Tequila Mockingbird (Book 7)

by Liliana Hart

  “What have you got?” Coil asked.

  Agatha had transferred the old newspaper articles Edna had given her into digital format. There were also witness statements and life insurance documents she’d managed to dig up. Everything had been laid out in a clear, concise chronology to best explain the timeline of events, and she put everything up on the large wall screen.

  Coil and Hank both sat up as their interest was piqued.

  “Carol Brown disappeared on February eighteenth ten years ago. She and Jim had been married for almost six years prior to that point. They had no children, but bought a German Shepherd together about a year before she vanished. On the day she disappeared, Carol worked at the hardware store until six-thirty that evening, then left to pick up the puppy from her mom’s house before heading back home to Jim.

  “Jim told Sheriff Black that on the night of Carol’s disappearance, he and Carol fought. She left the house and he went to bed about nine o’clock. Apparently, she came home drunk around midnight and she woke him up because she set the alarm off coming in. But she was able to turn it off, and she ended up sleeping in the guest room. He got up to make sure the house was locked and reset the alarm, and he checked on Carol, who was already passed out cold. By the time he woke up the next morning, she was gone, but he said she did call him around seven that morning and tell him that it was over and that she’d met someone else several months before and she was leaving with him.

  “Sheriff Black’s report shows a statement from Carol’s mother, Sue, who stated she received a letter purportedly written by Carol a few days later. The letter claimed that Carol left Jim for someone named George, a man that Carol had never before mentioned to her mother. Sue said that the letter was the only communication she had from her daughter. She never got to speak with her, and as far as I know, Carol has never contacted anyone from her family. Sue made it a point to say this was unlike Carol because they were very close. She knew all about the marital problems Carol and Jim were having.”

  “Where’s that letter?” Coil asked.

  “I’ve not located it yet,” Agatha said.

  “Didn’t Black take it into evidence?” Hank asked.

  “If he did,” Agatha said, “It’ll be in your files back at the sheriff’s office.”

  “Did the letter say anything else?” Hank asked.

  “According to Sue, the letter was brimming with praise toward Jim, which she said didn’t make sense at all considering Carol was planning to file for divorce. Carol claimed none of this was Jim’s fault, it was all her decision, and that everyone would be happier if she disappeared and started a new life with George somewhere else.”

  “Where did they go?” Coil asked.

  “No one knows,” Agatha replied.

  “And no one knows of this George?” Hank asked. “This is Rusty Gun. Someone would have known about him. What opportunities did she even have for meeting someone outside of Rusty Gun? Where’d she go to drink?”

  “From what I recall,” Coil said. “Carol and Jim lived at that hardware store. She was a regular at The Judge’s Chamber, and she’d usually unwind there for a drink without Jim after the store closed for the day. They went to church in Rusty Gun and the store was open six days a week. So the best chance for her to meet an out-of-towner would be at the hardware store, or The Judge’s Chamber. I know the local judges and attorneys will take visiting council or friends there because of the name.”

  “Okay,” Agatha said. “Good thinking. So George could’ve been an out of town attorney she met at the bar. What strangers would go into a hardware store?”

  “Contractors, salesmen, and delivery people,” Hank added.

  “And ten years ago, it would’ve been busier than normal,” Coil said. “That’s when those new subdivisions were going up out on the east side of town. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Black didn’t try to track down George from either the bar or the hardware store.”

  “Got it in one,” Agatha said with a nod. “At least, it’s not in his report.”

  “Can we call Black and ask?” Hank asked.

  “Dead,” Coil answered.

  “Okay, what else?” Hank asked.

  Agatha went back to the screen and her chronology report. “Jim told others, mostly customers, that he received several calls from Carol after her disappearance. Several locals corroborated this, and said he’d bring her up anytime they went in the store. He even told one person he visited with Carol once after she’d left. Which is double weird to me that she’d meet with her ex-husband, but not her own mother.”

