The Big Gamble - Michael Mcgarrity [116]
“Not that I know of.”
“How was the situation resolved?”
“When Jack rejected her advances, she mutilated herself with a knife by cutting her arms and then called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. The doctors diagnosed her as a borderline personality. Jack paid for her medical care, sorted out her disability benefits, and got her into a group home for mentally ill adults. She met another patient there and fell in love with him. They’ve been living together ever since they moved out of the group home.”
“How do you know all this?” Kerney asked.
“Partially from Jack, but Mary Beth’s lover is my new gardener. I’ve only employed him for a couple of months. His name is Kurt Larsen. He’s much older than Mary Beth and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.”
“Where can I find Mary Beth?”
“They live in an apartment complex run by a mental health clinic.”
“I know the place,” Kerney said.
“I’m sure you do.”
“Tell me about Larsen.”
“Kurt is quiet but pleasant, except when something triggers his war experiences. Then he becomes agitated, out of sorts, and drinks heavily. When he comes to work sullen and hungover I always know that he’s had one of his episodes. He’s a Vietnam veteran, an ex-marine.”
“You’ve been very helpful, Fletcher,” Kerney said as he went to the sink and rinsed out his coffee cup.
“I’d like to say it’s always a pleasure to assist the police,” Fletcher replied with a rueful smile. “But this is so very sad. I must do something to help Norman get through this.”
Kerney nodded in agreement. “I may need to talk to you about this again.”
“Of course, as you wish. But you can’t just jump up and leave until you agree to bring your lovely wife here for dinner. I think it would be best to do it before the baby arrives and you both become totally preoccupied with the exhausting tasks of parenthood. Are you free Friday night?”
“That should work,” Kerney said.
“You must promise not to be called away on some pressing police matter.”
“I’m on vacation.”
Fletcher raised an eyebrow. “Really? One would hardly know it.”
Kerney laughed. “No police business, I promise.”
“Perfect. I’ll pull out my cookbooks and start menu planning. We’ll have a grand feast.”
“As always,” Kerney said.
“Neither Mary Beth nor Kurt strikes me as a killer,” Fletcher said.
“Killers come in all flavors,” Kerney said as he patted Fletcher on the shoulder and left to the soft sounds of Beethoven.
In his unit, he got on the horn to Sal Molina and gave him the rundown on Mary Beth Patterson and Kurt Larsen.
“Well, at least now we’ve got something to follow up on,” Molina said.
“No luck at the crime scene?” Kerney asked.
“Not so far,” Sal replied.
Kerney arrived home to find Sara waiting expectantly for him. Their first day of vacation together was to have started with a visit to the construction site of their new house. Up to now, Sara had only seen the photographs Kerney had taken and mailed off to her. Last night she’d been excited and eager to see it first-hand. But their early morning spat had left Sara less than enthusiastic. She nodded curtly when he asked if she was ready to go, walked quickly to his pickup truck, then sat looking straight ahead and said nothing as he wheeled out of the driveway. Feeling guilty about the squabble, Kerney matched Sara’s silence with his own.
Halfway through the drive, Sara looked at her hands, twisted her wedding ring with her thumb, and asked about the homicide.
Kerney gave her a brief summary. “It could be a tough one to solve,” he said in conclusion.
“You were so long getting back, I thought you had abandoned our plans for the morning,” Sara said.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Kerney replied. “I stopped by to talk to Fletcher. He had some interesting information about Jack Potter that might prove helpful.”
“You could’ve sent a detective to meet with Fletcher,” she said flatly, her eyes still fixed on the road ahead.
“Yes, but I wanted to cool down a bit,” Kerney said.
“Besides, seeing Fletcher got us a dinner invitation to his house for Friday night.”
“If we’re talking to each