He met my eyes and nodded while he studied me. “I’ve gone by Dodger since my second mission in ‘Nam. And being an aerial applicator is damn near as dangerous as that was, believe it or not. Dodger still fits.” He leaned his head to the left and glanced at the body, still staked to the ground. “In all my years in the business, I’ve never had anything close to this.”
“I’m Sergeant Corinne Aleckson, this is Detective Dawes, and Deputy Carlson,” I said as Smoke stepped in beside me and Brian walked over to join us.
Dodger lifted his right hand, noticed we all had latex gloves on, and plopped it on his left shoulder instead.
Smoke and I pulled memo pads and pens from our pockets.
“You recognize the victim?” I asked.
“He looks vaguely familiar, but can’t say I do. No.”
“Let’s start with your full name, date of birth, address, and phone number for our reports,” Smoke said.
Carey recited the information like he was still in the military; formally, rote. We recorded his words. He was sixty-two years old and lived in the country, outside of Oak Lea.
“Give us a brief narrative of your day, what led up to your discovery here,” Smoke instructed.
“I got a call from Willie Noding, the crop owner, a couple days ago asking me to apply some fungicide. I’ve been watching the weather. It can’t rain for three hours after spraying, or it’s a waste. Can’t have wind, or the chemicals get carried where you don’t want ’em. This afternoon was about perfect. Willie brought the chemical over yesterday and I was loaded and ready to roll today.”
“He knew you’d be going out today?” Smoke continued with the questions.
“Yes, sir.” He stopped in thought. “I called about noon to be sure we were good to go.”
“Anyone else know you’d be here today?”
Dodger sent Smoke a questioning look. “Willie would have to let his family know, I’m sure. And I filed with the airport, of course. Anybody around here could have seen me. I’m pretty hard to miss. My plane’s a bright yellow Air Tractor. All of the farmers around here know me and my plane.”
Smoke nodded. “So you took off from the Emerald Lake airport at what time?”
“Fourteen-thirty hours. Two-thirty.”
“Go on,” Smoke said.
“I got here about fourteen-thirty-eight, then I always do a couple of circles, checking out the fields before I start applying the chemical. I fly as close as four feet and up to ten feet above the crops, going about a hundred and thirty miles an hour. I can’t afford surprises, like wires or poles or windmills, or even a big animal that’s lying in a pasture next to a field that decides to stand up. A guy can’t memorize every wire from farm to farm. I fly ten hours a day in the busy season.”
“But not today?”
“No, this was my only run today. It’s slowing down. By June, there won’t be much ‘til August when the herbicide treatments go for a few weeks.”
“So you were taking your look-see?”
“Yes, sir. I was about twelve feet up when I flew over this area and thought, ‘What the heck!’ I thought it was a scarecrow that had toppled over, or that some kids had dragged here. I took a lower swoop, then another, and couldn’t believe my eyes. I flew right back to the airport and called the sheriff’s department. Then I phoned Willie, the farmer. He was up in Saint Cloud, but said he’d head back right away.”
“Did you see anyone else in the area?”
“No. I mean cars driving on County Thirty-five there, but I didn’t notice anyone else around.”
“Okay.” Smoke reached in his breast pocket, pulled out a business card, and handed it to Carey. “Suffice it to say, you won’t be spraying chemicals on this field today.”
Carey took the card and half shrugged.
“And if you think of anything else, give me a call. Or Sergeant Aleckson here.”
I fished out a card and gave it to Carey.
“That’s all you need from me, then?” Carey pursed his lips and frowned.
Smoke drew his own eyebrows together. “One more thing. We’ll need you to keep this quiet for a day or two. Give us time to identify the victim, talk to his family. You made about the worst possible discovery and you’ll want to talk about it, so confide in someone, but we’d appreciate it if you don’t tell everyone in your e-mail account, or get in any online chat rooms just yet.”
Carey’s left brow went up, indicating it was the last thing he’d do. “Yes, sir. I can keep a secret.”
