Remington, dressed in the fresh
suit that Robert had brought him, went to visit Laura early the
next morning. Dr. Howe had been difficult to convince to release
him, and had warned that he really needed another twelve hours
at least before he was back to normal. "Until then, IF you
don't overdo it, I can't guarantee that you won't collapse- or
worse, Mr. Steele."
"I feel perfectly fine, doctor," Remington assured him.
"I'll sign the release. But try not to get hit on the head
again."
"I'll do my best." In the corridor near Laura's room,
Remington stopped by the chair where Officer Sweeney was sitting.
"Anything usual?"
"Nope. Miss Beecham and Mrs. Morgan were here. And-Mildred
something or other is still in there."
Laura was sitting up, smiling as Mildred told her that she had
called Agatha Brierly. "She's agreed to meet with you and
Mr. Steele whenever you like."
"Excellent news, Mildred," Remington declared, coming
forward to kiss his wife. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Ready to get out of here." She took in his suit. "Which
you're apparently doing. I thought Dr. Howe wanted to keep you
until this afternoon?"
"He gave me a clean bill of health," he told her. "Has
Dr. Phillips been in yet?"
"Been and gone," she told him. "Another day, at
least. I don't think it's so much that I'm still in danger as
it is that he just wants me to get some rest."
"Then you should do exactly that," Remington told her,
kissing her again. He didn't tell her that he'd already spoken
to Dave Phillips, and suggested that he keep Laura another day
because of the case. At least here, she couldn't get into any
trouble- and she would be safe. "Oh. Lt. Jarvis found the
Monet. Felicia had put it in the hotel safe."
"Then she DID-"
"I don't think so, Laura," he told her. "I have
to be going. I'm supposed to meet Jarvis to discuss the case at
nine. I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised.
Mildred followed him out into the corridor. "I got that information
about Harwood, Chief. Guess who provided him with most of the
funds to start Harwood Electronics?"
"Major Descoine?" Remington asked.
"They were in the army together. Harwood was a first lieutenant
in the Major's unit."
"Good work, Mildred. Is someone coming to relieve you here?"
"Mrs. Morgan went down to get some breakfast. She's due back
any minute."
"Give her my regards. I'm late meeting Lt. Jarvis."
He knew as soon as he saw Jarvis' face that the news wasn't good.
"What's happened?"
"Harwood's dead. Drowned in his hot tub last night- probably
right after he called me."
"That's three."
"What could have warped that girl's mind so that she kills
so easily?" Jarvis wondered, pulling into traffic.
"Her father's mind isn't much more stable. He's simply more
subtle. Minor Descoine tends to prefer bulldozing her way through."
He put a hand to the back of his neck.
"How are you feeling this morning? According to the report
that Dr. Howe filed with us, you had a pretty severe concussion."
" I'm fine, Lt. Jarvis. More than capable of facing the Major."
"Let's just hope we can convince him to stop her before she
kills again."
"Mildred discovered that Harwood served with the Major in
the army."
"As a first lieutenant," Jarvis nodded. "I ran
a check on him myself. I've got a hunch he was simply in over
his head and paid for it with his life."
"Still no leads on the girl?"
"It would help if we could get a description. The one we
have on file is a couple of years old. And apparently she's become
quite adept at disguises."
"Does she have a name other than 'Minor'?" Remington
asked.
"Not that I can find. Guess the Major's warped sense of humor
was at work when he chose the name."
The newest prison for the State of California was held the latest
in technology. But a prison was still a prison, Remington thought,
as he was shown into a conference room with Jarvis. They could
improve the systems all they wanted to, but it was still a place
where people were locked away from the rest of society.
Remington shook his head when Jarvis indicated the chair beside
him, preferring to stand with his back to the far wall where he
could see everything. The door opened again, and a guard escorted
the person they had come to see into the room. If he was surprised
to see Remington Steele, the man didn't reveal it. "Why,
Mr. Steele. I didn't expect to see you here." He sat down
across from Jarvis as the guard took up a position beside the
door.
