“Yeah, it must.”
“So, what would happen if it was blocked?”
“I assume the same thing that happened to us before,” Genevieve said.
“Then we need to look at this chimney area carefully, and we need the guys who fixed it to come in for fingerprinting and tell us what they did to fix it.”
“We can do that. I’ll send some officers out to track them down. If we put a work request in, it might take weeks.” The chief laughed.
“I can imagine,” I said, heading for the steps.
“Where are you going, Avery?” Genevieve asked.
“To find a ladder. I need to head up to the roof.”
“I’m sure we can find you a ladder, but wouldn’t you rather wait for the maintenance guys to arrive?”
“No. Any of them could be a suspect since they have access to the area and the skills to cause the crime.”
“I guess you have a point,” the chief said, “but most of those guys have been with the city their whole career, and I don’t see them doing something like that.”
“Sometimes people surprise you,” I said.
***
I was glad that the police department had a flat roof as I climbed up and over the edge. The chimney was in clear view. I was careful to observe everything in the area. I'd already dusted for fingerprints when the chief climbed onto the roof.
“This is a lot of space. I’ve never been up here,” he commented.
“It’s a big building.
"Look at this.” I pointed to a pile of crumpled plastic sheeting around the chimney flue.
“That’s a lot of trash. How do you suppose it got up here?”
“I don’t know. I guess it could have blown here.”
The chief picked up the plastic “No, I doubt it blew here. It’s full of rocks.”
“Now, that's strange. It's possible someone crammed it down the chimney to block it off.” I shoved the heavy pile of plastic aside with my foot. Someone would've had to put effort into getting the sheeting onto the roof and in place. “We need to get this processed for prints.”
“Now, I’m glad I sent out patrol units to pick the maintenance guys up. It looks like they haven't shared all they know.”
“Yes, and now I want to know how someone made it onto the roof. I’m not sure Dr. Stevens could've made it up here. He was a big guy, but I’m not sure he could've managed the ladder.”
I shook my head. “No, and I’m thinking a guy with a career office job wouldn’t have wanted to crawl up the side of the building. We'll run the prints against his, but I’m not sure this will trace back to him.”
The chief kneeled to look at the chimney flue once again. "So who’d have the means and opportunity to do this, much less a motive?”
“I hope that talking to the maintenance guys will clear that up.”
“I'll run the traffic cam footage at either end of the block that day to see if there's anything there.”
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 28
I watched the uniformed officer escort the maintenance guy from the city into the station. The last man to arrive was young and almost as short as I was. He didn’t put up any resistance. He spotted the chief and I standing outside the interview room and paused. “Chief, today was a sick day,” the youngest of the workers complained. His red nose and puffy eyes made me suspect he was telling the truth.
“Sorry, Rick, we have to be cautious about the situation. Even if you don’t think you remember anything, there could be something you noticed that would help us clear things up.”
“Clear what up?” Rick sneezed.
“We'll talk all about it in a minute. Just have a seat for now and someone will be right in.”
“All right. Will do.”
Rick and the officer headed into the interview room. I couldn’t help but notice that, like the two suspects who had arrived before him, Rick wasn’t wearing handcuffs.”
“Do you think it’s safe, bringing them in like that?” I pointed to my wrists to make my point.
“Well, I have to admit the situation's awkward. We all work for the same city. I’ve known Rick for several years. When he first got the job, they assigned him to spend a couple days a week at the station. It’s hard to think of those guys that way.”
I scowled. “It’s a difficult thing when you have to decide who you can trust.” I looked through the two-way mirror at Rick sitting at the table, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else but in that seat.
“Avery, would you be willing to wear an earpiece and interview Rick in my place? I’ve asked Ms. Richards to help out with interviewing the other two guys.”
“Me?”
“Well, Jesse, here, tells me you have the credentials.”
I nodded. “Okay. If you think it'll help the situation, then I’ll do it.”
Chief Morris gave me half a smile and then glanced at Rick through the two-way mirror. “Thank you. I appreciate it. Sitting across that table from Rick feels wrong. I’ll watch, and if there's something I notice or want to ask, I’ll tell you through the earpiece.”
“Sure, I don’t mind it. We’ve never met before today.”
“Exactly. I think it'll give us a more honest reaction than if Rick talked to me as a colleague.”
***
I walked in and sat down across from Rick without saying a word. I wanted to size him up to see how he'd responded to the awkward silence. Perhaps whatever cold medication he'd taken threw the experiment off because he glanced at me before settling into the chair, unfazed. I gave up and started the interview.
“Please, state your name.”
“Rick Thompson”
“Rick, do you know why we brought you in today?”
Rick paused as he considered the question. He sniffled. “Did I witness a crime or something?”
I raised my eyebrows. “I hope you'd know the answer to that question. Did you witness a crime?”
