by Karen Rose
“Check Lincoln’s alibi first,” Abbott said, looking at Crawford who stood like a statue. “I want to either connect Lincoln or clear him. And I want that eyewitness to the condo fire.” He waved them out. “Tomorrow, here, oh-eight.”
Back at her desk, Olivia checked her cell phone, then frowned. “Val texted. She’s got another commitment. We have to get another interpreter. Dammit.”
Kane sighed. “I’ll call in the request on the way to Blue Moon.”
“This will set us back hours,” Olivia grumbled, straightening up her desk. Her fedora still covered her goddess statue’s face. After a moment’s hesitation, she picked up her hat and placed it on her head. “Well?”
“Looks good.” He adjusted it on her head with a critical eye. “Very Ingrid Bergman.”
“She vanted to be alone, right?”
Kane sighed. “No, that was Garbo. Bergman still had Paris with Bogart. Someday you’re going to stop watching cartoons and start watching grown-up movies.”
“Not any time soon, old man.” The phone on her desk rang. “Sutherland.”
“It’s Ian. I have something down here you need to see.”
Tuesday, September 21, 5:25 p.m.
David’s mind was still spinning as he climbed the steps to his loft apartment. He was happy to see no reporters out front but suspected they’d be back. He wasn’t sure what it mattered anymore. He was happier to see his mother’s car parked out front.
He paused at the first landing, a sudden thought making his knees go momentarily weak. His mother. What if Lincoln had come here first? He exploded up the stairs but was stopped again by the voice of Mrs. Edwards, who stuck her head out from 2A.
“Thank you, David. They delivered the refrigerator this morning. We appreciate it.”
“Are the girls all right?” Lincoln had talked to one of the girls in 2A and David hadn’t checked to be sure everyone was all right. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Lacey and Tiffany? Why wouldn’t they be all right?”
“I’ll explain later.” He charged up the stairs, unlocking his door and shoving it open in one motion. Then he stopped once more, stunned.
Glenn and his mother stood close together. His mother held her hair off her neck as Glenn fumbled with her necklace. They twisted toward the door like guilty teenagers.
Glenn’s face was the color of a ripe tomato. “She’s going out to dinner. Asked me to help with this confounded thing.” But he hadn’t moved, his fingers still clutching his mother’s necklace. And if David wasn’t mistaken, the expression he’d worn when David barged in had been uncharacteristically tender.
Hell. Glenn was falling for his mom.
“I can do it.” David managed the clasp and stepped away. “You look nice, Ma.”
“Thank you. Glenn stopped by to make sure I heard the latest news.” She gave him a pointed look. “Before it hit the news. I hear you had another eventful day.”
David grimaced. “I’m sorry. What did you two hear?”
Glenn glared. “That somebody broke into my cabin. Were you going to tell me?”
“Of course I was. I should have called you both. I’m sorry, okay? Who called you?”
“The local sheriff’s office. Told me not to worry, that you had it all under control. That you’d taken the gun away from the guy. And I said, ‘What guy? What gun? What the hell?’” He looked at David’s mother. “Excuse me, Phoebe.”
She nodded. “No problem. I said the same thing. So what the hell, David?”
David sank into his easy chair and pulled his hands over his face. “It’s like this….” He told them the story, watching his mother’s face. She was scared, but handling it. Glenn, on the other hand, grew angrier with each word. “And that’s all of it,” David finished.
“Where is this Lincoln Jefferson now?” Glenn asked, very carefully.
“In the psych ward at the jail. He’ll be charged with B and E on your property and assault on me. The Feds will have their go at him for the arsons twelve years ago. Olivia and her partner were going to validate his alibi tonight for the latest fires.”
“And he never gave up Moss?”
“No. I don’t think he knows where Moss is.”
