Gecko (13 page)

A few minutes later Glenna found out.

She died in a fire, but not before leaving the bulk of the estate that she had inherited from her father to the Foundation for the Junior Blind.

“
Her father isn’t dead a year and his wife goes to bed with a cigarette and burns herself up.”

“
What else?” he asked, a grin on his face.

“
Dr. Kohler didn’t get the money.”

“
And what does that tell you?”

“
That she didn’t want him to have it.”

“
And why not?”

“
Maybe she didn’t love him?”

“
Or?”

“
Maybe she suspected he had something to do with the accident that killed her father?”

“
Why?”

“
Maybe she thought that it was a little fishy, her father dying the same way her mother and sister did.”

“
And maybe he tried to kill Jim Monday the same way,” he said.

“
Then you have him. This is all the proof you need.”

“
Not by a long shot,” he said. “All we have here is tragic coincidence, not proof.”

“
Then what are we going to do?”

“
Get the proof. That’s what an investigator does.” He printed out the story, then said, “I think it’s time we called Walker.”

Washington picked up the phone and called the hospital. He glanced at his watch while the switchboard operator put him through. When he finally got Walker on the line he spoke quickly, telling him what they had learned.

“
Good work.” Walker sounded tired over the phone. “Have you seen the news?”

Washington said he hadn’t and Walker told him about the latest developments. Two new dead men, attributed to Monday. His wife’s twin and a woman, named Edna Lambert, missing. The media calling Monday a serial killer.

“
Find him,” Walker said. “Find him and clear him before someone puts a bullet in him.”

“
I’ll do my level best,” Washington said.

“
And take care,” Walker said before hanging up.

“
What do we do now?” Glenna asked.

“
We drive to Lakewood and pay a visit to Jim Monday’s mother-in-law.”

“
Why?”

“
I’ll fill you in on the way.”

He finished the telling just as he was nosing into the driveway of a quiet house in a quiet residential neighborhood. The front yard was surrounded by a two foot hedge, there was a tire swing hanging from a giant shade tree in the front yard. The house was white, the shutters orange, the color of flames. It was a cheerful looking place and with a park across the street, a good place to bring up children.

He opened the door and got out, wondering, as he always did, how to handle the questioning. Glenna followed as he mounted the front porch. He pushed the bell and a tall patrician looking woman answered. Her blue rinsed hair and no nonsense makeup told him there was only one tack to take with this lady. The truth. She would see through anything else.

He introduced himself as a police officer and showed her his badge. She introduced herself as Jean Barnes and she kept a poker face when he asked if she had seen the news.

“
No, I seldom watch it in the afternoon. A thirty minute dose at 6:30 every night is quite enough, don’t you think?”

“
More than enough. Too much, probably.” He smiled at her, then launched in with his story. “I’m going to be straight with you,” he said, “because I don’t have time to beat around the bush. Right now I’m a police officer. Tomorrow I probably won’t be. And this young lady is my daughter, Glenna.”

“
I don’t understand.”

“
Please let me finish.”

“
I’m all ears.”

“
My partner and I were across the street when David Askew was killed.” He went on to tell her everything he could think of concerning the events of the last two days, including how Walker had employed him to clear Jim Monday.

“
You know,” she said, when he finished, “Jim and I have never been close. A personality conflict, I guess, but I know him well and I’ll tell you one thing. He didn’t do any of what they say he did.”

“
That’s what we’re trying to prove. That’s why I need to talk to him.”

“
Why don’t we go in and call him?”

“
You know where he is?”

“
Of course, Roma called me about an hour ago. We talk almost every day. They’re on their way to Tampico. Right now they’re in Collinga, half way to San Francisco. They’re staying at that beef ranch, the one with a little airport. I can’t remember the name.”

“
Harris Ranch?” Glenna asked.

“
That’s the one. They call it an inn, but it’s really a motel, but a very fancy one. It’s a wonderful place to go and get away from it all.”

Hugh looked at his daughter with raised eyebrows.

“
Mom and I drove to San Francisco last month. We stopped there for lunch. They have the world’s best beef.”

“
I thought you were a vegetarian?”

“
Most of the time,” she said with a wink.

“
Let’s go inside,” Jean Barnes interrupted, “and I’ll call him up.”

They followed her into the neatly kept house and stood by as she dialed. She reached the Inn but there was no answer in their rooms.

“
They’re probably in the restaurant,” she said.

“
Mrs. Barnes, I think it’s best if I go up there and I think Glenna should stay with you till I get back.”

“
No way. I’m going with you,” Glenna said.

“
Do you think it’s dangerous?” Jean Barnes asked.

“
No, and no,” he said. “I want you here in case she gets through to Monday,” he told his daughter. “And I don’t think it’s dangerous. They’re far out of harm’s way out there in the middle of nowhere.”

“
Young man,” Jean Barnes said, “I’m perfectly capable of getting a hold of my son-in-law. I’ll call every half hour if I have to. Take your daughter with you if it’s not dangerous. You said you wanted to show her what it’s like to be a cop. Well, show her.”

“
I was just afraid—”

“
I know,” she cut him off, “you were afraid that after he talked to me, he’d run away. Well don’t worry, he won’t. We may have our differences, but he knows I’d never lie to him. I’ll tell him you’re trying to help. He’ll be waiting for you when you get there. Gratefully, I’m sure.”

“
I’m sorry, it’d be better if you didn’t call. If you’re wrong and he bolts, it could be catastrophic.”

