âWhy are you here, Channarong?'
Channarong smiled, put his hands together in that prayerful way, and left.
TWENTY-SEVEN
As was often the case, Cross acted in opposition to the little voice inside him that said, âDon't do this.' The little voice also called Cross âstupid' and deserving of the horrible things that would happen to him.
He drove to Woodruff Place, Center Drive. He believed that Sarah Taupin would go there, not to Fishers to be with her father and certainly not to the lake. He believed that she, at least intuitively, knew her father was capable of cold and calculating acts to get what he wanted. With her mother gone, he believed she would be more comfortable on her own.
Standing on the porch, looking through the screen door, and seeing her packing boxes, he realized he was not completely right, merely right enough. She was there, but she had no plans to stay.
He knocked lightly on the wood frame of the door. It rattled a bit. She jumped. She had been lost in her own thoughts and she looked toward the doorway as if she expected a tiger.
Sarah flicked on the porch light. She didn't recognize Cross.
âYes?'
âMy name is Cross. I'm a private investigator.'
She may not have recognized his face, but she did his name. She froze.
âI believe your life may be in danger.'
He had no more than uttered those words than he saw Raymond Taupin enter the living room from the hall. He held a cell phone to his ear.
âCome away from the door,' he said to Sarah and then apparently interrupted by an operator, said, âHello, yes, my name is Raymond Taupin.' After telling them that the man who murdered his wife was at the door, he provided the Woodruff Place address.
Cross wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a small, grim smile cross Taupin's poker face. It didn't matter.
âYour father killed your mother,' Cross said.
Sarah didn't move.
âCome away from the door,' Raymond said, flipping his cell phone shut. âThe police will deal with him.'
âI know you don't want to believe me, but I have a witness. And you, like your mother, are a detail that needs taken care of. You need the protection of the police.'
âHe's a lunatic, Sarah. Four bodies. Your mother, for Christ's sake. Come away from the door.' He moved toward her. âShut the door and lock it now.'
âSarah, I'm not sure why your father killed them, but he did. I think you should come outside, get away from him. Please, for your own safety.'
Taupin reached what appeared to be a zombie Sarah. He shut the inner door without even glancing at the detective. Cross could hear the locks click into place. He moved to the three steps on the porch and sat facing the street, waiting. There were streetlamps on the broad grassy median that ran the length of Middle Drive. It was so quiet now. He shut his eyes and listened to the night, hoping to hear approaching sirens, but heard only the faint sound of traffic on Tenth Street, blocks away.
He pulled out his cell and punched in the number for Lieutenant Collins.
He knew full well that Taupin was capable of killing his daughter â and that he now had Cross's visit as cover. âYes,' Taupin would say, âthat man killed my entire family.'
Collins's rings ended with a voice telling him to leave a message.
âTaupin is with his daughter. I have reason to believe he might kill her.'
There were sirens now. Getting louder.
A black Ford Victoria and several patrol cars pulled up. But Cross was deeply disappointed. It was Swann, not Collins who approached him, ordering the uniforms to get inside the house with whatever means necessary.
âI thought this was Collins's case,' Cross said.
âThere's “was” and there's “is.”'
âI see.'
Swann was unlike either Collins or Rafferty, but like most cops. His suit was just a little wrinkled and too tight, bought no doubt a few years earlier, before he put on the inevitable few pounds a decade. His tie had been pulled away from his neck and the top button of his shirt was no longer buttoned. However lax about his dress, Swann was wound pretty tight by the rules. Cross would have bet his life that Swann had never taken a bribe, never looked the other way. He was by the book and in that way also contrasted both Collins and Rafferty. That it was Swann who responded was an indication that Saddler's long leash had been replaced with a short chain and a choker ordered from higher up.
âWhat are you doing here?' Swann asked, one foot on the second step.
âI came to warn Sarah that her life was in danger.'
He shook his head, looked at the sky. Not getting an answer from above he leaned down, putting his face inches from Cross's. âYou are accused of killing his wife, his son-in-law, two of his staffers and an unknown woman . . .'
âThe maid from the lake house. A Colombian woman.'
âYou're coming in,' he said, but his train of thought was hijacked by the discussions inside the house.
Cross used the moment to call Kowalski.
âGoing downtown,' Cross said.
âYou know,' Kowalski said, âwe don't have an uptown, do we? Some places have an uptown as well as a downtown.'
âSwann seems to be in charge.'
âShit,' Kowalski said.
âHaven't you given Saddler the tape?'
âTo her office, I did. I'm not sure she's had a chance to hear it.'
âCan we move this along a little bit?'
âI'll meet you downtown. What's going on at Woodruff Place?'
âTaupin's here to protect his daughter.'
âDad of the year.'
This time there was no conference room. They were in an interrogation room â the size of a closet. Kowalski leaned back in the corner of the dingy little room. Swann's jacket was off and the tail of his white shirt had escaped from his waist. He either didn't notice or didn't care.
âYou say Taupin pulled all of this off,' he said, âbut Taupin's passport indicates he was in Mexico City before, after and during the first two murders.'
âHe's the type to have it done,' Kowalski said.
âLet Cross do the talking, OK.'
âHe's the type to have it done,' Cross said. âLieutenant please, talk to your colleagues. We've got a recorded statement from Taupin's maid that says she saw me taped to the chair when Mrs Taupin was murdered.'
âSo you say. But your only witness is your attorney, remember? And now you've got some third-world, illegal immigrant testifying in Spanish about something you probably told her to say. Is that about right?' Swann didn't wait for an answer. âWe have you with both sets of bodies and God knows what went on with Edelman. I count five deaths and you look good for all of them.'
âSo what's with Saddler and Collins?' Kowalski asked.
