the dead girl (BREAKDOWN Book 1)

by Debra Webb

  And yet he came running when McCabe called.

  Interesting.

  “We’re all present, Chief,” Vernon Bradshaw said, “why don’t you tell us what this is about?”

  “It’s about Sylvia, of course,” Vinn said sharply, his glare aimed at his father. “She’s dead. Somebody murdered her.”

  Vinn had never struck Laney as the angry type. The kid always looked happy. Well, he was certainly angry now. “It is about Sylvia,” Laney said to Vinn. “We really appreciate you talking to us, Vinn.”

  His father practically rolled his eyes. “My son barely knew her, why would you have questions for him?”

  McCabe propped his elbows on the table and folded his arms. He stared directly at the elder Bradshaw for a beat before shifting his attention to Vinn. “Son, is it true that you and Sylvia had cross words a couple of times recently in the parking lot of the gathering hall?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Bradshaw said.

  “Yes, sir.” Vinn’s face had gone pale.

  Bradshaw lifted an eyebrow. “When did this happen?” The question was aimed at his son, no small amount of surprise packed into the four words.

  Parents most always made this situation more difficult, but there was no getting around the man’s presence. “No one is accusing you of anything, Vinn,” Laney hastened to explain. “We’re only looking for any trouble Sylvia may have been having. We thought you might know since you seemed upset on the occasions mentioned. Maybe you were trying to help—to give her advice—and she wouldn’t listen.”

  McCabe’s eyes practically high-fived Laney’s for coming up with such a good and reasonable excuse for their questions.

  Most boys Vinn’s age wanted to feel like heroes, protectors. She doubted Vinn was any different. He was likely ready to be his own man. Rescuing a damsel in distress was a real life fantasy. Laney wanted to tap into that ego torrent.

  Vinn kept his focus on Laney, his fingers gripping the edge of the table as if he feared he might suddenly jump up and run out of the room. “I liked Sylvia,” he said, his voice a little shaky. “We were friends.”

  Laney expected him to be nervous, afraid even. This was tragic, scary business. “I’m certain she was fond of you as well, Vinn. I’ve heard nothing but great things about you. Ms. Perkins says you’re planning to pursue a career in nanotechnology.”

  Vinn nodded. “I want to help develop better drug delivery systems. It’s an exciting field.”

  “Wow. I can’t even imagine.” Laney shook her head. “I’m glad we have students like you to take up the slack of folks like me.”

  A flush crept across his face and that ever present smile widened a bit. “Thanks. I’m lucky to have the opportunity.”

  “Why did you and Sylvia argue?” Laney nudged, maneuvering the conversation back to the reason for this impromptu interview. “Was she in trouble?”

  He stared at the table, lifted his skinny shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know. She never said she was in trouble. We weren’t in a good place the past few weeks.”

  “Did you have a crush on her?”

  His head shot up, his gaze collided with Laney’s. “No way! She was…” A note of anger infused the words. He took a breath, visibly calmed himself. “She was way too old for me.”

  “Friends argue sometimes,” Laney suggested. “Any relationship has ups and downs. What were you and Sylvia arguing about?”

  He lowered his face again, avoiding all eye contact. “I wanted her to stay out of my business.”

  “Was Sylvia harassing you somehow?” McCabe asked.

  Vernon Bradshaw shook his head. “This is ridiculous. Of course she wasn’t harassing him. Like I said, they barely knew each other.”

  “I knew enough,” Vinn snarled at his father. “More than you think.”

  Laney and McCabe exchanged a look. The kid definitely had an underlying animosity related to the victim. That animosity appeared to spill over to his father. Not necessarily an unusual situation between teenagers and parents.

  “What do you know, Vinn?” Laney asked quietly.

  He shrugged again, looked anywhere but at her. “That she lied about things and that’s why we couldn’t be friends anymore.”

  “What things?” McCabe pressed.

  “This is nothing but a fishing expedition,” Bradshaw complained, his tone dismissive.

  “What did Sylvia lie about?” McCabe repeated, rephrasing the question.