  “Where’d they meet?” Hank asked.

  “I’m sure that’s not documented either,” Coil said, disgusted. He ran a hand through hair that was in need of a cut, and then stroked the day’s growth of beard on his face.

  “Was Sheriff Black incompetent or malicious?” Hank asked Coil.

  “A little of both, I’d wager. He hated Rusty Gun, and that hatred is what lost him the election. He wasn’t a bad man, but he did have a chip on his shoulder. He was a businessman with cash to throw around, and people were happy to call themselves friends for a price. That’s what you get when you vote based on popularity and not qualifications.”

  Agatha wondered if Coil had heard the talk about Oddie McElroy from Belton running against him. Now wasn’t the time to tell him, but soon, she’d make him aware of what Dot Williams had threatened.

  “Black got involved once Carol’s family called him,” Agatha said. “Out of worry, Carol’s mom called Black shortly after she disappeared. Jim gave an initial statement to Black right after Carol’s disappearance, and again three years later.”

  “What?” Coil asked, the surprise on his face obvious.

  “Look” she said. “It’s right there.” Agatha pointed the document on the screen, and then handed him a copy of the report.

  “I was never told about a second interview,” Coil said.

  “Who interviewed him?” Hank asked.

  “Lieutenant Tom Earls,” Coil said, reading the report. “But why would he have reopened the case without telling me?”

  “Why would he have gone behind your back?” Hank asked.

  “I’m not sure, but he was always a loyal deputy. Even up until the day he died from cancer, he only thought about the victims.”

  “Maybe that was the reason,” Agatha offered. “Looks like the family kept pushing for justice, so maybe Earls decided not to bother you and give it another look on his own.”

  “I sure hope so,” Coil whispered. “I’d hate to think he was up to something unethical. What else does it say?”

  Agatha continued telling them what she’d discovered. “It looks like some of what Jim told Black in his February interview contradicted what he told Earls in the December statement.”

  “Like what?” Hank asked.

  “In February, Jim first told Black that he was sleeping at the time Carol called to wake him up. That’s when she explained to him that she was leaving him.”

  Hank and Coil nodded.

  “However, in his December statement, Jim claimed he was in the process of putting their dog outside before he left for work when she called. Also, Black documented that Jim said Carol departed with two suitcases containing her dress clothes. He added she did not take "very many of her everyday clothes."

  Yet again he contradicts himself in the December interview when he told Earls that Carol left with only a few pieces of her clothing.” Agatha explained. “I don’t know how he’d know that unless he watched her walk out of the house.”

  “To play devil’s advocate,” Hank said. “It had been about three years in between interviews. I don’t see either of those contradictions as smoking guns,” Hank said, “but it does sound odd enough to keep digging.”

  “Right now, I’m more curious about the letter Carol sent to her mother and why Earls interviewed Jim without telling me,” Coil said.

  “Just wait. This is where it starts to get juicy,” Ag
atha said. “When Earls asked Jim why he thought Carol would just up and leave him, he said the pressure from the hardware store was starting to get to her.”

  “That’s a lame excuse,” Coil said. “Not too juicy either.”

  “Nope, but hold onto your hat, cowboy,” she said. “Jim admitted to Earls that he’d been having a relationship with another woman before Carol disappeared. Her name was Robin, and they continued the affair after Carol vanished.”

  “Now we’re talking,” Hank said, nodding. “Now we’ve got motive.”

  “Jim said it had nothing to do with why Carol left him, but in Earls’ report he noted warning Jim that he felt the circumstances surrounding Carol’s disappearance suggested foul play. Earls further told Jim that he would be their main suspect if evidence of a crime surfaced. Earls then wrote that Jim strongly denied killing his wife.”

  “Why would Earls have said that?” Coil asked. “I’ve seen Earls question many witnesses and write hundreds of reports. He’d never write something like that. No cop would.”

  “Jim filed for divorce from Carol about a year and a half later, and since there was no contest, he was able to get one easily. He married Robin as soon as the divorce was final.”

