Barner was slowly opening and closing his bony fists. His voice was now noticeably shaky, "She wouldn't be like that with him. She had to put up with Towson. She's better off now."

"Yes, I understand, Sonny, too good for him. He probably didn't even appreciate her, like some guys would. Someone did her a big favor. She's free now. She can spend time with who she really wants. Look at me, Sonny, did you think you'd get lucky?"

Barner was rubbing his hands over his knees and didn't say anything. The detective kept staring at him. He didn't answer at first, just sat there frowning as though he was lost."

"In Vegas-get lucky? How did you pay for the plane ticket? How did you pay for your room in Vegas? Where'd you get the gambling money? We're going to find out everything."

"You're trying to confuse me. I didn't rip him off and I didn't kill him."

"You spotted some money he had around and you knew a rich guy must have plenty more around the place. You left as you said, went home and got your gun. Someone else buzzed you back in. You shot him and beat it out of town at seven. We're going to put it all together, Sonny. Now's the time to tell us about it."

Barner put his hands in his lap and stared down at the floor. "You twisted it all around. I wasn't thinking all that and I didn't shoot him. Can I go?"

G.o.ddard thought that was enough. He still had some control and didn't want to force Barner into asking for a lawyer.

"I want the job tickets on the two jobs you said you did after Towson."

"They're outside in my truck."

G.o.ddard walked out with him and stood while Barner searched around and found the job tickets for Sat.u.r.day.

G.o.ddard examined the copies. "Here's the copy for Towson, the next job is around three and the last four-thirty. None are signed by your customers. You could have made these up. Anyway, you'd plenty of time to go back and shoot Towson."

"I left after four-thirty, had to drive to Orlando airport, you know. I don't have no siren."

"I need to look through this truck now, Sonny, to be sure you're in the clear, and then you can go. Okay with you?"

"Don't you need a search warrant to do that?"

"Okay." G.o.ddard held up the job tickets. "But I need to make copies of these. Can I give them back to you later?"

Barner nodded and locked the van door.

"I'll see you around, Sonny. Don't start traveling around the country again."

The detective went back inside and joined up with Moran and the chief in the hall.

"Chief, I want a tail on him right now. He's scared enough now to get rid of the gun. If the gun's not in his house, it could be in his van, a.s.suming he's guilty, of course."

"We're shorthanded, Chip. We have to escort all the funeral's V.I.P.'s out of town."

"One man, give me one man. Moran, I need a search warrant for his house and for his van. We'll keep a tail on him right up to the minute we go in. We can't let him ditch that gun."

Moran smirked. "Dumb b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"No, you're wrong, He's not dumb. Didn't you hear his answers? He was sailing right along until I mentioned Tammy Jerrold, then he fell apart."

"He's dumb enough to commit murder."

"Is he smart enough to get away with it? That's the question. I've no doubt he could plan it and do it. Not smart for him to run away and call attention to himself though. Remember, Moran, if you ever murder someone don't run, it's a dead giveaway."

"You sure hit a nerve talking about Tammy. How did you know to push his s.e.x b.u.t.ton?"

G.o.ddard wasn't about to mention finding the s.e.xy photo purporting to be Tammy in Barner's house. "He obviously has the hots for Tammy. He turned red when I mentioned her name. That might be enough motive for him to kill Towson. I wanted him to know we're aware of that motive. That should make him extremely nervous. When the guilty get nervous they make mistakes, such as leaving town and trying to dispose of the weapon. The guy's emotional. Maybe he'd kill for love. Maybe he shot Towson, and the found money was an unexpected bonus. He's just committed a crime, gets scared, finds himself with lots of money, and runs off to hide in Vegas."

"What about his alibi?"

"Right now we don't know if he actually flew anyplace. We're going to check on his trip details. Otherwise, his alibi's not bad. He didn't have much time to go back to Towson's. And he needed a couple of hours to get to the Orlando airport."

"I'll get you the warrant. It'll take a little time but you'll have it today.

G.o.ddard collected his papers and headed outside to his vehicle. His phone beeped. It was the chief, "Thought you'd like this; we're tailing Barner, he's not headed home, he's headed for the bridge."

"Stay close. If he stops on the bridge, move in immediately, don't let him toss the weapon."

After a few minutes, the chief came back on. "He didn't stop. He drove directly to Loraine Dellin's house."

"You're kidding. How about that, is he still there?"

"Just got there. I'll tell you when he leaves."

