Detective (66 page)

It was all hearsay evidence,
Ainslie realized, which would have
been thrown out of a regular court,
but was usable in this sometimes
zany proceeding.

Related to the second
indictment Cynthia's concealment of
the two murders by Jensen Ainslie
produced the box of damning evidence
against Jensen, put together and
hidden by Cynthia Ernst. Then,
prompted by Montesino, he showed and
described the contents one by one.

Julio Verona was recalled next. He
testified that fingerprints found on
plastic bags in the evidence box
were those of Cynthia Ernst, and
that handwriting on several labels
had been examined and certified as
hers also.

"Concerning the third indictment,"
Montesino told the grand jury, "I
will not call any witness to confirm
that Cynthia Ernst learned the name
of the guilty party in what has
become known as the Wheelchair
Murder, and subsequently failed to
report that information to police,
as required by law. That is because
you the grand jurors are, in
effect, witnesses yourselves, having
heard exactly what happened during
the recording that was played."

Again, murmurs and nods acknowledged
her words.

Montesino was brief with her
finale.

"This has been a long and painful
session, and I will not prolong it,
except with this reminder. Your task
now is not to decide the innocence
or guilt of Cynthia Ernst.

DETECTIVE 557

That will be a trial jury's
responsibility if you decide that
the evidence presented is sufficient
to take these matters onward through
the courts. I do believe, most
strongly, that it isfar more than
sufficient, and that justice will be
served by your issuance of three
true bills indictments. Thank you."

Moments later, after the state
attorney and other staff departed,
the grand jurors were left alone.

But not for long. Barely fifteen
minutes later the judge and the
state attorney were summoned, after
which the judge received the grand
jurors' decisions and read them
aloud. In each case an indictment
called for the arrest of Cynthia
Ernst.

4

"You guys will have to move fast,"
Curzon Knowles warned Ainslie as he
handed him a plastic cover
containing two signed copies of the
three indictments. "Once those
jurors get out of here, secrecy oath
or not, someone will talk, and word
about Commissioner Ernst will spread
like a brush fire and surely get to
her."

They were in a hallway outside the
courtroom. As Knowles walked with
him toward an elevator, Ainslie
asked, "Can you keep everyone here
for a while? You have more cases
with this jury?"

"One. We planned it that way, but
don't count on more than an hour.
After that, you take your chances."

Knowles continued, "They already
know about the indictments at the
Police Department; Montesino called
the chief. And, oh yes, I've been
told to tell you that as soon as you
arrive, you should go directly to
the office of Assistant Chief
Serrano." He glanced at Ainslie
curiously. "Pretty unusual for the
brass to be directly involved in a
homicide."

"Not when it's a city
commissioner. The mayor and
commissioners are a special breed,
and treated very warily."

DETECTIVE 559

As a state officer dealing with
many towns and cities statewide,
Curzon Knowles was not tuned in to
local politics as, in Miami, even a
detective-sergeant was.

Ostensibly, Ainslie knew, the
Police Department was independent of
city politics, but in reality it was
not. The city commission controlled
the Police Department budget through
the city manager, who also appointed
the chief of police and had the power
to remove one; there was an occasion
when he had done so. Commission
members possessed inside knowledge
about senior police officers who were
in line for promotion. And some
commissioners had friends on the
force, so quiet influence on their
behalf could be, and sometimes was,
applied.

Occasionally, Ainslie knew, too,
there had been difficulties between
the city commission and the Police
Department the commission highly
protective of its authority, and
touchy when it was infringed. All of
which was why, five days ago,
Lieutenant Newbold had brought the
startling developments to the
attention of his superiors, Majors
Figueras and Yanes. They, in turn,
had passed the information higher,
and those at top command, once con-
cerned, had stayed involved.

As the elevator doors closed,
Knowles mouthed from outside, "Good
luck."

Good luck with what? Ainslie
wondered as the elevator descended.
His concept of luck right now would
be to have his role in this drama end
when he delivered the indictments to
the assistant chief. But he suspected
it would not.

