FiFty Fifty

Chapter Fifty

EDDIE

Within an hour of the verdict I was in the back room of my office, lying down on my cot, eyes closed, two-fingers of whiskey rolling around in my empty stomach and my eyes shut tight.
My body wanted sleep. My brain, too. I'd never felt so tired. Months of sleepless nights and long days were finally taking their toll.
But no sleep came.
All I could think of was Harper. Her killer was still out there. It was possible that Alexandra had killed Harper, and that thought was hard to resist but there was nothing linking her to the murder apart from Harper working on Sofia's case. If Harper saw something during that visit to the Franklin house, and had to be taken out by Alexandra, I couldn't see what it was. I only had theories – nothing approaching a solid.
Thoughts were banging around in my head so much I could almost hear them. I sat up.
I really did hear banging.
On the front door to my office.
I threw on a tee, a pair of jeans and made my way into the office. The outer door was frosted glass, and I could see someone on the other side. I opened my desk drawer, took out a pair of brass knuckles and slipped one of them onto my right hand. Unless the person on the other side of the door was Harry, or Kate, I would punch their lights out and ask questions later. Harper died opening her front door.
More banging on the door. This was not just knocking. Whoever was on the other side didn't seem friendly.
I took a breath, stepped forward, shot my right arm into a firing position and flung open the door.
It wasn't Harry. And it wasn't Kate.
And I didn't punch them out.
The person on the other side of the door wore tight grey jeans, black boots,
and a blue blazer over a dark patterned shirt. Bloch didn't say hello. She didn't say anything. She stared into the floor, as if she was looking through it to the concrete and metal below. Lost in thought, and something else. She looked like
 
she'd had bad news – a relative in a car accident maybe. Whatever it was, she had trouble spitting it out. I wanted to say something but I got the impression that if I did she might put one of those Doctor Marten boots through my face. But then I remembered Bloch didn't talk much, and reasoned that I should at least risk the boot to get things started.
'Bloch, you okay?' I said.
She didn't move. Didn't flinch. Didn't look at me. She just said, 'I don't think so.'
'What's wrong? Is it Kate? Is she okay?'
'She doesn't know I'm here. Not yet. Can I come in?'
'Sure,' I said, stepping back. I slipped the brass off my fist and let it fall on the
desk.
Bloch didn't sit down, even after I offered her a seat. She shook her head at
the suggestion of a drink.
'Okay, you gotta help me out here. Something's wrong, I get that. Talk to
me.'
'In the end, it was just too easy,' said Bloch.
Sometimes it takes a simple statement to change the way you look at
something. I felt like part of this case was a closed door, and Bloch had just cracked it open an inch.
I should've known the jury was going to convict Alexandra, and acquit Sofia. Harry had been sure of it – the only one who didn't see that verdict coming was me. And now I knew why. I could see it on Bloch's face. Not only was I tired, I was unsure. Unsure about everything, and that doubt had unmoored me. I was adrift on water, surrounded by the fog of grief. And I wasn't paying attention. The forensic evidence in the case couldn't be relied upon – the hair-fiber expert and the bite guy were both as unreliable as each other. I wouldn't have been surprised if Dreyer had influenced their reports somehow, so he could point the accusing finger at both suspects. In the end, it didn't matter because the jury didn't take to either expert.
'Two things bother me,' said Bloch.
She paused. Talking wasn't easy for her. She had to build up to it. The last rays of sun blared through a grime-colored window opposite. She gazed at the dust motes floating in the beam of sunlight.
'I think part of the journal is true. Frank found out who was trying to poison him, and he was going to change his will – that's why he was murdered. The Haloperidol. It's in liquid form. Big white bottle. How come the cops didn't find any trace of it and how come Frank didn't notice her putting it in his food?'
'Well, maybe she was careful?' I said.

'She gives it to him for months, he doesn't see it and she doesn't spill a drop? But somehow he figures it out anyway?'
'She was very careful?' I said.
'That's the second thing that bothers me. This was almost the perfect crime. She's been really careful. Killing witnesses, taking her time to plan this and yet she was sloppy enough to put three factual mistakes into the fake journal,' said Bloch.
That door in my mind flung open. We both looked at each other. Proving the journal was fake had been all too easy. That thought locking our eyes and minds like a pair of cuffs.
Those simple words from Bloch were enough to tilt my world on its axis. Sometimes you just can't see something because you're looking at it from completely the wrong angle.
'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' I said.
She didn't answer, just flicked her eyes at me, then back to the floor.
'We still don't know why Harper was killed. I've watched those videos of the
Franklin Street inspection over and over. I thought maybe she'd seen something in the Franklin Street house that implicated one of the sisters, and taken a picture of it. Maybe she didn't even see it at the time, but she had a picture. Maybe I'm wrong, and I don't have her phone pictures to check, but it's the only thing that could have made her a target for Frank's killer. Harper was smarter than me. Better than me. I owe it to her to find out.'
'It'll be dark soon. I want to look inside the house on Franklin Street again,' she said. 'You want to come along?'
I did. I wanted to look for myself, but before I did anything I had to be sure of the course of action. I needed confirmation. I had an idea about the Haloperidol, and I had to run it down.
'Take Harry with you. If the cops find you it helps if you've got a former senior judge along for the ride. There's not a cop in this city that wouldn't know Harry Ford. Are you going to tell Kate about this?'
'Not yet,' said Bloch.
'Don't tell her anything until you leave Franklin Street. She'll want to come with you. If she's caught breaking and entering her legal career is over before it's even started.'
Bloch nodded, asked, 'Are you coming with us?'
'I can't come, I've got other things that are more important.'
'Like what?'
'I've got to make a call to an old friend. Then I need to buy a newspaper and
go to the hospital.'

'You feeling alright?' asked Bloch. 'No, I'm pretty far from alright.'