True Blue (31 page)

Roy could see that the Captain had once been a very handsome fellow. His features were sharply defined, there were remnants of a square jaw, and a pair of green eyes was now visible with the shaggy hair out of his face. The only time he got cleaned up was to be charged with murder. The irony was not lost on Roy.

He and Mace exchanged glances. He said, “What’s that, Captain?”

“They found my cart.”

“Who, the police?”

The Captain nodded. “They came and told me. Seemed happy about it.”

“I’m sure. Look, Captain, do you understand what’s going on here?”

The Captain sighed heavily. “Damn Twinkies. Always the damn Twinkies.”

Mace said, “They don’t shackle Twinkie thieves, Captain.”

He looked at her with benign curiosity. “Do I know you, hon?”

“We met once. It was a pretty electrifying moment for you.”

“Okay, hon. If you say so.”

Roy hunched forward. “The photo of the woman I showed you yesterday? They’re charging you with raping and killing her in her office.”

Strangely enough, the Captain laughed. “I know. They told me that. The cops just kidding, Roy.”

“So you didn’t do it?”

“No, sir. They got me on the Twinkies, though. And the tools, don’t forget the tools, Roy. I took ’em. For the money.” He glanced at Mace and added woefully, “Three dollars, hon. Guy in a turban ripped me off.”

“Right, the tools, you told me,” said Roy wearily. “So you my lawyer?”

Mace looked expectantly at Roy. “
Are
you his lawyer?’

Roy hesitated, but only for a moment. “Yeah, I am.”

“Then I got money to pay you,” said the Captain.

“Okay, fine.”

“I got two hundred dollars. Cops took it, but they said they’d give it back.”

“Where’d you get two hundred bucks?” asked Mace quickly.

The Captain looked embarrassed. He said in a faltering tone, “I can’t say. No, wouldn’t be right, hon. Not in front of you.”

Roy stood and paced. “Do you know what DNA is?”

The Captain squinted. “I think so, yeah,” he said unconvincingly.

“Well, they found your DNA on the dead woman.”

The Captain’s face brightened. “Are they going to give it back?” He shot a glance at Mace. “It’s mine, right? So I’ll get my cart, my money, and my DNA. And I won’t never take no more Twinkies, swear to God.”

Roy let out a small groan and leaned against the wall. Mace walked over to him and whispered, “Has he always been this out of it?”

In a low voice he said, “He can carry on a basic conversation, gets simple concepts okay, but the abstract stuff is way beyond him. When I repped him on the assault three years ago, he was starting to show some early signs of dementia. He got a suspended sentence mainly because the prosecutor was a Vietnam vet too. But that was a simple assault. He’s not going to get cut any slack for murder in the first. The problem is, he can carry on a conversation and he understands some things, so no one is going to buy that he didn’t know what he was doing.”

“I guess the moral is, if you’re going to go nuts, go all the way.”

“And they have his sperm in Diane’s body. And he’s admitted to being in the building at the time in question. How the hell do I defend that?”

“You can’t. We just have to find the truth. It’s the only way.”

“Yeah, well, what if the truth is he did rape and kill Diane? What then?”

“I don’t know. But my gut is howling that this whole thing stinks.”

“Well, when you can get a jury to listen to your gut, let me know.” Roy turned back to the Captain and pulled out a legal pad and pen from his briefcase. “Captain, I need you to focus for me. We need to go through some timelines. Can you do that?”

The man looked worried. “I don’t know. They took my watch, Roy. I ain’t no good with time without my watch.”

“It’s okay, you can use mine.” He slipped it off and handed it to his client.

Mace said, “While you go over the case with him I’m going to have a chat with my sister.”

“I’m assuming you’re here for some more help.” When Mace didn’t say anything, Beth added, “They called me when you two showed up to see Dockery. So is Kingman going to rep him?”

“Looks to be the case. Dockery said you found his cart?”

“That’s right. And would Kingman like to know what we found in it?”

“You have to tell him that anyway, Beth.”

“He’ll get all the proper evidentiary disclosures from the prosecutor’s office. Well, at least I assume he will.”

“What do you mean you assume he will?”

Beth gave her a knowing look. “Take a guess on who’s trying the case?”

“Oh hell, not Mona? She’s got an office full of homicide hounds to do that kind of work.”

“Did you really think she was going to pass up a case like this? Fine upstanding female law partner in G-town struck down by a homeless nutcase and then stuck in a fridge? She’ll get tons of ink on this. She’s probably getting her hair and nails done as we speak. She won’t do the heavy lifting, but rest assured she will be the voice of the U.S. Attorney’s Office at all press conferences and other media opportunities. She’ll probably do the closing argument too. If the case gets that far.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Ever heard of a plea bargain? Although Mona won’t plead this out unless your guy takes the max. She’s not going to pass up her chance to get on Larry King for anything less than that.”

“So what did they find in the cart?”

