"Well, the woman he was selling drugs to at the Aphrodisiac for one," said Williams. Bailey looked at him questioningly, and the police chief filled in his colleague.
Bailey said ,"So she gets the money back, why kill him?"
"What if Kyle learned who she was and was trying to blackmail her?" suggested Sylvia. "That would be a prime motive for murder: fear of exposure."
"So we need to find this woman, and fast," said Williams.
Mich.e.l.le and King exchanged glances.
"We know who she is," he said.
They all looked at him in surprise.
"Well, who the h.e.l.l is she?" asked Williams.
"Dorothea Battle. And she"s got no alibi for the time Kyle was killed."
"Dorothea Battle?" The police chief rose from his chair. "Why the h.e.l.l didn"t you tell me this right away, Sean?"
"We just found out ourselves. She admitted it to us."
Williams pulled out his cell phone. "Well, we"ll pick her up p.r.o.nto, then."
"She"s at her house."
"You mean you hope she is. If she"s flown the coop, I"m holding you responsible."
"I don"t think she killed Kyle, Todd."
Williams ignored this and spoke into his phone, ordering the arrest of Dorothea Battle. When that was done, he looked at the private investigator. "And what do you base that conclusion on?"
"Gut instinct."
"Thanks, I"ll keep that in mind."
"If Dorothea did kill this guy, we might have three killers out there. The serial killer, the person who killed Bobby Battle and now whoever killed Montgomery," said Bailey.
"Or Dorothea could have killed Bobby," said Williams. He looked at King. "Did she say anything about why she went to see Battle?"
"Dorothea was hoping Bobby had changed his will to give her more money. She said she went to the hospital to make sure he"d done so. As it turned out, he hadn"t. Remmy got the money. So his death didn"t benefit Dorothea at all."
Mich.e.l.le spoke up. "She said he was incoherent. But what if when she visited him, he told her that he hadn"t changed his will and in anger she poisoned him?"
King said, "I don"t think Battle was capable of answering any questions. He was on the ventilator which makes speech pretty much impossible."
Bailey glanced at King. "How"s your theory looking regarding the victims being connected somehow?"
King shrugged. "Still working the angle."
After the others had left, King picked up the phone and made a call. But he put the phone down a few moments later.
"Who were you trying to get in touch with?" asked Mich.e.l.le.
"Harry Carrick. There was no answer. I"ll try again later. Once Dorothea is picked up, the s.h.i.t will really hit the fan. Harry"s friends with Remmy, so I"d like to give him some advance warning. He may want to go by and see her. And Dorothea"s going to need a lawyer."
"I wonder if I should find Eddie and tell him."
"Better he hears from someone else. Bailey will probably want to do the honors."
"How come you didn"t tell Bailey about Canney"s connection to Battle?"
"I don"t know if there is a real connection yet. I"d like to be sure."
"But you have your suspicions?"
"Yes, I do. Strong ones."
"Care to share them?"
"My hunch is that Steve Canney was Bobby Battle"s child by Mrs. Canney. And that Roger Canney made the old man pay after his wife died. That would explain his sudden wealth and the fact that he has no pictures of his adulterous spouse and the son who wasn"t his."
"I"m surprised he waited until she died in the car accident before he started blackmailing Battle," she said.
King stared at his partner. "Car accident?" he said slowly.
"Yes, she was drinking and crashed her car. Don"t you remember?"
"I remember very well, thank you."
She noted the faraway look in her partner"s eyes. "You"re on to something. Care to share?"
He glanced at her. "What if Canney"s wife didn"t die in a car accident?"
"But she did. They found her in her car at the bottom of a ravine. I told you I checked with Todd on that."
"Right. She died in a car crash. But that doesn"t necessarily make it an accident, does it?"
CHAPTER 65.
KING EVENTUALLY GOT IN TOUCHwith Harry and told him what had happened.
"I"ll head straight to the Battles"," he said. "Why don"t you and Mich.e.l.le meet me there?"
It was dinnertime when they all collected at the mansion.
Remmy met the three at the door. "Mason is out right now," she explained.
"You"ve heard?" asked King.
"Yes. I hardly think she"ll pull herself out of this one."
King looked at the older woman with surprise. "Remmy, I know the two of you aren"t the best of friends, but she"s still married to your son."
"Which is the only reason I have any concern at all."
