by Ted Clifton
She squeezed his hand. “What do you want to do?”
“Besides just being with you?” He smiled. “I want to get back into the computer world. I’ve learned a lot working with the FBI and seeing what they’re doing in security. I’ve also learned a lot working with Ray. I think there could be a good niche for me working with local law enforcement agencies and their computer systems. I’ve got lots of ideas.”
“You know what I think?”
“What?”
“Ray will take a few months off. He’ll get bored and call you and say something brilliant like, ‘Giddy-up’, and you will be right back in the saddle, off chasing bad guys.”
Tyee laughed. “That could happen. I just don’t know if it would. The governor’s been our primary source of work, and he’s just about done. This latest mess with Grimes will be a disaster for him once the news gets out about what actually happened. It could be really bad; he might even resign before his term’s up. The FBI, especially Agent Crawford, might want Ray to keep going, but most of what they have isn’t in our back yard. And Ray sure doesn’t act like he wants to be away from home for long stretches anymore. I mean, there’s fishing, and Happy. How can a man stay away from fishing and hanging out with his best dog?”
Nancy chuckled a bit sadly. “I know you’re right. But it doesn’t feel right. You two were so great together.” She thought a moment. “What about Big Jack? What’s he going to do?”
“I forgot to tell you. He’s moving up here. Going to practice law. Says once he gets his sea legs back, he may even go back to LA.”
“Wow. What happened with Beverly? I thought they were an item.”
“I guess Beverly’s kind of a big reason why he’s leaving. Big Jack lived a useless, good-for-nothing existence, what with his bait shop and beer drinking. Then Ray came along, and it changed a little. Then Chester came along, and it changed a little bit more. But Big Jack was still Big Jack. His ‘fuck-the-world’ attitude was still intact, mostly. But Beverly was a whole different story. She pushed him to become responsible, even respectable. I think he felt threatened by that, like he was about to become normal without agreeing to it. And it scared the hell out of him. He’s running away, fast as he can.”
“Will you run away from me?”
“I’m not Big Jack. And the answer is no.”
Tyee was once again greeted like a hero by the state lab boss. This time, Tyee just grinned.
“We’ve got lots for you to review. We found numerous mistakes, and we have lots of new conclusions. The Farmington lab really didn’t do much—we’re guessing maybe they were told not to put in too much effort—but for whatever reason they missed a bunch. Now, our report is still not complete. We’re running some more tests, and we promise you’ll have a complete report by tomorrow. If you or Mr. Pacheco need anything else, just give us a call.”
“Thank you.”
Tyee drove away with a big smile on his face. Thrilled to be back on track with Nancy and have news for Ray about the investigation. Then curiosity overcame him, so he pulled into the parking lot of a burger joint to scan the report. It told him, of course, that Martin was murdered, and it was good to see their conclusion confirmed. But there was more. All surprises. He ordered at the drive-thru and headed out. He had to get it to Ray.
Ray finished scanning the preliminary report from the state lab and looked up at Tyee. “This feels almost too neat and tidy; like something we’d make up.”
“Yeah. Case closed. No need for evidence, witnesses, a trial—nothing. We’re done.” Tyee shrugged.
“Martin’s fingerprints were on the gun that killed him. All part of the suicide charade. But a partial print’s also on the gun, and it’s someone else’s. Now, if someone faked a suicide, wouldn’t they wear gloves while they pressed Martin’s hand around the gun?” Ray looked up at Tyee, frowning with skepticism. “And lo and behold, the partial print is one the lab can identify because they have examined the body it came from, which was Lewis Grimes. Grimes killed Martin, his drinking and carousing buddy. Nice and neat. For sure.” He shook his head.
“It’s the glove part I can’t get past,” Tyee said. “Grimes wouldn’t be that stupid, not to wear gloves. But then, how did his print get there?”
“Who knows? I’m sure Grimes had been to his house. Maybe for some reason he handled Martin’s gun. We need to check to see if Martin carried the gun around with him. If he did, there could be other circumstances where Grimes handled the gun.”
