Fatal Defense by Larry A Winters

Author:Larry A Winters [Winters, Larry A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

23

While Jessie was working late on the Keeley case, Leary was in his apartment, thinking about his own case. A knock at the door disturbed him. He knew from the sound of the knock—a hard, businesslike rap—that it wasn’t Jessie, and there was no one else he was interested in seeing right now. He left the chain hooked in place and opened the door a crack, ready to tell whoever was there that he wasn’t interested.

“Hey, Leary.”

Leary froze, caught completely off-guard. His visitor was Toby Novak, Emily Graham’s partner. That was unexpected, but not unwelcome. He liked Novak. He wasn’t sure about the two men Novak stood in the hallway with, though. Ramrod-stiff postures, close-cropped hair, ill-fitting suits, and facial expressions that could mean either serious concentration or serious constipation. Definitely cops. What were they doing here?

“Hold on, Toby. I’ll open the door.”

Once his visitors were inside, Novak made introductions. “Gentlemen, this is Mark Leary. As you know, he used to be a detective at the PPD. Leary, meet Dominick Chernin and Rupert Bertie, detectives from the Mendham Township Police Department Detective Bureau, out of Jersey. They need to speak with you about an incident in their township, and since we’re friends, I volunteered to coordinate.”

Mendham Township? Now Leary was definitely uneasy. But he shook hands and offered each man a friendly nod, despite the feeling that they were looking at him more like a suspect than a colleague. “What’s this about?”

“You’re familiar with Mendham Township?” Chernin said. “It’s a relatively small town in New Jersey. Police department only has fifteen people, including me and Bertie.”

“If you’re here, you must know I visited the town a few days ago.”

Chernin rocked back on his heels. “Well, we didn’t know you were there for sure, but thanks for telling us that.”

Leary cringed inwardly. It had been a while since he’d played this game, and he was getting rusty. “Let’s sit down.” He led them into his apartment to a small kitchenette with a table for four. Novak shrugged out of his coat, draped it over the back of a chair, and sat down. The two New Jersey cops stood stiffly for a moment, then did the same. Leary sat down last. “How can I help you?”

“One of our residents committed suicide. This was found on her body.” The detective pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and showed it to Leary. It was a photocopy of the slip of paper he’d given to Lydia Wax showing his name and cell number.

He tried to hide any surprise. The two cops leaned forward and watched him closely. He knew they were studying his face for reactions, just as he’d studied so many suspects. His hands, under the table, gripped his legs. Had Lydia killed herself because of his visit?

“The woman you’re talking about,” Leary said slowly, “what’s her name?”

“Lydia Wax.”

“Are you sure it was suicide?”

“That’s an unusual question to ask,” Detective Bertie said.

“According to the autopsy, it was,” Detective Chernin said.

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