Fall Guy by Carol Lea Benjamin Page B

guarding illegal drug stashes.
    I opened the kitchen door and sent Dashiell inside, telling him to wait so that he’d know I’d be back very soon.
    â€œNetty Land,” she said when we got inside baby Emma’s apartment, the door safely closed.
    â€œRachel Alexander,” I told her.
    â€œI know,” she said.
    The layout of the apartment appeared to be a mirror image of O’Fallon’s, also two units combined, a large studio apartment with two doors. I wondered if both buildings had been renovated that way, top to bottom. I followed Netty into the front room that served as living room, bedroom and nursery. I thought Netty would take Emma to the changing table but she sat on the tan leather couch instead, putting the baby down on the rug.
    â€œI don’t usually work on Sunday,” Netty told me. “But I needed the money. I was here that whole weekend. They went away, to Amish country. They don’t spend a whole lot of time with the baby, not if they can help it. It’s good for me, anyway. My son is still in Peru, with my mother. I want to bring him here, but I don’t have enough money yet. It’s expensive,” she added, in case I was too dull to get the point.
    â€œPerhaps I can help you a little,” I said. “Perhaps we can help each other.”
    â€œThat would be good. I was here since Friday night. They left right after work.”
    â€œCan you hear anything, from across the hall?”
    Netty shrugged. “Shouting. I’m sure he heard them plenty, too. She says it’s this place, Miss Helene, that they fight all the time because it’s too small. She says that’s why she can’t give me a raise, because they’re saving upfor a house. She says, Miss Helene, that’s why she and Mr. David need a weekend to themselves, because two adults and one baby in this place, it’s driving them crazy. ‘You don’t want us to get a divorce, do you, Netty?’ That’s what I get instead of a raise.”
    â€œI see,” I said, giving her problems not much more sympathy than her employers did, wanting to get back on track. “So did you hear any shouting that weekend, from Detective O’Fallon’s apartment?”
    Netty nodded. “First there was the party. His friends, Mr. Parker’s. A bunch of bums, freeloading off Mr. O’Fallon when he wasn’t even home. I heard that. I was in the garden most of the afternoon. The baby likes it out there. She watches the birds. I saw the men running out the back when he came home, Mr. O’Fallon. They went through the garden and out the far door, by Jin Mei’s apartment. Can you imagine? Grown men acting like that. And then I heard the shouting. He told Parker his free ride was over.” Netty leaned toward me, whispering again, the baby asleep on the rug, sucking her thumb. “And then it was quiet, all of them gone. Except him.”
    â€œWhat about Sunday morning? Did you hear the shot?”
    Netty shook her head. “The police told me the time. I forgot. Eight something, I think. She was screaming. The teeth, the teeth. And no mama here. I told them, if I heard anything, I figured it was a car, not a gunshot. Who expects to hear a gunshot?”
    â€œYou told the police this?”
    â€œI did,” she said. “I answered all their questions.”
    â€œAnything else you can tell me?”
    Netty nodded. “I saw him come back and break the kitchen window, the snake.”
    â€œYou mean Parker?”
    â€œYes. I saw him crawl in through the window.”
    â€œWhen was this?”
    â€œLate Sunday morning. Or maybe noon. I was going to give her the bottle outside, hoping she’d fall asleep. I was going out when he was going in through the window.”
    â€œSo you saw him entering Detective O’Fallon’s apartment?”
    Netty nodded.
    â€œBut not actually breaking the lock?”
    She shook her head.