"Hi, Bake," Williams said, managing a surprised smile, "what are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you, either." Ramsey was staring at him very hard. "Mary Alice didn't show up for work tonight, and the hospital called the cops. I took the call."
"Why didn't she show up?"
Williams took Ramsey's huge arm and led him up the steps to the parking lot, talking all the time. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, myself. You have any idea where she could be?" He stopped and leaned against his car.
"No, I haven't seen her since last week."
"When last week?"
"Thursday night. We had a date."
"Did you talk to her after that?"
"Nope. I called her a couple of times from Miami. I was down there with the team."
"When did you leave?"
"Friday afternoon."
"And when did you get back?"
"This morning. It was a night game, and we stayed over."
"I see."
This was squaring with what he knew so far, but Ramsey's stories always squared. "Look, has something happened to Mary Alice?" Ramsey showed just the right degree of puzzlement and concern.
"Not that I know of. We have to check these things out when we get a call, though. Listen, you go on home, and I'll call you when I get some more news."
"Okay," Ramsey said reluctantly. He gave Williams his number. "Maybe I should take a look inside and see if anything looks wrong."
"Don't worry about it. Security is in there, now, and there's nothing too unusual. We'll lock up and get out in a minute. I'll call you. Good night, Bake."
"Good night, Lee." Ramsey ambled over to a Mercedes, got in, and drove away.
Williams breathed a sigh of relief; he wanted Ramsey out of there before any more cops arrived. He had the gist of Ramsey's alibi, now, though it wouldn't be admissible, because he hadn't read the man his rights. He could always do that later, when he knew a crime had been committed. A moment later, a police van arrived, and people spilled out. Williams reentered the apartment with the group and got them to work. Two hours later, they left with their evidence, and the security lady locked the apartment behind them. "Anything else I can do for you?"
Williams handed her his card. "Please let me know if Mary Alice Taylor returns to her apartment-make sure that all your people know to look out for her-and I'd like to know if Bake Ramsey enters the grounds at all."
"The football player?"
"That's the one."
"You got it." She handed him a key and a plastic card. "Here's a spare key for the apartment, should you want to get in again when I'm not here. The card will let you into the back gate of the complex, which doesn't have a guardhouse." He thanked her for her help and got into his car. There was fear in his heart as he drove away. He was afraid that, without Mary Alice Taylor's help, he wouldn't be able to break Ramsey's alibi for the Ferguson killings. But mostly, he was afraid for Mary Alice Taylor.