I wasn’t ready to give Linda any leeway at this point. If she had viable information that could stick, then she should be the one to take it to the Chief. But if she had her own reasons for pointing the finger at Larch, that was another matter.
Chapter Twenty
Linda Henson did leave me with something that I knew was true: Larch did indeed hang out with a DEA agent. But I couldn't imagine why an agent who fought to clear the streets of illegal drugs would casually give a buddy some cocaine so he could frame an innocent man.
I thought about Steven Wilkins. If Linda was telling the truth, maybe he was innocent, just as he said.
My mind swirled with all the things going on. Very little made sense. Maybe, if I don't mention anything about Skid Row, I could get Daniel to help me think through some of it again.
I called him and he answered right away. "What’s up, Laila?"
"Nothing in particular," I said. "I just wanted to throw a few things out there for you. I’ve learned some things about people who knew John." I held my breath.
He was silent for a moment. "OK, I take it you want a sounding board," he said. I thought I detected a hint of resignation in his voice.
"Yes. I do. And you're the best one I know. Do you have time to meet me at the pavilion in the park?" I asked.
"For you, I can make time. How about we meet in a half hour?"
Relief rushed over me when he agreed. I hoped he wouldn’t bring up any possible drives down to the forbidden area on my part. I vowed to not mention anything about downtown West River.
# # #
We met at the empty pavilion in the city park. I brought Subway sandwiches and two diet Cokes with me. A few families with children were near the small lake feeding the ducks. We could hear voices from the tennis court. It was the perfect neutral setting for us.
I was relieved to see he looked calm and happy. I hoped nothing I would say changed that.
"Hey you," I teased when we met at a bench. "Thanks for meeting me. I brought sandwiches, I hope you're hungry."
"Hey yourself. I can always eat. Thanks. I presume this is some sort of bribe to get my help?" Daniel grinned at me.
"No bribe, just a thank you. I haven't been to the park in forever. Maybe we can take a walk and feed the ducks a bit after we talk and eat. How's you're day so far?"
"Great. Better now that I get to see you.."
I blushed and handed a sandwich to him. While he took a bite, I dove into my story. "I talked to Linda Henson. She told me she thinks Ronald Larch may have had something to do with framing John's brother Steven. I don’t know exactly what her agenda is, but she seemed sincere. She also thinks that someone killed John and that it might be related in some way. Do you think Larch could actually get access to seized drugs and plant them in Steven’s apartment?"
He sighed. "Laila – surely you know by now that anybody who really wants to get hold of drugs of any kind can get them. They don't need a crooked DEA man for that."
"Yeah, I guess not."
"So – what makes you think John's brother was framed?"
I looked up at him. It was confession time. "I – I went to see him. I mean, I went to see Steven in the prison."
Daniel sat up. "You mean – you went to visit John's brother in Maxfield Prison?"
"Um – yeah. I did."
He let out his breath. "All right," he said. "What did you find out?"
"I went there twice to talk to him. Steven swears cocaine was planted in his apartment. He also told me that the charges against him of trying to sell to an undercover cop are completely false. According to him, that never happened."
"Well, yeah, but Laila, surely you realize that there isn't one guilty man in prison anywhere. They're all innocent. Just ask them." He looked steadily at me. "I'm just saying – you have to take things like that with a grain of salt."
"Yeah, I know, but – but he was really convincing. He's a lot like John. And I believed him."
"Okay. But you did say John was worried about his brother using," Daniel pointed out.