Secret Prey

questions.’’ ‘‘You should,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘If Mrs. McDonald doesn’t cooperate, well, Mr. Glass . . . you know how it looks. I mean, if a person has ambitions to resume her life in society.’’
    ‘‘What?’’ Audrey McDonald looked dazed, swinging her face from Glass to Lucas. ‘‘Resume my life?’’
    ‘‘That’s a lot of horse pucky, Lucas,’’ Glass said. To Audrey McDonald: ‘‘Ignore him.’’
    ‘‘At your own risk,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘You know how people talk.’’
    ‘‘People,’’ she said.
    Lucas added, ‘‘We will be executing a search warrant at the McDonald home this morning, looking for more evidence But we already have substantial support for the idea that Wilson McDonald killed all three of them. And we will want to understand what your role was in the killings . . . if you had one.’’
    ‘‘You can’t . . .’’
    ‘‘Mrs. McDonald,’’ Lucas said, suddenly going soft. ‘‘I mentioned this the other night. I recognize your voice.’’
    ‘‘What?’’ As though she hadn’t heard him correctly. And Glass peered at her, a frown on his face.
    ‘‘You’ve called me,’’ he said. ‘‘You knew your husband was killing people.’’
    ‘‘That’s utterly—’’ She groped for a word other than ‘‘ridiculous,’’ but couldn’t find one. ‘‘—ridiculous.’’
    ‘‘What are you doing, Lucas?’’ Glass asked.
    And Audrey seemed so genuinely nonplussed that Lucas, puzzled—why would she deny it now? Having helped stop him could only be to her credit, now, and he wasn’t around to strike back—backed away, and tried again. ‘‘Mrs. McDonald, how often did you visit the Kresge cabin?’’
    ‘‘Why, why . . .’’ She struggled to think. ‘‘It’s so hard to think with these things they are putting into me.’’
    ‘‘You don’t have to answer these questions,’’ Glass said. ‘‘And I would recommend that you don’t.’’
    ‘‘You suggest that she not tell me how often she went to Kresge’s? Why wouldn’t she tell me that?’’ Lucas asked.
    ‘‘Because you might try to make your pig’s ear into a silk purse, and there’s no reason to help you do that,’’ Glass said.
    ‘‘Maybe six times,’’ she said.
    ‘‘Mrs. McDonald, you don’t have to answer,’’ Glass said. ‘‘In fact, I’m telling you: Keep quiet. Lucas—Chief Davenport—if you have any more questions about Mr. McDonald, ask me first. I may advise Mrs. McDonald to answer them. But she won’t answer any more questions about herself.’’ Glass looked at the stenographer. ‘‘Could you read that back to me?’’
    ‘‘Sure, just a minute.’’
    ‘‘No need to,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘We got it, and I’m outa here. We’ll be checking the McDonald house. And we may be back with more questions.’’ He looked straight into Audrey McDonald’s eyes, held them for a second, then turned and walked out.
    GLASS CAUGHT LUCAS IN THE HALLWAY. ‘‘WHAT THE hell was that all about?’’
    Lucas shrugged. ‘‘Bumping her along a little.’’
    ‘‘Well, Jesus . . .’’ Glass scratched his head. ‘‘You don’t think she had anything to do with these things, do you? The killings? That old lady?’’
    ‘‘What do you think, counselor?’’
    ‘‘Don’t counselor me, butthead. This is J. B. fuckin’ Glass you’re talking to. What I want to know is, do I have to start thinking about a defense? Or were you just blowing smoke?’’
    ‘‘Mostly smoke,’’ Lucas admitted.
    ‘‘All right,’’ Glass said. ‘‘How you been?’’
    ‘‘Not too bad . . . You heard about Weather?’’
    ‘‘Yeah, the bomb. Jesus. What do you think, a crazy?’’ Glass asked.
    ‘‘We don’t know. We’ve got no theory.’’
    ‘‘Shoot. Well, keep your ass down,’’ Glass said, and slapped Lucas on the arm before he started back to Mc-Donald’s room.
    ‘‘Hey, J. B.—how old do you think your client is, anyway?’’
    Glass spread his hands. ‘‘I never asked. Fifty . . . two?’’
    ‘‘She’s thirty-eight,’’ Lucas said.
    Glass looked at McDonald’s room, then said with a hushed voice, ‘‘No way.’’
    ‘‘She’s got some hard miles on her, J. B. And she might not be quite what she looks like.’’

TWENTY

    LUCAS WAS SITTING IN MCDONALD’S STUDY, FLIPPING through a batch of American Express statements that went back, apparently, forever. Both Wilson and Audrey Mc-Donald were Platinum Card