We were back in the car and already on Amnicola and heading toward the police department when I called Kate.
“Kate! What the hell’s going on. They’ve just arrested Ronnie for murder, at least that’s what I’m told.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Wait. They just walked through the door. I’ll call you right back.”
She hung up before I could tell her we were on our way. I parked out front and barreled straight in through the front doors, waving to the admin at the desk to buzz me in. Fortunately, she knew me; the security door opened and I charged on in with the kid in tow.
I went straight to Kate’s office. Ronnie was in there with Kate and the king of blubber, Sergeant Lonnie Guest. Back then, there was no love lost between Lonnie and me. We’d known each other since the police academy, and for some reason the fat bastard hated my guts. I didn’t think too highly of him either, but there you go.
“You’re under arrest, Starke, for the murder of Benny Brown,” Lonnie said, up in my face, handcuffs out, grabbing at my arms, trying to cuff me.
“Get your hands off me, Lonnie, before I beat the crap out of you.”
“Great!” he snarled. “You just added threatening a police officer to those charges.”
Kate interrupted. “Back off, Lonnie; go get us some coffee. I’ll handle this. Come on in, Harry.”
“Black,” I said with a smirk. He looked furious as he waddled off towards the coffee machine.
I followed Kate into the office and closed the door. “What the hell is going on?” I asked as she uncuffed Ronnie.
“I was hoping you could tell me. They found Ronnie’s Mercedes.”
She sat down behind her desk, waved a hand for me to sit too. I did, so did Ronnie. There were no more chairs so Tim stood behind me.
“Oh yeah? They found it. That’s good, right? So why did Lonnie arrest him, and what’s it got to do with me?”
“The car was in the river—well, half in and half out. Someone drove it off the parking lot off Dixie Drive, back of the Champion’s Tennis Club. Benny Brown was in the trunk, dead, shot in the head.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Yeah oh!” she said dryly. “A dead body in Ronnie’s car… And possibly the murder weapon in the trunk with the body, a Smith and Wesson M&P9… Henry Finkle is salivating at the thought of locking you up, Harry.”
“Who the hell is Benny Brown?” Ronnie asked.
“He is—was—a nasty little rat,” Kate said. “An ex-con, dealt drugs, guns, girls, whatever. He worked for Shady Tree.”
Why does that name keep coming up whenever someone shows up dead?
Kate looked over my shoulder at the kid who was quivering behind me. She looked up at me.
“Who’s he?”
“He’s my tech guy. Tim Clarke meet Kate Gazarra.”
“My pleasure,” she said. “What’s he doing here?”
“Well, we were just meeting up with Ronnie to go to our new office when your fat friend, Lonnie Guest, arrested him—”
Kate interrupted me, “What the hell’s with you, Harry? You two think this is all a joke? Lonnie has probable cause; he thinks the gun puts you at the crime scene. This is serious. Lonnie wants to hold you for murder.”
“Aw, come on, Kate. It all circumstantial, you know that. You took the missing weapon report yourself, and you know what happened at my place; someone trashed it. You saw it yourself, remember? It’s obvious: they took the gun and the notes, stole Ronnie’s car, and planted the gun with the body. We didn’t have anything to do with killing this guy.”
Kate stood up, pulled her hair back into a ponytail and walked to the window. “I know it and you know it, but nobody else does, and circumstantial works both ways.” She turned again to face us, her expression serious.
“I… I think they’re telling the truth,” a small voice said.
We all looked at Tim, and he looked at the ground. The kid had more of a spine then I gave him credit for.
Kate walked over, put her hand on his shoulder and smiled that million-dollar smile. “I’m listening. Why do you think they’re telling the truth?”
Tim looked at me and licked his lips. They were dry from mouth breathing through all the excitement. “You were a cop, right?” I nodded. “So you know stuff; you know what goes on, right? So why would you guys leave a body and your gun in your own car where it was sure to be found: the back of the Champion’s Tennis Club? It makes no sense.”
We all knew that, with maybe the exception of Ronnie, but I was impressed that the kid had figured it out.
“You have an expert here,” Kate said and smiled.
“Indeed I do,” I said. “You just earned your first paycheck, Tim.” I patted him on the back. “Damn, I must have really pissed someone off for them to go to all this trouble.” I paused, thought for a minute, then continued, “I need to find out who’s behind—”
“No,” Kate said firmly. “You’ll stay out of it. It’s a homicide case. I’ll turn it over to Cable and let him handle it from here. You got that, Harry?”
I grinned at her and said, “I think I’ll start by talking to Lester Tree.”
“Oh, hell,” she said, shaking her head, exasperated. “You make my life a misery.”
“Oh, stop worrying. I know what I’m doing. Ronnie, you and Tim go and get started setting up the office. Buy him a computer, desks, whatever you need. You also need to take care of my new PA. Her name’s Jacque Hale. She’ll be there at one… You did text her the address, right?”
“Come on, Harry,” Ronnie said. “You know better than to ask a question like that; of course I did.”
“Good,” I said. “Kate, we’re out of here. We have work to do. I’ll call you later.”
“Stay out of trouble, Harry.”
I opened the door and ran right into Lonnie. The coffee slopped down the front of his uniform.
“Damn it, Starke,” he yelled. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Out for a burger. I’d invite you, but I can see you’ve already had one too many.”
I pushed past him, followed by Tim and Ronnie. I could feel Lonnie’s eyes burning a hole in the back of my head as he raged at Kate for letting us go.
She is one patient lady, I thought, smiling to myself.