“Okay,” Tyee continued, “now for the hard part. Do we care that Martin was HIV-positive?”
“That could sure open up a whole can of motives. I know you’re going to laugh, but I just don’t think about that sort of thing being in these small towns. I know that’s stupid and says a lot about me. But it just seems weird.”
It didn’t faze Tyee. “There are other ways to get the virus. Still, if he was a homosexual, it sure changes the image we had of him and the stories people told about him. Was he bisexual? Was the whole woman-chasing thing an act? Another question: did Grimes know?” Tyee saw it as a complete reset of what they had been thinking. Were Grimes and Martin lovers? That seemed bizarre, but it might fit some facts of the case.
Ray exhaled. “We’ve been lied to by more than one of the fine citizens of Farmington. Let’s see if we can chat with Joyce. I bet she knows everything about Grimes’s love life, be it woman or man. Also want to double back to the city attorney. His involvement seems to stick out, especially on the legal side. We’re missing something. And we can’t just let Trujillo be out there running around. If he’s bolted, we need to find some reason to put out an alert. Let’s get with the DA and discuss it. No way am I sure about Travis, but we need him to help us with the court side of things.”
“Should I say, ‘Giddy-up’?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Joyce, we’re sorry to bother you. We know you’ve had a hard time. But we need help to understand some things. Are you okay with talking now?” Ray’s strategy was to treat her with kid gloves. Part of him couldn’t be sure she wasn’t involved more than she had said. He still needed to know more about her affair with Trujillo.
“Thanks. Sure. I can talk.” She blinked. “I have no idea who’d kill him—other than me, of course.” She attempted a weak smile. “He had lots of enemies. Matter of fact, almost anyone he was around pretty much came to hate the bastard. He was just a mean, greedy man who only thought of himself. But still, I can’t point a finger at anyone and say, ‘go there.’ ”
“Councilman Martin was killed with his own gun. I know some people think it was a suicide. We know it wasn’t. Did you know he had a gun?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t know much about him. He and Lewis would go out drinkin’ and, I’m sure, chasing women. But I thought he was kind of mousy. It surprised me that Lewis liked him. Lewis was a macho kind of guy. Martin seemed, well—different.”
“What about a gun?”
“I’d have no idea. Didn’t seem like the type that would own a gun.”
“I know this might sound out of line to you, so let me apologize in advance. But we need to get some answers involving some confusing information we’re getting.” Ray cleared his throat—this was not comfortable territory for him. “Do you think there could be any chance that Grimes and Martin were sexually involved? With each other?”
At first, she looked dumbfounded. Then she started laughing, which led to coughing, after which a monitor hooked up to her started beeping strangely. A nurse dashed in to examine her, even while she kept laughing. The nurse helped her to catch her breath, all the while giving Ray and Tyee the evil eye.
“If you can’t conduct this meeting without exciting my patient, I’ll have to ask you to leave,” she growled. She looked ready to do that, too.
“Oh, no,” Joyce patted her. “It’s me, not them. I’m fine, now. Really.” She still giggled.
The nurse mumbled darkly and left.
“
Look,” Joyce replied at last, “that old bastard would put his thingy into about anything—anything female, that is. He treated women like they were there just for his physical pleasure. But, it’s beyond belief that he’d be involved like that with a man. It’s just absurd.”
“Do you know if Martin was, you know, attracted to men?” Ray actually blushed. He wanted this to be over. He saw Tyee grinning out of the corner of his eye.
“That’s a different story. I don’t know for sure about Martin. I can say whenever I was around him, he did seem different. I wondered if he really caught any of those women he was supposedly chasing with my unfaithful husband.”
“It was our understanding Martin was having an affair with Barbara Jackson, Sheriff Jackson’s estranged wife,” Tyee put in. “Do you know if that was true?”