  Coil narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t know Jim was remarried. How’d I miss that.”

  “If you’d sneezed you would have missed it,” Agatha said. “They weren’t even married a year.” She passed him Jim’s second divorce decree.

  “Did Jim and Robin live in the same house from when he was married to Carol?” Hank asked.

  “Yes, which I’m sure was fun for Robin,” Agatha said.

  “Is there any way to track down Robin?” Coil asked. “I’m trying to think, but I don’t know a Robin in Rusty Gun.”

  “There’s three thousand people in this town, plus those outside the city limits,” Agatha said. “You can’t know everyone. I found the divorce decree easily enough, but it only lists her name as Robin Brown. If I can find their marriage certificate it should have her maiden name on there.”

  “I can run her down from my office,” Coil said. “You were right, Agatha. This is definitely worth a follow up. If I’d been given all the facts after I came into office this case wouldn’t have been sitting in a drawer for the last decade. I’ll check our evidence vault for that letter and envelope, and figure out who Robin is. I think she might provide us with answers, or even lead us to Carol.”

  “So, is this an official case?” Agatha asked.

  “Let’s call it an inquiry for now,” Coil said.

  Agatha smiled and stuck out her hand to shake Coil’s. “I can live with that.”

  Chapter Six

  Thursday

  Hank was up bright and early. He and Agatha had stayed up late cleaning up the kitchen and talking about the case and their relationship. Not that the two were related, but them working together had meshed their personal lives. Things were good between them, and Hank realized he wanted Agatha in his life all the time, not just when they were working. They had fun together, and they were friends. It was nice to have someone in his life who didn’t let him take himself too seriously. They laughed, and there’d been far too little of that in his life. He wanted more from her. And he was pretty sure that she wanted it too.

  It had been after two in the morning when he’d finally left for home, and Hank knew Agatha would sleep in. It had been an emotionally exhausting week for her, and she needed the sleep.

  He, on the other hand, was used to working long hours on no sleep, so he’d been up at his usual time to enjoy his morning on the back porch with a cup of coffee and a banana. Coil was even worse about sleep than he was. In the dangerous world of working undercover, Coil had learned to never go to sleep. He’d already be at the office, which was why Hank dressed and stopped in at the doughnut shop before heading over to see his friend first thing the next morning.

  Hank opened the door to the sheriff’s office, but there was no one sitting behind the desk in the front.

  Coil stuck his head out of his office and nodded to him. “I could smell those doughnuts before you walked in the door. Get back here and close the door. Every deputy in a ten-mile radius will be here otherwise.”

  “A closed door isn’t going to stop a cop from looking for a doughnut,” Hank said.

  “True, leave the door open and let them suffer.”

  “I had a feeling you’d be in early this morning looking for some evidence,” Hank said.

  Coil grinned, and pulled his desk drawer open. “You mean like this?” He waved a clear plastic bag with paper sealed inside. “You don’t think I’ve been sitting here twiddling my thumbs do you?”

  “Nope, that’s why I came on over.”

  “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Coil said. “I’ve got a call into Will Ellis at the Texas Rangers, and I asked if he could get their state crime lab to take a look at the contents.”

  “Good thinking,” Hank said. “This needs to go outside of Rusty Gun. They should have no problem getting a handwriting analysis, prints, and possibly DNA off of the envelope if someone licked it to seal it.”

  Hank picked up a chocolate éclair from the box. “Do you think if I eat one of these Aggie is going to know I went off my diet?”

  “It’s our secret,” Coil said.

  “How about the name George?” Hank asked, taking a bite. A glob of cream dripped onto his shirt and Coil handed him a napkin to wipe it away. “Any ideas on how to confirm whether he actually existed?”

  “Not without going to Jim for business records.”

  “Too soon for that route,” Hank said, shaking his head. “How about tracking down Robin?”

