Acre Under a Green Sky

It was not uncommon these days to come home and find Will Mosko sitting on the sofa having a beer with my father. After his confession about the knife, Chief Mosko became as much an investigator for my father as for the D.A. Will was determined to resign after that night, but my father had talked him out of it. And apparently they made no secret of the fact that the police department had an informer in Chief Will Mosko. On the contrary, I think they tweaked Matt Bradley with that fact at every opportunity. It was one of the prices he had to pay for injustice.

This particular day, Danny and I came in through the kitchen door after hanging our swim gear on the line, and my mother signaled with a look that the living room was out of bounds. I could hear them talking clearly enough; and when I looked in, I saw Baby Ruth in one of her little sun suits sitting on Will's lap playing with his badge. I don't know why she was allowed in there, while I was relegated to eavesdropping from the kitchen.

Danny turned up his nose at the snack my mother was preparing and went directly to our room. That left my mother and me to listen in peace. And she was listening. I sat at the kitchen table and watched her standing at the counter with her back to me, and I could see her listening.

"Joe swears it wasn't the night of the murders but another night," Will was saying, "He saw her waiting for the Lincoln bus, and since he was going that way, he offered her a ride. He says he dropped her off in Lincoln and went about his business."

"And what was that business?" my father said.

"He said he was driving in for dinner."

"That would be a Monday night, wouldn't it?"

"Anyway, she didn't tell him where she was going, and when he asked if he could give her a lift back, she said, 'No.' He figures she took the bus back."

"And what does Matt make of all this?"

"I don't know if you can follow his line of thinking. What am I talking about? You're a lawyer. Of course, you can."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sorry. It's just that everything's a tactic with you guys. Like getting at the truth comes second to making the right move and figuring out what the other guy's going to do. My thinking is more direct –– what the fuck happened that night? Who did it and when and how? Like that."

"Is Brennan going to be a witness for the prosecution or not?"

"Matt wants you to have him."

"I was afraid of that."

"Why? I'm curious to see how much you guys think alike."

"Okay, I call Brennan to the stand and he places Joe in the car with Gwen that night. Now Joe is a suspect and there's a glimmer of doubt that Luka did it. Now Matt gets up on cross to establish that Brennan hates Joe because of that Martha Brennan business and that they were opponents in a child custody battle over Brennan's grandson. Brennan is discredited. He's lying to get even with Joe. Joe is no longer a suspect and all doubt is gone. How am I doing?"

"Exactly right. And what would the advantage be if Brennan takes the other side."

"The advantage to Matt, you mean?"

"Yeah, to the prosecution."

"Not much that I can see. What does Matt say?"

"Two things," Will said with some satisfaction, "If Matt can prove that Joe was with Gwen that night and determine when he brought her home, it would narrow the window of opportunity for some outsider to do it. I mean, if Gwen was out with Joe until shortly before Luka got home, only Luka could have done it. There wouldn't be time for that mythical maniac everyone's so scared of to break in and do it. Joe and Gwen being together in the first place is motive enough for Luka to kill her. Anyway, that's how Matt sees it."

"Tricky, isn't it? Establishing motive and opportunity for Luka at the same time he's establishing motive and opportunity for Joe. But he doesn't want to prove motive and opportunity by creating another suspect?"

"Of course not."

"Has it ever occurred to him that Joe might be the killer?"

"No. He's set on Luka all the way. It's a mind-lock. My question is when did these murders take place? When and for how long was Luka's family alone together in that house before Luka got home? Four hours, two hours or ten minutes?"

"And Brennan was sure he saw them together the night of the murders?"

"He'll swear to it in court."

"Is he telling the truth?"

"I think so."

"Well then, my only prayer is finding out the truth. Nora saw Gwen leaving her house that night dressed to kill around 6:00. Joe admits he might have driven to Lincoln that night to eat and now Brennan has put them in Joe's car together outside the bus station. Where are the backup witnesses? How do I support these claims?"

