Slow Kill kk-9

by Michael McGarrity

  The die-off of the forest throughout the mountains and foothills of northern New Mexico was creating a major wildfire hazard. According to the forestry experts, not much could be done about it.

  Kim Dean’s house, a solar adobe on five acres, overlooked the old settlement. Two huge dead pinon trees at the front of the property drooped burly barren branches over the driveway. On the off chance that Dean was home, Ramona blocked the driveway with her unit and, accompanied by the two detectives, went in on foot. A quick perimeter check of the house and horse barn turned up nothing other than Dean’s two geldings.

  Dean’s flight to avoid arrest and the search warrant for his premises were all the justification needed to enter the house. They knocked first, waited a minute, then kicked in the front door with weapons at the ready, and cleared the house room by room.

  In a workshop attached to the two-car garage, Ramona found a number of small knives and cutting tools on a table made of sawhorses and plywood, several of them coated with a thin layer of pale yellow dust. She bagged and tagged them right away.

  Six-foot-high steel shelves filled with paint cans, bottles, coffee cans, and plastic storage bins lined one wall. Waist-high, built-in cabinets made from plywood and rough lumber ran along the opposite wall. Boxes of junk were strewn around the floor. From the looks of it, Dean was a total pack rat, which was an encouraging sign.

  Ramona put the two detectives to work going through the shelves, the toolboxes, and cabinets. She cleared a space on the floor, covered it with clear plastic, and started emptying the trash basket next to the table piece by piece. She found a crumpled paper bag containing traces of yellow dust and a number of loose, oval-shaped, empty capsules.

  Her cell phone rang, and the senior detective at the pharmacy search reported in. In Dean’s desk he’d found a full, unopened packet of the active thyroid ingredient and a copy of the wholesaler’s invoice showing that two packets, not one, had been delivered to Dean a month before Clifford Spalding’s last visit to Santa Fe.

  “Describe the packet to me,” Ramona said.

  “A small white box, two by three inches, sealed at both ends, with the name of the drug on a manufacturer ’s label.”

  “Good deal,” Ramona said. “Make sure it’s dusted for prints.”

  “Already done,” the detective replied.

  Ramona disconnected, whistled at the two detectives, and told them what to start looking for. Then she called Sergeant Lowrey in California and gave her a status update.

  “I hope you find that packet,” Lowrey said.

  “If not, we still may come away with enough evidence to tie Dean to the crime.”

  “You think Dean may be on his way out here?” Ellie asked.

  “Possibly,” Ramona said. “Have you talked to Claudia?”

  “Not yet. I’m on my way to her house right now,” Ellie said. “I’ll get back to you.”

  Ramona put the cell phone away and went through the trash again until she was satisfied nothing had been overlooked. The two detectives were digging through the cabinets and pulling the plastic containers off the shelves. It would take time to go through everything, but they just might get lucky.

  Ellie Lowrey found the Spalding estate no less mind-boggling on her second visit. In the past, she’d read newspaper articles about celebrities and their multimillion-dollar Montecito properties. But it had been impossible for her to imagine what that kind of money could buy until she’d seen it firsthand. In some ways, it still didn’t compute.

  The solemn-looking secretary who met Ellie at the driveway took her through the vast living room, down a wide, long, arched corridor with tiny recessed ceiling lights that softly illuminated the paintings on the wall, and into a sunroom filled with exotic plants and wicker furniture that opened onto a patio at the rear of the house.

  In the center of the patio were a large swimming pool and a separate hot tub surrounded by marble tile. Scattered around the pool was enough lawn furniture to accommodate forty or more people. Off to one side of the house stood an outdoor kitchen with stainless steel appliances, a built-in gas barbecue grill, and a work island protected by a freestanding pergola.

  Beyond the swimming pool four cabanas sat near two tennis courts. A large swath of carefully groomed lawn in front of a low garden wall served as a putting green. At the bottom of a gently sloping hill, a gardener pruned shrubbery lining a pathway to a guesthouse three times the size of Ellie’s modest home.

