Murder on Edwards Bay (The Maude Rogers Crime Novels Book 2)

by Linda L. Dunlap

  “Look,” she said, “it may sound foolish, but I think Leroy Thomas killed that girl with a chisel, the shape of the blade would work if the end was sharpened for penetrating the flesh.”

  “Well, Maude, why don’t I just do that inventory? Maybe the fool put it back in the box.”

  “I’m hoping he did. If that’s true and we can find blood and the girl’s DNA on it, we definitely have our killer of Jenny Marx. If not, it won’t take much of your time. By the way, you got the coffee on? I can bring some sweet rolls.”

  “See you soon Maude. I like those big fat cinnamon rolls with pecans.”

  “Yeah, soon, Jack.”

  The road was slick from the rain the night before. Temperatures had fallen to below freezing, but Maude dragged her heavy coat out of the big carrier she had on the back of the truck. Most people put their tools in those and called them a toolbox, but she carried groceries and spare travel gear in it. She was glad to find the coat.

  When she arrived at the Sheriff’s Office, several deputies and Joe Allen eyed the boxes in her arms, hoping for breakfast.

  “Dig in fellas,” she said. “Save one for me and one for Jack.”

  “He’s out in the garage, Maude,” Joe said from across the room. The edge of his top lip was already closing on the first bite of the thick sweet rolls.

  “Better give me those before they disappear,” she said, pouring two cups of strong black coffee, headed out the side door to the garage near the back of the building. “Be back shortly.”

  The roll top door to the garage was closed, but Maude could see the side entrance that Jack had taken to the secured van. It was good that the impound site was within the confines of the county office, the closeness made it convenient for inventory searches. The doors were kept locked at all times, with the impound bay entirely enclosed away from vehicles being repaired. The chain of custody had to be strict and only Jack had the key to the impound locks.

  “So what do you see, my friend?” she asked him, approaching from the left side of the van. “Anything there?” she added hopefully.

  “Well,” Jack said, pulling his gloves off. He lifted one of the sweet rolls to his mouth and ate a quarter of it in one bite. “Well,” he repeated, chewing. “We have a few things, among them: a hammer, pliers, measuring tape, 8 inch blade chisel, crescent wrench and tire tool. Does that help?”

  “Jack, this could be the real thing. May I see it?”

  “Sure,” he said, “but it’s at the lab getting tested; didn’t want to waste any time. That fella will be trying to post bond. If we get some real physical evidence against him, he won’t be going anywhere.”

  “Oh,” he added, “took a picture of it for you.”

  The digital photo was clear and clean, the image it portrayed was no doubt a carpenter or workman’s chisel. What made it different was the tip had been sharpened into a thin narrow blade. The rest of the body was rectangular, one inch wide and about a half inch thick. A deadly tool.

  “We got him, Maude. We got that bald, arrogant S.O.B.!”

  While she was in the impound lot, a call came in for Maude but her phone was in the front office where she had left it in her haste to get outside to Jack. The message envelope was showing in the corner of the smart phone, letting her know that someone had called and left her a voice mail. Maude knew that few people knew her number; however, there were some locals who had asked how to get in touch with her while Jack was healing

  “Excuse me,” Maude said, “but someone called this number and asked me to call. This is Maude Rogers, how can I help you?”

  “Oh, this is Susan Bright. Do you remember me?”

  “Miss Bright, how could I forget you?” Maude answered. “What do you need?”

  “You said to call if I remembered seeing anything unusual at my grandparents place when that murder was done? And I was like, sure, I’ll call, but you were already busy, and I was like, okay, anyway, I thought of something.”

  “Susan, slow down. Where are you?”

  “At Gandy’s. I rode my bike over her to get a soda. Want me to wait?”

  “Yes, wait for me. I’ll be there soon.”

  Whatever Susan had to say, important or not, Maude knew she needed to ask Gandy if the woman in the SUV had been back. She also wanted to ask if Theodore Billings was around. Maude remembered that the old man came to Gandy’s on occasion when someone would bring him in a boat. She would like to know if the old man had remembered anything at all about that day.”

  The skinny teenager with the stringy blonde hair was waiting in the damp weather, her arms and legs covered by a workout suit. “Aren’t you cold, Susan?”

  “I was when I was riding over here. I’m okay now. Then I was like, wow, its cold outside.”

  “What do you have to tell me?”

  “That day, when my grandfather’s boat got stolen, I saw the man take it.”

  “Can you describe him?”

  “Yeah, he was tall, dark hair, and he was like, trying to be real sneaky, but see I’m in my room watching because a bird was sitting on the window. And I was like, hey is he taking the boat?”

  “Did you tell your grandparents?”

  “Na, they were gone, playing bridge.”

  “Have you seen him again, Susan?”

  “Once. What I wanted to tell you was, he, uh, was here, talking to a woman that night after the murders. You and Sheriff Jack had gone. I like, biked over here to get a soda and there he was, sitting in a black SUV. And I was like, okay, maybe he didn’t steal the boat. Maybe they loaned it to him so it’s not my thing.”

  “Did you see the woman, Susan? Like up close?” Oh God, Maude thought, she has me doing it now.

  “She was still pretty. Curly hair, kind of long. Old, maybe forty. I was like, okay, maybe she’s old but she looks good.”

  Maude groaned at the girl’s assessment of age and asked, “What happened after they talked? Did the man get out of the vehicle?”

  “Idk. I left.”

  “What did you just say, Susan?” Maude asked, puzzled.