“Not that I recall. I was wondering if I was in some kind of trouble over the broken heat here.”
“Did you come to the police station about the broken heat system?”
“Yeah. Me, John, and Andy all came over to find out if the heating system made people sick.”
“And what did you decide after you looked at the system?”
“The carbon monoxide came from the unit. We worked on it, and as far as I know, they gave it the all-clear.” He coughed.
“Great. Glad to know we're not breathing in poisonous gasses. What did you do to fix the unit?”
“Well, John seemed to think there was some kind of clog. Andy and I worked on the unit itself. We checked the system and cleaned all the filters and hoses. I’m surprised it did that. I mean, the unit isn’t that old.”
“It is surprising. Had you worked on the unit before?” I asked
“Yeah. Just twice. It’s pretty new. I changed the filters on it before.”
“You said John thought there was some kind of clog—was there?”
“I don’t think so. He checked the chimney and came back and said everything looked good.”
“How did John get onto the roof?” I asked.
“Well, we keep an extension ladder on the truck. He must've used that. He was up there a good long time. I guess the building will need a roof repair before long."
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, this building isn’t that old, but you should've heard the racket coming from up there when John was walking around.”
“What did it sound like?” I heard the chief moving around over the earpiece, but he offered no comment.
“For a minute it sounded like he was coming down the chimney, like Santa Claus. I figured he'd found a clog and was trying to get it out.”
“But John said there wasn't a clog?”
“Yeah. He said he'd reached on in with a flashlight, but there wasn’t anything there. We ended up replacing the whole heat exchange on the unit. We can’t risk anyone getting h
urt. Andy went out and bought detectors that same afternoon, and we installed them. That was too close of a call.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” I caught up on my note-taking. There was no way I was letting Genevieve Richards interview John by herself.
***
I waited in the hall outside of the interview rooms. Genevieve headed out of the second interview room where she'd been talking to Andy. “We need to talk to this John guy,” I said.
Genevieve opened her mouth in surprise for a fraction of a second before resuming her put-together facade. “I was going tell you the same thing. John was the only person to head to the roof. If he saw the chimney clogged up as you described, he sure didn’t tell anyone else about it.”
The chief came out of the little room between the two interview areas. “Wow, ladies, that was quick and to the point. It looks like John had some explaining to do.”
“What do you know about John?” Genevieve asked.
“He’s only been with the city a couple of years. I haven’t been around him much—he doesn’t do a lot of work for the station.”
“Does he seem on the level?” I asked.
“He has a past. They locked him up a couple of times as a teenager—mostly petty stuff—but he straightened himself out and got a city job.”
“Wait—wasn’t he the guy they picked up at the motorcycle warehouse?” Genevieve asked.
“Yeah. He was shopping when my guys caught up to him,” the chief said.
“It makes me wonder how he planned to pay for a new motorcycle,” I said.
“It could be legitimate; let’s not jump to conclusions,” the chief said. Before he could finish his thought, a uniformed officer rushed down the hallway.
“Hey, Chief Morris—you need to see this.”
“What’s going on?” the chief asked.
“We were going over the traffic camera footage near the station, and one of your guys is on the feed the day of the carbon monoxide leak.”
“I want to see that, too,” I said. I thought back to the day when Genevieve and I had been overcome by the odorless, invisible gas and realized I might be looking at evidence to implicate my would-be killer. I clenched my fists. When would the attempts on my life stop?
We headed to an office at the other end of the hallway where a tall, thin officer was leaning over a monitor. “Ah, Chief—check this out. Isn’t he one of the guys we brought in for questioning?”
The chief leaned in toward the screen. “That sure looks like John,” he said.
“Print that off. Make sure the time-stamp shows up. John has some explaining to do!”
Chapter 29
Genevieve walked into the interview room a minute ahead of me, and I watched her introduce herself to John. He looked up at her with a leer that made me want to punch him, even though he was in a separate room. He smiled to expose damaged teeth as he stared at Genevieve's chest.
She took her seat. “So, John, how long have you worked for the city?” Genevieve asked.
He scratched his prickly chin as he mulled over the question. “I reckon it's been about three years, now.”
“That's a nice, long time to hold down a job. Where did you work before that?”
“I did some work at an auto body shop. I guess you could say I like to tinker.”
By the looks of the guy, I was willing to bet it had been a chop shop.
“What do you think your boss would tell me about your work if I asked him?” Genevieve wrote something in her notebook. John peered at her, trying to see what she wrote.
“He’d say I do my job.”
“I see. Tell me: are you able to pay your bills with your salary?”
“I get by.” He snorted and rubbed his nose with his hand.
“Do you get ahead?”
“What’s this got to do with a furnace?”