“Let me get this straight,” Glenn said acidly. “He heard about the glass ball on TV, so he asked firefighters who caught it and, not suspecting he was a fucking lunatic, they told him it was you. He made it out here in time to hear me tell the reporters that you didn’t live here. Then he talks to one of the girls in 2A and they tell him about my cabin. He gets the address for my unlisted property, breaks in and searches the place. And all before two o’clock. I’d say we have a damn smart schizo.”
David pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think through the headache that had started to pound. “He’s been under psychiatric care for more than ten years, Glenn. He is schizo.” Always there. Always there. David fought a shiver. “But you make a good point. That’s a pretty organized line of logic for a man with a mental illness.”
Glenn folded his arms over his chest. “Did he have help?”
“I guess it’s possible. Maybe even probable.”
His mother sat on the arm of his easy chair and patted David’s shoulder. “You’re okay, and that’s the important thing. I’m glad you can take care of yourself.”
“No, the important thing is that someone else might have helped this vile piece of murdering shit,” Glenn said and his eyes narrowed. “Who you seem to pity, David.”
“No.” David shook his head in denial. “Okay, yes, I felt pity, but not like you think.”
“Then explain it to me,” Glenn growled.
“Glenn,” his mother said, rebuke in her tone.
“Phoebe,” Glenn shot back. “This so-called schizo could have come up here. You would have been here, not your black-belt son who can defend himself. That guy had a goddamn gun and he would have gone after you. Did you even think about that, David?”
Glenn stood, fists clenched, chest heaving from his outburst. Wordlessly David rose from his chair and motioned Glenn to sit, but Glenn shook his head hard.
“What kind of pity did you feel?” Glenn asked, more quietly, but no less intensely.
“How many bodies have you seen? How long have they haunted you?”
“Too many and too long,” Glenn answered levelly. “But I didn’t kill them.”
“Exactly. He killed her and he didn’t even have his full sanity to get him through it. Should he be held accountable? Hell, yes. But he is not the man he was. Twelve years ago he was an undiagnosed schizophrenic, vulnerable, looking for something. Now, he’s pathetic. I didn’t want to feel anything for him, but I did. Maybe that makes me weak, I don’t know, but I did feel.” He was inches from Glenn’s face and backed away, drawing a breath. “I’m not necessarily proud of that, but there it is.”
“I think I’ll sit now.” Glenn took the easy chair and briefly closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Oh yes, I do. “It’s all right. You were right about the danger to Ma. I wasn’t thinking straight. I should have come straight here from the cabin to check on her.”
“She is right here,” his mother said pointedly. “And she is fine,” she added kindly. She patted Glenn’s arm as she’d done to David’s. “I have to go to dinner. I’m late.”
“I’ll drive you,” David said, raising his hand to silence her protest. “I know you’re a good driver, but Glenn is right. The more I think about it, Lincoln had to have help finding me. Until we’re clear on who that was and why, I’m going to be more careful with you.”
“All right, son. Are you going to be here tonight?”
He hesitated. Olivia was meeting him at the cabin. If the night ended as badly as last night had, he’d be back. If it ended like this morning… But that was selfish. He couldn’t let himself think about what might have happened had Lincoln come up here first. His mother’s safety was the prio
rity until this was sorted.
Still, there were things he and Olivia needed to discuss. “Yes, but I’ll be out until maybe ten or eleven. What time will you be finished with Evie and Noah?”
She studied him carefully. “It would be easier if I stayed with Evie tonight. That way they don’t have to drive me back after dinner. I’ll pack a few things.” She rose, looking down at Glenn. “Invitation’s still open. You’re welcome to join us for dinner.”
Glenn shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m beat. And I want to talk to the boy here.”
David waited until his mother had left the room. “And the boy wants to talk to you. But I have to run down to 2A and find out which of those girls talked to Lincoln and give them a talking-to. Drive with me to drop off my mother and we can talk on the way back. I’ve got to be at the dojo at seven and after that, I’ve got a… something. Maybe a date.”
“The pretty blond cop gave you another chance?” Glenn asked, amused. “You must be one hell of a smooth talker.”
“I have my moments.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tuesday, September 21, 5:55 p.m.
