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“In what way?”
“In any way possible. You’d be astonished, Mr. McKenzie, at what money can buy.”
“I always am.”
“We have good news and we have bad news,” I said.
G. K. said, “Start with the bad news, but make it quick. I’m already five minutes late for a meeting.”
I switched my cell phone from my right ear to my left. “Merodie had means and opportunity to kill Eli,” I said. “Turns out she also had a strong motive. I found at least two witnesses who claim that Eli was cheating on her.”
“What’s the good news?”
“We can place Priscilla St. Ana at the scene. Her brother was the father of Merodie’s daughter, the brother who died in a car accident sixteen years ago. Priscilla has been raising the girl.”
“The girl that you told me about? Silk?”
“Yes. St. Ana admits that she was at the house, says she dropped off Merodie’s check, says she saw nothing amiss. But here’s the thing. In her original statement, Merodie claimed that a man broke into her house and had a fight with Eli, a man with blond hair. Priscilla St. Ana has short blond hair.”
“Could she be confused with a man?”
“Not by anyone who’s sober.”
“Merodie wasn’t sober. Or maybe she was. It would certainly explain why Merodie insisted we leave St. Ana alone. She’s protecting her.”
“Something else,” I said. “St. Ana said that she’s willing to open her considerable checkbook if it’ll help Merodie’s cause.”
“Why?”
“Could be guilt. Could be she wants to stay close to the investigation in case it turns her way. Could be she wants to shield Silk against bad publicity.”
“Which might be the reason Merodie wants us to lay off Priscilla—to protect Silk.”
“Could be. One more thing. You said that the Anoka County attorney was trying to build a case against Merodie. Well, if he is, he’s doing a damn poor job of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“The only people asking questions about Merodie are us.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Gen. Maybe your information is wrong.”
“No. No, my sources are solid.”
“Assistant County Attorney Rollie Briggs, is he your source?”
G. K. chuckled. “You’re very clever, Mr. McKenzie,” she said.
“Could Briggs be wrong?”
“I don’t think so.” G. K. paused for a few moments. She said, “McKenzie, did you ever read Alice in Wonderland?”
“Curiouser and curiouser.”
“That’s the line.”
Twenty minutes later, Daniel the architect was standing between Nina Truhler and me in the downstairs lounge of Rickie’s. They were walking out while I was walking in. My intention had been to apologize to Nina. Apologize for not taking her to the charity ball. Apologize for conducting surveillance at her home the previous evening. Apologize for all of my faults and for every slight, real or imagined, that I had ever committed. Apologize up the ying-yang, as Shelby suggested, if that was what it would take to get her back on my side. Now I wasn’t so sure. She was dating this loser two nights in a row? Hell, I only stood her up once!
Daniel said, “Can I help you?” He was over six feet tall and knew from exercise, but Jenness had been right about him. He was soft. Slap him in the mouth and he’d call his lawyer to ask what happened.
“I’d like a moment alone with the lady,” I said.
“Would the lady like a moment with you?”
Daniel directed the question at Nina. She shook her head.
“I’ll call you later,” Nina told me.
“You heard the lady,” Daniel said. He set a hand flat against my chest and pushed.
Behind the bar, Jenness made a hissing sound as if she had seen something that frightened her.
My inner voice screamed, Is this guy suicidal? My hands came up slowly as I debated which of Daniel’s body parts I would damage first. I decided to go with the hand that was still pressing against my chest. Let’s see if he can draw blueprints with five broken fingers.
Give him credit, Daniel stood his ground. Behind him, Nina gave me a quick headshake. Her eyes were both hard and unyielding, and the message they sent was unmistakable. Don’t even think about it!
I lowered my hands and let Daniel ease me out of his way.
Daniel grunted in triumph—actually grunted. Are you kidding me! His smile was mocking, and his eyes were filled with condescension. I never wanted to punch someone so badly in my life.
He brushed past me and led Nina out the door. He didn’t look back. I have no idea what I would have done if he had.
I went to the bar.
“I know you won’t believe me,” Jenness said, “but not kicking Daniel’s ass, that was the smartest thing you could have done.”
She was right. I didn’t believe her.