CHAPTER 48
Ruby and I looked at each other. She just shrugged.
“Yeah, send him up,” I said into the intercom.
We knew this moment was on the spectrum of inevitability. The Uretsky name was being broadcast every few minutes, across every media outlet, or so it seemed. You’d have to be a pretty bad inspector not to make the connection. We might have fooled Dobson once, but we had no intention of trying to make it twice in a row.
A few moments later I heard a knock on the door. We hadn’t seen Dobson in quite some time, but he looked like the same frumpy, disheveled guy we’d met a while back. We did the handshake thing, and soon as we were all seated at the table, Dobson got to the point of his visit.
“I could have done this all with certified letters,” Dobson said, “but I like you both and I thought you deserved to hear from me personally. It’s about your insurance claim with UniSol.”
I saw no reason to beat around the proverbial bush. “I guess you’ve figured out that we were lying to you,” I said.
“Imagine my shock when I heard the names Elliot and Tanya Uretsky on the news,” Dobson said. “Goodness, I thought you two were dead.”
Ruby grimaced. “We’re very much alive,” she said. “And deeply sorry for what we’ve done.”
Dobson sighed and looked away. “Well, I figured you were okay after I saw the Uretskys’ pictures on TV and realized they weren’t you. Of course, it got me thinking. I still didn’t want to believe it, so I looked up all the Elliot and Tanya Uretskys in the United States, hoping there would be a number of them. Guess how many there were?”
“I’m going to go with less than ten,” I said.
“Try two, and they lived in Medford, to boot. So that’s when I knew . . . I knew I was going to have to issue an amended report to UniSol,” Dobson said. His wan expression appeared steeped in disappointment. “You understand that I have a job to do. Once I make my report, they’re not going to allow you to get any more medication. Your claim is going to be frozen and rigorously investigated.”
“We understand,” Ruby said. “In fact, we’re already cooperating with the police.”
“The police?” Dobson said. “So you’ve confessed to identity theft?”
“Once we heard the Uretskys were found murdered,” I said, “we told them what we’d done.”
I felt Ruby grip my leg underneath the table, so I patted her hand, my way of saying I wouldn’t share the whole truth. Still, I thought dishing out a part of the story wasn’t the same thing as a flat-out lie.
“We’re not suspects in the Uretskys’ murder, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I said. “Nobody else knows we stole their identity. If the press finds out, they’ll never leave us alone.”
“I’m not going to tell them, if that’s your concern,” Dobson said. “But I am going to have to report your fraud, and for that I’m truly sorry.”
I told Dobson about our struggles with Atrium Insurance and was surprised to see him looking so upset. Ruby reached across the table and cupped his hand with hers. I didn’t like seeing how tightly the skin clung to the bones of her hands and how loose it hung on her arms. Her face looked thinner to me as well. Damn you, cancer.
“We did this to ourselves,” Ruby said. “It’s not your fault, and we appreciate you coming all the way out here to tell us in person.”
Dobson appeared shaken. “To be honest, I’ve never had a case that made me want to quit my job,” he said. “Until now. I wish I didn’t have to do this. I really, really do.”
Dobson stood up and shook my hand. Ruby came around the other side of the table and gave him a heartfelt hug. “Thank you. Thank you for helping us. I’m so sorry for lying to you,” Ruby said in the embrace.
Dobson returned a sad little smile of his own. “I’m sorry, too,” Dobson said. “I hope they catch him, whoever killed the Uretskys.”
My phone buzzed while Ruby and I were escorting Dobson to the door. I checked the caller ID and saw Clegg’s number come up.
“Maybe this is the answer,” I said to Dobson as he headed out the door. Ruby watched Dobson descend the stairs, waving as he departed, while I answered Clegg’s call.
“What’s up?” I said, anxious for some good news.
“I can’t come over,” Clegg said. “We’ve got an all-hands-on-deck powwow back at the station. Higgins is none too pleased with our progress so far.”
“What about Swain?” I said. “Did you guys speak with him?”
“We did, John. We asked if he would talk to us, and he agreed.”
“And?”
“And nothing,” Clegg said. “He doesn’t have any information. He said he wished he could help us and that he liked the Uretskys because they left him alone. About what you’d expect him to say.”
“What about the search warrant? Can’t you get one?”
“There’s no probable cause here. I told you that already. We did find Tinesha, however.”
That gave me an uptick. “Who is she?”
“She works for Post Boxes Unlimited.”
I groaned.
“What?”
“I used them to get my P.O. box. I guess that’s how I knew her. All he needs is some connection to me to turn someone into a target.”
“Maybe that’s how SHS found out your real identities.”
“Possible.” I sighed into the phone. “What about Edwin Valdez?”
“He’s MIA,” Clegg said. “We’re going to continue to look for him and talk to him only because you think it’s important, but nobody else does. I don’t either, John. The guy was handcuffed, or don’t you remember? Tell me, how could he have called you?”
“Hands-free dialing. Voice-activated calling. There are ways,” I said.
Maybe you didn’t secure the handcuffs, I thought. Maybe you two were working together. . . . Maybe . . .
I waved my hand and banished that suspicion to where I thought it belonged—nowhere.
“Okay,” I said. “Tell me, what’s your take on Swain?”
“He gives me the shivers,” Clegg said, “but then again, all level three sex offenders seem to have that effect on me.”
“So how do we nail this guy? I don’t know anything about evidence gathering and warrants, and you do. Tell me, you think that guy is clean?”
“Even if I do, you’re not going to drop this, are you, John?” Clegg said.
“A murderer is running freely in this city, he’s got Ruby and me in his sights, we’re living every single moment in absolute terror, and if the cancer doesn’t get to my wife first, then the stress we’re under will. So, no, I’m not going to drop this, not for one freaking second am I going to drop this.”
The line went silent for a while—long enough so that I thought maybe his call got dropped.
“Do you really want to go all the way with this, John?”
“I do,” I said. “I really do.”
“Okay. Then this is what we’re doing. At ten o’clock tonight, head out the back door. My meeting with Higgins should be over by then. Nobody is watching your back entrance, so nobody will know you’re gone.”
“Why all the subterfuge?” I asked.
“Because I don’t want anybody to know we’re together, in case things go south. Pick me up in front of Chaps. Dress in black.”
“Sounds ominous. Where are we going? What are we doing?” I asked.
“Me and you are going to break into Carl Swain’s house and see what we can see.”