Chapter Forty-Six
Muriel Lujack’s caseload was back to normal as soon as Billy Kramer’s death had relieved her of the responsibility of handling a murder case. Her week had been one of her easiest because all her cases had ended with plea deals.
Muriel had an armed robbery case that looked like it would go to trial at the end of the following week, but she was up to speed on it, and she was looking forward to hiking a trail on the Oregon coast on the weekend.
On Thursday, Muriel knocked off work early and read until seven before turning on her television to the channel that showed classic movies.
Citizen Kane was on her top ten all-time movie list, and she watched it for the umpteenth time.
When it was over, she got into bed. She had just shut her eyes when a sudden thought made her sit up, eyes wide open.
What was Rosebud in Citizen Kane? That was the central mystery in the movie, and it turned out to be a sled. What was Starlight? Muriel thought she might know the answer. She got out of bed and booted up her laptop. An hour later, she knew she was right.
“I think I know who the DA is,” Muriel said as soon as Karen joined her in a booth in the back of the restaurant in Sandy where they had met before. “I watched Citizen Kane last night. Have you seen it?”
“Years ago.”
“Do you know what Rosebud was in the movie?”
Karen’s brow furrowed. Then she remembered. “Isn’t it the name of a sled?”
“Right. It’s the trade name of the sled Kane was playing on when he was a child on the day he was taken from his home and his mother.”
“What’s that got to do with finding the traitor in your office?”
“Rosebud was a thing. I started wondering if Starlight was a thing. And it is. I remembered that one of our DAs lives on a sailboat. Owners of large boats have to register them. I called the Coast Guard. Starlight is the name of an Island Packet 380, an oceangoing sailboat. It’s the Mercedes-Benz of sailboats.
It sells for two hundred thousand dollars.
In other words, it’s expensive to buy, and there are other expenses, like the cost of keeping it in the marina and fuel.
Ellen Kaufman makes a DA’s salary, but she lives on an Island Packet 380 named Starlight. ”
Karen looked sick. “Ah, no. I really like Ellen.”
“I do too, but there’s more. Once I had the name, I started going back over any cases that involved the Disciples.
Ellen only handled a few, but she lost some she should have won, and she assigned Donna Ridley to some cases where evidence was misplaced or legal errors led to a dismissal.
There weren’t many cases like that, and there were guilty verdicts—mostly for minor offenses that led to probation or a short sentence—but there were enough to form a pattern.
“As soon as I knew about the boat, I researched Ellen’s background.
She’s local. Her family isn’t rich, and she went to a public high school.
I got her high school yearbook. She went to the same high school Walter Zegda attended.
They were in the same grade. She was also a cop before she was a DA, and she was on a SWAT team, which means she has the skills with a rifle to take out Walter Zegda. ”
“You’ve gone way out of your way to help me, Muriel. I can’t even begin to thank you.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. From what you’ve told me, there’s no hard evidence that would lead to an indictment.”
“It’s all circumstantial, and it rests on Raymond Castor’s statement, which a good defense attorney would have no trouble calling into question.”
Karen put her hand over Muriel’s. “There is something I want you to promise me.”
“What’s that?”
“You have to back away from this and let me handle it from now on. If Ellen is the traitor in the DA’s office, she is incredibly dangerous. If she suspects that you are involved in outing her, she might have no qualms about killing you.”
“You don’t have to scare me to get me to drop out.”
“Good. And please know that I owe you a debt. Anytime you think I can help you, never hesitate to ask.”
“I didn’t do this for a reward.”
“I know. That’s why you have earned my undying respect.”
Karen had a hard time concentrating when she drove home.
She couldn’t be certain that Ellen had betrayed her, but it was starting to look that way.
Something else occurred to her. If she was the person who tried to kill Walt Zegda, she hadn’t tried to kill him to cover up a connection to Terrance Cogen’s scams. She’d probably done the deed to prevent Zegda from making a plea deal that forced him to identify the traitor in the DA’s office, if he was arrested in connection with Cogen’s scams.
The person Thomas Horan saw in the mirror had long, black hair, and so did Kaufman. In fact, Kaufman and Rosemarie Cogen were similar in height, build, and the way they wore their hair. Did Kaufman kill Cogen to protect Walt Zegda?
Karen was too tired to work out answers to the questions her meeting with Muriel had raised. She would need a clear head for that and a lot of help.