"No, well...maybe, the detective asked if I had any family. I said just a sister in Philadelphia."
"Damn it, why did you give them my name?"
"I didn't see any harm. I tried to show I was a straight guy with nothing to hide."
"My employer was called already. Raymond, I work for a classy law firm with a spotless reputation. I could lose my job, if the media disrupts the office." She understood it wasn't his fault, if some jerk cop down there leaked her name to the media. She cooled off just a bit. "How do you rate having a phone in jail, anyway?"
"The police took mine for evidence to examine the directory to see who I've called and who's phoned me. They gave me this disposable loaner."
"It's tapped Raymond, the old loaner-phone trick. Watch what you say."
"They think I'm calling my mob mouthpiece in Philly right now. Anyway I'm innocent."
"Innocence is beside the point. Suspicion is your problem." She tried to sound unconcerned. "Isn't this where you're supposed to ask how I've been the last few years?"
"Oh yes, how are you Sandy?"
"You see, I get this call from some guy who says he's my brother. I heard my brother moved to Florida, yet it can't be him because he never calls me. As much as I'd enjoy his being in trouble, there's no way he'd be so ballsy as to phone me. You've got the wrong number, buddy."
"Sorry. I'm not very good at keeping in touch."
"Are you going to pretend you actually do call me now and then?"
"Didn't I phone at Christmas?"
"Yeah, two years ago, you wanted someone's address. The TV says you murdered a Senator. So, you're working there as a hit man?"
"No, I landed a good job down here with a stockbroker doing what I did in Philadelphia. The dead guy was a state senator running for governor. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. You see I met this woman at a party, and we went back to my place...okay, so maybe I have a little something to do with it. But I wasn't the one who shot him. Can I tell you about her? I didn't know her age then."
"No thanks."
"I've barely moved in down here and don't know anyone."
"A lot of folks would be happy to spend the last few days of their life in Florida. Where exactly are you?"
"Park Beach, a small town on the east coast. Someone killed their favorite son. And I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The town wants my blood. I can hear a big commotion outside right now from all the TV people. The police are crowded around the windows here gawking out. They're heroes for getting a dangerous character like me off the street so quickly. The state attorney doesn't bother to say alleged, just refers to me as the perpetrator. They'll probably skip the formality of a trial. I need someone to find out what's going on, someone to rescue me."