Fall Guy

Street, just east of the gate I used to get to the cottage. When we finished checking the house, we'd leave by the back door that exited into the garden. That way I'd be sure neither door had been jimmied since my last inspection. For my low rent, I also collected the mail, pitching out all the junk mail and forwarding the bills to their attorney, who would pay them in the Siegals' absence. The Siegals were thrilled to have a private investigator living in the cottage. It made them feel really secure. I was thrilled to have rent I could afford in the neighborhood where I felt at home. That made me feel really secure, a good deal all around.
    There'd been no call from Brody all morning. Maggie hadn't called again either. I was hoping she would. I hadn't called Dennis. I was sure Maggie would do that. Then I wondered if she would. Family relationships could be so weird. I thought I'd better ask her when I spoke to her next.
    I'd gotten three of the people from the group last night—Mel, Larry and Brian. Mel kept asking about Dashiell. He barely remembered Tim. Larry referred to Tim as „the Mount Rushmore guy.“ He said Tim hadn't said a word to him, not in the group, not out. And Brian said he was still having a tough time. He'd gone on Prozac, he said, and he wished he could get off it but when he tried, he was worse than before he started using it. He barely remembered Tim.
    I called Scott again and this time he answered. He seemed very upset when I told him that Tim was dead.
    „We both got there early once,“ he said. „We were in the courtyard, just the two of us, waiting for the group to begin, neither of us saying boo. Then I figured, what the hell, and I told him I y thought the group was helping me. I did, too. I'd started going out to dinner with friends again. And I was sleeping better. Not great, but better. I asked Tim if he'd been feeling any better. I said I thought Richard was doing a good job, gently directing us toward certain issues, making us see that everything we thought and felt was normal, given the abnormal circumstances we were now stuck with. But Tim didn't share. He listened,“ Scott said. „He really listened. But he just didn't », add anything of his own. I thought he was a really nice man. I mean, I thought he must be a really nice man, attentive, caring. But he wasn't awfully forthcoming. It's hard for some people. That's what Richard kept saying, remember? I guess it was too hard for Tim to talk. Did you ever find out who he lost?“
    „No,“ I said, „he didn't talk to me either.“
    „But you said you were the executor of his will.“
    „Right. It came as a complete surprise to me.“
    „You're kidding. I didn't even know you could do that, make someone the executor without asking.“
    „Don't get any ideas,“ I told him.
    He laughed. „I promise I'll ask you first,“ he said. Then he asked if I'd called Richard. I said I hadn't, but I would. He asked about Dashiell. And he wished me luck.
    I still couldn't reach John and decided to leave a second message. I hadn't called Richard last night. I had both home and office numbers, but I decided to call him at his office and not bother him at home. It wasn't exactly an emergency. He was very effusive when I said my name, then became silent when I told him why I was calling and what little I knew.
    „I was just hoping to get a handle on him, to understand this thing. It bothers the hell out of me that I don't know why, that I don't know what he had in mind, making a decision like this. I don't know if you'd feel free to say, but I was wondering if you ever spoke with him privately, if there's anything at all you could tell me about the man that might make these circumstances...“
    Richard cleared his throat, and for a moment I thought he was going to say, „He must have had his reasons,“ but he didn't. He said, „I hate this. I hate these complete failures. You try your damnedest to reach someone and they won't let you in, so you can't give them the help you know they need.“
    „They said it was an accident,“ I said into the phone.
    „There are no accidents, Rachel. Perhaps he didn't mean to do it consciously, but if he was a cop, he knew how to handle a gun, wouldn't you think?“
    „His mother had just died. I guess he was pretty depressed.“
    „I knew there'd be something. There always is. Poor man. I wish he'd called me.“
    „Had he ever, since the group?“
    There was a silence, Richard weighing