by Kieran York
Royce shut her eyes tightly. “Maybe I need to get some sleep.”
“That would be a start. I’m here if you want to talk.”
“Thanks.” Royce walked to the door. She held it open a moment, waiting - then realized she’d left Chance back at the office with Terry.
***
The two women walked from a small off-road parking area. They were followed across the Rasp Meadow by Chance.
“This is lovely,” Deputy Terry Doyle said. “I had no idea it was here. I’ve never seen it from the main road. “So this is Rasp Meadow Crossing.”
Royce noticed that Terry was drinking in the beauty of the landscape while Chance was being put through her commands. After the shepherd had a good workout, and Terry learned the dog’s commands, Royce pointed off to the back of the meadow. “The woman we were talking about today was buried over there.”
“How are you going to find out who killed her?”
“We know her common-law husband. That’s a start. Maybe it will remain an unsolved crime.” Royce’s fingers combed through her short hair. “When the case is this old and there is nothing left behind, it becomes more difficult. There were bullets under the body. My father told me that they had removed the body, and then dug, unpacking the bullets. Dad estimated they had gone through her heart, or the heart area. The ribcage was shattered on her left side. That was the only evidence left behind. Trace evidence is pretty much a requirement. That or a confession.”
“Your dad must have been a wonderful sheriff.”
“He was. And a wonderful father.” Royce was wistful. “For years after my father died, I’d come up here. I’d talk with the woman. Tell her spirit I was sorry that she’d been shot in the heart. I’d call her JD – Jane Doe.” Royce gazed at the Rasp, and then off to the clearing where Jane Doe had died. “I’d promise that I’d try to solve her murder. I wanted someone to pay for taking her life. I still want that.”
Terry reached to touch the sheriff’s shoulder. “I think you will find the perp.”
A faint smile eased onto Royce’s lips. “Thanks.” The women began their trek back to the vehicle. The sheriff hesitated. “And how do you like being a Timber County Deputy?”
“You know I love it. I’m really not sure about Sam. I’m just not certain he’d have my back. All that happy shit…pardon me, stuff.” Both women laughed a moment. “Anyway, he thinks I’m too cop-ish. That’s his word.”
“People aren’t always how they seem.”
“When I was with Tanner, I always felt safe.”
“Tanner is a great guy. But Terry, give Sam a chance. I think you both have things to teach one another. And he may amaze you.”
They reached the vehicle. Terry frowned, “Okay, I’ll give it my best shot. For you and Nick. I’ll try to like the guy.”
“That’s all I ask.” Royce called to Chance. “Playtime is over, girl.”
***
They had barely been back in the office when a phone call came in for the sheriff. Royce answered, listened intently, and then hung up. She sat back. Her eyes blinked rapidly. Terry and Wanda walked by her desk, “Sheriff, are you okay?”
Royce’s sigh was more of a moan. “This is the oddest thing ever?”
“What?” Terry inquired.
“It was Ballistics. The bullets that killed Calvin Wagner were from Otis Brull’s antique revolver. They put both the bullets and the revolver through the database. They had told me they were going to do that as procedure. I didn’t give it another thought, because we’re talking the criminal database.”
“And?” Wanda questioned.
“The gun bullet that killed Cal naturally had a hit. Bullets that murdered Lila Brull also matched the specific firearm that had been used to kill Calvin. Both homicides were committed by the same gun. Forty years apart.” The sheriff’s face was frozen for several moments. “I can’t believe it. They even ran the ballistics test twice.”
“That’s really weird,” Terry gasped. “So the killer was probably Otis?”
Wanda’s eyes went wide. “Sounds like Otis has some explaining.”
Nervously, Royce fidgeted with her tie. “Otis had the opportunity. He had the motive. His common-law wife had left him, and he and Cal had fought.” She stood and quickly put on her Stetson. “We’ve now got one weapon that produced two homicides. Come on, Terry, we’ve got to work the process of elimination. Before we arrest Otis, we need to check something else out.”
Terry followed behind Royce directly to Wagner Gun Shop. “Why here?”
“Just purely intuition. It’s a guess I have.”
