Dexter at Dawn
Chapter 15
Now, being asked where one was earlier in the evening can be disconcerting for anybody, particularly one like Double-Faced Dexter, with my activities of the night. However, this time I could face the inquisition with a completely easy mind and clear conscience. Innocence is a wonderful thing, but even more so with absolutely steel-clad proof.
"Where was I? I was at a crime scene, Officer. I'm a forensics technician with the Miami-Dade Police Department." I pulled out my ID to show to him. "Afterward, I was eating dinner with my sister, Sergeant Deborah Morgan of the Miami-Dade Police and some of our colleagues." I named off Angel-no-relation, Camilla Figg, and the others with whom I had broken bread earlier. "After dinner, I went over to Christopher Sula's home, to pick up my wife's children, Astor and Cody Bennett, and my ward, Arya Stark." I gestured to the children to indicate whom I was talking about.
Astor, Cody and Arya all looked up at the cop with wide, innocent eyes. To see them, you'd never believe just how lethal Arya was, or that Cody had killed a man already. "He came and got us half an hour or so ago, officer," Astor said. As she often did, she acted as spokes-girl for the children as a unit. "We were over at the Sulas' house all afternoon, after Dexter was called to the crime scene."
"I'll want to check that," the cop said. "You're Paul Bennett's children, right?" Astor and Cody nodded in confirmation. Arya shook her head. "You're not? Then who are you?"
"A girl was washed up off Miami. Dexter found a girl, and it was decided that he should be a girl's guardian. A girl lives with him, Rita Morgan, and Astor and Cody."
The cop's eyebrows rose. Astor hastened to assure him: "That's just the way Arya talks, sir. It doesn't mean anything."
The cop nodded. "I see. You mentioned Rita Morgan. Is this the 'Rita Bennett' who was Paul Bennett's ex-wife?"
"Yes, officer. She's my wife. She also has an unbreakable alibi."
"Really?" The cop was radiating skepticism. I couldn't blame him. A spouse or ex-spouse always is one of the first people suspected in a case like this. "And what is this 'unbreakable alibi?'"
I really enjoyed his reaction when I broke the news to him. "She's in jail right now, up in Charleston, South Carolina. She's on trial up there for possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell."
To borrow an expression a British acquaintance taught me, the cop was gobsmacked. His eyes went very wide and his jaw dropped. "You...you mean it?" I couldn't much blame him for being surprised. Disguised Dexter is, if I say so, one of the more respectable, middle-class people to be found in this wretched hive of scum and villainy we call Miami, and finding that my wife was accused of being a "drug kingpin" rocked the foundation of his world. If we'd been scumbags like my recent former playmate, it wouldn't have surprised him that my wife was accused of a crime and on trial, but this was extremely unusual in the social circles we were in.
I felt rather sorry for the policeman. It was clear he was not long out of the academy, and had not had the years of experience that make Deborah the top-flight cop she is. "Look, officer. I'll give you the contact information for the Sulas, as well as the police I was with earlier. You can check our stories out with them and you'll see that everything's on the up-and-up."
"Yes...yes, I think I'll do that." I got out my phone, and gave him the Sulas' number, as well as Deb's, Angel's and Camilla's. I hadn't known the others who were at dinner with us as well, but with all of those people to vouch for my whereabouts I wasn't at all worried. "Thank you, sir. You've been very cooperative."
"Uh, officer?" I asked. "Astor and Cody are currently staying at their father's place during the week. Is that still on?"
The cop looked puzzled. "I don't know. Tomorrow you'll be able to find out. They go back Sunday evening, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, call in tomorrow and find out what the arrangements are going to be. Paul Bennett's in the hospital right now, and looks to be there for some time. He was shot up rather badly."
There are times when Disbelieving Dexter is forced to consider the possibility of the existence of a God. This was one of them. Unless we were very unlucky, Astor and Cody were going to be back home! While it wasn't as good as having Rita back as well, it was far better than nothing.
They were quiet, and often unobtrusive, but Astor and Cody were part of what made home feel like "home" to me. I am a soulless, inhuman monster, but I like things to remain the way I've become accustomed to. Astor and Cody were happy, too, and Arya smiled a rare smile.
"Where is Mr. Bennett?" I did not care a hair, but I knew to keep things looking normal, I had to ask the question.
"He's at Jackson Memorial Hospital. His girlfriend works there. She's a nurse. She found him and called 9-1-1." At this, Detective Dexter's ears perked up. I knew that Annie Wilks had been known to harm people before. Could she have been the one to shoot Paul?
I couldn't figure out any reason for her to shoot Paul, and the policeman hadn't mentioned her being taken into custody, but this whole situation was getting weirder and weirder. I needed to think. "Thank you, officer. We need to get inside. It's already past the kids' bedtime." Arya gave a theatrical yawn. I knew her well enough to not be fooled, but the cop didn't.
