Chapter 45
Chapter
Milo said, “Rhonda, Tiana, what’s your preference?”
The woman, hollow-eyed, straw-like hair drawn back, jail complexion already settling in—pallor, pimples, wrinkles so deep they looked like black pen marks—smirked.
“My preference? Queen Asskicker.”
I wrote, Sufficiently mentally organized to crack wise.
Milo said, “I’ll go with Tiana.”
“You go wherever you want.”
“By the way, Detective Villalobos is okay.”
“Who’s that?”
“The detective you cut.”
She shrugged. Shifted to me. Flashed a crooked smile. Batted her lashes. Stretched backward to showcase her chest.
Old habits.
My smile was intentionally bland and that tightened her jaw.
“You think you’re cute,” she said. “You think you can do what you want when you want. I met plenty of assholes like you at the mansion. In the lagoon, everyone’s snorting, popping, drinking. Butt-ugly guys, real trolls, knew they’d score because the women were just hired holes.”
Milo said, “You killed three women. We’d like to know why.”
Tiana Crown leaned forward as if ready to strike out. Thought better of it.
Able to control herself.
“You’ve got a mouth on you, Fatso.”
Milo said, “What I just said shouldn’t come as a surprise, Tiana. Unless Mr. Mankell didn’t explain the purpose of this meeting to you.”
“Mister Mankell,” she said. “When he goes through puberty, let me know.”
“You do understand.”
She corkscrewed her lips, looked everywhere but at us. “Yeah, I understand.”
Still avoiding us, she crossed her arms over her chest.
Milo said, “Sophie Barlow.”
“Her,” said Tiana Crown. “Didn’t know her. Not as a person.”
I said, “You knew her as a vehicle.”
“To where?”
“Getting back at Mike.”
Pale eyes fluttered. She smiled.
Milo said, “Why were you so mad at him?”
Tiana Crown said, “Oh shit, don’t make me work so hard, you know.”
“If we did, we wouldn’t ask you.”
“He knows the answer. Vehicle. Shit.”
We waited.
Tiana Crown said, “Why? ’Cause he’s a total rat bastard. Claimed he didn’t narc Darren out and I was stupid enough to believe him. Then, after all those years of me believing him and giving him what he wanted when he called, he tells me to get out of his life because he found someone?”
“Sophie.”
“Skinny bitch.” Another crooked smile. “That’s when I saw him for what he is and knew he’d narced and brought the whole thing down.”
“So you killed Sophie to—”
“To put a hole in his soul and then put him in jail.”
She let her arms relax and seemed to deflate. “So now I’m in jail. But who cares? He’ll get there one day.”
“Why?” said Milo.
“Because he’s a lying scumbag and karma’s a bitch. You just wait and see.”
Milo nodded.
Tiana Crown said, “Don’t pretend you agree when you’re just trying to squeeze the juice out of me.”
“What we’re trying to do is understand your motive—”
“I just told you, okay? Hole in the soul.”
“Sophie Barlow was collateral damage.”
“Whatever. Yeah. Call it what you want. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. If she was good, I have no idea, like I keep telling you, didn’t know her and that’s all I’m going to say about that.”
Milo looked at me. I nodded.
Tiana Crown said, “What, Pretty Boy’s the boss?”
Looking to the right. Back went the arms, forming an X across her chest. Drawn tighter. Rocking with each breath.
Regular breaths, on the slow side.
Relaxed. No remorse for what she’s done.
Milo said, “Martha Matthias.”
“Total bitch, okay?”
“What did she do to make you mad?”
“Just told you. Total bitch.”
“Could you be a little more specific.”
“A little more?” she said. “Total bitch with a hair up her ass.”
Sitting up taller and drawing the crossed arms tighter yet. Wrinkling her top. Orange. In the women’s jail that meant mentally ill. Mankell had pushed for it.
I said, “She did that to you.”
“Did what?”
I crossed my own arms. “You went to ask her to release some money during the investigation so that you could live. Not only did she turn you down, she stood there like this. So you cut off her arms.”
Tiana Crown gaped. Her arms tumbled to her sides. “What is wrong with you?”
Milo said, “He’s wrong?”
“No no no no,” she said. “He’s fucking right and that’s fucking wrong. What are you, some sicko alien lizard invader mind reader?”
