Dead Man Running (14 page)

"
Probably.  Not answering may
b
e more suspicious than answering.  Where's Wiley?
"

"
I have him upstairs in his bedroom.
"

"
Good, keep him there until I get rid of whoever's at the door.
"

Chi approache
d
the door.  He
recognized the two
detectives through the smoked glass portal.

"
Shit.
" 
He open
ed
the door.

"
We were starting to think no one was home
," said Leone
.
  "
Mr. Bright, good to see you again.
"  He extended his hand and they sh
ook
.  Jones and Chi sh
ook
hands
as well.

Chi had
his body not so subtly blocking the doorway.  "
How can I help you two.  I told you everything I know about the reporter.  What was her name,
Bricker
?
"

"Brinkman,
Bernadette
Brinkman," replied Jones.  "
That's not the only reason we're here.  May we come in?
"

Chi considered his options.  Finally he stepped out of the way.  "
Sure, come on in.
"

Chi escort
ed
the pair into the house.
  "
Why don't we have a seat in the living room
?"

"
Thanks
," the men said
.

Chi le
d
the detectives into the living room.  He gesture
d
for the detectives to take a seat on the sofa.  Chi s
at
on a nearby love seat.

"
What's going on, detectives?  Why are you here?
"

Said Leone: "
Delores Capshaw is making a lot of noise.  She says that someone contacted her office with an allegation that Reverend Wiley is somehow involved in the reporter's disappearance and the incident at the World Affairs
Club
.
"

"
Does she have any proof?
"

"No.  She has very little proof," replied Leone.

"
What she has in abundance
are
friends.  Those friends in
Albany
spoke to friends at headquar
ters and therefore, we are here," explained Jones.

"
To do what, exactly
?"

"
To interview Reverend Wiley and to search the premises
," replied Leone.

Chi felt a chill start in his toes and travel up his spine.  "
Do you have a warrant?
"

"
Do we need one?
" asked Jones.

"
Reverend Wiley has nothing to hide.
"

"
Is he home?
"

"
Yes, he is.  He's upstairs.  I'll go get him.
"  Chi stood.

"
Is Mrs. Wiley home?
" asked Leone.

"
No.  She's not home.
  I believe she went to their home in the
Hamptons
.
"

"Strange, we had some men check there and the servants said she returned here," said Leone.

"They obviously lied because she's not here," Chi said.

"
Anyone else here?
" asked Jones.

"
Jan Sugerfoot, Reverend Wiley's executive assistant.
"

"
We'd like to speak to her as well
," said Jones
.
  Chi nodded. 

"
I'll go get her and Reverend Wiley.
"  Chi fast walked out of the room.  He considered for a moment running out the front door, leaving this entire mess to Jan and Elias but he had second thoughts.  He actually feared for these detectives if he should leave them alone with Jan and that monster called Wiley.

He turned away from the front door and headed up the stairs.

In the Wiley bedroom
Chi found
Wiley
dressed and sitting on the bed.  Jan
stood
next to
the zombie
, small hand massaging the beast's shoulder
.
  It creeped Chi out how the bitch seemed so
very
comfortable in the role as this monster's protector
.  In a strange way it reminded him of Nancy Reagan and the way she protected her 'Ronnie' back in the
day
.

"I overheard
, Chi
. 
They want to search the house?
"

"
Yeah, I told them it was okay.
"

"
Should you have done that?
"

"
There's nothing to hide, is there?
"

"
Uh, no.
" 
She sh
ook
her head.

"
They want to interview Wiley.  Bring him down in a few minutes.
"

Jan nodded.  "
Okay.
  Aren't you afraid he might say something wrong?
"

"
Like the nursery rhymes or X-rated stuff he's been saying?  There's no crime in being addled minded – if there was half of
New York
would be behind bars."  He snorted.  "
Best case," he said, "Ben Wiley sits there spewing nonsense and the cops will go away thinking he's stonewalling them."

"And worst case?"

"He eats them and we have the entire NYPD on our doorstep."

