“We believe you,” said Daniel. “And we’re going to get you out of here.”
“How is Gwen holding up?”
“Obviously, she’s upset. But she’s strong,” said Daniel. “We’ll keep an eye on her while you’re here. I’m sorry this isn’t the vacation you planned.”
“Well, I did say I wanted to see things I’ve never seen before. I never saw the inside of a Jersey cell,” Gavin joked. “Of course, I don’t want to stay in these accommodations long.”
“Do you have a lawyer?” Lydia asked.
Gavin shook his head.
“Maybe Daniel and Gwen can work on getting you one. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“You don’t want me here?” Daniel asked.
Lydia didn’t want to tell him that she suspected that his friends were keeping secrets, but she did say that she thought he was too close to the case. She needed to ask a few hard questions, and then together, they could work to prove Gavin’s innocence. Daniel sighed but agreed. He said that he would make a few calls to find a lawyer and meet Lydia outside.
“You knew there were some things that I didn’t want to say in front of my friend?” Gavin asked.
Lydia looked him in the eye. “I know that there’s something you’re keeping from him. But I’m not sure whether it’s related to your connection to the victim or not. I think you should tell me what’s going on. That’s the best way that I can help you.”
Gavin sat down on the cot in his cell and looked defeated. “I bet if I did just explain the full story to those detectives at first, they wouldn’t have put me in here. But I didn’t want to admit it all.”
“Did you know the victim?” asked Lydia, thinking that was the best place to start.
“Barely,” said Gavin. “I met him yesterday at the storage facility he worked at. We exchanged a few harsh words. I bet that’s the connection that the police found between us. But I wouldn’t have killed someone over a minor argument.”
“What was the argument about?”
“He was in the right, but he wasn’t giving me the answer I wanted. You see, I wanted to enter the storage facility without a key card. Only people who have rented lockers have the cards to gain access through the fence. I made up an excuse about wanting to see the facility before I purchased a locker.”
“What was the real reason?” asked Lydia.
“I wanted to break into Daniel’s locker.” Gavin stood up again and looked at her. “It sounds worse than it is. But that’s why I didn’t want to tell the police why I was at the storage facility. Daniel’s new house is small and impersonal. But I knew he had a storage locker because he mentioned it. I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t get rid of everything of Delilah’s. I knew I could guess what Daniel’s combination was and see what he had in the locker. I was trying to check up on him and see how he’s really doing. That was the whole reason for this trip. Gwen and I just wanted to be sure that Daniel was all right.”
“So, what happened with Blaine Thompkins?” Lydia asked, trying to stay focused on the case.
“He wouldn’t let me inside if I wasn’t a customer. And like I said, he was right to do so. I did want to break into a locker. So, what I did was come back later and became a customer when someone else was on duty. Last night after the party, I went to the storage facility using the keycard I had gotten. Gwen thought it was best I went while Daniel was distracted. That’s why we left early. I was able to get into his locker and saw that he had kept many mementos. He hadn’t thrown everything away, but I guess he couldn’t look at it every day. So, then I went back to the hotel, and that’s when I noticed the body.”
“You think someone put the body in your trunk while you were at the facility?”
“They must have. I didn’t park right by my locker because I needed to walk around and find Daniel’s. Someone must have noticed my car was unlocked and put the body in it. It was a Sunrise rental car, and I’m not used to it. I must not have locked it correctly.”
“I think I believe you,” Lydia said. “And I’ll do what I can to help.”
Gavin smiled. “From what Daniel told us - if anyone can help, you can.”
8
Suspicions at Storage
“I don’t understand. They’re only here on vacation. Why did he need a storage locker?” Daniel asked.
He was behind the wheel of his truck, headed to the storage facility that would now most likely be designated a crime scene. This was where the victim had worked, where Gavin had argued with the man, and where Gavin had been when the body must have been placed in the trunk of his rental car.
Lydia was in the passenger seat, trying how to best answer his question. She considered suggesting that the Pierces wanted to collect antiques while they were here or that they had over-packed for the small hotel room that they ended up getting. She knew that Gavin preferred that she not tell Daniel that they were checking up on him, but he had not made her promise not to reveal it to Daniel. She was considering what to say when Daniel tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“I know that there’s something that you didn’t want to ask Gavin in front of me, but I am involved in this now. I think I should know. And I swear I can handle it. Are they having marital problems and that’s why Gavin was alone? Is one of them sick, and that’s why they needed a vacation? Was there more to Gwen’s headache than I thought?”
