Blow Out
Page 119
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Anna said, “How can we be certain the FBI are convinced that he acted on his own? Don’t forget he wasn’t alone in that car—”
Margaret said patiently, “Agent Savich said Günter told him it was a woman he’d picked up in a bar, for camouflage. That was the last door and he closed it. He never implicated any of us in any way.” She paused a moment, then said, “Günter told his grand lie to protect you, to protect all of us. It’s all in Callie’s headline story for the Post. He committed the murders to show how skilled and fearless he was, that he could even kill a Justice of the Supreme Court in the library itself.”
Janette said, tears thick in her voice, “But he was crazy, deranged, just look at what he did—he should have been killed at the Supreme Court, at Quantico. He was completely out of control.”
Callie stepped into the living room.
Five pair of eyes stared at her.
“Callie!”
“Hello, Mother,” Callie said, then nodded at the four women. Anna, Janette, and Bitsy had been crying. Her mother hadn’t, though she was the one of them who had lost the most. Juliette looked to be in shock. Callie said slowly, “I guess there was a woman involved after all. Which one of you was it?”
It was subtle and automatic. The five women all moved to stand together. For a moment, they all blended, standing shoulder to shoulder, as if they’d closed ranks against her. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?”
“Nothing that need concern you, Callie,” Margaret said. “Like everyone else in the country, we were just discussing that murderer, Günter Grass.”
“He protected one of you, thus protecting all of you when he lied about being alone in this rampage?”
Margaret shot a look at the other four women, watched each of them nod, then turned back to face her daughter. “Listen to me, Callie, because this is the most important thing I will ever say to you in your life.”
Not my mother, please, not my mother. “I’m listening.”
“One of us was involved with Günter. Naturally she didn’t know he was Günter. He told her his name was John Davis, probably another lie. She had no reason not to believe him when he told her he’d been born and raised in Maryland.” Margaret paused a moment, saw that Callie was closely studying all their faces. “Do you want to know the why of all this tragedy, Callie? All right, I’ll tell you. Did you know that it was Eliza Vickers herself who called me to tell me she was sleeping with Stewart?”
Callie shook her head. “No, I didn’t know that.”
“Oh yes. That bitch really wanted my husband. She wondered if I’d sensed he was having an affair, and of course I had. A wife always knows, they say, and it’s true. But I hadn’t asked Stewart for a divorce and she didn’t understand that. So she told me that Stewart had admitted to her that he’d married me because he wanted to be close to you, Callie. Ridiculous, of course, and naturally, I laughed at her.”
“Why didn’t you ask Stewart for a divorce if you knew he was unfaithful to you?”
“I probably would have, eventually. To punish Stewart I came on to Sumner Wallace. It was small of me, but I wanted to break up their friendship. But that’s not important now.”
“I can’t believe—Eliza really told you that?”
“Oh yes. She was getting desperate. She had only six more months in Stewart’s chambers, then she was gone.
“Naturally, I told my friends. And one of them told her boyfriend. Günter. He was enraged that a Justice of the Supreme Court would sleep with a law clerk, that he would invite scandal and dishonor like that, hurt his wife and, in turn, her friends. She was angry as well, but she remembers now that he really seemed over the top about it. But then he didn’t say anything more.
“Günter made his decision to kill Stewart. He didn’t tell her what he’d done, and naturally, none of us imagined it was he who had killed Stewart.
“Then Danny O’Malley called me, saying he was going to tell the world about how Stewart had married me just to get at you if I didn’t pay him off. Evidently he’d overheard Eliza’s phone call to me. That was careless of her.”
Callie said, “I don’t understand. Danny went into my stepfather’s office that Friday morning. Was he trying to blackmail Stewart as well?”
“Oh no. He was warning Stewart that all of it was going to hit the fan. He did this not because he worshiped Stewart, but because he knew that he could give him recommendations that would get him into the finest law offices in the country. But after Stewart was killed, Danny immediately realized what he knew was valuable. He told me he was also going to call Eliza, get money from her as well. Of course I told my friends about it, and without hesitation she told her boyfriend. Then Danny was garroted, just like Stewart.”
