A Killing in China Basin - Kirk Russell [45]
‘Eat. Pour a little of that vinegar over the eggs. It’ll make them taste better. How long have you been with Shaye?’
The way Raveneau figured things, if this came back a lie it mattered. He watched Bates spill balsamic over the eggs.
‘It’s been going on about a year. I saw her last night but I could feel Jacie’s ghost in the room. I couldn’t see her but I could feel her, and I couldn’t make it happen with Shaye. Losing Jacie . . . it’s just a big hole in my heart that isn’t ever going to fill.
‘These detectives are asking around about me and Shaye. There’s a bar we go to. They’ve been in there asking questions about me so they’re following me. They’re going to sweat her for whatever they want her to say.’
‘And you’re telling her to give them the truth.’
‘Of course, I am. Look, man, I haven’t been building a life with her. It’s both of us needing the same thing right now. She knew I’d never leave Jacie. She was cool with that and she doesn’t want an old man with health problems. But they’re going to read in it what they want. They’re like two bloodhounds on a scent. You know how it goes.’
‘Have you ever told this girlfriend that you’re going to be together with her, marry her, and take care of her, that you love her and someday you’re going to be together?’
‘Did they tell you that?’
‘I’m asking you.’
‘No, what I told you is what is, and I broke it off with her last night.’
‘Then as long as she’s straight with them, I don’t think you’ll have a problem there.’
‘Bullshit. I’ve got an insurance problem. They think I put Jacie up to doubling the policy.’
Bates had eaten most of the eggs and finished the beer, but got up abruptly, went to the bathroom and threw up. Raveneau heard the toilet flush several times and slid the slider open as the smell of vomit spread into the room. When Bates came out, Raveneau handed him a glass of water and Bates asked, ‘Who killed her? Did Stoltz kill my Jacie?’
‘We had this conversation already, but now I’m going to give you some advice. Call the detectives and tell them you want to meet and bring a lawyer, but keep the lawyer quiet. Anything you’ve lied to them about, clear it up, and get it off the table. If you told them there was no girlfriend and they found out on their own, come clean.’
Bates wasn’t here for advice. He was here for information and ready to leave now.
‘You’ve got to slow it down,’ Raveneau said as they rode the elevator down. ‘You need to sit down with them.’
‘Bullshit, I do. All they want to do is charge me.’
Raveneau watched him get in his car. He was sure Bates had lied to the Oakland detectives about the girlfriend, and Bates was right, he didn’t have much time. The detectives were just days away from charging him.
THIRTY-ONE
When Raveneau met up with the China Basin realtor the braggadocio was gone, and listening to him, he got the feeling the owners of the building had come down hard on him. The Great Recession was yet to let up on real estate and Raveneau doubted the owners thought a homicide in their building was a selling point.
‘We’ve cleaned it up,’ the realtor said as if talking to a potential client. ‘Let me show you.’ Once inside, he toured Raveneau. ‘Look at this now. Imagine working here with that view of the bay. We’ve lowered the price, you know. Or maybe you don’t know that.’
Raveneau didn’t know. He looked across the water at Yerba Buena/Treasure Island. Plans had floated to build a new community, put up skyscrapers, casinos, build a mini-Hong Kong, or alternately a green community. But you heard little of that any more. The architects he knew were all looking for work or getting by on a lot less, and that’s what it looked like ahead, and what he figured we’d all do. Do more with less.
They had painted, re-carpeted, cleaned the windows, put in a new gate and exterior doors, added a video surveillance system, and gotten the power turned back on. The new video camera caught something last night the realtor