The Groaning Board

she
asked.
    “He admitted it was his voice, but
said he never made those calls. He was in Israel with his wife around the time
Sheila got her call, and when you got the call last night he was in Albany having dinner with the Governor. Didn’t know Sheila and only met you once, in
Veeder’s office. Had no idea of your existence before you made it into the
tabloids.“
    “And you believed him.”
    “Yeah. He was pretty upset. He asked
for a copy of the tape.”
    “A tape can be pieced together with
words and phrases collected from other taped conversations, can’t it?”
    “It can. And if it was, the lab will
be able to pick it up. The judge said he wanted someone to hear it and he’d
call me.”
    It’s that horrible boy. Todd. He
could have poisoned Sheila. And Micklynn. Micklynn hated him. And Jimmy. Are
you going to arrest him?” Oddly enough, she felt the tension leave her body. It
was a relief to know. She looked up at the sliver of the Museum Tower and counted up the floors.
    Silvestri heaved an uncharacteristic
sigh. “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because Todd Cameron’s in Lenox Hill Hospital on life support.”

Chapter Sixty

     
     
     
    “What
happened? Did he o.d.?” She heard her voice rise; several strollers looked over at her.
    Silvestri put a restraining hand on
her arm. “I just came from Lenox Hill. We don’t know anything yet. Mulcahy’s
over at the apartment checking out Todd’s room. That’s where his mother found
him.”
    “Is he going to make it?”
    “They don’t know. There’s not a hell
of a lot of brain activity.”
    “I feel sorry for the parents, but he
did kill two people.
    He must have known you were getting
close and after his father played the tape—”
    “The judge never got to play the
tape. Todd’s girlfriend broke it off with him for some other guy.” He stood up.
“I gotta go. I just wanted you to know you can go home, because I don’t think
there’ll be any more calls like that.”
    “Can I come along and watch?”
    “Nope.” He chucked her under the
chin. “See ya.”
    “Wait a minute, Silvestri. What about
Micklynn? Is it official now? I saw a headline in the Post on the way
over.“
    “Yeah. Poison. Same as Sheila. The
M.E.’s had a tough time with this because here in the City they almost never
see plant poison as a cause and wouldn’t think to look for it. Metzger and I
kept pressing.”
    She watched him leave the garden,
then tried to recapture the sense of peace she’d had when she’d sat down. But
to no avail. It was gone. She rose and took a turn around the garden. As she
passed Calder’s Black Widow, she had the disturbing impression that the
spider sculpture and the enormous shadow it cast were mocking her.
     
    Izz was delighted to see her and even
more delighted to be fed. While the dog slurped her meal, Wetzon checked in
with Bill Veeder.
    “You hired someone to bodyguard me,”
she said when he came on the line.
    She’d caught him by surprise. “How
did you find out?“
    “Spotted him. I was in the sculpture
garden getting an overview of the case from Silvestri and there he was. I knew
I’d seen him before. Silvestri knew him too.”
    “Silvestri. He does manage to stay in
touch.”
    “It was strictly business.”
    “Fine. What did he have to say about
the obscene call?“
    “All roads lead to Todd Cameron.”
Trying to keep her promise to Silvestri, she did not mention that the voice on
the tape was Judge Cameron’s.
    “Jesus. I feel for Doug. Maybe I can
help.”
    “I don’t think you can right now.
Todd seems to have tried to end his life. He’s at Lenox Hill on life support.
Ellen dumped him for someone else.”
    “I’ll stop by the hospital on my way
to Evelyn’s. How do you feel about all this?”
    “Relieved. I think I can move back to
my place.”
    “Not yet, Leslie. I’m just getting
used to having you with me. Don’t make any decisions. We’ll talk about it when
I get home. You still up to going to Hem’s?”
    “Yes. I’m going to walk my pooch,
then take a nap.”
    A half hour later she was lying up to
her neck in luxury in Bill’s huge marble bathtub, a bath pillow supporting her
neck. Steam came from the water in scented clouds. The radio was playing jazz
from the Newark station. Izz sprawled on one of the marble steps overlooking
the tub, head dangling over the water. Every so often, she stuck her snout in
the water and snuffled.
    All the strains of the day floated
from Wetzon. She