Margaret said patiently, “Agent Savich said Günter told him it was a woman he’d picked up in a bar, for camouflage. That was the last door and he closed it. He never implicated any of us in any way.” She paused a moment, then said, “Günter told his grand lie to protect you, to protect all of us. It’s all in Callie’s headline story for the Post. He committed the murders to show how skilled and fearless he was, that he could even kill a Justice of the Supreme Court in the library itself.”
Janette said, tears thick in her voice, “But he was crazy, deranged, just look at what he did—he should have been killed at the Supreme Court, at Quantico. He was completely out of control.”
Callie stepped into the living room.
Five pair of eyes stared at her.
“Callie!”
“Hello, Mother,” Callie said, then nodded at the four women. Anna, Janette, and Bitsy had been crying. Her mother hadn’t, though she was the one of them who had lost the most. Juliette looked to be in shock. Callie said slowly, “I guess there was a woman involved after all. Which one of you was it?”
It was subtle and automatic. The five women all moved to stand together. For a moment, they all blended, standing shoulder to shoulder, as if they’d closed ranks against her. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?”
“Nothing that need concern you, Callie,” Margaret said. “Like everyone else in the country, we were just discussing that murderer, Günter Grass.”
“He protected one of you, thus protecting all of you when he lied about being alone in this rampage?”
Margaret shot a look at the other four women, watched each of them nod, then turned back to face her daughter. “Listen to me, Callie, because this is the most important thing I will ever say to you in your life.”
Not my mother, please, not my mother. “I’m listening.”
“One of us was involved with Günter. Naturally she didn’t know he was Günter. He told her his name was John Davis, probably another lie. She had no reason not to believe him when he told her he’d been born and raised in Maryland.” Margaret paused a moment, saw that Callie was closely studying all their faces. “Do you want to know the why of all this tragedy, Callie? All right, I’ll tell you. Did you know that it was Eliza Vickers herself who called me to tell me she was sleeping with Stewart?”
Callie shook her head. “No, I didn’t know that.”
“Oh yes. That bitch really wanted my husband. She wondered if I’d sensed he was having an affair, and of course I had. A wife always knows, they say, and it’s true. But I hadn’t asked Stewart for a divorce and she didn’t understand that. So she told me that Stewart had admitted to her that he’d married me because he wanted to be close to you, Callie. Ridiculous, of course, and naturally, I laughed at her.”
“Why didn’t you ask Stewart for a divorce if you knew he was unfaithful to you?”
“I probably would have, eventually. To punish Stewart I came on to Sumner Wallace. It was small of me, but I wanted to break up their friendship. But that’s not important now.”
“I can’t believe—Eliza really told you that?”
“Oh yes. She was getting desperate. She had only six more months in Stewart’s chambers, then she was gone.
“Naturally, I told my friends. And one of them told her boyfriend. Günter. He was enraged that a Justice of the Supreme Court would sleep with a law clerk, that he would invite scandal and dishonor like that, hurt his wife and, in turn, her friends. She was angry as well, but she remembers now that he really seemed over the top about it. But then he didn’t say anything more.
“Günter made his decision to kill Stewart. He didn’t tell her what he’d done, and naturally, none of us imagined it was he who had killed Stewart.
“Then Danny O’Malley called me, saying he was going to tell the world about how Stewart had married me just to get at you if I didn’t pay him off. Evidently he’d overheard Eliza’s phone call to me. That was careless of her.”
Callie said, “I don’t understand. Danny went into my stepfather’s office that Friday morning. Was he trying to blackmail Stewart as well?”
“Oh no. He was warning Stewart that all of it was going to hit the fan. He did this not because he worshiped Stewart, but because he knew that he could give him recommendations that would get him into the finest law offices in the country. But after Stewart was killed, Danny immediately realized what he knew was valuable. He told me he was also going to call Eliza, get money from her as well. Of course I told my friends about it, and without hesitation she told her boyfriend. Then Danny was garroted, just like Stewart.”
