The Stranger
Page 46
“Oh, right, I remember them.” Bonner took out his giant notebook and started paging through rapidly. “That was Monday.”
“Yes.”
He flipped more pages, his pace growing more and more frantic. Adam glanced over Bonner’s shoulder. Every page in the thick notebook was filled from top to bottom, from far left to far right, with tiny letters. Bonner kept turning pages at a furious clip.
Then suddenly, Bonner stopped.
“You found it?”
A slow grin came to Bonner’s face. “Hey, Adam?”
“What?”
Bonner turned the grin toward him. Then he did the gerbil wriggle again and said, “You got two hundred bucks on you?”
“Two hundred?”
“Because you’re lying to me.”
Adam tried to look perplexed. “What are you talking about?”
Bonner slammed the notebook closed. “Because, you see, I was here. I would have heard your car getting hit.”
Adam was about to counter when Bonner held up his palm.
“And before you tell me it was late or it was noisy or it was barely a scratch, don’t forget that your car is sitting right over there. It’s got no damage. And before you tell me you were driving your wife’s car or some other lie”—Bonner held up the notebook, still grinning—“I got the details of that night right here.”
Caught. Caught in a clumsy lie by Bonner.
“So the way I see it,” Bonner continued, “you want that guy’s license plate number for another reason. He and that cute blonde he was with. Yeah, yeah, I remember them because the rest of you clowns I’ve seen a million times. They were strangers. Didn’t belong. I wondered why they were here.” He grinned again. “Now I know.”
Adam thought about saying a dozen things, but he settled on the simplest: “Two hundred dollars, you say?”
“It’s a fair price. Oh, and I don’t take checks. Or quarters.”
Chapter 30
Old Man Rinsky said, “The car is a rental.”
They were in the hi-tech breakfast nook. Rinsky was all in beige today—beige corduroys, beige wool shirt, beige vest. Eunice was at the kitchen table, dressed for a garden party, having tea. Her makeup looked as though it’d been applied with a paintball gun. She had said, “Good morning, Norman,” when Adam came in. He had debated correcting her when Rinsky stopped him. “Don’t,” he’d said. “It’s called validation therapy. Let her run with it.”
“Any idea who rented the car on Monday?” Adam asked.
“Got it right here.” Rinsky squinted at the screen. “The name she used was Lauren Barna, but that’s a pseudonym. I did some digging and Barna is actually a woman named Ingrid Prisby. She lives in Austin, Texas.” His reading glasses were on a chain. He let them drop to his chest and turned around. “The name mean anything to you?”
“No.”
“Might take a little while, but I could run a background check on her.”
“That would be helpful.”
“No problem.”
So now what? He couldn’t just fly off to Austin. Should he get the woman’s phone number and call her, and say what exactly? Hi, my name is Adam Price, and you and some guy in a baseball cap told me a secret about my wife. . . .
“Adam?”
He looked up.
Rinsky interlaced his fingers and rested them on his paunch. “You don’t have to tell me what this is about. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“But just so we’re clear, anything you tell me doesn’t leave this house. You know that too, right?”
“Sorry, but you’re the one with the privilege here,” Adam said, “not me.”
“Yeah, but I’m an old man. I have a bad memory.”
“Oh, I doubt that.”
Rinsky smiled. “Suit yourself.”
“No, no. Actually, if it’s not too much of a burden, I’d really like to get your take on this.”
“I’m all ears.”
Adam wasn’t sure how much of the story he would tell Rinsky, but the old cop was a good listener. Back in the day, he must have done an Oscar-buzzed “good cop” because Adam couldn’t shut himself up. He ended up telling him the entire story, from the moment the stranger walked into that American Legion Hall right up until now.
When Adam finished, the two men sat in silence. Eunice drank her tea.
“Do you think I should tell the police?” Adam asked.
Rinsky frowned. “You were a prosecutor, right?”
“Right.”
“So you know better.”
Adam nodded.
“You’re the husband,” he said as though that explained everything. “You just learned that your wife betrayed you in a pretty horrible way. Now she’s run off. Tell me, Mr. Prosecutor, what would you think?”
“That I did something to her.”
“That’d be number one. Number two would be that your wife—what’s her name again?”
“Corinne.”
“Right, Corinne. Number two would be that Corinne stole this money from that sports league or whatever so she could run away from you. You’d also have to tell that local cop about her faking the pregnancy. He’s married?”
“Yes.”
“So that’ll be blabbed all over town before you know it. Not that that matters in light of the other stuff. But let’s face it. The cops will either think you killed your wife or that she’s a thief.”
Rinsky had confirmed exactly what Adam had already thought.
“So what do I do?”
Rinsky lifted his reading glasses back to his face. “Show me that text your wife sent you before she took off.”
Adam found it. He handed Rinsky the phone and read the message once again over the old man’s shoulder:
MAYBE WE NEED SOME TIME APART. YOU TAKE CARE OF THE KIDS. DON’T TRY TO CONTACT ME. IT WILL BE OKAY.
Then:
JUST GIVE ME A FEW DAYS. PLEASE.
Rinsky read it, shrugged, took off the glasses. “What can you do? Far as you know, your wife needs some time away from you. She asked you not to contact her. So that’s what you’re doing.”
“I can’t sit around and do nothing.”
“No, you can’t. But if the cops ask, well, there’s your answer.”
“Why would the cops ask me that?”
“Got me. Meanwhile, you are doing all you can. You got that license plate number and you came to me. You did right on both counts. Chances are, your Corinne will just come home on her own soon. But either way, you’re right—we need to try to find her first. I’ll try to dig into this Ingrid Prisby. Maybe there’s a clue there.”