“
How do you figure?”

“
If he runs into another cop, one who doesn’t believe he’s innocent—and right now I’m about the only one looking for him who thinks he is—and that cop shoots first—” he let the sentence hang.

“
I understand. I won’t call.”

He wanted to stay longer and question the woman further. He wanted to find out everything he could about Jim Monday, but there wasn’t time. He wanted to leave Glenna with her, because he was afraid that it might, indeed, be dangerous. Trouble seemed to be following Monday, but he wanted to justify Walker’s faith in him as quickly as possible. He needed that job. It would allow him to quit the department with dignity. So he agreed with her and took his daughter, even though he knew he shouldn’t.

Chapter Eight

Jim Monday was ripped from sleep by a rapping that knocked through him like gunfire. Someone was at the door.

“
What?” He jumped out of bed, fighting to see in the dark and losing the battle. The rapping continued. “Who is it?” he said loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door, half expecting the police.

“
It’s Edna.” Jim heard urgency in her voice.

“
Just a second.” He jumped into Turnbull’s slacks, threw on his shirt and opened the door, allowing in the light and a pale Edna Lambert, followed by Roma.

“
It’s all over the television,” Edna blurted out. “They’re calling you a mass murderer. Every policeman in the state is looking for you.”

“
Slow down.”

“
Turn on CNN,” Roma said.

“
Slow down, tell me.” He flipped on the light.

“
My son came by the house,” Edna said. “When I didn’t answer, he let himself in and found the bodies. He called the police. It’s all on the news.”

“
Wait a second,” he went to the nightstand, picked up the remote, turned on the television, going through the channels until he found CNN’s Headline News. He didn’t have to wait long for the story.

The stiff looking newscaster finished a story on Eastern Europe, then went to a commercial. After the break he led with the Jim Monday story.

“
And now more on the late breaking story from Long Beach, California. CNN has learned that Jim Monday, ex-congressman and millionaire developer is suspected in yesterday’s early morning hit and run death of the famous Los Angeles Attorney, David Askew. That brings to six the number of people Monday has allegedly killed, and still missing are Roma Barnes and Edna Lambert. Their fate is unknown, but in light of Monday’s killing spree, the worst is expected.”

Jim hit the power button on the remote as his picture was shown on the screen and the television flicked off. He didn’t want to hear anymore.

“
How did they know about you?” he said to Roma.

“
They found the car, wrecked.”

“
And when Eddie, that’s my boy,” Edna said, “found the bodies and called the police they assumed, since Roma’s car was near my house and since you had just killed three people in the police station less than an hour earlier, that you might be connected with the two dead men in my living room, so they checked for your fingerprints.”

“
How do you know all this?”

“
We didn’t turn it off before the end of the story,” Roma said.

“
I keep getting in deeper.”

“
Well, I can damn sure set them straight about the dead men in my house. I’ll just ring up the police and tell them what happened. I’ll tell them that I’m still alive, too.”

“
What do you think, Jim?” Roma said.

“
I think Edna’s right, you two should go back and explain it all to the police. Once they see that you’re still alive and you explain about the two dead men in Edna’s living room, and how it was self defense, they’ll know I’m no serial killer. And once they find out those two attorneys were fakes, they’ll know they came into the police station to kill me, and that would be self defense, too.”

“
What about the dead policeman?” Roma asked.

“
If you can make them believe someone is trying to kill me, then they’ll believe those men killed the policeman.”

“
So all we have to do is go back and tell our story and everything will be okay?” Roma said.

“
Should be.”

“
Then why don’t you come with us?” Roma said. “That seems the smartest thing to do. If you’re guilty, you’d never turn yourself in. With us as witnesses and your surrender, they’d have to believe us.”

“
I’d like nothing better, but someone sent those men after me and he’ll do it again. I believe it was Bernd Kohler. I can’t prove it and until I can, I’m not turning myself in.”

“
He’s right,” Edna said, “but you’re still going to need help.”

“
I have to do this on my own. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to either of you.”

“
I know one way I can help,” Edna said. “I can get you some identification and credit cards. You don’t look that much like my son, but you have the same nose and you both have blue eyes and he has that bushy beard. It might work.” She went to the phone.

“
Who are you calling?” Jim asked.

“
Why Eddie of course,” she twinkled. “He’ll come right up with his passport, drivers license and credit cards.”

“
How do you know he won’t call the police?”

“
For the same reason that I’m helping you. He got home because you stayed on the ground, alone, covering that chopper. Like me, he owes you a debt that can never be repaid.”

Jim didn’t try to stop her as she made the call, because he knew she was right. Without ID he wasn’t going to get very far. He sat on the bed next to Roma as Edna made the call and watched a gecko dart across the wall.

“
It will be all right,” he told Roma, as Edna Lambert talked in the background.

“
I hope so,” she said. “I really hope so.”

“
Oh, and Eddie,” they heard Edna say, “bring a spare eye patch.” She hung up and faced the couple sitting on the end of the bed. “He’s leaving right now, he’ll be here in four hours.”

They spent the next hour going over all their options, but in the end they agreed that Jim was right. The best thing would be for the women to return to Long Beach and try to clear him. Once it was decided, there was nothing more to be gained by discussion. The women went back to their room to rest and wait for Eddie Lambert.

Jim lay on his bed and stared at the connecting door. He half wanted Roma to come through it and he half feared she would. Twice he got up and started for it and twice he went back to the bed.