As Carey turned and walked away, Smoke’s cell phone rang. “Detective Dawes. . . . Sheriff. . . . No, still waiting on Melberg. . . . Unknown male, forties, hands and feet bound and tied to stakes that are driven in the ground. Don’t know what killed him, but the scene is way outside the realms of natural. . . . We’ll be here a while. . . . Will do.”
Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department policy dictated that the sheriff be notified immediately in the event of an unnatural death in the county. Sheriff Dennis Twardy took that one step forward and personally showed up at most of those scenes. He said it reminded him why we were doing what we were doing and helped him maintain a high level of empathy for victims’ families.
“Twardy was at his association of sheriffs’ meeting in Saint Paul when communications phoned him. Sounds like he’d rather be here than there.”
It was my turn to take a phone call. “Hey, Todd.”
“Corky. The crime lab’s here. Where do you want them?”
I relayed the question to Smoke.
“Tell them to leave the vehicle out on the road, for now. Have them grab the essentials and walk in.”
“Did you get that?”
“Copy.” Mason said.
“Who’s assigned to major crimes this week?” Smoke asked.
“Weber and Zubinski,” I said.
He jutted his jaw out in a half yawn. “Isn’t this Mandy’s first day back?”
“Yeah, the chief deputy thought he’d ease her back into duty by assigning her to a partner on major crimes before she goes back solo on the road.”
Smoke shook his head. “Not knowing we’d have a very major crime right off the bat. Hope this isn’t too much for her.”
“We’ll watch her, help her out,” Carlson said.
Amanda Zubinski had been romantically involved with a deputy who turned out to be a bad cop. An evil cop. She had narrowly escaped death by members of his cult. Nearly everyone in the department thought she would quit, including me. But after intensive counseling, and encouragement from fellow deputies, she decided to stay and carry on.
Carlson made a “hah” sound. “But I gotta wonder how she and Weber are going to get through the week without killing each other.”
“Weber actually went to see her a few times when she was on leave—” I started.
“Weber?” His eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t hear that.”
“And they seem to be getting along fairly well.”
Carlson raised his elbow toward my arm. “It seems like you and Zubinski are getting along better, too.”
“We are. Actually, I hate to admit it, but it started when we had our famous team building exercise. It reminded me—and rightly so—we are on the same team, after all. And that unbelievably bad experience where she almost died was enough to push us past our differences. I think that’s what happened with Vince and Mandy. I don’t think either he or I was ever more scared for another human being than when we discovered Mandy was about to be killed.”
Carlson shook his head at the memory, then nodded. “That makes three of us.”
Deputies Vince Weber and Amanda Zubinski came into view from the north. They were about the same height—five-nine or five-ten—but the similarity ended there. Vince had a square body, and his head appeared to sit directly on his shoulders. His facial features were on the round side—eyes, nose, mouth, chin. Mandy, on the other hand, had a lean frame and a long face with a long Roman nose. I considered her cropped, thick, aubu
rn hair her best feature.
When the crime lab team had almost reached us, a four-wheeler came at us from the south. Carlson was closest and held up his hand, directing him to stop. A ruddy faced man with rust colored hair stopped the vehicle and jumped to the ground. Years of working in the sun was evidenced by the deep wrinkles on his forehead and cheeks. But they didn’t detract from his otherwise youthful appearance. He jogged toward the body. “What in the hell?”
Carlson stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. “Whoa. Who are you?”
“Sorry. Willie, William Noding. This is my field. Dodger told me what he saw here. I thought the chemicals had finally gotten to him and he was seeing things.” He strained for a better look, then paled. “Oh, my god!”
“You know the victim?” Smoke asked.
Noding gave an affirmative nod. “Gage Leder, my, my, brother-in-law. My wife’s brother. We’re not exactly the best of friends, but I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.” He swiped his hand over the back of his neck, then across his face. “My wife’s gonna freak.”
