The Code Enforcer

by Valerie J. Clarizio

  Captain rested his elbows on his desk and leaned toward him. "We don't know for sure, and won't for a while, but it looks like Junior was killed several days ago."

  There went his alibi. His heart thudded. Was he insinuating he was a person of interest in this murder? That's what it started to sound and look like. He glanced to Markie for reassurance that he was wrong and she believed he was innocent. Uncertainty—confusion emitted in her expression.

  This can’t be happening.

  MARKIE WATCHED AS BRYCE hung his head and walked back to his side of the City Hall building. All the ground she'd gained with him last night disappeared with one unsure look from her.

  In her heart, she believed he was not the murderer, but the leads paved a clear path to him, and she'd seen people fooled time and time again by friends, relatives, and neighbors. Countless times she'd seen news interviews where someone commented, “I can't believe so-and-so is a killer. He seemed like such a nice guy.” She, too, had been fooled by someone she loved and had committed to marry. Damn Conner Sunstrum with the golden hair and tongue that could talk a woman into anything—make a woman believe everything—showed her exactly how wrong she could be about a person. She’d been within one inch of marrying him when the truth surfaced.

  The arrogant, cheating asshole.

  Pain pierced her heart. She wanted to believe in Bryce, but a shadow of doubt had been planted in her brain, and it must have shown all over her face when he turned to her for reassurance. The hurt and disappointment in his eyes was one hundred percent on her, and it broke her heart. Yet she just sat there and let him walk away.

  She'd been fooled by Conner. Was she being fooled by Bryce as well? If so, she was done with men forever.

  Bile rose into her mouth. Could he be responsible for these murders? She hated herself for thinking such, but...

  Captain cleared his throat. "You know he's not the murderer, right? This is clearly a setup. We just need to find out who's doing it before someone else gets killed, including Bryce."

  "I know," she replied as she stiffened her spine to sit taller—more confidently in her chair.

  "You look a little unsure."

  Her efforts had failed. She just stared at him.

  "This isn't my business, Markie, but, not all men are made from the same mold."

  She straightened again and squared her shoulders. "I know."

  He arched a brow. "Do you?"

  "Yes," she said firmly trying to convince not only him, but herself.

  "All right then. Let's focus. If this is a setup, who would have reason to do this?"

  "For starters, that damn Tiana Bennett. She's obsessed with Bryce, and she gets pissed because he doesn't give her the time of day. Not to mention she stalks him."

  "So, that explains why she would want to hurt or kill Bryce, but why would she murder the property maintenance violators?" Captain asked.

  Good question. It didn't really make sense...unless, hmm. "A scenario comes to mind. If she can't have Bryce, she won't let anyone else either. Pin the murders on him and he goes to jail. Boom, no woman gets him then." She stood and paced the small room as the picture in her mind continued to develop. "She's unstable. Who knows what she could be thinking. Obviously, Bryce would be a believable suspect because of the nature of his relationship with the code violators."

  Captain stood and wrote Tiana's name on the whiteboard hanging on the wall alongside his desk. "Who else?"

  "Jeez, nobody else comes to mind. If not for the fact someone tried to kill Bryce, he looks guilty as sin. The victims were thorns in his side. They did nothing but cause him extra work. Yet I know he really liked Old Hulbert, but getting that inheritance only makes him look guiltier."

  "What about any of the other property maintenance folks. Are there any more open cases? Perhaps we should look at those people. If they could pin something like this on Bryce, get him locked up, he wouldn't be able to keep hounding them about their own violations," Captain said.

  Tomie picked up his phone and dialed Bryce's extension.

  "Hey, Bryce. Do you have any more open property maintenance accounts? Uh huh... Okay... Thanks."

  He hung up his phone and wrote Clyde Weston on the whiteboard.

  Markie had forgotten about the shriveled up old drunk who spent most of his time at the bar and no time up-keeping his house, garage, and property.

  "We'll go check on Clyde in a bit," Captain began. "Anyone else? Who does Bryce hang out with?"

