TWENTY-FIVE

I found the bottle, a very good brand with a French label. The patient who gave it to Lee must have been satisfied with his treatment. Well, my jaw had stopped hurting since she’d made that adjustment in my neck.

I filled one of the child-size snifters. I wanted to drink, not just swirl and sniff, and I was pretty sure I’d be glad I had. This case was starting to have more suspects than clues.

Aunt Lee was enjoying her brew, holding the cup in both hands and sighing when she swallowed. I wondered if the stuff came with a hangover.

She seemed to sense my impression.

“The East gave tea to the West, among other native items, in return for the fruit of the poppy; but we retained the secret of how to grow it. Slave labor played its part. When I’m forced to drink the Western variety, I think freedom is overrated.

“I know I’m wasting valuable time,” she said. “Forgive me, but I rarely get a chance to speak of such things. Lee is a busy young woman.”

“Busier than I thought, if your hunch is right. You said murders, plural. I only told you about one.”

“She told me what happened to the man Severin. She didn’t want to, but I knew she was holding back. I’m quite the bully in Mandarin, a sinuous language of which she is no mistress.”

She set aside her cup. “I was gardening the other day when I heard the telephone ringing. Lee was out, so I thought she might have called to check on me. A storm had just come through and we had a power failure. Perhaps you remember it.”

“I was in it.”

“We got high winds, but no rain. I didn’t want to alarm her by not calling back. She might think I was outside lying under a tree.

“I looked at the record on that receiver near you, to see if her office number had come up. I can see such things at close quarters. But it wasn’t my niece who had called. You might have to go back a dozen or so to find it.”

She wasn’t going to lead me any closer, so I reached over and lifted the receiver off a slim telephone on a narrow table at the end of the loveseat, found the button that brought up the record of incoming calls, and scrolled back through unfamiliar names and numbers going back a couple of days. I was trigger-happy by the time one I recognized came up, and passed it. I thumbed back the other way. First the number appeared, then the name:

J. BALLISTA

She nodded when I looked up. “It sent me back many years. I thought it must have been for me, but I can’t imagine where he got the number. And I thought it was significant that Lee never told me about it later. She always checks calls when she comes home.”

The date and time confirmed what she’d said. Frances Donella’s body had turned up only hours earlier. I thought of Lee’s grip on my head when I sat in her chair. A garroting wouldn’t be too much for a trained physical therapist of thirty or so.

“I found you,” I said. “Through her. I surfed through all the Lee Tans in the book. Joey’s network is better than mine.”

“I didn’t call him to ask. I thought perhaps Lee kept it from me to protect me from unhappy memories. You’ll find no other such calls in the record. I checked.”

She’d noticed I was still working the button. “Messages?”

“I played them back. The Joey I knew wasn’t in the habit.”

“I can ask him next time I see him. Maybe he just wanted to chew the fat with an old friend.”

“I considered that. I even let myself accept it, until you told me of the threat Lee made against you in her office. She’s very strong, isn’t she?”

“A lot of people are capable of strangling a sick hooker. That line of work spreads motivation around like sexually transmitted disease. What would be Lee’s?”

“If Joey feared the Donella woman’s testimony might cost him his freedom, he might have called around among his old associates looking for help. They’d be more likely to recognize her on sight.”

“You’re a pacifist.”

“A very unlikely suspect, which would be all to the good. And the favor I owe him is a very big one. Lee is very protective. If he threatened to expose something from our past association, I can’t tell you how far she’d go to spare me.”

I swallowed half my brandy and laid down the receiver. “These records only go back so far. You’re suggesting he may have called before, got her instead, they came to an arrangement, and he called back to see how it went. If I took that back to my client I’d be laughed out of town. And I’d be laughing right along with them.”

“As would I, if she hadn’t offered to cripple you just for asking about me.”

“Joey didn’t know that. It hadn’t happened yet. Pros hire pros.”

“He’s not well, you said. He may even have his father’s complaint, which for reasons of delicacy we’ll call lack of judgment. Lee can be reckless; you of all people know that. If it’s a choice between her beloved aunt and a woman of the streets—”

“You’re forgetting Randolph Severin. He was connected to Donella through Joey, and they died only hours apart. How well does Lee know her way around firearms?”

“I doubt she’s ever held one in her life. When exactly was he killed?”

“The body was still warm when I found it, right after the same storm that put your lights out here.”

“She came home early that day. The lights at the office were out, too, so she canceled the rest of her appointments. It couldn’t have been much more than a half hour after Joey called. She noticed I was distracted. I told her thunderstorms upset me.” Her canines showed, not in a smile. “I thought I was protecting her.”

“That clears her of Severin, if you’re right about the time. She couldn’t have made it here from Portage Lake that fast. An hour would be pushing it.”

“Maybe Joey made another call.”

“Joey’s been busy for someone in an ankle bracelet.”

“Maybe it’s time you paid him another visit.”

“Maybe it is.”

“Paid who a visit?” This was a new voice, although one I recognized.

Lee Tan, the niece, stood in the doorway holding her keys. Today she wore a short-sleeved top and a wraparound skirt that caught her just above a pair of round polished knees. She wore her hair as before, hanging down long and straight and midnight black behind her back. A frown creased her forehead. That hybrid she used for transportation was quiet. Neither one of us had heard her driving up.

I put down my glass and stood. I didn’t know how much she’d overheard. “Joey Ballistic. I came by for some follow-up. Your aunt’s the only one who knew him in the old days who isn’t afraid to talk shop.”

“You should’ve called me first. I didn’t move her in here to make her sit through the third-degree.”

“I’m a grown woman, child. You’ve forgotten I’ve sat through the real thing.” She picked up her teacup, calm as Buddha. “I suspect Mr. Walker hoped to get a glimpse of you during his visit.”

“So now we’re in high school. Did you ask her to ask me if I like you?” Lee was looking at me.

“I’m guessing the answer’s no.”

Her keys crashed into the ceramic bowl. “Is my aunt a murder suspect?”

“She has a theory about the Donella killing.”

“You must be pretty desperate to come all this way to hear someone’s cockeyed story.”

“That’s the kind I hear most of the time. Some of them are cockeyed enough to be true. This one’s a corker.”

“Mr. Walker, I beg you.”

“She can take it. I’ve seen her drive. Your aunt’s afraid you murdered Frances Donella.”

That stopped her. White teeth showed in an open mouth.

“What do you think, Ms. Tan? Is that a guilty look?”

“I can’t see well enough to tell.”

“You’re not missing much. It’s usually the innocent ones who look most guilty.”

“And?”

“Search me. It’s something I heard a cop say once. Joey Ballistic’s number on your caller ID,” I told Lee. “It showed up there the day the cops found her.”

She went white as porcelain. “I—I thought—”

“That’s a guilty look, I’m sure about that,” I told the aunt. “If you people ever talked to each other, you wouldn’t have to run around protecting each other all the time. Aunt Lee’s version makes more sense than yours. You’re the one with the guns.” I’d closed the distance as I spoke. I reached out and squeezed one of her biceps.

“Oh, God. I was so—and I almost—My God.” Her body went slack all over then. I got a grip on the other arm, but she didn’t really need holding up. They only faint in novels. She shook loose and stared at me. “So why didn’t I do it?”

“Because I know who did. I’ve known since yesterday.”