  “I don’t know all the things exactly.” Vinn glared at his father as if he had asked the question. “Stuff.” He looked to McCabe then. “Just stuff.”

  “Vinn,” Laney tried another route, “sometimes people make mistakes. Sylvia may not have meant to get into your business or to lie. Everybody says she was a nice person. We’ve done over a dozen of these interviews and people can’t say enough nice things about her. I’ll bet she apologized for whatever she did when you confronted her.”

  He looked directly at Laney then. “She didn’t apologize. She wasn’t sorry. She told me to grow up. She wasn’t as nice as you or anyone else thinks. I guess I made a mistake liking her. Maybe somebody else did, too. Maybe that’s why she’s dead.”

  Bradshaw pushed his chair back and stood. “That’s enough. We’re done here.” He grabbed his son by the arm to usher him to his feet. Vinn pulled away from his touch. “If you have any more questions for my son, you can direct them to our attorney.”

  Vinn stalked out of the room, his father right behind him.

  McCabe hummed a note of surprise. “That was interesting.”

  Laney nodded. “Something Sylvia did or said really upset the kid.”

  Vinn Bradshaw had no record of trouble or any sort of violence. He was the quintessential good kid. Perfect attendance, perfect grades, amazing athlete, volunteered for all the right activities. Laney had a feeling his behavior during the interview was not typical at all. The question was, why?

  “I guess Sylvia had at least one enemy after all.” McCabe stood and pushed in his chair. “I didn’t expect the one we finally unearthed to be a high school kid.”

  “You think he was involved with her physically?” Laney hoped that wasn’t the case. She didn’t want to believe a kid like Vinn would resort to murder, but it happened. Those dark images and sounds from the past whispered through her head. She forced them away. Not going back there.

  “Are you kidding?” McCabe laughed. “Trust me, if he had the chance, he was. Sylvia Cole was gorgeous, any teenage boy would give his right nut for a chance to be with her.”

  Laney walked right into that one. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. Dumb question. If they were involved, maybe she realized her mistake—getting involved with a minor—and tried to break it off and he wasn’t ready to walk away.”

  “Guys have killed for less.”

  She understood that primeval, animalistic instinct better than most.

  Laney started to push in her chair, but hesitated. “Since the Bradshaws have lawyered up, if we want Vinn’s prints we should get them now.” She nodded toward the side of the table where Vinn had sat. “I imagine you can probably handle that, Chief.”

  “I’ll get the kit from my Bronco.” He started for the door but glanced back over his shoulder. “Another good reason for taking my vehicle. I’m always prepared.”

  Laney decided not to mention that she had a good stock of supplies, including a fingerprint kit, in her vehicle as well.

  California was one of the states that required fingerprints for driver’s licenses but sometimes it was just easier to do the collection on site. Cut down on the red tape.

  When the chief was gone, she mulled over all that Vinn had said. Maybe lust had gotten the better of him. Even well behaved, smart guys like Vinn could fall victim to temptation. Once certain lines are crossed, everything changes. Leverage shifts and the best person can end up pressed into a corner. Fear and desperation prompted extreme reactions once cornered. Vinn Bradshaw had big plans for his future. It
was possible Sylvia somehow threw a stumbling block in the way of those plans. If his parents had discovered something between their son and this young woman, all hell had probably broken loose. That could explain the hostility between father and son.

  No, Laney decided. Vernon Bradshaw had too easily agreed to the interview. If he’d had something to fear, he would never have capitulated so readily. Then again, McCabe might have his own leverage. She shook her head. Still, most parents were far too protective to throw their own kids under the bus to save themselves.

  Vinn’s reaction was likely as big of a surprise to his father as it had been to Laney. He had not seen that coming.

  Could Sylvia’s murder be as simple as a teenage obsession?

  Doubtful. For one thing, murder was rarely simple. And for another, there was all that cash. The array of theories on how the victim ended up with that kind of money in her house kept nagging at Laney. Her gut said Sylvia’s murder was about more than a disagreement with a kid or a wad of plastic and cash from her purse.

