Look Again - Lisa Scottoline [103]
She sank deeper into her chair. She had set out to find the truth, and she had her truth. She’d have to give Will up, when the time came. She understood it on an intellectual level, but couldn’t begin to let herself feel it. That would come later, after she finally handed him over. Then she could lose it, after she knew he was alive and well. Healthy, again. She heard a noise and looked up.
The doors of the emergency room whooshed open, and through the glass she could see Bill Braverman, his sport coat bloodied, entering with Officer Halbert and another cop. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as they spotted her, then came into the waiting room.
“Ms. Gleeson?” Officer Halbert’s smile was wearier than earlier. “How’s your son?”
“Not sure yet.”
“The docs here are great, you’ll see.” Officer Halbert pulled up a chair opposite her, while the other cop took a seat to the side. Bill Braverman sat with them, glaring at her. His eyes flashed with hostility, and his mouth became a straight line. He had probably gotten the blood on his coat holding Carol, and Ellen couldn’t help meeting his eye.
“I’m so sorry about your wife,” she said to him.
“Thank you,” Bill answered, hoarsely, but his dark eyes, puffy and red, didn’t soften. “I’d like an explanation from you.”
Officer Halbert raised a hand. “Mr. Braverman, we’ll get her statement later, as I told you.”
“I’d like to know now,” Bill shot back. “She’s sitting here, my son is in the hospital, and my wife is dead. I want to know what happened.”
“That’s not our procedure, Mr. Braverman.”
“Ask me if I care about your procedure.”
Officer Halbert was about to reply when Ellen raised a hand.
“It’s okay,” she said. “He has a right to know and there’s no reason to stand on formality.”
Halbert pursed his lips. “We’ll still need your statement. Later.”
“Fine.” Ellen took a deep breath and shifted in her chair to face Bill. “It all started with a white card I got in the mail, about a kidnapped boy.” She filled them in on what she’d figured out about Amy Martin and Rob Moore while Officer Halbert took notes, and she brought them up to date, telling them how she’d rushed home tonight. “I was worried that Moore might come after Will and me, and I was trying to get us out when he showed up.”
Officer Halbert broke in, “We were wondering, how did Rob Moore get into your house? There was no sign of forced entry.”
“I think the back door was left open. The cat goes in and out a lot, and we leave it unlocked sometimes. It’s Narberth, after all.”
“I hear that.” Officer Halbert smiled. “We’ve never had a murder in the borough.”
“Now you have two,” Bill interjected, but Officer Halbert continued:
“If I may get a few things out of the way, did Moore attempt to rob you?”
“No, he was there to kill me and Will. He had us taped up and was pouring gasoline over my son.”
“We saw the plastic jug.” Halbert checked his pad. “Now, can you tell us what happened earlier, when Carol Braverman came over?”
Bill said, “Yes, do tell.”
Ellen nodded, suddenly shaky. She hated him to find out this way, but it couldn’t be helped. “Well, evidently, they had planned to kidnap the baby together. Carol paid Moore to do it.”
Bill reddened. “What?”
“It’s true.”
“The hell it is!”
“I swear it—”
“How do you know?”
“Carol said so. She said Moore was supposed to give the baby back but he didn’t. That she had gambling debts and had to use her son’s trust fund to pay them off.”
“That’s not possible!” Bill shot back, and Officer Halbert looked over at him, but didn’t say anything.
Ellen said, “I was surprised, too, but she did. Moore said it was all her idea.”
“How would she even know Moore? There’s no way she knew such trash.”
Ellen thought a minute, remembering the ugly scene, her stomach tense. “She said they met at a casino. Miccosukee, I think they said. Does that name mean anything to you?”
Bill blinked.
“What is Miccosukee?” Halbert interjected.
“It’s a casino,