"Thank you, Mr. Morgan. We may be back in touch, but good night." He touched the brim of his cap to me and went back to his cruiser. I herded the junior predators inside.
Once we were safely in our home, Astor asked: "Will we have to go back to Dad? Things haven't been bad while we've been there, but we're always waiting for the other shoe to drop." Cody nodded, agreeing, as always, with his sister.
"I don't know, Astor. A lot depends on when your father gets out of the hospital. I'll call Jackson Memorial tomorrow and ask them." I bent a stern look on the younger generation. "In any case, I meant what I said earlier about it being past your bedtimes. Hit the bathroom, get into your pajamas, say your prayers and into bed with all three of you!" Before long, they had done as I told them, and were tucked up in bed...Astor and Arya, as was their custom, sharing one bed. Soon, all was quiet, and I pulled out my cell phone to call Deb.
As I'd anticipated, Deb was still up. Like me, she was a bit of a night owl by nature. "Dex? What's up?" Apparently the cops hadn't contacted her yet with the glad(?) news about Paul Bennett.
Knowing that Deb's a pretty no-nonsense individual, I gave her the news as succinctly as I could. "I found a cop waiting for me when I got home. Paul Bennett's been shot. He's in Jackson Memorial Hospital. The cops wanted to know where I was this evening."
"Bennett was shot? Who could have done that?" Deb sounded rather puzzled. "I've been keeping tabs on him myself, and from what I can tell, he's very much a reformed citizen these days." Then her tone turned teasing. "At least you have a really strong alibi!"
Deb would have instantly suspected me had Paul Bennett mysteriously disappeared in the manner of my various playmates of the past. Since, unlike those people, I had a strong known motive to rid myself of his presence in my life and this world, she'd have had good reasons. But she knew me well enough to know that this sort of thing was not at all my style. Dexter's MO has always been for my playmates to softly and suddenly vanish away, as though they'd met the Boojum.
"I'll call Jackson tomorrow morning. If nothing else, I need to know what to do with Astor and Cody. If I just keep them here, I could get in trouble with the court. The courts may want to leave them here while Bennett recovers. Or they might have some other brilliant idea." I could all but hear Deb rolling her eyes at that last statement. Like me, she'd seen that crazy machine we call Florida Justice in action for far too long to have much faith in its ability to come up with the right answer. For all we knew, the court might decide that the best thing to do with Astor and Cody was sell them to the circus.
"Good idea. Better let Rita know what's happened, too." Since that had been my own plan, I concurred, and let her off the line. I did my usual evening routine and slid into my lonely bed, imagining just how jittered Rita would be when she heard about this latest development.
The next morning, I was on the phone before heading out. My first call was to the Charleston jail. After the usual rigmarole, I got Rita on the line.
"Rita! How are you doing?"
"They're just about to take me over to the courthouse for more of my trial! What's happening out there?"
"Paul Bennett got shot."
"Shot? Oh my God...who would do such a thing...poor Paul...is he alive?"
"I don't know much about it. I got back from a crime scene last night and found a cop at our front door. He gave me the news and asked where I'd been. Lucky for me, I had a steel-clad alibi. I'd been at a crime scene with Deb and the gang from work, and afterwards we all went out to dinner. It's a very nice steak house. When you're out of this mess, we'll have to go there."
"Oh, Dexter, I'm so glad you had an alibi! Some of the women in here are here just because they didn't have an explanation for where they were or what they were doing on some particular night!" I rolled my eyes. In my line of work, I'd run into many criminals, and some of them were plausible enough to fool almost anybody. While (except for not noticing what her children and I were) Rita was no naif, she had probably been taken in.
"Listen, Rita, this phone call is about to be over. I'll call Jackson Memorial today and find out what I can. I'll keep you posted. Stay safe in there." As the phone cut off, the last thing I heard was a torrent of weeping. I do not have normal human feelings, but I did not like the way I felt.
My next call was to Jackson Memorial Hospital. There were a lot of things they wouldn't or couldn't tell me, but I learned that Paul Bennett had apparently been shot in the street outside his home. He was in critical condition with several bullet wounds in his abdomen and torso. He was not allowed visitors at that time.
After that, I called the people who had decided that Paul would get custody of Astor and Cody during the week. It being Sunday, I had trouble getting through, but Determined Dexter finally got a human being on the other end of the line. "Of course Miss Bennett and Master Bennett may stay with you! Their father's hospitalized! He can't take care of them right now! After he's out of the hospital, we'll revisit this case!" Hanging up, I went out with a song in my heart to tell the younger generation that they'd be staying here for a while.
