“Cummins was a judge. Judges do make enemies.”
“That’s true.”
“But she wasn’t receiving threats. She just used that to disguise the real reason Draymont was over there. Why would she feel the need to do that?”
“Maybe she was afraid of someone’s finding out,” said Kline.
“Other things being equal, that might also point to the stalker ex-husband,” interjected White.
Kline eyed White, blew out a final mouthful of smoke, and stabbed out her cigarette.
“I guess that makes sense, but, again, I never would have figured Barry as the violent type.”
“Did they ever have fights?” asked Decker.
“What couple doesn’t? But nothing bad. Hell, my ex and me? We’d light up the neighborhood. I could never hear Barry and Julia going at it. Julia would always talk to me later about it, though. And Barry always backed down, usually because Julia was right and had the facts to back her up. At least that’s what she told me.”
“How about the Perlmans? They seem pretty compatible.”
“Yeah, they get along fine. Most second marriages do. You figure it out by then, and even if you haven’t you don’t have the energy or lungs to scream like you used to.”
“Maybe I should think about getting married again, then,” quipped White.
Kline eyed her. “Honey, I would advise against it unless you’re damn sure, and what woman really is?”
“True, we met one recently who thought she had Prince Charming in a bottle, only to find out it was Pandora’s Box.”
“Did she manage not to open the box?” asked Kline.
White eyed Decker and smiled. “Yes, with a little help from a good Samaritan.”
“So is Barry going to prison over this?”
“He could,” said Decker. “Unless we find another plausible theory.”
Kline shook her head. “That means Tyler will have lost both parents. Poor kid.”
“He believes in his father’s innocence, although he’s clearly not happy with Barry’s drinking and lifestyle.”
“Barry’s all he has left. That’s pretty scary for a kid.”
“Yes, it is,” said Decker, rising to leave.
*
Later, back at the hotel, White rapped on Decker’s door. When he opened it she looked triumphant.
“We got a hit on the Slovakian currency purchase,” she told him.
“That was fast.”
“Sometimes the good guys get lucky. And the Bureau has a team devoted to online purchases that might later figure in prosecutions. Apparently criminals really like to get their felonious shit on platforms like that. And as you said, not much trafficking in the currency. It was purchased on eBay. Happened three weeks ago.”
“They have a name?”
“Yep.”
“Who?”
“Kasimira Roe.”
Chapter 83
D?ECKER IMMEDIATELY CONTACTED ROE AND asked for a meeting without mentioning what they had just uncovered.
White showed Decker the documentation on the currency purchase. “I don’t remember the bills that came out of Draymont’s and Lancer’s throats. But we can get them from the evidence locker.”
“No need. I remember them.”
“Seriously, I mean, to that level of detail?”
“I can see them in my head, Freddie, including serial numbers.”
“Well, look at you, Rain Man. Maybe we should go to Vegas.”
They left their hotel and got into the rental. As she drove them to Miami, he went over the pictures of the money in the email.
“Well?”
“It’s the same money.”
“Shit, I did not see that coming.”
“It doesn’t necessarily mean what you think it might.”
“How could it not?”
“That’s why we’re heading to Miami. To ask her.”
“And you think she’ll really answer truthfully?”
“We’ll see, won’t we?”
He had been told to go to Roe’s home instead of the office. They took the elevator up, and the woman herself answered their knock.
“Not working today?” said Decker.
“I’ve decided to take some time off.”
She was not her usual put-together self, Decker noted. She was dressed in faded jeans and a T-shirt, and was barefoot. Her hair was unbrushed, and her face, normally made up to an exacting degree, was apparently free of anything other than the woman’s actual skin.
She led them into a room set up as a small study. Decker looked around, his gaze first fixing on the object over the door, and then moving to two items resting on a small table. He glanced at White but said nothing.