“Nah, he’d say ‘hi’, that’s about it. He didn’t give off friendly vibes, like he wanted to talk.”
“You mentioned Miss Gosser paid her rent in cash. Isn’t that unusual?”
“It is, but that’s how some people are. Cash only. I always gave her a receipt so she’d have a record.”
“Did you suspect anything unusual was going on with Ms. Gosser and Mr. Leder?”
“What do you mean by ‘unusual’?”
“Anything suspicious, illegal?”
“You don’t mean like drugs?”
“No, like pornography.”
He looked at me like he’d never heard the word before and shook his head. “No.”
“Okay. I’ll get back to my partners. Thank you, Mr. Vaccaro, and call if you think of anything. Sometimes things that don’t seem all that important turn out to be helpful.” I gave him my card. “And to let you know, we’ll be in Gosser’s apartment for the rest of the evening—at least—collecting evidence. We’re confiscating a number of items, in case you’re wondering why we’re removing things.”
Larry’s face tightened. “Okay.”
I left his apartment and returned to my working partners in Gosser’s. “I got contact info for Gosser. A cousin in California named Jane Peters. Anyone want to call her?”
“Go ahead,” Smoke said.
I reached Jane Peter’s answering machine and left a message for her to call me. I looked at my watch: ten to six. Not yet four o’clock in California. Bob Edberg called a few minutes later to report he had spoken with Sheila Walker and her husband Craig. They assured him Sheila was in South Dakota, but had only been to the nursing home once, for a short time. Sheila had spent the rest of the time in the hotel room because she was suffering from a migraine headache. They weren’t sure why no one at the home had seen her. Sheila showed Bob the credit card receipt she had signed for the room rental, which placed her in South Dakota at the time.
Bob said Sheila was upset to hear Leanne Gosser had died. She knew Gosser had been Gage Leder’s first girlfriend when they were young teenagers, and that she had many boyfriends after that. Gosser hadn’t attended a high school class reunion since graduation, but Sheila had heard from other classmates that Gosser was disabled by multiple sclerosis. She had no idea Leder had been involved with her recently, and up to the time of his death.
Smoke and I stayed to help Mason and Carlson process the scene, dusting for prints and taking photos. Mason hit pay dirt when he opened the video box in the far left corner of the top shelf. It contained several sheets of paper, folded together. It was the list containing the title and description of each video, pairing the title with a corresponding number that was printed on the spine and front cover of the video holder. We used it as a cheat sheet when we recorded the contents on the evidence bags. It saved us countless hours. We collected the plethora of videos, the computers, the bottles of medication, and the drinking glass.
Gosser’s cousin returned my call at eight-twelve. When I told her the news, she sucked in a breath. “Suicide?”
“That’s a possibility. We’ll know more after the autopsy tomorrow.”
“Leanne called me last night out of the blue. I hadn’t talked to her in God knows how long. She said her long-time boyfriend had died, and that she really missed him. I asked her if she needed anything and she said she’d be fine. I should have put two and two together.”
“She give you any indication she was thinking about killing herself?”
“No, but I know she was very dependent on her boyfriend. Emotionally.”
“What did you know about Gage Leder?”
“Just what Leanne told me. They’d been high school sweethearts, and then reunited maybe ten years ago.”
“Did she say why the two of them had never married?”
“No. It’s sad to say, but I grew up here in California, and Leanne in Minnesota. We weren’t as close as we could have been.”
“Ms. Peters, it appears you’re responsible for the final arrangements.”
“Oh. I suppose. I’ve never had to do that before. I’m so far away, I’m not sure where to start.”
“It’s a lot to think about. For the time being, we’ll give your contact information to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office and they’ll be in touch with you.”
“Okay.”
“You’ve got my number. Call me with any questions or concerns. And, again, I’m very sorry about your cousin.”
“Thank you, Sergeant.”
