Deaths of Jocasta (41 page)

“Take your shirt off,” Elly instructed.

“Don’t let Danny hear you say that,” I said.

She gave me a wry smile. She raised an eyebrow when she saw my gun. And more than an eyebrow when she saw my back. “You have bruises all down your spine. Lie down.”

I did as I was told. The door opened. Cordelia stepped in.

“Elly, I didn’t know—” she started, then saw me. “Micky. Nice of you to show up,” she added sardonically.

She held for a second in the doorway, wavering between entering or leaving. She finally came in.

“Betty Peterson’s dead,” she stated.

“I know,” I answered.

“I ended up calling a couple of hospitals looking for you,” Cordelia said angrily.

Some perverse streak in me asserted itself. First Joanne, then Elly, and now Cordelia had jumped to the conclusion that I had been out drinking. She probably thought I had passed out on her.

“What are you doing here?” Cordelia demanded when I didn’t respond immediately.

“Trying to seduce Elly. Now if I could just get her to take off her shirt,” I retorted.

“I’m removing splinters from her shoulder,” Elly explained.

“How did you get splinters in your shoulder?” Cordelia asked.

“Going down stairs,” I retorted.

“You needn’t be gentle,” Cordelia told Elly. “She’s too tough to feel much of anything.”

The remark stung. It was intended to.

“Unlike your ever-so-sensitive lily white skin,” I deliberately baited her. Then thought better of it.

“Damn you!” Cordelia burst out, cutting off any apology from me.

“Hey, you two,” Elly cut in. “This isn’t the time or the place.”

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry, Elly,” Cordelia said. “I have patients to see. Tell me when the room is free,” she added coolly.

“Fuck you,” I shot at her.

She glared icily at me.

“Micky,” Elly said warningly.

I jerked away from her.

“I’ll take care of my own goddamned shoulder, thank you.” I sat up and swung my legs off the table.

Don’t. Don’t do it, I told myself, suddenly realizing that Elly and Cordelia weren’t the people who deserved my rage. They didn’t try to kill me and they didn’t shove Betty in a trunk because she asked a few questions.

“Lie down. Let me finish,” Elly said calmly.

I looked at Cordelia. She was still glaring at me, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not angry at you.”

“Well, I am angry at you,” she snapped. “You could have called. I was worried about you. What happened?”

“This not very nice man tried to give me an abortion, even though I told him that I had better things to do, not to mention not being pregnant. We argued about it and I had to exit rather rudely, going downstairs on my shoulders.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Cordelia asked.

“I did. I kept getting your answering machine. I didn’t feel like leaving a message that said, ‘Hi, I’ve been kidnapped, almost murdered, and just found Betty Peterson’s body stuffed in an old steamer trunk.’”

Cordelia and Elly just stared at me for a moment. Cordelia finally asked what had happened. I told them a more coherent version of my story.

“I’m sorry,” Cordelia said when I finished. “Lie down. You need that shoulder patched.”

Elly’s hands guided me back down. She went to work on my splinters. Cordelia stood beside me, her hands resting on my back, carefully avoiding my bruises. When Elly finished, Cordelia didn’t remove her hands; instead one massaged the back of my head and neck.

“Finger marks?” she asked, tracing a finger next to the bruises on my face.

“Yes.”

There was a knock on the door and Bernie came in.

“Cordelia, I need…oh…” Bernie said when she noticed that I was half naked and that Cordelia was closer to me than professionalism demanded. Bernie blushed, then retreated to the hall to say, “They’re here, but you need to wait a minute or two.”

I heard O’Connor’s grunt in the background. Bernie came back in, holding out some papers for Cordelia. She moved away from me to take them.

“Thanks, Bernie,” she said. “We’ll be ready in a minute.”

Bernie took the hint and exited.

“I’m sorry,” Cordelia said. “I should have trusted you.”

I shrugged, then said, “I need to prove myself trustworthy.”

“To me, you always have,” she said softly. “I need to stop listening to…others.”

“Danny Clayton has to stop insisting that my behavior today is exactly the same as it was ten years ago,” I said.

“Oh, no,” Elly laughed, knowing she was meant to hear it. “You’ll have to tell her yourself. I stay out of this one.”

As soon as I was decent, Cordelia opened the door to let in O’Connor.

“Ah, Dr. James, I see Miss Knight has told you her version of events.”

“Micky told me what happened,” Cordelia replied.

“It seems the D.A. has gotten a lot of calls about you. It seems a number of people don’t like Ignatious Holloway’s granddaughter being treated like a common criminal.”

“Believe it or not, I haven’t pulled any strings. My grandfather may have been good at that sort of thing, but I’m not.”

“No doubt. You’re no longer under arrest, Dr. James. Miss Knight’s story cast enough doubt that the D.A. no longer believes he has enough evidence to hold you.”

“Good thing someone’s got some sense,” I interjected. “How convenient that Betty died before she could prove Cordelia innocent.”

“How convenient, yes, but for who?” O’Connor replied.

“I want her killer found,” Cordelia said.

“I’m sure you do,” O’Connor returned coolly.

“I do,” Cordelia answered firmly. “I’d like to put up a reward.”

“How much?” O’Connor asked skeptically.

“Twenty thousand. More, if you think it would help.”

O’Connor clearly hadn’t expected that much, but his expression quickly returned to neutral. “A hefty sum, Dr. James.”

“I want whoever killed Betty Peterson brought to justice.”

“Yeah, well, I can agree to that,” O’Connor replied as he turned to go.

“Did you search Betty’s cottage?” I asked.

“Yes, we did. What were we supposed to find?” he asked, annoyance in his voice.

“I thought I saw some blank insurance forms there,” I quickly lied.