  "His dart team, but I think they're all friends and get along. He spends a lot of time with Lori Holloway, but she's the nicest person you'll ever meet," she stated before the memory surfaced of Lori tongue-lashing her in the bar the other night for giving Bryce a hard time. The woman had been angry. She’d never seen her like that before. Markie crossed an arm over her stomach, rested her elbow on it and tapped her finger against her lips as she recalled the interaction.

  "What is it? What are you thinking?" Captain asked raising a quizzical brow.

  "I was just thinking about Lori Holloway. She got really angry with me about questioning Bryce last week."

  He wrote Lori's name on the board.

  "What would her motive be for killing anyone, or, more importantly, why Bryce? The woman obviously cares for him," Markie stated.

  "Like you said about Tiana, if Lori can't have him maybe she thinks nobody should. Or, maybe she's doing it to help him by getting rid of his problem accounts."

  "But what about Bryce? Why kill him?" Markie asked as she planted her hands on her hips.

  "Maybe she blew up his house to throw you off the track. If she thinks you were accusing Bryce of the murders it would be a perfect way to save him. Think about it, maybe the explosion was just more than she'd bargained for, and she had just intended to send a message, not destroy everything. After all, it was set off in the garage, the farthest spot away from the master bedroom, and at a time when she knew he'd probably be in bed."

  "Possible, I suppose."

  "Let's keep going."

  "Old Hulbert’s niece,” she offered. “Maybe she needed money bad enough to kill her uncle, thinking she would be named in the will since there are few to no other relatives. Maybe she found out about his will and wanted to knock off Bryce so he wouldn’t inherit everything," Markie surmised.

  "But why would she kill Sister Ann and Junior Willming?"

  "Good question. Maybe there's more than one killer." She pointed at the board, "One for Bryce and one for the code violators."

  Captain added Old Hulbert's niece to the board. "I think I know the answer to this question, but how long have you and Bryce been an item?"

  Her pulse instantly ratcheted up a notch. "Huh?"

  "You're going to tell me you're not a couple?" His brow arched again.

  Though she didn't need to answer his question because she knew he knew the answer before he asked it, she did. "It was pretty much verified last night."

  "What about Conner? Any reason he wouldn't want you and Bryce together?"

  Just the sound of Conner's name caused her stomach to churn.

  "The jackass is engaged to Sasha now so I doubt he cares who I'm with."

  "But you dumped him, and an arrogant guy like him isn't used to that. They like to end things on their own terms. Or, if they do get dumped, they like to ensure the party that jilted them never stands a chance with anyone else. When was the last time you saw him?"

  She shrugged. "Months ago."

  "Did you talk to him then?"

  "Briefly."

  "Did he ask if you were seeing anyone?"

  The lightbulb flipped on. "Yes, he did."

  "And you said no, right?"

  "Correct, because I wasn't at the time."

  "So, at that point there were no threats you'd be happy with someone else. I wonder if he found out about you and Bryce."

  "But there was no me and Bryce before the murders. Actually, not before last night even."

  "Seriously, Markie.
First of all, we all saw it coming whether you two did or not, so likely, people outside of here did, too.”

  Markie would make sure to never play poker. Evidently, she didn't have the face for it.

  “Secondly,” the captain continued, “if your two murderer theory is correct, it could just be unusual timing. Coincidence. We need to consider that. Stranger things have happened."

  She studied the list on the board:

  Tiana Bennett

  Clyde Weston

  Lori Holloway

  Edwin Hulbert's niece

  Conner Sunstrom

  Markie had her money on Tiana. In her opinion, that lady was pure evil. Clyde was too much of a drunk to pull it off. Lori was too nice—too much the innocent type. She supposed Old Hulbert's niece was a possibility, but she didn't know the woman, and they'd yet to locate her. As for Conner, she just couldn't see that. But hey, with her personal involvement with Conner and Bryce, the captain was probably seeing things more clearly than she was.

  Captain's phone rang, and he picked it up. "Sure, I'll be right there."

  He hung up the receiver and glanced at her. "Darrel from the hardware store is here. Says he may have information for us in regard to the explosion at Bryce's."

