The Dead Room (3 page)

“We’ll get help if we need it.”

“Who is this guy? Why are we getting involved?”

“I’ll explain later,” Barnett said. “The girl lived in Chestnut Hill. She came from a good family. A nice, old-money family. The cops are still at the house, processing the crime scene under what they’re calling
unusual circumstances
. I couldn’t send Brooke because I don’t know what that means. That’s where you come in. I want you to go there and find out what they’re up to. I need to know what it means.”

Teddy wanted to say no, but didn’t. He had a revulsion for criminal law and had done everything he could to avoid it in school. His interest in law centered entirely on real estate. He wanted to work with architects and developers and build a career on something he could feel and touch with his hands. When he’d received a job offer from Barnett & Stokes, he jumped on it. The firm’s real estate department was the rival of every other firm in the city, accounting for almost a quarter of their business.

“Where are you going?” he asked Barnett.

“The roundhouse. Holmes is already there. The cops are probably trying to beat him into making a statement right now. I’ve gotta get there before he does.”

Teddy thought it over. The
roundhouse
was a nickname for police headquarters at Eighth and Race Streets. It seemed strange hearing Barnett use the nickname with such ease.

“I don’t understand why you’re doing this,” Teddy said. “If it’s another favor for someone, why not put them in touch with a criminal attorney who handles this sort of thing every day? This isn’t a personal injury case for the president of an oil company. This isn’t about money.”

“Listen to me, Teddy. I know what you’re thinking. I don’t like it either, for Christ’s sake. But I can’t be in two places at once. You’re driving out to the crime scene, and I’m heading over to the roundhouse. If they won’t let you in, and they probably won’t, then do the best you can from the street. Once you get a bead on things, I want you to get back here and handle the preliminary arraignment. I’ve gotta get home at a decent hour. Sally’s got something going on I can’t get out of. We’ll talk tonight—keep your cell phone on—then trade notes in the morning and figure out what the hell we’re gonna do. You’ve been like a son to me, Teddy. I need your help now.”

The door swung open and Jill Sykes walked in with a notepad. Jill had been a student at Penn Law one year behind Teddy and managed to get a job at the firm as a law clerk without knowing anyone while she prepared for her bar exams. She had a witty sense of humor and the ability to cut to the bottom line in an instant. Although Teddy had seen her on campus last year, even found her attractive, they hadn’t met until she was hired by the firm. Over the past three months, they had become good friends.

“Thanks,” Barnett said to her. “Did you get the address?”

She nodded, tearing a sheet of paper from her pad and handing it to Teddy with a look. It was Darlene Lewis’s address in Chestnut Hill. The murder scene. Barnett slipped the bottle of Tylenol into his jacket pocket and turned to Teddy.

“Now get going,” Barnett said. “And be careful. My guess is the district attorney will be there. The way I see it, we’re gonna cop a plea and then play let’s make a deal. I want to avoid headlines at all costs. Be polite, and don’t believe what you’re hearing around town. Alan Andrews is Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Osama bin Laden rolled into one pint-sized motherfucking asshole. He’s on the political fast track. We need to keep things friendly, you understand?”

Barnett’s charm was back. Teddy nodded, grabbing his briefcase and heading out the door.

THREE

The elevator dropped from the seventeenth floor, and Teddy felt his stomach break loose from his body and slam against the back of his throat. When the doors finally opened, he stepped into the garage letting the dread follow him to his car. He found his beat-up Corolla parked between a restored Jaguar and a BMW 740i, complete with sport package. His Corolla had a hundred and twenty-five thousand miles under its rusting body. Something about the sight of his old friend in these surroundings brought a smile to his face and the tension eased.

He backed the Corolla out of the space and pulled up the exit ramp into the light, noting the time and quickly considering his route. There was no easy way in or out of Chestnut Hill, but he was ahead of rush hour traffic by almost an hour. Avoiding the expressway just in case, he turned up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, hit the circle before the art museum and shot down Kelly Drive.

The road followed the winding path of the Schuylkill River, and it looked as if a thick fog was settling in. He checked the trees and noticed the wind had died off. As he passed Boathouse Row, he saw the buildings buried in the fallen clouds and couldn’t help but think of brighter days in the warm sunlight. Teddy loved sculling, and had been a varsity rower as an undergraduate at Penn. Now he was on his way to a crime scene. A young girl had been killed and he was representing the man who murdered her. He could feel his heart bouncing in his chest and knew he needed to get a grip on things. Take a step back, keep the details at bay and let the rest of the day just blow.

He eased the car onto Lincoln Drive and started through the woods, following the narrow S curves two miles up the hill. Turning right, he raced down West Allens Lane and made a left at the light onto Germantown Avenue. The road was cobblestoned, the Corolla vibrating over the choppy surface as he pushed past the trolley station and entered the quaint old town twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. Many of the buildings lining the street were over two hundred years old. Antique shops and art galleries whizzed by, along with restaurants and fashionable boutiques that could afford the high rent. He could see people on the sidewalks carrying packages to their cars. Most likely they were gifts for the holidays—the kind you couldn’t buy from a chain store at the mall.

Teddy glanced at the address Jill had written down. 931 Scottsboro Road. He made another left, leaving the shopping district behind and entering a neighborhood of homes that seemed to grow in stature with each passing block. When he hit a stop sign, he looked down the street to his right and caught the flashing lights atop a long row of police cars. This was it, he thought, making the turn onto Scottsboro Road and finding a place to park behind a news van five houses down.

