Gray Area by George P. Saunders Read Free Book Online

weeks ago, I don’t know why.  And
Jason shut up, then almost immediately took up with Marianne.”
    “This is very interesting stuff, Mr. Benjamin.  So why are you
telling me this, and not my friends in Homicide?”
    “Because I know you’re Marshall’s brother.  And I overheard that he
wants to keep this close to the cuff.”
    “How very helpful.”
    “I’m … just trying to play ball.”
    Again, Diamond was silent.
    Benjamin glanced at the seal broach again.  “Linda’s crazy for that
shit.”
    “So you don’t know if Linda and Mr. Randall had an amicable parting?”
    Benjamin sighed.  “I don’t think it was amicable at all.  With
Linda, nothing ends amicably.”
    “Why is that?”
    “Because she’s a bitch,” Benjamin said with conviction.
    “Can you define bitch?” Lou said.
    “Look, she’s a brilliant litigation attorney but she is vicious.  I
should know.  I work with her.  We handle this firm’s largest
account.”
    “You’re also setting her up as a fairly good suspect for murder.  Is
that your intention?”
    “No, I didn’t want to do that.  I’m just saying … I’m just
suggesting that maybe, maybe, she might know who would have done this terrible,
heinous thing,” Benjamin said as he began to fidget again.
    Diamond studied the seal broach he held, deciding to let Gabe Benjamin
sweat for just a few seconds more. 
    “Maybe I’ll talk to this Ms. Baylor,” he said at last.
    “You should,” Benjamin urged.
    “Why is that?”
    And now Benjamin smiled.  “You’ll see.”
    He looked to the library, then back to Diamond.  “I guess you want
me to give a statement to those guys now, right?”
    “That’s okay.  You gave a statement to me, that’ll do for now. 
We can make it official later.  Good enough?”
    Benjamin offered a timid smile.  “Sure.  Sure, that’s fine.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Benjamin.  You’ve been very … educational.”
    Benjamin nodded, his smile fading.  He then turned, walked behind a
row of boxes, and disappeared out of sight.
    Of course, the killer could very well be Gabe Benjamin, Diamond mused,
though he thought that Alfalfa from the Little Rascals was a more logical
suspect for murder.  The guy didn’t add up as a shooter, and no killer in
his right mind would come out and make a statement to a cop that he had been
there at the time of the actual incident.  No, the Gabester was telling
the truth, Diamond concluded.  Probably caught Jason and the fetching
Marianne fucking hard to high heaven, got an ear and eye-full, then fled the
scene with red-faced astonishment.  That he hadn’t mentioned that he heard
a gunshot was not surprising either—the Records Department was probably
downstairs, in one of the four floors that Berenson & Marelli
occupied.  The discharge explosion from a Colt, the weapon of suspect, was
not particularly loud. 
    No, Benjamin was clean.  A weenie, but clean.
    Linda Baylor, however …
    By all rights and reason, Diamond knew that he should cut the horseshit
and go straight to Burke.  Give him the skinny on Benjamin’s
information.  On the other hand, he thought … fuck Burke.  Let him do
his own detective work.  Everyone in the firm would be questioned, due
process.  Benjamin, a sit-to-pee kinda guy, would start gushing as the
first cop approached him, spilling all.  So now, he had a little bit of an
edge on the informational bunny trail, and he was going to use it.  Just
to piss Burke off … and maybe even Marshall.  His brother wanted him to
wrap this case up quick, nailing Marianne’s husband, who probably was the
perp, assholes and elbows be known.  But Diamond was feeling a tingle in
his belly that said this case might be something more than meets the immediate
eye.  Hell, it was worth the effort in thinking out of the box.
    And Gabe Benjamin did say that he just had to meet Linda
Baylor. 
    Just had to.
    Diamond snagged the employee call-list from the reception desk, then
headed