Chapter Eleven

"What Can Go Wrong, Always Does"

"You realize your so-called evidence is all circumstantial," Chief Dunn was lecturing me like I was a rookie. "We'll hold him for breaking and entering, but the attempted murder complaint is as weak as water. And you know it."

"What?" Ami stepped forward to confront the Chief of Police. "The man is insane! He used a knife to attack Ben who was sleeping in bed!"

"And he damaged nothing but a bunch of feather pillows," Dunn responded flatly, looking over Ami's head and directly at me. "You'll be lucky if he doesn't file a complaint against you two for assault."

"You've got to be joking!" Ami raised her voice, refusing to go unheard. Secretly, I was proud of her. If she did manage to be elected into office someday, she was going to make one helluva ruckus. She might even change a few things in this city for the better.

"The Castle Doctrine declares that an individual has the right to defend himself and or his property from an intruder," she argued.

Dunn displayed his most patronizing face; the one I detested. "You need to study a little harder, miss," he told her. "That may work in places like London or Paris, but here? You'd better have a reason to kill someone – and a damn good one at that. We'll be in touch. I recommend you two don't plan on taking a trip out of the country any time soon. Good night."

As soon as Chief Dunn shut the door and we were alone, a noise came out of Ami I'd never heard before. It sounded almost like a growl, but also a little like a shriek. Whatever it was, she'd kept it inside until it looked to me like her eyes were about to pop out of her skull.

Then, I remembered. This was all still pretty new to her. I was used to let-downs and dealing with Chief Dunn's superior attitude. It came with the job. This time, however, I knew Dunn was wrong. I knew we had Kade Smith. Once Iris showed up with that camera and I developed those photos, it proved that someone in Happy Acres was helping Kade, and we would have a new lead; which we badly needed.

"That man!" Ami finally managed to say once she had calmed down a little. "I don't know how you can stand him! He's impossible! Telling me I need to study. I'll show him study! I'll study so hard that I'll graduate with honors, then get through law school with flying colors! Someday, I might even be elected as Mayor of this city, and then what's he going to do? Grovel at my feet, that's what!"

She had been pacing around my living room during her rant and I wasn't about to say a thing. I'd first let her get it all out. And apparently, she had a lot that needed to get out. She was still going on, although, I had stopped listening. There was a sight at my door that required my full attention.

Iris was here and in her hands were pieces of what I recognized once belonging to my camera.

"What happened?" I asked, my stomach dropping to my feet.

Written on her face was total contrition and tears began to fall.

"Oh Ben, I'm so sorry!" she began, dropping what was left into my outstretched hands. "I thought I could get a better picture if I got just a little closer, so…" Iris paused to blow her nose into her handkerchief. "I hid behind a tree. You know the one. That big oak tree in the middle of the lot?"

"Yeah, go on," I urged. I had a horrible feeling about what she was going to tell me.

"I was so close and when they came out, I got some excellent shots. But then;" she hiccupped and fresh tears fell. "Kade turned toward the tree and I was afraid he'd seen me so I moved really fast to, well, you know, make sure I was hidden. But then, my foot got caught in a root and I almost fell. While I was catching my balance, I'm afraid I dropped your camera. It hit the cement and shattered. That's all the pieces. The rest of it is in my coat pocket."

To prove her statement, Iris retrieved what used to be my most prized possession and placed it in my hand. All I could do was stare at it. Why did this always happen? Whenever Quinn wasn't around, all my well-thought-out plans seemed to go to pot. Perhaps I needed to find a different career. Photography maybe.

I laughed at my own joke, which confused Iris, as well as Ami who had silently joined the conversation. They both probably thought I'd finally cracked.

"It's all right, Iris," I told her. "Don't worry about it. Just tell me you saw who was helping Kade."

"Oh, yeah," Iris sniffled, managing to get over most of her emotional outburst in a hurry. It seemed to me, women in general had a talent for doing that.

"It was a woman," she said. "Fairly young and attractive. She pulled up in a big sedan and picked Kade up at the back door. They left together."

That didn't tell me a whole lot and wasn't anything I hadn't already figured out myself.

"Did you get a good look at her?" I prompted her for more details. "What was she wearing? Was it a uniform of any sort?" I was hoping she'd say yes, then it would prove she was possibly a worker from Happy Acres, which I had suspected all along.

"I couldn't tell. She was wearing a trench coat; One of those that button up all the way. You know, the kind that Audrey Hepburn wears," Iris demonstrated.

I was losing her, I could tell. Soon, she'd begin to nitpick the poor woman's fashion selections.

"Focus, Iris," I demanded. "Describe her features; the color of her hair – anything!"

"Oh. Well, it was too dark to tell the color of her hair. But you know, now that I think about it - when her face did turn toward the street light, she kinda reminded me of an actress. Now, which one…"

"Grace Kelly?" Ami suggested and it was all I could do to be quiet.

"Ooo, don't you just love her? What's that movie she was just in? Oh yeah, 'Dial M for Murder.'" Iris provided the unnecessary commentary.

One which Ami had to include herself in, of course. "I loved that movie! She was also in that other one, with whatshisname…Gary Cooper!"

"High Noon!" Iris shouted as if she'd just won a contest. "I didn't care as much for that one as much as the other. There's a new one she's starring in that's coming out next year. What's the name of it?"

This was quickly getting out of hand, although their conversation had sparked a memory.

"Rita Hayworth," I supplied the actress's name I so desperately needed Iris to agree with.

"That's it!" she gleefully proclaimed. "How did you know?"

My gaze turned to Ami. "Because she's the receptionist who works at the front desk. You know, the one I told you about before?"

"You mean, the flirtatious red-headed bombshell you mentioned?" Ami replied, one corner of her mouth lifting in a smirk.

She had nothing to be jealous of. Ami was the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. "That's her," I confirmed.

"Then we need to talk to her. To get her to spill her guts!" Iris supplied her own suggestion.

I knew from experience, it always wasn't that easy. Without the evidence to prove she was the one taking Kade out on the town, all she had to do was deny it.

"Blackmail her," Ami suggested, which lifted one of my brows.

"You do realize that's illegal don't you?" I felt inclined to say.

"So is murder. Let's find a big envelope, and come morning, go see her at Happy Acres. Show her the envelope and make her believe there are incriminating photos inside; Photos of her helping a patient leave the premises and accompanying him off campus."

"That would only get her fired." Iris pointed out.

Ami shook her head in disagreement. "I have a feeling she doesn't know what would happen if photos like that were to come out. And besides,"

I was beginning to see where Ami was coming from. "Kade would lose his inside man," I finished for her.

"Woman," Iris corrected.

It sounded like a plan and a decent plan is what we so desperately needed right now.