“Through the windows?” O’Connor questioned, giving me a hard look.

“Yes, through the windows.” I stared back at him, holding to my lie. I couldn’t very well admit to breaking and entering.

“No, we didn’t find any insurance forms in her cottage. We found a Bible, women’s clothes, food, bird seed—evidently Betty Peterson liked to feed the birds—and many other things you would expect us to find. But we didn’t find anything that even suggests Betty Peterson was involved in what you say she was involved in.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to hide my disbelief. “Just curious,” I added sarcastically.

“I’m sure,” O’Connor replied.

“One more thing, Detective O’Connor,” Cordelia said. “It’s too dangerous for Micky to work on this any more.”

“What?” I said, dumbfounded. “What about catching Betty’s killer? What about the rest of you?” I demanded.

“Let the police handle it. It’s their job,” Cordelia said.

“No,” I stated. “You can’t just throw me off this. That monster almost killed me. He did kill Betty and four other women. I want him.”

“Look, I have thought about this, but I can’t allow you to—”

“Miss Knight,” O’Connor said, “this is something Dr. James and I agree on.”

“You can’t stop me,” I overrode them.

“I didn’t think you’d like it,” she sighed, “but I will not be responsible for putting your life at risk. My mind’s made up.”

“So’s mine. I’m going to keep investigating, whether you like it or not,” I replied angrily.

“Not on my property,” she stated. “Stay away from this building.”

I glanced at her, but there wasn’t much of a reply I could make to that. Of course, I had no doubt that between Bernie, Millie, and Elly, I could get into the building. But I wasn’t going to tell Cordelia that.

“Please, Micky, cooperate,” she said. “Don’t bang your head against the wall. Here, take your check.” She held it out to me.

“Look, Miss-High-and-Mighty Cordelia James, you think your money can buy anything—”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do,” she interrupted.

“Miss Knight, stay away,” O’Connor added. “Dr. James is right.”

“Not me,” I retorted heatedly. “You can’t buy me off.”

“I don’t want you bought off. I want you safe. Can’t you understand the difference?” Cordelia said.

“I’ll be safe when that killer is in jail. Not before.”

“I’m sorry, Micky, I have to ask you to leave. I haven’t the time to argue with you. I’m already way behind.”

I stood where I was, staring angrily at her.

“Don’t make me have to have you removed.”

“You can’t do this…”

“I’ll put you over my shoulder and carry you out, if I have to,” she threatened.

I almost retorted “Do it,” but Cordelia was one of the few women who might actually succeed in physically throwing me out. And I doubted she’d thank me for forcing her into the undignified act of carting me bodily out of the building. Not to mention the enjoyment that O’Connor would get out of the sight.

I spun on my heel, jerked the door open, and stalked out.

“Micky?” Bernie asked as I strode by. I didn’t slow. “What happened?” she tagged after me.

“I’ve been fired.”

“Why?”

“Ask your boss. Damned if I know,” I answered over my shoulder, leaving her behind. I slammed out the front door.

I got in my car and punched the steering wheel, but that only made my shoulder hurt more. Damn it, I thought, now what do I do? Go home and sit around all day waiting for them to find him?

I finally started my car, realizing that sitting in the heat only made me angrier. At least the breeze of motion might cool my face, if not my temper. I drove around for a while because I needed movement. Cordelia could keep me off the property, but she couldn’t keep me off the streets. I could drive by the clinic as often as I liked.

I went back to my apartment and called O’Connor. “So she bribed you, huh?” was the message I left for him. I was sure he would recognize my inimitable style.

Danny had left a message on my machine.

“I don’t approve,” it recorded, “but you and Cordelia are big girls. I can only hope she has enough sense to be as casual about the whole thing as I know you will.”

“Eat me while I shit, Danno,” I told her taped voice.

I drove to the clinic the next day and found a parking spot out on the street. A spot visible from Cordelia’s window.

What point am I proving, I wondered, after sitting for over an hour in the heat. But I was too stubborn to leave. I made sure I was there when everyone left after evening hours. Millie waved and shook her head at my foolhardiness. Cordelia glanced briefly in my direction, then hastily turned away. Bernie started to make some motion, but looked at Cordelia first and kept on going.
That’s right, Bern, please the person who pays you.
I watched them drive away before starting my car and heading for home.

Somewhere in the middle of the next day, Elly came out to where I was parked. “Aren’t you afraid of heatstroke?” she asked as she leaned against my car door.

“Me? Naw, what’s a little sunshine?”

“Cordelia threatens legal action every time she looks out here and sees you.”

“So? This is a public street. I’m public. What can she get me for?”

“Harassment. Loitering. Probably a few others. She and Danny have been on the phone a few times.”

“Shit. In other words, rich women can make the law do whatever they want. Tell Danny that—”

“Nope,” she cut me off. “If you want to tell Danny anything, you get to do it yourself.”

“Point taken. You’ve warned me. Now you can go back into the air-conditioning,” I replied grouchily.

“What are you trying to prove? What can you do that the police can’t?”

“I know what he looks like. How he walks. I can spot the color of his hair three blocks away. I might prevent something from happening, not clean up afterward.”

Elly nodded slowly, then told me, “Well, I’ve said my piece. I don’t think you need to be here, but I won’t try to convince you to leave. There’s a bathroom near the entrance on the second floor. You shouldn’t have too much trouble sneaking in to use it.” With that bit of advice, she sauntered back to the clinic.

I re-parked my car in a shady place. Where Cordelia couldn’t see it.

She did see me when she left in the evening. She stopped and glared at me for a moment, took a step in my direction, then spun around and stalked off to her car. She drove by without a glance. Then Elly and Bernie appeared. Elly stopped to call out that they were all gone and that I could go home now.