The Original Alibi (Matt Kile) (23 page)

We could take it no farther. Axel went down to his condo and I decided to get ready for bed. First, I ate the last of Clara’s apple pie. The soft, cool texture felt nice in my mouth and also tasted good.

I had no shortage of suspects and theories and they were all moving around in my head like tumbling cats caught in a clothes dryer.

Then something Axel had said replayed in my mind. “You gotta get one of them to rat on themselves. A man’s tongue can work like a shovel to dig his own grave.”

Chapter 29

Axel had set the coffee pot to come on in the morning before going downstairs to his condo. I had eased my way onto the couch to catch the late news before going to bed when the doorbell rang. I looked through the peephole to see Karen Whitaker.

I doubted Charles had told her about being her father. I couldn’t figure what else would bring her here unless it was one of those I-don’t-want-to-sleep-alone nights and she had flipped a coin with heads for me and tails for Cliff. I opened the door.

“Matt, I just learned about your having been beaten. Charles told me. Oh, golly, that looks really sore.” She came in and closed the door behind her.

“It looks worse than it is. It only hurts when I move or breathe.” We laughed together. I winced alone.

“Do you know who did it?”

I thought about asking her the same question. After all, she had already manipulated Cliff into attacking me. She could easily have arranged for a more serious effort by Podkin. If she had, she wouldn’t tell me the truth, so I gave her the vanilla answer.

“Some biker thug. I got free. He ran off before I found out who put him up to it.”

“You think it had something to do with what you’re into for the general?”

“Yes.”

She moved over to the couch and sat down. “Couldn’t he have just done it on his own?”

“I suppose he could have, but ask me if I believe that. He wasn’t demanding anything. He didn’t take my wallet or steal my car. No. Someone hired him to work me over.”

She crossed her legs, her pullover jersey drawing tight high across her upper thigh. “I see,” she said. “I find it amazing how you can figure those angles.” She then patted the cushion beside her. “Sit down with me, Matt. Maybe I can make it feel better.”

“Actually, right now I’m more comfortable standing. I’m in no condition for any physical activity. It’s difficult to even breathe without feeling it.”

Unusual as it might seem, being impatient with a beautiful woman who had come to my room in the middle of the night, I didn’t want to drag out her visit. She could have come out of concern for me, which was nice, but I’d had enough of that from enough people. Then again, the fact that the general would soon die could be accelerating the moves that might be coming from the various players in this family drama.

“Karen, is there some other reason you stopped by? I would love your company any other time, but I’m pretty whipped and I need to get started in the morning.”

“Can I talk to you, Matt. I mean, really talk. My deepest concerns, my hopes, it won’t take long.” She turned toward me, the fabric’s embrace of her legs more intense.

I needed to hear this, her reason for coming. “Go ahead,” I said, my eyes on her gams, as I might describe her legs in one of my novels. My condition eliminated me as a participant, but not as an enthusiastic observer.

“Well, you know the general won’t be with us much longer. I so wish I could change that, but the doctors say there is nothing further they can do.” I nodded. “Well, you are aware that his will provides for all of us, with Eddie receiving the overwhelming majority.”

Standing was now getting uncomfortable so I decided to try sitting with her on the couch. “You’re gonna end up with two point five million.” I slowly angled myself toward her the way we all do when talking to someone sitting beside us.

“Yes. But Eddie will receive close to fifteen million.”

“That’s the general’s decision. Have you talked to him about your feeling it’s not fair to you?”

“Not directly. Not in so many words. Still, you’re right. He has made it clear that’s how he wants it to be.”

“You told me a few days ago that you had no thoughts about deserving more. That, given the way you were raised, over two million seemed like all the money in the world. You’ve certainly changed your mind rather quickly.”

“I guess I deserve that, Matt. I’ve always tried to be bigger than, I don’t know, being selfish. Truth is I’ve had these thoughts for some time. I’ve just kept them to myself.”

I got up and went in the kitchen for a glass and two fingers of Irish. Karen said no to Irish, but asked if I had a Diet Coke. “No glass,” she said, “I like the feel of the can against my lips.” I brought our drinks in and sat down.

“So, as the general’s death gets closer, your selfish thoughts have started demanding more consideration. Is that what you’re saying?”

“Well, yes.” She put the cold soda can against her lips, keeping it there a little longer than necessary to take her first drink.

“His will is pretty clear. There doesn’t seem to be any way to change it without convincing the general to amend it.” I sat back slowly and took a small drink of my own. The burn on the inside of my mouth was less than earlier. I swished it around before medicinally swallowing.

“There is a provision in the will—” She stopped speaking and looked at me, then looked down.

There it was. The reason she came by. “You mean the part about if Eddie predeceases the general. That part?”

“Yes, Matt.” She moved closer and put her hand on my thigh, her face near enough for my battered lips to sense the warmth of her breath. “That part. We could be very rich together. Live a wonderful life of love and travel. Enjoy the best of everything.”

“I’ve got enough for the way I like to live. The answer is no.”

“You’ve killed before. For less than I’m offering.”

“I won’t do it. Even though everything inside me that beats and feels wants me to.”

“But we could be together always.”

“I won’t kill for you and spend the rest of my life wondering when my turn will come. You need me now, but afterwards you won’t.”

“But I love you, Matt. I know it’s sudden. It can happen that way. It’s happened to me.”

“No!” I slapped her in the face. Hard. I put my hand flat on the cushion beside me and squeezed, drawing it into a fist of fabric. I held my breath until the rat running around the pain wheel in my chest slowed to a canter.

She put her open hand on her cheek, then ran her index finger across her bottom lip, her mouth open slightly as her finger moved across it. “I guess I deserved that.”

“No guess about it.”

