Bury the Lead - By David Rosenfelt Page 0,87
it fit together quite well.”
Laurie asks, “So the entire time Daniel was communicating with the killer, he knew it was Lassiter?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. I think he found out the night of the Padilla murder, which is why he didn’t call the police when he got the cell phone call. I think Daniel went to the park hoping to kill Lassiter himself.”
“So why did Lassiter kill the fifth victim, which let Daniel off the hook?” Kevin asks.
“Here I’m guessing, but I think it’s a good guess. In court the day Calvin let in the murder scene pictures of the previous victims, Daniel asked for their files. I think that’s the day he recognized Rosalie. The day he put it all together.”
Kevin nods and quickly thumbs through the logs showing visitation to Daniel at the prison. “And he saw Eliot at the prison the next day.” I can hear the excitement in his voice.
“Right. Daniel pieced it together and told Eliot that if he didn’t get him off, he would reveal Rosalie’s identity to the world. Eliot had Lassiter do another killing, which ensured Daniel’s freedom.”
“But Lassiter wasn’t about to let Daniel walk away, so he killed him at his house,” says Laurie.
“And then Eliot killed Lassiter so there couldn’t be a link back to him,” says Kevin.
I nod. “Except for Sondra. It’s why Rosalie was killed in her apartment and the place was ransacked. Eliot was looking to eliminate any possible connections between Rosalie and her real family. It’s also why there were two attempts on Sondra’s life; Eliot was covering another base on the chance that she knew something.”
As I’m talking, another piece clicks into place. “You know, Eliot met Sondra in my office, and Willie and I both noticed he was staring at her. What I think he was really staring at was her locket. He recognized it, and it was soon after that he tried to have her killed. Which is why the killer grabbed at her neck.”
We continue talking, and I can feel myself, as well as the others in the room, grow more excited. Eliot wasn’t here out of concern for Daniel; he was here to monitor the situation. It’s why he offered help; he wanted to be as close as he could to the source of information.
We’ve figured it out, I’m sure of it, and it’s a damn good feeling.
It’s left to Sam Willis to bring us crashing down. “So what are you going to do about this?”
For a group with all the answers, we shut up mighty fast. Eliot seems to have covered all the bases; the only ones who could testify against him, Daniel and Lassiter, are gone. Through DNA we can conclusively prove that Rosalie was Eliot’s sister, but we have no concrete evidence at all that he paid for her murder.
Laurie thinks we have an obligation to turn this information over to Captain Millen, and while I’m sure she is right, I want to think things through first. I feel like our advantage, slim as it may be, is that Eliot doesn’t know we are onto him. As long as our information stays within our group, we possess the element of surprise, and I’m not ready to give that up yet.
The group leaves at a little after midnight, and Laurie and I stay up for another hour or so talking about the situation some more. As a longtime criminal attorney, I’ve seen some pretty awful things, but the fact that so many women were brutally murdered as nothing more than a smoke screen sets a new standard.
Eliot Kendall is a scumbag, the lowest of the low, and I am going to bring him down.
All I have to do is figure out how.
• • • • •
MY PLAN IS NOT EXACTLY brilliant, but after twenty-four hours of intensive thinking, it’s the best I can do. I’ve gathered our group together again this evening to present it, first asking if anyone else has come up with anything.
Vince volunteers to “kill the son of a bitch,” but other than that, everyone seems to want to hear what I have to say. So I say it.
“I’ll call Eliot, tell him I want to see him about something related to the case, but I won’t let on that there is anything wrong. When we meet, I’ll tell him what I know, make him believe I have evidence to go to the police, and try and blackmail him.”
“Blackmail him?” asks Kevin, making