Corrupted (28 page)

“No, I forgot about it. They only asked me about the fight.”

“Well, thanks.” Bennie breathed a relieved sigh. She'd already learned enough to worry her.

But she still had a few more stops to make.

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“So what did you find out?” Bennie asked Lou, while they climbed into a cab they'd caught in front of the bar.

“I learned that everybody hates Richie. The night bartender wanted to ban him from the bar, but the owner wouldn't let him.”

“That's what I learned, too.” Bennie climbed in the backseat and slid over, and Lou got in beside her, slamming the door. She leaned over to the cabbie, who was an older man. “Can you take us to 403 East Gansett Street?”

“On it.” The cab took off.

“That address is in Fishtown. It's five minutes away. Who lives there?”

“It's Jason's house. I called his roommate Gail and left her a message, but she didn't call back.”

“I also got the names of the other people at the bar, who will probably be witnesses for the Commonwealth. The night bartender had made a list and given it to the police, but they kept a copy.” Lou slipped a hand inside his coat, pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper, and handed it over. “Here you go.”

“Great, thanks.” Bennie skimmed the list of names, none of which meant anything to her, then put the paper in her purse. “Jason ate dinner there almost every night, because Richie ate there. Evidently, Jason sat at a table in the back, which gave him a great view of Richie, but Richie wasn't able to see him because of the divider. Remember the divider?”

“Sure.”

“So bottom line, it wasn't a chance meeting that night, and Jason has been going there for a long time, following Richie.”

“Stalking him?”

“For lack of a better word, yes.”

Lou frowned. “Did the waitress tell the detectives this?”

“No, she didn't realize that Jason knew Richie from before. But they'll put it together. I think they told the detectives enough to figure it out, and what they didn't tell the detectives, Jason did. He blabbed when they picked him up. He's told them he hated Richie.”

“So he handed them motive.”

“Yes.” Bennie looked out the window, watching them pass older row homes with façades of aging gray brick or unfinished stucco. They were only two stories high, with four windows facing the street, and air conditioners rusted in the second-floor windows, where the bedrooms were. Black bars covered the first-floor windows and the front doors, some curlicued scrollwork that cost extra.

“Chin up, Bennie.”

“This is not an easy case.”

“An easy case would bore you.”

“I wouldn't mind being bored right now.” Bennie flashed on the blood in the alley, shuddering.

“You say that, but you don't mean it.” Lou shifted forward in the seat as the cab slowed to a stop. “This is the 400 block of East Gansett Street, we're here.”

They got out of the cab and walked to number 403, a gray brick house with black plastic awnings over three of the windows. Bennie said, “By the way, the roommate's name is Gail Malloy.”

Lou looked over. “It's a girl, you be primary.”

Bennie walked up the stoop and rang the bell, and in the next moment, the door was opened by a petite, wiry woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She was obviously upset, her forehead knit and her eyebrows sloping unhappily downward.

“Are you Bennie, Jason's lawyer, right? That's what you said on the phone.”

“Yes I am, and this is my associate, Lou Jacobs.”

“Please, come in.” Gail stepped aside. She was slight, with sandy brown hair cut in short, cropped layers, and she had on a pressed white shirt, black slacks, and black shoes. “The police were just here, that's why I didn't return your call, I didn't want to do it when they were here. They told me that Jason was arrested for murder. They searched his room, they took his laptop. This is awful!”

Bennie hid her dismay. “Could we come in and talk about it?”

“Sure, sorry, come on in.” Gail let them into a small living room that held a brown fabric sofa, wooden end tables with knobby legs, and a coffee table with a red tile top. Indirect daylight poured through the barred windows, and no lamps were on.

“Gail, who came here, was it detectives or uniformed police?”

“Two detectives and two uniformed cops. They think Jason killed Richie. I know he hated Richie, but I don't think he killed him. I told them that. That was okay, right?”

“Yes, you have to tell them the truth. What else did they ask you and what did you tell them?”

