Fort Point (Maine Justice Book 2)

by Davis, Susan Page

  They didn’t have an area big enough for all the witnesses to wait in, so Harvey reserved the conference room downstairs as a waiting room. The unit secretary, Paula, would bring them in as the detectives were ready.

  They discussed whether husbands and wives should be interviewed together and decided to separate David and Alison Murphy, but let the other couples go in together. Harvey would handle the Congressman, and Arnie would turn on the charm with his wife. Harvey handed out the lists he had made for each man.

  At five minutes before noon, Eddie asked, “You ready, Harv? We’d better get over to the funeral.”

  “Just a sec. Let me give Jenny a quick call.”

  “No lunch today?” She was mournful.

  “We need to get over to the church. If we eat first, we might get caught in traffic.”

  “You need to eat, Harvey.”

  “We’ll get something later.”

  “You’re not taking care of my fiancé.”

  “It’s just one of those days.”

  When they got to the parking garage, Jennifer was waiting there. She handed them each a package of cheese crackers with peanut butter and a can of juice.

  “Best I could get from the machines,” she said. Harvey tossed Eddie his keys, so Eddie could unlock the Explorer and get in while he kissed Jennifer.

  “Come on, Harv,” Eddie said through a half-open window.

  Harvey let her go with a wink. “Catch you later.” It was the happiest he had ever felt heading for a funeral.

  *****

  The traffic officers had their hands full. Eddie parked three blocks down, heading up a side street, so they wouldn’t get caught in the procession afterward.

  Every local and state-level dignitary arrived. The security unit was caught unprepared when Stephen King, his wife Tabitha, and half a dozen lesser-known Maine authors showed up. The crowd burgeoned, and the huge church was not big enough. The two detectives were jammed into a pew with too many other people, two thirds of the way back. With much shuffling, they managed to keep the two aisle seats.

  “They should have moved it to the Civic Center,” Eddie said.

  People were standing in the back, and more stood out on the sidewalk.

  Two clergymen spoke, followed by the mayor, Blake’s editor, and Marty. Ellen Blake Trainor read a passage from one of her father’s books, describing the death of an old friend. It made Harvey think of Chris, his old partner.

  When they left the church, the crowd outside was enormous. Officers had to escort the family members and the Kings to their cars. Camera crews were everywhere. David Murphy improvised a p.r. moment on the sidewalk. The reporter from the Press Herald deigned to notice Harvey.

  “Detective Larson, anything new on the case?”

  “I just saw you a few hours ago, Ryan.”

  “Yeah, but you’ve been working hard since then, right?” He was young, about thirty, but a veteran of the police beat. He went to the police station every day to check the logs and try to pick up tips. He treated the officers more or less fairly in print.

  “Come see me tomorrow morning,” Harvey said.

  He and Eddie opted out of the graveside service and went straight back to the station. They waited an hour for the first alumni to show up. Harvey was getting nervous. He paced to the window, to Eddie’s desk, back to the window. “What if they all just go home?”

  “They won’t.” Mike was sitting with his feet on his desk, drinking coffee. “You’ve made it clear this is required.”

  “I hope so.”

  “These graveyard jaunts can take longer than expected,” Arnie said.

  At three-fifteen, Jennifer, Beth, and Leeanne came up the stairs.

  “Three beautiful women visiting the Priority Unit.” Mike jumped up with a grin. He gave Jennifer’s hand a courtly kiss. “The lovely bride-to-be.” He had met Beth, and Jennifer introduced her sister to him, Eddie, Pete, and Arnie.

  “We can’t stay,” said Jennifer. “I’m on my break, but I wanted Leeanne and Beth to see you guys in your habitat.”

  “We’ve got people from the funeral coming in for questioning any minute,” Harvey said, “but I can give you the nickel tour.”

  “I’ll do it,” Eddie offered. Jennifer stayed with Harvey while Eddie showed Beth and Leeanne everything from the interview room to the locker room. Mike, Pete, and Arnie drank coffee and laughed near Pete’s desk. Harvey got in some hand holding with Jennifer.

