Killing Frost Page 17

  She looked at her attorney.

  ‘All this talk of murder suggests to me that it would be in Miss Thompkins’s best legal interest to answer no further questions until we know what this is all about,’ said Arthur, the attorney.

  ‘We’re trying to find the person who issued the kill order,’ Collins said as Thompkins and her attorney struggled to their feet.

  ‘A good lawyer might want to know what we know and what we believe happened before having to deal with an arrest warrant,’ Kowalski said.

  This didn’t stop the two.

  ‘I’m sure Hunter’s Bank will want to know what they’re facing. You are on their board of directors, aren’t you, Mrs Thompkins?’ Kowalski continued.

  ‘No questions,’ her attorney said nervously.

  ‘It’s in the annual report,’ Kowalski said, sliding a copy of the report down the table to him. ‘Public record. In the President’s letter there’s talk of a fifty-story regional headquarters development south of Washington Street. Lots of land. A big investment.’

  ‘It would take quite a group of powerful folks – people who know how to get things done – to put a real estate deal like that together,’ Collins said.

  Thompkins’s attorney whispered something in her ear. She looked prepared to say something.

  Kowalski interrupted. ‘Is he your attorney or does he work for the bank?’

  ‘We’re done here,’ she said firmly.

  Jennifer Bailey pulled a cell phone out of her handbag. ‘One call and I can have an army of forensic accountants down here to trace every transaction of Hunter’s Bank for the last five years.’

  ‘And you’ll have nothing,’ Thompkins said. But Arthur looked a little nervous. ‘I have no idea why I am being questioned about any of this.’

  ‘You tracked down the large, vital parcel of land that if not bought would prevent the Hunter dream from becoming real. You found the owner, who had signed an option agreement with the judge. The judge was dead. The trail went to Alexandra Fournier. You tracked her down and she explained she had turned them over to her brother. He had his eye on a scam of his own and you were able to buy the Hunter parcel cheap. And he was happy to keep everything secret, though you later worried about that.’

  ‘Isn’t it also interesting that Charles and everyone else who can tie you to the murders are dead?’ Maureen asked.

  ‘Don’t make a fool of yourself, Maurie.’

  ‘Funny you’re the only one who ever called me “Maurie,”’ Maureen said with a slight grin. ‘No one but you and Leonard Card.’

  ‘Here are Card’s last words to the world.’ Shanahan walked around the table, handed Thompkins a copy of the note that had been tucked in Shanahan’s morning paper. ‘“You and your lovely Maurie enjoy the last minutes of your lives.”’

  Thompkins looked away.

  ‘He didn’t know her name and even if he did he wouldn’t have known to nickname her “Maurie,”’ Shanahan said.

  She looked back, visibly, honestly shaken.

  ‘Why do you do this to me? I tried to help you,’ Thompkins said.

  ‘Amazing,’ Kowalski said, standing. ‘You lie. You steal. You kill. And you are the victim.’

  Thompkins’s lawyer cleared his throat. The world could hear him. ‘That’s all, folks.’

  In the stunning quiet left behind by Thompkins’s exit, Jennifer Bailey could be heard speaking into her cell phone. ‘Brad,’ she said, ‘your office has jurisdiction here on part of this anyway. That’s right. Hunter’s Bank. By the way, are you sitting in my big old leather chair?’ She laughed. ‘That was a good investment of taxpayer money, then, wasn’t it? Not what you said during the campaign, was it?’ She laughed again. ‘A Mrs Thompkins and who knows who else. Yes. Fraud. Murder. All sorts of juicy crimes,’ she said. ‘Not sure how much the bank knew. That’s your job, but Thompkins’s crimes are big time. She’s a career-maker.’

  ‘Tough as nails,’ Kowalski said in a whisper.

  ‘Check with Captain Collins at the IMPD,’ Bailey said before putting her phone down.

  ‘Perhaps you’ll now have some time to recover,’ she told Shanahan as she stood and prepared to leave.

  ‘Yes, that would be nice,’ Shanahan said. ‘And you’ll have time to grieve.’

  ‘Who knows?’ She almost smiled. ‘Maybe you and Harold and I might need to work together again sometime.’

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Dinner was over. Snow fell. Large flakes were visible through the new pane of glass in the living-room window. Shanahan and Kowalski, each with a glass of whiskey, sat in the upholstered chairs that occupied space on either side of the fireplace. Ray and Maureen owned the sofa.

  ‘Ray should have a cigar,’ Kowalski said.

  ‘Ray’s smarter than that. Look how fit he is. And he’s middle-aged,’ Maureen said. ‘A little gray on the muzzle.’

  ‘I was enjoying the meal so much I forgot to tell you,’ Kowalski said. ‘Thompkins hired Holcomb to defend her.’

  ‘The videotape?’ Maureen asked. ‘It implicated Holcomb.’

  ‘That’s where Thompkins’s skill at manipulation truly shines,’ Kowalski said. ‘Well, briefly. She rearranged everything: facial expressions, comments out of order and in a creative way to tell the story she wanted to tell to support your suspicions, Shanahan. She edited the tape,’ Kowalski went on. ‘Inventive. Convincing.’

  ‘How did you know?’ Maureen asked. She sipped her spiked eggnog.

  ‘Holcomb wore this oversized, expensive analog watch. Looking closely, time wasn’t only going forward but backward, then forward, then backward again. She almost pulled it off. They still don’t have her signature on anything.’

  ‘She’ll be running the prison,’ Shanahan said.

  ‘When did you know it was Thompkins?’ Kowalski asked Shanahan.

  ‘I didn’t, until the note. I wondered why Holcomb would get involved. He had all the money he needed. Trust-fund baby and a thriving practice. He wanted the spotlight. And that was guaranteed. All he had to do was not screw it up. Then there was Jennifer Bailey and her trusted bodyguard.’

  ‘Really, with all the two of you have been through over the years? You think she’d kill her sister and brother?’

  ‘Her sister stole her boyfriend, the judge, who had property worth more than even he ever imagined. And Jennifer’s no-good brother ran off with it. I wouldn’t cross her. Turned out it was another tough woman, this one operating out of pure greed.’

  ‘And the sniper?’ Maureen said. ‘Another tough woman?’

  ‘Maybe she couldn’t cope with being locked up for the rest of her life. Maybe she loved and couldn’t stand the idea of life without him.’

  ‘Hard to imagine. Maybe he had her killed rather than risk her testimony.’

  Shanahan shook his head. ‘I don’t know how we will ever find out now. The players are dead.’

  ‘No mystery is ever solved completely,’ Maureen said.

  Shanahan had some unresolved questions as well. Who killed Leonard Card? Collins made sure Card’s official killer was Shanahan in self-defense. Had it been Harold, the retired state trooper might face formal inquiries. No matter what Shanahan came to believe, he would always have some doubt.

  The best to come from this was that the most culpable got what they deserved. Card was dead. Samantha would kill no one else. Thompkins, who orchestrated it all, was found out. And she was going to pay.

  Kowalski left, his low-growling Harley violating the silent snow. Maureen kissed Shanahan on the forehead, familiar with the nightly routine. He would sit for a while before making the security rounds. Ray followed Maureen to the bedroom, but must have returned. When Shanahan woke again, Ray was at his feet. The fire, a glowing piece of log, no longer lit the room.

  ‘I was thinking of a Belgian Shepherd,’ Shanahan said to the dog. ‘One hundred fifty pounds, police trained. But I think you’ll do just fine. You’ll take good care of her, won’t you?’

 
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