Blood in the Water(84)

“It could be,” Gregor Demarkian said.

“Well, maybe the murderer will come back and kill him because he knows too much,” Caroline said. “At least that would get him out of my hair.”

“What about the other body?” Gregor Demarkian asked. “I was thinking, earlier this morning, that we spend all our time thinking about Michael Platte, because we know who he is and we have some insight into what an investigation into his murder would look like. But we also have another body, and we don’t know who it belongs to. We don’t even know why it was where it was. I had someone suggest to me that it might be somebody named Mr. Bullman.”

“That would be LizaAnne again,” Caroline said. “Talk about sociopaths. Do you ever wonder why everybody in the world seems to be a sociopath lately? My sons are both sociopaths. They’d have to be to turn their own father over to the police. LizaAnne is Fanny Bullman’s biggest competition for whore of Waldorf Pines. I think it drives her crazy that somebody as ‘old’ as Fanny Bullman can be sleeping with all these men. Of course, if she’d just take off about thirty pounds, there might be some more interest, but that’s LizaAnne. She ought to get whatever she wants because she’s LizaAnne. God, I’ve known Rockefellers without that kind of attitude.”

“Do you think she could be right?” Gregor asked. “Do you think the unidentified body could belong to Mr. Bullman?”

“No,” Caroline said. “You might as well check it out, of course, but Charlie Bullman is away on business a lot, which is when Fanny manages to do most of her damage. And this time it’s been a while. Almost two weeks, I think. There might be something there. But there might not. It’s hard to tell with Charlie and his trips. Even when he’s home, he’s not home. Mind you, she can do it most weekdays anyway, because Charlie works almost constantly. But I think if you check into things, you’ll find that he’s just off in Houston or somewhere on some kind of business trip. I find other people’s marriages fascinating, to tell you the truth. They have two children, those two do, and that seems to be all there is to it. They can’t have much time to talk to each other, and I don’t see how she could possibly have the energy to sleep with him after all the sleeping around she’s doing. And now Arthur Heydreich. She’d better watch it. There are news camera crews watching Arthur Heydreich. She could get caught.”

“One more thing,” Gregor Demarkian said.

“Fire away,” Caroline said.

“On the night before the bodies were discovered,” Gregor said, “on the night that the murders were actually committed. Were you out and around between ten forty-five and twelve thirty?”

“For goodness sake,” Caroline said. “Of course I was. Everybody was. Susan and I went to dinner at the club and then we stayed to play bridge. A lot of people do. The club is always full to bursting until at least eleven thirty, and after that there are stragglers at the bar. I don’t think Susan and I came home until midnight.”

“And did you see anybody, in all that time, on the green, or going to the pool house?”

“Anybody at the clubhouse could have been going to the pool house. They’re right next door to each other. And if you mean did I see Michael Platte and Martha Heydreich taking their walk across the green, of course I did. Everybody did, even if they tell you they didn’t. We were all talking about it. You’re not supposed to walk on the green at all, and those two—well, those two. You’d have had to see them together to understand.”

“Were they fighting? Were they holding hands? Was anything memorable about them at all?”

“Not a thing,” Caroline said. “And they never held hands, and Martha only had screaming fights when she had an audience. They were just walking across the green. They could have been going to the pool house. Michael was supposed to be working there. They could have been coming into the club. They could have been doing anything. It wasn’t as if it was the first time, Mr. Demarkian.”

“Ah,” Gregor Demarkian said.

Caroline stood up. “Do you know why I let you in here and not your friend? Because I do not expect you to tell anybody outside this room that you know who I am. Oh, I know you might have to if you want me arrested for the murder of Michael Platte and whoever else that was, but I didn’t murder Michael Platte. And I don’t welcome the prospect of having to change names and move to God only knows where yet again. I did not kill Michael Platte. I did not help my husband steal sixty billion dollars. And I want to be left alone.”