  Her pulse quickened. A legitimate tip? Could this be the break they needed?

  She followed her superior up front and buzzed Darrel through the doorway. Captain led the man to the small interview room equipped with an audio and visual recording system as she followed behind the two. She and Captain took a seat on one side of the cold, metal table and Darrel sat opposite them.

  Darrel wove his fingers together and rested his shaky hands on the tabletop.

  "Darrel, this is being recorded. Can you state your name and address for the record, please?" Captain asked.

  The nervous man swung his gaze around the small room, pausing it at the ceiling-mounted camera before he returned it to them. There was no reason for the man to be so edgy. He was an upstanding citizen and Markie was certain whatever he told them would be the truth.

  "Darrel Kratky. Four-six-two South Fourth Avenue."

  "What information do you have?" Markie asked in a voice more eager than she'd intended. She drew in a calming breath. The man was already jumpy enough, she didn't need to make it any worse.

  Darrel sucked his lips into his mouth and blew them back out with the breath he'd held. "During coffee time this morning at my store, Jim Lake from the sporting goods store said he sold Tiana Bennett some gunpowder Friday morning. He wondered what that crazy...excuse me, woman would want with gunpowder. Says he asked her and she said she needed it for reloading. Really, Tiana, reloading brass. I don't think so. Anyhow, Jim said he thought it was strange, but maybe it was for her dad or somebody else. Then Wade chimed in and said she'd been at the hardware store on Friday and purchased a small, metal pipe. Seriously, that little princess in a sporting goods store and hardware store just didn’t make sense, so we got to thinking about it." Darrel paused and took a breath. "The explosion at Bryce's wasn't a pipe bomb was it?"

  Adrenaline rushed her veins. Darrel nailed it! That psycho, Tiana Bennett, tried to kill Bryce.

  Her purchasing those particular items for another use was just too coincidental. But did she kill the others, too?

  One of the perks of a small town, everybody knew everybody's business. Or for some, it was probably a detriment. It certainly was looking that way for Ms. Bennett.

  Impatiently, she waited as Captain Tomie asked Darrel a few more questions, and then told him to keep quiet about what he knew. She desperately wanted to run out the door, pick up Tiana and grill her. Patience.

  Further solidifying his theory, Darrel confirmed Tiana's purchase with a copy of her credit card receipt. Excellent, he'd thought ahead by bringing the receipt.

  Finally, Darrel left.

  "I'll have Sargent Maxwell pick up Ms. Bennett from work."

  Great, Maxwell was already in the field so he could get to Tiana quicker than if she did it herself.

  Within five minutes, Maxwell had Tiana seated in the interview room. The woman looked relaxed, too relaxed. She leaned back in her chair and rested her arms on the table. Her long, red fingernails tapped on the tabletop as if she were annoyed—inconvenienced that she'd been hauled in.

  "Ms. Bennett, did you kill Sister Ann, Edwin Hulbert, or Junior Willming?" Captain Tomie asked, cutting straight to the chase.

  "Why would I do that? I don't even know those people," she replied matter-of-factly.

  "I don’t know why you would. Did you?"

  "No."

  "Do you know who did?"

  The woman thought for a moment as a smirk consumed her face.

  "Ms. Bennett, do you know who did it?" Captain asked again.

  "No, but if I were you, I'd check with that bitch, Lori Holloway."

  She had Markie's undivided attention now. Her superior's, too. Was this just an attempt to get them off her back and onto someone else?

  The woman's smile stretched. No part of this was funny. Markie wanted to reach over and wipe that arrogant grin off her.

  "You think Lori Holloway did it?" Captain asked.

  "Could have." Her smug tone was beyond irritating.

  "Why do you think that?"

  "That lady is bat-shit crazy. She'd do anything for Bryce. Anything to get him, and anything to make his life easier. The funny part is, she's too stupid to know that no matter what she does for him, he's still not going to go out with a plain Jane like her." Tiana's gaze bore into Markie. "A man like Bryce, as good-looking as he is, requires a woman of beauty and sophistication."

