Hour Game

"Sally? Why were you with him?" King asked pointedly.

"We'd gotten to know each other when he worked at the Battles'. We… we were both lonely, I guess."

"You were having an affair with Junior?"

"It's not like that, not at all!" she answered hotly.

"Then tell me what itwas like," said King calmly.

"We were just friends. At first. I mean, well." She put down the teacup and leaned forward. "He'd told me he was going to be working at the house all night. His wife had the night off and was with the kids. I went there, seduced him, and we had sex. There. That's it. I told you."

"Youseducedhim?"

She looked offended. "I'm not always dressed in jeans and covered with horseshit, Sean. I clean up pretty damn well. He was surprised when I showed up there, of course. But I made it clear to him what I was after."

"But I thought Junior really loved Lulu."

"He did, but he's a man after all and I was wearing next to nothing and my offer was pretty tough to refuse. I just wanted sex, no questions and no commitments. And from what he told me, Lulu hadn't been paying him much attention for quite a while. Worked long hours at that club."

"So you found Junior ready, willing and able?"

"Let's put it this way: he wouldn't have been physically capable of committing that burglary. Hell, I could barely walk when it was over."

King put up a hand. "Okay, okay, I don't need any more details."

Sally rubbed her eyes. "The thing is, I really liked him. I know he was big and tough-looking, but he was really a sweet guy underneath."

"Why didn't you come forward when Junior was arrested for the burglary?"

"He wouldn't let me! He said he'd rather go to jail than let Lulu find out."

"Okay, I guess I can see that. What else?"

"That's it. I snuck away from the Battle funeral to say my good-byes over Junior's grave. I didn't think anyone had seen me." She looked down at the table. "Will all this have to come out?"

"Maybe not, now that Junior's dead and Remmy is convinced of his i

"He did love her, Sean; I was just a onetime fling, that's all." She added in a very small voice, "I guess that's all I ever am."

After Sally had left, King thought about calling Michelle but decided to let it wait until morning. It had been a long day. He went to bed.

Outside the houseboat the man had watched Sally leave. He had used the listening device he'd planted to hear the entire conversation between the two. He looked up at the houseboat as the last light was extinguished there. He'd wait until Sean King was fully asleep, and then he was going to pay him one final visit.

CHAPTER 67

MICHELLE HAD DRIVEN HOME, done some kickboxing on the heavy bag hanging in her basement, put away some laundry and actually cleaned her kitchen. After that she showered and was thinking about going to bed but had grown very restless. Her mind kept returning to the murders. Was there something they were overlooking? King had suggested that Mrs. Ca

Her head buzzing, she decided to go for a drive; that always helped her think more clearly. Her route took her past her and King's office. She parked and went inside, figuring she'd go over her voluminous notes on the investigation she kept in her desk to see if anything clicked.

As she passed through the small office foyer, she saw some telephone messages on the part-time receptionist's desk. There was one for King from a Billy Edwards. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. The area code was from the Los Angeles area. It was still early enough there, she decided. One thing that a

"Billy Edwards?"

"That's right. Who's this?"

"Michelle Maxwell. I'm partners with Sean King in Wrightsburg, Virginia. I believe he called you?"

"That's right. I was just getting back to him."

"He's out right now and asked me to return the call."

"Fine with me. So what do you want to know about the time I worked at the Battles'?"

Now the name clicked. Billy Edwards was the mechanic for Bobby Battle's classic car collection. He'd been let go the day after Bobby and Remmy's argument, the one Sally Wainwright had overheard.

"That's right," Michelle said quickly. "We understand you were let go very abruptly."

Edwards laughed. "Try thrown out on my ass with no warning."

"By Bobby Battle?"

"The one and only. I heard on the news that he died. Is that right?"

"Yes. Did he give any reason for letting you go?"

"Nope. But he didn't have to. It didn't have anything to do with my work, I know that. Now, I admit I was pissed with how it was handled, but the man treated me good. Paid me a nice severance and wrote a damn fine reference that helped me get another job pretty quick out in Ohio working for another rich guy with a car collection bigger than Battle 's."

"Good for you. Now, we understand that the night before you were let go he and Mrs. Battle had an argument in the car barn."

"Remmy Battle, now, there's a real piece of work. Let me tell you, those two were equally matched, like Godzilla butting heads with King Kong."

"Agreed. But did you know anything about an argument?"

"No. How'd you find out about it?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, it's confidential."

"Uh-huh. I bet you it was Sally Wainwright, wasn't it?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she liked going down there and hanging out by herself. Of course she'd go down there with me sometimes too," he added with a chuckle. "Oh, yeah, we had some good times together, me and Sally."

"So you two were… seeing each other."

"No. It was just messing around. She was wild, let me tell you. If Battle had known what we'd done inside some of his vehicles…"

"Really?"

"Hell, yes. But I wasn't the only one."

"Who else?"

"Is Mason still working there?"

"Yes."

"Well, there you go."

Michelle couldn't hide her astonishment. "Mason was sleeping with Sally?"

"At least that's what she said." He added, "I never personally saw them doing it. But she's a pretty girl. I probably shouldn't be saying this to a woman, but you all live in the same house together, you know, things happen. You see her ru

"I get the picture. Anyone else?"

"Probably, but I don't have names for you."

"Sally said that Bobby had just pulled in driving the Rolls-Royce when he and Remmy got into their argument."

"The Rolls? It was a beauty. Only something like five in the whole world. Did he end up getting rid of it?"

"Apparently, he did so the very next day."

"I thought he would."

Michelle stiffened. "Why do you say that?"

"The morning I got ca

Michelle, however, was as taut as a strung bow. "So what did you do?"

"I wanted to take one last look at it. Pulled the cover off and sat in it, pretending it was mine."

"Right, right," said Michelle impatiently. "But why did you think Battle was going to get rid of the car?"

"Because when I was covering it back up, I noticed that the left front fender was dented and one of the headlights had been cracked. It had to have happened the night before because I'd just checked the car that afternoon and it was fine. It wasn't all that much damage really, but a car like that you're talking thousands of dollars in repairs. And you can't get parts for a vehicle like that anymore. It was a real shame. I guess Battle hit something and was pissed off. The guy hated anything to be out of sync. He used to come down to the barn and ream me if he found oil on the floor or a license plate hung crooked. It probably made him sick to see the damage on that Rolls. If he couldn't fix it just right, he'd get rid of it. Just the way the man was."