Page 149 of One of Us Is Guilty

‘Are you alright?’ he repeated, slower this time.

‘No, but I’m a lot better than I’ve any right to be. I was lucky. Jesus, I was so lucky.’

‘What’s the mound of soil?’

‘Judging by the size of it, I think I’ve found Detective Ben Larkin.’

62

Eddie

‘We’re here,’ said Kennedy.

I must have dozed off on the highway in the back of the SUV. Looking around, I saw we were outside the Center Street Courthouse and the sun was up. Staring at my watch, I couldn’t make out the time. Either my brain or my eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to consciousness.

‘What time is it?’ I asked.

‘Eight thirty-five,’ he said. ‘You’re not seriously going into court?’

‘No choice. Don’t worry. I called ahead for fresh clothes,’ I said as I saw Harry with a suit bag in his hand coming toward the car. I looked down, saw the mud on my pants and the blood on my shirt.

‘It’s not your outfit I’m worried about. You should have gone to hospital for a CT scan and some real stitches in that head wound.’

‘The paramedic put some paper stitches on it. It’s fine.’

‘It’s still bleeding.’

‘I’m okay,’ I said, and as I undid my seat belt another shot of pain went through my skull. ‘Thank you, Bill. I mean it.’

‘You don’t have to thank me. Just get checked out when this is all over, okay?’

‘I will,’ I said, with no intention of getting checked out. I’d taken enough blows to the head in the ring, and in life, to know when Ineeded to be worried. I probably had a mild concussion, but feeling around my head I was pretty sure I didn’t have a skull fracture. I was alive, and for now that felt like a win.

I thanked Bill again, got out of the car and stood facing Harry Ford.

‘You look like shit,’ he said.

‘I feel a lot worse.’

He dropped the suit bag on the sidewalk and hugged me. ‘After this we should take a long vacation. Go somewhere warm, with a beach and a bar. Forget about this city. Maybe forever.’

‘That sounds good to me,’ I said.

‘If you want, we could get drunk in that beach bar. Maybe even get arrested, just for old times’ sake.’

‘Is everyone here safely?’ I asked as he let me go.

‘Lake got Vanessa and me here in an Uber. The exhaust and the rear axle fell off the Aztek this morning. Bloch is inside already. She says she’s got something you’ll like.’

When I lifted my head out of the sink in the men’s bathroom on the eighth floor of the courthouse, the water was a dirty, reddish brown. I used my shirt from the night before to dry my face and chest, then dabbed my hair dry, carefully. The cut was really stinging now.

I wore a fresh pair of pants and shoes, and I was already feeling a little better.

Bloch handed me a clean shirt. I slipped it over my shoulders.

‘Raymond’s DNA analysis report has been handed in to the DA and the court, along with his video of the painters at the Hamptons house,’ she said.

Harry was already in court with Vanessa and Lake. The case was due to start in ten minutes. He was going to hold the fort while I got ready.