22. Taking Notes

The three detectives and the solitary newspaperman took up uncomfortable positions in the motel room. Wilcox stood, back up against the wall, close to the windows, occasionally glancing out through the darkness at the headlights that trailed by, keeping his thoughts to himself. Shaeffer and Brown occupied the only chairs in the room, on either side of a small table, like poker players waiting for the final card to be dealt. Cowart perched uneasily on the edge of the bed, slightly apart. Someone in an adjacent room was playing a television loudly; voices from a news show filtered through the motel walls. Some tragedy, he thought, reduced to fifteen seconds, thirty if it is truly terrible, delivered with a practiced look of concern.

He glanced at Andrea Shaeffer. Although clearly surprised when she had opened the door on the three men, she had let them enter without comment. Introductions had been brief, small talk nonexistent. They were all aware of what had brought them together in a small room in an alien city. She shuffled a few notes and papers together, then turned to the three men and asked, 'How did you find me?'

'The local police liaison office told us,' Brown said. 'We checked in there when we arrived. They said they'd accompanied you to see Ferguson.'

Shaeffer nodded.

'Why did you do that?' Brown asked.

She started to answer, stopped, stared over at Cowart and then shook her head. 'Why are you here?' she demanded.

The reporter didn't want to answer that question, but Tanny Brown, speaking in measured, officious tones, replied, 'We're here to see Ferguson, too.' Shaeffer looked at the police lieutenant.

Why? I thought you were finished with him. And you, too,' she gestured at Cowart.

No. Not yet.'

Why?'

Again, Brown was the one to answer. 'We're here because we have reason to believe that there were errors made in the original prosecution of Ferguson. We think there may have been mistakes made in Mr. Cowart's stories. We're here to investigate both aspects.'

Shaeffer looked both angry and surprised. 'Mistakes? Errors?' She turned to the reporter. 'What sort of mistakes?'

Cowart realized he would have to answer her this lime. 'He lied to me.'

'About what?'

'About the murder of the little girl.'

Shaeffer shifted about in her seat. 'And now you're here for what?'

'To set the record straight.'

The cliche prompted a cynical smile. 'I'm sure that's real important,' she said. She glanced over at Brown and Wilcox. 'But it doesn't explain why you're traveling with this company.'

'We want the record straight as well,' Brown said. As soon as he spoke the words, he recognized he'd made an error of his own. He realized that the young woman across from him was measuring him and that, so far, he'd failed.

Shaeffer thought for a moment. 'You're not here to arrest Ferguson?'

'No. Can't do that.'

'You're here to talk to him?'

'Yes.'

She shook her head. 'You guys are lying, she said. She sat back hard, crossing her arms in front of her.

'We…' Brown began.

'Lying' she interrupted.

'Because…' Cowart said.

'Lying' Shaeffer said a third time.

The reporter and the police lieutenant stared at her, and after a small quiet, just enough time to let the word fester in their imaginations, she continued. 'What record?' she said. 'There is no record. There's only one very wrong man. Mistakes and errors. So what? If Cowart made some mistake, he'd be here alone. If you, Detective Brown, made some mistake, you'd be here alone. But together, that means something altogether different. Right?'

Tanny Brown nodded.

'Is this a guessing game?' she asked.

'No. Tell me what brought you here, then I'll fill you in.'

Shaeffer considered this offer, then agreed. I came to see Ferguson because he was connected to both Sullivan and Cowart and I thought he might have specific information about the killings in the Keys.'

Brown looked hard at her. 'And did he?'

She shook her head. 'No. Denied any knowledge.'

'Well, what would you expect?' Cowart said under his breath.

She turned to him. 'Well, he was a damn sight more cooperative than you've been.' This was untrue, of course, but she thought it would quiet the reporter, which it did.

'So, if he had no information and he denied any connection, said Brown, 'why are you still here, Detective?'

'I wanted to check out his alibi for the time period that the murders took place.'

'And?'

'It did.'

It did?' Cowart blurted. She glared at him.

Ferguson was in class that week. Didn't miss any. It'd been damn hard for him to get down to the Keys, kill the old couple, and get back, without being late for something. Probably impossible.'

But, goddammit, that's not what Sullivan…'

Cowart stopped short, and Shaeffer pivoted toward him. 'Sullivan what?'

Nothing.'

Sullivan what, dammit!'

Cowart felt suddenly sick. 'That's not what Sullivan told me.'

Tanny Brown tried to step in, but a single glance from Shaeffer cut him off before he could speak a word. Unbridled rage filled her; for a moment the world turned red-tinged. She could feel an explosion within her, and her hands shook with the effort to contain it. Lies, she thought, staring at the reporter. Lies and omissions. She took a deep breath. I knew it.

Sullivan told you when?' she asked slowly.

'Before going to the chair.'

'What did he tell you?'

'That Ferguson committed those crimes. But it's not that…'

You son of a bitch,' she muttered.

'No, look, you've got to understand…'

You son of a bitch. What did he tell you, exactly?'

That he'd arranged with Ferguson to switch crimes. Took Ferguson's crime in return for Ferguson committing this one for him.'

She absorbed this and in an instant saw the crevasse the reporter was in. She had no sympathy. 'And you didn't think this was relevant for the people investigating the murders?'

'It's not that simple. He lied. I was trying to…'

'And so you thought you could lie, too?'

'No, dammit, you've got to understand…' Cowart turned toward Tanny Brown.

I ought to arrest you right now,' she said bitterly.

'Could you write that one up from your own cell, Mr. Cowart? REPORTER CHARGED WITH COVER-UP IN SENSATIONAL MURDER CASE. Isn't that how the headline would read? Would they run that on the front page with your goddamn picture? Would it be the truth for once?'

They glared at each other until something occurred to Cowart. 'Yeah. Truth. Except it wasn't the truth, was it, Detective?'

'What?'

'Just what I said. Sullivan told me Ferguson did that old couple, but I didn't know whether to believe him or not. He told me lots of things, some of them lies. So I could have told you, and at the same time I would have had to put it in the paper – had to, Detective. But now, you're telling me that Ferguson had an alibi, so it would have been all wrong. He didn't do that old couple, no matter what Sullivan said. Right?'

Shaeffer hesitated.

'Come on, goddammit, Detective! Right?'

She could think of no way to disagree. She nodded her head. 'It doesn't seem that way. The alibi checks out. I went out to Rutgers and spoke with three different professors. In class each day that week. Perfect attendance. Also, my partner has come up with other information as well.'

'What other information?'

'Forget it.'

There was another pause in the room while each person sorted out what they'd heard. Tanny Brown spoke slowly.

'But,' he said carefully, 'something else. Right? If Ferguson isn't your suspect, and he has no information to help your investigation, you should be on an airplane heading south. You wouldn't be sitting around here, you'd be down with your partner. You could have checked out Ferguson's class schedule by telephone, but instead you went and saw some people in person. Why is that, Detective? And when you open your door you've got a nine-millimeter in your hand and your bags aren't packed. So why?' She shook her head.