A small crowd had formed in front of the death house. As Teddy walked up the wooded street, he could see people being held back by crime scene tape that looked as if it extended deep into the property. Cops in uniforms stood behind the tape, one with a clipboard who checked off names as various people were let through. Another cop, this one dressed in a suit, stood off to the side and spoke with the press. Teddy’s eyes moved to the fence in the neighbor’s yard. When his view cleared, he got his first look at the Lewis house. It was a three-story Tudor, probably built in the 1890s, set on a well-planted, two-acre lot. On any other day, he would have called it majestic. But not today. Not with the medical examiner’s van parked on the snow-covered lawn and backed up to the front door with its rear gate open.

Teddy grimaced, but kept walking until he reached the cop with the clipboard. He gave the man his name and told him who he worked for. What seemed like a long, icy stare followed before the cop grabbed the radio mike clipped to his parka and spoke with someone inside. Ignoring the black vibes, Teddy turned back to the death house. If the medical examiner was still here, then so was the body. That meant there was a chance Teddy would have to look at it. His eyes fell away from the van. He noticed an attractive woman with blond hair standing in the doorway with a two-way radio in her hand. She was staring at him. After a moment, she nodded at the cop with the clipboard. The cop nodded back and shrugged, taking Teddy’s full name down and letting him pass without another word.

Teddy walked up the driveway, then cut along the slate path that had been cleared of snow from the last storm. Curiously, every window on the first floor of the house was open and he couldn’t help but wonder why. As he started up the steps, District Attorney Alan Andrews met him at the door.

“Where’s the package, kid?”

Teddy stopped under the weight of the man’s eyes. He realized that Andrews had looked him over, mistaking him for a messenger or law clerk.

“You’re from Barnett’s office, right?”

Teddy nodded, watching the district attorney size him up. Then the woman with blond hair reappeared, moving in behind Andrews. Teddy was nervous and knew it was showing. After a moment, their gazes eased up and Andrews came close to fighting off a smile. It didn’t take much to guess what the district attorney was thinking. Teddy wasn’t a messenger. He was a kid just out of law school with no experience. When the case got to court, Andrews would eat him for lunch.

Andrews’s half smile evaporated, and as he shook Teddy’s hand, he introduced the woman as Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Powell. Teddy shook ADA Powell’s hand as well, but Andrews broke in before he could say anything to her.

“So here’s the deal, Teddy Mack. Your client’s the friendly neighborhood mailman. Six hours ago a neighbor saw him running away from the house with blood on his clothes. She got a good look at him. Blood was all over his fucking face and hair like he was swimming in it. She’s the one who found the body and called nine-one-one. She knew her mailman by name. Oscar Holmes. Detectives looked for him at work, but he was absent without leave. Holmes rents a small apartment at Twenty-third and Pine. They spotted his mail truck out front and caught up with him there. When Holmes answered the door he was all revved up. The detectives noted the blood on his face and made the arrest. Once the warrants arrived, the guys went in and found his clothes hidden in the trash.”

Teddy cleared his throat. “What about the murder weapon?”

Andrews paused a moment, then met his eyes. “It was a knife. A big one with enough blood on it to make the lab’s ten best list. We found it buried in his mailbag with this year’s Christmas cards.”

Andrews glanced at the street, his jaw muscles flexing like a predatory animal savoring its kill. He was shorter than Teddy by half a foot, but lean and tight and built like a sledgehammer. The man had a definite edge going and was obviously pissed off. He had a right to be, Teddy thought.

“So here are the rules,” Andrews said. “The house has been cleared. Every room but the dining room. You want to look around, be my guest, but nothing’s gonna be happening for another hour or two. If you have any questions, ask ADA Powell. Where’s Barnett?”

“At the roundhouse,” Teddy said.

“Is he gonna farm the case out?”

“I’m not sure.”

“How come you’re not sure, Teddy Mack?”

Teddy didn’t say anything but held the man’s eyes. After a long moment, District Attorney Alan Andrews turned his back on him and disappeared into the house. When ADA Powell started for the door, Teddy took a deep breath of fresh air and followed her inside.

The smell hit him as he passed the threshold. It was a chemical smell, almost like an acid that burned the nostrils and irritated his eyes.

“They’re gassing the body,” Powell said. “Super glue. It won’t be ready for a while.”

He nodded at her even though he didn’t know what she was talking about. Still, the intense fumes were enough to explain why the windows were open and it felt like the heat was switched off. Powell pulled her jacket tighter in the mid-December air. Something about seeing a beautiful woman in this setting didn’t compute. Her eyes were blue gray and gentle, her face, refined and made all the softer by her shoulder-length hair. Teddy guessed she was in her late thirties, and had seen things most people, including himself, would never see or even hear about because those were the details newspapers always left out.

“Who’s the lead detective?” he asked.

“Dennis Vega,” she said. “I’ll show you where everyone is. Then you can have a look at the rest of the house on your own. The place has been cleared, but I’d still be careful about what you touch. There’s a lot of fingerprint powder around, and it’s hard to wash off.”

“Where’s the family?”

“They’ve got a place in the mountains. They’re on their way home.” Powell turned away, leading him through the foyer and around the stairs. Then she added in a lower voice, “Given the unusual circumstances, I think it’s good that you’re here.”

There were those words again.
Unusual circumstances
.

Teddy looked at the floor and noted the drop cloths. When they reached the living room, fifteen people turned from their seats. They looked at him a moment, then lowered their eyes to the floor as if deep in thought or even prayer. Teddy knew the three people waiting on the couch were from the medical examiner’s office because of their jackets. The men in suits looked like detectives or city officials and had taken the chairs. The rest appeared to be crime scene techs, sitting on long cases that had been unlatched but remained closed. No one was talking, but Teddy could hear voices from the next room.

He followed Powell further into the living room and saw a man in the doorway straddling a dining room chair backwards and balancing his weight on the rear two legs.

“It’s gonna work,” the man was saying to someone. “The conditions are perfect. You’ll see.”