Grace looked up as they entered. “Sheriff, I figured you were going to give me a miss today.”
“Nope. Grace, I need to see your records.”
“Company records?” She was suddenly stuffy. Her back stiffened. “You need a search warrant to come in here and demand to see my books?”
“Let’s go back to your office, Grace.”
“Look, Sheriff…”
Royce’s steps were quick. Before Grace could object, Royce had led her back to the office. She sat, looking up at the bewildered shop owner. “Grace, I’m parking myself here. If I make the call to have a search warrant sent over it shouldn’t take more than half an hour. You’ll go a long way with goodwill, if you just open the damned safe, get out the books and give me the one I need.”
“This is outrageous,” she seethed. With shock, she uttered, “You have no right to barge in here.”
“Grace, just do it,” Royce commanded. “Before this day ends, I’m going to have what I need. Shall I get a search warrant, or will you open that safe?”
Steadfastly, Grace stood. Her eyes stared. Her lips pursed. “I need to know why? What do you need?”
“I just got the ballistics report on the gun that murdered our town’s Jane Doe. It was Lila Brull.”
“That means Otis killed both his wife, and Cal,” Grace calculated.
Royce pulled a piece of paper with the day of Lila’s disappearance from her shirt pocket. “I need a week before this date, and a week after. September 28th.”
She watched carefully as Grace dug legers from the aged columnar account books from the safe. “These are such a mess.” When she finally found the bookkeeper’s ledger with the needed date, she handed it to Royce.
“This is the sales and repairs?” Royce asked as she fumbled through the ledger sheets.
“Yes. What’s this all about?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe nothing.” Royce began working her way through the yellowed pages. When she came to one entry, she held the page. Continuing on another few pages, she spotted what she needed. “Grace, I’m going to be taking this ledger into evidence.”
Grace eased into the opposite chair. “What’s going on?”
“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I strongly suspect that the killer of Lila Brull was Calvin.”
“Calvin!” Grace screamed. “No. Otis did it.”
“On the day Lila was killed, Otis didn’t have his gun. It was in your shop. Otis dropped it by a couple days before Lila was murdered. Otis brought his gun in here to be fixed. The signatures are here. Three days later, after the date she had left him, and presumably been killed, Otis picked up the gun.”
“That doesn’t sound like conclusive evidence to me,” Grace huffed. “Not at all.”
“There’s no easy way to tell you this, but Lila was having an affair with a married man. Cal’s old buddies knew about it, and even told Otis. The ‘other man’ promised Lila that he would leave his wife, according to the old-timers. The scene blurs from there. Lila might have been pressuring Cal. Cal had the gun, takes her from where she’d left Otis’s truck. Which they found parked in a back alley. Cal probably took Lila to a place he knew. The Rasp area. Shot her, buried her. Cal was sly, you know that better than most. He probably thought if the body was discovered too quickly, the husband would be charged. The gun belonged to Otis. So Otis Brull would go down for t
he murder. Cal had set Otis up. His friend.”
Grace’s demeanor changed rapidly. “Cal was capable of anything,” her voice said meekly. Her face began to contort into the fear of recognition. “That explains something. Cal left papers and a few envelopes were with his important papers. One I never understood. He had very little to do with Otis, so why would Cal have an envelope for Otis?”
“I think we both know that answer.”
Grace went to the small wall safe.” She flapped back the door. After rummaging through the contents, she pulled out a letter. “We wondered what this was about.” She handed Royce the sealed envelope. On the face were the words: To be given to Otis Brull in the event of my death preceding his. Calvin Wagner.
“I’ll see that Otis gets the letter. I want his permission to examine it. It will probably be needed as evidence.”
Grace clasped her hands tightly. Her face was white with shock. “I understand. Royce, I’m sorry about talking to you like that. I know you’re doing your job.” She began sobbing. Royce put her arm around Grace’s shoulders. She eased the trembling woman down onto the chair. “I always suspected Cal and Lila. But he told me she’d run out on Otis with someone else.”
