Tightrope (Burning Cove #3)(72)

“That bastard,” she said.

Matthias noted that, for the first time that night, there was no dissonance in her voice. Her reaction held the clear ring of truth.

At the sight of the grenades, Brandon took several hasty steps back.

“Be careful with those things, Jones,” he said. “They don’t look like movie props.”

Luther, busy with the costume, glanced at the contents of the box. “They’re real. Not leftovers from the war, though. They look like a whole new generation of explosive devices.”

“That does it,” Brandon announced. “We’ve got all the evidence we need.” He angled his head at the officers standing near Lorraine Pierce. “Cuff her and put her in the car.”

“You idiot,” Lorraine hissed. “Can’t you see he set me up?”

“Who set you up?” Brandon asked.

There was a weary, resigned note in his voice. Matthias knew he had heard similar claims countless times before. He no longer took them seriously.

“Ray Thorpe,” Lorraine said. Her eyes tightened at the corners. “That son of a bitch wasn’t as dumb as I thought. He must have stashed the costume and the grenades here before he . . . Never mind. Can’t you get it through your thick skull, Brandon? Thorpe set me up to take the fall.”

The frequency of her words was pitch-perfect, Matthias realized.

“She’s telling the truth,” he said quietly to Luther. “Or at least what she thinks is the truth. Let me see that robot costume.”

Luther handed him the mask. “Here you go.”

Matthias studied the interior of the mask. The words Property of Silver Horizon Films were stamped inside.

“Listen to me, all of you,” Lorraine said, loud and frantic now. “If I really was this clever gunrunner you keep talking about, I would not be dumb enough to leave this sort of evidence stashed in my own bedroom.”

Luther cocked a brow. “The lady has a point.”

Brandon shrugged. “If she’s a gunrunner, she sells weapons and explosives for a living. Why wouldn’t she keep a couple of grenades handy?”

“And the robot suit?” Matthias asked. He held up the head of the costume. “Why didn’t she get rid of it as soon as she no longer needed it?”

“Maybe because she planned to use it to set up Ray Thorpe,” Brandon said. “Hell, I don’t know. All I care about is that we have a missing cipher machine and we have the individual who had Ares in her possession when she was arrested. That’s all I need. I’m going to turn this crazy case over to the FBI as soon as possible. Robbins, take Miss Pierce downstairs. And keep an eye on her.”

“Yes, sir,” the officer said.

He handcuffed Lorraine and propelled her out of the bedroom.

“You men are all damn fools,” Lorraine shouted over her shoulder.

“This way, Miss Pierce,” Robbins said. “And I’d just like to say that my wife never misses your column in Whispers.”

“I want a lawyer,” Lorraine yelled.

“You can call one from jail,” Brandon said. “Law enforcement here in Burning Cove is real up to date. We’ve got an actual telephone. You have to pay for your own long-distance charges, though.”

Matthias waited until Lorraine and the officers were gone. Then he looked at Brandon.

“I need to make a phone call, too,” he said. He started toward the door. “Luther, do you have Oliver Ward’s private number?”

“Yes.” Luther followed him out the door and down the stairs. “Why do you want to get hold of Ward?”

“Not Ward. His wife. I need to ask Irene a question.”

“At this time of night?”

“Trust me, she won’t want to sleep, not after she gets wind of this story,” Matthias said.

Oliver Ward answered on the second ring.

“Who is this?” he asked in the voice of a man who has been yanked out of a sound sleep.

“Matthias Jones. Sorry to bother you but I have to ask your wife a question. It’s very important.”

“It had better be,” Oliver grumbled. “Hang on.”

A few seconds later Irene came on the line.

“Has there been a break in the killer-robot case?” she asked, enthusiasm erasing any trace of sleep from her voice.

“I can tell you that an arrest has been made,” Matthias said.

“Who?” Irene demanded. “And don’t say it was the robot.”

“Not exactly. Lorraine Pierce. She wore a robot costume onstage to murder Pickwell.”

“This isn’t a joke, is it?”

“No,” Matthias said. “In addition to the arrest, a studio security guy named Ray Thorpe has been murdered and a top secret device has been recovered. The FBI will descend on Burning Cove sometime tomorrow to take charge, but I can arrange things so that they don’t get into town until after the morning edition of the Herald is on the stands.”

“I’ve got a pencil and a notepad. Keep talking.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get the whole story soon, but first I need an answer to a question.”

“I’m listening,” Irene said.

“The local cops just found the robot costume that was used in the murder of Dr. Norman Pickwell. It looks like it came from Silver Horizon Films. It must have been created for a horror movie. There’s a good chance that the aluminum shell stuffed with wiring that Chester Ward and I took apart was made at the same time. Since no one recognized the robot when it shot Pickwell, I’m assuming that the film either failed at the box office or never got released. Is there any way to find out?”