Free Mr. Paradise A Novel by Elmore Leonard Page B

tell you who did it?”
    “Said Montez Taylor’s in it one way or another.”
    “Write it down. Val came to me from the Bomb Squad fifteen years ago, I was lieutenant of Seven. I never saw a homicide investigator trust his gut as much as Val did. Like you, Frank, only you’re quieter about it, put it all together in your head first. Val burned himself out. I told him, go on over to the M.E.’s office, be a death investigator and take it easy. Like being on the job only the hours are better, you have more time to read the paper. You know why he quit the Bomb Squad? His girlfriend was afraid he’d get his hands blown off he’s taking some device apart, and she’d have to tend to him he goes to the toilet. I had another guy quit the Bomb Squad for the same reason.”
    Wendell Robinson turned to the victims.
    “Frank, did you flip this girl’s skirt up?”
    “Somebody did, before any of us got here.”
    “You think she’s been poked?”
    “Well have to wait and see.”
    “It’s sure eye-catching, exposed like that.Richard’s been filling me in,” Wendell said. “So who did it? Come on, Frank, you must’ve been here an hour by now.”
    Delsa handed him the two plastic cards.
    “I want to know who’s dead first.”
    Wendell took his time looking from the photos to the dead girl. “I thought she was Kelly Barr?”
    “According to Montez. But which one do you say she is, from the photos?”
    “I could go either way.”
    “That’s what Val said.”
    “What about the houseman, Uncle Ben?”
    “He goes along with Montez.”
    “Why would he say it’s Kelly if it’s Chloe? You got the other girl upstairs. Didn’t she tell you she’s Chloe?”
    “If you’re supposed to believe this one’s Kelly, you assume the other one’s Chloe.”
    “Frank, I didn’t think you assume anything.”
    “I said, ‘Miss Robinette?’ She didn’t say no, I’m Kelly. I asked if they were prostitutes. She says no, but without acting insulted. I asked if she was one of Paradiso’s girlfriends. No.”
    “Wait now,” Harris said. “Lloyd the houseman says Chloe’s the regular girlfriend. Kelly, he’s not sure he’s seen her before tonight. They been other cheerleaders come with Chloe. I put it to Montez, ‘These two come here much?’ Says whenever Mr. Paradise wants their company. Then how come Lloyd isn’t sure about Kelly? Montez says he’s old, can’t remember shit. Or Lloyd goes to bed before they get here.”

    “You need to sit this Montez down,” Wendell said. “Find out what he gets out of this man being dead. Montez is your focus, and it sounds like he’s telling you anything he wants. Says both girls are hookers. The one upstairs says they aren’t.” Wendell turned to the chair. “If this one didn’t sell it, she was sure a fun-loving little girl, huh? You ever see a bush like that wasn’t in a garden?” He turned to Delsa. “The one upstairs have her drawers on?”
    “Panties and bra,” Delsa said. “Montez says she’s in shock. Dermot Cleary, first on the scene, thinks so too. Jackie Michaels was with her a few minutes, says she never was in shock. She might’ve put it on for Dermot so she wouldn’t have to talk to him.”
    Wendell lifted his beige cap and placed it on his head again, loose, low in front. “She act straight with you?”
    “Montez fixed her a bong, he said to settle her down. And she’s got a buzz on from drinking.”
    “She a mess?”
    “She knows she’s half in the bag, talkative, so she’s trying to hold herself down. Jackie thought she was a little goofy. I think she’s scared to death and using the buzz to cover it up. Like trying to be funny with her friend dead, right downstairs. She knows how it happened or has a pretty good idea, or saw something that ties in Montez Taylor, this guy with fuckin egg all over his face. I think he got to her, warned her to keep her mouth shut.”
    Wendell was nodding.
    “Because if she didn’t know anything,” Delsa