Innocent In Death

“You both knew Rayleen had been up some time before she came in to wake you.”

“She-”

“You decided it was an accident-what parent wouldn’t? That he’d tripped and she’d gone into shock and denial. You put all the pieces of him out of sight because she got upset if she saw them. More, if she saw either you or her mother looking at them.”

“For God’s sake, for God’s sake. She was seven. You can’t believe-”

“I can. Look at your wife, Oliver. Does she deserve what was done to her? Take out the picture of your son again. Did he? She took these lives without a quibble. I have a rock-solid case, which includes her buying a go-cup with Craig’s name engraved on it.”

“What? What?” He fisted both hands in his hair, all but tore at it.

“I have a wit,” Eve continued, relentlessly. “The clerk who waited on Rayleen, and who’s already identified her photo. Cora verifies they stopped in to that particular store on that particular day at Rayleen’s request.

“I have a statement from her great-aunt, Quella Harmon, verifying she had interest in and knowledge of how ricin was made. Don’t even think of saying circumstantial to me,” she snapped.

Kick him and keep kicking him while he’s down, she thought. It’s the only way.

“In her own words, Oliver.” She leaned over to pick up the pages he’d dropped. “In her own words she writes how she decided to kill her mother, how she left Allika to die while she herself went to make a snack, to listen to music. She did this without a single twinge of regret.”

“I can’t…You can’t expect me to believe.”

“You already believe, in that place inside you. That’s what’s making you sick. But you’re going to have to suck it in, because I’m going to tell you what’s going to be done. And…look at me, Oliver. Look at me.”

His eyes were glazed over with shock and unspeakable pain when they met hers. “She wrote it down,” he said dully. “She wrote it down while Allika was…”

“That’s right. Allika was a barrier, like Trevor was.” Use their names, Eve thought. “Allika and Trev stood in the way of something she wanted, so sheremoved them.”

“She’s my daughter, she’s my child. She’s…”

“I’m going to make you a deal right here. You and me. If I don’t prove to you that everything I’ve told you is true, I won’t fight any attempt to try her as a minor instead of an adult.”

“She’s ten years old. She’s only ten.”

“Multiple premeditated murders. She gets legal adult status, unless I pull it out of the mix. That’s the deal. I prove to you that she put your wife-that she put Allika in that hospital bed, with a machine breathing for her, I prove she pushed Trevor down the stairs on fucking Christmas morning, that she did Foster and Williams and some sick old lady in a nursing home. All of it. Without a shadow of a doubt. If I don’t, you’ll have ammo to break down my case. That’s the deal. Take it, or I take her down now.”

Rayleen was in the CCU family room, drawing. When Eve stepped in, she stopped, let her eyes swim with shining tears. “My mommy-”

Eve closed the doors behind her. “I know the doctor who’s been working on her. She thinks your mother’s going to pull through this.”

She wandered over to the counter. Hospital coffee was nearly as lethal as cop coffee. But it would make a nice prop. Eve poured a cup, turned. “Not such good news for you, Ray.”

“What?”

“Just you and me, Ray. Door’s shut.” Eve pulled off her jacket, turned. I’m not wearing a wire. Here’s my recorder.” She unpi

Eve sat down, stretched out her legs, sipped at the coffee. Maybe hospital coffee was, actually, worse than cop coffee. “I’ve come across some tricky ones, but I have to say, you’re the trickiest. Even if your mother comes out of it, she’s not going to point the finger at you. Still, it must’ve pissed you off when Cora came back and found her before it was finished.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.” The tears spilled out now. “You’re so mean.”

“Oh, come on. I don’t scare you. You know I’ve got zip. I’ll give you better.” Eve shrugged, chanced another sip. “My commander and the house shrink think I’m full of it. Maybe tipping over the edge myself because I tried to sell them on you. I value my career, kid. I’m not going to toss it away on this. I’m done. The investigation will remain open for a while, then we’ll move it to inactive. Then to cold.”

She leaned forward. “I’m not having the brass and the shrinks looking over my shoulder because of you, screwing up my very excellent chances for promotion over you. I’m riding a wave right now. Icove, the black-market baby bust. Big, juicy cases I closed. I can afford to let this one slide.”

Rayleen tilted her head. “You can lie in an interview with a suspect.”

“Yeah. But I can’t even hold an interview with a minor suspect without parental permission. So, officially, I’m not even here.”

Rayleen went back to drawing. “Why are you here? I can go to my daddy right now, and you’ll be in trouble.”

“Shit. I just came in to see how you were doing, no reason for him to think otherwise. If you make a stink about it, he’s going to wonder why I’d hassle you. Yeah.” Eve smiled, set the hideous coffee aside. “Why don’t you do that, Ray? He might start thinking how your mother wouldn’t have done herself with you alone with her in the apartment. Go ahead and get him. Last I saw him he was sitting beside your mother’s bed.”

“He shouldn’t have left me alone. He should be with me. When she dies-”

“If. It’s still if. ” Playfully, Eve wagged a finger. “Don’t count your chickens, kid. I could hang the two murders on her, and maybe make it stick. But I’m not quite as practical as you are. I like to close cases, but doing that would stick in my craw. So…it goes cold.”

“You’re just giving up?”

“It’s what we call ‘knowing when to fold.’ A couple of teachers aren’t going to get much more screen play anyway.” Casually, Eve crossed her ankles. “I can figure out how you did your mother. Can’t prove it, but I can get how you played it. You made the tea, you put in the pills. Did she know?”

Rayleen shrugged. “My mother tried to kill herself, and it’s terrible. I could be scarred for life. Daddy and I are going to need to go on a long trip, just the two of us, so I can adjust.”

“Then why’d she call you home first? Why did your mother call you back instead of just taking the pills while she was alone?”

“I guess she wanted to say good-bye.” Rayleen lifted her gaze, fluttered her lashes. And was smiling just a little as she worked up a tear. “She loved me more than anything.”

Already using past tense, Eve noted. Allika was gone in Rayleen’s mind. “That could work,” Eve agreed. “Come on, Ray, it must be infuriating for a smart girl like you not to be able to share what you can do with anyone else. I know about taking a life from both sides of it. You’ve got me cold, tied my hands. You win; I lose. But goddamn it, I’m curious.”

“You use very bad language. In my house, we don’t approve of bad language.”

“Screw that,” Eve said, and made Rayleen giggle. “Why’d you do Foster? I can, again, work out the how. You got the ricin from somewhere. Can’t track that, either, but you got it, dumped it in his thermos.”

“It’s called a go-cup,” Rayleen said primly.

“Right. You walked in when he had the outside class upstairs, doctored the drink. Then you got your friend to go down to class a few minutes early, so you could find him. Slick.”

“If you were right, you still wouldn’t beall right. You don’t know everything.”

“No, you got me. Why would you kill him? Did he try to hurt you? Did he try some sort of abuse? Touch you?”

“Please. That’s disgusting.”

“I’m not going to buy it was just a whim. You went to too much trouble, pla