Criminal

maybe six years?” He looked down at his watch. It was a furtive movement, as obvious as Evelyn tugging the back of her hair. “I really do not appreciate your wasting my time. Shall I go back to the coroner?”
    “Just another minute.” Amanda had never been good at spotting a liar, but Bennett was as easy to read as an open book. “Are you sure that’s the last contact you had with your sister?”
    Bennett took a pack of Parliaments from his breast pocket and shook out a cigarette. A large gold college ring was on his middle finger. UGA Law School. Class of ’74. The Georgia Bulldog was etched into the red stone.
    Amanda asked, “Mr. Bennett, are you sure about the timing? It seems like you’ve had contact with Lucy more recently.”
    He showed a flash of guilt as he jammed the cigarette between his lips. “I mailed her a letter to the Union Mission. It was perfunctory, I assure you.”
    “On Ponce de Leon?” Amanda asked. The Ponce Union Mission was the only homeless facility that allowed women.
    Bennett said, “I tried to find Lucy when our father passed away. My mother had it in mind that she’d joined the hippie movement—you know, just dropped out for a while. She thought Lucy would want to come home, go to college, live a normal life. She could never accept that Lucy chose to be a whore.”
    Evelyn asked, “When did your father pass?”
    Bennett flicked his gold lighter, taking his time to light the cigarette. He didn’t speak again until he’d blown out a stream of smoke. “It was a few weeks after I graduated from law school.”
    “Last year?”
    “Yes. July or August. I can’t recall.” He inhaled deeply on the cigarette. “Lucy was never really a good girl. I suppose she fooled us all, right up until she ran off with some greaser to Atlanta. I’m sure you’ve heard this story more than a dozen times.” He exhaled, smoke curling from his nostrils. “She was always too willful. Stubborn.”
    Amanda asked, “How did you know to mail the letter to the Union Mission?”
    Bennett seemed irritated that she wouldn’t let him change the subject. “I made some calls to some people. They said that Lucy probably would’ve ended up there.”
    Amanda wondered who these people were. She took a chance. “Are you a litigator, Mr. Bennett?”
    “No, I do tax abatement. I’m a first-year associate at Treadwell-Price downtown. Why do you ask?”
    So, Evelyn was right. He’d obviously gotten his boss to make a phone call. “Did you hear back from your sister?”
    “No, but the man working there assured me that he gave the letter to Lucy. For whatever that’s worth.”
    “Do you remember the man’s name?”
    “Trask? Trent?” Bennett blew out a plume of smoke. “I don’t know. He was very unprofessional. Dirty clothes. Hair unkempt. Frankly, there was an odor about him. I imagine he’s a marijuana smoker.”
    “You met him in person?”
    “You can’t trust these people.” He sucked on the cigarette. “I thought I might find Lucy there. What I found was a bunch of disgusting whores and drunkards. Just the sort of place I knew Lucy would end up.”
    “Did you see her?”
    “Of course not. I doubt I would even recognize her.”
    Amanda nodded, though this seemed like an odd statement coming from a man who was about to identify his dead sister’s body.
    Evelyn asked, “Do you know a young woman named Kitty Treadwell?”
    He narrowed his eyes. Smoke drifted from the tip of his cigarette. “What do you know about Kitty?” He didn’t let them answer. “You two ladies should mind where you stick your noses. They’re liable to get cut off.”
    The front doors slammed open. Rick Landry and Butch Bonnie walked into the hallway. Both men scowled when they saw Amanda and Evelyn.
    “Finally,” Bennett mumbled.
    Landry was visibly furious. He stomped forward, demanding, “What the hell are you two slits doing here?”
    Amanda was standing beside Evelyn. It didn’t take much to get in front of her, blocking Landry in the process. “We’re investigating our case.”
    Landry didn’t bother responding to her statement. He turned, his shoulder bumping into Amanda’s so hard that she had to step back. “Hank Bennett?”
    Bennett nodded. “Are you in charge?”
    “Yes,” Landry said. “We are.” He crowded out Amanda, forcing her to step back again as he inserted himself between her and Bennett. “I’m sorry about your loss, sir.”
    Bennett waved his hand, as if it was