Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(112)

“What?”

Decker pointed to the crucifix over the doorway into the room, and a set of rosaries lying on a credenza next to a bible.

“Yes. He was a devout Catholic. That’s how I was raised.”

“And when people are dying, someone like a devout Catholic harboring a guilty secret, what might they do?”

Roe walked over to the credenza, picked up the rosaries, and began fingering them. “They would confess their sins for absolution of their soul in the eyes of God, so they could be forgiven and go to Heaven.”

“And if your father went further, and told others who were also involved in that secret that that was his intent? To make his secret public, and not just confess it to a priest in private?”

Roe walked over and sat back down.

“So you think those people killed him to prevent him from confessing his guilt, and theirs?”

“It’s certainly one plausible theory.”

Finally breaking down, Kasimira Roe put her face in her hands and started to weep.





Chapter 84



AFTER THEY LEFT ROE’S CONDO, White received another email.

“It’s from Deidre Fellows.” She read over it. “She said she believes that the photo I sent of Wanda Monroe is the woman she saw back in 1981.”

“Okay, so she was a prostitute and she was in Mason Tanner’s hotel suite when she died. We just don’t know how she died.”

“Fellows didn’t see any blood. But Monroe could have been strangled.”

They got into the car and drove away.

“And what about Roe?” asked White.

“She seemed stunned by her father’s secret.”

“Nice call on the Catholic piece.”

“End-of-life guilt can be immense,” noted Decker.

“You really think Kanak Roe was killed by the people he worked with all those years ago to cover up Tanner’s having a dead prostitute in his bed?”

“It certainly fits the facts as we know them.”

“What about Tanner? I know he has Alzheimer’s now, but what about three years ago?”

“No, he’s been incapacitated for at least the last five years.”

“So we have to find the guy in the room with Kanak. If he’s still alive. We should get a description from Fellows.”

“The other thing is, whoever killed Draymont and Lancer might have tried to implicate other people. Barry Davidson, by using his gun, and Kasimira Roe, by buying the Slovakian currency with her credit card.”

“Well, if they really wanted to implicate someone successfully they should have picked one and stuck with it.”

“I think I might know one reason why they didn’t.”

“What?” asked White.

“Let me think about it some more. But let’s see if we can find that man.”

*



“You son of a bitch!”

Decker and White had just walked into the lobby of their hotel when Dennis Langley jumped up from a chair and confronted them.

“Excuse me?” said Decker.

“Don’t play bullshit games with me,” said Langley. “I’m going to sue you for theft and defamation and anything else I can think of. Your fat ass is going to jail.”

“Well, maybe we’ll be cellmates then.”

Langley looked taken aback by this. “What do you mean? I’ve broken no laws.”

“Really? So you won’t have a problem with the authorities checking into your business and financial dealings? And I would imagine a full accounting of any funds you hold for clients would probably be a good thing, because a man with a gambling problem doesn’t tend to care where he gets his money from to pay off who he owes. And you have to pay them off, because Vegas casinos can get really nasty if you don’t. I’ll contact the necessary organizations and get that inquiry into your finances rolling.”

Langley’s hand balled to a fist.

White stepped between the two men. “Don’t even think about it. Assaulting a Fed gets you a minimum of five years in the pen.”

“You think you’ve really got me, don’t you?” barked Langley as he looked over White at Decker.

“I think you really don’t have Gloria Chase and her money anymore and you needed to take it out on somebody and I’m it. But your being here saved me a trip to see you. When your marriage play with Judge Cummins didn’t pan out because she saw right through you, was that motive enough to kill her?”

“I have an alibi.”

“Not anymore you don’t. Chase recanted.”

Langley glanced nervously at White. “I didn’t kill Julia.”

“I’ve yet to meet a murderer who openly confessed to killing anyone,” replied Decker.

“Why would I kill her? I had Gloria.”

“With some people it’s not about money. It’s about ego. How is your ego? Strong enough to handle rejection like that? Or should Chase hire security to protect her now? From you?”

Langley took a step back. “You’re an asshole.”

“Well, it usually takes one to know one. And I definitely know you. And if you didn’t kill her, why did you work so hard to have Gloria as an alibi that night? You went to the liquor store, sure, we confirmed that. But where else did you go?”