Scam
that right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“He gives you a song and dance about messin’ around the crime scene. Then he slaps you with the fingerprint evidence, tells you if you keep messin’ in the case, that’s what you’re gonna get.”
“That helps me?”
“It tells you one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s not like he said. That he mocked up fingerprint evidence against you because you were messin’ with the crime scene. If he had it with him, he faked the damn thing long before you went to call on those people.”
“I know that. So?”
“So, it’s not just cause and effect. These guys are out to frame you from the word go.”
“MacAullif. You’re not making my day.”
“Maybe not, but it helps to have the danger defined. If it looks like a snake, you might as well know if it is a snake.”
“It’s a snake, MacAullif. Jesus, can you drop out of your lecture mode long enough to help me out here?”
“Advice? You’re tellin’ me you want advice?”
“I want anything I can get. Frankly, I’m very close to a nervous breakdown and I’m not thinking as clear as I should.”
“Yeah, but for you that’s normal.” MacAullif put up his hand. “Okay, okay. Sorry about that, but the first advice I could give you is, lighten up. It’s not like the charge is gonna stick. These guys are trying to hassle you, that’s all.”
“They’re doing a good job.”
“I know. And you wanna fight back, which is natural. The problem is, you can’t do it. That’s what I keep tellin’ you, and that’s why you’re goin’ nuts. You gotta let go of it. You gotta say, this is something I can’t deal with, I gotta find something I can.”
“Like what?”
“The crime. It’s like what I was sayin’ to you before. Belcher says, in effect, You mess around at the crime scene, I’ll frame you with the fingerprints. But that’s not the case. He’s framin’ you anyway, no matter what you do. So you don’t worry about that. You wanna investigate, go ahead and investigate.”
“It’s not just that. He also said he’d use the fact I was messing around to get my bail revoked.”
“He can’t do it,” MacAullif said. “He’s got no clout with the judge. Best he can do is put a bug in some ADA’s ear. Between you and me, there aren’t that many be inclined to listen. No, you wanna investigate, you investigate.”
“Investigate what, though? What more can I do?”
MacAullif made a face. “Jesus. You want me to do all your work for you? Some detective. I’m not even involved, and I know more than you.”
“I told you I’m not thinking straight.”
“You’re not thinkin’ at all. You’re wallowing in self-pity, and bitchin’ about bein’ framed.”
“On account of you,” I said. “I’m being set up and framed on account of a cop hates you.”
“So, I owe you,” MacAullif said. He shook his head. “It seems like I always owe you. Don’t it? Okay, let’s take a look at the case.”
“How much do you know?”
“About as much as you do. Which isn’t a whole hell of a lot. Which tells me one thing. You gotta go way back to the beginning and ask yourself why.”
“Why what?”
“Exactly. Why anything? You got a guy comes to you, tells you he’s bein’ set up. Asks you to find out who did it. When you do, the evidence points to the fact he did it himself. Unfortunately, you cannot question him on this because he is dead. Ditto the woman he set the thing up with. The question arises, did this thing happen at all? Apparently so, because it is confirmed by the bartender, who states that your client was in the bar drinking with this girl. The girl herself confirms this, but her story is suspect. Why? Because when she told it, the principals were alive. Is that right?”
“Yes, it is.”
MacAullif nodded, pursed his lips. “One wonders what she might say now that they’re dead.”
38.
Y OU WANNA FEEL REALLY STUPID some time, try ringing people’s doorbells lookin’ for a girl with big tits. That’s not exactly how I phrased it, but that’s what I was doing, and it didn’t feel good. Particularly since I had it in the back of my mind that not finding a girl with big tits was likely to get me convicted of murder.
However, having failed to find the girl’s resume photo, I had just one lead. Well, actually two. No, I don’t mean her tits. Not exactly.
One lead was the topless bar. Which was a washout. The girl had been hired through the agent, she was
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