  Claudia Spalding stepped out of the guesthouse and paused along the pathway to speak to the gardener. She wore black slacks and a sleeveless black scooped top. At her neck a large solitary diamond glimmered in the sunlight.

  “This is not a good time,” Spalding said stiffly when Ellie drew near. Her thin mouth was pinched, but her makeup, right down to the long lashes, eye shadow, and creamy red lip rouge, had been perfectly applied.

  “I’m sorry to disturb you,” Ellie said.

  “What do you want, Sergeant?”

  “Have you spoken to Kim Dean recently?”

  “Yes, I called him yesterday to tell him about Clifford’s death, as I have many other people. We’ve spoken several times since then.”

  “Did he say anything to you about leaving Santa Fe?”

  Spalding pushed a wisp of hair away from her cheek. “No.”

  “An arrest warrant charging him with murder has been issued in Santa Fe,” Ellie said.

  Spalding’s aloof expression vanished. She drew her head back sharply. “Impossible.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Kim is perfectly happy with our relationship as it is. He has no reason to harm my husband.”

  “Can you think of any reason for him to leave work suddenly?”

  “Perhaps he had an emergency of some sort at home,” Spalding said.

  “He’s not at his house,” Ellie replied.

  “Have you checked with his ex-wife in Colorado?” Claudia asked. “She constantly calls Kim to come and deal with his son when the boy acts out. The child has serious behavior problems.”

  “That’s good to know,” Ellie said. “Where else might he have gone?”

  “I have no idea,” Spalding said.

  Ellie looked meaningfully at the guesthouse. “Would he be coming here?”

  “No,” Claudia said emphatically.

  Ellie stared hard at Spalding. “If you know where he is and refuse to tell me, you can be charged as an accessory to murder.”

  Spalding waved her hand in annoyance. “You must be joking.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then tell me what in the world makes you think Kim killed Clifford.”

  “I can’t go into that, Mrs. Spalding.”

  “Well, whatever your reasons, it’s all absurd.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because Kim isn’t a violent person by nature. He’s very low-key. Calm and easygoing.”

  “Why did you go to Dean’s pharmacy immediately after you picked up your husband’s thyroid prescription?” Ellie asked.

  Claudia’s eyes turned angry. “I’ll answer your silly question and then you must leave. It’s the only store in Santa Fe that carries the perfume I use. Kim stocks it especially for me. Now, I have a funeral to arrange and a husband to bury. If you have any more questions, speak to my lawyer. Please wait here; Sheila will show you out.”

  Ellie watched Spalding move across the patio and into the house. Was Dean a bully who, according to Ramona Pino, browbeat his employees? Or a low-key, pussycat kind of guy, as Claudia Spalding characterized him? The steel inside Claudia Spalding made Ellie doubt the woman would be attracted to a subservient man. But anything was possible. Maybe Spalding was a closet dominatrix.

  Ellie tried to visualize Claudia Spalding cracking a whip while wearing spike-heel boots and leather. The idea of it almost made her laugh out loud.

  Sheila, the woman who’d escorted Ellie to the patio, arrived and guided her back through the house. Along the way,
Ellie learned that Clifford Spalding’s corporation was headquartered in Los Angeles, at Century City, and that Spalding had been in his office briefly the same day he’d driven to the horse ranch in Paso Robles.

  Tomorrow, Ellie started her days off. She decided a trip to LA was in order.

  The afternoon sunlight drenched the mountains with a golden hue. Cramped from sitting on the floor digging through boxes of junk, Ramona stood, bent over, touched her toes, and stretched. Behind her, Detective Matt Chacon was on his hands and knees with a flashlight trying to fish something out from behind the back of one of the built-in cabinets. Paul Austin, the other detective, was labeling Baggies filled with samples spooned from the various containers for analysis.

  “Let’s wrap it up,” Pino said. “We’ll take everything we’ve got to the lab and see what they can make of it.”

