“Pretty damn bad. Honestly, it’s probably why he keeps him around. Anybody can drive a car, but Lucas is sure eager to please.”
Margot hit play again.
Lucas’s digital voice said, “It’s probably good they did it that way, boss. Cops never even considered it could have been you.”
“Was that in the car on Saturday?”
“Yeah, I forgot to turn it off after I was talking to Helms and you forgot to check for it. Don’t worry, there’s nothing incriminating on there. Other than the parts with Lucas, I dumped the rest.”
“So you’re thinking Lucas used his day off to kill Tim and Rita?”
“Seems a possibility.”
“A long shot at best.”
“Sure, but there’s more. The dress covered in blood they figured Phoebe wore had some hairs on it that didn’t match Phoebe’s. Short black ones.”
“Lucas is covered in those, but that doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“No, but put it in with motive, opportunity, and Lucas’s generally nasty disposition, it makes that long shot a few steps closer.”
“If you say so?”
“How long has he been carrying that straight razor?”
“Hell if I know. That was the first time I’ve seen it though. Why are you telling me this?”
“If he is the one, then the best way to keep Harry out of it would be for you guys to turn him in and at least leave a tip. If you don’t want a bunch of cops digging in Harry’s business, it’d be better to be ahead of it. I believe Harry when he says he had nothing to do with it. If this was Lucas doing it on his own, this is your chance not to let him trip you up.”
Bobby drank some beer and thought about it for a second before he said, “I’m not sure what you want me to do.”
“The way he’s dropped some hints, I’m sure he’d tell you if you asked.”
Bobby shook his head. “I ain’t a rat.”
Margot didn’t really have a counter for that, so she drank some beer while Bobby did some more thinking.
“If it is his hair on the dress, can’t they match it up?”
“Sure, but to be honest, they’re not really looking to find another suspect right now.”
Bobby shook his head and then admitted, “You know, Lucas shot a dude once. I’m not going to tell you who or when or even why, but it happened. Dude lived and was in no mood to press charges after Mr. Lee and I had a conversation with him, but it looked shaky for Lucas for a while.”
“Okay,” Margot replied. She wasn’t sure of the relevance, but Bobby seemed to have a point in mind.
“Thing is, he didn’t want to give up the gun, even though this is America; you can always get a new gun. Even after I took it from him and tossed it in the ocean, I found out he kept the shell casings. He didn’t want to give up those either.”
“He likes to keep souvenirs?”
“Yeah, and I ain’t around to make him toss the shit in the ocean on this one.”
Margot thought about the missing murder weapon, Bobby’s theory had possibilities. The problem was, even if she could get the detectives in charge of Phoebe’s case to consider the possibility, they’d have a hard time getting a search warrant based on Lucas’s vague boasts and the speculation of a felon.
“Do you know where Lucas lives?”
“Sure, but be careful. Like I said, here in America, you can always get a gun.”
“Thanks.”