His own deep depression of the
previous Friday had continued over
the weekend and through yesterday, as
the net of retribution tightened
around Cynthia.

In his own personal domain there
had been some change. Late Friday
night he had told Karen of his
decision to quit Homicide when this
present duty was done, and

560 Arthur Halley

perhaps the Police Department
completely, though he wasn't sure
about that. At the news, Karen had
put her arms around him and, close
to tears, assured him, "Darling, I'm
so relieved. I've seen what these
awful things do to you. You can't
take any more, and you should get
out altogether. Don't worry about
the future; we'll manage! You're
more important than anything else to
me, to Jason, and" she touched her
rounded stomach, now showing four
months of pregnancy "and whoever."

That night with Karen he had
spoken of Cynthia; he'd cited her
childhood tragedies, described the
woman filled with hate that those
tragedies created, then told of Cyn-
thia's crimes a fierce transfer of
her hatred, with an impost under law
now coming due.

Karen had listened, then reacted
with some of her plain reasoning,
which, through their nine years of
marriage, he had come to know and
value. "Of course I'm sorry for her;
anyone would be, especially another
woman. But the fact is, there's
nothing either done to her or by her
that can be undone now; it's all too
late. So whatever happens, other
people you and I especially don't
have to share Cynthia's despair or
guilt, and have our lives wrecked,
too. So yes, Malcolm, do what you
have to this very last time, and
then get out!"

As Karen spoke Cynthia's name,
Ainslie wondered, as he had before,
if she was aware of his and
Cynthia's longpast affair.

But apart from all else, the
objective was to get this present
mission definitely his last over as
fast as possible.

The elevator door opened at the
courthouse main floor.

DETECTIVE 561

Exercising police privilege, Ainslie
had left his unmarked car parked
outside, and the journey to Police
Headquarters three blocks north and
two west was brief.

When he entered the office suite of
Assistant Chief Otero Serrano, head
of all police investigations, a
secretary said, "Good afternoon,
Sergeant Ainslie. They're waiting for
you." She rose and opened a door to
an interior office.

Inside, a conversation was in
progress among Serrano, Mark
Figueras, Manolo Yanes, and Leo
Newbold. As Ainslie entered, voices
quieted, heads turned toward him.

"Are those the indictments,
Sergeant?" Chief Serrano, tall and
athletically built, was behind his
desk. A former detective, he had a
distinguished record.

"Yes, sir." Ainslie handed over the
plastic cover he was carrying, and
Serrano removed the two copies of
each indictment, passing the extra
set to the other three.

While all four were reading, Ruby
Bowe was ushered in quietly. She
moved close to Ainslie and whispered,
"We have to talk. I've found her
child."

"Cynthia's?" Startled, he glanced
around. "Do we . . ."

She whispered back, "I don't think
so. Not yet."

As those in the room continued
reading, low groans were audible,
then Figueras breathed, "Christ! It
couldn't be worse."

"Things happen," Serrano said
resignedly, "that you think never
would."

A door from outside opened, and
Chief of Police Farrell Ketledge came
in. A hush fell over the room as
everyone straightened up. The chief
said quietly, "Carry on." Moving to
a window, standing alone, he told
Serrano, "This is your show, Otero."

The reading resumed.

"Cynthia screwed us well and truly,"
said Figueras.

562 Arthur Halley

"Got herself promoted after she hid
that killing of Jensen's wife and
friend."

"Goddam media will have a field
day," Manolo Yanes predicted.

Despite the more significant
murder-one indictment, Ainslie
realized, it was the second and
third indictments Cynthia's
participation in murders while a
Homicide detective, and her
concealing knowledge of another that
hurt them most.

"If this goes to trial, it could
take years," Leo Newbold said.
"We'll be under the gun the whole
time."

The others nodded gloomily.

"That's all, then," Serrano
intervened. "I wanted to share
what's happening because we'll all
be involved. But we must move."