She wagged her head. “I had heard that, but I didn’t believe it. Barbara had her little, out-in-the-open, sleazy affair with my husband, and he dumped her—big shock. I thought she might be trying to get back at Lewis by spreading a rumor about an affair with his wimpy drinking buddy. I think she was attracted more to brute types—the macho, slap-you-around guys. She just didn’t fit with Martin. I think he would’ve been afraid of her.” She snorted a quick, dark laugh.
“Do you know if your husband had a will?”
She shrugged. “He told me he did. I never saw it. But he said he’d left everything to me, at first, anyway. Of course, that was what started our last fight. He told me we were done, and I was out of his will. So I guess I can’t say what his will says.” She sagged, out of energy.
“Looks like you need to rest,” Ray said. “We’ll leave now.”
Tyee had one more question. “Who would’ve prepared your husband’s will?”
“Not sure,” she replied, snuggling into her pillow. “He had lawyers everywhere. Before he got to be city attorney, Mark White handled all that for him. He might know.” She yawned and closed her eyes, either to sleep or to signal their interview was over.
Ray and Tyee stood outside her room. “Mark White seems to pop up in odd places,” Tyee remarked.
“Yes, he does.” Ray said, thinking.
“A surprise visit might be in order.” Tyee was ready to move the investigation along.
“Come in, come in,” White waved them into his office again. “Good to see you guys. Man, that’s just awful about Lewis Grimes. He’s the biggest name we have in this town. People are just shocked. I’ve heard his wife shot him. Is that true?”
The man acted way too friendly, and it was too annoying for Ray’s taste. He nodded to Tyee to take the lead.
“I’m sure you understand our investigation is still ongoing, and we won’t be commenting on any aspects of it at this time. I can tell you there are factors involved which may implicate other parties.” Tyee smiled in the most unfriendly way he could. “It has come to our attention that you used to be Grimes’s personal attorney. Is that correct?”
“Yeah. But he always had lots of attorneys working for him. I really don’t think he liked lawyers.” He uttered a short, nervous laugh. “But, before I ran for city attorney, I did do some work for Mr. Grimes. Some of it was personal and some was related to his businesses.”
“Did you prepare a will for Grimes?”
“Oh, yes. Actually, I prepared several. Mr. Grimes was something of a volatile man. Every time his circumstances changed, like if he married a new wife, he’d have me draft a new will. And on at least a couple of occasions, he had me change aspects of his will based on some feud or business disagreement.”
“Such as?”
White tilted his head disagreeably. “I really don’t think I should say. It would be confidential information and privileged communication between a client and his attorney.” Tyee could see he was getting nervous.
“Your client’s dead.” Tyee wasn’t smiling, which seemed to unnerve White even more.
Still, he held his ground. “Doesn’t matter,” he shot back. “The Supreme Court has said legal obligation remains in place, even in that circumstance.” He shrugged, letting the highest court in the land do the talking.
Tyee went on to something else. “You told us earlier that you believe Barbara Jackson gave Martin some stolen documents that proved Grimes was stealing tax money, and Martin then gave them to Sheriff Jackson. That’s what you said, correct?”
White hesitated, thinking. “Actually, I believe I said something like that would be what I would guess happened. I didn’t know anything for sure. What I knew was that Sheriff Jackson had evidence Grimes was stealing state and federal tax dollars, lots of them. I only guessed at how he got that evidence.”
Tyee bored in. “So you don’t think Barbara stole those documents and gave them to Martin, or you don’t think Martin gave them to Jackson?”
White turned testy. “That’s not what I said, and you know it. I don’t know what’s going on here, but if you have some suspicion that I’m involved in this, then I won’t answer any more questions. I believe it’s time for you to leave.”
Ray spoke. “Mr. White, I would advise you not to play games with us. We have the unsolved murder of Mr. Grimes and the unsolved murder of Mr. Martin, and you have connections with both. I think it would make a lot of sense for you to just answer our questions.”
White stood. “I’m not saying any more without an attorney.”
“Do you know where Trujillo has gone?”
