Chapter 24

Chapter XXIV

Later in the evening, Ruby had called detectives Spacer and Kurtis at the hospital to be sure they were all right.  They got Jeanne’s name from her; so it was no surprise to Ruby when a morning office delivery was made.  Spacer and Kurtis sent Jeanne a living American Beauty Rose plant, to symbolize the fact they were living partly due to her efforts.  The whole office shared a cheer for her, then laughed at the story of how she happened to be there.

An officer picked up Spacer and Kurtis to take them home from the hospital.  They were on the way, when Ralph called Spacer on his cellphone. 

“Hi, I tried your office and they said you wouldn’t be in today,” Ralph said.

“They were only half right,” Spacer replied. “We’ll be in late this afternoon.  Whatcha got?”

“Lake Ferris is in town.  Moved back here about a year ago.  She still visits Stoker in Kansas, but only about once a month.”

“You’ve seen her?” Spacer was annoyed.

“No,” Ralph said, knowing he was to report to Spacer first, “I left that for you.  This is the first I could reach you.”

“We had a little accident.  We’re off officially, but could you pick us up and we can go question Ms Ferris?”

“Sure, but…”

“I’ll explain when I see you, at my place,” Spacer said, then gave an address.  He closed the phone and put it back in his pocket, turned to Kurtis, “You up to questioning Ferris?”

“Whoa, my orders are to take you home,” the officer said, pulling up in front of the apartment building that housed Spacer.

“I’m going to stay with Spacer and be sure he’s okay,” Kurtis replied, as he struggled to get out of the car.   The officer came to him and offered an arm to pull him to his feet.  He laughed, watching Kurtis get the crutches in control.

 “You’re taking care of Spacer?”

“I have a housekeeper, who will mother both of us to death,” Spacer said.

Ralph was telling Linda where he was going.  Porter came in on the conversation.  He made a face and said, “You’re doing what?”

“Spacer and Kurtis are letting me sit in on the questioning of Lake Ferris,” Ralph said.

“Didn’t you read the paper?” Porter asked.  “They have no other way to get there.  Where’re you picking them up?”

“Spacer’s apartment.  What?  Have they been suspended?” Ralph was concerned.

Porter saw a newspaper on the desk he took it and pointed to a picture of the car wreck, “They’ve been in the hospital.  Maybe I better go with you to help carry them.”

Ralph left shaking his head and laughing at the twisted truth Spacer had told.

The officer made sure Spacer and Kurtis were settled in comfortably and left.  Spacer’s maid was fussing about trying to get them something to eat or drink.

“We were just fed before we left the hospital.  Thank you, Emma, we’re fine.”  Spacer told her.

She went off shaking her head.  The next she was seen was to lead Ralph to her patients.

“My God did you lose your arm?” Ralph asked.

“No they tucked it inside the shirt and taped it to my chest so I can’t stretch it and pull stitches,” Spacer replied.

“Were you shot?”

“No!  Would you believe, I had my wallet in my inside breast pocket.”  Spacer was shaking his head as he relayed the story.  “In the crash it somehow turned catty corner and when we hit it stabbed me.  I guess my badge held it ridged.”

Ralph laughed.

“If I were a rich man it would have been too fat.”

“Been better off if you were stabbed, less tearing,” Ralph said.  “You must have landed with some force.”  He looked to Kurtis and asked, “How’s the leg?”

“It’s there.  That’s the important thing,” Kurtis said.  “We were set up and deliberately rammed off the road.”

“The van that hit us had been stolen and a grill was rigged on the front so it could get us with little problem to the driver,” Spacer said.  “He must have had someone waiting to pick him up.  He wasn’t to be found.”

“You been to Lake Ferris’s house?” Kurtis asked.

“Look, we can’t bring her here.   If she’s part of it we don’t want her knowing where you live.  We don’t know what to expect at her place,” Ralph said.  “I can’t carry you up three flights of stairs.  Suppose we call her.  There is a conference room on the ground floor of the building my office is in; I could take you there then pick Ferris up, or have her meet us there.”

“Let’s do a drive by on the house,” Kurtis said.  “I’m pretty good on the crutches.  It may be an easy access place and I hate to warn a witness I’m going to question him.”

Spacer nodded agreement with his partner.

Lake Ferris’s home was an easy access ranch style home.  Kurtis had no problem negotiating the two-step entry.  Spacer was breathing heavily with the short walk from the car.  Ralph took his arm to help steady him.

“Hard breathing,” Spacer said.  “Must be the stitches.”

“You’re a few quarts low on blood,” Kurtis exaggerated.  “It’ll take time.”

“That will do it to you,” Ralph agreed ringing the bell. 

The door was answered quickly.

