The Silent Witness

“Take it easy, Ilona. Who was the man?”

“Which man? Never mind. It doesn’t matter. I’ve never seen either of those men before.”

“But you said your boyfriend found you.”

“I’m rattled, Nicki. Will you just listen a minute?” Almost calmly, Ilona began to describe the man in the car. Nicki thought about the man she’d seen run across the street.

“Nicki, I can’t tell the police what I saw!” Ilona concluded.

“Of course you can. You have to. A man is dead. You have to tell them—”

“No! You’ll have to tell them.”

Nicki stared at the flowers on her coffee table. The cut crystal bowl rested precariously near the edge of the table. “Ilona, I didn’t see the murder, you did.”

“I know that, but the police don’t. You have to pretend to be me. You can tell the police what I saw. I’ll describe everything to you.”

Nicki sank down on the couch and shoved the flowers back into place. “You can’t be serious.”

“You have to! Please, Nicki! They’re going to think the caller was you anyhow. I didn’t give them my name.”

“But—”

“Is that sirens in the background?”

Only then did Nicki process the sound of the siren turning down the alley. The police were here already.

“Promise me, Nicki! You have to promise me!”

“Ilona, this is crazy. Just come back and tell them what you saw.”

“I won’t. I can’t! If you don’t give them the description then the murderer will get away free. Is that what you want? Because I’m not coming back, Nicki.”

Nicki gripped the telephone even more tightly. Ginger jumped up beside her on the couch, her feline eyes staring with unwinking intelligence. Nicki reached out to stroke the comforting fur.

“Look, Ilona, I know you’re scared, but be reasonable. All you have to do is tell the police what you saw. They’ll protect you. I keep telling you they’ll protect you from the man who hurt you too.”

Silence.

Finally, in a stilted voice Ilona said, “The man who hurt me is a policeman, Nicki.”

The words filled her ear like a tidal wave of destruction. No wonder Ilona had refused to discuss going to the police. No wonder she was so frightened. Who do you turn to when the protectors turn on you?

“I didn’t want to tell you,” Ilona continued. “I was afraid you wouldn’t let me stay if you knew.”

“Of course I would have let you stay,” Nicki said automatically. But she realized she would have been even more nervous if she had known the truth. “Look, Ilona—”

“Don’t tell me I should report him. I’m not going to and that’s all there is to it. Now, are you going to cover for me or not?”

“But I can’t be a witness when I wasn’t even there.”

“All you have to do is describe what I saw. No one will know it wasn’t you in the alley. Please, Nicki. I’m so scared. I don’t want that man’s murderer to walk free just because I’m afraid.”

“Then come back and—”

“Nicki!”

Nicki realized her options were down to two. She could refuse, but then she’d have to explain the phone call. And that might put Ilona in harm’s way if her boyfriend found out. Only, to agree to this preposterous plan…Nicki envisioned the figure running across the street and hesitated. Maybe she had seen the killer after all.

“Tell me exactly what you saw.”

Nicki listened closely this time. The general description could fit a dozen men right here in Fools Point. The dark jeans, T-shirt and wavy black hair also fit the man Nicki had seen standing across the street. The man who had looked so hauntingly familiar.

But it couldn’t be Alex. He’d been in town for months now and he hadn’t once come to see her. She shelved the tiny seed of hurt. Rumor had it that he’d taken up with Vic Unsdorf and some other unsavory friends. The men were nothing but trouble. In fact, Alex had already been questioned in several incidents lately. Her stomach clenched.

“Give me that description again,” she demanded.

Jeans, dark shirt, dark wavy hair, six feet, muscular.

Alex.

“Ilona, I can’t!”

She heard Ilona sigh. “Then you can’t. Take care of yourself, Nicki.”

“Wait! What about you? Where are you going to go?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find another place to stay.”

Nicki gripped the portable phone more tightly. “Are you absolutely sure about what you saw?”

“I was standing right there!”

She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t.

“I’ve got to go before he finds me. Thanks for everything, Nicki.”

“Wait!”

Ilona hung up before Nicki’s common sense could offer more of a protest. She shut her eyes trying desperately to think. An authoritative pounding sounded on her back door. Nicki quivered in reaction. Time was up. She had a choice—betray her old friend or her first lover.

Taking a deep breath, Nicki slowly stood and went to admit the police.

“ON YOUR FEET, Coughlin.”

Alex stared at Sergeant Thad Osher’s boyishly round face and thought about how good it would feel to plant his fist in that smugly satisfied expression. Keys jingled in the lock. The cell door parted. Alex came off the cot in one unhurried motion. The fast movement was enough to make Osher take a quick step back. His hand automatically went to the weapon at his side.

“Planning to shoot me, Thaddie?”