G.o.ddard swung his unmarked vehicle into traffic and hit the siren. "I'll try and catch him there, catch them together, see how they explain it. Interesting, he's going to see Loraine. He ran straight to her. He had on a suit when he left here, so it's not a service call."

A minute later the chief was on the phone again, "Well, you missed him. He just pulled away from her house."

"Okay, keep on him." G.o.ddard switched off the siren and slowed. Loraine, Loraine, what are you up to? What's the connection between an upscale woman who lives on the barrier island and a sc.r.a.ping-to-get-along bug killer? Has to be money.

Word came from the unit tailing Barner that he was now at his house. G.o.ddard drove there. The officer who had tailed Barner said he'd been inside about ten minutes. G.o.ddard radioed for two blue and whites and went to the door. "Where you been, Sonny?"

"Don't have to talk to you anymore."

"Is that what Mrs. Dellin told you? Did she also tell you I need a search warrant to come inside?"

"I knew that."

"Why did you just run to Mrs. Dellin? Are you tight with her like you are with Tammy? Why were you over there?"

"Came back from Vegas broke. She owes me for my services, hasn't paid in a while. Thought maybe I could collect something."

"Did she pay you?"

"No, cried that she didn't have it. Told me to bill her. Jesus, what's she think I've been doing for the last three months? Like I don't need the money and the rich b.i.t.c.h does."

"We're going to search your house and your van, Sonny. A search warrant is on the way and you'll get a copy. You can give us permission to start the search right now and get these police vehicles away from your house sooner, or we can sit here waiting until more police vehicles with lights flashing bring us the warrant."

Barner nodded to go ahead. For the next hour, G.o.ddard and the uniformed officers searched the house and the van. The only weapons found in the house were two hunting knives and the two old shotguns resting in plain sight in an unlocked closet. In the van, hidden on a tool rack, they found a sawed-off 20-gauge with the standard wooden stock replaced by a custom pistol grip. Ominous but they measured it, and it was legal. G.o.ddard told them to bag it anyway; he wanted Barner's prints.

He noticed the old newspaper clipping with Senator Towson crossed out was no longer stuck on the refrigerator. In the bedroom, the erotic photo purporting to be Tammy Jerrold wasn't in sight. He'd have loved to shuffle through stacks of paper and boot up the computer, but the search warrant covered only weapons. G.o.ddard called off the search and left with no evidence.

He wondered if Barner was s.e.xually involved with Tammy Jerrold. s.e.xual selection is full of surprises. The Barner-in-love-with-Tammy part wasn't surprising, but G.o.ddard couldn't visualize her reciprocating, or extending the triangle to include Towson. But there's no accounting for love. Just consider the men some women end up with, and vice versa.

Perhaps Tammy saw something in Barner that escaped the eye. Perhaps she did indeed pose for him. She definitely turns him on. How far would he go to get her out of Towson's clutches? Would that be enough for him to murder? Oh, yes, absolutely. s.e.x is a magic word. Just say the word and men will turn red and start stammering-some will reach for a gun.

Chapter 14.

"How's a dull looking dude like you attract way cool babes like that?" It was just after noon on Thursday, five days after the murder, and Beau Cobb, the bail bondsman, was talking to Ray through the bars. "My cop buddy told me you had two wicked girls in the visiting room at the same time. Said they weren't total mad ten hotties, but he wouldn't kick either one of them out of bed."

"Kicks a lot of them out, does he? One is my sister, just so you know before you carry on with your fantasies."

"Which, the one with the rockin' body, or the stylin' one? The stylin' one came back today. Hey, guess you know they're going to transfer you out to county jail today."

"County jail? I thought they'd keep me here until the trial."

"No, this city jail is like the holding tank. You got locked up last Sat.u.r.day; you're long overdue for transfer to CJ. I don't like to go out there, that's a serious place, you know. Bunch of stinking cave men in crowded rooms with not much supervision."

Going from this place to some place worse had never occurred to Ray. This terrible place suddenly felt good. The liberal visiting hours here at city jail let his spirit escape. It had made all the difference. All that was ending?

"Here you're sitting around drinking coffee and socializing with city police; out there you're facing what they call Correctional Officers who never loosen the grip on their billy clubs."

"Do you have attorney Jerry Kagan in your directory, Beau? Call him for me, please. I'll pay you."

Beau smiled, punched up the number and, after a quick look down the hall at the officer reading a newspaper, pa.s.sed his phone to Ray.

Kagan got on line and explained city jail was temporary to be near the courthouse for proceedings. Transfer out to the county was routine after a couple of days. He would talk to the judge about a delay.