  There had to be more they were missing.

  A lot more.

  Chapter Seven

  Laney grabbed a burger before going to the cleaning service office. Sparkle was on the east side of the downtown center. Shutter Lake was hardly more than sixty years old but the town had been designed with a vintage feel. Shops ranged in design from Victorian to Craftsman. Sidewalks and streets were cobblestone. Green spaces heavily dotted the landscape. By the middle of September the fall décor had started to appear around town with lots of carved pumpkins and even a fake Jack O’Lantern here and there. Beginning in October, ghosts, black cats, witches and broomsticks had been added. In a few short weeks kids would be running around in costume for the fall festivities, including trick or treating.

  Laney wasn’t a big fan of holidays. Her time was better spent focused on work.

  The Sparkle façade was Victorian with lots of pink details. Very feminine. Inside, the lobby was more like a parlor with lots of velvet and fringe. Laney had called Renata Fernandez and let her know that she needed to interview the employees again. She promised to make it as quick and as painless as possible so they could get back to their scheduled workday.

  Renata complied without hesitation. She met Laney in the lobby. “Everyone’s waiting in the conference room.”

  Laney nodded. “I appreciate you pulling the staff together for lunch. I’m sure it wasn’t easy with their busy schedules.”

  “It was no problem,” she explained as she led the way across the white-tiled lobby, “we generally meet here for lunch. Sylvie liked to ensure everyone had a good meal and a little time to rest. It was important to her to take care of her girls.”

  Sylvia sounded like a dream boss. Renata had also provided the company’s records for all employees—for the second time. Laney noted they were paid well. All but one had been with Sylvia practically since she hired her first employee. There was only one former employee listed. One Josie Rodriguez who had stayed only three months and then left. There hadn’t been an explanation listed in her file. Laney would ask about that later. Rodriguez’s file hadn’t been among the ones provided yesterday, just a note mentioning her brief employment.

  Beyond the lobby there were two offices. The one with the lights turned off and the door closed was Sylvia’s. Bundles of fresh flowers lay against the door. She was missed. Across the hall was Renata’s office. Laney had reviewed the employee files in that office. Moving along the corridor they passed a bathroom. The final door on the left was the conference room/breakroom. At the end of the hall was the door to the storage room where cleaning supplies lined the shelved walls from floor to ceiling. The alley was accessed from that big room, as well. A small parking area directly behind the building was for employees. Six electric cars lined the parking area, each sporting the pink Sparkle logo.

  At the door to the breakroom, Renata hesitated. “You may use my office again if you’d like to conduct each interview privately. For now we prefer to leave Sylvie’s just as it was when she was last here.”

  “Thank you. Privacy would be good.”

  Laney started with Lucinda “Lucy” Gomez. Besides Renata, she had known Sylvia the longest. Gomez had grown up and still lived in nearby Grass Valley. She was twenty-five, petite with dark hair and eyes. Like all of Sylvia’s employees, she was attractive and smart.

  “Have you had a chance to think about the questions Chief McCabe and I asked you yesterday?” During yesterday’s interviews the employees had been so upset that getting answers hadn’t been easy. All the more reason to go over many of those same questions.

  Lucy nodded. “I have thought about nothing else.” She dabbed at her eyes with a wadded tissue. “I don’t understand how anyone could hurt Sylvie. She was such a kind, giving person. You just don’t know how much she did for all of us. She provides health insurance and I know that costs a lot. Our pay is way higher than average. Sylvie was always thinking of our best interests.”

  Although Laney appreciated the woman’s loyalty, these were all things each of them had stated very distinctly already. “I can see that she was a wonderful person and a great boss. But someone killed her, Lucy. There has to be something we’re missing. Someone who didn’t love her as you do. Someone who wasn’t happy with her for some reason. This is where I need your help.”

  The younger woman dropped her gaze, stared at her hands. Her fingers were clasped together in her lap. The pastel pink uniform of slacks and a double-breasted tunic with its contrasting while collar was clean and freshly starched. Her white rubber soled shoes were polished to a shine. “Renata added his house to my schedule.”