Olivia and Kane found Ian staring at skull X-rays on the morgue’s light board.
Olivia winced. The skull shown was crushed in several places. “What’d he hit?”
“His steering wheel, his windshield, the frame of his car as he rolled down an embankment, and then, I think, three trees. He was brought in on Monday.”
“Why are we looking at him?” Kane asked.
“You remember last night, when you were checking that camp and I told you to leave, that I had another autopsy to do? That was this guy. Joel Fischer. No history of smoking. Then I did the cut. He had damage to his upper airways. Smoke inhalation.”
The hairs rose on the back of Olivia’s neck. “What kind of smoke?”
“First I thought he’d inhaled smoke at the accident scene, but I checked—there was no fire. Then his urine tox came back loaded with oxycodone. I’m surprised he was even able to drive the car. On a hunch, I ran a blood test. Traces of cyanide.”
“He was poisoned?” Kane asked and Ian shook his head.
“Not in this case, especially because he’s also got high levels of carbon monoxide. He inhaled burning plastic.”
“A structural fire,” Olivia said. “Oh my God. And Tracey Mullen’s blood screen?”
“Acute cyanide toxicity. It doesn’t mean they were in the same fire, but they were in the same type of fire. A burning building with carpet, furniture, something polymer based.”
“He was there,” Kane said. “Sonofabitch. So how does the X-ray fit it?”
“Glad you asked.” Ian put another skull X-ray next to Joel Fischer’s. The second film showed a single crack at the base of the skull. “Look at the same place on Joel’s skull.”
Kane leaned forward. “Same crack, although it gets lost in all the other damage.”
“Which is why I didn’t catch it the first time,” Ian said. “This second X-ray belongs to Henry Weems, the security guard. It’s not conclusive, but I’d say it’s highly possible they were struck by the same weapon, by the same person.”
“Did Joel Fischer have gunshot residue on his hands?” Olivia asked.
“No. I checked,” Ian said. “He could have cleaned it off, but I found no trace.”
“Do you still have this Fischer kid’s body?” Kane asked.
“I do, and it’s causing me quite the headache. The Fischers are Orthodox Jews and had his funeral and burial set up for this afternoon. They had to cancel because I wouldn’t release the body until I got this blood test back. They are very upset with me.”
“They’ll be more upset with us,” Olivia predicted grimly. “This is good, Ian. Gold.”
“Here’s the Fischer kid’s info,” he added, handing her a printout before she could ask. “I’ve released Weems’s body and it’s gone. What’s the status on the Mullen girl? Her dad ID’d her last night. She’s free to go.”
“Mom was supposed to claim her today. Last I heard, her flight was delayed,” Olivia said. “I have a cell number. I’ll find out where she is. There’s still the question of who caused Tracey’s abuse injuries. I don’t want to lose that in all the rest of this.”
“I never thought you would. The mom might come straight here from the airport. You want me to stall her until you two can get here?”
“Definitely,” Kane said. “We need to see her and her new husband’s faces when we tell them about her injuries.” They said good night to Ian and left the morgue. “So which first? Blue Moon for Lincoln’s alibi or Joel Fischer’s house?”
“Blue Moon. Then we can get Crawford off Abbott’s back.”
“All that’s going to do is show if Lincoln was involved in our fires,” Kane disagreed. “Crawford’s not going to give up that our fires are domestic terrorism until we prove that they’re not. Which they could still be. These arsonists knew about the mark on the North Pole. And if a university kid was there…” He opened the morgue door for her.
“Yeah, except for the fact that Tomlinson’s missing his face,” she said, drawing a deep breath of fresh air. She took her hat off, sniffed it. “Morgue stink is in my hat.”
“It’ll pass,” Kane said. “Otherwise Jennie would make me keep all my hats in the garage. We’re going to want to search Joel’s room.”
Olivia looked at Joel’s personal info. “Lived with his folks. I’ll call the assistant DA. Hopefully what we have will be enough for a warrant.”