  "A woman like you?" Markie asked, trying to keep the defensiveness out of her tone.

  Tiana smiled wickedly. How could she be so at ease—confident, when Markie was about to blow a gasket? Was she actually telling the truth, or some version thereof?

  A strange theory started to play out in Markie's mind. Perhaps Lori was the murderer. Maybe she did it because she loved Bryce so much she wanted to make his life easier. Poor Bryce, these property maintenance issues were the pits. The guy was damned if he did and damned if he didn't see them through. The general public viewed him as a big meanie for picking on Sister Ann when he was just doing his job and concerned about her safety. As for Old Hulbert and Junior, it was kind of the same. But in their cases, some of the public sided with the city and wanted the properties cleaned up, while others wrote nasty comments on social media about the mean old city and the big bad property maintenance guy.

  Markie stood in place, staring down at the conceited woman sitting at the table. She crossed an arm over her stomach swirling with anxiety, rested her elbow on her arm and placed her chin to her hand. To others, she imagined she looked like the "Thinker" statue. How appropriate. She was thinking, trying to figure out how the attempt on Bryce’s life fit in with her notion about Lori?

  Theorizing further, keeping with Ms. Holloway being the killer of the property maintenance code violators, maybe when it started to look like Bryce was a leading suspect, Tiana stepped in to save the day for him. Making it look like he was on the killer's list would get him off the suspect list. Then, maybe she planned to leak out her suspicions about Lori being the murderer, which if it turned out to be true, she would then be successful in getting her out of her way when it came to Bryce. Only problem was Tiana wasn’t smart enough to cover her tracks. That part threw up a red flag. To use her credit card to purchase a metal pipe and then use that pipe to blow up Bryce’s house was blatantly stupid.

  Markie pulled her chin from her hand and returned her gaze to Tiana. Another thought, was it probable she was the murderer and trying to set Lori up to take the fall so she could have Bryce to herself. This was a strong possibility as well—actually, more believable based on what Markie knew of the women and their general behaviors.

  Her brain worked to process her theories and connections. If her theory was true about Lori being the killer of the property maintenance
folks, why would she put Bryce's business card in Junior's mouth? The same question could be asked if Tiana were the killer. No matter which one was the killer, that business card maneuver would make him look blatantly guilty. Could that have been Tiana or Lori's plan? Make it so obvious he was the killer the police would think someone was setting him up? Thereby, shifting the focus off of him.

  Perhaps some further questioning would shed some more light on this.

  "Did you set off a pipe bomb in Bryce Hawk's garage?" the captain's question let Markie know he felt the same. More answers were needed.

  "No."

  "Where were you Friday night around midnight?" he asked.

  "Home sleeping."

  "Do you have anyone who can attest to that?"

  "No, I was by myself. Sleeping. I live alone."

  Liar. A woman like her doesn’t sleep alone on a Friday night, and if she hadn’t already found a partner by midnight, she certainly wouldn’t be home since she had two-plus more hours of bar-time to find said partner.

  "Did you get up at all that night and go anywhere?" Captain Tomie continued.

  "No."

  "Did you purchase gunpowder last week?"

  Tiana's annoying finger tapping stilled. She looked to be contemplating how she was going to answer the question. Probably trying to figure out if she left a trail of that purchase. It was a small town. Likely, at least three people saw her in the store.

  "Yes, for a friend for reloading. He asked me to pick it up for him." Her finger tapping started again.

  The intimidating ex-Marine leaned toward her. "Does your friend use metal pipes for reloading?"

  Her hand stilled again. "I'd like a lawyer," Tiana said flatly.

  "I figured as much."

  Markie followed Tomie out of the interview room and stood outside the door.

  So, they had enough to hold Tiana but nothing but hearsay on Lori. Could they get her to come in voluntarily?

  "I have an idea," Markie informed the captain.

  "I'm listening."

  "Let's have Bryce call Lori to get her to come into City Hall. When she gets here, we can let her know he is going to be charged with the murders. If Tiana is right, Lori may fess up to protect him."