Failure is Fatal Read online

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  “Ouch!” I withdrew my foot from Dr. McDonald’s hand. “Don’t you have other people to see, to torment, to X-ray, to bother?” He shook his head, sighed and picked up my chart, making marks on it with his pen.

  “All this snow will probably keep people off the roads until they’re cleared, so I’ve got some time to attend to your foot. Don’t worry. I won’t even ask what you were doing wandering around College Camp today. Are you out of your mind? This foot needs time to heal.”

  “Don’t get your stethoscope in an uproar. I was on police business. It was an emergency. You don’t really think I like hobbling around out there in the snow and cold, do you?”

  “I would be the last person to say what you do or don’t like.”

  “Attaboy, doc. Give her what for.” Der stuck his head through the opening in the curtain surrounding the examining table.

  “Don’t start.” I waggled my finger at him.

  Earlier, I had delivered David into the hands of the emergency room personnel, and Der and his men had gone to the camp to find David.

  “Not that I really care, but is the jerk alive?” I said to Der when he entered the examining room. Well, I did sort of care, if only so that Adam might spend years behind bars paying for his many crimes.

  “Yeah. We’re just bringing him in here now. Looks like a pretty badly broken leg. We almost didn’t find him in all that snow.”

  “Too bad.”

  “Look at this,” Der said. He threw a heavy wad of something onto the examining table beside me.

  “Keys,” I said. “A key ring with more keys than I’ve ever seen in one place at a time. And all so nicely labeled. ‘M’s lab, M’s office, Campus Security basement, Chancey’s office,’ and on and on. ‘Pres office?’ You’re kidding me. Where did you get these?”

  “We searched the cottage at College Camp. We found Adam’s backpack.”

  “He’ll say it was David’s.”

  “Adam’s story that David killed Marie just won’t hold together. All the events surrounding the murder, the story of the killing in your research, the entry into your lab, the attempt to run you down, the murder description planted on Chancey’s computer, only Adam was around to do all that. David wasn’t. And Adam certainly had more opportunity than David did to take all these keys or have duplicates made of those he might have legitimately ‘borrowed.’ The keys afforded him access to everyplace he wanted to enter.”

  “We’ll see how this comes down. It’s going to tear that family apart, that’s for sure,” I said.

  “Are you going to wait around until David comes out of surgery?”

  I nodded yes and then said, “Meantime, do you think I could have a few words with Adam after they set his leg and take him up to a room?”

  “He was conscious when we found him so I read him his rights and arrested him. He’s in custody now. I’m setting up a guard outside his door when they get finished setting that leg. I’m sure he’ll want to call his father’s lawyer as soon as he can, and I doubt whether he’ll be interested in talking to any of us, but maybe you can charm him into a confession, Murphy. Save the people of New York the trouble of a long, drawn-out trial.” Der chuckled and helped me to my feet. “Come on. Let’s see how our murderer is doing.”

  We poked our heads around the curtained-off area where Dr. McDonald was working on Adam’s leg.

  “This had better be perfect or you’ll hear from my lawyer.” Adam delivered the warning to McDonald with his usual arrogance. “And you, Dr. Murphy. I’m suing you. You left me out there to die, to freeze to death.” He rose from the table on one elbow and pointed his finger accusingly at me.

  “You’ll have to wait in line,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve already got one lawsuit against me pending. Your old fraternity advisor thinks I attacked him in the Senate meeting the other day. Maybe the two of you could file a joint suit. Could save money, you know.”

  “I don’t care about the money. I want justice.” Some of the self-importance left his voice, and he slumped back onto the table with a groan as McDonald worked on his leg. I was kind of hoping he’d faint in front of all of us, but he held on, although his color wasn’t good.

  “Good,” I said. “That’s what I want too. Justice. For Marie.” With that, I turned on my heel and made as adroit an exit from his room as a woman on crutches can manage.

  “I thought you had something to ask him,” Der said.

