Evidence (43 page)
Lara
Rieffen wanted to look bored, but her body wouldn’t go along. She tried to will
herself loose, ended up with something contrived and edgy, what a yoga novice
might achieve the first few times on the mat.
Milo
kept shuffling papers. Rieffen checked her watch. I said, “Busy day?”
“Always.
Before I took the job, I had no idea.”
“Where’d
you work before here?”
“Labs,”
she said. “Nothing forensic, medical settings.”
“Always
been into science, huh?”
“Always.”
Milo
said, “Sorry, it’s a mess in here, bear with me.” He clicked his tongue. Lara
Rieffen started to relax—the real deal. Put at ease by his incompetence.
“Take your time, Lieutenant. I want to be part of the
solution, not the problem.”
“Thanks,
Lara. I wish everyone felt that way.
“Okay,
here we go.” Instead of drawing out papers, he snapped the case shut, placed it
on the floor. Smiled at Rieffen and kept observing her with that lazy, hooded
look he produces when the mood’s right.
Her
lips turned up. More sickly confusion than anything related to glee.
“What
do you need to know, Lieutenant?”
“Well,
for starts, let’s talk about Monte.”
Lara
Rieffen’s head retracted. Pretty blue eyes shot to the door. Milo crossed his
legs and put his hands behind his head.
Try to bolt, go ahead, you’re mine,
I’m not worried
.
Lara
Rieffen said, “Monte?” as if trying out a foreign word. “As in Carlo. As in
Scoppio.” No answer.
“As
in Dwayne Parris.” Rieffen shook her head. “As in
boom
, Lara.”
Rieffen
crossed her own legs. Smiled weakly and exhaled. “Thank God.”
“For
what, Lara?”
“He
terrifies
me, says if I ever think about leaving him he’ll cut me up, dump the pieces
where they’ll never be found.”
Milo
winced. “That’s heavy-duty.”
“Super-heavy-duty,
Lieutenant, but if you’re asking about him, you probably know that.”
Angling
for info. When that didn’t work, she scrunched her eyes, worked at pushing out
tears. Produced a couple of sorry-looking droplets.
Milo’s
big, thick fingers rested atop hers. “Finally,” she said. “Someone who can help
me.”
“Protect
and serve, Lara. Okay, let’s get the details so we can nail this bastard good.”
Lara
Rieffen’s technique was classic con: a mix of understatement, distraction, and
outright lies. Painting Dwayne Parris/Monte Scoppio as ultimate evil, herself
as submissive victim, all the while trying to pry out what Milo knew.
He
fly-fished her, dangling error as bait then withdrawing, puncturing minor
falsehoods with good nature while ignoring the whoppers.
Setting
the hook.
“So…
when exactly did you meet Monte?”
“Couple
of years ago.”
“Really?
Hmm.” Another mumbling foray into the attaché case. “Um, I could be wrong here,
but I think I had a notation here… unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it…
never mind.”
“What
kind of notation, Lieutenant?”
“We’ve
been talking to people about Monte. Doing background, you know? Someone claimed
you and he knew each other way back—in high school.”
“Not
really.”
“It’s
not true?” More rummaging. “Ah, here it is Center High, class of—”
“Oh,
that. Technically it’s true, but Center was huge, we hung in different crowds.”
“So
you knew who he was—”
“Barely.
We met up years later and even that was nothing intense.”
“Couple
of years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I
was backpacking with some friends in Oregon. He was at the same campsite. I
didn’t recognize him but he recognized me. He can be charming, I’d just broken
up with a boyfriend, guess I was vulnerable.”
“Ah.”
Scrawl. “Well that clears that up … Would you like something to drink, Lara?”
“So …
it was Monte who ran into Des Backer and Doreen in Venice—I’m guessing a
Sunday.”
“Definitely
a Sunday, Lieutenant. Monte went to skate. He’s into that.”
“You’re
not.”
“I
bike. That’s what I was doing when he was skating the path and saw them.”
“What
were Des and Doreen doing?”
“Monte
never mentioned. He just came back and told me he’d met up with someone else
from Center.”
“By
that time, did you know he was violent?”
“Not
really. I mean I knew he had a bad temper but he hadn’t touched me, not yet.”
“Later,
that changed.”
“Oh,
yeah.”
“Want
another tissue, Lara?”
“I’m
fine.”
“Okay
… so Monte told you he’d run into Des and Doreen. How did he feel about that?”
“What
do you mean?”
“Was he
happy? Surprised? Upset?”
“Definitely
upset. He blamed them for something but wouldn’t say what, I still don’t know.
Something from his past, when he talked about it he’d get furious.”
“But
he wouldn’t say why.”
“Monte’s
an extremely closed person.”
“Something
from his past … maybe something to do with messing up his law career?”
