Code 61 - Donald Harstad [108]
“Oh, sure. We all did.” I got the impression that she took it for granted that we had, as well. People give us credit at the damndest times.
“Really? All of you?” That surprised me.
“Oh, yeah.” She took a sip, too, using time the way I had. “Jessica and Tatiana, too, I assume. It's his pattern. After he does his thing, you know, with the sex and the blood, and the crystal meth, and all, he takes downers. Sleeps for at least twenty-four hours. It's a psych thing, I believe.” She took another drink. “He goes for a good twenty-four hours, and then sleeps for twenty-four or more.”
“He,” I asked, incredulous, “has twenty-four-hour orgies?”
She nodded, with a little smile, again. “Oh, yeah.”
“And his partner is with him the whole time?”
“Well,” she said, demurely, “he usually has more than one. You know, an appetizer, and then a main course, sort of.”
“Brother” was all I could say.
“Assuming Edie was the 'main course,' ” said Hester, “who might the appetizer have been?”
I think we both thought we were talking to the “appetizer.” Wrong again.
“Melissa, and I think maybe Hanna, too, this time. They both disappeared, off and on, and I didn't actually miss Edie for quite a while.”
“Oh.” Hester was beginning to sound as casual about this as Huck.
“And Melissa really looked beat when she turned up. Too much E, you know? Doubling up.”
“Ecstasy?”
“That's right. That or crystal meth. And whatever else he brought. Or did.” Huck shrugged. “And E always gives Hanna a migraine. Then she can't sleep for a week.”
“Poor dear,” said Hester.
“Yeah.” Huck asked if we needed anything else tonight. “I'm a little tired. Been a day, like I said.”
“You be all right up there?” I was concerned. I felt that Peale was gone by now, but if he was still up there and knew she had been talking to us, she was taking a real chance. In my estimation, anyway.
“Sure. No problem.” She made the “thumbs up” sign again. It was a little strange, as I thought that had gone out thirty years ago. Well, it had with me. Like they say, everything old is new again.
We asked Kevin and Melissa to come back the next day. They said they would, after the funeral. We watched them leave from the outer office.
When they had gone, I looked at Hester. “You believe her?”
“What part?”
“Well, I think she's probably fairly close to the truth with her personal history. Not sure about some of the rest.”
“You mean when she says she had sex with Dan, sex with Kevin, sounds like sex with Jessica, and was pimping for Dan Peale by bringing Alicia up to that big house? Yeah, I believe that part.” Hester sat on the edge of the secretaries' desk. “Yes. I'd say all that's probably pretty accurate, but maybe just a bit exaggerated?”
“Well, the scars were real.” I shrugged. “That's pretty compelling.”
“I think we'd better watch pretty carefully what she says about Dan Peale,” said Hester. “And reserve judgment. The best lie is ninety-nine percent true, like they say.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Chester, the Mighty Vampire Hunter, told me and Harry that the Renfield personality would have them covering up for their very own vampire. Lying for him.”
“There's a lot she's not telling.” Hester got up. “That's for sure. More coffee out there?”
“What do they see in this guy?” I asked, as we found our way to the kitchen.
“Similar to dope dealers,” she said. “He's got something they need. It's a trade-off, at least until it goes way too far.”
“Like protection or something?”
“Sure. That, and a sense of belonging. Of being somebody who means something. It isn't like he's going to abandon them.”
“Oh. But he can kill 'em?”
“That's going to be the critical question,” she said. “If he can convince them he was justified, or that it was a mistake … ”
TWENTY-THREE
Monday, October 9, 2000
20:38
Hester and I went over our plan of attack. First, we needed to get a warrant issued for Daniel Peale. We now had a home address, and could teletype