It was after ten o’clock when we had all the evidence loaded in the mobile crime lab. Mason grabbed a piece of crime scene tape and secured it across Gosser’s apartment door, in case we needed to go back for more evidence.
Smoke and I climbed into my squad car. He sighed a long “ahhhhhh” and yawned when he sat down. “I am dog tired.”
I started the engine and radioed communications we had cleared the scene. “Who would have thought the day was going to go down like that?”
“Damn.”
“I can’t help but think if Gosser had let us in yesterday, maybe it would have turned out differently.”
“I think she saw, or at least heard us, outside her door. Then when she got our message, it pushed the envelope. She was sitting in the middle of an apartment filled with illegal materials. According to her cousin, she was emotionally dependent on Leder. She had probably thought about suicide after she found out he’d died. Then we showed up and she decided she couldn’t face going to jail,” Smoke surmised.
“I suppose it would have been tough for her, physically, to get rid of all those videos, the computers, et cetera, but if it was me, I’d have found a way.” I stopped when the stoplight turned amber.
“She and Leder had one over on the legal system. Maybe she was proud of it. Maybe she didn’t give a damn. Leder was a narcissist, most likely had a borderline personality. And my guess is, so was Gosser. People with the disorder think they’re better than the rest of us. They are all about themselves, and doing things to make them feel better. They also have trouble with true intimacy. Maybe that’s why Leder lasted so long with Gosser. Porn replaced the need for a real relationship. Narcissism times two.”
“I remember from my psychology classes that men with the Casanova Complex are classic borderline personalities. The thrill is in the pursuit. After the capture, they get bored pretty quickly. And, if I remember right, OCD is common in a borderline, too.”
“If Gosser had been a little less OCD about her cleaning, we would probably have recovered more prints.”
“True. I didn’t tell you this before, but the landlord’s place was about as clean. No wonder he liked that about her.” The stoplight turned green and we were mobile again.
“At least she missed cleaning the one video case. It looks like it has prints from three separate individuals.”
“Yeah.” I yawned. “Smoke, do you need anything from your squad car tonight?”
He thought a minute. “I guess not. Why?”
“It’s late. Instead of going back to the sheriff’s department, how about if I just drop you off at home? We’ll both get home fifteen minutes earlier.”
“And you’ll pick me up in the morning?”
“Sure.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I brought Queenie in from her kennel and petted and played with her a while, but she kept sniffing at my clothes, so I knew I had to get out of them. I went upstairs, stripped, and took a bath, scrubbing with lavender soap until my skin was a dark shade of pink. When I’d dried off and put on my pajamas, I went back downstairs and plopped down on the couch. Queenie jumped on my lap.
I understood what Smoke meant by dog tired because that was exactly how I felt. Dog tired, but keyed up. “Is that how you feel sometimes, Queenie?” I thought about all the things that had transpired that day: Leder’s funeral, planting a camera overlooking his grave, poring over phone records, finding a key witness dead in her porn-filled apartm
ent, processing the scene, and collecting the evidence.
Lunch with Eric at noon seemed like it was three days ago. Our team hadn’t stopped for a supper break. One thing about gathering evidence and looking for clues when you’re surrounded by the smell of death, your appetite is the first thing to go.
I put Queenie in her sleeping kennel in the living room and headed to the kitchen. I filled a glass with milk and downed it in one long drink. My stomach woke up, reminding me I’d sleep better with something on it. I found a piece of take-out pizza in the refrigerator and ate it cold. Queenie whimpered when she heard me eating. “Sorry, girl. People food. See you in the morning,” I said as I passed by her on my way upstairs to my bedroom.
I crawled into bed and thought about all the different roads the Gage Leder case had taken us down the past ten days. Was his addiction to porn in any way connected to his death? Leanne Gosser was the one person who could have filled us in on some of the blanks in Leder’s life. How much time did he spend with Gosser? My guess was a lot. When was the last time they were together? Did she know any of his associates that wanted him dead? If she did, why hadn’t she contacted us when he turned up dead? Unless she had had enough of Gage Leder and was in on his death somehow. My mind finally relaxed and sleep came after an hour of tossing and processing.