Beau left. A few minutes later, when the jailer appeared and snapped the cuffs on, Ray a.s.sumed that was it, the escort out to county jail. But they headed for the visiting room. This time he remembered her name.

Meg Emerson carried a small plastic bag. "I took up a little collection at the office and bought you a couple of things." She held out a small bag for the officer to inspect, two paperback books and some chocolate covered pretzels "How great, thanks." Ray held up the books. "The only thing I've had to read in my cell is the label on this jumpsuit. Hope you didn't bring Dostoyevsky."

"No crimes, just Woody Allen and Dave Barry." Meg noticed the handcuffs and involuntarily shuddered. "Had many visitors?"

"My attorney and my sister."

"That was your sister I pa.s.sed in here the other day? Pretty. You guys are from Philadelphia, huh. More family up there?"

"Not anymore, folks died in a crash on the expressway, but we were grown at the time."

"Sorry about that. Leave anyone behind up there? How's the single situation in Philadelphia?"

"Don't actually know. I was married and after we settled the divorce, I just sat around feeling sorry for myself. I wanted out of there. Like many people, I always had Florida in the back of my mind. New beginnings, et cetera."

"Perhaps you'll meet someone down here."

"Not likely in here," he joked. She didn't laugh. He pointed to the books. "Very thoughtful but admit it, there was no collection at the office was there?"

"Technically there was, but I was the only contributor."

"I'm fired aren't I?"

Meg grimaced. "Police came to the office. They boxed up files and everything from your desk: company files, personal, everything. The company went ballistic. There was uproar in the office for the rest of the day. You're out."

Ray noticed Sandy coming in. She stood at the door laughing with Sergeant Lewis about something. She came over holding up the morning paper. "Well, Raymond, you have your fifteen minutes of fame. Hi, you're Meg Emerson." She p.r.o.nounced the name distinctly for his benefit and introduced herself.

Meg said, "Welcome to Florida, I wish the circ.u.mstances were different. I'd show you two around. Yes, the paper is doing its best to keep things stirred up, nothing else is happening in this town."

"I'll change that. I'm going to find a couple more suspects. Raymond, I met with your attorney, Jerry Kagan. Probably okay, he's on the list of qualified counsel for capital crimes. An oldie but goodie. I asked him to hire me as his investigator for a dollar a day. That puts me on the defense team, which may or may not mean anything."

"We just talked. He told me they could transfer me out to the county jail at any time. He'll speak to the judge and see if he can get me a few more days here."

Meg said, "I hear it's miserable out there and dangerous. This is jail, out there is prison."

"I didn't realize I had it so good."

Sandy made a sympathetic frown. "You'll be on your own out there, Raymond. I'll be leaving."

Meg said, "So, Sandy, you just drove down. You're on vacation?"

"More or less."

"Sandy, you shouldn't have done this," Ray said. "What'll happen?"

"I'm not willing to lose my job over you, Raymond. Sorry if that sounds blunt. I'll do what I can as quickly as I can. I'm good at this and can accomplish quite a bit while I'm here. But, criminal investigations and trials can take years just to get started. You have me for a few more days and that's it. Then I'm gone and my act goes back to Philly."

"Whatever time you can give me I'll appreciate." He knew she owed him nothing, yet here she was.

"I took a lot of c.r.a.p to move ahead in my job. It's perfect for a law student. I'm not going to screw it up."

"I did screw mine up, it was easy."

Meg said, "No, you didn't screw up your job. You're good at what you do and the company liked you."

"Sandy, I'm going to make this up to you somehow." He thought back to her as a teenager trapped in juvenile rehab, and he hadn't lifted a finger to rescue her.

"Yeah, right, if I ever need a kidney I know who not to call."

She was ent.i.tled to the sarcasm. He deserved it. Meg appeared confused at the remark.

"Raymond, I do need to move into your apartment while I'm here. I can't afford the InnTowner any longer. You have Internet?"

"Sure, and Kagan should be able get my apartment keys back from the police now. If the police left it all messed up then hire someone to clean it up. Don't you do it."

"Not likely, I get confused operating cleaning apparatus like brooms. Now let me tell you, I asked questions at the InnTowner. Desk clerk on duty that Sat.u.r.day morning doesn't remember Loraine checking in or out. Guests don't need to go back to the front desk to check out so there's no record of when she left the room. Two maids remember you being there, *Oh, that's man in paper who killed that man. Was with pretty woman in bathing suit muy poquito.' They said the police had been around, but they don't talk to police."