  “What some folks won’t do to commit murder,” Chacon said with a grin as he got to his feet, holding a dusty, white pharmaceutical packet in his hand. He shook it gently. “It’s got stuff in it.”

  “Bag it, tag it, load everything up, and let’s get the hell out of here,” Ramona said, grinning back at Chacon.

  Kim Dean was still on the run and, according to Ellie Lowrey, apparently not in hiding at the estate in Montecito. Even with that bit of bad news, Kerney finished up his day at the office feeling good about the progress of the investigation. Thanks to the evidence found at Dean’s house, they now had a much stronger case. Not perfect enough to go un-challenged by a good defense attorney, but compelling nonetheless.

  Claudia Spalding’s possible involvement still bothered Kerney. He hoped that once Dean was in custody he’d provide some answers.

  Earlier, Kerney had hand-delivered a copy of his transcribed Spalding notes to Agent Joe Valdez and explained his suspicions. Joe agreed to delve into Clifford Spalding’s business and financial dealings in New Mexico as his time allowed, and report back.

  A check of public records on the Spaldings and Debbie Calderwood was proceeding. Kerney didn’t expect too much to come from it, but sometimes routine sources yielded valuable information.

  The second-floor administrative suite was empty when Kerney left headquarters. He spent a minute chatting with a gang unit detective in the parking lot before heading out to Arroyo Hondo where Claudia Spalding lived. As far as Kerney knew, only one neighbor, Nina Deacon, had been interviewed, and he wanted to see who else might know something about Claudia Spalding and Kim Dean.

  Tucked out of view from the highway, Arroyo Hondo contained the ruins of an old pueblo owned by the Archeological Conservancy, and a nearby parcel preserved as open space. The land away from the arroyo was a semirural residential area of ten-and twenty-acre tracts populated by a well-to-do horsey set. Houses, paddocks, corrals, and barns speckled the fenced pastures and pinon-juniper woodlands that flowed down from the foothills.

  Kerney found the driveway to Spalding’s house on Laughing Pony Road and paid visits to the closest neighbors on either side. Nina Deacon wasn’t at home, and the people he talked with only knew Claudia Spalding casually and weren’t acquainted with Kim Dean at all. No one told him anything of value.

  He drove away from the last house ready to pack in his impromptu canvass, go home, and call Sara. Up the road he saw a pickup truck turn into Spalding’s driveway. He followed and found an older Hispanic man unloading hay bales from the bed of his truck parked next to the horse barn.

  “Mrs. Spalding isn’t here,” the man said as Kerney got close.

  “I know,” Kerney said, displaying his shield. “Who are you?”

  “Sixto Giron. Is there trouble?” Giron dropped a hay bale on the ground and brushed off his dusty shirt. He had a heavily wrinkled face and a guileless manner.

  “No trouble,” Kerney said. “Do you work for Mrs. Spalding?”

  “Yes, part-time. A few hours now and then every week, and I look after the horses when she is gone.”

  “What about Nina Deacon?”

  Giron nodded. “Same thing. She’s also out of town, judging a horse show in Canada.”

  “Do you know about Mr. Spalding’s death?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Spalding called and told me. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Tell me about Kim Dean.”

  “I work for him also, when he needs me. Mostly I haul away manure, or bring fresh straw for the stalls. He does most of the other work himself.”

  “What can you tell me about his relationship with Mrs. Spalding?”

  Giron shrugged. “Not much. They trail ride together, usually on weekends. Sometimes I see him visiting here, sometimes Claudia is at his house. They’re good friends.”

  “Do they have a favorite place to trail ride?” Kerney asked.

  Giron pushed his cap back and scratched above his ear. “They like to take the horses on some property Dean owns up on the Canadian River. He bought canyon land that doesn’t have a right-of-way road access to it, so he got it for real cheap.”

  “Where is it, exactly?” Kerney asked.

  “I don’t know. But Tito Perea, my primo, does. Kim hired him to pack in some building supplies so he could fix up an old cabin. Tito made four or five trips with his mules two summers ago.”