  “I’ve got a million questions for him, as I’m sure you do also. But right now I can’t stand the sight of him. I want to go home and hug my dog,” I said, and continued my hike down the hall toward the emergency room desk to pick up my coat and car keys. I felt a little like a deserter for not staying to talk with David when he came out of surgery, but I was just too tired to cope with anyone just now.

  “Need any help getting home?” said Der.

  “Nope. The horse knows the way.” I gestured toward my SUV in the parking lot outside.

  “By the way, Murphy,” Der said as he followed me through the emergency room doors, “I’m sorry for all the trouble I gave you yesterday on the phone and today. I guess I was just strung out about the case, that’s all.”

  “No apology needed. And that’s not why you gave me trouble. You did it because I’m so”—I searched for the appropriate word—“difficult.”

  We stood side by side on the hospital steps, looking into the fading light as night descended on the valley. The snow had stopped, and the air was cold and crisp. A few stars made their appearance in the darkening sky.

  “Snow’s over for now, but I’d bet it’ll keep snowing right up through Christmas. It’s got a good start already.”

  “Yeah.” Christmas. Could I make it through until Christmas, until Guy and I could settle our differences one way or the other?

  “Drive carefully. The deer will be out tonight.” Der turned back toward the hospital.

  I would. I would drive very carefully. A deer saved my life. I owed it to them to spare theirs.

  Chapter 28

  “I can’t imagine why you want to drive all the way up here to go to a Wal-Mart when there’s one right in our own back yard. They’re all the same. How different do you think the after-Christmas sales will be here than back home?” Annie shook her dark curls in confusion as we pulled into the parking lot of the Super Center south of Syracuse. She had arrived from Sicily a few days before Christmas, back from her sabbatical, tired but enthusiastic about the work she accomplished while there. After small, sun-washed villages propped on the Mediterranean coast, their white walls contrasted against the bright blue of the sea, she would find the cold and gray of the river valley depressing. She assured me that she was happy to be back, but the contrast in the weather was more than anyone could handle. I was prepared to give her something else to think about, and, perhaps, a good laugh in the process.

  We passed time together catching up on the months apart and talking about her work. I said little about the murder of Marie Becca and the part I played in the search for her killer, but Annie was no fool. She knew that I helped stir this stew pot and was waiting for me to volunteer information. Annie is a patient woman, probably the reason she is my best friend. She possesses personality traits I do not, but wish I did. She also was kind enough not to mention Guy’s absence during the Christmas holidays, nor to press for an explanation.

  On the way to Syracuse I told Annie the entire story about Marie’s murder and my role in helping to bring Adam Stokes to justice. She listened carefully without comment until I finished.

  “I wish I had been here.” She had a wistful note in her voice.

  “You do not. You might have gotten hurt or worse.”

  “I might have helped, and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” She glanced pointedly at the crutches in the back seat of my car.

  “Hhhmmph. Anyway, you can help now. We’re here at this Wal-Mart to tie up loose ends, as it were. On
e of our former suspects is purported to be employed here.”

  “Former suspect? So why worry about it now?”

  “There’s justice that the courts mete out. Then there’s justice in a larger sense,” I said, and offered no more in the way of an explanation. I knew these comments would only pique her curiosity.

  After circling the lines of cars for ten minutes, I found a place to park near the rear of the lot. If I was careful, I wouldn’t need my crutches. Annie slowed her pace as we pushed through the bargain hunters hauling treasures off to their cars.

  I spotted him the minute we came through the doors. He was standing at one of the checkout lines, scanning items and placing them in bags. I grabbed something off a nearby shelf and took my place in line.

  “That’s him, right?” She peered around my arm at the clerk.

  We were next in line, and I placed the item on the belt. Finally, he looked up. I smiled. It was not returned.