He looked confused. “Hell, no. How would I know where he went?”
“Were you aware that Martin was a homosexual?”
“Thomas Martin? That’s just stupid. I’ve known him for years.” He lifted his chin at them. “You’re slandering a dead man, and I will not stand for that. I’m calling the governor. You have no right to come into this town and spread salacious gossip. What kind of goddamned investigation are you running? Get out—now.”
Ray and Tyee left, as part of what was becoming a familiar pattern.
Ray stopped to lean on the truck. “If he’s innocent, we’ve made an enemy. If he’s guilty, he might do something stupid and maybe help us find out what the hell’s going on. Which way would you bet?”
“My gut says he’s involved somehow, especially with the money. I don’t think he’s a killer. But he knows a lot that he’s not sharing with us. That makes him a bad guy. How are we going to watch him with just the two of us?”
“I think we’re going to have to trust the sergeant. We can’t cover all the bases without his help.”
“You know what else my gut says, besides that it’s time for dinner?”
“What?”
“That Navajo, Watchman—he’s involved somehow, too. And he’s dangerous. Another bit of psychic insight: that old Navajo, Kee, that the sheriff was protecting, knows something. We need to find him and talk.”
“I agree. Keep stirring the damn pot.” Ray smiled. He really liked the chase. “By the way, were you able to see Nancy?”
Tyee smiled, looking goofy again, and not caring, again. “I’m getting married.”
“’Bout time.”
The sergeant clearly did not look pleased, yet he did as ordered and made arrangements for surveillance on Mark White. “You should know, sir,” he told Ray, “we’re running short on deputies. At this rate, we’re going to have a shitload of overtime this month. And a lot of griping.”
Ray was used to managing the workload in a sheriff’s department. Often the most time-consuming part was trying to keep everyone happy. “How many deputies are at the hospital?”
“Right now, four. At any one time we have two there, each working twelve-hour shifts, one for each patient. The FBI’s keeping two men there, too, on the same shifts.”
“Pull the two guarding Bowles. He’s the FBI’s concern. Keep two on Mrs. Grimes for now.” Ray reminded himself to call Crawford and touch base about the FBI’s plans.
“That will help.” Hoover now seemed pleased. He’d had to listen to the complaints, so anything was a help.
He left to see to his duties.
Tyee and Ray were using Trujillo’s office although it felt like they were intruding. Ray called Travis to arrange a meeting. “Don’t think the DA has warmed up to us yet,” he told Tyee after hanging up. “That whole exchange felt pretty guarded. Let’s go get something to eat before we see him.”
Tyee cheered up immediately.
Ray gave Travis a recap of where they stood on their investigations of the Martin and Grimes murders. “We think Acting Sheriff Trujillo may have skipped town. Or he may be looking for those lost files the previous sheriff supposedly had. Anyway, we think we should issue some kind of alert to law enforcement in the area and see if we can locate him. But we wanted to go over that with you first.”
The DA seemed attentive, if slightly bored. “Do you suspect Trujillo’s done anything illegal?”
“At this point, I guess almost everyone is a little suspect,” Ray grunted, feeling somewhat testy. “But we have no evidence that he has. As we’ve discussed, he did have an affair with Grimes’s wife. And they each admit they’d spent time searching the Grimes property for buried money. None of that was technically illegal.”
The DA rocked back in his chair to peer at the ceiling. “Of course, you can issue a BOLO or APB, or even an ATL,” he said, referring to three different types of police alerts: be on the lookout, all-points bulletin, and attempt to locate. “But I wouldn’t. Trujillo may have just left for his own reasons. He’s a free man in a free country. Maybe he just got tired of the whole mess and went to Nebraska or something. He has a right to do that. So” he continued, as if thinking his way through the matter, “issuing alerts to law enforcement, unless we have reason to suspect he committed a crime or is some kind of danger, does not seem appropriate.” He leaned forward. “Did he take a county vehicle when he left? If he did, that would be a different matter.”