“They asked me a lot of questions about where he was last night, but I didn't know for sure. I only know that when I came home this morning, he hadn't come home last night. Please sit down.” Gail gestured at the sofa, her hand flopping back to her side. “I was just about to leave for work. You want coffee or something?”

“No thanks. Do you have time to talk with us?”

“Sure, about half an hour.”

“Great.” Bennie sat down on the sofa with Lou, and Gail sank into a black vinyl recliner, catty-corner to them. Opposite the sofa was a table with an older-model TV and a tangled pile of video game controllers and joysticks.

“Where's Jason now?”

“He's in custody. He won't be released on bail.”

“Oh no.” Gail's short forehead knit with concern. “Can I go see him after work? Do you know where they have him?”

“Generally, he would get transferred from the Roundhouse to PICC, up on State Road near the Police Academy. I'll find out if he'll be there tonight and let you know.” Bennie slid her legal pad and ballpoint pen from her purse. “So, you said Richie's name like you knew him. Did you?”

“No, I never met the guy. I only know his name because Jason talked about him all the time, he told me everything about him.” Gail shook her head again. “I think he moved to this neighborhood because it's near Richie.”

Bennie could hear Lou sigh. “Did he say where Richie lived?”

“No.”

“Do you know how he found out where Richie lived?”

“Online? He's had a thing against him, he told me, ever since they were kids.”

“Did he ever say to you that he wanted to kill Richie?”

“Yes, only once or twice, and only when he drank. I never thought he really would.” Gail's dark eyes filmed. “I know he's not that kind of person, but he did have a temper. My partner Marie's a nurse at the VA Hospital, that's how we met. She always tried to get him to go to a shrink, but he wouldn't. She thinks he has PTSD. He lashes out, when you don't expect it.”

“Really?” Bennie flashed suddenly on her meeting a long time ago, with the child psychiatrist in Mountain Top. She remembered they had discussed the possibility that Jason could develop PTSD, as a result of his childhood incarceration. She didn't know which way it cut; on the one hand, it might be a defense, but on the other, it made her wonder if Jason really had killed Richie. Bennie put it out of her mind for now. “Do you have any idea whether Jason had a hunting knife?”

“I never saw one. I doubt he has any kind of weapon.”

“Did he ever mention any friends of Richie's? Richie was at the bar last night with a tall guy he worked with at Ackermann Construction.”

“No.”

Bennie shifted gears. “Let's back up a moment. Would you tell me about yourself?”

“I'm from Mayfair, all my life. I went to Prendy, then I did a year at community college, but I didn't like it. I enlisted in the Army in 2003. I did two tours in Afghanistan, in Operation Enduring Freedom.”

“Thank you for your service.”

“Yes, thank you,” Lou added.

Gail nodded, with a brief smile. “Thanks, but I didn't see much action. I was a Fobbit, I never left the base. It was paradise compared to what some guys went through. But you know, I've known a lot of people who had to kill. Jason didn't have that killer instinct. He was just a softy.”

“How long have you known Jason?”

“Half a year, when he moved here. He answered my ad on Craigslist. We liked him, Marie and I. I didn't really want a male roommate, but no one else was answering the ad and the night he came over for the interview, he did the most amazing thing.”

“What?”

“You know, not everybody around here is superwelcoming to gay women.” Gail leaned forward, resting her arms on her thighs. “My neighbor on the right, he hates me. The night Jason came over, my neighbor was giving me a hard time. Right away, Jason stood up to him. He said, ‘It doesn't matter who she is, it matters who
you
are. So be a gentleman, at all times.' It backed the neighbor down, totally. That's who Jason is. He always has my back.”

Bennie made a note, touched.

“So he moved in, and he lucked out on timing. I needed a new waiter at the restaurant, so I hired him. He did great. He's a hard worker.” Gail shook her head. “He just couldn't get his head out of the past. I don't know if you know, he went to juvie when he was in middle school. It was really awful.”

Bennie listened, pained. “I do know that, I was his lawyer. Did he ever finish high school or get a GED?”