  “You and Jeff will have supper at our house, right?” she said.

  “I don’t know when we’ll be done here.”

  “Well, Jeff called, and he’s coming over at 5:30. Just show up when you can. We need to work on the invitations.”

  He glanced over at his boss and decided he could steal a kiss. Jennifer blushed and looked over her shoulder. The guys were oblivious, or pretended they were.

  “I want to send an invitation to Chris Towne’s widow.”

  “Your old partner?” She wrapped the ends of his tie around her hand.

  “Yes. I just felt it at the funeral today. I need to keep contact with her. Chris and I were really close.”

  “Okay.”

  His desk phone rang. It was Terry. “We’ve got a few people in the conference room.”

  “I’ll send Paula right down.”

  Eddie and the girls came back into the main office. “So where do you book the prisoners?” Beth asked.

  “Oh, that’s done downstairs,” Eddie said.

  “We’ve got to clear you gals out,” Harvey told them. “Our witnesses are here.”

  Paula went down the stairs, taking the guests with her, to bring back the first interviews.

  David and Alison Murphy came directly to Harvey.

  “Is this really necessary?” Murphy asked.

  His wife sat down meekly.

  “Would you folks like some coffee?”

  “No, we’d just like to get home,” Murphy said.

  Alison looked up at Harvey. “Actually, I’d love a cup.”

  Good, Harvey thought. She wasn’t a total doormat. After they had the coffee in hand, he smiled his best smile, the one that had bulldozed his mother a thousand times.

  “You know what, Mrs. Murphy, I think I’ll send you over there to Detective Fowler.” He nodded toward Arnie, who was waiting patiently at his desk. “That way, he can talk to you while I talk to your husband, and the two of you will get out of here faster.”

  Murphy looked a little uncertain, but Alison seemed to think it was a great idea. Harvey took her to Arnie and made the introduction. Arnie was courteous, even flattering. The senior detective had a distinguished air, direct brown eyes, hair whitening at the temples, and a little scar by his left eyebrow. He always treated women respectfully, and with a hint of admiration that won them over. Mrs. Murphy warmed to him quickly, and Harvey thought she was in good hands.

  He returned to her husband and took him back over the events of Sunday.

  “You were late getting to the reunion.”

  “A little,” Murphy said. “Most of the others were there when we arrived.”

  “Where did you go first?”

  “They were starting the potluck, so we went right to the picnic area.”

  Harvey said, “You were seen on the shore below the picnic area, before the luncheon began.”

  “Somebody’s mistaken.”

  “At least two people saw you.”

  Murphy didn’t answer.

  “You and Luke Frederick,” Harvey said.

  Murphy’s eyes flicked over to Arnie and Alison.

  Harvey said, “You told me yesterday that you hadn’t seen Frederick at the reunion, but my witnesses say you did. Had quite a conversation with him on the shore, as a matter of fact.”

  “Perhaps. I had forgotten about Luke.”

  “Start remembering.”

  “It seems like I met him in the parking lot. My wife spotted a couple of old friends going up to the fort site, and she went to
join them.”

  “And you and Luke Frederick and went down to the shore together?”

  The Congressman hesitated. “There are paths on the other side of the parking lot. Near the picnic areas.”

  Arnie left his desk and walked to the coffeepot with two cups in his hand.

  “Would you excuse me just a minute, please?” Harvey grabbed his mug. Arnie went back to his desk and gave Mrs. Murphy her cup. On the table beside the coffeemaker was a piece of paper. Harvey picked it up. “Met TN in pkg lt. DM & TN went to beach. AM went to ft. LF came there after.” It was nearly as cryptic as Martin Blake’s plot notes, but he deciphered it.

  Puzzled, he looked over at Arnie, and Arnie nodded slightly, but continued talking affably with Alison. Harvey could count on him to keep her busy as long as he needed. Pete came through with his interviewee and turned him over to Paula, to be escorted downstairs.

  “Could we get on with this?” Murphy asked when Harvey sat down again.