Astor and Cody took the news as calmly as they always did, but I knew them well enough to know that they were pretty happy. While Paul Bennett had been acting very much like the reformed, productive citizen he claimed to have become, they had enough memories of him to always be waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for his mask to fall to show the abusive monster he once had been.
"It is a lovely day, and we don't have school or work. A girl thinks that a picnic would be a good idea. What do you all think about that?" When Arya said that, it met with general approval, and we soon had a unanimous vote for a picnic at a park near where we lived, where we had gone before. "A girl would like to know if the Sulas would like to join us. Not to mention a girl's aunt sergeant. Could you call them and ask, Dexter?"
That sounded like a splendid idea. When I called the Sulas, I got "We're going to be busy today, but I'm sure Caroline would love to join you!" I made arrangements to pick Caroline up, and dialed my sister.
"A picnic? Yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Where? I'll meet you there in an hour." Once I'd made the arrangements, I headed for the kitchen and had the children help me put together a portable meal. When we were all done, we piled into the car and headed for the park. When we swung by the Sulas', Caroline came running out and jumped into the back seat along with Astor, Arya and Cody. It was a little crowded, but they made do.
We claimed a well-sited picnic table, and not long afterward, Deb pulled up. She'd made a few sandwiches, but when she saw what we had brought, she was happy to help us demolish the provisions we had brought. For a while, conversation all but ceased, as we made inroads on the food.
When the food was a happy memory, we sat back and relaxed, soaking in the sun. While, as native Floridians (Arya excepted), we were quite accustomed to the sun, that didn't mean it wasn't pleasant. It wasn't oppressively hot, and there were others out in the park. I found myself enjoying the day, the company, and the general sense of peace. The only flies in the ointment were that Rita wasn't there...I thought she'd really have relished the whole thing...and wondering just what the hell was up with Paul Bennett. I wondered who had shot him.
After a while, Arya got up and found herself a suitable straight stick. She began doing her exercises, which she had kept up even after starting fencing training. Caroline watched her for a little while, then got up, found another stick and followed suit. At first, it was obvious that Caroline had had different early training than Arya had, but she picked up on what Arya was doing very quickly.
Astor apparently thought her friends had a good idea. She got up and began running through her judo katas. By now, we had attracted some attention. Some people came over to watch what the girls were doing. One well-meaning person asked if Arya and Caroline should be doing what they were doing. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"No," I explained. "The girls with sticks are both in fencing clubs, and are doing exercises to make them better at fencing. The other girl is learning judo. Those are 'katas,' exercises prescribed to judo students. It's a beautiful day to be out, so they're taking advantage of it to get in their exercises. Their coaches will be very pleased with them."
All in all, it was a lovely day. Much to my surprise, I found myself enjoying what I was doing. I had thought of it as a good way to keep my disguise up, but it proved to be pleasant in its own right. As the shadows lengthened and evening drew on, we packed up our gear and went our ways. When we got home after dropping Caroline off, the junior predators were tired and replete, and made no fuss about bedtime.
Once the children were safely abed, I fired up my computer and got to work, despite the fact that I was sleepy myself. I wanted to know what had happened to Paul Bennett.
I couldn't find much. The police reports I was able to access from home just said that he'd been shot in front of his home, and been taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition. There were no leads, at least none that I could find. I was very interested to see that the person who had found him and reported his misfortune was none other than Annie Wilkes, RN.
To most people, this would not seem suspicious. After all, Annie Wilkes was Paul Bennett's girlfriend and lived with him. But to Detective Dexter, with my knowledge of what sweet Annie had apparently been up to in her former home, this set off alarm bells. I headed off to work to find out what I could, preferably without arousing suspicion. At least I had a steel-clad alibi this time!
Work was...work. There was a backlog of paperwork to get done; there'd been several other murders and other crimes over the weekend that needed to be attended to. I dug into the paperwork, and since people could see that I was virtuously occupied, they pretty much left me alone.
Vince Masuka turned out to have been one of the police summoned to the scene at Paul Bennett's home. Since I had brought Bavarian cream and jelly doughnuts, he was quite willing to be informative with me. He knew about my domestic woes, and sympathized with me.
"We got a call from Bennett's place at about 9:00 PM. That was about when you and your sister were just sitting down to dinner. His girlfriend was on the line. She said he'd been shot several times while he was out doing something with his pickup truck. We came over as fast as we could and brought along an ambulance. Sure enough, he was on the ground and his girlfriend was kneeling over him. She'd already done some stuff stabilizing him. She's a nurse, you know."
"Yes, I know." I also knew that nurses could be just as lethal as I was. My first real playmate had been a nurse, in fact. I was growing more and more suspicious of Annie Wilkes. In fact, I wondered if she, and not Paul, had been the architect of Rita's misfortune. How she could have engineered it, I did not know, but I promised myself to give it some serious thought.