Sleight of Hand - By Phillip Margolin Page 0,73
Starr, Lester’s girlfriend. Two things happened that evening: Karpinski threatened to rape my friend if she didn’t back off, and Tiffany Starr was stabbed to death in Rock Creek Park. It’s too late to help Tiffany Starr but I’m here to tell you to stay away from my friend. If a hair on her head is touched, I promise to make your life hell on earth. Are we clear?”
Orlansky did not look frightened or angry. If anything, he looked confused.
“You say Karpinski is in the hospital. How did that happen?”
“Ask him, if he survives.”
Orlansky seemed troubled. “Detective Santoro, thank you for speaking to me in private. I appreciate the courtesy. I had nothing to do with what happened to your friend or Miss Starr. You can tell your friend that she has nothing to fear from me.”
“Then our business is done. Have a nice evening.”
When Santoro walked to his car he didn’t look back. His heart was beating like a trip-hammer and he couldn’t relax until he was out of shooting range. While he drove, Frank thought about his meeting with Orlansky. He was pretty certain that the Russian was genuinely surprised by everything he’d been told. If Orlansky didn’t send Karpinski to threaten Dana, there was a good chance that Charles Benedict was behind the threat, and that presented a problem. It was one thing to use his position to threaten a gangster like Orlansky. It was quite another thing to try to strong-arm a member of the bar who also happened to be the attorney for a very powerful and well-connected person who was facing a murder charge. This was especially true when you had no evidence whatsoever that the lawyer had committed a crime. Santoro could imagine the fallout if he confronted Benedict the same way he’d confronted Orlansky.
Santoro pulled into a shopping mall and dialed Dana’s cell.
“How is Kansas City?” he asked when Dana answered.
“Interesting. Why are you calling?”
“I had a talk with Nikolai Orlansky. He assured me that he didn’t send Karpinski after you. I got the impression that he didn’t know anything about what happened.”
“Then I think I know who did send that ape. Especially after what I learned today.”
Dana filled in Frank on Charles Benedict’s background.
“This puts everything that’s happened in a completely different light,” Santoro said when Dana was through.
“I think it’s possible that Benedict killed Carrie Blair and set up her husband. Our problem is that we have no proof. If he did kill Carrie Blair, Benedict is one crafty psychopath. We can’t talk to his client without his permission, and unless Karpinski confesses, we have nothing.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Charles Benedict tried to get in touch with Gregor Karpinski all day. He called Gregor twice and got voice mail. He left a message telling the Russian to call him about his legal bill. When he still had not heard by eight in the evening, Benedict called The Scene and asked for Kenny Ito, one of the bartenders.
“Kenny, Charlie Benedict here. I need to talk to Gregor Karpinski. Something’s come up in one of his legal matters but he’s not answering his phone.”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?”
“Gregor got fucked up last night.”
“Fucked up how?”
“I don’t know how it happened. I just heard some of the guys talking. All I know is that he’s in the hospital, and it’s bad.”
“Do you know what hospital he’s in?”
Ito told him. Benedict thanked him and hung up. He leaned back and thought. All Gregor was supposed to do was threaten some girl. How could a girl “fuck up” Gregor? The guy was a monster.
Benedict fished out the business card Tiffany Starr had showed him shortly before he gutted her. He went on his computer and Googled Exposed. Loren Parkhurst was not listed as an employee. Benedict thought about that. Just because she wasn’t listed didn’t mean she didn’t work for the paper. She could freelance.
Benedict typed Parkhurst’s name into the search engine. Nothing. Now, that was strange. If Parkhurst were a journalist, she should have published something somewhere. He didn’t like this. A woman journalist who didn’t show up on the Internet and who was capable of “fucking up” a beast like Gregor Karpinski.
Benedict thought some more, and the more he thought, the more concerned he became. Gregor could tell the cops that Charlie had asked him to threaten Parkhurst. Worse still, if Gregor talked, Nikolai could learn that Charlie used Gregor without his permission. He and Nikolai got along pretty well, but Nikolai was unpredictable.
What to do? What