  “How can I reach Tito?”

  “He lives in Pecos, but he isn’t home. He’s outfitting for a group of turistas who are riding in the mountains for a week.”

  “I bet Tito has a cell phone,” Kerney said.

  Giron laughed at himself. “I forgot. He gave me the number, but I never use it.” He pulled out his wallet, and read off Tito’s cell phone number.

  Kerney helped Giron unload the hay before he left. It was too late in the day to have anyone go looking for Dean on the Canadian. Northeast of Santa Fe, the canyon lands were a place with few roads, bad trails, quicksand, twisting gorges, and dangerous rimrock passages.

  If he could contact Tito Perea tonight and get directions, he’d call the Harding County sheriff in the morning and ask him to check out Dean’s cabin.

  Chapter 6

  A gent Joe Valdez of the state police had grown up on the east side of Santa Fe in an adobe house a few blocks away from Canyon Road. When he was in high school, his parents had sold the house at what was then a tidy profit and moved the family into a new home in a south-side subdivision. Many neighbors followed suit, and the exodus of Hispanic families quickly transformed the area into an enclave for rich Anglos.

  Now, whenever a house in the old neighborhood came on the market, it was invariably advertised as “a charming, upgraded adobe within easy walking distance of the Plaza and Canyon Road,” with asking prices in the high six-figure range and beyond.

  Only a few of Joe’s old neighbors had stayed put. One family, the Sandovals, still owned two houses on East Alameda, plus a property that had once been an old motor lodge built in the 1930s.

  When motels replaced motor lodges, the family converted the units into a number of small retail stores. A later transformation turned the property into a boutique hotel, the very one that, according to Kerney’s notes, Clifford Spalding had leased from the Sandoval family for ninety-nine years.

  Trinidad Sandoval, the patron of the family, had rolled the dice when Spalding made his offer to lease. He mortgaged everything he owned, borrowed more money, then completely gutted the building and made major additions to it, including two-story suites with balconies, fireplaces, and hot tubs.

  The risk paid off and the family became wealthy. Trinidad, now in his eighties, still lived up the street from the hotel in the unassuming house where he’d been born.

  Early in the morning, Joe Valdez parked his unmarked unit under a cottonwood tree and knocked on Trinidad’s front door. He’d called the night before, asking for a few minutes of Trinidad’s time. Sandoval greeted him quickly with a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

  Still arrow-straight, but an inch or two shorter than when he was in his prime, Sandoval had lost weight since Joe had last seen him. He wore a starch
ed white shirt and pressed blue jeans pulled up high above his waist, cinched tight by a belt, and freshly polished shoes.

  “What do you need to see this old man for?” Trinidad asked.

  Joe smiled. “For a cup of coffee, perhaps?”

  Trinidad nodded. “Come in, and tell me about your family.”

  A widower for many years but doggedly self-sufficient, Sandoval had a daughter who lived next door and kept an eye on him. In the kitchen, a tidy room that reflected Trinidad’s fastidious nature, he served Joe coffee and asked about his wife and sons.

  “So, everyone is healthy and well,” Trinidad said, when Joe finished bragging about his family. “That is what is most important, to be happy and well. But you didn’t come here for an old man’s philosophy of life. What brings you to see me, Mr. Policeman?”

  Joe laughed. “I’d like to talk to you about Clifford Spalding.”

  “For what reason?”

  “Spalding has died under suspicious circumstances, and I’m looking into questions about his finances.”

  Sandoval shook his head. “When you get to be my age, it seems like everyone you know dies. What are these suspicious circumstances you speak of?”

  “He may have been murdered,” Joe replied.

  Trinidad quickly crossed himself. “I will say a prayer for him at Mass.”

  “How did Spalding come to do business with you?”

  “First, he tried to buy the property through a Realtor. But I wouldn’t sell. Because of the zoning, I knew it was valuable. It was only one of a few commercial parcels close to the Plaza that could be developed into a hotel without difficulty. When he offered to lease it, I accepted, because it kept everything in the family.”