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.Bernstein was shot.Afterward, he stopped in a strip center parking lot to eat his brown-bag lunch, same as he always does.But, of course, he has no proof of where he was.”“Did he see anyone while he was there? Someone who might vouch for his presence?”“No one he knew.”“I’m sure the police searched his house,” I said.“Did they find a gun?”“I’d hardly think so.Larry couldn’t afford a gun.He’s still paying off his mother’s medical and funeral expenses.”Quincy told us how Inman had lived with his mother in the projects after his father had deserted them when the boy was fifteen.He graduated from high school in 1982 while unemployment was at high levels.Unable to find a job to help his mother make ends meet, he enlisted in the Marines.Inman was wounded in 1984 when the Marine barracks in Beirut was bombed.He was discharged four years later and found a job as a truck driver, living with his mother and helping pay their expenses.Mrs.Inman made her living cleaning houses.After a few years, they had saved enough to make a downpayment on a small frame house in a marginal section of town.“He came to work for me when we started the business in the mid-nineties,” Quincy said.“A few years later, his mother contracted viral cardiomyopathy and had to quit working.After undergoing a lot of expensive tests, she was placed on the list for a heart transplant.With all the medical expenses, they fell behind on their mortgage payments.The bank foreclosed shortly before his mother died, still waiting for a transplant.That was six months ago.Larry was forced to rent a small apartment.”I shook my head.“It sounds like he has a motive, to get back at the banking business.”“But the Federal Reserve doesn’t have anything to do with mortgage foreclosures.”“In a way it does,” Jill said.“The Fed establishes reserve requirements the banks must meet, and it sets the funds rate at which banks can borrow from one another.If a bank is running short, it has no option except to call in its loans, or foreclose.”“Maybe so,” Quincy said, “but do you think a blue collar worker would have any idea of that?”I rubbed my chin.“You have a point.Does Inman have an attorney?”“He can’t afford one, and I don’t trust the public pefender to get really excited about his case.”“So what do you want us to do?” I asked.“Find some proof that will get the police to let him go.I’ll pay your fee.”I turned to Jill.“What do you think? It could delay work on Molly’s case.”“I don’t like that aspect of it, but this sounds like something that would be hard to turn down.”I knew what she meant.I was certain my report to Phil Adamson was what had led to Larry Inman’s predicament.From what Quincy had told us, I wasn’t convinced of Inman’s innocence.I also didn’t want to jeopardize our relationship with Phil, but I felt a moral obligation to make certain I had not caused a gross injustice.“All right, Mr.Quincy.We’ll take the case.And we will do everything in our power to learn the truth.That’s all I ever promise a client.”He nodded.“That’s all I could ask.Thank you.”24Jill was moodily silent as we drove back to the office.When I sat down at my desk, she stood there with her arms crossed.“Why don’t I go ahead with the Molly Saint investigation while you look into Larry Inman,” she said.I didn’t even like to consider the prospect of her being accidentally confronted by the man we knew as Damon Saint.“I think we both need to work both cases,” I said.“Meaning you don’t think I’m capable of handling an investigation by myself.”“Serendipity, babe.There’s a better chance we can stumble onto something significant working together rather than separately.Let me get Phil on the phone and feel him out.Then we’ll decide what to do next.”The look she gave me said volumes about my duplicitous nature, but she sat at her desk like a stoic in marble while I called Adamson’s cell phone.He had told me all the detectives used their own phones.The department provided radios, but the investigators didn’t want to discuss sensitive information where all the world could listen in on their scanners.“I understand you picked up Larry Inman,” I said when Phil answered.“What did you find out?”“Thanks for the tip, Greg.He had motive and opportunity, and his alibi is as leaky as my radiator.”“What about the gun and the black outfit?”“We haven’t found them.But he could have ditched them in a dumpster.”“I presume you’ve had some guys dumpster-diving.”“Yeah.No luck yet.The guy’s an ex-Marine, you know.Qualified as an expert rifleman.He’s got a fiery temper, too.Had to be restrained once during interrogation.”“Has he admitted anything?”“Insists he’s innocent.Nothing new there.”“Look, Phil,” I said.“I have to tell you this.Inman’s boss, Bert Quincy, wants us to look for evidence to prove he’s not guilty.”“Oh, brother.I’d better tell you the rest of the story.”I really wasn’t sure I wanted to know.“What’s that?”“Mark Tremaine is handling the Inman angle.You’ve got your work cut out for you, buddy.The way it looks, the guy is guilty as sin.”“If we turn up anything exculpatory, I’ll let you know.”“There’s something else,” Phil said.“Oh?”“The FBI is looking into Mr.Quincy.They’re concerned he might have put his boy Inman up to this.”Jill looked across at me after I hung up the phone.“What did he say that caused your hair to turn grayer?”“Mark Tremaine is heading the Larry Inman investigation.”She nodded.“That would do it.”My critical comments about Murder Squad Detective Tremaine had involved a high-profile missing person case in which he had pursued one possibility to the exclusion of all else.My choice words about his obstinate behavior had been blown up to imply I was demeaning the entire department.Now that things were almost back to normal, I didn’t relish poking in the hornet’s nest again.“I presume Phil wasn’t too happy about our new client, either,” Jill said.“Probably not, though he tried to make it sound more like he only pitied us.” I told her what Phil had said about the violent outburst.She stared at me.“Sounds like something you might do in similar circumstances.”“I might,” I said.“But, fortunately, I’m not being grilled by Mr.Tremaine.Phil mentioned one other complicating fact, though.”“And that would be…?”“He says the FBI is interested in the possibility that Quincy might have talked Larry Inman into committing the murder.”“Really, Greg.”“My feelings exactly.Let’s go check out where Inman lived and see what his neighbors have to say.”———The deliveryman occupied one side of a brick and vinyl-siding house in an area a mile or two offOld Hickory Boulevard that was block after block of nearly identical rental duplexes.Some looked neat enough to be featured in a homes magazine, while others could have passed for junkyards.Inman’s lay somewhere in between, with a few scraggly shrubs in front and a clean lawn.Quincy had given us a key to the place, which Inman had given him in case of an emergency, and we let ourselves in.“He’s not much of a housekeeper,” Jill said, noting papers scattered about the floor around a small table in the living room.I took in the area with a quick glance.“More likely the work of a cadre of untidy detectives.”“What are we looking for, Greg?”“The police have already carted off anything of evidentiary value.I’d just like to get a feel for the guy, how he lived, what he valued.”We found pictures of Inman the Marine, Inman and his mother, and Inman with an attractive young woman.A Bible lay on the bedside table [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]