  “Well, well, we wondered where you had gotten to. Even your family, particularly your ‘dear’ brother, seems to be in doubt about where you went. My friend and I thought we’d just take a little road trip and follow up on a tip that you found your employment niche. Hi there, Lionel. How’s the old career ladder? Find something you’re truly meant for?” I continued to smile at him, trying hard not to erupt in outright laugher. We were slowing down the line, and I sensed restlessness from my fellow shoppers. And I guess my smiling face attracted the attention of the clerk doing checkouts next to Lionel.

  “Who’s she?” said the clerk, her bleached blonde hair falling in a large teased wave over her right eye. She blew a stream of air out the side of her mouth and upward in an attempt to move the hair out of her eyes, but it only resulted in the entire mass rising suddenly and plopping back down to once more obscure her vision. “Lionel?” She put one hand on her boney hip and popped her gum.

  “Oh, dear, dear Lionel,” I spoke so that she could hear. “I finally found you. We were all just worried sick. And the kids missed you at Christmas. Your mama and papa want you to come on back home. And so do I. Whatever you did, we’re behind you.”

  “Lionel?” This time she gave it more demand than curiosity.

  “Oh, dear.” I turned toward her. “I just hope he hasn’t promised you anything. Last time he had one of these episodes where he runs off and can’t remember anything, he tried to marry some woman, a nice young thing, looked just like you. Don’t think that didn’t pop mama’s cork. Even though she forgives Lionel his behavior in these states, she still finds it hard to understand that it’s his brain workin’ funny that makes him do this. One time he did end up in jail, you know. Moved in with some unsuspecting woman in Buffalo. Yup, moved in with her and stole all her money.” I turned back toward Lionel who was merely standing there with his mouth wide open. It did my heart good to see him so moved by my performance that he was speechless. I don’t know what possessed me to say what I did. It just fell out of my mouth.

  “Lionel!” Now she was shouting his name. I don’t think she cared one bit what he had to say for himself. She seemed like a woman who liked action and would take it sooner rather than later. She reached for her microphone. “Security to checkout counter three,” she said.

  “This woman isn’t my wife.” His excuse was lamely offered, beginning what was certain to be a useless explanation.

  “You didn’t even marry her, and you have children?” she said to him.

  I nodded in agreement, hanging my head in sorrow at how cruel the man I loved could be. I then snapped up my chin and said, “I don’t care. I love him anyway. And I love all our children. I didn’t get a chance to tell you before you lit out, but there’s another one on the way, honey.”

  The clerk eyed my stomach, then looked closely at my face. “Aren’t you a little old to be having another kid?”

  “It’s true. I am, but Lionel doesn’t believe in birth control, so there you have it. And he’s so hard to say no to.”

  “Yeah, I know,” she said. By now she was snapping her gum so hard that I thought her jaw would become dislocated. Pepto-Bismol pink press-on nails tapped angrily on the receiver of the loud speaker system as if she was about to put in another call for security. What she had in mind, I had no idea, but whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good for ole Li. Patrons in line behind us and in her line seemed to find the interchange interesting, but not enough that they weren’t beginning to resent a domestic squabble holding up their after-Christmas sale spirit.

  A short man with heavy sideburns sprouting out the side of his red hunter’s cap slammed his fist on the conveyor belt behind me. “Hey,” he shouted to Lionel, “what kind of a sorry SOB are you that you weren’t home for Christmas with your kids? You ain’t checking me out!” He grabbed his load of half-price Christmas decorations off the belt, threw them back into his cart, and pushed off to another line. Other shoppers seemed to be in agreement as the line thinned behind me, people driving their carts off to other checkout stations.

  Lionel stood motionless at his register, unable to seize control of what he might have told himself was the simplest of worlds he could create. Or perhaps he just didn’t care to save what he settled for.

  “I don’t want to be any trouble. I’ll just leave. Just come home after your shift, honey.” I touched Lionel on the sleeve and waved to the gum-snapping clerk.

