Double Play (23 page)

She held her hand
up to silence him. “Before you say anything, I had a long talk with
my brother last night and we both agreed it would be best if he
just cooperated with the police. So he’s gonna call Detective Kahn
today and go through the whole story—”

“
Cat,
stop.”

“
O-okay.”

“
He
wasn’t calling about you or your brother.” Roger pinched the bridge
of his
wide
nose and
took a deep breath. “Last night, a CL600 was found at the Riverside
Inn parking lot.”

“
A CL
… a Mercedes? That’s Damien’s.” She recoiled. “Wait. The Riverside
Inn?”

The rundown motel
down the road from her loft attracted a certain class of
professionals, but they weren’t usually athletes.

“
It
was pretty banged up, but the plates match.”

“
That
doesn’t sound like Damien. He checks his car for scratches every
day. For God sakes, he walks around with a chamois in his
pocket.”

“
The
rims had been ganked and it was jammed into the parking post. Kahn
suspects the driver was intoxicated.”

“
Oh.
That does sound like Damien.”

“
There’s more.”

“
There
always is.”

“
The
police recovered a body downstream this morning.”

Dread sank
through her. “Was it … D-Damien?” She knew it was a stupid
question. Bodies were found all over this state every day and Roger
Aiken didn’t call her in for a tally.

He gave a curt,
stiff little nod. “I’m afraid so, though I didn’t ask to see it
myself. Kahn said he had no doubt. As a formality, Melissa Staats
is identifying the body right now but he wanted to give me a
heads-up because once it’s official, the news will be released to
the public.”

“
Oh my
God. How … I mean, what …” Cat let the question trail off as she
tried to think of the most tactful way to ask how a thirty-year-old
washes up along the river along with beer cans and dead
fish.

Roger read her
mind. “Kahn told me the matter is still under investigation but he
suggested it was accidental. He asked me if Damien had a history of
depression or thrill-chasing.”

“
That
doesn’t make any ….” Cat cut herself off. Roger had a tough enough
day ahead of him; she was sure he didn’t want to play what-ifs, but
that didn’t stop her from doing it inside her head. The Riverside
Inn was still a few miles away from the Falls, where accidental
drowning were all too common, and not-so-accidental ones as well.
The area’s so-called “suicide season” had just wrapped up last
month, but from May to September, western New York brought in all
kinds of tourists and each year one or two of them made the
waterfall their last stop. Manhattan competed with Los Angeles for
films, Paris one-upped Venice for romance and Niagara battled San
Francisco for jumps—the Falls and the Golden Gate Bridge were
favorites for both daredevils and sad sacks.

But Damien didn’t
have a death wish. He wasn’t a daredevil; in fact, some of the
players had gone sky diving last year and he’d told them they were
nuts. She’d even overheard Adam Alvarez trying to get him to come
out on his new yacht, only to have Damien refuse
because—

“
He
couldn’t swim!”

“
What?”

“
Damien. He couldn’t swim. I heard him tell his
friends.”

Roger sighed.
“What’s your point, Cat?”

“
Why
would he put himself anywhere near the water if he couldn’t
swim?”

“
I
don’t know. He was probably drunk.” Roger cleared his throat.
“Anyway, I was on the phone with the commissioner half the
morning.”

Cat peeked at her
watch. It was only nine now, but she imagined Roger’s day had
started dark and early.

“
He
doesn’t want to push tomorrow’s game back, in that the forecast is
showing rain toward the latter part of the week.”

Cat’s jaw
dropped. “He didn’t say that.”

“
Verbatim.” Roger shook his head. “Lucky for him he’s got that
impenetrable heart. Anyway, at least today’s an off-day. I thought
we’d hold a vigil for Damien this evening.”

“
Of
course. I’ll help out in any way I can.”

He smiled softly
with tight, closed lips. She
wouldn't be seeing his goofy, gap-toothed grin today
. “I’m
glad to hear you say that. I’m sure this must be awkward for you; I
know some people are trying to forge a connection between that
stupid poker game and our recent misfortune, but I really need all
hands on deck here.”

“
No, I
want to help. I’m not worried about idle gossip.”

“
That’s the least of my worries right now, too. Aimee’s
rounding up the players. I want them to hear the news from me
first. It’s a shame; they’re on such a high from last night’s win.”
He gave her a guilty look. “Not that— I didn’t
mean ….”

Cat raised her
hand, palm forward, to stop him. “I know, don’t worry.” She looked
over her shoulder to see who might be in the waiting room but the
office door was still closed. “Oh! I ran into Joel out there and he
was acting so funny. Now I understand.”

Roger frowned.
“I’m afraid not; I still have to break the news to him. He wanted
another advance on his salary and I didn’t have the heart to say no
and,
by the way, your friend’s body has just been found. I
chickened out.”

“
An
advance? Did he say why?”

“
I
didn’t ask; that’s the least of my worries today.”

She
nodded.

Roger frowned and
massaged his temples. “Though I can’t imagine he’d need one. The
kids making the league minimum are still earning more than my
teammates and I did in our heyday.”

Cat suppressed a
smile. To begin with, that just wasn’t true. Roger had played up
until the early nineties and his salary had capped out at four
million a year. He was now one of the highest paid managers in
baseball to boot. She played along, though. The old guys loved to
grouse about the old days, when they had played for peanuts and
Cracker Jack and walked nine miles to the ballpark, uphill both
ways.

“
I’d
offer to tell him for you, but I don’t think he’d want to hear it
from me. It’s probably best to tell everyone at the same time
anyway.”

Roger ran a large
hand over his creased
,
dark
forehead and rested it on his bald pate. “Isn’t it too
early to have a headache?”

