Monument to Murder - Margaret Truman [86]
They pressed Brixton for evidence to back up his belief that either Mitzi or Jeanine had stabbed the victim in the parking lot. He had few hard facts to offer and admitted that his allegation was based solely upon connecting a series of fuzzy dots. He summed up everything he knew—the photo in which Mitzi and Louise appeared; the detective’s pencil note on the back of his report indicating that he’d questioned Jeanine Montgomery; Detective Cleland’s doubts as to Louise’s truthfulness when she confessed; the folder in Jack Felker’s file drawer labeled “Watkins”; Ward Cardell’s reputation as a wheeler-dealer; and Willis Sayers’s comment that Cardell “owned” Jeanine Jamison’s father, Warren Montgomery. There were also the phone calls to the mother in which she was warned not to be stupid; the break-in to Brixton’s office shortly after having taken the case; the belief that he was being followed; and, of course, the question of why she had been shot to death on a Savannah street shortly after coming out of prison.
But most important, he told his hosts for the evening, he fervently believed Eunice Watkins.
“Everything you say makes sense,” Mac Smith said, “but it’s mostly supposition. I’d hate to go into court to try a case based on what you’ve got.”
“I know, I know,” Brixton agreed. “But I promised Louise Watkins’ mother that I’d do my damnedest to get the answers she’s looking for. Look, I’m not out to hurt Ms. Cardell or Mrs. Jamison. Hell, I know who they are. All I want is to be able to report back to Mrs. Watkins with conviction that her daughter didn’t stab the guy. That’s her main concern, not her daughter’s murder. The same goes for Louise’s brother, the reverend. It’s possible, isn’t it, that she was killed to keep her from telling someone that she hadn’t been the one with the knife that night?”
“Everything is possible,” said Smith. “But again, it’s flimsy.”
“I shouldn’t have wasted your time like this,” Brixton said, standing and leaning on the balcony railing. “I just thought that if I could spend a few minutes with Mtizi Cardell, ask her some questions, I’d have at least closed the circle, done everything I could.”
Smith joined him at the railing while Annabel removed their cups and dishes to the kitchen. “You want me to try and arrange a meeting with Mitzi,” he said.
“That’s what I was hoping,” Brixton responded. “I figured that since you knew her, were a close friend, she might listen to you.”
“I’d hardly call our friendship close, Robert. Mitzi Cardell knows hundreds, maybe thousands of people in this city. She’s made a career out of knowing people and entertaining them at her home. Annabel and I were her guests not long ago, just part of the pack. I have given her some off-the-record legal advice on a few matters but I’m not a practicing attorney. Let me ask you a question. Do you intend to accuse her of the crime?”
“No. I don’t know whether she did it or not. The same with Mrs. Jamison. All I want to ask is whether they were at Augie’s that night, see if she was with Louise Watkins and might remember the incident. Louise was convicted of manslaughter, got four years for it. I have to figure that the statute of limitations has run out in Georgia so it wouldn’t matter if Cardell or anyone else did admit to it.”
“Maybe not as a matter of law, Robert, but it sure would matter with her social standing. And there’s the question of the first lady’s possible involvement. You’re probably right about the statute of limitations. I can easily check on that in the morning.”
Annabel rejoined them. “Another cognac?” she asked.
“No, thanks,” Brixton said. “I’m already over my limit.” He turned to Mac. “Will you ask if she’ll see me?”
“I want to think about it some more, Robert. I’ll let you know tomorrow. If I do, I’ll have to tell her why you want to talk to her. I don’t want her blindsided.”
“Fair enough,” Brixton said.
“And I’d be surprised if she agreed to it. A final question, Robert. If what you say is validated, and you report back to the girl’s mother, what do you think she’ll do with the information?