Deja Who (Insighter #1)(64)

“He was there when Leah blew off her mom for the tenth time. At the McMansion.”

“Huh. Doesn’t make sense for an agent to kill his client, though. Much easier to just drop ’em. Like there’s a shortage of B-list actresses in Hollywood?”

“Right. Anyway, he was on a plane to L.A. when Ms. Nazir got iced with Leah’s Emmy.”

“Oh.” A short pause, then: “How d’you know?”

“Leah figured it out, and the cops were gonna follow up. They’ve probably verified by now.” Archer shuddered, recalling the crime scene (the McMansion had never seemed more bleak, or more sinister) and Leah’s white face and tight, clipped voice as she explained how she could have killed It while knowing damned well she didn’t kill It. “Beaten to death with Leah’s Emmy. I didn’t know Leah even had an Emmy. But then, you know. Known her less than a month.”

“Yeah, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy.” At Archer’s stare, Cat shrugged. “Okay, I was a fan. I loved the stuff she did in the nineties. Recognized her straight off when one of her clients chased her through my park.” He was still staring, so she elaborated. “Her eyes are the same. It’s why they always cast her as the smart-ass kid who acts tough but is a big sweetie inside. And don’t worry. Leah knows I was a fan. She decided we’d be pals anyway.”

“Okay, well, when this blows over and Leah’s pregnant with my twins—”

“Whoa!”

“—I’ll need to borrow some of your DVDs.”

“Okay, I can’t think about your weird twins right now, or the fact that you think I have a DVD collection stashed somewhere. So how did you know her agent was in L.A.?”

“Leah’s mom told Leah.”

“Leah’s mom.”

“Uh. Yeah. Problem?”

Cat was walking faster, a frown spreading across her broad face. Archer knew there were two kinds of people in the world: the ones who slow down when they’re thinking hard, and the ones who speed up. Almost jogging, he tried to match her pace. “Told Leah when? Over the phone?”

“Yeah. I was right there; I heard Leah’s whole side of it. Did you know her mom’s ringtone is ‘no wire hangers’? Creepy as shit.”

“So you weren’t at the house. Neither of you. You didn’t actually see the agent not be there.”

Archer was having trouble figuring out the source of her growing alarm. “No, but Cat, it’s like I said, Nellie cleared him, even if she didn’t know she did at the time.”

The mayor shook her head so hard, Archer got sympathy dizziness. “And you believed her? Jesus!”

“Sure I did. Why wouldn’t—hey. Hey!” He grabbed her elbow and planted his feet, though the mayor could move him if she was inclined. The mayor could toss him into a pile of garbage if she was inclined. “Please, stop sprinting and explain this to me. What’s the big deal? Why wouldn’t I believe Nellie? Leah did.”

“Yeah, well, the problem with that is that Leah’s a little too close to the problem.”

“Okay, I appreciate the emphasis on problem, but I’m new to the story, here. You’ve got to give me more,” he begged, “and standing still, please. Me, I go slow when I think, that’s the kind I am.”

“Okay.” She shot him an annoyed look, doubtless wondering at the relevancy of going slow. “The problem is that Nellie Nazir set the standard for unreliable narrator.”

He blinked and absorbed that. “She lied?”

“Unreliable narrator doesn’t necessarily mean lying. She could have believed it herself. Or convinced herself that if it wasn’t true right that minute, it would be true.”

“Okay . . . I have faith you’re gonna get there eventually, so I’m hanging in.”

People streamed around them as they again stood in the middle of a public sidewalk discussing lies and murder. “I think she lied about the agent being out of the house. I think he was right there with her. And I think Leah didn’t catch on at the time because she had plenty of other shit to worry about. Which brings me to the ‘baaaad shit’ part of our program.”

“No, it’s good shit!”

She peered up at him. “I think you’re getting too much sun. It’s bad shit.”

“Cat, don’t you get it?” Archer was so excited he danced the mayor in a little circle, right there outside Burger King. “The cops will check his alibi and know it’s bullshit. They’ll have him!”

“I know. Stop spinning me.” The mayor was growing pale, which was alarming as she normally had a healthy tan from all her time in the park. “They’ll have him. And the thing about that, Archer, is that he knows they’ll have him.”

“Oh.”

“So he knows he’s almost out of time.”

“Oh!”

Without another word, Archer whirled, stepped off the curb, ignored the bus about to kill him, flagged a taxi, then leaped out of the way of the bus about to kill him.

“Cops!” Cat yelled after him, but he didn’t see, didn’t hear, didn’t turn. He was climbing inside the cab, totally focused on getting to Leah. “Cops would be a good thing now!”

The taxi never slowed.