Moon Music (16 page)

Taking carefully measured steps, Poe nudged out of bed, slipped on his pants and shirt. Tiptoeing into the kitchen, he opened her fridge, poured himself a glass of orange juice, envying her appliances. He shivered as he drank, his mind still buzzing from his earlier encounter with his brother.

As if he didn't have enough on his mind without Mom. Ah well, he'd hire good help. Money wasn't a big problem. And if he ran short, Remus would kick in whatever was required.

It wouldn't hurt him to extend himself a bit. She was his mother, she hadn't had an easy life. Secretly, Poe was hoping that the indentured servitude might help assuage deep-harbored guilt for dumping her on Remus all these years.

Then again, what kind of life did his brother have? He never dated, never had any outside hobbies, never even seemed to want to acquire any. For him, it had always been work and Mother. Poe had always felt that Remus had used Mom to rationalize his isolation. Maybe being away from her, Remus would develop himself, even make a couple of friends. Poe hoped so. He liked his brother. Residing alone was fine, even desirable. But living alone was a curse.

The wind slapped against the window, making him jump. He wondered how Rukmani slept through it, though she had to be used to the noise by now. The luck of the draw, just the way her apartment was situated. Never a good thing to live downwind from the desert.

FIFTEEN

T
HE GIANT
said he'd take a cup of coffee while he waited. He kept checking his watch every thirty seconds. Myra brought back a fresh pot, asked him how he was enjoying his stay. He said he'd been brought up in this town, that he had never liked it much. He was here on business. At the moment, he was waiting for his brother.

When an out-of-breath Poe sat down at the table, Myra almost overfilled the giant's cup.

"Sorry I'm late." Poe was panting. "My car wouldn't start. I called the hotel, but you had left."

Giant's facial reactions were slow. But Myra thought that he looked appeased. She asked, "Where is it now, Rom?"

"At the Bureau." Poe took a sip from Giant's coffee cup. "Myra, this is my twin brother, Remus."

His
twin
brother? Rom was on the smallish side; Giant probably cleared a seven-foot marker. Why was Poe pulling her leg? She said, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Poe said, "This woman makes the best food in town."

Myra smiled, desperately trying to note a family resemblance. "What can I get you, Romu—Romulus, Remus." She laughed. "That's kind of cute."

No one spoke.

Myra blushed. "I guess you got a lot of that as kids. I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"It's nothing," Poe said quickly. "It was during my mother's Roman mythology stage. I think at that time she had changed her name to Vesta. How was the party last night?"

Myra brightened. "It went off without a hitch."

"That's great."

"What can I get you, boys?"

Remus brayed laughter. "A long time since I've been called a boy."

Poe smiled. "How about a corned beef sandwich?"

"And for you, Mr. Remus Poe?" Myra said.

"Turkey on rye. Mustard, no mayo." Again, Remus smiled. "Nice place you have here."

Myra blushed again, touched the giant's shoulder. "Thank you. I'll be right back."

When she was gone, Remus said, "That's your boss's wife?"

Poe nodded.

"She seems nice."

"She's lovely. The loo is a lucky man. You've met Weinberg, haven't you?"

"Maybe around ten years ago."

Poe said, "Sorry about being late. How much time do you have left?"

"Actually, I'm okay. I'm taking a later flight out, because I've left some unfinished business. So we're fine." Remus watched his brother drink up his coffee. His hands were shaking. "This whole thing with Mother, Rom. Is it coming at a bad time for you?"

Poe looked up, surprised by his brother's acuity. "No, it's fine."

"What are you working on these days?"

Poe pointed a finger at his chest. "Me?"

"Who else would I be talking to?"

"Murder. What else?" Poe put down the cup, called out to Myra, "Another coffee when you get a chance." He rubbed his arms. "Man, some storm last night."

"The wind howled bloody murder up on the top floors." Remus frowned. "I hate this town. Why you moved back still mystifies me. Especially after what it did to us."

"Reno wasn't for me."

"You didn't give it a fair shake."

"That's true."

Remus thought:
You did it for Alison, and she dumped you
anyway.