“Tolliver’s missing panties and her purse. Credit cards and cell phone and office key card were inside but there was no cash.”

Mace’s mind flashed to what the Captain had said.

I got two hundred dollars.

“Two hundred dollars found on Dockery,” said Beth, seemingly reading her sister’s mind. “It does not look good, Mace.”

“I still don’t think the guy did it. I mean, look at all the other stuff going on here. The key Diane sent Roy. This Andre Watkins character. The guy rolling his apartment. The people after me. How do they all tie into Tolliver being murdered?”

“Did you ever stop to think that they don’t? I agree that there is something strange going on with Tolliver and the stuff with you. But her being killed by Dockery might have been a simple crime of opportunity that has no connection to the other things.”

“I just knew you were going to say that.”

“Why?”

‘Because it’s so… freaking logical!”

“My apologies for being so freaking logical.”

“But look, Dockery said the police found his cart, so it was missing. Anybody could’ve planted that stuff in there. And the other trace found at the crime scene too.”

“Let’s not forget the sperm in the woman’s vagina. Does Kingman want to make the argument that was planted too?”

“Believe me, I get the point.”

“How is his firm going to feel about Kingman defending the guy accused of murdering one of its partners?”

“Probably not too good.”

“So why is Kingman doing it?”

Mace gave her an exasperated look. “Why don’t you ever just call him Roy?”

“I only call my
friends
by their first names, with the exception of Mona. And I only do that because I found out she hates her name.”

“He’s doing it because he believes Dockery is innocent. Same as me.”

As they walked down the hall, Beth said, “Did you ever wonder how a guy like Dockery is able to sneak into the building like that and no one ever sees him? Sounds to me like he had some inside help.”

“What are you saying?”

“Maybe your lawyer friend is repping Dockery because he has a guilty conscience? He helps the guy get in the building, Dockery ends up going berserk and killing Tolliver, and Kingman comes in to help clean up the mess.”

“So you think Roy actually believes Dockery is guilty?”

“Most people accused of a crime
are
guilty, Mace, you know that.”

“Well, you know something, big sister?”

“What?”

“
I
wasn’t guilty.”

“Hey, is it time to eat?”

“Soon.”

“I’m hungry.”

“I know. Okay, so you got in on Friday a little after six. Hid in the closet by the stairs on the main floor. Then around eight you went up to the fourth floor and settled in for the weekend. What time did you leave on Monday morning?”

“Can’t remember.”

“You have to try, Lou.”

The Captain seemed confused by the use of his real name. Roy noted this and said, “Lawyer-client thing, I need to start using your real name.”

“But I tell you what, those damn Twinkies were stale anyway. What’s the fuss?”

Roy ran a hand through his hair and wondered why it wasn’t falling out with all the stress he was under. “The fuss is they’re not charging you with stealing Twinkies, they’re charging you with
murder
.” He pointed his pen at the Captain. “If you get no other concept down, Lou, please get that one.”

“I didn’t kill nobody. I would’ve remembered something like
that
.”

“Please don’t make that sort of statement to anyone ever again. And the evidence says otherwise, namely that you did rape and kill her.”

“Why I got you. Two hundred bucks. You send me a bill.”

I will, to whatever prison you’ll be spending the rest of your life in.

“Them cheapskates anyway.”

“Who?”

“Twinkie people. Only time I heard church bells.”

Roy put his pen down and stared helplessly at the man opposite him. It seemed like the Captain was finally really losing all touch with reality. “Church bells?”

“Yep. Why’d they have to lock up that refrigerator anyway?”

“Lock what refrigerator?”

“The one where I was staying. They didn’t lock up the toilet. Or the Twinkies. And they ain’t never had much in there anyway so why lock it up?”

“Lock it up how?”

The Captain made a circling motion with his hands. “Big old chain.”

Roy had a momentary vision of Mace holding a “big old chain” as a weapon on the fourth floor the previous night when unknown people were coming after them.

“Did they wrap it around the fridge to keep it closed?”

“Why else? Big old padlock. Tried to pick it with my knife. No way, no how. Bet they had Pepsi in there. I like Pepsi better’n Coke.”

“Was the chain on there when you got to the fourth floor?”

The Captain thought about this. “Don’t know. I think I went to sleep. But it was on there when I woke up.”

“Well, that makes sense, Lou, if they thought someone was stealing the food from inside it. They’d lock it up after hours.”

“Oh, right. Didn’t think of that. You smart, Roy. Glad you’re my lawyer.”

“Okay, what about the church bells?”

“Yeah, nothing to eat. Ain’t staying there. So’s I left to look for some food.”

“Church bells? You mean you left on Sunday?”

“You sure I can’t get me a smoke?”

“I’m sure. You were talking church bells?”

With a vacuous expression the Captain said, “Don’t they still have church on Sunday or did they pick another day?”

“No, it’s still on Sunday.” Roy thought quickly. There were several churches whose bells could be heard at his building. He’d experienced their pealing himself when he’d worked weekends. “So you didn’t actually stay in the building all weekend. You left on Sunday?”