Lydia let out a sigh of relief. Now, it was easy to admit why Gavin had been there. While Daniel might not appreciate being spied on, it had to be better than thinking his friend might be dying. She explained how Gavin wanted to see if Daniel was storing items from his past or if he had discarded them. She even told him that the real reason for Gavin and Gwen’s trip had been because they were worried about him.
“They could have just asked about my locker,” Daniel said.
“Maybe they weren’t sure that you would be honest?” Lydia suggested. “Or they didn’t want to embarrass you by letting you know that they were checking up on you?”
“Maybe,” he replied.
He was quiet for the rest of the drive, and he seemed to be brooding. Lydia wasn’t sure whether this was because he was upset that his privacy was being intruded upon or that his friend was now in trouble with the law because he had been so worried.
They arrived at the storage facility and parked in the almost empty lot. A tall fence surrounded the area, but there was a gate with a device that must read the key cards that Gavin mentioned in order to allow access. There was an office near the gate, and it was this building that Lydia and Daniel headed toward.
“We’re temporarily closed,” the man at the counter said. “I mean if you want to pay a bill I could process that. But we can’t allow anyone into the facility right now. I know that’s an inconvenience, but it’s police orders. We can let you in as soon as we get the okay.”
“Police orders?” Lydia asked, placing dumb. “What happened? Is there something wrong with the lockers? Could something have happened to my friend’s property?”
Daniel realized what she meant. “I do hope that’s not the case. I have a lot of precious mementos in my locker.”
“It’s nothing like that,” said the man. “But a crime was committed last night. It wasn’t a robbery or anything that would affect you. But it was something really bad. And it is something that affects me. My coworker was murdered last night.”
“Murdered?” Daniel repeated as if this were shocking news.
“I know. It’s awful. It gives me the heebie-jeebies just being here. But the police needed some information to help solve the case, and I had to do what I could. I mean, Blaine could be a little weird. But he was a good guy. And if the police are coming, then I shouldn’t be in any danger. Right? I wish the boss wasn’t out of town. I don’t like having to be the one responsible.”
“I can see how difficult this must be for you,” said Lydia. “You’re sure that your coworker was really murdered?”
�
��Oh, yeah.” The man nodded but looked discomfited. “When the police closed down the facility earlier, they said it was definitely murder.”
Lydia tried not to be blunt as she asked, “Was he killed here? Or was he stored in one of the lockers? That seems like a grisly thought.”
“He worked the night shift last night. We’ve all been working more with the boss out of town. He was here in the morning, went home to get some sleep, and then was on duty at night. There’s always supposed to be someone here in case there are problems. But there must have been a problem last night. When I came in to relieve Blaine, there were police here instead of him. And they found blood on the brick wall of one of our buildings. They must think that he was knocked into it with deadly force.” He tapped the counter nervously. “I hope the police return soon. I gathered what they needed.”
“What do the police want to know?” asked Lydia. “Do you have security tapes to show them?”
“I wish. The cameras have been out of order for a while. We need to replace the system, but the boss thought that keeping the cameras up would be enough of a deterrent. People would think that they were being filmed and wouldn’t try to rob the lockers. Plus, the only people who can get inside are people with a keycard. We have a record of what time the key cards are used to get inside. So, we should be able to track who has been here. The lockers inside are all locked with people’s personal locks too.” He sighed. “But we were always only worried about theft. I never thought that someone could get killed here. Even if Blaine did poke his nose into things a lot.”
“What do you mean by that?” Lydia asked. She tried to ignore the fact that she had often been accused of sticking her nose into problems that she shouldn’t.
The man shrugged. “He was trying to find drama where there wasn’t any. He watched a lot of conspiracy theory shows. I think he wanted to uncover one of his own. But none of us paid attention to him. Maybe I should have.”
“Was it related to the storage lockers?” asked Lydia.
“I don’t know. He didn’t like to explain his ideas fully and I sort of tuned him out when he started. I feel bad about that now.”
Lydia tried to peek at the papers he had piled at the counter. “Is that what you have for the police?”
The man nodded and then pulled the pile closer to him. “I’m not supposed to let anyone else see it though. I probably shouldn’t have been talking as much as I have. I’ve just been nervous… Am I even sure that you have a locker here?”
“We didn’t mean to make you uneasy,” Daniel said. He approached the counter and removed his personal key card from his wallet. “Maybe we’re too curious about morbid things. But I do have a locker here.”
Lydia knew that seeing what the man had gathered for the police would be useful for clearing Gavin’s name. The man should have who else was at the facility the night of the murder besides Gavin Pierce.
She headed over to the building’s window that faced the lockers. She thought she might as well try to do something that would allow them to see the paperwork. She just hoped that Daniel would understand what she was doing.