"Where"s Eddie?"
"In town talking with the lawyers. Dorothea hasn"t been formally charged yet?"
"They don"t even have a firm cause of death yet," Mich.e.l.le put in. "Until that happens, they can"t charge her."
"You don"t think she killed the man, do you?" Harry asked Remmy.
She placed her gaze squarely on him. "No, but I didn"t think she was buying stolen drugs either."
"There"s quite a bit of difference between that and murdering someone," rejoined Harry.
She motioned them in. "Why don"t we continue thisfascinating discussion over dinner?" discussion over dinner?"
Savannah joined them in the dining room. She was dressed in a long skirt, white blouse, dark blue sweater, stockings and low-heeled pumps. Her hair was nicely styled, and she had a modest amount of makeup on.
It took King a moment to realize what he was seeing. Then it struck him: daughter was dressed just like mother. He looked over at Mich.e.l.le. From her startled expression it was clear she was thinking the very same thing.
Harry sat next to Savannah and struck up a conversation with her while King and Mich.e.l.le focused on Remmy.
"Dorothea got virtually nothing by Bobby"s death," said King. "So there was no motive there."
"Motives needn"t be simply financial," replied Remmy as she b.u.t.tered her roll.
Like your motive for killing your husband?thought King.
"You have something in mind?" asked Mich.e.l.le.
"No, I"m just stating what I thought was an obvious fact."
"You had no idea Dorothea was taking one of Bobby"s cars and renting a place at the Aphrodisiac? Or that she had a drug problem?"
Remmy shook her head. "But then, I"m not my daughter-in-law"s keeper, am I?"
"I knew she had a drug problem." All eyes turned to Savannah.
"Did she mention it to you?" asked King.
"No, but I saw her once, I guess she was coming back from that place. It was early in the morning, and I"d gotten up to go for a walk. She was coming up from the direction of the car barn. She was a mess. I was surprised she could even drive home."
"You didn"t just a.s.sume she was drunk?" asked Mich.e.l.le.
"After four years of college I know the difference between drunk and high."
"I"m so glad our money bought you such an invaluable education," snapped Remmy.
"Did you confront her about it, Savannah?" asked King.
"No, it was none of my business."
"But didn"t you tell anyone, like Eddie?"
"Again, it was none of my business. Dorothea and I aren"t close, in case you hadn"t noticed."
After dinner Remmy excused herself, saying she had some letters to write, and Savannah was left to say formal good-byes. However, King had to use the bathroom and asked Harry and Mich.e.l.le to hold up for a minute. As they waited for him to come back, Harry led Savannah over to a corner and started speaking to her in a confidential tone. When King returned, they said their good nights and left.
Harry said, "I didn"t meant to ignore you, Mich.e.l.le, but I"m worried about Savannah and wanted to speak with her privately."
"Did you notice she"s dressing like her mother now?" King said.
"That was one indication something was amiss," said Harry diplomatically. "Remmy is a very intimidating woman, and I guess not even an independent soul like Savannah is immune from her force of will."
"And Remmy writes lots of letters, keeps a journal and presumably gets a lot of letters from friends," commented King.
Harry looked at him quizzically. "I suppose she does. As do I. Is that important?"
"While I was using the bathroom, I happened to pa.s.s by the study. Remmy was in there writing out some letters like she said she was going to."
"So?" asked Mich.e.l.le.
"The one thing that"s been bothering me is that we still don"t know what was taken from her and Bobby"s closets. What if it were letters, or a diary, something like that?"
Harry said, "That would make sense. Women like Remmy often desire a secure place for their confidential letters."
"Letters that could be incriminating somehow," said King. "Not necessarily in a criminal sense, but in a personal one. At least it"s something to keep in mind."
They left the house. Mich.e.l.le had driven over separately. She said good-bye to Harry and King and drove off. Harry climbed into his convertible and waved as he pulled out.
King was getting into his car when he saw the note on his front seat.
It was short and to the point. "I want to talk. I"ll meet you at your place at ten tonight." It was signed "Sally."
King looked around but saw no one. He checked his watch. It was nine o"clock. He debated whether to call Mich.e.l.le and tell her to meet him at his houseboat. Then he thought better of it. That might scare Sally away. He drove off. In one hour part of this mystery might be cleared up, or at least be less muddled. Right now he"d take that.