Poe continued, "No, Las Vegas wasn't great to either of us. But I've come to terms with it."

Myra brought the coffee and sandwiches. "Anything else?"

"No, thanks," Poe said.

Myra smiled, poured the coffee, and left. Remus finished off half his sandwich in three bites. "What's bothering you, Rom? Is it Mom?"

"It has nothing to do with Mom."

Well, maybe a little.

Remus said, "Then what is it?"

Useless to lie to him. Remus could X-ray his soul. Poe said, "Do you remember the Bogeyman? It was a murder case that happened when we were around ten."

"Of course I remember it," Remus said. "Why?"

Poe noticed his brother had paled. X-raying souls ran both ways. He said, "It's very similar to a case I'm working on. Why are you reacting so strongly?"

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

Remus finished his sandwich, drank coffee, then put down the cup. "What do
you
remember about the case?"

"Just that it scared the shit out of me."

"Anything else?"

"I recall something about the murderer taking out the eyes of his victim. Yesterday I went over old records, found what I thought was the actual Bogeyman case. Or rather,
one
of his cases. You know, I spoke to Y about it.

He told me there were
two
cases. But I couldn't find a matched set in the same time frame. All I could find were two desert dumps a year apart. Either I missed something in the files or Y was lying to me. And if he was, why would he do that?"

"Y was right. There were two women, Romulus. Both were murdered around the same time. Whether by the same man or not…who knows?"

Poe stared at his brother. "You actually
remember
that?"

"Distinctly."

"I'm impressed."

"You shouldn't be. The Bogeyman case made a big impact on me. It happened right around the time I was finishing with my shots. Maybe they had even taken me off treatment. But I was still in a lot of pain and I was still missing a lot of school. To take my mind off the boredom and agony, I read everything I could get my hands on, including the local throwaway papers, which carried the police blotters. Crime interested me. I think it gave me perspective. That there were actually people worse off than I was."

Poe said, "I can't believe you remember that far back. And so
clearly
."

"It's not remarkable." Remus picked up his half of his brother's corned beef sandwich. He took a big bite. "Not remarkable at all, considering at one point the police thought I was the Bogeyman."

"
Wh…
?" Poe's hands started to shake…remembering words from ghosts past. Kids taunting in singsong voices:
Your brother
is the
Bogey
man! Your brother is the
Bogey
man!
Poe's mind…one gigantic mass of repressed brain cells. He choked out, "Wh…what are you talking about?"

The big man looked down. "Police had sent a couple of detectives over to our house to talk to me. Apparently, some of our classmates had reported me to them. They said I had changed into some kind of a monster…which I suppose was true."

Poe flushed with rage. "They were all
assholes
!"

"I suppose I had been acting
scary
lately. I did break more than a few bones."

"The fights were always provoked."

"The police didn't see it that way. They came over, started questioning Mom and me. Grilling us, actually. She tried to explain that hormones had been doing stuff to my system. But that only added to their suspicions. That the chemicals must have been driving me to do these…acts of terror. Because what the police saw was this grotesque, hulking kid with lots of unexplained absences—"

"Questioning a child like that is grotesque." Poe thought of the police, how they had barged in on Alison and him.
She
should have sued
. Out loud, he said, "We should have sued."

"Funny you should mention that. They wanted us to come to the station house. At that point, Mom said she was calling her lawyer."

"What lawyer? Mom didn't have a lawyer."

"Maybe she said a lawyer instead of
her
lawyer. Anyway, she
did
threaten to sue them." Remus actually smiled. "Rom, she was marvelous. She started spouting off legal cases like Clarence Darrow—instance after instance in which people had sued the government and had received millions in damages."

"
Mom?
Where'd she come up with the knowledge?"

"Beats me." Again, Remus laughed. It came out as ox bellows. "I think she made it up as she went along. But it worked. She scared them off and they never bothered me again." A beat. "Of course, it helped that the murders suddenly stopped."

"I never knew."

"We didn't tell you. You had your own problems. Besides, both of us were too ashamed." Remus finished his brother's sandwich. "I've eaten your lunch."

