Page 72 of 3rd Tango
Taylor makes a warning noise in the back of her throat. She doesn’t want him to give away the punchline. It’s hers. “Turns out, Al, after so many years with the Bureau built a nice little network of informants that helped him close cases fast.” Taylor rolls her hand. “It’s no secret they use paid informants. Gayle was one of Al’s. Gayle, an accomplished forger, was originally busted on a check scam that involved wire fraud. Facing federal charges, he made a deal and started snitching on his buddies in the London Fog Gang. He was their driver.”
“I knew it,” Charlie says.
My mind drifts back to mom’s curiosity with Gayle. From the first weeks of his moving in, her instincts had flared. She may have been wrong about him being a serial killer, but she’d nailed him as having something to hide. And we teased her about it.
Shame mounts inside me. She’s due a whopping apology. Along with a firm pat on the back for being an excellent investigator.
I peer at Charlie. “Mom was right. All this time, we thought she was nuts.”
“She is a little, and he’s not a serial killer, technically, but I owe her an apology.”
I look at Taylor. “I don’t understand how Gayle got away from the FBI? Why weren’t they looking for him?”
“They were. At least Al was. His partner, though? After Al recruited Gayle, Grenado strong-armed him. Took a little side money when he needed it. The deal was, he’d handle the Bureau and keep Gayle out of prison and Gayle would continue to snitch on the gang.”
“That SOB.” I shake my head. “He was profiting from the robberies and making himself look good by having an informant.”
“Unfortunately, Baez looked the other way more times than not.”
“A good partner who had his back,” Charlie says.
Taylor shrugs. “There was an internal investigation, but it never went anywhere.”
Charlie drums her fingers again. “A little bird told me about it.” She doesn’t say JJ, refusing to out him to Taylor, but we all know who she’s talking about. “The Bureau kept it quiet, so it wouldn’t become public that one of their own was on the take.”
“From what Gayle told us,” Taylor says, “Grenado caught up with him the night of the takedown. Gayle handed him thirty grand and warned him to leave him be or he’d take him down. Once a snitch, always a snitch, I suppose.”
“Mike let him go,” Charlie says. “He got the money and just let him walk.”
That about sums it up. “Mary/Marie goes one way, Gayle the other, Evelyn a third, but they agree to stay in touch periodically in case one of them gets into trouble. Fast forward six months and Mary is living in North Carolina. She’s on a day trip exploring the area and runs into Evelyn, who is now born again.”
“Seriously?” I ask. “She’s living on money obtained in bank robberies. How is that the good Christian thing to do?”
Taylor holds a hand up. “It gets better. Evelyn invites Mary to her hotel room for tea where she tries to convince her to find the Lord. Claims she’s been struggling, trying to decide what to do with the money because—as you say—it’s not the Christian thing. Suddenly, she’s inspired. Seeing Mary has enlightened her. According to Mary/Marie, she’s twirling around the room, elated that the Lord has sent her a sign.”
“What sign?” Charlie wants to know.
“Mary, of course. Her showing up is a sign that she—and by extension Marie—should turn themselves in. Be free of the ill-gotten money that’ll surely send them to hell.”
Speechless, I glance at Charlie.
“This new, holy-rolling Evelyn,” Taylor continues, “spooks Marie. She has no interest in turning herself in. She’s quite happy risking a stint in hell. And she doesn’t trust that God-fearing Ev might not snitch on her whereabouts.”
Matt makes a humming noise. “Marie still has all the bank robbery money.”
“Damn,” Charlie says.
Taylor gives a succinct nod. “Ev continues haranguing Marie and, according to Marie, she starts wigging out. Insisting they go to the police together. She’s counting on their childhood friendship to prevail. But Mary, she’s too afraid of prison. They argue and,” Taylor brings her hands up to her throat, “Marie strangles her. Today, she claimed it was accidental, but whatever. She then shoved the body in a large rolling suitcase and took her right through the lobby.”
If ever I needed a pot brownie, it was now. “Hang on. Marie killed her? In North Carolina?”
“Yes. She panicked.”
I get all that. What shocks the hell out of me is how Marie got Evelyn’s body to Whitetop Mountain in Virginia.
And then it hits me. I sit back and blow out a breath. “She called Gayle. Told him what happened and he helped her dispose of the body.”
Taylor gestures as if she’s ringing a bell. “Ding, ding. Give Meg her prize.”
