Scam

obvious. If the story you got was true. Because the girl and the talent agent were paid off to tell phony stories. That’s the way they’re being hushed up. And if your client isn’t murdered, that’s enough. But once he’s dead, they can link the killer, not to the scam, but to the murder. Which is a brand-new ball game. They can convict him of murder on the one hand, or blackmail the shit out of him on the other. Either way, they gotta go.”
    “And what was the original scam?”
    “We still don’t know. If the story’s true, there was no scam. The guy was not being set up, he was essentially bein’ mugged. Ripped off for his keys. Only thing is, you don’t know if this is a story someone paid the bartender and the boyfriend to tell.”
    “Oh, come on, MacAullif.”
    “That’s so far-fetched? That’s no worse than what I’ve just heard. In fact, it’s better, because if it’s bullshit, maybe the obstruction of justice goes away. I’m not a lawyer. Is it a crime to willfully withhold false information from the police?”
    “I think it would depend on whether you knew at the time it was false.”
    MacAullif made a face. “Count on the dickhead to come up with a definition that dorks him.” He exhaled. “Look, you wanted a spin on the facts and that’s it. I don’t think there’s anything more I could tell you.”
    “What about an autopsy report?”
    “What about it?”
    “You happen to get the time of death?”
    “Yeah, not that it’s gonna do you any good. She’d been dead for too long. Hard to be accurate. She was killed in the neighborhood of when your client got killed. But the parameters are loose enough she could have been killed before, or she could have been killed after. It makes no sense she was killed before, but it’s medically possible. For my money, you can wash it out.”
    “Yeah. Except …”
    “Except what?”
    “What if it’s the other way around? What if someone’s closing up the pipeline, starting from the end? Goes from the girl to the agent to the guy.”
    MacAullif groaned. “Oh, please. What is that, James Bond? Closing up the pipeline? We got enough problems without you going off the deep end.”
    “I wouldn’t reject it out of hand.”
    “Fine, but come up with a theory that makes sense. The one you got there doesn’t fit with these people were bribed to tell a story.”
    “Yeah, well, you said that didn’t have to be true.”
    “Granted. But something has to be true. You throw out everything and start from scratch, well, where do you start? See?”
    “Yeah, I see. So what should I do about these two witnesses?”
    “Are you kidding me? If you have knowledge of any material witnesses in a murder case, you should give the information to the officer in charge. And that’s my official advice on the subject.”
    MacAullif pointed with his cigar. “In the event you should choose not to do that, you should get the fuck out of my office before someone sees you not doing it.”

49.
    I RODE UPTOWN WITH MY head spinning. I was straphanging on the Broadway Number One. That’s a local train making all local stops. And I do mean all. The ride seemed to last forever. Meanwhile, my mind was turning cartwheels.
    Talking to MacAullif had been frustrating. Talking to MacAullif usually was. The guy was so sharp on the one hand, yet so stubborn on the other, that he could be thoroughly exasperating. It seemed like time and again he would take some stupid concept that I knew couldn’t be true, and try to ram it down my throat.
    Like the bartender bit. I knew Sandy wasn’t lying now. What I had was the straight goods. Sandy had lied before, sure, but he had a reason to. That reason made perfect sense. So did the fact he was telling the truth now. It was all perfectly logical, perfectly straightforward. Why the hell did MacAullif have to suggest it wasn’t so?
    Same thing for the boyfriend—was his story false? It sure struck me as the real McCoy. I mean, why should he lie? Unless he was the killer. But why would he be?
    Unless …
    Unless the whole thing was the other way around. Like I said to MacAullif, with the shutting down the pipeline bit.
    Well, never mind the pipeline, but what if the other part was true? The medical report couldn’t tell who died first. So what if it was her? What if the boyfriend killed her, and it was because of that the others had to die?
    In that case, how did I get the gun?
    Wait a minute. Maybe that works. He kills the girl.