âYesterday's news,' Swann said. âWhy don't you make it easier on all of us and just tell us what happened? What is it you've got against Taupin?'
âDidn't even know who Taupin was until I was set up with the corpses.'
âDA says it's you,' Swann said. âArraignment tomorrow.'
âNews at eleven,' Kowalski said.
âWhat?'
âPlay the tape on the news.'
âI can get a gag order in three seconds,' said a skinny man in a dark suit, slipping in the door.
âThe DA himself,' Kowalski said.
âHi Kowalski.'
âHello professor.'
âCross here is trying to tell me that Raymond Taupin has guns for hire,' Swann said to the DA.
âYou've been watching too many movies, Cross,' the DA said.
âAnd Mrs Taupin?' Cross asked.
âAt the lake. Have phone calls, the timing of which would not allow for Mrs Taupin to be in Indianapolis at the time of death.'
The knock on the door was a surprise. Collins walked in, all dressed for an evening out. With him was Sarah Taupin, looking like she wanted to crawl in a hole.
âGetting kind of crowded in here,' Swann said. âWhat's going on?'
The door had yet to be closed and it wasn't until Lauren Saddler came in, looking like the cat who swallowed the canary.
âThis game is usually played in a phone booth or a Volkswagen,' Swann said. âWhat's going on?'
âYou want to tell them, Sarah?' Saddler asked. She glanced at Cross.
âMy mother shot my husband and Alejandra Perez.'
âWhy?' Swann asked.
âIt was inevitable. Marshall was very devoted to human rights and my mother thought only certain people had them. They fought over it many times. This time was too much. She slapped Alejandra. And Marshall said he was going to report her and that he'd see to it that she and my father would do time.'
âShe walked into the den and got her shotgun,' Sarah said.
âHers?' the DA asked.
âHanded down from her father.'
âYes.' Sarah's voice was small, a little girl's. She was terrified.
âYou saw her shoot them?'
âNo, but I saw her march them out. It was night. She marched them down to the water.'
âYou didn't try to stop her?' Swann asked.
âSmart lady,' Kowalski said. âShe marches the two out into the lake, shoots them while they're waist deep in the water. No blood to clean up at the house. No splatter. Bodies are close to the plane and with the water helping out with gravity are easier to maneuver.'
âYour mother is that cold?' Swann asked.
Sarah just looked at them. âYou don't know them.' She shook her head as if trying to shake sense into it. âAnd I thought she was just going to send them away.'
âWhy did you come forward now?' the DA asked.
âWhen Mr Cross came to my door tonight and I saw him and I knew he was going to be punished for it. And then when he said my father killed my mother, I had to think about that. I had to consider what would happen. It was too much. It was really too much. And I knew he did it. Why would this man,' she pointed to Cross, âkill my family? And what would happen to me if my father found out that I knew? And it was a matter of time before he would know that I knew.'
âWe have a call placed from your lake landline phone to a person who acknowledges she received a call from Mrs Taupin at that time.'
âThe plane,' Cross said.
âMrs Taupin has a pilot's license. It's her plane that's tied up on Lake Wawasee. She can bring the bodies down and return in a very short time,' Kowalski said.
âYou'll probably find a call from Raymond to Edelman that night.'
âWhy would Edelman play this game?' Swann asked.
âTaupin held Edelman's paper. Edelman lost his wife already and Taupin could take his business any time he wanted,' Cross said. âGet a forensic accountant to look at his books. There's a safe behind the big fish. Poor Edelman probably did kill himself. He had nothing to live for.'
Swann threw up his hands.
The DA was conspicuous by his silence.
âWhy did Taupin kill his wife?'
âShe got him into this mess and that act would hang over Raymond for as long she was around to tell the story,' Cross said, looking at Sarah Taupin. âI'm sorry.'
She shrugged. âIt's not much of a family.'
âIf Mrs Taupin went down as the murderer, he was done in the community,' Cross continued. âAll his moral high handedness was a pose anyway, but it couldn't withstand this kind of scandal â murder, illegal immigrants, abuse. But if she were murdered then he'd have the sympathy of the community. He simply cleaned up all the details. Except for Carolina. And he would have killed her if he could have found her that day. If Kowalski hadn't come along, I'd be dead too, unable to tell tales, and blamed for all of the deaths. He'd be completely in the clear.'
âWhere is Taupin?' the DA asked.
âSitting out front, thinking everything is all right,' Collins said. Cross was glad Sarah could not see the lieutenant's grin.
âSarah needs protection,' Kowalski said.
âYes, we know,' Saddler said. âShe'll remain here with Lieutenant Swann as we exit. Once we have Taupin in custody, Sarah will be released. Then it depends on the judge in the morning. Right?' She looked at the DA.
He nodded agreement before shaking his head in frustration. Unpleasant work remained in front of him.
âFree to go?' Cross asked.
Saddler nodded. âBehave yourself.'
Cross and Kowalski exited the crowded little room and went out. A uniformed officer stood a few feet away from Raymond Taupin who sat in the guest chair at an empty desk.
âYou want to catch something to eat at the Slippery Noodle?' Kowalski asked Cross.
âGood idea.' He stopped by Taupin and moved in front of the man. âBring you back anything? Hamburger maybe.'
Taupin blinked a few times and glanced away. But, Cross thought, the man had to know that something had just gone terribly wrong. A reptile to the end.
The place was crowded. Serious drinkers in the front room, music lovers in a large back room, down the long hallway. Blues sounds found their way toward them, heavily filtered through the loud conversations and sounds of dining clatter.
Settled in, Kowalski took a deep breath. âYou know, this whole fucking thing came about because Taupin was too cheap to pay a living wage to his help.'
âI doubt if his connection to Colombia was just a couple of apparently expendable maids.'
âLet's eat, drink and be merry,' Kowalski said.