  Laney frowned at the sudden topic change. “Whose house?”

  Lucy lifted her gaze to meet Laney’s. “The old recluse.” “Please don’t say anything. We’re not supposed to talk about our clients this way.”

  “You don’t need to worry, Lucy. This conversation is strictly between the two of us.”

  The other woman nodded.

  “Are you referring to Mr. Duval?” Laney supposed he was the closest thing to a recluse they had in Shutter Lake. He rarely left his home that was true. Didn’t participate in any community activities as far as she knew. She had visited him twice in the two years she had been deputy chief. Once to take his dog back to him. The beagle had chased a raccoon and ended up at Laney’s house. The owner’s name and address had been on his collar so she’d taken him home. Duval had thanked her repeatedly. The dog was his only companion. The other time had been to deliver an agenda for a town council meeting. McCabe had hoped the agenda would prompt Duval to attend since the items to be discussed were particularly important, but it hadn’t.

  “Si. Yes.” Lucy moistened her lips. “Sylvie cleaned his home personally. He was one of her first clients and she never allowed anyone else to take care of his home unless she had to go out of town. She said he was special to her, but the rest of us just think he’s a little strange. He watches so closely. It’s creepy.”

  This news Laney found surprising. Sylvia never had to lift a finger beyond telling her staff what to do. In the beginning, Laney could understand that she’d worked hard—despite having wealthy parents—in an effort to gain her independence and to launch her business venture. But she no longer needed to do the grunt work. “Was there anyone else Sylvia took care of personally?”

  “No one. Well, there was the Bradshaws, but they discontinued Sparkle services a while back.”

  There was the tiniest hint of accusation in Lucy’s tone. As much as she loved her boss and friend, she sensed something was off with the relationship.

  All the possibilities tumbled through Laney’s head. Was Sylvia having an affair with the older man? Is that where the stacks of cash in her safe came from? Laney had heard that Duval was loaded. Then again, most of the Shutter Lake residents were. Was he providing drugs to her or vise versa? That theory didn’t make sense. Duval never traveled. Rarely left the house. But he did receive
mail. The drugs could have been delivered via the mail.

  The affair was more likely. Maybe he paid Sylvia for more than polishing his silver. Young women sometimes liked having a sugar daddy. But why would Sylvia need one? Her parents were rich. She had a thriving, very successful business.

  The tense interview with Vinn Bradshaw came to mind. Maybe Sylvia liked having an older guy and a younger one, too. Laney put the thought aside for the moment. The high school kid wouldn’t have had access to the kind of money found in Sylvia’s house. And that money came from somewhere. Odds were it was not from a legal source. Otherwise, why hide it? Why not allow it to draw interest? Rates were good right now.

  Laney asked, “Are you afraid of Mr. Duval?” This seemed the most logical possibility for Lucy’s discomfort about the man.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe a little. I was there this morning and he hardly said two words. He sat in front of the fireplace and just stared at the flames. He didn’t say nothing to me. Not even hello. We’ve all heard stories about him.” She stared at her hands again. “I really should not say such things. I could get in trouble.”

  “Remember, Lucy, what you say to me is in confidence. I won’t share your personal feelings with anyone, not even Renata.”

  She nodded her understanding. “I shouldn’t judge. It’s not right.”

  “What kind of stories have you heard?” This was news to Laney. She’d never heard a single story, good or bad, about Troy Duval.

  “They say he murdered his wife and daughter.” She dared to look up at Laney but only for a moment. “He lived in Carmel. His wife was some famous actress. His daughter was just a little girl. They were murdered while he was home.”

  Laney considered the high profile Hollywood murders she’d heard about growing up. Only one fit the bill Lucy was suggesting. “Are you talking about Madelyn Yates?” Yates and her daughter were murdered, her husband had been in his office, the former pool house, so he wasn’t actually in the house when the murders occurred. But he hadn’t been more than thirty yards away.