Scam

cold-cocking me right in the chair. But no, after a moment or two he turned and walked around behind the desk.
    “Now, where was I?” Belcher said. “Oh, yeah. The evidence. We were looking at the evidence. The evidence that you killed this Shelly Daniels. Granted, the motive here is not clear. But so far we have only the fairy story you’ve chosen to tell. Who knows what the actual scam was, and how you fit in. The way it plays best, the three of you were in it together, the other two were crossing you so you rubbed them out.” He shrugged. “Too simplistic? Hey, these crimes often are.”
    Belcher picked up a folder from his desk. “Anyway, I pulled some cases for you, just to give you a thrill.”
    “Cases?”
    “Yeah,” Belcher said. He flipped the folder open, took out a paper. “People vs. Parker. John Parker, accused of killing Nancy Fleckstein. Both employees of the same bank. No romantic attachment. Not known to have any personal relationship. Parker clammed up, wouldn’t talk. Case went to trial. No motive proven. Only real evidence against him, fact he was stupid enough to hang on to murder weapon, a bloodstained knife. Convicted of murder, sentenced to twenty-five years to life.”
    Belcher put down the paper, grabbed another. “People vs. Graham. Charlie Graham, accused of killing his neighbor. Again, no motive ever showed, again a conviction in the case.”
    Belcher grabbed another paper. “People vs. Bright. That’s Judy Bright, a hooker killed her john. Why, who knows? To rob him, because he got too rough, because he tried stuff she didn’t like, because she didn’t like his face, your guess is as good as mine. Lady took the fall, and she’s doin’ the time.”
    Belcher flipped the folder down on the desk. “Am I makin’ my point? Am I gettin’ through to you?”
    “I seem to catch the gist.”
    “Do you? Good. Then you can actually go, ’cause I got no reason to hold you. I just wanted to point out why messing around in this case was probably not an aces move.” He held up one finger. “But since you’re here—since you took the time to drop by—I suppose I should show you something to make the trip worthwhile.”
    Belcher picked up another folder, flipped it open. Inside was a stack of eight by tens. He pulled one off the top of the pile, turned it around, held it up for me. “You recognize this?”
    I sure did. It was a picture of the upstairs office where Shelly Daniels’ body had been found.
    I said nothing, sat there, wondering what he was getting at.
    “Not talkin’, eh?” Belcher said. “Well, I’ll tell you. It’s a crime-scene photo. Oh, it’s not one of the crime-scene photos. They’re evidence, I wouldn’t have that. But it’s a copy of it. A duplicate.” He pointed to the stack. “So are these. And they’re pretty good pictures. It’s amazing what they show.”
    Belcher picked up another one, held it up. “For instance, here’s the body. Does that refresh your memory? That’s the woman you’re charged with killing. Here’s a closeup of the wound.” He winced. “Ugly wound. And what have we here? Oh, yes. The woman’s desk. Surely you recognize it. Seems to me you sat there going through several hundred resume photos.”
    Belcher took another photo from the stack. “What’s this? Oh, it’s a closeup on the desk. And why is that? Oh, I see they’ve dusted for fingerprints. And there’s some right there. And what’s this? It’s a closeup of the fingerprint. Taken by the crime scene unit, to see if they get a match. And guess what?” Belcher positively beamed. “They got one.” He pointed. “That fingerprint right there.”
    Belcher spread his hands. “And you know what’s so significant about that? You claim you’ve never been to this woman’s house before. And yet you left your fingerprint at the crime scene, right in the middle of her desk.”

37.
    “I CAN’T BELIEVE HE DID THAT.”
    MacAullif crinkled up his nose. “What are you, a moron? Everything gotta smack you in the face?” He picked up a cigar, waved it as if it were a pointer. “If it looks like a snake, rattles like a snake, has fangs like a snake, and bites like a snake, once in a while you have to consider the possibility it might be a snake.”
    “I’m not disputing the fact he did it. I’m just saying it blows my mind.”
    “A loud fart blows your mind. Let’s not go overboard.”
    “MacAullif—”
    “You had no problem believing he planted the