CHAPTER 21
I awoke to a shining sun and the chorus of birds singing different melodies that blended harmoniously. I looked at my clock. Seven-thirty. I had told Smoke I’d pick him up at ten to eight. That gave me fifteen minutes to get ready, and I had to fly to make it. Smoke was throwing a stick for his dog Rex to fetch when I pulled in the driveway. He patted Rex’s head then climbed in the car, filling the space with his clean, woodsy scent. “Morning.”
“Morning. Already,” I said.
“You’re probably eager to get back on patrol after the couple of weeks we’ve had on this case.”
“Yes and no. I keep thinking we’re going to figure this all out then something else happens.”
“We may never figure this whole thing out, but we got most of the phone records we need. Since Gosser’s dead, we’ll be able to get the warrant for her phone records without a hitch—figure out Leder’s most recent number, track their call history to each other. And find out if there was anyone else Gosser was in contact with from our persons of interest list. We got evidence at the BCA—although I’m not holding my breath on where that will lead. And now the latent prints from Gosser’s place.”
“I want to get through the rest of the phone records.”
“Yeah, I’m hoping Twardy lets us have Trudy and Kate for the day again.”
“That’d be good. I wonder what time Mason and Carlson got all those videos secured in evidence lockers.”
“Late, I’m sure.”
We walked into Sheriff Twardy’s office at eight-fifteen. “What are you two doing here so early?” He picked up a paper from the top of the pile on his desk. “I got Mason’s and Carlson’s reports. They finished dictating them at three this morning. What time did you wrap up at the Gosser residence?”
Smoke filled him in on the details.
“A helluva deal.”
“No doubt. We’ll write our reports, and I gotta get a judge to sign the warrant to obtain Gosser’s phone records. And we’re still waiting on the records from Kentucky. It seems like the wheels of justice are moving way too slowly.”
The sheriff nodded then lifted his finger. “Oh, I talked to Hastings in communications a while ago. So far there’s been no action at Leder’s grave.”
I shrugged. “That shouldn’t surprise us. He didn’t have many friends—okay, none. Except Gosser. Maybe Shane Coates. Nobody but family at the funeral. Of course, if Leder was involved with some criminal elements, they’re not going to show up at the funeral, but they might at the graveside.”
“It’s worth a try,” Twardy said.
I was nearly finished with my report when Smoke came into the squad room. “I got a call from the M.E.’s office with Gosser’s autopsy results.”
I sat up straighter. “What was it?”
“Overdose of Zoloft, as we suspected. Painless, anyway.”
“I’ve been wondering if Gosser had a good idea of who kidnapped and killed Leder and was afraid they’d do the same to her and couldn’t face that. Or was she distraught over her fellow porn lover’s death, after all?”
“The chances of getting an answer to either question is slim to none.”
I nodded. “Leder was her only known visitor and her cousin didn’t have much information, so it looks like the chances are none.”
Smoke’s cell phone rang. “Detective Dawes. . . . Yes, Sheriff. . . . Great, thanks for your help. . . . Will do. Bye.” He closed his phone. “Daviess County, Kentucky. They finally found a judge that would sign the warrant for Rennie Leder’s—and the hospital’s—phone records.”
“Finally. Well good. It was more complicated than we would have thought.”
“And it might be Monday before we have those records in hand.”
I nodded. “Some carriers are slower than others to cough up the records.”
“I was hoping to wrap that part of it up today, but it doesn’t look like it. I talked to the sheriff a few minutes ago, after I got the autopsy report. He said we should go home after we’re through writing our reports. We’ve got too many hours in the way it is.”
“That’s true enough.”
“I checked on the conference room we’ve been using and there are no meetings or classes scheduled until next Thursday. Barring any other hold-up, we’ll be done going through the records before that. Sheriff said to tell you that you’re off until Monday morning, unless there’s a break in the case. And you’ll keep working with me until we have every T crossed and every I dotted.”
