Read Online Dark Lady by Richard North Patterson - Free Book Online Page B

related. I think that makes this harder than we realized. For both of US.” Brett turned away. Gently, Caroline guided her back to the chair. When she sat across from her again, Brett was silent, fighting for composure. Damn him, Caroline thought. Damn him. Her headache had turned to nausea. Since her father had called, she realized, she had not eaten. “Let me explain,” she said slowly, “what the police case is. Because I already know. “There are two cases, actually. The first is premeditated murder. In that case, you decided to kill James well in advance. But he was much larger and stronger. So you took him to an isolated place—a lake at night—which you knew and he didn’t. You brought the knife and told him it was for the bread and cheese. You encouraged him to drink wine and then smoke dope, knowing that it made him sluggish. And it was you, when making love, who got on top of him …” Brett’s mouth was half open; she looked stricken. Caroline forced herself to continue. “You never heard the sound of an intruder. The dope dealer story is preposterous. You never went swimming.” Caroline paused, took a breath, and finished. “What you did do, before he could reach climax, was cut your lover’s throat …. “
    Pale, Brett shut her eyes. “Perhaps,” Caroline went on, “you didn’t count on being spattered with his blood. That’s why you made up the story about giving CPR to a man who was semi-decapitated. But you planned the rest of it to look like a robbery. Which is why you took the knife and the wallet, meaning to throw them both away. “But you were stoned, too, and sickened by what you’d done. You panicked and then ran to the Jeep, crazy to get out. But you only got a little ways past the trailhead when you had to stop and throw up.”
    “No!” Brett sat rigid in her chair. “That’s not right—” Caroline made herself finish. “You were caught with the knife and the wallet, with blood all over you. You needed a new story and were in no shape to give one. So you pretended to be so stoned you were a blackout victim, and spent the next eight hours trying to come up with an alibi that covered those facts. “And after all that, the best you could do is a dope dealer who followed James Case to Heron Lake at night so that he could slit his throat over a few thousand dollars.” Brett curled forward, elbows on her knees. “So are you really sure about taking the wallet?” Caroline asked softly. “Maybe James left it in the Jeep. That would certainly be nice. “It would also be nice if the police were barred from using your three different statements—‘nothing happened’; ‘he might be at the lake’; and ‘a drug dealer must have killed him’—and even better if they aren’t allowed to testify that it took eight hours for you to give the last one. So I would hope very hard that the first cop didn’t warn you.” Caroline paused for emphasis. “Because if he blew it, and if you’re very lucky, they also won’t be able to use the warrant they got after you sent them to the lake. And that means no blood spatters, no nail samples, and—essentially—no evidence.” Hands to her face, Brett neither moved nor spoke. Quietly, Caroline asked, “Are you listening, Brett?”
    Slowly, Brett looked up at her. She was ashen. “You’d have a clean slate, and all the police would have is you, a knife, and a body. It’s not enough. And even if Jackson Watts thinks it is, you can decide then whether to testify, knowing that whatever you said before can no longer be used against you. “That—at worst—is what I want for you.” Brett seemed to gather herself. “It’s like you’re accusing me.”
    “Not accusing. Demonstrating.” Brett’s voice rose. “I had no reason to do this …. “
    “No motive.” Caroline smiled faintly. “That is a problem with case number one. Which is why that case may never come to trial. “Which brings me to case number two.” Pausing, Caroline