"Might not be so bad if Ernst did
hear before we got to her." It was
Manolo Yanes's voice. "Then she
could do the decent thing and
swallow a bullet. Save everyone a
potful of trouble."

Ainslie expected Yanes's words to
produce a sharp rebuke. To his
surprise, there was none; only a
silence followed, during which not
even the chief spoke. Was a subtle
message being conveyed ? As he
dismissed the thought as unworthy,
Serrano turned toward him.

"You may not like this, Sergeant
Ainslie, but you're the one we've
chosen to make the arrest." He
paused, his tone becoming
considerate. "Does this give you any
kind of problem?"

So he knew. Ainslie supposed they
all knew about him and Cynthia. He
recalled Ruby's words: We're
detectives, aren't we?

"I won't enjoy it, sir. Who would?
But I'll do what's necessary." In a
peculiar way, he felt he owed it to
Cynthia to see this through.

DETECTIVE 563

Serrano nodded approvingly.
"Because it's a city commissioner,
everything from this moment on will
be under the closest public
scrutiny. You have an outstanding
reputation, and I'm confident
there'll be no fumbling, no mis-
takes."

Ainslie was conscious of all eyes
on him, and, just as during the
session with Figueras and Yanes five
days earlier, a note of respect
seemed evident that transcended
rank.

Serrano consulted a paper brought
in by his secretary moments earlier.
"We've kept tabs on Ernst since
early this morning. Half an hour ago
she went to her City Hall office.
She's there now." He looked up at
Ainslie. "You must have a woman
officer with you. It will be
Detective Bowel"

Ainslie nodded. Nowadays a woman
suspect was almost never arrested by
a male officer alone; it made sexual
harassment claims too easy.

Serrano continued, "I've ordered a
uniform backup. They're already
below, waiting for your orders. And
you'll need this." He passed over an
arrest warrant, prepared in
anticipation of the indictments. "Go
do it!"

Ruby glanced at Ainslie in the
crowded elevator. He murmured, "Save
it. Tell me on the way." Then, as
they left the elevator, "You get us
a car. I'll talk to our backup."

Two uniform officers, Sergeant Ben
Braynen, whom Ainslie knew well, and
his partner, were beside a Miami
Police blue-and-white at the
building's staff-restricted exit.
"We're your strong right arm,"
Braynen said, greeting him. "Orders
came from the top. You must be
mighty important."

564 Arthur Halley

"If I am, it's temporary," Ainslie
told him. "And I'll get the usual
check on payday."

"So what's the mission?"

"We go to City Hall in the Grove,
the commissioners' offices. I'm
doing an arrest with Bowe, and
you're our backup." He produced the
arrest warrant, pointing to the
principal name.

"Holy shit!" Braynen said
incredulously. "This for real?"

Ruby Bowe, in an unmarked police
car, pulled ahead of the
blue-and-white and stopped.

"As real as sin," Ainslie said,
"so follow us. We may not need you,
but it'll be good to know you're
there."

When Ruby and Ainslie were clear
of the police compound, he said,
"Okay, let's hear."

"What's important," Ruby said, "is
that Cynthia may be expecting us.
Because of what I discovered late
last night."

''We don't have much time. Better
talk fast."

As Ruby told it.. .

Ever since learning from Eleanor
Ernst's diaries that Cynthia had
given birth to her father's child,
Ruby- had tried to find out what had
happened to the baby a child whom no
one cared about, except to dispose
of, its sex not even mentioned in
Eleanor's notes.

"It was a girl," Ruby said. "I
found that out early, at the
adoption center." But the center had
not been helpful beyond that,
denying access to old records,
claiming that confidentiality barred
the way. Ruby had not persisted, she
explained, because the information
was not crucial. The child's
existence was already known, and
finding out more would not aid the
investigation into the Ernsts'
deaths.

DETECTIVE 565

"I wanted to know, though," Ruby
said. "A couple of times I dropped in
at the center, and there was an older
social worker who I thought might
bend the rules and help, but she was
scared. Two days ago she phoned.
She's retiring in a week. I went to
her home last night and she gave me
a paper."