Smoke directed Noding back toward his four-wheeler. He looked at me and indicated with his head that I follow them. “You guys carry on,” he said to Carlson, Weber, and Zubinski.
I caught Mandy’s eyes, smiled, and gave her a discreet thumbs up. She raised her eyebrows and nodded. Carlson pointed from the body to the snowshoe tracks, taking Mandy back to the scene, and I turned my attention to Noding.
Smoke told Noding our names then said, “You got your driver’s license on you?”
Noding narrowed his eyes as he considered the question. “Yeah.”
“Why don’t you hand it over to the sergeant and she’ll jot down your info.”
He nodded as he withdrew his wallet and fumbled his license out of its enclosure. I took it from his trembling fingers. “Your address correct?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“And a phone number.”
Noding gave me his cellular and home numbers.
He took another look at his brother-in-law’s body, and his face turned a shade lighter. “This is just awful.”
“It is that.” Smoke gave him a minute before diving in. “Mr. Noding, you said you and the victim were not the best of friends. Expound on that.”
Noding looked at the ground for a few seconds before answering. “Well, we—my wife and I—did not exactly agree with her brother’s lifestyle. He used people. Mostly women. And he made us nearly lose this farm. Gage and my wife were the third generation to be raised here.”
Noding paused to look around the acreage. “It’s a long story, but Gage and Donna, that’s my wife, inherited the place and were equal owners after their folks passed. Gage had borrowed against it when his parents were still alive. The bank was ready to foreclose, and he managed to hide that from us. We’ve worked like dogs to keep it going. Like I said, it’s a long story.”
Smoke looked up from his notepad. “You said he used people, mostly women. Anyone you know of that would want him dead?”
Noding made a ‘hrrmmpp’ sound. “It’s probably a long list. I may have had that thought myself, once or twice.” He lifted his hands in front of him and his eyes grew wide. “But I’d never do anything to make that happen.”
Smoke held his gaze steady. “We’d like the names of everyone you’re thinking of who might have.”
“Well I can’t be accusing anyone of something like that. I really have no idea.” Noding lifted his hands again.
“You wouldn’t be doing any accusing. We need names to start the investigation. And you’d be a great help and save us a whole lot of time. We’re sure you want this solved as much as we do. Maybe more.”
Noding half shrugged then nodded. “Gage’s been married four, no, five times. One time was only for a few months. Almost forgot about that one. He’s got three kids, that we know of, and one step-kid. He has one good friend in the world, but that’s about it.”
“Was he currently married?”
“Oh yeah. Her name’s Tonya. They have a house. No idea how he managed that one, either. Word is she had some money, but . . .” He stopped and shrugged.
“All right. We’ll get someone over to talk to her, a-sap. What’s her address?”
“I don’t know the address, but I know where it is. Over on Belmont Avenue.” He gave the directions and I wrote them down.
“Does she work outside the home?”
“I don’t think so, but I’m not sure.”
“And the name of his good friend?”
“Shane Coates.”
“I know the name.”
“Yeah, he got into some trouble a while back, but I think that was more of a one time mistake than anything else.”
I also knew of Coates. I had arrested him following a dispute he had with another man over a woman. It was a felony assault. The other man had suffered injuries that landed him in the hospital. Coates had done prison time and was likely still on parole.
“I have no idea where he lives, or if he’s even still in the area,” Noding said.
“We’ll find him. Now the names of the other wives, and people who you think Gage may have had an issue with.”
Willie Noding talked for some minutes, listing names and possible locations of where we might find them. I filled several pages of my small memo pad and hoped I would be able to read my writing later.
“That’s quite a list.”
“Gage sabotaged himself. Never did figure out why. He’d have a nice wife, nice life, and then do something to screw it up. Ever know anyone like that?”
I did. Too many, in fact, but didn’t respond. Neither did Smoke.
“The pilot, Dodger, said you hired him to apply some fungicide. Why was that?”
