"Hey, it"s better than Bambi."
"Cora, I"m not Sherry"s lawyer. I can"t be Sherry"s lawyer."
"Why not?"
"I"m her ex-husband"s lawyer."
"Good. Remember that when Melvin tries to hire you."
"Cora, this is no laughing matter."
"That"s why I"m not laughing."
"You moved the gun."
"Of course I moved the gun. I brought it to the police station."
"You moved the place you found it."
"I would have to dispute that. I don"t think anyone could accuse me of moving the motel room. This is not the end of the world. If little Miss Ditsy Pants tells the cops the KenKen added up to a number that was almost her room number, I don"t think anybody"s going to be surprised that it didn"t pan out."
"Whereas no one will have a problem with North Main Street," Becky said sarcastically.
"North Main Street is far more credible than room one oh six."
"How do you figure that?"
"Because a gun was found there. That immediately ratchets up the credibility. Whereas nothing was found in the motel room. It"s hardly credible at all."
"The gun was found in the motel room."
"No one knows that. And no one has to know that. Because if they did, they"d be arresting Melvin for murder, and that"s never a good thing. If you accuse a man of murder, he"s got nothing to lose, and he lashes out in all directions, and I"m one of them. So if we could just downplay the gun in the motel room..."
"Downplay?" Becky said. "What a charming suggestion of how to handle tampering with evidence, compounding a felony, and conspiring to conceal a crime. Let"s downplay it."
"Well, I wouldn"t play it up," Cora said. "Of course, you"re the attorney."
The phone rang.
Becky glared at Cora, s.n.a.t.c.hed it up. "h.e.l.lo?... Sorry, Chief, didn"t mean to snap. I"m a little on edge.... What"s that?... No, that can"t be right.... No, I"m not arguing with you, Chief. We"ll be right there."
Becky slammed down the phone, put her hands on her hips. "Well, now we"re screwed."
"What"s the matter?"
"Dan Finley brought in Melvin"s wife."
"And?"
"She just made a statement. Guess what she said?"
"That the puzzles referred to the motel and I must have found the gun in room one oh six?"
Becky smiled grimly. "No. She says she never gave you any puzzles at all."
CHAPTER.
36.
Cora nipped at Becky"s heels as she strode down the alley to the police station. "I"ve got witnesses, Becky. Granted, they"re biased, but that goes to the weight, not the admissibility, right? If they had to testify? They were there. They saw her give me the puzzles. They heard what she said. I swear to you, I"m not making it up."
"Like one oh six North Street."
"Okay, maybe I made that up. But the rest of it"s sound. I mean, why would I drag the bimbo into it if I didn"t have to?"
"She"s young and pretty and you hate her guts?"
"That has nothing to do with it."
"Of course not. It"s true. Truth has very little to do with any of it."
Becky marched up the steps, threw open the front door of the police station, strode inside.
Dan Finley stuck his head out the door of Chief Harper"s office and waved to them. "Come on in." Under his breath, he added, "He"s not happy."
Cora followed Becky into the office and stopped dead.
Standing next to the desk was an attractive woman of approximately thirty years of age, with flaming red hair and flashing green eyes. "Is that her?" she demanded. "Is that the woman spreading all the lies?"
"Who are you?" Cora said.
"I"m Melvin"s wife. His current wife. His legal wife. As opposed to his ex-wife, the one who"s bleeding him dry."
"You"re Melvin"s wife?"
"Are you hard of hearing? You"re not that old. Well, maybe you are. d.a.m.n right I"m his wife. How dare you tell lies about me to the police?"
"I never said a word about you."
"Oh, yeah? You sent an officer to pick me up."
"Are you staying at the Oakwood Motel?"
"I certainly am."
"You"re not staying with Melvin."
"That"s none of your d.a.m.n business. I"ll thank you to b.u.t.t out of my personal affairs. Which includes giving misinformation to the police."
Cora collapsed into a chair. "Oh, for G.o.d"s sake."
"You want to clue me in?" Chief Harper said.
"My ex-husband is every bit the son of a b.i.t.c.h he always was. This may be his legally married wife, but he"s not traveling with her. He"s got a younger, fresher bimbo in tow."
"Is that true?" Harper demanded of Mrs. Crabtree.
"I fail to see how my marital problems are any concern of the police."
"This is a murder investigation. We wanted to question the woman staying with Melvin at the Oakwood Motel. We a.s.sumed that was you. If it"s not, we apologize, but it"s hardly our fault."
"You might ask her what she"s doing staying at the same motel as her husband and his current flame."
"Oh, I"m sure I"ll have some questions." Harper bellowed, "Dan!"
"I"m right here, Chief."
"Oh. Then I don"t have to explain the situation. Would you like to try again? Go to the Oakwood Motel and bring me the woman residing in the room with Melvin Crabtree."
"Would you like Melvin, too?"
"Not if you can possibly avoid it. I see nothing to be gained by a family reunion."
"Well, you"re not going to get it," Mrs. Crabtree said. "If you had no reason to bring me in, then you have no reason to hold me. I"m out of here."
"You"re not going to ask her any questions?" Cora said.
"Yes, I am. Mrs. Crabtree, were you aware that your husband was staying at the same motel you were?"
"Of course."
"Were you aware that a young lady was staying with him?"
"Yes, I was aware of it."
"And was he aware you were staying at the same motel?"
"What do you think?"
"I know what I think. I"m asking you."
"No, he was not."
"And I a.s.sume the young lady in question wasn"t either."
"One would a.s.sume."
"I have a question," Cora said. "Did you take care to see that they were not aware of your presence?"
"Yes, I did."
"In other words, you were spying on them. Were you aware your husband was here for an alimony suit?"
"Yes, of course."
"Do you have any opinion as to that?"
"Yes. I hope he wins it."
"Why?"
"The less money he pays you, the more he"ll have to pay me."
"You"re planning on filing for divorce?"
"You think I want to remain in this deplorable situation?"
"So, you"re here primarily to dig up evidence to use in a divorce case."
"That"s one way to look at it."
"What"s another?"
Mrs. Crabtree frowned. "I think I"ve answered all the questions I need to."
"I think so," Harper said.
"I"m not so sure," Cora said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if she didn"t receive the items in question, you have to wonder if she was the one who sent them."
"Interesting," Harper said.
"What items in question?" Melvin"s wife said. "What are you talking about?"
"If you actually did send them," Cora said, "pretending not to know what they were would be a good course of action."
"I don"t think I need to answer any more of your questions. I know I don"t have to answer yours." The fiery redhead straightened, stuck out her chin, and strode off.
"You going to let her walk out?" Cora said.