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March said, “My ignorance was fine with her, for obvious reasons. Looking back, she encouraged it. The few times I brought up the past, her family, she’d distract me. Getting what my mom used to call kittenish.”
Milo said, “The reason I called is I wanted to talk to your housekeepers. I’m here in front of your house but neither of them answers the gate button.”
A beat.
Doug March said, “Without someone around, they’re probably slacking off. For all I know, they’re swimming in the pool. Hold on.”
Half a minute passed before he came back on. “I tried theircellphones, can’t get through either. Maybe they went somewhere to stuff their faces. Even though we keep plenty of food around for them.”
Milo said, “Could you give me those numbers, please?”
“Hold on. Here we go. The first one’s for the old one—Irma. The second’s her niece’s, don’t remember her name.” He read off the numbers.
“Thanks. Do you have home addresses for them?”
“Why would I? They live with us,” said March.
“You hired them—”
“Shehired them. One of her few domestic accomplishments, I don’t bother with stupid stuff. Okay? Can I attend to business?”
Milo said, “I have to ask: have you thought of anything since we last spoke?”
“I’ve thought about lots of things,” said March. “I’malwaysthinking, my brain’s active. But none of it’s been abouther.The less I think about her, the better.”
“Okay.”
“Do I sound irate, Lieutenant? You bet. The more I thought about what she did, how she played me for an idiot, the more irate I got. At some point I’m going to have to tell my parents and that will not be enjoyable.”
“They didn’t approve of Meagin.”
“Ha. They warned me about her, told me she was too nice. Told me someone who shied away from talking about her past had something to hide. And guess who was right? I do not like the taste of crow, Lieutenant.”
Milo said, “Who does?”
“That’s neither here nor there,” said March. “I am not some clueless moron, I deal with people all the time. Then I go and marry a person who’s a flat-out, fucking liaranda cheat? So yeah, I’m angry and I don’t care if you know that because I had nothing to do with what happened to her. And that Mafia scumbag. Nor do I care to learn about whathappened because I’m wiping this phase of my life clean and moving on and the next time, if there is one, I’ll be smarter.”
Long speech; it left him panting.
Milo said, “Got it, sir.”
“Oh, bullshit,” said Doug March. “You’re just patronizing me like I’m one of your idiot suspects. That’s how you make your living. Catching stupid people.”
Click.
Milo stared at the phone as if waiting for it to ignite. “No way I can deal with smart people? Was that a dare?”
“More like a tantrum,” I said. “If he was guilty, the last thing he’d want to show you was rage.”
“Unless he really does think I am that dense. Or he’s so weird—what you said, asocial—that he can’t handle his rage.”
“For all his quirks, I think he’s too smart to incriminate himself that blatantly.”
He transferred the phone from hand to hand several times. “Maybe you’re right and he’s just blowing off steam because Meagin made an ass out of him.”
“That and what he told us: facing Mater and Pater who warned him against her in the first place. I can see his childhood filled with ‘Oh, Douglass, you’re such a geniusbutyou just don’t understand people.’ Now the truth of that has smacked him across the face.”
“Big-time cognitive dissonance.” He grinned. “See, I’ve been paying attention. Still, he really came across vicious. Told us he’serasedher, never mentioned her name once. So psychology or not, no way he’s off my list.”
