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“They have to know someone that could fence, or wants to buy, some very expensive and rare antiques and art,” I said.
He nodded. “Good point. Okay, so either way, we think Muriel and Todd are in it somewhere?”
“Yeah, I like them for it, either as the murderers on their own or in a conspiracy with Jocelyn, because unless Bobby is dead or guilty of the murder, then he still inherits the majority of the fortune.”
“Killing Ray only ever really benefited Bobby,” he said.
“Yeah, which gives him another motive,” I said.
Newman shook his head. “Don’t say that, Blake. We’re too close to saving his life.”
I couldn’t argue, but I also knew that even finding the murder weapon in Muriel’s purse wouldn’t take Bobby’s name off the warrant of execution, and it sure as hell wouldn’t put a new name on it. This case was so not what the warrant system had been designed to handle. I wasn’t sure there was a legal way to void a warrant once issued. You could only change the target, not the intent, but if it was all humans involved in the murder, then what? I actually didn’t know. Maybe we could solve a murder, save a life, and make new case law all in one fell swoop.
67
THE MARCHAND-BABINGTONS or the Babingtons, whichever, lived in a McMansion in a neighborhood of them. Each minimansion might have been beautiful on its own with a sweep of landscaped garden leading up to it. But stuck-on postage-stamp yards with the usual unimaginative suburban landscaping made the houses look out of place, like the house equivalent of trying to fit into a dress that was too small for you. Just because you could didn’t mean you should.
There were so many of the bright blue state trooper cars that they spilled out the driveway and took up one side of the road; it looked like someone had sewn a blue border in front of every green yard on that side of the street. Newman had to pull into a driveway past the address and turn around; he finally parked close to the entrance to the subdivision. As we got out of Newman’s Jeep, I caught a glimpse of Nicky and Ethan driving by the subdivision entrance.
Newman noticed them, too. “I didn’t see them behind us until now.”
“Like we said, they’re good.”
He just nodded, and we turned to start the hike toward the house. Olaf and Edward went past us, then stopped in the middle of the street and waited for us to catch up to them.
Olaf rolled down his window since we were on the driver’s side. “Should we just park here?”
“There’s no parking left farther up,” I said.
He closed his window and backed up without another word, tucking his SUV behind Newman’s. We waited beside one of the few unmarked tan cars in the line of blue. Unmarked wasn’t exactly accurate since the passenger-side door was marked with the Michigan State Police insignia. At least it wasn’t their trademark blue and was missing the big red light on top and the shark fin with its bold STOP on it. I wondered if all their “unmarked” cars were tan. I hoped not. Working in unmarked vehicles would have been hard enough with a big badge on one door; all the cars being the same color would have made the job harder.
Edward fell in beside me on the other side of Newman as we started walking back up the street toward the house we were supposed to be searching. Olaf was on the other side of Edward, but there was a flare of power from him like an invisible swat from his lion. It made me stumble a little.
“You okay?” Edward asked.
I nodded. “I just need a word with Otto, that’s all. You and Newman go ahead of us.”
I hoped that let him know that whatever I needed to say wasn’t Newman-safe and he should please distract our newbie. Edward gave a slight nod and continued up the street, talking in his best Ted voice to Newman. I couldn’t understand the words, but I knew the rhythm of his Ted patter.
“I did not mean for that to happen,” Olaf said as soon as we had privacy.
“Why did it happen? Your control is admirable.”
“It is, and I have no excuse for losing that much control.”
“Then what happened, Olaf?” I asked, and stopped walking so that I could give him better eye contact. Yes, we were both wearing sunglasses, so that eye contact was more figurative than real, but at least I could look at him rather than at the ground or the surroundings.
“I wanted to be next to you, but it seemed . . . unprofessional to force Newman to move.”
I blinked at Olaf, happy that he couldn’t see my eyes. “You must have felt very strongly about it for you to lose control like that.”
“You make me weak, Anita.”
“I don’t make you anything, Olaf . . . Otto. Your feelings for me may make you feel weak, but I don’t control your feelings. That’s on you.”
“You are right, of course, but it is so much easier to blame the object of your desire for the desire rather than owning that it is all in your own head and heart. If I desired only your body, I would have taken it by now.” He held up a hand, because my reaction to the comment must have shown on my face. “I would have tried, and you and Edward would have tried to stop me. I know. What I meant to say is that if all I wanted was sex and power over you, it would be easier from my perspective, but I want you to like me, to want me. For the first time I am at the mercy of a woman in the way that I have disdained in other men. What made me lose control of my beast for that second was that you did not look at me at all. You looked at Ed . . . Ted, but you did not see me as I saw you. In that moment I wanted to hurt you rather than feel like that.”
I didn’t know what to say. It was one of the most honest things that any man had ever said to me, and that it was coming from Olaf just threw me. I finally went for the truth. “You keep surprising me with your honesty, Otto. I mean, seriously, I appreciate it. “