  “You take care now. I’ll see he gets home. I got a brother can pick him up and drop him right at your door,” she said to me. “Ain’t that right, Lionel? You met Bobby, now, haven’t you? He’s a family man. Got kids, just like you, and he don’t like men who don’t take care of their kids. You know that, don’t you, Lionel?” She punctuated her remarks with a loud snap of her gum.

  I waved my thanks to her and headed toward the security officer she had summoned. We met the officer several steps beyond the customer service area, separated from Lionel’s checkout counter by the swarms of shoppers hurrying to leave the store before they maxed out their credit cards.

  “Say,” Annie said. “Isn’t that…”

  “Yup.”

  “Hey,” I called to him.

  “You causing trouble here, Dr. Murphy? Wouldn’t surprise me. Why don’t you shop in your own Wal-Mart instead of coming up here and creating trouble?”

  “No trouble, Captain Rodgers. Just a domestic dispute. One of your clerks has been cheating on his wife with one of the other clerks. That’s all I know. I heard you found a new position.”

  “What about it?” He retained his usual surly disposition and his oversized belly. What was missing was the uniform and some of his swagger. He seemed embarrassed to have me recognize him. His little eyes swept the area nervously, and he shuffled from one foot to the other as if he was eager to have us leave.

  “Look here. I got a job to do. Clerk called me, and if it’s about some domestic thing, well, you know how it is, they can get real nasty, even in public, so I’ll have to go.”

  “Okay, well, I’ll tell everyone at the college I ran into you and you said to say hello.”

  “Well, you don’t have to go that far.” He turned and trotted toward Lionel’s register. I wondered just what our gum-chewing clerk would say to Rodgers to justify her calling security, but whatever it was, I bet it would be good. Lionel was scared enough of her and her family to offer little resistance to whatever she offered.

  “How did Rodgers get here from the college?” Annie said as we walked toward the car.

  “I guess I forgot that part. When David, posing as another campus security officer, asked to see that cache of weapons from the Disciplinary Board hearing, Rodgers found the knife missing. Adam took it. When, we don’t know. Rodgers couldn’t account for the missing knife, so he replaced it with another. When the truth came out that he tampered with the weapons, President Evans fired him. I think Evans was happy to get rid of him. Rodgers was no asset to a college that wants to promote itself as hiring only the best.”

  Mr. Sideburns, the man wh
o had berated Lionel for abandoning his kids at Christmas, was loading his purchases into the bed of a battered, metallic blue pick-up. The vanity license read “hottie.” He waved as Annie and I walked by.

  “Good luck to you, little lady,” he said to me, “but you’d be better off without that guy. I told Miriam, that’s the blonde cashier, when he started getting friendly with her, that he was no good. Somethin’ real sleazy about that one. Talks funny, like he thinks all of us don’t speak English. Yep, both o’ you better off without that one.” He slammed the tailgate hard enough to knock a piece of rusted side paneling off the vehicle. “Shit.” He looked at the metal piece on the ground, then bent over, picked it up, and threw it in the back with his purchases. “You have a nice day now.” He tipped his red hat, then set it back down on the forest of hair sprouting out from his sideburns.

  Annie and I smiled at him as we continued toward the car.

  “Nice man. Took him only two seconds to size up Lionel. Did he have ears under all that hair or was all that hair coming out of his ears?” I said to Annie. She giggled.

  “Why did Adam take that knife?” said Annie. “That puzzles me.”

  “Me too. He said he took it to give back to David. Another time he said he took it to use it to find one just like it without the cracked handle. Said he was going to give it to David as a birthday present. I find it hard to believe either story. I think he liked to find out things about others that he could use on them. I think he found out about David being booted out of school for being part of a group who had weapons. With Adam’s propensity for opening doors, I think he took the knife figuring he might use it to hurt David somehow.” We maneuvered around a woman pushing one shopping cart, pulling another, and wrestling with two small children, one held in her left arm, the other tugging on her coat and yelling “I want candy” at the top of his lungs.