Poe signaled for two more sandwiches.

Remus said, "Getting back to the original question…the two cases. I don't remember too much about either murder. I do recall something about the eyes."

"So I wasn't crazy. You do remember that."

"Yes, I do."

Poe sighed. "Like I said, I only found the one murder file on microfiche in that year. Janet Doward. The only other file I found which halfway matches Doward was dated a full year later."

"Files can be conveniently misplaced, dates can be changed."

"Remus, the victim was a runaway without connections. A nobody. Why would anyone bother to misplace or misdate her file?"

"Could be her killer was a somebody."

"Rom, tele—"

Poe screeched, jumped up. Myra had been standing behind him. She was holding a cordless phone. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

Poe smiled weakly. "I startle when I'm concentrating."

"Mickey's on-line for you." She handed him the phone. "Just push the red button."

Poe punched the talk dot. The receiver immediately filled with static. He shouted, "Yes, Loo."

"Myra says your brother's in town," Weinberg yelled.

"Yes, sir."

"How long is he staying?"

"He's leaving this afternoon."

Weinberg said, "Then it's too bad I've got to interrupt you. Another dump right off Red Rock."

"Christ!"

"Not like the first. A clean kill. Still, you'd better come down." Weinberg gave him directions.

Poe said, "I'm on my way."

"Say hi to your brother for me." Weinberg cut the line.

Remus said, "Bad news?"

Poe said, "Bad for me, worse for the victim."

Remus sighed a gust of wind. "Rom, if Mom is too much—"

"Actually, at this point, I think Mom will be a nice diversion." Poe stood. "I've got to go."

"How are you going?" Remus asked. "I thought you didn't have a car."

"Oh
shit
!"

Remus gave him the keys to his rental. "I'll grab a cab. Just take it back for me."

Poe hefted the keys. "Thanks. Really. Thanks a lot."

"Take care of yourself, Rom." Remus stood, grabbed his brother, enveloping him in a bear hug that nearly broke Poe's ribs. For the sake of fraternal love, Poe put up with being squashed. In some primordial way, it felt comforting.

The area had been roped off, a yellow ribbon waving in the leftover breeze. The meat wagon was there; so were the techs. Everyone wearing sunglasses, the campsite looked like a cataract convention. Sand stirred about the desert floor, swirling like a scarf. Poe kept his brother's rental roadside, parked and walked a hundred feet, over to the center of action.

When he saw the pink hair, he felt his stomach bolt.

She had been tossed carelessly—a marionette with broken strings, whitish pipestem limbs. So frail…just as he had remembered her. It broke his heart. She wore an iridescent green miniskirt. She was nude from the waist up.

No rake marks.

She was covered with sand—in her face, eyes, nose, and ears. A vivid knife swipe ran across the girl's windpipe. He felt his breath quicken. "I just saw her a couple of nights ago at Naked City. She was a flagger for Brittany Newel's pimp."

"Christ!" Jensen said. "You're sure it's the same—"

"Positive. Same face, same dress…and that hair…."

Secretly, Jensen was relieved.
Poe
was connected to
this
one. Plus, he was sure he hadn't slept with her.

Weinberg said, "Do you remember the pimp, Rom?"

"Absolutely."

"Well enough for a composite?"

"Yes."

The lieutenant said, "This certainly sheds a different light on everything—a common link between this murder and Brittany Newel. Did Newel have any African-American evidence transfer on her, Poe?"

"None that I can recall. I'll check."

Weinberg wiped grit from his eyes, stuck his hands in his pockets. "Okay. This is what we'll do. Deluca and Jensen will finish up here. Keep an eye out for the examiner while you comb the area for evidence."

The two detectives nodded in unison.

"Rom, you get yourself some backup and go to Naked City," Weinberg went on. "See if you can find the pimp. If he's not there, find out where he went. If you have to, use some spinach to get the residents gabby."

"Fine."

"If you can't find the pimp, go downtown and talk to Mel. If you can't find Mel, Cindy can help you out using the computer's Draw-a-Face."