I said, “You don’t do things randomly.”
“Aw, gee. Thanks.” Another lash-batting ballet was followed by lip-licking. “Now I get why you’re the boss. And here I was thinking you were some rich guy’s spawn in a nice blazer. Gucci?”
I smiled and shook my head.
“What, then?”
“Not important.”
“Oh man,” she said. “If I had you alone.”
Milo said, “All these years and you suddenly decided to get revenge.”
“You know what they say. A dish best eaten cold.”
I said, “True but there had to be more.”
“More what, Too Cute?”
“You think things through and plan carefully. In Sophie Barlow’s case the trigger was Mike Heck treating you shabbily, which made you doubt he’d ever been honest when he denied ratting out the scam. So with regard to Martha, something else had to set you off.”
Tiana Crown licked her lips. “Oh my. Oh my my my my my.”
She moved to re-cross her arms. Dropped them abruptly. Fidgeted.
“Why do you need to know?”
Milo said, “We always want to know. And it’s in your best interest. Letting us see you as something other than a cold-blooded murderer.”
Tiana Crown burst into hoarse, too-long laughter. “But that’s what I am.”
I said, “You had grievances. You overreacted to them but if Mike had been honest and Martha hadn’t been so cold, they’d still be alive.”
Her mouth dropped open. “My my my my.” Moisture collected in the corners of her eyes. Water flowing onto water. “You’re right again. They screwed me. It’s totally on them.” Another bout of laughter. “That mean you’re going to let me free?”
Milo said, “You really don’t expect an answer to that, Tiana.”
“Well,” she said, “I would if it was the right answer. How about you, Boss? Think you can tell them whose fault it was and maybe shave off some time? Don’t answer that, just foolin’.”
I said, “What did Lynne Gutierrez do to you?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I liked her even though she was retarded and talked funny. I showed her how to do sit-ups. I walked with her. For like the first block. To keep her company but also because I thought she might get into trouble out by herself. Even though they told me she was okay by herself. But I went the extra mile for her.”
“So what happened?” said Milo.
“What happened? What happened was one day she said she was tired so I drove her and then she said it’s here, I parked across the street and she got out.
As I’m about to leave, she comes out from the side of the house.
Older, scrawnier, totally had-out, a real scrag.
But I recognized her right off because when someone does you like that, you don’t forget.
So now I knew whose kid Lynne was. Which made sense.
Instead of taking care of her, the cold bitch had stuck her in a place.
And then I saw how she treated Lynne and it fit.
No hugs, no kisses, she turns and walks ahead and Lynne follows. ”
“Did Martha see you?”
“Uh-uh,” said Tiana Crown.
“So you weren’t worried about Lynne telling her mother about you.”
“Lynne was retarded, she had no clue about anything.”
I said, “Finding Martha when you weren’t looking for her felt like karma. That was the trigger for killing her.”
“That and everything,” she said. “The way she treated Lynne. Sticking her in a place and then when she shows up not a hug, not a kiss, nothing.”
Milo said, “Then why was Lynne—”
“You don’t get it, do you? How about you, Boss? Do you get it?”
I shook my head.
Tiana Crown leaned in and spoke in a suddenly soft, pliant voice.
“Her mother was gone. Who was going to pay for that place? How would she deal with being all alone? That’s a tough thing for anyone.”
Blinking.
“But when you’re retarded and talk funny,” she said. “Phew.”
Slow spreading smile.
“I put her out of her misery.”
Milo said, “Like a cat or a dog.”
“Exactly. It’s kind. I made sure it didn’t hurt. Couple of good booms.” Fingering the back of her own skull.
“Then you dumped her in the trash.”
“Big deal,” said Tiana Crown. “When you’re gone, you’re gone. And that’s all I’m going to say about it. About any of it.”
“Okay,” said Milo.
That surprised her. “That’s all you want?”
“Unless there’s something else you feel like telling us.”
“You know,” she said, “there is. You think you got me so you’re feeling real good about yourselves. But I’m going to a place where I’m going to be taken care of. Bed, meals, no forms to fill out just to get money to live on. So screw you. I won.”
Milo got up and opened the door. Two deputy sheriff jailers entered, cuffed her, and told her to stand.
As they walked her out, she craned back at us. “I won.”
But she faltered on the second word.