A Killing in China Basin - Kirk Russell [98]
‘Let me tell you why we’re here,’ Raveneau said.
He let several seconds go by before continuing and Lafaye interrupted his timing, saying, ‘Oh, I’m such a terrible host. All I’ve made is tea. Would you like some coffee? Isn’t that what homicide inspectors drink? And what else do you serve at the homicide detail, soda pop, water? What can I get you?’
‘You can ease up a little,’ Raveneau said, ‘we weren’t expecting lunch. We’re here to talk with you about some things we’ve learned after going through files. We got a lot of information, including emails relating to his search for Erin Quinn.’
‘How exciting, but will any of it matter if he dies?’
‘We think so. Under one of his email identities he corresponded with you. Both of you were using aliases but he’d figured out who you were.’
‘Well, obviously, Inspector, if he lured me to his boat.’
‘How do you you think he discovered who you really were?’
‘I’ll never be able to give you that answer.’
‘Did he learn about your Erin Quinn identity and work backwards?’
She gave the smallest shrug and sipped tea.
‘Now we’re behind the third firewall and reading more emails.’
He paused again. Whether or not she knew it was Stoltz she was talking to in the chat rooms, she had certainly learned it on the boat. She wouldn’t say what had lured her to the boat, but he must have had something she wanted. And Raveneau suspected a shared search for Quinn, and that to get her to the marina and on the boat he either offered something or threatened her in some way. If it was a bodily threat then they would have heard about it by now, and if the threat was as Lafaye had suggested earlier – to reveal to the media that she had a false identity that she used in foreign countries and that was going to somehow create a scandal – Raveneau wasn’t buying. He doubted anyone would fault her, given what she was doing.
Lafaye leaned forward now, as if to speak in confidence.
‘All he wanted was a way to find the real Erin Quinn and I couldn’t give him that.’
‘You did give him that. You led him to her.’
‘Excuse me.’
‘You told him about the meeting at Lake Merced and he met her instead of you.’
‘Oh, please, this is like a B movie. I didn’t collude with that monster.’
‘How else could Cody Stoltz know to be at Lake Merced at three in the afternoon? Maybe you were on the boat, maybe you were scared and he forced it from you, but he learned it from you.’
‘Now I’m losing patience.’
‘Or maybe you made a deal with him and he dropped you near the shore and you swam in.’
‘I made the swim I told you about and he tried to run me over with the boat. You can believe that or not believe it, I really don’t care. Why don’t you ask the doctors if I really had hypothermia?’
‘You need to come clean with us on this.’
‘Then I’ll feel much better, right? Nothing will change but I’ll feel better to get the burden off my soul and more to the point, your case will be tidied up. What did the lovely Ms Quinn tell you about a meeting? Obviously, not much, or you wouldn’t be here. What else did you find behind the mythical third firewall?’
Lafaye tapped out another cigarette from the pack on the table. She glanced at la Rosa and said, ‘You were good on TV last night. If you get tired of working murder cases come see me, because you can bullshit with the best of them. Anyone watching last night would have thought the case was solved. I guess it’s not.’ She lit the cigarette and nodded toward Raveneau. ‘You’re so lucky to be learning at his knee. Is there anything else before we end this?’
‘There is,’ Raveneau said, ‘we don’t want you to make any travel plans.’
‘Really, Ben, that’s a little vindictive, isn’t it? I think you’re trying to tie things up a little too neatly. You’ve already got enough to satisfy everyone.’
Raveneau leaned toward her. ‘Here’s my big problem. We happened to follow Quinn to Lake Merced. We could just as easily not have. If we hadn’t, Stoltz would have taken her and probably not been apprehended.