Page 65 of 3rd Tango
My suspect rocks back on his heels. “It was a long time ago. My memory’s faulty. I can’t remember every element of every case.”
Definitely lying. Not about remembering specific details about cases—hell, I’ve forgotten more than I remember. He’s lying about who checked the getaway driver angle.
He did.
Which means, maybe he’s lying about other things. What if Al wasn’t the one entrapping people? What if it was Mike? And Al—who’d do anything for him—covered it up.
But which one got to the snitch who was going to tell all to the Justice Department?
Haley says, “Yes, she’s here, but she’s in a meeting, Mrs. Schock.”
I glance over and she looks at me with consternation as she listens to my mom’s reply.
“Nice meeting you.” Grenado throws open the door. “Good luck with your case.”
He bolts, and swearing under my breath, I wiggle my fingers at Haley. She hands me the phone, relieved.
Mom is still speaking. “…tell her, I’m taking Marie a coffee cake. A neighborly gesture and an apology for being so nosy all this time. I’ll let her know what I find out.”
“You are absolutely not going over there,” I inform her.
“Charlie?”
“Mom, we’re turning everything over to the FBI later this afternoon. We believe Marie is a person of interest in an open case, albeit a cold one.”
Not to mention the fact Gayle could be one of the LFG.
“Charlie?” This comes from behind me. Meg. She holds up a drawing in one hand, a picture of a woman in the other.
“Hang on a sec, Mom,” I say, covering the receiver. To Meg, “Is that who I think it is?”
She’s done a hasty age progression, but it’s spot on. She nods. “I need to send this to Taylor.” Excitement ripples through me. By golly, we’ve got a solid tie between Marie and Evelyn. “Things are breaking open,” I happily report. “But it’s time to let the FBI take over and investigate Marie and Gayle.”
Mom huffs. “They’ll blow it,” she says, matter-of-factly. “I understand and respect you’re the expert when it comes to this, but the FBI isn’t invested like I am. They don’t understand. It’s my case, Charlize. Please don’t give them my notes. They’ll screw it up!”
Meg offers the drawing to Haley, who shakes her head. “Fax isn’t working,” she says. “I can scan it and email it to Taylor.”
Meg glances at me. I chuck the messages on the desk and grab the portrait. I’ll take it to Taylor in person with the rest of the files I’ve compiled for her. “I’m sorry, but we agreed, remember? This is the right thing to do, Mom.”
Dead silence.
Meg is so much better at handling her than I am. I motion at my sister, then the phone. She adamantly mouths “no.”
“Your investigation is about to solve multiple cases,” I say to appease her. “We’ve identified Evelyn, we’ve brought closure to her brother. We’ve linked Marie to her, and possibly the London Fog Gang. I believe we have circumstantial evidence connecting Gayle to the bank robberies as well. If he and Marie were involved and know where the missing money is, that could be another matter that gets closed, all because ofyou.”
There’s a long, pregnant pause. She’s thinking it over, debating whether to continue arguing or take this win and let the FBI close it out. She’s spent years on it, and I understand her hesitation to turn it over to someone else. Especially the FBI, who obviously didn’t do everything they could in the first place, thanks to Al and Mike.
“If you’d like to go with us,” I offer, “I’m sure Taylor would appreciate your input.”
She stalls, then finally says, “Fine. But I’ll need a ride. My car is still in the garage.”
“Meg will pick you up,” I volunteer and my sister grabs a pencil from Haley’s desk and throws it at me. “Give her twenty minutes.”
“Charlize.” Her reproving tone is one I know well. I heard it hundreds of times growing up. “I appreciate all you and Meg have done, and it pains me to do this, but…”
Another pause and a heavy intake of breath.
“Mom,” I start, “do not go over to Ga—”
