Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(60)

He texted Andrews and told him about Roe’s email.

Andrews texted back that neither Davidson’s Mercedes nor Tyler’s BMW had accessed the gate on the night of the murders.

Well, that made sense if Barry had hired someone to do the deed.

He called White in her room and filled her in.

“She never hired Gamma? So how did she and Draymont hook up?” she asked.

“Let’s head back over to Cummins’s house. Got some things to check.”

*



They cleared security and drove to the judge’s house.

Decker had a key for the police lock that had been placed on the front door. They entered and White said, “What do you want to look at again?”

“Everything.” He leaned against the wall of the foyer. “Now we know Draymont wasn’t officially guarding the judge. He was here on his own dime.”

“Then why did they stonewall us at that meeting then? They could have just told us that in the first place.”

“Roe might not have known that Cummins hadn’t hired them. And if she did know she was probably wondering what the hell Draymont was doing at Cummins’s home. She probably didn’t want to commit one way or another until she saw how things played out because it could adversely affect her company.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense. She’s a sharp lady.”

“In Roe’s email, she said his work records showed that Draymont had been taking some time off, but he’d also been doing some daytime assignments in Fort Myers.”

“So presumably he might stay overnight with Cummins when they were together? He was there late that night.”

“Possibly. Roe didn’t mention Draymont requesting a hotel room or anything like that as a business expense. There are probably official channels at Gamma you have to go through for that. And if he had required housing they would have just used someone from the Naples office to cover the assignment in Fort Myers.”

“But Trevor Perlman said the judge asked him about Gamma. He took that to mean she was looking for security.”

“That’s right. And at their lunch she told Tyler that she was having security protection. He told his dad about it. Barry texted the judge to ask her about it but she never got back to him.”

“So, she lied to everybody?”

“Maybe she didn’t want Barry to know she had a new boyfriend, so she made up the story about needing protection and told Tyler, knowing that he would tell his dad.”

“Well, apparently everyone knew she was dating Dennis Langley.”

“We don’t know that for sure. Maya Perlman just knew there was someone but didn’t have a name. Doris Kline, maybe her closest friend, knew his name, but Julia swore her to secrecy. And he never came to her house, at least by his own admission. And if he’s to be believed, they only had sex at Langley’s house, and once went all the way to Miami to do it.”

“But who would care about her having sex with either Draymont or Langley?”

“Her ex-husband, for one. And, despite what he said, Langley might have a problem with getting dumped and then replaced by Draymont. And we have to check his alibi with his new girlfriend, though she might have a motive to lie for him.”

“They picked up his gun and did the ballistics. It wasn’t a match for the weapon that killed Draymont.”

“I know. Andrews texted me. But Langley might have more than one gun. And if he did kill Draymont, no way he gives us that gun. The murder weapon might be in the ocean.”

“Langley said he thought she was afraid of something or someone, Decker.”

“That’s if Langley was telling the truth. If she was really afraid, why not hire protection? Which she didn’t. But, as I said before, I think she was afraid of someone, too.”

“But you think whoever killed Draymont didn’t kill the judge. So, at least with your theory, those crimes aren’t connected.”

“Not connected at one level, but maybe at another.”

“Damn, Decker, you’re making this really complicated.”

“If it is complicated, then I’m just laying it out accurately. Let’s go to the bedroom first.”

They headed up the stairs and looked around.

Decker leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Something was bugging the crap out of him. And then, as he draped, one over another, the layers of conversations they’d had with third parties, along with facts uncovered, a startling inconsistency occurred to him.

Thank you, superpower.

He opened his eyes. “We went to Gamma after Draymont was killed. We wanted to know why Draymont was here. We assumed he was guarding the judge, right?”

“Right,” replied White.

“They told us they couldn’t reveal anything pending a review by their counsel. But we pushed it.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So they brought in Alice Lancer to talk to us about the matter.”

“But she fainted dead away and then got taken from the hospital by two fake cops.”

Decker nodded. “But now we know that the judge never contracted with Gamma or even made an inquiry about hiring them. So why did they bring Lancer in to talk to us about something that never happened? What could Lancer possibly tell us?”

White looked confused. “I…she…Damn, that doesn’t make sense.”