Page 119 of The Accomplice
‘How are you doing, Kate ?’ asked Lake.
‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘I’m getting better and better. It takes time, you know ?’
Lake nodded, said, ‘If you ever want to talk to a professional, I know some good people.’
‘Thank you. I’ll see how it goes, for now.’
Taking the spare glass, Harry poured a large measure and put it in front of Lake and said, ‘Here, take a drink, why don’t you.’
‘I’m not a big drinker,’ said Lake.
‘Neither am I,’ said Harry, draining his glass and pouring another.
Lake stared at the drink in front of him.
‘It’s entirely ethically sourced,’ said Harry. ‘It’s made in Kentucky and it’s really, really bad for you. Drink up.’
Lake said cheers, and they all acknowledged him. He took a sip of the bourbon and was surprised how smooth it tasted.
‘Here comes Denise,’ said Eddie.
He turned and saw Denise walk up to their table. She took off her coat and Eddie fetched another seat. A brown envelope stuck out from her bag. She gave it to Eddie, who thanked her and placed it on the table in front of Lake.
‘This is for you,’ said Eddie. ‘You earned it.’
Lake waved a hand, said, ‘That’s not necessary. I didn’t do this for money, I—’
‘We know,’ said Eddie. ‘I never said you asked to be paid, I said you earned it. Now take it, or I might be offended.’
Lake opened the envelope. Inside was a check made out to Gabriel Lake for two-hundred thousand dollars. He stared at it for what seemed like a long time. He had never had money like that before in his life. He read the check again. Checked the spelling of his name. Checked the amount.
The scotch tape holding his jacket together started to come away.
‘Take it,’ said Bloch. ‘Get a new suit. Just make sure it’s not double-breasted and you don’t have to button it.’
Lake nodded.
The others looked at Bloch, quizzically, not getting the reference. Lake didn’t have any friends. And he never really had a good enough friend to share a private joke.
Bloch smiled at him.
Right then, it felt good to be here among this crowd. They were good people. He liked them. He liked being around them. And they were smart, too.
He put the envelope in his pocket, and thanked Eddie and Kate.
‘I feel bad taking this, there’s still so much to clear up.’
‘Carrie Miller paid her legal bill. You earned some of that. Otto was the Sandman and he’s dead. What else is there ?’ asked Harry.
‘Well, we know some of Carrie’s diary was obviously true. Giving the bad alibi. I can buy that completely. I can see Daniel, the Wall Street guy, just dropping a white lie to the cops to take himself out of what could be a lengthy investigation, plus he didn’t want to tell the cops he wasn’t at home, he was really out having an affair. And Otto got Carrie to lie about her husband giving her the jewelry and then disappearing. She was vulnerable. Otto was a lawyer, and he was telling her she could go to jail. But I don’t know the real link between Otto and Stacy Nielsen.’
‘Why is that important ?’ asked Harry.
‘The deadbolts on the back door of her house,’ said Bloch. ‘Only someone who had been inside the Nielsen house would know they were there. Peltier didn’t even try the back door. He went in the front.’
‘Wasn’t it that they ran in the same circles ? I remember Otto saying something like that on the stand. The Nielsens were socialites. They probably met at a party,’ said Eddie.
‘Probably, but Peltier was lying his ass off on the witness stand, denying everything after Carrie sold him out. Maybe he knew Stacy some other way. I know Seong is re-examining every murder to look for links between the victims and Peltier. I don’t know, I just have a feeling that if we knew the exact link between Peltier and Stacy Nielsen it might open up the whole thing. It might help to establish if there is a link to any of the other victims. Could be she was the only victim known to him.’
