The Trophy Exchange (30 page)

“
Black?
”
he said rifling through his papers.
“
Not that it would matter one way or the other, but
―”

“
Actually, she said
“
Negro
”
. I thin
k she would
’
ve said a lot worse. But she was on her best behavior in the presence of an officer of the law
–
which is not really saying much.
”

He pulled out Julie
’
s mugshot from the pile of paper on his desk, slipped on his reading glasses and looked hard at Julie
’
s face.
“
Black?
”

“
Yes. She said if I looked hard, I
’
d see it too.
”

Reed looked down at the photo again and then
peered
over the top of his glasses at Lucinda.
“
Really?
”

“
Yes. Lower the damn charges, Reed.
”

“
I
’
ll take that under advisement, Lieutenant.
”

“
You do that,
”
she said spinning around to leave before she was tempted to threaten him
that
she would contact the media if he didn
’
t do just that
–
and more.

Thirty-Six

“
What
’
ve you got, Ted?
”
Lucinda asked.

“
Got a lot of people making calls, but none of them have reported back yet.
”

“
That
’
s not promising. Listen, I
’
ve got to pull together a six-pack to take to the witness in the triple homicide. I need to see if she recognizes Dr Spencer.
”

“
You need my help?
”

“
I need all the help I can get. I need this to be a credible ID. So I can
’
t use the usual suspects. I need photos of five other men who look as respectable as Spencer.
”

“
I know just what you need.
”
Ted clattered on the keyboard and logged on
to a website with a password.
“
Here it is. Driver
’
s license photos for every person in the state.
”

This is great, Lucinda thought, but it
’
s going to take forever to weed through all those faces.

As if reading her mind, Ted tapped away on the keyboard entering the specifics of Evan Spencer
’
s physical description and then pressed
“
enter
.”
“
There you go. You have thousands of choices, but a least half of them are keepers.
”

They scanned through a couple dozen men before deciding on the five needed to complete the photo line
-
up. Ted saved those shots on his desktop and logged off the website. He brought up the format for the photographic line-up and inserted the pictures he
’d
retrieved into five frames. He opened up Spencer
’
s photo, copied and pasted it, and
pressed
“
print
”
.

“
Thanks, Ted,
”
Lucinda said picking up the printout.
“
Damn, you
’
re fast. I
’
d still be trying to figure out how to fill the first frame. Wish me luck.
”

Lucinda pulled into Linden Street where yellow tape still quarantined the site of the three murders. She parked in the driveway of Thelma Spiers, the woman who
’d
s
een
the perpetrator leave the scene.

The witness answered the door wiping wet hands on the apron tied around her waist. Lucinda introduced herself and explained the purpose of her visit.

“
Come on in, Lieutenant,
”
Thelma said.
“
I
’
ll be glad to help in any way I can. Could I get you a cup of coffee? Or tea?
”

“
No
,
thank you,
Mrs.
Spiers.
”

“
You sure? I
’
ve got some banana bread baked fresh this morning.
”

“
Thanks anyway,
Mrs.
Spiers. If we could just sit down somewhere
. . .”

“
Certainly. Certainly. Where are my manners? Come on. Come on. We
’
ll grab a chair at the kitchen table if that
’
s all right.
”

“
Just lead the way, ma
’
am.
”

They sat down on red and gray vinyl chairs with metal legs. The surface of the matching table was flecked with gold in the middle, but in front of their chairs and around the edges, the decorative touch was worn away by years of rubbing by many arms. Thelma settled in her chair and looked at Lucinda expectantly.

“
Nasty accident, Lieutenant?
”
Thelma asked.

Lucinda
’
s hand flew to her face. Inwardly, she groaned.
I am so tired of my face being an icebreaker in every conversation.
“
Yeah, pretty nasty, ma
’
am. Now, about this photo spread
–
you need to understand that you may not recognize anyone here and if you don
’
t, it
’
s
okay
. Do you understand that?
”

“
Yes, ma
’
am.
”

She seems to be paying attention, Lucinda thought, but her eyes keep slipping over to examine the hideous side of my face.
Maybe I should paste a picture of a toe-tagged foot on my eyepatch. That’d give them all something to look at
.
“
The person you saw the other night might not be here. But even if he isn
’
t, you will still be a big help if you tell me just that. You can help us eliminate a suspect. There are no wrong answers. You understand?
”

“
Yes ma
’
am. I
’
ll do my best.
”

“
O
kay
. I want you to look these men over carefully. Look at every picture. Take all the time you need.
”
Lucinda pulled out the sheet of photos and slid it across the table.

“
That one,
”
she said right away pointing to Evan Spencer.

“
Are you sure,
Mrs.
Spiers?
”
Lucinda said taking great care to keep the building excitement out of her voice.

Thelma leaned forward, her nose nearly touching the pictures. She pointed to Evan again.
“
Yeah, I
’
m sure. If it
’
s not him, it
’
s his brother.
”

To Lucinda, that sounded like uncertainty. She fought again to keep her face blank. She didn
’
t want the witness to see her flash of disappointment.
“
Then you have doubts?
”

Thelma shook her head with vigor.
“
No, ma
’
am. Oh no, ma
’
am. I am sure. That
’
s just an expression. That
’
s the spitting image of the man I saw crawling out of that window.
”
She tapped her finger on Evan
’
s face.

“
O
kay
,
Mrs.
Spiers.
”
Lucinda handed Thelma a pen.
“
Please put a little
“
x
”
under the picture, write today
’
s date and sign it on the line below.
”

On the ride back, Lucinda
’
s head reeled. The thrill of getting a positive ID was tempered by the challenges that lay ahead. The arrest of a prominent citizen always had serious repercussions for the department. One side would be outraged and dropping sound bites about the lofty individual
’
s innocence before the ink had dried on his palm prints. The rest of the community would be scrutinizing every move made by the department and by the DA
’
s office
,
looking for any hints of preferential treatment given to the high and mighty.

And then there
’
s Charley and Ruby
–
those poor little girls. Lucinda made a commitment to do all she could to cushion their pain and make sure they were placed in a good, stable home. Maybe their grandmother. Maybe Kara.

And who actually murdered Kathleen? Rita? Who the hell is Rita?

Lucinda returned to the conference room at the station house.
“
She nailed it, Ted.
”

“
She ID
’d
Evan Spencer?
”

“
Sure did. Without hesitation. Without doubt. It
’
s solid. What
’
ve you dug up?
”

“
Not a lot. Let
’
s see,
”
he said flipping through his notes.
“
Oh, yes, and I quote,
‘
a really nice guy
,’
‘
brilliant student
,’
‘
compassionate individual
,’
‘
straight arrow
.’
The worst thing anyone said about him was
,
‘
he annoys me sometimes because he does so much for so many people, it makes the rest of us look uncaring and that makes me feel inadequate.
’ And that’
s as bad as it gets.
”

“
Geez. Any word from the whiz kid in Vice?
”

“
No new information, but she
’
s still digging.
”