Scam

eventually the cops would find it. If they hadn’t, I guess they would have got an anonymous tip.
    “They found it just fine. In fact, it couldn’t have been better. Because where should they find it, but at the talent agent’s house.”
    I stopped, shook my head. “Which is what screwed me up from the start. I knew the gun had been planted. I just didn’t know by who. With my car being out at the crime scene, I figured it was planted there. Which is one of the reasons it has taken me so long to get to you.”
    “Uh-huh,” she said. “You got a real nice story there. But that’s all it is. A story. It’s all theories. You haven’t got one fact. There’s not a single thing you can prove.”
    “I don’t think you’ve been paying attention,” I said. “Which is understandable. There’s been a lot of information you’ve had to assimilate very fast. You remember the proxies? The forged proxies? Well, that can be proven. A handwriting expert can prove that just fine. He can prove that they’re forged. And he can prove that it’s your forgery. There’s no way to get away from that.”
    “So what? What if I did? You said it yourself, that’s corporate crime. Nobody gives a damn.”
    “Like I say, you’re a little slow on the uptake. It’s understandable, but make the effort. Cranston Pritchert was killed in the office. He surprised the forger, and the forger killed him. If you’re the forger, it’s not good. That is not the part in which one would wish to be cast.”
    I could see her eyes moving, calculating. “Who knows this?” she said.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “You say this is your theory. I’m wondering who you’ve told.”
    “And now I’m wondering why you’re wondering. I know you’ve gotten rid of your gun, but you just might have another. Just as a point of information, were you thinking of killing me or bribing me?”
    She stared at me. “God, you’re weird.”
    “Thank you. I’ll consider the source.”
    “Huh?”
    “But as I was saying, I don’t know how much this company is worth. And I don’t know how much it’s worth to you to remain the chairman of the board.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You mean for keeping quiet about the proxies?”
    “That’s the only way you’re going to remain chairman.”
    She looked at me a moment, then said, “Wait a minute. Who you trying to kid? There’s not just money involved. You shut up about the proxies, maybe, but, what, you’re gonna shut up about the gun? You’d take money to take the fall? You can’t have one without the other. You either shut up or you talk.”
    “You’re telling me we have no deal?”
    “Deal? How could we have a deal? Look, could you give me a moment? I gotta think this over.”
    “I would very much prefer it if you didn’t leave this room.”
    “Huh?”
    “You might come back with a gun.”
    “Oh, sure. I’m gonna shoot you in my living room.”
    “Actually, it would be your safest move. And having killed three people, the fourth couldn’t be that hard. Plus, this one you could acknowledge. It would be a piece of cake. After all, I’m the murder suspect. I barged into your house and you had to shoot me dead. It wasn’t murder, it was self-defense. You were in fear for your life. Hell, if you play your cards right, you’ll wind up a hero.”
    “Why are you telling me this?”
    “Because I’m tired of not knowing which end’s up. I figure if you’re gonna shoot me, you’re gonna shoot me. I also figure if you got a gun, it’s in the other room. If you go to get it, I’m out that door. Even if you should catch me, it’s hard to claim self-defense when you shoot someone who’s running away.”
    I spread my arms. “So, we seem to have a bit of a stalemate here. I suggest we work something out.”
    “What do you propose?”
    “Believe it or not, I’d like to get off the hook for murder. The problem is, how to do that without getting you on it.”
    “You have any ideas on that?”
    “Actually, I don’t. You’re like Rome. Every solution leads to you.”
    “How about whoever tipped you off?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You come in here and you know all this—about the bonuses and drugging the drink. So, whoever it was, they’re involved, and that’s someone we could frame.”
    “Frame?”
    “Or someone you could claim framed you. Come on. That’s the basic question. If you didn’t do it and I didn’t do it, who did?”
    “If I tell you who, do you promise not to