“Are you sure that the lockers aren’t in any danger? That none of them are on fire?”
The man rushed from the counter to join Lydia at the window. He looked panicked as he searched for what she was referring to.
“On fire? I don’t see anything…”
“Oh, I didn’t either,” Lydia said. “I just wanted to make sure that they were safe. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
The man slumped into one of the waiting chairs available. “Everything is frightening me today. I must be a little jumpy.”
Lydia offered him a piece of salt water taffy to make him feel a little better. Then, she and Daniel left before the police could arrive to pick up the evidence he gathered.
As they walked to the car, Daniel winked. Lydia smiled. He had understood what she was doing, and now they should have some new suspects that they could look into.
9
Late Night Locker Visits
“You saw the papers that Blaine’s coworker had gathered for the police?” Lydia asked once they were inside the truck.
“Even better,” said Daniel. “I snapped some pictures on my phone.”
He handed his cell phone over to her, and she brought up the photos. Daniel had been able to take a picture of a list of all the customers who currently had rented lockers and their contact information. More importantly, he had taken a picture of the times that renters had visited the facility on the night of the murder.
“It looks like there were a few people that went inside besides Gavin,” Lydia said. “That’s good news for him.”
“Maybe one of them would have a better motive for killing Blaine Thompkins.”
Lydia read off the names. “Lisa Warren, Chad Conroy, and Tony Porter. They all visited the facility that night. It was before Gavin arrived, but it doesn’t list the times that they left. They could have still been there and moved the body to Gavin’s car.”
“Do you think it was to frame him?” asked Daniel.
“That makes sense,” Lydia agreed. “If the coworker was right and the killer hit Blaine Thompkins against the wall, it might not have been a premeditated crime. The killer might have been trying to find the easiest way to dispose of the body and thought placing it in an unlocked car was the best move to make under the circumstances.”
“So Gavin was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
“And Blaine might have been too. We don’t know the reason why anyone wanted him dead yet,” said Lydia. “But if we start talking to these people who were there that night, we might discover a reason. Let’s start at the top and work our way down.”
Daniel started the truck’s engine. “Lydia, thank you for this. I really appreciate you trying to help my friend.”
“I’m happy to,” Lydia said.
The truth was that she never wanted to see an innocent person in trouble for something that they didn’t do, and she did want to make a good impression on the people from Daniel’s past. (She was sure that clearing Gavin of a murder charge would do wonders to endear her to the couple and win their approval.) However, the real reason why she was ready to jump into this investigation was because of Daniel. She was willing to go out of her way to help him – even if it included questioning potential murderers.
“Now, let’s find Lisa Warren,” she said.
They left the storage facility and were soon able to track down their first suspects – thanks mainly to the client list that Daniel was able to photograph. As they walked up to the billing address listed on the address, they heard loud dog barks.
Lydia and Daniel paused on their way up the driveway.
“That dog sounds bigger than Sunny,” Lydia commented.
A moment later, a woman walked outside with a Great Dane on a leash. His large tail was wagging wildly, and he pulled at his leash.
“Calm down,” his owner commanded.
She was so focused on the dog that she didn’t notice the visitors until she was pulled closer to them.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You’ll have to excuse my potato-brained big guy here,” Lisa Warren said. “He loves people, but he’s still being trained, so he doesn’t jump on them.”
Lydia held out her hand so that the dog could sniff it. He wagged his tail even more excitedly, and Lydia rubbed his ears.
“He’s a beautiful dog,” Lydia complimented.
“Thank you. He’s a sweetie. I mean, unless you’re salespeople. Then, he’s vicious.”
“We’re not here to sell you anything,” Lydia said. “We were hoping to ask you a few questions, though. It’s about the storage facility in town.”
“Are you looking for a recommendation? I do use it. I keep the furniture that this big potato-brained pooch breaks by jumping on it. I’m hoping that they can be fixed or maybe sold someday, so I’m hanging on to them. It’s a pretty good place, except there is one gu
y who is a little weird there.”
“Who works there?” asked Lydia. “Was it Blaine Thompkins?”
“Yeah. I think his name is Blaine. He’s always creeping around the lockers. He claims he’s keeping an eye on everything, but I think he’s up to no good.”
“Did you feel in danger?” asked Daniel.
“Oh, no. I didn’t think he was going to attack anyone. But I got the sense that he was staking the place out. And he was always there when it was late. That’s the only time I can make it over there. But I think he might have been stealing things.”
“Robbing the lockers?” asked Lydia.
Macadamia and Mayhem Page 4