“I noticed some rust on my beans over in next field. That’s nasty stuff, spreads as fast as a wildfire. I saw some spots and ordered the chemical right away. Hired Dodger to spray it.”
“To spray it today?”
“Well, it turned out to be today. Coulda been tomorrow, if today didn’t work.”
“Who knew about that?”
Noding pulled off his ball cap and rubbed the side of his head with the heel of his hand. “Well, my wife, naturally. All but one of my kids are off on their own. My one daughter is still at home, and she knew. I had coffee in town with the boys earlier today and we talked about it. I guess I told a few others.” He put his cap back in its rightful place.
“We’ll need the names of everyone.”
Noding frowned. “You think there’s some kind of connection between spraying the fungicide and Gage being here?”
“I have no idea. We’re about a half hour into this case and there’s no telling where it will lead. Our job is to gather evidence and facts, and to talk to as many people as it takes to accomplish that. We may get a good lead and won’t need to talk to your coffee friends at all. We’ll see.” Smoke paused and softened his voice. “In the meantime, go home, break the news to your wife. Would you like one of us to go with you? Or do you want to call your pastor, maybe?”
Noding shook his head. “Naw, I’ll be okay. I’m the best one to break this to Donna. We’ve thought for a long time something like this might happen. I mean, not like this exactly, but something bad. Don’t take this wrong, but I think after Donna gets over the initial shock, she’ll be kinda relieved.”
“And it’s best if we talk to Tonya Leder before you, or anyone else does,” Smoke added.
“Sure. We’ll wait to hear from you.”
CHAPTER 2
Noding sped off on his four-wheeler, and Smoke turned to me. “What’d you think?”
I tapped my memo pad. “Man, have we ever got a long list of potential suspects. Ex-wives, current wife, a best friend who’s done prison time for assault.”
“What’d you think of Noding?” Smoke asked.
“That even I could get a confession out of him if it comes to that.”
“No doubt. You could coax a confessi
on out of a lot of people. We all know you are a whole lot more than a pretty young face in a petite little package.”
I rolled my eyes.
Smoke went on, “Noding does like to talk, especially about how bad his brother-in-law was. He came just short of saying Leder deserved this.”
“But he did seem genuinely shocked.”
“That he did.”
We walked back to our team. Carlson was bringing Weber and Zubinski up to date on what we had learned so far.
Smoke focused on Mandy. “Good to have you back.”
Her lips curled slightly and her eyes lit up. “Thanks.”
I moved in beside her. “That goes for all of us.”
“Seven-ten, Three-forty, the doc is here,” Mason announced over the radio.
Smoke clicked the talk button on his radio. “Copy.”
Dr. Melberg came up the hill and joined our group. He looked more like a coach than a coroner. His muscular body bulged against his clothes, and his graying brown hair was cropped close to his head. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone and I suspected he had pulled off his tie on his way to the scene. His ever present black case was firmly gripped in his right hand.
Melberg didn’t waste time on greetings. “Not a pretty scene. Except for the surrounding scenery, of course.” I smiled at his odd comment.
He set his case on the ground, snapped the latches, and opened the lid. He pulled on two pairs of gloves and withdrew a thermometer which he stuck in his back pants pocket. He knelt beside the body and studied it for a long moment. “Know who he is?”
Smoke took a step closer to Melberg. “Yeah, his brother-in-law IDed him. Name’s Gage Leder.”
Melberg reached down and touched the inside of Leder’s right elbow. “Looks like a needle mark.” We all leaned in for a view of what we had missed. It was minute, with no bruising around it. No wonder we hadn’t seen it. “A fatal dose of something? One mark wouldn’t indicate addiction to a drug such as heroin. Let’s get him untied.”
Smoke held up his hand. “We’ll preserve the knots. The way they’re tied might reveal something about the suspects. You have your knives with you?” All deputies carried a jackknife, mainly for emergency situations such as cutting someone out of a seat belt following a crash.
The Noding Field Mystery Page 2