"And just where did you expect me to be, Major?" Remington
asked. "In jail, perhaps? Charged with Felicia Grant's murder?"
"Was someone murdered? I simply meant that I'm surprised
to see you."
"I think you've met Lt. Jarvis?"
"Of course. What can I do for you gentlemen?"
"You can tell us where your daughter is, Descoine."
"My daughter? Is she missing? The last time I heard from
her, she was living on Pico-"
"You know as well I do, Major, that the only apartments on
Pico are abandoned and scheduled for demolition," Jarvis
told him.
"I've been in here for awhile," he reminded them. "I
suppose things have changed a bit."
"Indeed," Remington pointed out. "Things have.
Such as your daughter becoming a cold blooded killer."
Descoine smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then I suppose putting Felicia Grant up to stealing a painting
from my house was all your daughter's idea. And that killing Felicia
was also her idea."
"Forgive me, but I don't know who this- Felicia is that you're
talking about."
"What about a Charles Harwood?" Jarvis asked. "Do
you know him?"
"Charlie?" the Major smiled again. "Sure. He and
I served together. One of my best officers-"
"He's dead too, Major," Remington told him, watching
him closely. He saw the quickly hidden surprise. "Killed
to prevent his talking to Lt. Jarvis. To prevent his telling how
your daughter murdered Felicia Grant in cold blood and set me
up to take the fall for it. This little vedetta you have against
myself and my wife ends here and now, Descoine- Call this off
before anyone else is harmed." Remington said, coming toward
the table.
Jarvis stood up, stopping Remington from reaching his goal. "Calm
down, Steele." He pushed Remington into a chair. "Now
sit quietly and let me handle this."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Steele. Are
you accusing me of orchestrating some kind of plot against you
from inside my prison cell?"
Remington started to rise again, but stopped as Jarvis warned,
"Mr. Steele, if you want to stay-"
"No one is accusing YOU of anything, Major," Jarvis
told him. "We have evidence that points to your daughter
as being responsible for at least three murders, all tied into
the theft of a painting from Mr. Steele's private collection.
What we need to know is when was the last time you spoke to your
daughter and if she mentioned anything about a plan of any kind."
"Minor is always full of plans," the Major told him.
"You can check the records as to when she last visited me.
It was a week ago. I haven't heard from her since. She was planning
to go out of town, I think."
"He's lying, Jarvis-" Remington said. "She's still
in Los Angeles. She murdered three people, and he's going to cover
up for her-"
"Steele," Jarvis said, "One more outburst, and
you're out of here."
"Why would I lie? Minor is more than capable of taking care
of herself. Just because you can't find the real culprit for these
murders is no reason to try and accuse my daughter, Lieutenant,"
he said calmly.
"The last word one of those people spoke was "Descoine","
Jarvis pointed out. "And since you're in here, that leaves
only one other person. Your daughter."
"If she contacts me, I'll be certain to tell her to call
you, Lieutenant," the Major offered. "It's the best
I can do." He smiled again. "Unless you're willing to
let me go so I can search for her."
"I don't think so, Major."
"Then I guess we've nothing more to say."
"I've got something else to say," Remington said.
"Steele-"
"No, Jarvis. I just want the Major to know that if anything
happens to Laura or the babies she's carrying, he'll find out
what a REAL vendetta is. I'll make sure they lock him away forever.
Him, and his murdering offspring."
Jarvis pulled Remington out of the room and out of the prison
to his car. Once there, the frown on the police detective's face
turned into a smile. "You really got into that little role
back there, didn't you?"
"I've never done good-cop bad-cop before. I'll have to suggest
it to Laura." He grew serious. "Do you think we did
any good?"
"I've gotten a tap on his calls- if he does know where she
is, I think he'll try to get in touch with her. I got the impression
that he didn't know about Harwood's death."
"I had that feeling as well. I'd be willing to wager that
the pawnbroker's death is another thing he didn't count on."
"I'll drop you back a the hopital, then go and see if anything's
turned up at the station."
"I have to go to the office first," Remington told him.