“He
never got into it.”
“But
does that make sense to you—law school?”
“I
suppose.”
“We
know he went to law school but was asked to leave. He ever explain that to
you?”
“No and I knew better than to ask.”
“Well,
here’s what folks have told us: Des and Doreen mighta done something that got
Monte kicked out of law school. That would be something you’d carry a grudge
on, don’t you think? He tells people he’s a lawyer when he’s not.”
“Makes
sense.”
“By
the way, when did he start calling himself Monte?”
“Back
then.”
“Back
when?
“High
school. That’s what I heard. He liked to gamble.”
“Monte
Carlo.”
“He
used fake I.D.’s to gamble at Indian casinos. At least that’s what people
said.”
“Okay
… one more thing, Lara. Folks have also said Des and Doreen mighta messed you
up, too. Something about med school?” Silence. “Lara?”
“You
must be mistaken.”
“You
never attended med school? University of Idaho, class of—”
“I
started there but changed my mind.”
“Because…
“
“My
primary interest isn’t making money, I prefer pure science.”
“Being
in the lab.”
“Exactly.”
“So
it had nothing to do with lynx hairs?”
Silence.
“Lara?”
Prolonged
sigh. Sick smile. “Okay, I guess I’m going to have to get into that. I didn’t
want to because, frankly, Lieutenant, it’s too painful and I just didn’t see
the point.”
“I
understand, Lara, but the point is I need you giving me anything I can use
against Monte. So if Des and Doreen did do something underhanded to you, that
makes it more likely they did something to him and
I’d
like to know about it. And from what the Forest Service told us, they were
blatant snitches.”
“Lieutenant,
it was a big misunderstanding. Obviously I don’t talk about it because jobs are
hard to come by and I love mine. Also, afterward, I realized I was lucky.”
“Lucky
about what?”
“Leaving
medicine, it worked out for the best. Medicine’s become nothing but a big
business, my orientation’s research.”
“Working
here you get to do research?”
“I
hope to eventually. Meanwhile, I’m constantly learning and that satisfies the
curious part of me. Eventually, I hope to go back to school, get a Ph.D.”
“Makes
sense… so the lynx hair business …”
“Big
misunderstanding, Lieutenant. Another of Monte’s brilliant ideas. But I admit,
I was stupid to go along with it.”
“Okay
… I appreciate your being straight with us, Lara. Even though we had a few
false starts.”
“I’m
sorry for those, Lieutenant. You caught me off-guard, I’m not always the
greatest at multitasking. When I have to, I can do more than one thing at a
time but it’s hard not to get sidetracked. It’s some sort of learning
disability, my parents had me tested when I was a kid. The psychologist said I
was gifted but had organizational and memory issues. So if I forget something,
please don’t hold it against me.”
“Deal
… okay, let’s talk about Monte’s weapons.”
“That
I can tell you about. He’s got tons of them. Rifles, shotguns.”
“We’re
primarily interested in handguns.”
“Those,
too.”
“Which
one did he use to shoot Des Backer?”
“I
have no idea.”
“We
recovered a .22-caliber slug from Des’s head. Does Monte have a .22?”
“That
would be a smaller gun?”
“For
the most part.”
“He has an entire box of small guns, Lieutenant. Keeps
them all loaded, keeps the box on the floor of our bedroom closet. Right next
to my shoes, I’ve had nightmares.”
“About…?”
“His
temper, what if he goes crazy, it would be so easy for him to just—he also
keeps one loaded in his nightstand. Sometimes I have literal nightmares—crazy
dreams but they seem so real.”
“Tell
me about them.”
“It’s
the same dream, over and over. There’s a fire in the house and it spreads to
the closet, the guns get ignited by the heat and start going crazy, shooting
off randomly, there’s no escape. I wake up sweating, my heart’s pounding. One
time I woke him up, wanting some comfort. He told me to shut the fuck up, go
back to sleep.”
“Prince
Charming.”
“I’ve
gotten in so deep, Lieutenant. It’s like finding yourself in a hole with no way
to climb out.”
“We’ll
get you out—so Monte keeps a whole box of small loaded guns.”
“Yes,
sir.”
“What
about larger-caliber guns?”
“I’m
sure. I’ve never taken a close look, don’t like firearms.”
“Don’t
go to the range with Monte?”
“No,
he goes by himself.”
“Reason
I’m asking about a large-caliber gun is one was inserted in Doreen’s vagina.
Before he strangled her.”
“Omigod,
even for Monte that’s brutal.”
“Want
another tissue, Lara?”
“Yes,
please.”
“So…
Monte never talked about what he did to Doreen. The big gun.”
“No,
no, never.”
“What
did he say about what happened up in that turret?”
“Nothing
… he just came back home and told me he’d done it.”