Friday, October 18, 2013
“Old Peck!” I greet the elderly man, giving him a bear hug and picking up his bags at the airport. “You didn´t have to come. It´s a long trip.”
In the last three year since I saw him last, after he retired, his face has changed. His visage is less somber and strict, it has softened somewhat. There is little left of the great Detective Peck who worked so hard for the police department for over forty years. His wrinkles are deeper showing the weight of a tough life. His small brown eyes, full of wisdom, fit well with a man who can´t easily be surprised by human degradation, having witnessed numerous atrocities.
I haven´t heard from Paula since Tuesday. Her whereabouts are unknown, and we have been working hard to locate her and arrest her discreetly. We don´t want her to get scared. When we finally detain her, she will have a lot to answer for.
She blinded me with her beauty and passion. A part of me felt sorry for her without knowing why. My personal situation with Ana, has made me vulnerable, and I was desperate to recover my masculinity, my pride between a woman´s legs.
“Coffee, Tischmann; urgent, and with plenty of sugar.” Orders Peck with a good-natured smile.
I nod in acquiescence and I drive us downtown. It´s about elven o´clock when we enter a small, empty, coffee shop and order our coffee.
“Melinda doesn´t let you take sugar, does she?” I laugh.
“Where´s Paula?” He asks, ignoring my quip. ”It´s important that you find her, Tischmann. As I told you on the phone, she´s dangerous. God! How could I have missed it? Why couldn´t I remember? How could I forget Parker´s face?” He holds his head in his hands and chuckles to himself. “This head of mine, Tischmann... It´s deteriorating faster than I like. Alzheimer, they call it. It really sucks to get old.”
“The other night, when we talked on the phone...” I hesitate for a second, “I was with Paula.” I accept, ashamed.
“She trapped you. Don´t whip yourself over it, Tischmann. You didn´t know anything, and she´s a professional manipulator. I have gone over the case in Malibu, and it all makes sense. The accident that killed Paula´s parents, was caused by Josh Parker´s dad, who was drunk that night. Paula was twelve when she was admitted to a mental institution. I met her when I was investigating the alleged suicide of one of the inmates; I was surprised at how interested she was in the whole investigation. From then on, I visited her frequently and though I eventually concluded that the death of her fellow inmate was no suicide but a murder, I kept quiet. I protected her.”
“You think she murdered the other girl?”
“For sure. Paula was terrifically strong, unbelievable in such a frail body. I grew fond of her. She was always sweet with me, she helped me get over the frustration of my inability to give Melinda a child. I guess that´s what led me to hide that crime and the one with a watchman...”
“A watchman?”
“He fell down some stairs, but the fracture in his skull revealed that had been dealt a severe blow to the head before he fell. Paula was seventeen then. A year later she left the institution that had become hell to her.”
“Peck, I can´t believe you concealed those crimes.” I tell him reproachfully.
“She manipulated me the same way she did with you. I was going through the worst years of my personal life. For you, it was Ana´s infidelity. For me, it was the inability to engender a child. Then I lost track of her, but now it all makes sense.
“Paula was involved with Parker.”
“It doesn´t surprise me a bit. It was all part of her plan. If I had known that Paula was Parker´s aide, I would have linked her to the child´s crime. From the moment she left the mental hospital, her sole purpose in life was to kill the son of the man who killed her parents in the crash. She started with an innocent child, “Peck mumbles, truly upset, “and finally she did Parker in. I know what you´re thinking, Tischmann: if I hadn´t protected her, if I had stopped her cold and locked her up when she killed her fellow inmate or the watchman, none of these crimes would have been perpetrated.
“It´s a shame that we can´t turn back time.”
I hold back the accusation that he was an accomplice to murder. I do it because maybe the investigation I´m involved in could have been solved if I hadn´t fallen for her.
“What about Mrs. Hemsley?” Peck asks, ignoring the dismayed expression on my face.
“Samantha. We cut her loose on Wednesday, free of all charges. Poor woman, I asked her forgiveness a hundred times, but she hasn´t said a single word. I haven´t heard from her since then, though I was told she didn´t show up for work the whole week.
“We should go see her.”
“Why is that?”
“I feel very sorry for her.”
My phone rings. I frown when I discover it´s Stuart.
“What is it?”
“Samantha Hemsley has committed suicide.” Says Peck seriously before I can digest what I´m hearing Stuart say.