keys. 'Hang on, honey, I promised Roy and Irma I'd water the plants.' "
"That's not their names. Alfred Gottschalk, that's the lawyer. I forget the wife's name."
" 'I promised Alfred and Whatsername I'd water the plants.' "
"At one in the morning?"
"What's the difference? Maybe he says he wants to borrow a book from the Gottschalks, something he's been wanting to read. Maybe they're both a little giddy from the party and he tells her they'll sneak into the Gottschalk apartment and screw in their bed."
" 'It'll be exciting, honey, like before we were married.' "
"That's the idea. He gets her in there, he kills her, he makes it look like rape, he plants the physical evidence, the sperm and the pubic hairs. Did they find anything under her nails, anything to suggest she scratched anybody?"
"No, but he didn't say anything about her fighting them off. And you had two of them, so one could hold her hands while the other made whoopee."
"Let's get back to the idea of him doing it all by himself. He kills her and fakes the rape. He sets the stage in the Gottschalk apartment, makes it look like the place was burglarized. Did you get the Gottschalks to come up and see what was missing?"
He nodded. "He came up, Alfred. He said his wife's been ill, she's supposed to avoid unnecessary travel. They keep a couple hundred dollars cash in the refrigerator for emergencies, and that was gone. There was some jewelry missing, heirloom stuff, cuff links and rings he'd inherited but doesn't wear. Jewelry of hers, but he couldn't describe it because he didn't know what she'd taken toFlorida and what was in the safe-deposit box. The good stuff was all in the bank or inFlorida, so he didn't expect the loss would amount to much, but he'd have to have Ruth make up a detailed list of what was missing. That's the wife's name, Ruth. I knew it would come to me."
"What about furs?"
"She doesn't own any. She's an animal-rights activist. Not that she'd need a fur coat in the first place, spending six months and a day inFlorida every year."
"Six months and a day?"
"Minimum, so they qualify asFlorida residents for tax purposes. There's no state income tax inFlorida."
"I thought he was retired."
"Well, he still has an income. From investments and so on."
"Anyway, no furs," I said. "Anything bulky? A stereo, a television set?"
"Nothing. There were two TVs, a big rear-projection set in the living room and a smaller model in the back bedroom. They unplugged the bedroom set and moved it into the living room but left it there. The way it reads, they were planning on taking the set and they either forgot it in the excitement or decided not to risk looking suspicious, not with a dead woman in the apartment."
"Assuming they knew she was dead."
"They beat her face in and wrapped her panty hose around her neck. They damn well knew she was in worse shape than before she ran into them."
"So they took some cash and some jewelry."
"That's what it looks like. That's all Gottschalk could come up with. Thing is, Matt, they turned the apartment upside down."
"The lab crew?"
"No, the burglars. They gave it a very thorough toss and made a mess doing it. Every drawer dumped, books off the shelves, that kind of thing. Not like they were searching for a secret stash, no mattresses slashed or cushions cut open, but a very thorough job all the same. I would guess they were looking for cash, and not a couple hundred dollars in the butter-keeper compartment in the refrigerator."
"What did Gottschalk say?"
"What could he say? 'I had a hundred grand in unreported cash and the bastards found it.' He said there wasn't anything really valuable in the apartment, except for some artwork, and they never touched that. He had some framed prints, signed and numbered stuff, Matisse and Chagall and I forget what else, and he had a floater policy covering them. I think the value of all the art came to something like eighty grand. The thieves took some of the stuff off the wall,
"That's not their names. Alfred Gottschalk, that's the lawyer. I forget the wife's name."
" 'I promised Alfred and Whatsername I'd water the plants.' "
"At one in the morning?"
"What's the difference? Maybe he says he wants to borrow a book from the Gottschalks, something he's been wanting to read. Maybe they're both a little giddy from the party and he tells her they'll sneak into the Gottschalk apartment and screw in their bed."
" 'It'll be exciting, honey, like before we were married.' "
"That's the idea. He gets her in there, he kills her, he makes it look like rape, he plants the physical evidence, the sperm and the pubic hairs. Did they find anything under her nails, anything to suggest she scratched anybody?"
"No, but he didn't say anything about her fighting them off. And you had two of them, so one could hold her hands while the other made whoopee."
"Let's get back to the idea of him doing it all by himself. He kills her and fakes the rape. He sets the stage in the Gottschalk apartment, makes it look like the place was burglarized. Did you get the Gottschalks to come up and see what was missing?"
He nodded. "He came up, Alfred. He said his wife's been ill, she's supposed to avoid unnecessary travel. They keep a couple hundred dollars cash in the refrigerator for emergencies, and that was gone. There was some jewelry missing, heirloom stuff, cuff links and rings he'd inherited but doesn't wear. Jewelry of hers, but he couldn't describe it because he didn't know what she'd taken toFlorida and what was in the safe-deposit box. The good stuff was all in the bank or inFlorida, so he didn't expect the loss would amount to much, but he'd have to have Ruth make up a detailed list of what was missing. That's the wife's name, Ruth. I knew it would come to me."
"What about furs?"
"She doesn't own any. She's an animal-rights activist. Not that she'd need a fur coat in the first place, spending six months and a day inFlorida every year."
"Six months and a day?"
"Minimum, so they qualify asFlorida residents for tax purposes. There's no state income tax inFlorida."
"I thought he was retired."
"Well, he still has an income. From investments and so on."
"Anyway, no furs," I said. "Anything bulky? A stereo, a television set?"
"Nothing. There were two TVs, a big rear-projection set in the living room and a smaller model in the back bedroom. They unplugged the bedroom set and moved it into the living room but left it there. The way it reads, they were planning on taking the set and they either forgot it in the excitement or decided not to risk looking suspicious, not with a dead woman in the apartment."
"Assuming they knew she was dead."
"They beat her face in and wrapped her panty hose around her neck. They damn well knew she was in worse shape than before she ran into them."
"So they took some cash and some jewelry."
"That's what it looks like. That's all Gottschalk could come up with. Thing is, Matt, they turned the apartment upside down."
"The lab crew?"
"No, the burglars. They gave it a very thorough toss and made a mess doing it. Every drawer dumped, books off the shelves, that kind of thing. Not like they were searching for a secret stash, no mattresses slashed or cushions cut open, but a very thorough job all the same. I would guess they were looking for cash, and not a couple hundred dollars in the butter-keeper compartment in the refrigerator."
"What did Gottschalk say?"
"What could he say? 'I had a hundred grand in unreported cash and the bastards found it.' He said there wasn't anything really valuable in the apartment, except for some artwork, and they never touched that. He had some framed prints, signed and numbered stuff, Matisse and Chagall and I forget what else, and he had a floater policy covering them. I think the value of all the art came to something like eighty grand. The thieves took some of the stuff off the wall,
Similar Books
Go In and Sink!
Douglas Reeman
Keegan 00 Soft Case
John Misak
The Templar Prophecy
Mario Reading
Tracie Peterson
Forever Yours-1
Chantress
Amy Butler Greenfield
One Bird's Choice
Iain Reid
Shift Happens (A Carus Novel Book 1)
J. C. McKenzie
Danger in a Red Dress
Christina Dodd
The Tattoo
Chris Mckinney
The Calling
Barbara Steiner