A Hole In One, Paul Weininger [top novels to read txt] 📗

you with being number two in this firm, since I hear you’re the one who brings in most of the money?”

“Detective, you’re not suggesting that I drove up to Sedona and shot at Tony so that the firm would be mine, are you?”

“Well, that thought has crossed my mind. What exactly would your alibi be, Mr. Biggers?”

“First of all, I resent the implication that I might attempt to murder my senior partner. That is beyond absurd. May I suggest that you lay down your lance and sword, Detective? I would also suggest that should you find it necessary to pursue such stupid, unfounded ideas, I will contact this city’s top attorney, who’s also a client of ours, and file charges against you for harassment. Regarding my alibi, I have twelve people right in this office that can vouch for my being here every day. Feel free to ask anyone right now if you still think I may have been involved.”

Johnny now had another person he could cross off his list of possible suspects. Now was a good time to follow up on the lead that had occurred to him a few weeks ago. He began by returning to the hospital and interviewed Nurse Warner, the one that cared for Bloom while he was a patient. He asked if she noticed any visitors coming around to visit Bloom or staying longer than normal.

The nurse’s response intrigued Johnny Pratt.

She remembered that Bloom’s wife paid him a rather lengthy visit the same day Pratt was there to interview him. She remembered telling Mrs. Bloom,“You’re going to have to leave now, visiting hours are over.” Nurse Warner told Pratt that he was dozing and must not have noticed when the man’s wife left.

Pratt asked her to describe the wife and she said, “Very young, reddish hair, probably in her twenties and extremely beautiful, like a model.”

“Did either he or his wife correct you when you called her Mrs. Bloom?” he inquired.

“Why no, isn’t she?” asked the nurse.

“I really can’t say, since I didn’t see her leave,” he lied, knowing the Rabbi wasn’t married. Pratt gave himself a mental high five and thought boastfully, “I’ve got them both for lying and I think I’ve got my first legitimate suspect.”

◆◆◆

Neil Bloom heard his front doorbell ring and went to answer the door. It was the other detective who partnered with Pratt.

“Rabbi,” Sommerville asked pointedly, “are you absolutely certain that you want to stick to your story that you never had an affair with Carol Jacobson, considering that I have a witness that will testify differently?”

Bloom thought this was a trick but wasn’t sure if Carol might have been scared enough to have told him everything. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Detective. You have a witness who contradicts what I told you?”

“Do you remember Nurse Warner who took care of you at the hospital?” he asked the Rabbi.

“Of course, I do, she was a real sweetheart. Why do you ask?”

“She remembers waking both you and your wife, calling out to the woman laying her head on your chest as Mrs. Bloom and neither of you correcting her. We have since learned this woman was Mrs. Jacobson.”

“And you mean to tell me that a nurse who accidentally misspoke is now your key witness to my dishonesty?” asked Bloom critically. “Mrs. Jacobson was just a friend who came to visit me and sat there as I fell asleep due to my meds. And you believed that her also taking a nap while resting on my chest made us lovers? Come now, Detective Sommerville, your reputation as one of the best detectives in town would not suggest a conclusion based on such miserable evidence. It seems to me that your shovel is digging in the wrong places.”

“All right, Rabbi,” Jason said with composure, “I’ll play your poker game, but I can assure you that I will go all in if you choose to keep playing.”

The detective returned to his car and just at that moment got a fortuitous call on his radio. “Detective, this is Sgt. Raymond with officer Caballo. Like you directed, we followed the Rabbi and Mrs. Jacobson and three times they went to the same hotel, the Oak Creek Inn, in the town of Old Creek. We saw each of them enter the hotel and leave about four hours later. Neither signed in with their real name. They entered at separate times and signed in as Mr. and Mrs. Herman. They also left at separate times.”

This was the information Sommerville felt he and Pratt needed to prove that Bloom and Carol had lied during the Rabbi’s questioning about their affair.

Bloom didn’t know the cops were following him until he got the phone call from Pratt to come down to the station. Immediately afterwards, Neil received a call from Carol frantically asking why Pratt wanted her to come down to the station for more questions. “Relax,” he told her hopefully, “they don’t have anything that can hurt us.”

They arrived at the police station ten minutes apart and were questioned separately. The Rabbi was first and Carol right after. Little did they suspect that not only were they followed, but the police also had dated and timed the photos of the two to prove when they were going in and coming out. Pratt made Carol Jacobson an offer. He would not tell her husband Jules about her affair with Bloom if she agreed to admit to the affair in exchange for protecting her secret.

“That may be true but it’s a private matter and nothing you can arrest us for,” she replied. “Yes, we are seeing each other and are in love. If you really believe you’ll get your shooter that much faster by ruining my marriage and having Neil lose his congregation, then go ahead and tell everyone about us. What we are solely guilty off is being in and making love, nothing else,” she answered adamantly.

“Wrong, Mrs. Jacobson, you are also guilty of adultery,” Johnny corrected