deep pockets. Regina Montgomery had evidently expected a lot more money to be coming through.
The big payoff for a life of misery with Charles Montgomery.
Only she never really got to enjoy it, did she? Once Charles was dead, Regina was expendable. It was cruel. It was heartless.
Decker would have expected nothing less from people who had let an innocent man rot in prison for twenty years.
He got undressed and climbed into bed.
They had worked this case for a while now and he was desperately fearful that the minimal progress they had made would be all there ever was.