“Yes.”
He flipped more pages, his pace growing more and more frantic. Adam glanced over Bonner’s shoulder. Every page in the thick notebook was filled from top to bottom, from far left to far right, with tiny letters. Bonner kept turning pages at a furious clip.
Then suddenly, Bonner stopped.
“You found it?”
A slow grin came to Bonner’s face. “Hey, Adam?”
“What?”
Bonner turned the grin toward him. Then he did the gerbil wriggle again and said, “You got two hundred bucks on you?”
“Two hundred?”
“Because you’re lying to me.”
Adam tried to look perplexed. “What are you talking about?”
Bonner slammed the notebook closed. “Because, you see, I was here. I would have heard your car getting hit.”
Adam was about to counter when Bonner held up his palm.
“And before you tell me it was late or it was noisy or it was barely a scratch, don’t forget that your car is sitting right over there. It’s got no damage. And before you tell me you were driving your wife’s car or some other lie”—Bonner held up the notebook, still grinning—“I got the details of that night right here.”
Caught. Caught in a clumsy lie by Bonner.
“So the way I see it,” Bonner continued, “you want that guy’s license plate number for another reason. He and that cute blonde he was with. Yeah, yeah, I remember them because the rest of you clowns I’ve seen a million times. They were strangers. Didn’t belong. I wondered why they were here.” He grinned again. “Now I know.”
Adam thought about saying a dozen things, but he settled on the simplest: “Two hundred dollars, you say?”
“It’s a fair price. Oh, and I don’t take checks. Or quarters.”
Chapter 30
Old Man Rinsky said, “The car is a rental.”
They were in the hi-tech breakfast nook. Rinsky was all in beige today—beige corduroys, beige wool shirt, beige vest. Eunice was at the kitchen table, dressed for a garden party, having tea. Her makeup looked as though it’d been applied with a paintball gun. She had said, “Good morning, Norman,” when Adam came in. He had debated correcting her when Rinsky stopped him. “Don’t,” he’d said. “It’s called validation therapy. Let her run with it.”
“Any idea who rented the car on Monday?” Adam asked.
“Got it right here.” Rinsky squinted at the screen. “The name she used was Lauren Barna, but that’s a pseudonym. I did some digging and Barna is actually a woman named Ingrid Prisby. She lives in Austin, Texas.” His reading glasses were on a chain. He let them drop to his chest and turned around. “The name mean anything to you?”
“No.”
“Might take a little while, but I could run a background check on her.”
“That would be helpful.”
“No problem.”
So now what? He couldn’t just fly off to Austin. Should he get the woman’s phone number and call her, and say what exactly? Hi, my name is Adam Price, and you and some guy in a baseball cap told me a secret about my wife. . . .
“Adam?”
He looked up.
Rinsky interlaced his fingers and rested them on his paunch. “You don’t have to tell me what this is about. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“But just so we’re clear, anything you tell me doesn’t leave this house. You know that too, right?”
“Sorry, but you’re the one with the privilege here,” Adam said, “not me.”
“Yeah, but I’m an old man. I have a bad memory.”
“Oh, I doubt that.”
Rinsky smiled. “Suit yourself.”
“No, no. Actually, if it’s not too much of a burden, I’d really like to get your take on this.”
“I’m all ears.”
Adam wasn’t sure how much of the story he would tell Rinsky, but the old cop was a good listener. Back in the day, he must have done an Oscar-buzzed “good cop” because Adam couldn’t shut himself up. He ended up telling him the entire story, from the moment the stranger walked into that American Legion Hall right up until now.
When Adam finished, the two men sat in silence. Eunice drank her tea.
“Do you think I should tell the police?” Adam asked.
Rinsky frowned. “You were a prosecutor, right?”
“Right.”
“So you know better.”
Adam nodded.
“You’re the husband,” he said as though that explained everything. “You just learned that your wife betrayed you in a pretty horrible way. Now she’s run off. Tell me, Mr. Prosecutor, what would you think?”
“That I did something to her.”
“That’d be number one. Number two would be that your wife—what’s her name again?”
“Corinne.”
“Right, Corinne. Number two would be that Corinne stole this money from that sports league or whatever so she could run away from you. You’d also have to tell that local cop about her faking the pregnancy. He’s married?”
“Yes.”
“So that’ll be blabbed all over town before you know it. Not that that matters in light of the other stuff. But let’s face it. The cops will either think you killed your wife or that she’s a thief.”
Rinsky had confirmed exactly what Adam had already thought.
“So what do I do?”
Rinsky lifted his reading glasses back to his face. “Show me that text your wife sent you before she took off.”
Adam found it. He handed Rinsky the phone and read the message once again over the old man’s shoulder:
MAYBE WE NEED SOME TIME APART. YOU TAKE CARE OF THE KIDS. DON’T TRY TO CONTACT ME. IT WILL BE OKAY.
Then:
JUST GIVE ME A FEW DAYS. PLEASE.
Rinsky read it, shrugged, took off the glasses. “What can you do? Far as you know, your wife needs some time away from you. She asked you not to contact her. So that’s what you’re doing.”
“I can’t sit around and do nothing.”
“No, you can’t. But if the cops ask, well, there’s your answer.”
“Why would the cops ask me that?”
“Got me. Meanwhile, you are doing all you can. You got that license plate number and you came to me. You did right on both counts. Chances are, your Corinne will just come home on her own soon. But either way, you’re right—we need to try to find her first. I’ll try to dig into this Ingrid Prisby. Maybe there’s a clue there.”
