Part 10 (1/2)
”Idiot,” Labeck muttered He unlocked a door , narrow rooh to launch an intercontinental missile A dozen television sets, each tuned to a different station, flickered on another wall, apparently Action 13's way of checking up on the corinned fro a report thatin front of a suburban school Bright yellow buses were disgorging kids
”It's back to school time all over southeast Wisconsin,” Polifka cheerily intoned ”I'm here at Hassenpfeffer Eleood-bye summer, hello school year New teachers, new class-” He held out a box of Crayolas, the 128 pack ”-is the brand-new crayons Me”
What an in-depth report! Edward R Murroould have been jealous
”So, back to you, Lori” Polifka giggled, as though he'd had one too many hits of crayon wax
”for escaped convict Mazie Maguire” The NBC station was leading their neith the ever-popular escape story Marshal Irving Katz appeared on-screen at a press conference He did not look happy ”We believe that the fugitivesomewhere within a twenty-ood, Irving, just keep on chasing those wild geese I s reasons to believe that Ms Maguire was aided by a person in a vehicle Citizens who choose to transport, hide, or in any way assist an escaped felon should be warned that they will face obstruction of justice charges”
I wasn't s anymore
Labeck snapped off the NBC channel ”Where's the nanny tape?” he asked
I took it out of the toolbox and handed it to him Labeck popped it into an elaborate coe wall screen
”This is the NSRT,” Labeck said ”It has a two hundred fifty ti in that close would blur everything to a dot matrix, but it has an override to provide focus It can check for light-dark tonal contrast, filter out extraneous sounds, and do a one one-thousandth of a second breakdown for running speed”
”Uh-huh” I hadn't understood a single syllable
”The FBI has a prograood” He tore his eyes away froizmos and looked at me ”Tell me your lawyer had this fily was not his strong suit I don't think he could tell a DVD player fro suit?”
”Oh, Sterling was pink-skinned and white-haired and dignified looking He caured that just the fact he'd takenHabenmacher at the defense table, I'd felt protected, even cosseted He patted my hand a lot He told me not to worry He smelled like pumpkin pie spice He billed at a thousand dollars an hour It hadn't occurred toin a cell at Taycheedah, that Sterling Habenle moment believed that I actually was innocent
The prosecution had been required to share the evidence they planned to present with the defense, which included the nanny ca hadn't even watched the tape; he'd spent an entire day of the trial wrangling with the judge and prosecution, explaining why the tape should be excluded as evidence Despite all Sterling's objections, the judge had ruled that the tape would indeed be entered as evidence The fact that we'd tried to suppress it worked against us; the video was all the more powerful when it finally was shown to the jury
”No,” I said ”The filust He pressed a button and the video began to play
”So that's your house,” Labeck said ”Your husband's office?”
I nodded Seeing the familiar room was a jolt ”The people ned the house were naeons and worked long days at the hospital, so they had a nanny caring for their kids They turned the first floor library into a playroom, with kids' books on the lower shelves and medical texts on the top The spy cam was hidden inside a book with a hole drilled in its spine”
When we'd moved into the house, Kip had immediately claimed the playroom as his office Office, what a joke! Kip wasn't the type to lug home a briefcase full of contracts He kept Scotch in the file drawer and used his computer to surf for porn He hadn't bothered to toss out the medical journals; maybe he felt the ponderous volumes lent his office a certain classiness Since neither Kip nor I were top-shelf dusters-or bottom-shelf dusters for that matter-we never discovered the camera, hidden behind a copy of Liver Flukes and Hookworms
I turned my attention back to the screen, back to the day my husband had been murdered Kip is at his desk, back turned, the top of his head visible over the high-backed leather swivel chair One bare elbow juts out and you can just make out a swatch of short-sleeved shi+rt He's on our landline phone, the cord stretched between desk and chair His voice is a low, indistinct ht there is in the room comes from the lamp atop his desk and from the computer screen
A door opens Off-camera, but the sound is audible A woman walks into the room Her back is to the cath hair, a long-sleeved, floor-length nightgown, and bare feet She's wearing rubber gloves, the kind you use to wash dishes Kip doesn't hear her coht hand becoun, fires a single shot Kip sluainst the desk laoes black
Someone pounded on the door and I ju eared to the present: Channel 13, the NSRT, Labeck
”Radon,” Labeck hissed I snapped on an running it along the tiles, hoping that radon was the kind of substance that loitered around floors Labeck cracked the door There was a farowled I caught a glimpse of Bob, Labeck's cameraman buddy He shoved muffin into Labeck's arer almost took my arm off when I lifted his crate Want , but no I' for a friend”
”How much you want to bet your friend never co Labeck closed the door and droppedlike a s hand Apparently re attone as a dental drill
”Shut him up,” Labeck said
”You shut him up!”
”Shut up!” we yelled in unison, but
”Here's the plan,” Labeck said ”We feed hi in the cafeteria Don't open the door to anyone”
Duh After he left, I tried to grabso hard there were times when all four feet were off the floor
”Let's play fetch!” I said with feigned enthusias and you chase it Doesn't that sound like fun?”
I didn't have a ball or a stick I took off my shoe-actually Labeck's old shoe, still wet from Vanessa's bathtub-and tossed it across the room muffin was after it in a flash He picked it up in his ered around with it for a minute, but then didn't seem to knohat to do with it He dropped it and started barking again I bent to retrieve the shoe muffin immediately snatched up the toe end I yanked on the heel end We each tugged,fiercely, but now he just see Was it possible the wretched creature was having fun? Did Vanessa ever play gas? Or was their social life pretty much limited to Attack, Kill?
muffin was actually kind of cute, I noticed for the first tiray, his underbelly white He had a teddy bear head-wide and round, with black button eyes and whiskers like bristle brushes His teeth hite and needle-sharp Vanessa probably filed thehed about as ; muscles rippled beneath his fur
There was a knock on the door ”Open up,” Labeck called in a low voice In full bay, muffin raced over to the door I had to hold hih for Labeck to slide through He ca a surprising agility,his snout into the bag
”No!” Labeck said sharply, shoving hi hiain Labeck tossed hi out of an embossed porcelain bowl, muffin happily scarfed the sandwich off the tile floor Labeck gavesalad; he had tuna and lettuce He'd even ree, juicy, sliced dills We sat on swivel chairs, eating and washi+ng down the sandwiches with chocolate milk while Labeck replayed the video
”Who knew that camera was in the room?” Labeck asked
”Well, I didn't Neither did Kip He would have wanted to-” I stopped, reddening
”Do home porno?”
”Probably”
”Did Vanessa knoas there?”
”Vanessa knew everything Soot hold of our house keys and o through our bathroo for birth control, look through our mail Shearound one day, because she told the police to check it right after Kip's body was discovered”
Labeck scowled at muffin, who'd snorked down his own sandwich and was now looking up at us, growling, de another one ”The nanny ca feature wasn't even activated, the focus is fuzzy, and everything looks completely amateurish Probably the owners installed the camera themselves”