Part 16 (1/2)
”No, sir. Not me. Or Capt. McElroy. We were the only people there, besides Ingrid, who aren't writers. And Max, of course. But Max doesn't count because he only happened to be there by accident that night. Elliot made it painfully clear to all of us that his book was going to expose the criminal minds of some well-known mystery writers.”
”So you expect me to believe these accusations you've made are part of what Elliot intended to say?”
”Exactly.”
”So what did Elliot have on the rest of them?”
Wham.
Annie opened her mouth, closed it, and remembered the last fish she'd hauled gasping out of the Atlantic. Brother, talk about empathy.
Max cleared his throat. ”My client isn't at liberty to disclose that information at the present moment, Chief.”
Saulter's head swung irritably toward Max. ”Why the h.e.l.l not? She couldn't wait to unload on the others.” He swivelled back to Annie.
”Come on, what's the dope on the rest of them-Edelman, Hemphill, Rizzoli?”
Annie shook her head decisively. ”No, Max understands. I can't give you any further information until I have verified it.”
They both looked at her blankly.
”It's a matter of principle.” Hildegarde Withers could not have been more priggish. ”Elliot was not trustworthy. Therefore, I can't possibly reveal the information he gave me until I have the opportunity to interview the accused person and confirm or deny Elliot's accusations. In our system of government, in our world view, all are innocent until proven guilty.
Well, that's the way it is with me.” A ringing speech, worthy of Perry Mason. Annie stood up. ”So Max and I will get back to work. That's what we were doing, Chief, when your motorcycle cop so rudely stopped us.”
Alas, Saulter wasn't quite that easy or that dumb.
”Ms. Laurance, just one more thing.”
She paused at the doorway.
”You said Elliot gave you this material.”
The sinking feeling swept Annie again. One peril past and on to the next. It was like surviving a ten-foot wave and looking up to see a fifteen-footer.
”When did he give it to you, and where is it?”
”When?”
Saulter didn't pong. He waited.
If she admitted the disk came in the mail on Monday, the chief could attack her for hiding evidence. Hiding it?
He could accuse her of losing it, because that's precisely what she had done. And she couldn't claim to have a typewritten copy, or she would have to account for that. She had nada to show Saulter. If she told him about the disk, he'd want to know what happened to it-and if he ever had any hint that she'd been in Elliot's house when Harriet was killed, Annie was one plucked goose.
She took a deep breath. ”He didn't exactly give it to me.”
”No?” The question was chillingly genial.
”My client has nothing further to say,” Max interposed.
Saulter shook his head. ”Oh, no, Mr. Darling. She's going to answer this one. Or I'm going to arrest her as a material witness.”
Desperately, Annie glanced around the chief's office. A battered old Remington sat on a typing table. She remembered the outer office. Two secondhand desks for his two policemen, one desk for his secretary. Not a VDT in sight.
When in doubt, tell some of the truth.
”Elliot mailed me a floppy disk. You know, he was used to working on computers.' She carefully did not suggest the disk had been produced on his own computer, and maybe, G.o.d willing, even in this electronic age, Chief Saulter might not realize that the material recorded on a floppy disk using one particular program and machine could not be read by any incompatible program and different machine. 'Anyway, I read the disk-and I was so outraged by what he'd put down that I erased it.”
”You what?”
”Erased it.” She looked at him inquiringly. ”Do you have a computer, Chief Saulter?”
When he shook his head, she felt Max's sigh. She leaned forward. ”This is how it works...”
Max came out of Parotti's store bearing two Bud Lights.
”Parotti says no strangers came across yesterday.”
Annie took the beer and looked puzzled.
”Just making sure,” Max explained. ”Whoever killed Harriet was already on the island by Sunday or came by private boat.”
”Whoever killed Harriet was here Sat.u.r.day night because the person who killed Harriet also killed Jill-and Elliot, of course.”
”I believe it, but a defense lawyer could make some argument if some strangers arrived Monday.”
Annie choked on her beer.
”Pretty weak defense.”
Max shook his head. ”Annie, did anybody ever tell you that you have mouthitis?”
”It sounds scaly.”
”It can be terminal,” he said bitterly. ”And what the h.e.l.l are we going to do when Saulter finds out that any disk Elliot produced could be read only on his machine?”
”I read it on my machine,” she said stubbornly. ”So Elliot must have had access to an Apple.”
This time Max choked on his beer.
Annie sipped hers daintily.
”All right, Miss Clever Tongue. What are you going to tell the chief when he discovers that package arrived in the mail on Monday morning after Elliot's unfortunate demise? I mean, while he's busy charging you with destroying evidence.”
Would Saulter check with her mailman? Would he begin to wonder about the accuracy of everything she'd said? Would he talk to somebody like Capt. Mac, who liked to repair computers for fun?