Читать книгу Butterfly Kills - Brenda Chapman - Страница 11

Bobby Hamilton sat in a chair in front of a giant television, his face ashen in the pooled light from the table lamp. A Blue Jays game was playing on the screen with the sound off. Bobby sucked on the end of a cigarette while avoiding looking directly at Kala and Gundersund as they lowered themselves kitty corner to him on the stained green couch, the only other place to sit. Bobby had shot them a darting look when they entered the room, then fixed his unblinking eyes on the screen.

Kala sat on the edge of the couch and tried not to think about what had made it so filthy or what could be crawling underneath her. She forced down her revulsion and angled herself to get a clear view of Bobby. His shoulder-length blond hair was already giving way to baldness — the hairline had receded with a circle of thinning noticeable on top — and his eyes were pale blue in his bony face. His hollow cheeks and pointed jaw hinted at malnourishment. Someone who’d rather spend their money on drugs than food. A smell of pot hovered in the room, filming the walls and ceiling, giving silent confirmation of her assessment.

Gundersund coughed as if his throat was constricting. “So you found Leah’s body,” he said when he caught his breath. He coughed again and his face turned a deep red. He glared at Hamilton as the choking came to an end.

Bobby chanced a glance at him before nodding. He pulled on the cigarette like he was sucking on a straw.

“Do you mind putting that thing out?” Gundersund asked, pointing at the smoke rising from Bobby’s fingers.

“What, this?” Bobby shrugged and dropped the cigarette into a beer bottle on the table next to him. It hissed and sputtered, then went out. He spread his legs wider and sunk deeper into his chair.

“You found Leah Sampson’s body.” Gundersund had pulled out his notebook.

“So it was her.”

“Can you tell us what you saw?”

“I went downstairs to do some laundry after supper. Around eight o’clock. I smelled something stinkin’ and followed it over to her apartment. I knocked but the door was open a bit so I yelled to see if she was okay.”

“Did you go in?”

“No way.” Bobby shook his head and looked at them for the first time. “I just looked down the hall and saw blood and combined with the smell … I hightailed it back upstairs and called 911.”

“Did you hear anything coming from Leah Sampson’s apartment the last few days? Anything unusual that you can remember?”

“Like what?”

“Like noises or raised voices; anything at all unusual.”

“Nope.”

“Did you see anybody coming or going?”

“I’m not her bloody keeper.”

Interesting choice of adjective. “What do you do for a living, Bobby?” Kala interrupted.

“I work for the city. Garbage collection.”

“So you’re not home during the day.”

He looked in her direction, his eyes assessing her like a woman he’d just met standing on a street corner. “That’s right. I leave for work around five a.m. and get home mid-afternoon, unless I go to the bar when I’m done.”

Kala ignored the suggestion in his weasely eyes. “Did you do that last week, say on Friday after work?”

“Yup.”

“You said that without thinking about it,” said Gundersund.

“That’s cause I go to the bar every night after work. It takes a while to get the taste of garbage out of my throat.” He smiled, showing yellowish teeth. One of the bottom front ones was missing.

“We’ll need details and names of the people who might have seen you,” said Gundersund.

“Why? I didn’t have nuttin’ to do with what happened to her. I was the good corporate citizen that reported it, remember?”

“We know that,” said Kala, cutting off his sudden burst of anger. “We just need to find out where everybody was.”

“Yeah, right,” said Bobby. “I got an idea how this works.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed Gundersund a card with the phone number of his supervisor. “Wayne was at the bar with me Friday and tonight.” His eyes went back to the television screen.

“Did you know Leah at all?” asked Kala.

“Nope. I keep to myself.”

“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Gunder-sund asked.

“Such as?”

“Who might have killed Leah.”

“I ain’t got absolutely no idea. A guy does his civic duty and all of a sudden you’re checking out his whereabouts and asking if he knew her killer. I think I’m all done talking.”

“Thanks for your time,” said Kala. “We appreciate your assistance.” She kept her voice flat, hiding any trace of sarcasm.

Out in the hall, Gundersund snapped his notebook shut and tucked it into his pocket. “Think the guy’s done time?”

“It’s not a question of if, but how much and for what,” Kala said, starting down the stairs.

She looked through the screen door at the bottom. A red-haired girl carrying a gym bag stood outside talking to one of the officers. As Kala reached the bottom of the stairwell, the gym bag hit the sidewalk with a thunk and the girl covered her mouth with both hands. Her scream filled the hallway.

Kala turned to Gundersund. “Looks like the second floor tenant just arrived home.”

The girl’s name was Becky Pringle and she’d been living in the top floor apartment for three years, two years longer than Leah Sampson had lived in the basement. They’d walked Becky upstairs into her apartment after rescuing her from a near collapse on the front steps. Kala sat with her on the couch while she cried. Gundersund signalled to Kala before leaving the room, and she soon heard the kettle boiling. He returned with a cup of tea that he placed into Becky’s shaking hands. She sipped it in choking slurps. Eventually her sobbing subsided.

“I just can’t believe it. Anybody but Leah.”

How many times had Kala heard these same words come out of victims’ mouths? Anybody but their loved one.

“We know it’s been a terrible shock, but if you can tell us about Leah, it might help us to find out who did this to her.”

“This is just unbelievable,” Becky repeated. “Leah and I liked to get together after work and have tea or something harder to drink. She was warm and funny. She was the kind of person who would do anything for you.”

“Could you tell us where Leah worked?” asked Kala.

“She was finishing up her Master’s thesis in psychology and just completed her last exam. She worked part-time at the crisis hotline on Queen’s campus.”

“Did she have a boyfriend?”

Becky paused. “They broke up about a month ago.”

“What was his name?”

“She called him Wolf. I don’t know his real name. He worked with her at the help line. I think they grew up in the same town. Do you think he…?”

“We won’t jump to any conclusions. Do you know where her parents live?”

“A little town near here, but I don’t know which one. Oh wait, she told me they sold their house and moved to Montreal. She was going to visit them at the end of the semester.”

“Was Leah worried about anything or anybody recently?”

“Yes. No. I’m sorry. My thoughts are all jumbled. She seemed lonelier after she broke up with Wolf and distracted the last few times we talked, but I wouldn’t say she was worried. She went away for a weekend last month for a break but she didn’t tell me where. We haven’t had a real chance to talk since she got back because of schoolwork or I would have asked her about her trip.”

And now they never would. Kala could see the girl was near breaking. “Okay, Becky. That’s all for now. We’ll probably come back to see you again once you’ve had a chance to take all this in. Is there somebody you can call to come stay with you?”

“My boyfriend. He lives a few blocks over.”

“Good. It’s best you have someone to be with you now. This has been an awful shock.”

They waited while she made the call. She spoke briefly and nodded after hanging up. “He’s on his way.”

Kala and Gundersund stood and headed for the door. Gundersund stopped as Kala stepped onto the landing. “Becky, how long has Bobby Hamilton lived below you?”

“About a year. Just a bit longer than Leah. She and I were hoping he’d move out so Leah could move into his apartment, but he wasn’t going anywhere soon so Leah was thinking about finding another place to live. Moving on up since she’d be done school and making money.” Becky’s voice caught in a sob.

“I can stay until your boyfriend arrives,” said Kala. She motioned at Gundersund to go on without her. “I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes.” She started back toward the girl on the couch.