“Hello, I’m Ralph Lesserman, escorting Inspectors Spacer and Kurtis.  They’re a couple of cops who take their work very seriously.”

“My word!”  She took Spacer’s arm and led him to a straight back chair.  “What could you possibly want from me that would bring you out in this condition?”  Her next act was to seat Kurtis where he could put his leg up.  Then she and Ralph sat facing them.

Lake Ferris was just under six feet tall.  She wore loose fitted silk lounging pajamas that clung to her whole body.  There was no way any of the men would make a mistake and call her “he” again.

“Since there are two of you messed up, I assume it was an accident,” Lake said.  “You got home from the hospital and felt okay so you decided to macho it out – I don’t know what you want to talk to me about, but when we’re through here, you go home and to bed.”  She directed that remark to Spacer with a pointing finger for emphasis.

“You sound like the nurse,” Spacer said.

“I am a nurse,” She shook her finger in warning.  “Don’t say it.  It reeks of prejudice.  You obviously know some of my background and think I should be in show biz.”

“Obviously not enough on the background,” Kurtis said.

“I’m an RN at St. Mary’s,” she said.  “I was lucky they had an opening when I returned.  I had worked there as a male nurse.  They knew I knew my job.  My parents died.  I came back to settle the estate and stayed.”

“What does Stoker think of that?” Kurtis asked.

“Stoker?  I might have known…What’s he done now?”

“Maybe nothing,” Spacer said.

Lake laughed, “Nothing short of murder.”

“We had expected you to be protective,” Ralph ventured.

“Stoker and I had a great boyfriends relationship.  He would come to visit his mama and see me.  Then he decided to stay.  He moved in with me for a while.  A couple of black eyes over a year should have told me.  Working where I do I’ve seen enough to know they don’t change.”  Lake thought back.  “I even had some friends warn me.  Stoker knew I planned a sex change, right from the beginning.  When I had a doctor willing to do the preliminaries, Stoker went off on me.  ‘If I wanted a woman I’d have found one.’  He beat the shit out of me.  For that beating, he didn’t want to go to jail, so I made him loan me the money for the operation.”

“It wasn’t as a loving partner?” Kurtis asked.

She laughed.  “Then it went from ‘of course I didn’t kill dad,’ to ‘I did it for you he was going to tell everyone you were a man.’ But I didn’t care who knew.  I told Mac Pearson I didn’t care.  He said Stoker hit his mother and was making treats if he didn’t get the money.  I’ve never been one to hide things.”  She took a deep breath.  “When he started calling this beautiful bod his, I backed away.  The opportunity to move back here was what I needed.  I’ve been paying an account in his name so he can’t say he bought me.”

“You still see him?” Spacer asked.

“I show him receipts and tell him how rich he is.”

“You found Dieter for him?” Kurtis asked.

“Dieter? … Oh the detective?  That was a long time ago.  He said he was a friend of a buddy, who was up for parole.  That was one of the little favors for interest on the money he loaned me.”

“Why did you have a gun?” Spacer asked.

“Stoker thought, if someone found out I was a changed person, I’d be in danger.  He told me to get a gun and put it in the nightstand by my bed.”

“You didn’t think that was odd?” Kurtis asked.

“Where else you going to keep a gun?” She asked. “I did think it was funny, after so long, when I moved, he made sure I still had it.”

“Did he ever ask you to take care of friends?” Spacer asked.

She shook her head, then gasp, “He sent that weird man to me – Tate.  Real creep.  He spent two days here.  Kept wanting to look up my skirt to see if I still had a penis.  I suggested he would be more comfortable closer to town.”

“When did you notice your gun missing?” Kurtis asked.

“When I called.  I got a note from Stoker asking if I still had the gun.  I checked.  When I said no, Stoker said report it stolen quick.”

“You know Warren Tate was arrested with your gun.  He used it to kill Dieter,” Spacer said.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out.  Finally a tear rolled down her cheek.  She shook her head.  “He planned all that for two years.  Why?”  She paused again then asked, “Are you here to arrest me?”

Ralph laughed.  “I’m sorry, but capable as I am, there is no way I’d try to arrest someone with this motley crew.”

She tried a smile, but just shook her head again.

“Why would we arrest you?” Kurtis asked.

“There is no denying my actions were directly involved in that man’s death.”

“That you can see that is reason enough to let you go,” Spacer said, “but we may want you for a witness, if we can prove Stoker helped plan the murder.”

“If?  We’re talking about Stoker Campbell.  I’m surprised he let someone else do it, but why would he want him dead?”  She asked rhetorically then looked at each man.  “I will do whatever it takes to get him.  He set me up knowing I would have no part of it had I known.  He’s become an evil man.”

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