Part 24 (2/2)
Katz laughed Ithow close you are to being released”
My heart started thufroal technicalities, Brenner ht palms
”Released? Seriously? I've been in RS, nobody's told , I don't even knohat day it is” My words tuht? And Rico and Eddie? What happened to-”
”It's September fifteenth Your friends are fine Mister Labeck has been a constant thorn in the warden's side and a pain inhell and de to see you”
”He was here? Ben Labeck was here?”
”He's practically staging a sit-in in the warden's office I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to parachute in next ti scarlet Labeck was such a dope! He ought to be getting on with his life, finding a nice girl who knew a hundred different ways to cook with ht be stuck in prison for years But the thought that he was trying to see me, that he still cared for iddy joy that I actually felt dizzy
”Maybe you better sit down” Katz looked slightly alarmed
I shakily lowered myself onto the visitors room sofa, which was upholstered in a bristly, barf-colored fabric that scratched the backs of hs
”So what else do you want to know?” Katz asked, settling himself across from me in a torn vinyl armchair
”What about Brenner? Is he dead?”
Katz ca as was possible for someone with his self-control
”Not dead He's on an island in the Caribbean”
”He's in the Caribbean?” I could feel ht of the ht he tried to kill me, you mean I should have jammed that stick up his-”
”I did not hear you say what you just said” Katz shot lance, a re taped ”Brenner was taken to a local hospital, suffering froht, ton Senatorial privilege From there he was flown to St Andrew's in the Caribbean”
”Don't tell me The place has no extradition” I kicked the plastic coffee table, sending it shooting across the floor Katz eyedthings
I made myself calm down I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to the next question, but I felt compelled to ask ”What about Vanessa Vonnerjohn?”
”She hired a shrink, got herself declared mentally unstable, and was com at least, she's immune from prosecution”
Bear was on a Caribbean island and Vanessa was cozily nestled in a facility where the straitjackets were probably designed by Ralph Lauren Where's the justice, Atticus?
”Okay, that's the bad news,” Katz said ”Now here's the good We've got Hes and Lor in custody”
”Who?”
”Brenner's heavies They've been talking”
I listened while Katz shared what he'd learned froured out some of it, but Katz, with his Justice Departe up every last detail Brenner had been producing rohypnol in the Mexican lab twelve years ago Luis had covertly photographed the operation, perhaps with an eye toward blackuel Ruiz the overdose of rohypnol that killed hi Bear's records, then hadto someday find Bear, kill hio, Luis hadinto Milwaukee's Mexican coet at, and months had passed before one of Luis's friends had tipped hi at a suburban club Wearing a borroaiter's jacket that night, carrying the cheap revolver he'd bought, Luis had bided his ti for his chance to blow Brenner's brains into the chopped liver
But Luis was not at heart a killer All night long he'd sneaked drinks froe required for venganza Finally he'd snatched his gun fro the gabancho Brenner
”Why didn't the security goons rush over and nab Luis?” I asked
”They were up front in the dining area, keeping an eye on all the big shots None of the wedding guests realized there'd been a disturbance A couple of the other waiters wrestled Luis's gun away He collapsed and started crying, babbling about his brother That's when your husband ca the waiters' toilet?”
”He wasn't alone He and one of the brides eet the picture” Kip Vonnerjohn, what a prince Cheating on the wo on me with That concept couldn't even be expressed in a simple sentence
”The bridesuests, while Kip stayed in the toilet, sarette When he came out, he heard Luis's drunken rant about Brenner, the pederasto de nino, the pruductor de la droga So he volunteered to drive Luis home”
”Mr Nice Guy”
”Yeah We learneddown the waiters orked that wedding, getting them to talk, but the rest of this is surmise Probably Luis, in his drunken state, showed Kip his photos and told hial activities back in Mexico Kip would have ihtest breath of scandal can torpedo a politician's career, and the Luis stuff was huge-I e”
”So Kip proceeded to black bucks We've been following a paper trail on this Kip set up an offshore account and erous game Brenner is not a person to ed s to ht? Did you find out how he faked the nanny ca the room, hands jammed in pockets ”Lor told us what happened He helped Brenner with the whole operation They picked a night when your house was eiven Brenner a house key Brenner also knew about the nanny cam because your mother-in-law had mentioned it to him He took out the old tape and put in a new one Lor played you, Mazie The guy is short, skinny, and narrow-shouldered Wearing a wig and your nightgown, he could pass for you froht
”Brenner sat at the desk, pretending to be Kip, while Lor shot a blank at hi you're dead! Brenner knocked over the lamp as he fell In the dark, he removed the tape-”
”Wait-why did he need to remove the tape?”
”Because it would look funny if Kip is dead one minute, then bounces into the roohts later, he and Lor returned and hid in your garage Kip pulled in around two in the un, which he'd stolen earlier He and Lor wrapped Kip's body in a tarp, dragged it into his office and set up the own, then hid it and the gun in your baseun?”
”He wore gloves Reloves, so naturally no prints would be on the gun After that, Brenner reinserted the fake murder tape into the camera and turned it back on”
”I can't believe I slept through all that”
Katz gazed out theHe looked as though he was sitting on a s to Ben Labeck, you're quite a heavy sleeper”
I could feel a flush working its way across , off-the-record chat He agreed to turn over the disk containing the records of Brenner's drug activities in exchange for immunity from prosecution for himself and the rest of your crew”