  “Sure.” Harvey opened the flat desk drawer in front of him and scanned the list of reunion guests quickly. The only TN was Thomas Nadeau. He closed the drawer and smiled at Murphy.

  “So, when did you see Thomas Nadeau?”

  “Tom Nadeau? Oh, yes, he was there. We ate lunch together.”

  Harvey consulted his list. Nadeau had indicated he would attend the funeral, and he was on Mike’s schedule. He said, “And Nadeau also met you first thing, in the parking lot. Is that accurate?”

  Murphy eyed him speculatively, weighing something.

  “It’s not worth lying about,” Harvey said, turning the page on his notepad.

  Murphy’s eyes grew stormy. “I don’t remember very well when I first saw Tom. That may be correct.”

  “So you and Nadeau walked to the beach, and your wife went to visit with her old chums.”

  “Yes, Patricia Lundquist and Carol Harper. I’m not sure what her married name is, but her maiden name was Harper.”

  “You don’t seem to have any trouble remembering who your wife talked to.”

  Murphy’s jaw moved a little.

  “Look, I want to let you go home. Just tell me what happened.” Harvey waited.

  Mike came through, chatting with the couple he had interviewed, and entrusted them to Paula. Turning back toward the interview room, he threw Harvey a questioning glance. Harvey gave the tiniest shrug and waited some more. Arnie was listening to Alison as if he were minutely interested in the recipe for the three-bean salad she’d taken to the picnic.

  “Tom is an associate of mine. He works on my campaigns. Luke came along while the two of us were talking,” Murphy said at last.

  “On the shore.”

  “Yes. Luke said he wanted to speak to me privately, so Tom walked off up the shingle beach and around the point, toward the lighthouse. I didn’t see him again until lunch.”

  “So you didn’t meet Frederick in the parking lot. It was on the shore.”

  “I guess so.”

  “What did he want?”

  “There was something someone had said to him. He didn’t like it. Wanted my opinion.” Murphy sat back in the chair.

  “What was it?” Harvey asked.

  “I can’t—”

  “Yes, you can.”

  Murphy gave him a stony stare. Eddie’s new people were going in, looking impatient.

  “Why did Frederick come to you with this thing?” Harvey asked. “Did it concern you?”

  “No.” He was too quick. “It was someone spreading a rumor about him. He thought it would ruin his business. He’s an accountant, and people have to trust him.”

  “And what? He thought you were good at burying rumors?”

  Murphy’s face reddened. “Look, I don’t have to sit through this.” He started to rise.

  Harvey said quietly, “Yes, you do. If you want to drag it out, we can.”

  The congressman sat. “My lawyer’s here.”

  “You brought your lawyer along?”

  “He was a class member.”

  “You must mean Mervin H. Dawes of Belfast. We’ll be interviewing him shortly.”

  “Yes. We spoke in the waiting room.”

  “And?”

  Murphy’s eyes narrowed. “Should I ask him to come up here?”

  “You tell me. Do you feel like you need a lawyer?”

  He held Harvey’s gaze a few more seconds, then looked down at his hands. “What else do you want to know?”

  “I want to know exactly what Frederick told you.”

  “He wasn’t specific. No names. Just wanted my advice on how to deal with it.”

  “And you told him…”

  “To be up front with his clients. I said he could drop my name if he wanted to. I’d vouch for him.”

  “So you two were friends.”

  “Well, I suppose so. Not close friends.”

  “But you trusted each other.”

  There was a pause before he said, “Yes.”

  “So then you split up? Or did you go up the path together?”

  “No.” He twisted his wedding ring. “I went around the shore the way Tom had gone, and Luke stayed there.”

  “Just stood there when you left?”

  “I’m not sure. I thought he was going up the path to the parking lot.”

  “You didn’t look back?”

  “No.”

  “Did anyone go down to the shore later?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You didn’t see him again that day?”

  “No.”

  “And at lunch, you and Thomas Nadeau ate together.”

  “Yes, he sat on one side of me, and Alison on the other. Martin and Thelma Blake were across the table. Michael and Patricia Lundquist were there, and a couple of others.”

