CHAPTER 63
When Gus walked up the subway stairs at Twenty-fifth Street in Greenwood Heights, the sun was still bright and hot.
He took the five blocks with confidence, stopping only once to give his stump a rest. When he made it to the front of the detention center, he stood tall and did his best to hide his limp.
His friend met him at the entrance, Gus pretended not to notice the subtle glance at his prosthetic leg, and they both entered the prison.
His friend cut through the red tape Gus would otherwise have had to endure.
Within ten minutes, he was sitting in a private visitation room made up of four chairs and a table.
He was dressed casually in slacks and an oxford button-down shirt.
His bag rested on the table and a snapshot of himself, seated with his hands folded as he waited, made the woman’s first sentence logical when she entered the room.
“I don’t need another lawyer,” Ellie Reiser said. “Mine are crappy enough.”
“Good. ’Cause I’m not a lawyer.”
Ellie sat across from him. She was wearing standard prison orange.
“Who are you, then?”
“I’m an old friend of Sidney Ryan’s,” Gus said. “I’m also a detective. Used to be. I’m retired now, but I was working with Sidney when she died.”
Gus ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek.
“I actually think I was talking with her on the phone when she was killed.”
Ellie shook her head. “I had nothing to do with her death.”
“I watched your trial. The whole circus,” Gus said. “I was one of the regulars that showed up every day in court and sat in the back row.” He pulled the file from his bag, opened the folder, and placed it in front of him.
“Let me summarize the prosecution’s argument against you.
Sidney goes to your apartment. She discovers that, due to some irrational jealousy issues you have about Grace Sebold, you killed not only Julian Crist in St. Lucia, but also Henry Anderson years before.
The only two boys who ever loved her. When Sidney confronts you with her suspicion that Grace Sebold’s love lock, which had for years been in your possession, was wrapped in a nylon bag and used to strike and kill both victims, you engaged in a confrontation with her.
Ultimately you did what you do best. You used the love lock to strike Sidney and kill her.
‘If she did it in the past, it won’t be her last.’ Do I have the argument correct? ”
“My attorney told me not to speak to anyone who showed up unannounced.”
“You might change your mind when you hear what I have to tell you.”
Gus looked back to the file.
“Then there’s the evidence,” he said. “And it’s overwhelming.
The blood in your high-rise, which you poorly tried to clean up, the body hidden in the bathtub, the love lock stashed away in your drawer.
The nylon bag that held it covered in blood.
I could go on, but I think a body, blood, and murder weapon are sufficient.
It certainly was for the jury that convicted you. ”
Ellie continued to stare at him. Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head and looked away. “I know how it looks. And if you were Sidney’s friend, I know what you must think about me. The entire world despises me, and I have no idea how any of this happened to her.”
“Listen, I’m old, grouchy, and bored,” Gus said. “I’m also angry.”
He closed the file and held it up.
“Here’s my problem with all of this.” He reached over and took Ellie’s hand, gave her a gentle squeeze. When she felt the gesture, she looked up to meet his eyes, seeing the enemy she thought was sitting in front of her morph suddenly into an ally.
Gus offered a subtle smile.
“I don’t believe it.”