“Man, another weekend off. That’s two in a row. Queenie could use a run, and I know I sure need one. Plus, I can tackle all the other things I’ve neglected, like visiting Gramps.”
“No doubt. I got the warrant for Gosser’s records written and delivered, waiting for Judge Adams’ signature. After I get that sent off to AT and T, and finish my report, I’m outta here.” He gave me a quick salute. “Have a good weekend.”
“You too.”
It had been a couple of weeks since Sara and I shared a girls’ night. We decided on take-out and a movie at my house. Our usual predictable, but relaxing evening together. After a short run with Queenie and a long run alone, I loaded Queenie in the car and we headed to Gramps’ house for a visit. Gramps and I both fell asleep watching a nature show on television with Queenie lying on the floor between our overstuffed chairs. Mom was bringing him supper, so I headed home mid-afternoon to dive into my laundry and some light cleaning.
My laundry room was off the kitchen. The west wall butted up against the east wall of the garage. When I opened the door to the room, I was instantly reminded what I had forgotten to do the night before—throw my death scene clothes in the washing machine. I held my breath and turned one knob to hot water, another to heavy duty, and pushed the on button. I poured in double the recommended amount of liquid detergent, picked the offending clothes off the floor, and threw them in the washer. Then I cleaned the floor to remove the rest of the odor.
I kept busy, cleaning and working on projects until Sara knocked on my door at seven. Queenie was as excited to see her as I was. “What are we eating tonight?” I asked, eyeing the Chinese take-out bag.
“Sweet and sour chicken, beef and broccoli stir fry, and of course, I had to get shrimp egg rolls.”
“Good choices. But I think I could even eat a horse tonight, if that’s what you’d brought.”
“Thank God I saved you from that by showing up with much more tempting choices.”
I led the way to the kitchen. We gathered our eating utensils and dished generous portions of some of my favorite foods onto our plates. “Grab a glass of wine, or a beer.”
Sara opened the refrigerator
. “Beer sounds good. Want one?”
“No, maybe later. I hate to fall asleep before the end of the movie.”
“Seriously? You must be tired.”
We carried our things to the small dining table, said a table prayer, and dug in. I unloaded the details of the trip to Kentucky and how I’d shared a hotel room with Smoke.
“Corky, I can’t believe you didn’t call me the minute that happened!”
“Remember, they took my two cell phones away.”
“Okay. Then when you got home. I talked to you when you got back that Tuesday night, and about ten times since.”
“I didn’t want to talk about that over the phone. Plus I was still processing how I felt about it—in the five minutes I’ve thought about personal things since we started the Leder case.”
“So what do you think?” Sara touched my arm.
“About Smoke and Eric?”
Sara groaned.
“The same old thing. You know Smoke put the kibosh on what might have been between us last fall already.” I took a bite of chicken.
“And Eric really likes you. And you like him.”
“I do. He’s a good guy. Smart, great looking. He’s a little too serious, but I’m used to that with my brother dearest.”
Sara smiled and stabbed her fork into a stalk of broccoli. “Who’s also smart and great looking.”
“Smoke accused me of trying to set you two up.”
“Weren’t you?”
“Ha, ha.”
“We both agree that John Carl needs a lot of healing time. After Emily.”
“Yes, he does.”
“No calls on your home phone from . . . I can’t say his name?”
My appetite was waning. “No, and my number should be blocked by the calling company, so that takes care of that.”
“Good. And when are you replacing your personal cell phone?”
I shrugged. “I was going to do it yesterday, but there was, literally, no time.” I recapped the day’s events. “And Leanne Gosser’s death scene was very strange. It looked like it was staged. The place was spotless. Usually people who are depressed lose interest in taking care of things like cleaning. Or themselves. So why did she put on makeup and a fancy nightgown?”
The Noding Field Mystery Page 19