  “Who brought up the school break-in, when you climbed through the air duct?”

  That startled Murphy, and his eyes narrowed. Harvey glanced toward Arnie. He was looking a little strained.

  “I guess that was Tom,” Murphy said. “It was a stupid thing. Didn’t matter. But at the time we were scared we’d get caught, and it seemed like a big deal.”

  “You and Tom Nadeau broke into the school together.”

  “Well, yes. It was after a football game. Tom had left his wallet in his locker, and he needed it because his driver’s license was in it. We decided getting caught sneaking into the school was preferable to getting caught driving without a license. We’d explored the roof before and knew about the duct, so we did it. We didn’t think anyone else knew, though.”

  “But someone did.”

  “Yes, Martin said he’d known it all along. I don’t know how he knew. Maybe Tom had told him at some point and forgotten about it. Maybe I told him myself ’way back when, but I don’t think so.”

  “Martin was an investigator, even then.”

  “Seems like it. He made a name for himself writing exposés.”

  “He said he knew all your secrets. Did that make you nervous?”

  Murphy laughed a little. “Everyone has secrets.”

  “Worse than the air duct?”

  He shrugged. “Politicians are constantly scrutinized, Detective Larson.”

  Harvey flipped back over his notes. “Mr. Murphy, I’m going to let you go, but I may need to contact you again soon. I’ll expect you to keep yourself available to me.”

  “I can’t come over here at the drop of a hat.”

  “Just take my calls.”

  He nodded.

  They stood, and Arnie brought Mrs. Murphy over. They said good-bye cordially, and Paula took the couple downstairs. It was almost five o’clock, and Harvey was tired.

  “Thought I’d go nuts prolonging that conversation,” said Arnie. “You get anything?”

  “Maybe. I’d like all of us to compare notes.”

  “There’s still a lot of people waiting.”

  Mike and his subject came into the room just then, and Harvey asked for a quick conference. Mike too
k the woman to Paula and asked her to hold off on the others for a few minutes. When he came back, they got Pete and Eddie to excuse themselves from their interviews and join them near Harvey’s desk. Harvey got to the point.

  “Murphy changed his story. He told me yesterday he hadn’t seen Frederick, and today he admitted he did. He said he met Thomas Nadeau in the parking lot and went to the beach with him, then Frederick joined them. Nadeau walked around the shore to the lighthouse. Murphy says he left Frederick healthy and walked the same direction Nadeau did, but I don’t know. He made up a story on the spot, to explain what he and Frederick were talking about. Oh, and Nadeau was the kid he broke into the high school with, way back when.”

  “I know all your secrets,” Eddie quoted.

  “Yeah. I’m wondering if Blake knew more secrets than that.”

  Mike said, “Okay, we’re over half done, and these people are getting sick of waiting. Anyone who’s done with his list, take some of Harvey or Arnie’s people, and everybody hit the Nadeau-Frederick thing hard.”

  “If Frederick was killed before lunch,” Harvey said, “or even if he slipped and hit his head on a rock, why didn’t anyone see the body? Other people must have gone down to the shore during the afternoon.”

  “Ask them all,” said Mike. “We need a list of people who went down there, and we need to know what time, and what they saw.”

  Harvey gritted his teeth. “Tomorrow we’ll have to call the ones who didn’t come for the funeral.”

  They took Nadeau from Mike’s list and put him on Harvey’s, swapping him for Dawes, the lawyer. Nadeau answered his questions succinctly, without emotion. Harvey couldn’t get a handle on him.

  “You and David Murphy were on the shore when Luke Frederick arrived?” Harvey asked.

  “Yes, David and I were discussing his next campaign. Luke Frederick came down the hill path and said he wanted a private word with David.”

  “What was his manner?”

  “Maybe a little agitated.”

  “And you left?”

  “I walked around the point toward the lighthouse. I left the shore just below the bell tower and walked up to where the other people were looking at the historical sites.”

  “You didn’t see Frederick again?”