Murder Inside the Beltway - Margaret Truman [104]
“Attila, the Hun,” Jackson filled in.
“I guess. So Rosie says that liberals are lousy lovers. Hatcher says he figures, but challenges her to back it up.”
“And she did.”
A nod this time, then a sad shaking of the head. “The minute she mentioned Colgate’s name, I wanted to crawl under the table.”
“Wait a minute. She specifically mentioned Governor Colgate as one of her johns?”
“She sure did.”
“What was Hatcher’s reaction?”
“Oh, he thought it was hysterical. He kept telling her she was full of it, that she didn’t have any clients like Colgate.”
“To keep her talking.”
“Right. He told her to prove it.”
“And she mentioned the tapes.”
“Yeah.”
Jackson swatted away a mosquito. “Did the topic ever come up again?”
“Not like that. He asked me about it once, whether I knew if Rosie really had tapes of clients.”
“You confirmed it?”
“I didn’t want to.”
“But you did.”
She started to cry. “Damn it,” she said, wiping her eyes with her knuckles. “Was she killed for those tapes?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t know. But I intend to find out.”
THIRTY-THREE
Jackson couldn’t wait to get back to the Rollins house to share with Mary what he’d learned from Micki. He arrived a little before eight and found her in the kitchen, doing dinner dishes with Sue Rollins. Her raised eyebrows said she wanted to hear about the meeting. He winked and raised his index finger; We’ll get to that, the gesture said.
Jerry Rollins was in the living room with the lead FBI special agent and Detective Bob Kloss.
“Enjoy your dinner?” Kloss asked.
“Oh, yeah, I did. Thanks for the time off. Nothing new here?”
“Afraid not. Mr. Rollins is reconsidering putting out a personal plea from him and his wife, maybe tomorrow or the day after.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Jackson said. “Am I back at the office with Mr. Rollins tomorrow?”
“Afraid you’re stuck with me again,” Rollins said pleasantly, “but I won’t be there for much of the day. Meetings.”
With Kevin Ziegler, Jackson thought.
Mary eventually joined them.
“Mr. Rollins showed me his pride and joy in the garage,” Jackson told her. “He’s got a beautiful Porsche out there.”
“Show her,” Rollins said.
“Want to see it?” Jackson asked.
Mary had no interest in cars, but realized that he was using it as an excuse to get away from the others. “Sure,” she said. “Love to.”
Rollins escorted them to the kitchen, where he pulled the car’s keys from a rack. “Start her up,” he told Jackson. “She really hums.”
Their appearance in the drive brought forth the usual couple of shouted questions from encamped reporters, which they ignored. Jackson turned on the garage’s interior lights and closed the door.
“Okay,” she said, “it’s a nice car. Now, what happened with Micki Simmons?”
“Lots,” he said, “but I’ll try and whittle it down. I must have let slip her name when I confronted Hatcher today in the locker room at Metro. Know what he does? He visits Micki this afternoon and threatens her, says that if she talks she’ll end up like Rosalie Curzon.”
“Talks about what?”
“About him shaking down Micki and Rosalie and who knows how many other hookers. That’s number one. He was getting protection money from them. Here’s number two: He knew about the tapes.”
“How?”
“Rosalie told him. She got drunk one night at Joe’s Bar and Grille where he used to meet them for his payoffs. Looks like the owner, Yankavich, was on Hatcher’s payroll, too. That explains why he hasn’t written up Yankavich as a suspect. Anyway, Rosalie lets spill that she taped some of her clients.”
“He knew about the tapes? When we were at the crime scene he acted like finding them was a big surprise.”
“He put on a good show. Not only did he know about the tapes, he knew that one of them contained footage of Rosalie with Governor Colgate.”
“Come on.”
“I’m serious.”
“So the rumors about Colgate and Rosalie are true.”
“Evidently.”
“And Hatcher knew about it.”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean he’s the one who took the tapes from her apartment?”
“I’d