I looked at her hard. She looked down to the floor. Guilt made her do that. My bare feet weren’t that attractive.

“You’re an educated, beautiful woman who will soon inherit well over two million dollars. Get control of yourself.”

Karen got up and walked to the glass slider and looked out toward the ocean.

“Why don’t you get Cliff to do it? You’ve had him wrapped around your finger for years.”

“I don’t love Cliff. I’m in love with you. I want us to be together.”

What that probably meant is she knew that Cliff couldn’t figure out how to do it with a solid chance of getting away with it. And that Fidge would tie Cliff in knots during interrogation until he gave her up, whether or not he meant to.

“You’re right, Matt. But I’m afraid. Without more money I just don’t know. I put on a good front about being self-reliant, but at night I just get scared about being alone. The general has always been the strong man protecting me. I need you for that now. Aren’t you ever afraid of being alone, of the dark?”

“The darkness is not frightening. Only the imagination of what might be there if the darkness was not. If I do as you ask, you’ll be there, every night in the darkness. And I’ll be wondering when I’ll become excess baggage.”

I got up and walked to the other side of the room. She followed.

“I know we haven’t spent a lot of time together yet, but I love you. You love me don’t you, Matt?”

“I’m in love with the idea of being in love with you.”

“Go along with me on this, Matt. You’ll never be sorry. We can be happy.”

“No. I won’t be your patsy.”

I opened the door and glared at her until she walked out into the hallway.

I shut the door.

Chapter 30

I hadn’t slept well last night, the pain in my cracked rib being the biggest hunk of the reason. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that Karen Whittaker’s offer had lingered, chewing on the edge of my resolve. I had pegged her wrong and started wondering what else I had wrong.

I didn’t like Eddie Whittaker, and frankly I didn’t think anyone did. Not Charles, not Karen, not even his grandfather who loved him, but I don’t think liked him. Not even the chauffeur Cliff cared much for him. Cliff had tried to be his friend, but Eddie had been born to eat filet while Cliff dined on canned ham. Eddie had hung out with Cliff only while he wanted to learn something Cliff could teach him. Then he tossed Cliff aside like a terminated tutor.

I remember having looked at the clock after two in the morning. That was the last time I had looked. I woke at nine-thirty to find hot coffee waiting with a note beside the pot: You didn’t mention having an early appointment so I let you sleep. Axel.

I did a few easy twists and deep knee bends. Well they were more like shallow knee bends, but it did take out some of the stiffness. I buttered a muffin and poured a mug of coffee then went out on the patio. I had to get going, but first I had to figure out where my going would take me.

*

Axel called at eleven to say Eddie had just teed off to play a round of golf with three other guys. Axel had checked with the pro shop to learn they paid to play eighteen holes. That would keep Eddie in one place for at least four hours. We decided to meet at Mackie’s for lunch. I wanted to hear more specifics about Eddie’s movements.

The lunch gave me the opportunity to meet Axel’s driver’s ed teacher, Buddha Grunsky. I immediately knew the appropriateness of his name. Buddha stood about six feet, but had a matching width, a bald head and stern face with a soft, almost feminine voice. We took the table for six at the back, one that let Buddha move the table to give him more room. Mackie waved off his waitress and came over to take our order. I chose a beef dip. Axel had his usual, a bacon, lettuce and tomato with chunky peanut butter. Buddha said that both sandwiches sounded good so he ordered one of each. I motioned to Mackie to bring me the check. He nodded.

They asked me about being abducted and how I was feeling. I raised my head in case they had never before seen an author with a purple and yellow face.

“You don’t look like you’re moving much better than last night,” Axel opined.

“And that’ll likely be the case for a good while yet. Doc Medford’s got me wrapped up like one of Mackie’s deli sandwiches to go. I see the doc again next week and we’ll go from there.”

Mackie brought our food over. He carried mine and Axel’s and had one of his nubile waitresses carry Buddha’s two plates. She looked familiar. She should have, she was Axel’s friend, Hillie. “Hello, Mr. Kile,” she said. Axel introduced her to Buddha. When she stepped around the back of the booth to leave she leaned in and kissed Axel on the side of his forehead. My self-appointed staff man beamed like he finally had what he thought he never would, a family, recent and adopted, well, sort of, but a family. Then she circled back and took Buddha’s soda glass to refill. Axel and I hadn’t touched ours.

“Okay,” I said, “tell me about Eddie’s movements.”

“Just what we’ve been reportin’ boss. He eats, plays, goes to see his broker, and dates some great looking dolls.” Axel and Buddha looked at each other and shook their grinning heads. If you can picture two high school boys talking about the lucky quarterback who gets all the cheerleaders, you have a good idea of the grins Axel and Buddha just shared. Buddha’s grin was the first indication he had teeth.

“What about the biker bar?”

“It’s down on Paseo Del Mar out near the point. But it weren’t nothing. He went in, came out a few minutes later and left.”

“Could he have stopped for a sandwich or a beer?”

“Wasn’t in there long enough to even order it and have it brought, let alone eat it.”

“Then what?”

“He left following the same route he had taken to get there.”

Axel did the talking while Buddha ate, although the big one nodded his head now and then to evidence his agreement with whatever Axel said. A reasonable practice given that Buddha had two lunches to eat to our one.

“What route did he take?”

“Can’t tell you exactly. We didn’t write it down. He drove past Angels Gate Park and then angled onto Old something Road, then through some industrial area.”

That’s the area where Podkin took me to hang while he beat on me. “Did he stop anywhere?”

“No,” Axel said.

Buddha spoke for the first time since his food arrived. He had finished his BL&T on toast and hadn’t yet started on his beef dip. “He did slow, Ax. No stop sign or nothing, he just slowed. You know, that one block where the buildings sat back off the road.”