Part 23 (1/2)

”But you could be,” Shawn said. ”With the proper encouragement.”

”No,” Jerry said.

”Just think about it for a minute,” Shawn said. ”Let's say you were working with one executive who really seemed excited about the whole thing. But every time he was supposed to push the issue with D-Bob, he canceled. And then he got himself roasted. Wouldn't that make you step up?”

”No,” Jerry said. ”I just deliver the mail.”

”Well, what if a new executive managed to talk D-Bob into actually addressing the issue, but Steve Ecclesine was trying to undercut him until someone sabotaged his window and he plunged to his death,” Shawn said. ”Would that make you step up?”

”Why would it?” Jerry said.

”So I guess Mandy's whole hanging herself in her cheerleader suit after breaking her promise to help didn't motivate you either,” Shawn said.

”It broke my heart, is what it did,” Jerry said.

”That's pretty much the way I saw it,” Shawn said. ”My only question is why your daughter couldn't figure that out.”

Chanterelle jumped to her feet. ”You're crazy,” she shouted. ”These were all accidents. Why are we listening to this lunatic?”

”Couple of reasons,” Gus said. ”First, because until I formally submit my resignation, I'm still the president of the company.”

”Copresident,” Shawn said.

”Copresident,” Gus agreed.

”And because we had some friends of ours show your picture around Santa Barbara,” Shawn said. ”And you were identified several times as the one woman anyone saw Mandy Jansen with in the days before her death.”

Gus looked at Shawn, surprised. How long had he known?

”I may have visited Mandy,” Chanterelle said.

”Where you used your hypnotism skills,” Shawn said. ”Although I suspect you might have supplemented your natural powers with some of Benson's finest mood-altering substances. I understand some of them disappear from the bloodstream almost immediately.”

”Then there'd be no evidence, would there?” Chanterelle said.

”I suppose even if we had your picture circulated around a certain High Sierra ski resort and you were identified as Sam Masterson's date that day, that wouldn't be evidence, either,” Shawn said.

”Did you do that?” Gus said.

”Wouldn't matter if he did,” Chanterelle said. ”No crime against skiing.”

”Unless you happened to give your ski partner a little nudge as he approached a tree at fifty miles per hour,” Gus said.

”If two people are skiing together, and one accidentally b.u.mps into the other, that's nothing more than a tragic accident,” Chanterelle said.

D-Bob glared down at her. ”Even if it's not a crime, this could be a very serious breach of company ethics,” he said.

”Then I quit,” Chanterelle said.

”Don't be so hasty,” D-Bob said. ”You are still a valued member of the team.”

Gus glared at him. ”You are really the worst executive in history,” he said.

”All these people your father put his faith in, and they all let him down,” Shawn said. ”Or they were going to let him down. You thought if you got them out of the way, Jerry would finally have to step up and become the man you needed him to be.”

”Whatever,” Chanterelle said.

”But if there was a new president and he promised Jerry he'd solve the orphan drugs problem, you knew that would be the end of it,” Shawn said. ”Because this new president was an idiot who would always say the right thing but never get anything done. And your father would grow old and die, never seeing his dream realized.”

”An idiot?” Gus said.

”Go with me here,” Shawn said, then turned back to Chanterelle. ”Unless, of course, he was so overwhelmed by the position that he killed himself the night of the swearing-in ceremony.”

”Wouldn't that be a tragedy?” Chanterelle said.

”It does seem like the kind of thing we'd like to avoid,” Shawn said. ”So I asked my friends to stop by your room on their way here.”

At the back of the room, the doors flew open and six uniformed police officers marched in. Detective Juliet O'Hara followed, holding up a plastic bag that held a piece of hotel stationery.

”Did you find it, Jules?” Shawn said.

”On her desk,” O'Hara said. ”A suicide note written by Burton Guster.” She held up another Baggie, this containing a large plastic bottle. ”And enough Benson-brand painkillers to make sure his suicide was successful.”

”You were going to kill me?” Gus said.

”It would be more oxygen for the rest of the planet,” Chanterelle said.

O'Hara motioned to one of the officers, who went over to Chanterelle and cuffed her hands behind her back.

Jerry looked at her mournfully. ”This can't be true,” he said. ”You can't have done this.”

”It was the only way.” She was near tears. ”You knew it when you killed those three boys to stop the greater evil.”

”I've been tortured by that all my life,” he said gently. ”I don't want the same for you.”

”It was your moment of greatness,” she said, the tears now flowing freely down her cheek. ”When you had the chance to make a real difference in the world and you took it.”

”I killed my friends,” Jerry said.

”Yes, you did--you yourself,” Chanterelle said. ”You didn't wait around hoping that someone else was going to act in your place. You saw the need and you did what had to be done.”

”At too great a cost,” Jerry said.

”At the right cost,” Chanterelle said. ”You were born to make a difference in this world. You always said so. But you trusted in other people to ensure your legacy. I couldn't let you do that.”

”Really?” Shawn said. ”All this time you wanted your father to act, so you did what you thought he'd do if he cared enough? I think I see a flaw in that logic.”