Royce handed the ledger to Terry. “Please take this to the courthouse. I’ll call you when I’ve shown the letter to Otis. Tell the D.A. I’ll be back in later with the letter. If it is a confession. We may have solved the oldest cold case in Timber City.” She patted Grace’s arm. “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”
The blood suddenly came back to Grace’s face. “I feel destroyed. I lived with a murderer. That bitch out on the ranch won’t give a damned if she was married to a killer.”
“I’ll let you know immediately when I know,” Royce covered her eyes a moment. “I wanted more than anything to get a resolution to this crime. Now all I feel is sorrow.”
Royce and Terry walked across the street in silence. Royce climbed into her vehicle. “Why don’t you take Chance with you, get to know her better.”
“Won’t you want her overnight?”
“If you’d rather not have her, I’m sure Nick will take her overnight.”
“I’d love for her to stay with me. But way?”
Royce gave the shepherd a hug. “I don’t want her to see me this sad.”
***
Royce had visited Otis. The letter confirmed her suspicions. Cal confessed to his one-time best friend that he had seduced Lila. He had then murdered the woman Otis loved and considered his wife. After a quick stop at the D.A.s office where the letter was put into evidence, Royce dropped by the Times.
Gwen and Nadine were given a headline. It was a huge local story. After giving them the entire story, Royce stopped by Molly’s Pantry.
Molly was closing her bakery for the evening when Royce sat at the counter. She told her mother about the day’s events.
Molly questioned, “It’s confusing. Calvin murdered Otis’s wife. And then somebody shot him with same gun?” Molly speculated. “Maybe Otis took revenge.”
It seemed difficult for both Molly and Royce to comprehend. Royce answered, “I’m not certain who killed Calvin. The murder book is wide open on that one. I didn’t see any hint of hatred or revenge when I showed Otis the letter. Shock. Heartache. But no facial expression showing hatred.”
“Did you tell Gwen?”
“Just now. Mom, I know you believe in the hereafter. I’m uncertain why I’ve felt that I was being directed to continue searching for Jane Doe’s name, and for her killer. I somehow wonder if Dad ushered me, encouraged me.”
Molly’s hands twisted the towel she was holding. “Some things haven’t got answers. At least not answers that show themselves. Grady Madison was proud of you from the moment I told him you were coming into this world. He spent every day of his short life being proud of his daughter. I believe he’s as proud right this minute as he’s ever been.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Royce stood. “I’d better get back to the cabin.”
“Would you like me to send something with you for you and Gran?”
“She’ probably got dinner on the table.”
“Where’s Chance?”
“Terry is working with her so I thought it would be good for them to have some bonding time.”
“Get yourself some sleep. There’s still another murder to solve.”
Royce’s face was expressionless. For many moments, it remained blank. “It’s so much easier to solve a killing when the subject is someone only one person wanted dead. It’s a tough case when most of the town, and most his family wants a man dead.”
“Royce, you be careful out there.”
Royce gave her mother a short hug. She closed the front door securely. She walked an extra block to be on the corner where her previous dog, Smoky had been memorialized with a bronze statue for her service to the county. Royce reached to run her hand over the ruff of the bronze. She then returned to her vehicle.
Tonight would be ridden alone through the patchwork and dreams about Lila Brull. Royce would toss and turn, and her psyche would be urging her to get through the night. Of course she would miss Chance.
Across the street there was a light on in the animal hospital. Royce wondered what Hertha might be doing.
Chapter 23
It had been a revelatory morning meeting, Royce thought as the deputies disbursed. Deputy Sam Dawson had pulled up the photo file of a male figure leaving the scene of Wagner’s Ranch right before the time when Cal was murdered. The date was exact. The time was precise. Sam was working on better defining the portion where a man that looked remarkably like Tony Wagner was hastening toward a truck that belonged to Tony Wagner. The license plate had been enhanced. It was Tony’s vehicle.
It all began to fall into place. The sheriff knew that the next twenty-four hours would be critical. The case had to be constructed.
Deputy Terry Doyle was taking Chance with her so that the German shepherd could get a nice morning run in before Terry went off duty. She would drop Chance by. She’d bragged that she and Chance were bonding nicely.