"Want a further complication? No one matching Gwen's description bought or used a bus ticket that night. Either in Waterstop or in Lincoln. In fact, when we showed them pictures of Gwen, the ticket agents and drivers all said they never saw her before. Never."

"How do you explain that?"

"I can't."

"Unless she wasn't waiting for a bus at all. Think about it. What a perfect rendezvous point in a small town! Who's going to question a woman waiting in front of a bus station? And if someone picks her up, why he's just saving her a bus fare. They fooled Brennan, and we bought it, too. No, she was waiting for Joe all along. Listen, can we take pictures of Gwen and Joe to every hotel and motel within a twenty mile radius?"

"You can. But I can't, until Matt orders it."

"What about Joe's home? Maybe they went there."

"Both his parents are there. The old man's bedridden; never leaves the house. And Joe's Mom never leaves the old man's side."

"That explains the nefarious mud colored Mercury showing up at motels all over the tri-state area."

"Josh, you're not framing an innocent man to save an innocent man? 'Cause I won't sit still for that."

"No, Will. Never. Never, I promise. But somebody killed those people across the street. And if it wasn't Luka; then who?"

"Joe's a good guy. I wouldn't want to see him hurt for no good reason. Even to save Luka."

"How much do you know about our Mr. Brennan Furniture Store?"

"Next to nothing. I can't afford to shop there."

"Did you ever hear his name linked to Gwen's?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Apparently, Gwen knew a married man before Luka came along. Maybe an old flame was rekindled."

"The more suspects –– the better, right? No matter who it hurts. You don't give a shit who did it. You just want to get Luka off."

The silence that followed was profound and painful. My mother had joined me at the kitchen table with her mug of coffee. The two of us stared at each other as if what was being said in the next room could be read in each other's eyes, but there was nothing; not even a whisper. Just then, my father appeared at the kitchen doorway with Baby Ruth in his arms, and we were both startled half out of our seats. He asked us for some privacy.

"Just a few minutes, okay?" he said, handing Baby Ruth over to my mother.

"I'm going out," I said, running to the kitchen door. My mother took Baby Ruth to her room. It was just getting dark, and the lightning bugs were so thick you had to wave them away. I ran around the house to listen by the front screen door.

It was Will Mosko's voice saying, ". . . we should have got married in high school, but you know how those things happen. You have a fight over nothing. Some stupid kid thing. Maybe I said something; I don't remember. Anyway, Gwen and me broke up. You don't think when you're a kid. Later Bev got pregnant, and we got married; but I never stopped loving Gwen. We tried not to see each other, but it was no good. God, we were so good together. In bed, you know. In every way. Bev never gave a shit about sex. I think she hates it. But Gwen loved sex. She loved me; all of me, you know. We were so good together. She made me laugh. Then Benjamin was born, and you know how that changes you, and we're Catholic, dammit! Anyway, Gwen and me broke it off once and for all, and that night she met Luka. And they got married, and I was glad for her, but I never stopped loving her. I still do."

"Did she feel the same about you? I mean, in the end?"

"No. I never fooled myself about that. She loved Luka. They had it all. What it takes. He was good for her. Good to her. Believe me, I wish it wasn't true, but she loved him. The stupid drunken bum made her happy. You know that. That's why I can't believe; will never believe she was cheating on him."

"You think he did it?"

"Not now. I did, but not now."

"What changed your mind?"

"He did. When he come out of the hospital. He wasn't crazy. And he wasn't lying."

"Oh, my God!"

"What?"

"Nothing. I just thought . . . My God, what you must have gone through that day over there! The blood –– I can't imagine . . ."

I was straining to hear through the silence. My back was pressed up against the wall next to the screen door when it suddenly opened nearly pinning me against the wall. My heart stopped beating. Will Mosko was standing just outside; looking in at my father. I could smell his breath.

"What you want to do is find out if Joe's Monday night outings have stopped. That's what you want to do."

He let the screen door slam shut and walked away never seeing me. I watched him get into his car. Behind him across the street loomed that dark house. It seemed to mock us all.