Chapter 14 - Blind Leading the Blind

"I embarrassed to admit how little I knew about Melanie's circumstances," Roger said.

"When did you two meet again?"

"When I came back three months ago. I ran into Melanie at the hotel bar. She seemed different, really sad and down. We talked, not really about much of anything. She was depressed about not meeting anyone worthwhile here. She thought she'd fare better here than in Santa Barbara."

"When - and why - did you get serious?"

"I was a little down myself, dealing with Rachael, being on forced leave."

"You might have called me?"

"How many days in the last three months have you been home, let alone available?"

"Uh, yeah, never mind. So explain to me how you connected."

"Melanie's pushiness got me back up and running. She helped me keep the smile plastered on."

"What did you do for her?"

"Escorted her. Danced with her. Mel liked to be the center of attention. She liked to party. I accommodated her."

"Mel's partying, did any of it run to illegal substances?"

"No, I'd have been out the door fast if I'd seen anything like that. Why do you ask?"

"Rachael said something about blow."

"You can't believe everything Rachael says. She's in such a dark place that she sees things that aren't there."

"I want you to think hard on that one, buddy, because if there's one thing I remember about Rachael, she's particularly observant of behavioral details. Remember how she could mimic all of us?"

"Mercilessly! It's been so long, so different this past year, that I forgot about that. Still, I don't know any basis upon which Rachael might claim Mel did coke. Did she tell you anything more?"

"No, and I'll admit at the time she said it, it sounded like a cheap shot at Mel. The more I think on it, though, the more I want to follow it up. All kinds of crazy stuff can happen if drugs are in the mix. I'd like to meet some of Mel's friends."

"Most of them are still here, I think. I've had a steady stream of calls and visitors."

"I figured the bar tonight would be a good place to find some of them. Give me the names of her friends who might know her best."

"Better yet, I'll go with you to introduce you."

"I don't think that's wise."

"Why shouldn't I drown my sorrows at the bar, especially if it will help my best friend?"

"About that, I suggest you contain your optimism. Rachael confessed to the police a little while ago."

"You let her do that? Why?"

"I wasn't exactly empowered to stop it."

"Johnson could have."

"Maybe, maybe not. I think we have to look at the results more than the act. She's better off in the Naval Medical Center than in jail."

"Has she tried anything yet?"

"No. She's giving us five days."

"Five days to do what?"

"Prove she didn't do it."

"What if we can't?"

"She's not planning to stick around for sentencing."

"You agreed to this?"

"I bought a little time. It was all I could do."

"Why is she doing this?"

"Rachael's not seeing anything positive in her future. The deck is stacked against her."

"I'm here for her future. She knows that. I need to talk to her."

"I also think she's trying to contain collateral damage. The thing you worried about most. If she goes down without a fight, without lots of investigation, then, well, you know."

"Oh screw my career! I'll find something else to do. I'm sick of the pretense anyway."

"I don't doubt that, but coming out now isn't going to help Rachael. Don't throw away all you've built for nothing."

"Sometimes I just want to go the window and yell out, 'I'm loud, I'm proud, I'm gay!' just to prove that the world won't end!"

"It wouldn't, but your working life would, and for no good reason."

"I have a good reason. So all the self-righteous bastards have to deal with the fact that a gay man has stood among them, fought their battles side by side, and never once forced himself on anyone!"

"I'm pretty sure you ogled me when we met."

"For like a millisecond. A guy can hope. Hey, nice effort at distraction, Lee."

"The point is that obviously there are people who know, who hold you dear, who respect you for all you have done and will do and don't give a damn. Neither Rachael nor I want to see you cut off your nose to spite your face. If you go down just because Rachael does, what interest is served?"

"I don't know."

"You feel a need to strike out, I get that. Someone you cared about has been murdered and your best friend has been accused."

"Worse. She confessed. What exactly did she say anyway?"

"That if she couldn't have you, Mel couldn't."

"Seriously? Then my coming out might help her."

"I doubt it."

"It would show that Rachael lied."

"Not necessarily. Rumors have flown about you and Rachael for years. Lots of people believed them."

"I know. She fueled them purposefully. I played along too."

"Showing Rachael has lied and would lie to protect you. Maybe she'd kill to do it, to protect you from someone she perceived to be a viper, even if your relationship was chaste."

"Chaste. God, you sound so old fashioned sometimes!"

Lee shrugged.

"You do know that Rachael had a crush on you once?"

"Really?"

"Didn't take her long to realize she wasn't your type. Well, that and the regs against fraternizing kept her in check. The Navy really was, is, all she's ever had. She wasn't about to risk losing that. It made for a lonely life for her at times."

"You too, all of which goes to explain the attraction of Mel to you, I suppose. No real marital obligations to guilt you out, a child to share, a more than decent salary for a good life for you both. I see how it could be tempting."

"I suppose."

"What aren't you saying?"

"I thought that was the picture, but it may not have been all of it. Rachael may have been honest about Mel thinking she'd make me love her, you know, that way. Mel wasn't the most realistic girl I'd ever met."

"Is there more?"

"I'm not sure my salary would have been enough to keep her happy in the end. Mel wasn't very good at managing money, which is how she ended up living at my place during the last month and a half. Her dad had set a strict limit on her allowance after years of threatening to do it."

"What'd she spend it on?"

"She had an expensive apartment, an expensive car, liked to shop and regularly treated all her friends when they went out. That'll empty your wallet quickly."

"Drugs would too."

"As I said, I never saw anything to suspect that."

"Why do you think her dad was serious this time? I kind of figured his money would always be in her future in addition to what you brought."

"I didn't have a clue about their finances until the wedding planning hit full stride, but I could tell there was a strain about the cost. Dick and Doris were arguing a lot. Once I overheard him lecturing Doris that she had as much to learn about controlling her behavior as Melanie, and that it had better be soon because there was no other choice. I wondered if his firm might be struggling."

"Lots to chew on."

"Yeah, but does any of it point to a killer other than Rachael?"

"What about the father of the baby? How much do you know?"

"Virtually nothing. Mel said it was a one night stand. My guess was that it wasn't a lucrative prospect or she'd have shown up at his door pregnant with a shotgun."

"Right, we can probably can rule out officers then."

"Not necessarily. It could have been a married guy."

"Oh."

"Alcohol might have been involved. Mel didn't skimp on that, rendering her judgment not so hot at times."

"Do you know any details about him at all, a single thing to go on?"

"Two things: 'Blonde and blue, he'll look like you.'"

"Interesting. Mel's family, they're mostly that too," Lee nodded in understanding. "How far along was she?"

"A little over three months. She had just found out when we met again. She wanted to get married before she started to show."

"Had she?"

"Not that I noticed, no. Not that I looked that closely either."

"Then I guess it's time to buy you a drink after I change clothes. Between here and the elevator, decide how you want to play your grief."

"It's not all play. I wanted to be a father. I wanted some stability when I'm home."

"I'm sorry. Believe me, I do understand that. Quite well."