“Well, yeah, didn’t I already tell you that?”

“No, you didn’t!” Roy snapped. “Before you said you left on Monday morning.” He drew a calming breath and reminded himself that while his client was nearly sixty, his mental ability was closer to that of a young child. He said in a regular tone, “We’ve been going through the timeline for an hour now and you never mentioned that, Lou.”

The Captain held up Roy’s watch. “’Cause this ain’t my watch, Roy. I can’t tell no good time with yours.”

Under different circumstances Roy might’ve laughed. “Okay, but once you left, did you come back?”

“No, sir. For what? No food is no food. I got me some grub.”

“Did you buy it or find it?”

“I got two hundred dollars. I bought it.”

“Where?”

“Little grocery store. Man I fought in ’Nam against, he runs it. Only he likes me now. Ain’t never once run me off like some other folks.”

Roy had a sudden inspiration. “The little shop next to the Starbucks on Wisconsin?” He’d bought some food for lunch there on occasion and had met the owner.

“Yeah, that’s right. Starbucks? Sure could use me a cup of java about now.”

“And this happened on Sunday when exactly?”

“They have bananas and apples right outside the door like when I was a kid. Bought me some. He likes me now, but back in ’Nam we were trying to kill each other. I sure remember him all right. He shot me and I shot him. Name’s Yum-Yum or something.”

Roy knew that the Captain hadn’t fought against Yum-Yum, whose name was actually Kim Sung. He’d emigrated not from Vietnam but from South Korea into the United States and was only in his early forties. But it didn’t matter anyway. Even if the man could place the Captain outside the building on Sunday he could still have sneaked back in to the fourth floor later and attacked Diane on Monday morning. Yet at least it was something. “Did you still hear the church bells when you bought the bananas?’

“Oh yeah.”

“Sun was high up in the sky?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, how about Sunday night and Monday morning?”

The Captain gave him an alarmed look. “What about ’em? They happened, right?”

Roy took a moment to press against the throbbing pain he had in his left temple. “Yes, they happened. Right on schedule. But, see, if we can find some people who saw you on Sunday night and Monday morning then we can tell the police that you didn’t kill… that you didn’t steal any more Twinkies on Sunday or Monday.”

A light finally seemed to dawn in the Captain’s emerald eyes. “Oh, right. That’s the truth, I didn’t. No more damn Twinkies. They were stale anyway. And stale Twinks? Not even Pepsi can make that taste good.”

“Okay, I’ll check with Kim, I mean with Yum-Yum, and get his statement. So was there anyone else who you saw?”

“Nope. Just went down by the river and got inside the runoff pipe. Slept there.”

“And you saw no one? How about somebody in a boat? Early morning rower? Run into anyone when you climbed out of the pipe?”

“I’d have to do me some thinking on that, Roy. And I’m tired.”

The Captain put his head down on the table and within a minute he was asleep.

Roy watched him while thinking it would be so easy to just get up and leave. Go back to his cushy job making his big bucks in fancy Georgetown. He didn’t need this hassle, taking all the hits for defending some homicidal homeless lost cause. It was like Ackerman had said. Give up the golden egg for
this
?

But he didn’t get up. He just continued to stare down at a man who’d pretty much sacrificed his life so Americans could keep on being fat and happy. He said in a tired but clear voice, “I’m going to do my best for you, Captain. And even if we don’t win, we’ll both go down fighting.”

The Captain grunted and then sat up. He looked around groggily. “Is hon gone?”

“Hon? Oh yeah, she’s still gone.”

“Two hundred dollars, Roy.”

“Captain, you don’t have to pay me. I’m doing this pro bono, I mean I’m doing this on my dime.”

“How I got it.” The Captain looked embarrassed. “Peed in a cup.”

“Excuse me?”

The Captain gazed at the tabletop and said in a hushed voice, “Peed in a cup.”

Roy sat forward, still looking confused. “Someone paid you two hundred dollars to pee in a cup?”

“Not pee, the other thing.” Now Roy could really see pink in the man’s cheeks because he was blushing.

“The other thing?”

“They gave me a magazine to look at. Couldn’t say this in front of hon.”

“A magazine?”

“Girlie magazine. Not pee. You know. The other thing.”

“You mean?”

The Captain eyeballed Roy with a knowing look. “Two hundred dollars to look at a girlie magazine.”

Roy leaned forward and gripped the Captain’s arm. “Where did you do this?”

“G-town. Not too far.”

“Was it a fertility clinic, a sperm bank?”

The Captain just looked at him with a blank expression.

“Forget that, can you remember
when
you did it?”

“It was daylight.”

“Okay, can you remember exactly where this place was?”

“Uh… It was white.”

“Can you describe the person who asked you to, uh, pee in the cup?”

“Some guy.”

“Never mind, I’ll find it!” Roy banged his briefcase closed and raced out of the room.