“
I
don’t think headaches can tell time.” Cat glanced at the wall clock
and Roger followed her gaze.

“
I’m
meeting the players at ten o’clock,” he said. “I’ll buzz you when
you can release the story but if you want to get a head start
writing it—”

“
Will
do.” She rose to her feet. “Hang in there, boss.”

He smiled.
“Thanks.”

Cat shut the door
behind her and headed to her office. She was glad the place was
empty. She might be able to hustle pool and bluff at poker, but her
“I’ve Got a Secret” face was hard to hide. She turned the corner to
her cubicle, stopping in her tracks at the sight waiting for her.
She scoffed. “Comfortable?”

“
Ms. McDaniel.” Detective Kahn swirled around in her desk
chair. “I hope you don’t mind me making myself at home. I’ve been
here for quite a while. If you’re going to make your guests wait,
maybe you should get a subscription to
Sports Illustrated
.
Your old articles can only keep me entertained for so long.” He
crossed one leg over the other and smiled at her.

“
Guests
are invited.” She smiled back as an eerie sense
of déjà vu washed over her. One might be a cop and the other a
scammer, but Detective Kahn and Quinn had more in common than just
an interest in crime. “I was in Roger Aiken’s office.”

The smarmy smile
slid off of his face. “Then I take it you’ve heard.”

“
He
just told me, so perhaps you can understand why I don’t have time
to spar with you today.” Cat cleared her throat and looked behind
her, hoping no coworkers had came in and spied this badged visitor.
So far no nosy parkers had prairie-dogged over the top of her
cubicle wall.

“
I
appreciate that, but I’m sure Roger would want you to cooperate
with me.” He pointed to the phone with an expression of
mock-innocence. “But I can call him and ask if you’d
like?”

“
No!”
She made a slashing gesture in the air. “Let’s go for a walk,
okay?”

Detective Kahn
shrugged and followed her out of the office. Once they were in the
open hallway, she said, “Can we make this quick?”

“
The
truth is quick. You tell me that and I’ll be in the parking lot
before you’re back in your little cubby hole.”

“
I’ve
told you the truth, again and again. Quinn is supposed to call you
today.”

“
I
look forward to that.” Detective Kahn wasn’t impressed. “So you
spoke to Roger?”

“
Yeah,
he told me about Damien. That he’s—”

“
Out
of the lineup?” He smiled coldly. “That makes two guys out of the …
what was it again, five? You said five guys at the poker game? And
four of the players. Fifty percent of your guest list is off the
team.”

“
You
can’t possibly be suggesting that a player’s accidental death has
anything to do with that stupid poker game?”

“
Accident? Who said accident?”

“
Roger. He said that you gave h-him the impression that
uh—”

“
The
county M.E. is waiting for identification before he proceeds with
an examination, but I certainly didn’t mean to leave Mr. Aiken
with that impression.”

“
What
do you think happened?”

“
Time
will tell; it always does. Take Ryan Brokaw’s so-called accident,
for example.”

He paused, for
dramatic effect, Cat thought. She swallowed and fought to keep a
stiff upper lip. “This is obviously where you want me to ask you
what you’re talking about, so let’s just pretend I did.”

“
Do
you know what a Forensic Biomechanics Consultant does?”

“
Tries
to find a font small enough to fit all that on a business
card?”

Detective Kahn
chuckled. “Actually, it’s an individual who analyzes human motion
with regard to injuries and uses that knowledge to help legal
investigations. I’m currently taking a night class being taught by
our county consultant, which is why I took a special interest in
this case.”

Cat’s stoic
expression gave way to a relieved smile. She shook her head.
“That’s what this is all about? The interrogations? The harassment?
The search warrant? You’ve been on me like dirt on cleats just so
you can get an ‘A’ on your science project?”

“
Not
quite.” Their stroll took them to the main lobby and Detective Kahn
pointed to a corner bench. “Let’s sit. I assume your fiancé told
you we were at your place?”

She joined him on
the bench, sitting as close to the edge as she could without
falling into the potted plant. “Of course he did. I was out of town
for the road trip, but something tells me you already knew
that.”

“
I
brought our county consultant with me to your place ’cause there’s
a few things about the accounts that have really stuck in my craw
since that night. First, Brokaw landed on his left arm.”

Cat mocked a
gasp. “That must be why he broke it. Damn, Detective, those night
classes are paying off.”

He allowed her a
small smile. “You told me when we first met that you looked over
the balcony and saw Brokaw on the ground before you sprinted
downstairs to help him.”

Cat waited for
two players to pass through the lobby before she answered. “That’s
what happened.”

“
Had
he moved when you reached him? I mean, was he in the same position
that you’d seen from above?”

“
Uh
….” She tried to recall that terrible night. “I think he was on his
back still. He was unconscious so it’s not like he was writhing
around or anything.”

“
Exactly. That’s why I sought the expertise of forensic
biomechanics. See, we can reconstruct the fall using 3-D motion
analysis.”

Cat raised her
eyebrow. “Drunken idiot falls off a balcony and you Weird Science
the whole thing? Gee, it sounds like my tax dollars are hard at
work.”

He composed
himself with a deep breath. As his lips began to part into a thin
smile, she reconsidered continuing to test his patience.

“
Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

“
I got
the search warrant for your apartment so that I could measure the
exact distance to the ground and the height of your balcony ledge,
and also to obtain a few physical characteristics from Ryan Brokaw,
since he’s been about as cooperative as you in all
this.”

“
Physical characteristics? You mean like his height and
weight?”

“
No, I
can get those on a trading card. I’m talking about his joint
centers and physical parameters. Using these values, we can
determine the exact dynamic movement that had to occur for him to
land in the position the EMTs found him in.