Royce asked Undersheriff Nick Hogan to ride along with her to the Wagner Ranch. Fairly certain that Tony would have the drone-in-a-tree camera trained on them as they approached, she thought would be wise to take backup.
On the way, Royce complained, “I hate these kinds of calls.”
“You’ve got to tell Nita that her husband killed a woman forty years ago.” Nick yawned. “I’m not wide awake this morning. Maybe I can wait for you outside.”
“Nick, I can show you where the drone is located so you can climb the tree and perform for a selfie.”
Nick chuckled. “I feel a little tense about it. I wonder if Tony suspects we’re zeroing in on him. If he does, we may have a chase on our hands.”
Royce’s glance at Nick was one of full agreement. “I’m going to let Nita think we’ve got a pretty solid photo of Tony. The clarity will be improved, but she doesn’t know it hasn’t been, yet.”
“Anything else?” Nick asked.
“Yes. Don’t salute when we pass the huge tree in the backyard area.”
***
Nita swung open the door. “Aw hell, I have two hounding me now.”
“I didn’t see Tony’s truck. Is he here?” Royce questioned.
“He’s playing with his damned toy drone. He headed toward Rasp Crossing. Screwing around.”
“Nita,” Royce said gently. “We have some disturbing news. I’m here to make you aware of the most recent happening in the case. If you recall the cold case murder of the woman Jane Doe. We discovered the killer.”
“Look, Sheriff, I wasn’t palsy-walsy with her. I didn’t know her. She must have died when I was a kid. You break into my tranquil morning with this absolute crap. Come on. I don’t give a damn about who killed her.”
“You will. Nita, Cal murdered her.”
Nita backed up. Her hands went to her mouth. “No. What kind of bullshit are you trying to say now.
Cal killed that woman forty years ago?”
“Her name was Lila Franz Brull. She had been the common law wife of Otis. She and Cal had been having an affair.”
Nita’s hands became fists. She was both enraged and incredulous. “You’re making this up. Why would Cal kill her, and what proof do you have?”
“Ballistics show that she was killed with the same gun that killed Cal. I examined the records from the gun shop. Otis had dropped the gun off for nearly a week at the gun shop. It was in that week that Lila was killed. Yesterday while talking with Grace about the gun being in the shop, Grace showed me a handwritten letter that Cal had authored. It was addressed to Otis and to be given to him if anything happened to Cal. It was a full confession of the murder. He states that Lila threatened to tell Grace. Lila wanted them to run away together. He couldn’t leave his family and his business. A letter of remorse, but also of excuses.”
Nita stared at Royce, then she glanced at Nick. “You two are serious?”
“We are.”
“My God.” She was terror stricken. “He could have offed me. I knew he could be cruel. As long as his vicious streak wasn’t aimed at me, I ignored it. I tried never to argue with him. He was ruthless when he wanted to be right about something.”
“Now we come to a second bit of bad news,” Nick interrupted the silence. “Royce, want to tell her about Tony. And the implications of guilt.”
“What implications of guilt?” Nita screamed at Royce.
“Nita, this is very important. You told me you were certain that Tony was watching television when Cal was murdered. That was untrue. There’s a camera attached to a drone. It’s lodged up in the backyard tree. It shows Tony had left the premises just before the time when Cal was killed. He lied. There was a reason for his lie.”
“I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t. Sometimes I have a toddy or two before I go to bed. I didn’t remember hearing him leave.”
“He did leave. And he went into Timber City. I’m uncertain about the timeline, but it probably goes like this. Tony had keys to the store. After Otis had fought with Cal, Tony went in. I’m thinking he might have taken the gun from the desk, where it was left. Maybe he told his father he would take it in to the repair room. I’m guessing he’d previously heard Otis and Cal talking about the fact that the gun was a very valuable weapon. Tony might have worked on it, loaded the revolver – if it wasn’t already loaded, which Otis had mentioned it was. Cal had threatened him with it. At any rate, Tony must have brought it back to his father. Placed it down on the desk. Maybe that’s when Cal mentioned the worth of the gun. I’m certain only of the outcome, not really how it went down.”