“No, neither. He was in and out of juvie until he was eighteen. He got off track and never got back on, to hear him tell it. I don't know if he told you, he doesn't like to talk about it.”

Bennie could imagine it happening, after Jason's life derailed at River Street.

“His dad lost his job and became very depressed. Money was an issue. Jason got a job working after school, but he couldn't keep up with his schoolwork.”

Bennie guessed it was why Matthew hadn't hired another lawyer. He didn't have the money, but she would have done it for free.

“He became truant, acted out, and ended back up in juvie with Richie. From what I hear, they both grew up in jail. Then when Jason's dad died, he told me he took it badly, and we could see it. He blames Richie for his dad's death. His dad died of heart disease, but Jason said it was a long time coming, like he had constant heart problems because of the stress. Lately, I could see that Jason was bumming, and he told me that the anniversary of his father's death was coming up.”

Bennie sighed inwardly.

“His moods come and go. He gets depressed. He's quiet most of the time, but when something triggers it, he snaps out. Still, I don't think Jason did it. I just can't believe that he would kill anybody.”

Bennie switched tacks, to see how much Gail knew. “What did Jason do in the evening, like for dinner? Did you guys ever eat together?”

“No, he ate at Eddie's. The cops said that's where he was last night. We both worked at the restaurant in the daytime, then I have dinner with my girlfriend at her house. I stay over there a lot, too. I was at her place last night.”

Bennie realized that Gail must not have known that Jason was stalking Richie. She didn't want to taint her testimony, so she didn't tell her.

“Does Jason have a car?”

“Yes, but we take the bus to work.”

“Why don't you take the car?”

“There's no parking.”

“Did the cops search it?”

Gail blinked. “No, come to think of it. Jason keeps the keys in a basket in case I need to borrow it.” She crossed the room to an old basket on a console table and plucked out some keys. “Presto.”

“I'd like to check his car, if I may.”

“Sure, if it helps the cause.” Gail crossed back and handed over the keys, and Bennie put them in her purse.

“Where's the car now?”

“Parked on this street, somewhere. It's an old white Toyota.”

“I'll find it.” Bennie switched gears. “You say the cops took his laptop?”

“Yes, it was in his room and they searched his bedroom. I wouldn't let them search anywhere else because they didn't have a warrant for it. That's the law, right?”

“Yes.” Bennie rose. “Do you think we could see his room?”

“Sure, there's a scrapbook of his father's you should see. Jason used to read it over and over. He was showing it to me just the other night, in my room, so the cops didn't get it. I didn't keep it from them intentionally, I just forgot to mention it.”

“Let's see it,” Bennie said, though she sensed she knew what it might contain.

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Bennie and Lou entered Jason's room, which was small but pleasant because its single window faced south, allowing a shaft of sunlight to warm the room, which had no rug, only bare pine floors. The bedroom contained a queen-size bed with a shabby blue blanket, white bookshelves that held a few paperbacks and a cardboard box, and a wooden chest of drawers, hanging open from being searched. The laptop cord lay on the floor, still attached to a surge protector. The closet door stood ajar, and Jason's clothes had been pushed to the side, above his shoes and sneakers, mounded willy-nilly. There was nothing on the walls, which were white. There was no TV or radio.

Bennie walked over to the shelf. She scanned the paperbacks, then pulled out the cardboard box, which was open. The sight caught her by the throat. Inside was a colorful pile of Lego bricks, their plastic still as vivid, bright, and perfect as the day they were manufactured, and on top was a figurine she recognized immediately, suddenly remembering what Jason had said about the toy.

This minifig is Richard the Strong.

“Aw,” Bennie said to herself, picking up the figurine. It couldn't have been more than two inches high, made of plastic, with a silvery crown, a blue vest, and black pants. It had a silvery sword, but it was broken. “Jason loved this toy.”

“Hmph,” Lou said, and they both turned to the door as Gail reappeared, holding a thick black plastic scrapbook.