• • •
Tuesday, September 21, 6:10 p.m.
David’s mother waved at Evie and Noah, who were standing outside the restaurant. “I hope they haven’t been waiting long.”
“I don’t think they minded, Ma,” David said dryly, parking his truck. The couple had been holding hands, smiling sappily into each other’s faces and the sight hit David with a wave of longing. He didn’t begrudge Evie a single moment of happiness. She’d been through so much. She deserved to be happy with Noah forever.
David just wondered when it would be his turn.
“You have to meet them, Glenn,” she declared. “Help me down, David. I don’t want to twist my ankle jumping out of this truck in these silly high heels.”
But Noah helped her from the truck before David could get out. He glanced at David curiously, then kissed her on the cheek. “Phoebe, you’re looking beautiful tonight.”
“And you’re a charmer,” she said. “Evie, come here. Meet Glenn.”
Evie looked different tonight. She smiled a lot since meeting Noah, but tonight her smile was brighter. Something good was brewing. Friends for years, David and Evie were more like siblings. Evie had been brought into the family through his brother Max’s wife, Caroline. Through whom he’d met Dana and fallen head over heels in love.
Which seemed like a lifetime ago, now. Thoughts of Dana, images of her in the arms of another man, used to make his heart physically hurt. Now, nothing.
Time did heal wounds. And sometimes it revealed that what a man thought he wanted so desperately wasn’t necessarily the thing he should have.
His mother had her arm around Evie’s shoulders. “Glenn, this is Evie. I told you about her. And this is Noah, her boyfriend. Evie, this is Glenn. He rents from David.”
Glenn had extricated himself from the backseat of the truck and shook Evie’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you, young lady.” He then lifted her hand higher, a broad smile on his grizzled face. “Is this rock what tonight’s all about?”
Evie met David’s eyes. “We were going to tell you first, but you’ve been busy.”
He had to swallow the lump in his throat as he grabbed Evie up in a bear hug. “Congratulations,” he managed gruffly. “I couldn’t be happier. Really.”
“Thank you,” she whispered fiercely. “Really.”
He put her down, the grin still on his face. “Congratulations, Noah.”
His mother was crying, hugging Evie so hard he tho
ught she might break her. Because this wasn’t simple joy over an engagement. His friend had suffered so much, surviving attacks on her life, brought back from the edge of death twice. She’d almost given up. But not quite. Here she was, beaming like a star. David felt his own eyes sting.
“So when’s the date?” he asked Noah whose eyes were also suspiciously bright.
“We don’t know yet,” Noah said. “Eve just wants to be passed around and fussed over for a while, which is fine with me.” Noah shifted his weight so that he leaned closer to David while the women chattered happily. “Why did you drive Phoebe?”
Noah was no fool, as David had quickly realized seven months before when the dark, brooding detective had led the investigation against the serial killer who’d murdered so many. He’d trusted Noah almost immediately and they’d become friends. That Noah and Olivia were also friends was damn convenient, too. Noah had been one of David’s best sources on Olivia over the last seven months.
“Glenn and I were talking about Lincoln, the guy who broke into the cabin.”
“I heard about him.”
“He did some complex thinking to find me. We’re wondering if he was alone.”
“I wondered the same thing as I was driving home. You want me to drop Phoebe off at your place later?”
“She’s going to stay with you tonight, if that’s okay.” David took her bag from the backseat. “I’m going to be a little late tonight and I’m on shift tomorrow at eight. I keep thinking that if Lincoln had gone up to the loft first…”
“Well, he didn’t,” Noah said practically. “Do you or Glenn have any thoughts on who might have been helping this guy?”
“No. Do you?”
“Not yet. I’ll make sure Olivia knows about this.”
David hesitated, then shrugged. “I’m supposed to see her tonight. I’ll tell her then.”
Noah gave him an impatient glance. “It’s about damn time, Hunter.”
“I know, I know. I’ve gotta go. Just keep an eye out for Ma.”