  “That’s on the list as soon as the clerk of court’s office opens. They’ll have the marriage license and divorce records. I’m hoping they’ll give me the info over the phone. I’ve got a full day today, so I can’t get away to drive to Belton if not.”

  “We’ll go,” Hank offered.

  “Thanks,” Coil said, “and while you’re there how about running down information on Jim’s home history. I don’t think where he now lives is where he once was while he and Carol where married. I found an old disturbance complaint filed by Carol. It seems they weren’t such a quiet couple after all.”

  Hank scrubbed his face. “Man, this is really blowing my mind. None of the stuff we’ve been talking about jives with what I know about Jim Brown. I’ve always thought he was just a solitary, hardworking business owner. Plus, he’s got a great looking German Shepherd.”

  “I thought the same,” Coil said. “And at least you just moved here. I’ve been here for years and still never caught a whiff of this. But I can tell you that if Jim did kill Carol, he thinks he’s gotten away with murder. Otherwise, he wouldn’t still be living here. That takes balls.”

  “You’ve got a point,” Hank said. “I figure Agatha is going to sleep most of the morning away, so as soon as she’s up, we’ll head out to Belton.”

  “You figured wrong,” Agatha said, her head popping around the door. She took in their relaxed postures and the half-eaten box of donuts between them.

  “Hank brought the doughnuts,” Coil said quickly.

  “Traitor,” Hank said, narrowing his eyes at Coil, but Coil just shrugged and smiled.

  “Sorry, man. I’ve been married too long. It’s habit.”

  Agatha came into the office and looked through what was left of the doughnuts. She selected an apple fritter and a napkin before daintily biting it.

  “So where are we going?” she asked.

  I wasn’t expecting you to be up this early. I figured you were exhausted, so I didn’t bother waking you up.”

  “I was up and out on my run when I saw you leave the house. I had a feeling you were headed here.”

  She gave him a look, and he immediately felt guilty. “Honey, we’re not trying to cut you out. We were just talking about the case. I would’ve filled you in on everything.”

  “So it’s a case
now and not just an inquiry?” Agatha asked.

  “Call it what you want, Agatha,” Coil said, “but you certainly got my curiosity going last night. I didn’t sleep a wink.”

  “I try,” she said, grinning.

  Hank gathered up the box of doughnuts and said, “We might as well get going.”

  Coil reached out and grabbed Hank’s shirt sleeve. “Hey, where you going with those?”

  “You don’t deserve them after the way you threw me under the bus,” Hank said.

  Agatha poked Hank in the chest where the glob of cream had fallen. “Neither do you for sneaking down here without me,” she said. She grabbed the box and tossed it into the trash. “Let’s go, we’ve got work to do.”

  The desk clerk at the Bell County Clerk of Court’s office was helpful. She was able to pull up the marriage license for Jim and Robin Brown. Hank also asked her about records of home purchases by the same name. Of course, when he asked her to run a search on the name Jim Brown without a date of birth, the kindly public assistant sternly pointed them to the door.

  “Oh here,” Hank said. “His DOB is on his marriage license.”

  “I was wondering if you’d figure that out,” the woman said with a sneer. “But since you said you work for Sheriff Coil, I didn’t have a lot of confidence.”

  Hank smiled tightly. “It was a long night and a long drive. I guess I’m just groggy.”

  “Groggy, huh?” she said, snorting. “Are those the type of deputies Coil hires to protect us in Bell County? What a comfort that is.”

  Agatha kicked Hank in the ankle. He noticed the other women behind the counter had stopped working to pay more attention to their conversation.

  “Not quite,” Agatha said, ready for battle. “Detective Davidson was trained by the FBI, and he’s a very respected homicide detective. He’s captured serial killers all over the world.”

  “Yet he couldn’t find a date of birth for Jim Brown,” the woman said primly.

  Hank knew there was more going on than he understood, but whatever it was, it was not about him. There was no need to escalate things. They’d get the information and be on their way.