I was tired of watching. It was time to join in. I headed into the interview room and dragged a chair over to Genevieve's side of the table. “Hello, John. I’m Avery Rich. I have a few questions for you, today.”
“I sure am glad to meet you.” He looked at me like I was a steak dinner; it made me want to vomit.
“Tell me about that furnace. We know there was a problem. What was wrong with it?”
“Oh, it's a common thing. Lots of folks are breathing up nasty stuff and they never even know it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That seems dangerous. In your memory, can you think of any other time a carbon monoxide leak was that concentrated? I mean, so much that it made people ill?" I noticed Genevieve writing something in her notebook and resisted the urge to peak.
“Naw, that doesn’t happen much. Either the return has gone bad, or the chimney has to be blocked for that to happen.”
“What was wrong with the heat in this building?” Genevieve asked him for the second time.
“Oh, the heat return went bad. The fellas and I could see that fast.”
“That was brave of you, going into a building that made people so sick.” I tried to sound sweet and unassuming. I hoped he'd take the bait and blunder into admitting more.
“Yes ma'am, but that’s part of the job. It’s to be expected.”
“I understand. There's one matter that confuses me: you said the return was broken—where is that part of the system?”
“Oh, it’s inside the unit. You have to take the cover off to get to it.”
“So, in this building, that section is…where?” Genevieve asked. Apparently, she knew exactly where I was going.
“That part’s in the basement.”
“I’m confused: if the part's in the basement, why were you headed up to the roof?” I asked.
“That’s part of making the system safe. If something blocks the chimney, the bad fumes have nowhere to go but back into the building."
“Was the chimney blocked?” Genevieve stared straight at John.
“No. I already told you: it was the return that caused it.” John cracked his knuckles one by one, staring at his hands as he worked.
“There's something else I need you to clear up for me,” I said. “The police department's good at keeping records about things that go on here. They have to be to keep everything honest and on the table.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“So, they have traffic cameras at either end of the block near the department. It’s a safety thing—the street's busy, and not everyone handles the lights well.” I pulled out the first traffic camera picture of John arriving at the station in a city truck the day before the gas leak. “Here you are, heading into the department the day before the unit went bad. You showed up at four-thirty in the afternoon.” I showed him a copy of the log with his signature on it.
“I work for the city,” John said defensively. His face flushed red.
I leaned toward the ruddy man. “Right. What were you here to repair?”
“I was just here to change some filters.”
“On the furnace?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said
“But here's the thing: you came back the next morning, just as the sun was coming up.” I showed him the second traffic camera photo and its time stamp. “But this time you didn’t sign in. I think it was because you didn’t come in.”
“No, I didn’t need to. I was doing some work outside.”
“Outside on the roof?” Genevieve asked.
“No, I don’t remember going up there then.”
“I see. I don’t understand one thing,” Genevieve said.
“What’s that?” John asked.
"That afternoon, when the traffic cameras recorded you coming to the police station, you submitted a work order stating that you were working at the municipal building at the same time the camera recorded you at the light. Somewhere along the line, the truth has gotten lost. Do you mind clearing that up?”
“Err…well, the truth is, ma'am…I wanted to come back by the station because it’s right on my way home from work, and I had plan
s that night.”
“Oh. So, what were your plans?” I asked. I was afraid of what he might say after the creepy looks he'd been giving both of us.
“Well, I didn’t want to mention it, but I had a date.”
“I'll need a name and number to confirm that,” Genevieve said, her notepad at the ready.
“She told me her name was Candy, but I didn't think she looked like a Candy. She was a classy one. It surprised me when she asked me out.”
“Does Candy have a last name and a phone number?” Genevieve asked.
“I have her number.” John pulled out his wallet and handed over a receipt with the name, Candy, written on it, punctuated by a cute, little heart at the end. Her phone number was at the bottom.
Genevieve scribbled the details down before John snatched the paper back and put it back into his wallet.
“All right. So, you skipped out on work early for a date. We'll check on this with this Candy lady, but that still doesn’t explain what you were doing at the police department. Just because it’s on your way home doesn’t give you a reason to stop if it isn't your regular work site,” I said.
“I had a feeling I needed to stop here. Turns out I was right. I didn’t catch the problem.”
“So, you came to work on the heat? I thought you said you came to work on the grounds.”
“I…uh…”
A knock on the door caught my attention.
The chief gestured for Genevieve and me to join him in the hallway outside the interview room.
“Excuse us,” I said.
“I need to be going," John complained.
“I understand that.” Genevieve looked down her nose at the maintenance man, threatening him with unspoken severity if he so much as tried to leer at her. "We will see what the chief wants so we won’t have to take up any more of your time than needed.”
***
The chief had a wide grin on his face when we met him in the hall. Another man, an officer I'd never met, stood beside him. “This is Officer Adams. He just came on shift after being out on medical leave.”
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