Chi returned to the living room.  "
Reverend Wiley will be right down.  So will Ms. Sugerfoot.
"

"
There's no problem, is there?
" asked Jones.  Chi disliked the man and for a moment fantasized that Wiley did eat
this
one.

"
No.  Reverend Wiley is looking forward to clearing up this entire matter.
"

Wiley entered the room, assisted by Jan's guiding arm
.  She
led
him to the loveseat where they both s
a
t.

Leone took the lead.  "
Reverend Wiley, I know you're a busy man and we'll make this brief.
"

Wiley
did not respond, he merely stared ahead
.
  His eyes settled on his late wife's prized gardenias
just outside the window
.

Leone cleared his throat.  "
Okay.  Reverend, have you ever seen this woman?
" 
The detective pull
ed
out a photo of the missing reporter.  Wiley stare
d
ahead.

"Congressman Wiley?  Yoo hoo? 
It would help if you actually looked at the photo
," said Jones.  He waved his hands in front of Wiley's face. 
Wiley continue
d
to stare ahead.

Leone looked at Chi.  "
I thought you said he was looking forward to clearing this whole thing up?
"

"
We'r
e just getting
dicked around
here," added Jones.

"
Reverend Wiley, if you don't want to answer our questions, we'll contact the New York District Attorn
ey
's Office
who will compel your answers," threatened Leone.

Silence, then
Wiley finally spoke: "
And I want all you to go out and heal somebody today!  I say heal somebody!
"

The detectives look
ed
at each other.

"
Is he on something?
" asked Jones.

"
No, the Reverend doesn't take drugs
,
"
Chi responded.

"Since when?" asked Jones.  "It's been all over the news
about
all th
e
shit this fucker takes."

Leone waved the dead woman's picture in front of Wiley's face.  "
We'll ask one more time, have you ever seen this woman?
"

"
Bring ya momma in and I'll heal her too!
"

"
There's no reasons for insults!
" said Jones

"
We're getting nowhere here.  I'm afraid we will have to take this to the DA.  Reverend Wiley, the DA will
convene a grand jury and
compel your testimony.  Either you
'll
testify or you
'll
go to jail
,
"
said Leone.

"
And jail is not a nice place for
such
an obviously refined man as yourself
," added Jones.
 
"
Will you reconsider Reverend Wiley?
"

The room
wa
s silent.  Wiley's eyes shift
ed
from the garden to Jones.
  A smile appeared on his decaying lips.

"
After I bust this nut I'll get behind you!
"

Jones bolted to his feet.  "
Hey, no need to get crude about it!
"

Leone
stood
, taking his time to assess this obviously impaired man.  "
Reverend Wiley, we're going to conduct our search, then leave.  But we'll be back.  Very soon.
"

Chi stood.  "
Where do you want to start looking?
"

"
We'll start in the basement
," answered Jones
.

The detectives work
ed
their way upstairs, finally reaching the master bedroom after a
thorough
and fruitless search.

The detectives st
ood
outside the room with Chi and Jan.

"
I think this is the last room.  Whose room is this?
" Leone asked.

"
This is the Reverend
Wiley
's room
," Jan replied.

"
He sleeps in a separate room from his wife?
" asked Jones.

"
Mr. and Mrs. Wiley sleep apart a lot now
," Jan replied. 
The detectives look
e
d
at Jan.

"
And you know that how?
"
Jones asked.

"Mrs. Wiley
told me so. 
She
and I are very close.
"

The detectives enter
ed
the room.  Jan and Chi remain
ed
in the hallway.

The detectives flip
ped
the mattress and look
ed
through the drawers.  Both
entered
the closet. 

After a half hour
their search of the room
wa
s complete.
  Luckily Jan had replaced the damaged carpet the day before.

"
Okay, we're done here
,"
announced
Leone. 
The detective walk
ed
out into the hallway.
  "
Tell your boss, we'll be back to take him downtown.  He's gonna talk to us one way
…."

A rattling sound
interrupt
ed
the detective.

"
What's that sound?
" he asked.

The detectives
turned around,
and
head
ed
toward
s
the
noise
. 
The sound seem
ed
to be
coming from a closet whose door
was slightly ajar
.