  “Idk, I don’t know.” The girl sounded impatient that Maude was like maybe getting deaf.

  “Oh. Sorry. My mistake. Thank you Susan. You’ve been a big help. Have you slowed down on the highway? “

  “Yeah. Some. I got to go,” the girl said, jumping on the bike and pulling the jacket hood over her hair. “Bye” she said, pedaling off.

  “Youth, how you are wasted on the young.” Maude said, shaking her head.

  “Listen, what’s happened to Leroy? He was supposed to see me yesterday, give me my money. He hasn’t called or sent a message. I’m getting worried.” Harry Charles was a man who liked getting things done right. He didn’t always know the ins-and-outs of everything, but he always knew his part, and expected others to know theirs. His conversation with the dark–haired woman was the first since the job on the lake. He didn’t socialize with her, didn’t want to know her friends, and couldn’t wait to get off the phone.

  “I don’t know, I haven’t seen him either. He has mine too. I don’t like it one little bit. I have bills and appointments. If that rat has run out on me I don’t know what I’ll do for money. Sure there’s enough to get by for a while, but it won’t last. How did I get involved with such a loser anyway? Hey I don’t expect you to have an answer.”

  Harry nodded his head as the woman was talking, agreeing with all she had said. Leroy was a loser. If he had known that in advance, the deal would have been off. It was a simple project. Go to the resort, check in, pretend that he and the woman were married. Make friends with the doctor and his girlfriend-become a nuisance if necessary. They had to find out the couple’s agenda. Most of all don’t get the management looking at them. Stay under the radar.

  The job had to be done away from the resort-Boss’s orders-and the girl had to be humiliated. The doc was strong and Harry had almost lost control before Leroy stepped in and clocked the doc on the jaw. It all went fast after th
at. Leroy had the best job, the girl, but Harry got in a little bit too before they finished her off. Hurray for condoms. It was sweet, the set-up. That was Leroy’s idea.”

  Harry had been in the business for a number of years, and had heard of Leroy Thomas, but just in passing. The business put you with people you didn’t like. The thing was, Leroy had a rep for being really brutal. Some people who knew called him the Chisel Man, owing to the weapon he used. Harry liked a little more class, and tried to jam himself up where he wasn’t available for a job. But this time the money was the best, and plenty of help to get it done, so he took the work.

  He wondered what the doc had done to deserve losing his woman and his life in the same few minutes. Seeing her get the business from Leroy sent him over the edge. Good thing he didn’t live long enough to see Harry get his part of the action.

  A week had passed and the money hadn’t shown up; too long, something was wrong. So he had called Ginger. She had been the shill, to get the targets trust. Harry couldn’t understand why they didn’t knock both of them off in the room but who was he to say anything. The Boss had wanted it done a certain way. At least that’s what Leroy said.

  Ginger was in the same shape as Harry, they did the job, but no money yet. Harry was really pissed. He might have to do something. But what? He didn’t know the Boss; had no one to call. Unless… Harry remembered something about the white piece of crap van. Leroy had said the Boss’s connection owned some transport line. What was the name on that van? Some book company-B&G Transport, yeah. That was it. Junk vans. Old, use them, set them on fire. No real investment.

  Harry called Ginger back. “Hey, Harry here. B&G Transport, can you find ‘em on your computer?”

  Ginger: “I don’t know. Maybe. Why don’t you do a Google search?

  Harry: “A what?”

  Ginger: “Never mind. Wait. Okay, I got a number. Now what?”

  Harry: “Call ‘em up, find out where they are. That crappy van Leroy drove was logoed up with that company name”

  She disconnected the phone, waited a while; called back.

  “231 Highway 78, around back of the main building, that’s where they keep the trucks.”

  Harry: “How’d you get all that?”

  Ginger: “Like I said, Google search.”

  “Meet you out front of my apartment. Pick me up in twenty minutes.” Harry was very specific. “I need my money.”

  Chapter 20

  Things were moving faster now, and the Madison detectives were thinking of winding up their part of the investigation soon. Jack could take care of the end details, but Maude had hoped Leroy Thomas would still consider giving up the others. She decided that some aggressive actions on their part might light a fire under the man. Talking to Joe helped, and they worked the kinks out of the investigation so far, deciding how to proceed.

  An attorney of record had been to visit Leroy and broke the sad news to him. The charges of Capital Murder, Murder, Aggravated Sexual Assault, and Possession of Marijuana were top-billed. Some minor add-ons included driving an unlicensed vehicle. Leroy had been in the dark about the enormous amount of evidence the police had against him. When the lawyer lit him up with the news, Leroy lost it and began screaming epithets against the whole Sheriff’s Department and that prissy old woman cop who put cuffs on him.

  The holding over, it was to the big jail for Leroy where he would wait to go before a justice of the peace and be formally charged. Like so many others whose lives are bent on hurting others, Leroy began acting out in his cell, coating the window with feces and slinging a mixture of urine and feces from his drinking cup onto the jail guards. The last act got him some time in the discipline chair where he was tied down at all four quarters to a metal seat, an anti-spit mask was put over his mouth and he couldn’t do any damage to life or limb. Leroy screamed a stream of filth from under the mask until he realized that the door was mostly sound proof,

  That had been in the morning hours, and later, after he settled down, the guards let him out of the chair and put him in a real cell where he got a sack lunch and began to act almost human. Two baloney sandwiches and an apple later, the inmate named Leroy Thomas was almost civil. That’s when Maude and Joe showed up.

  “Leroy, good to see you. Now, the last time I talked to you, you were particularly rude. I would appreciate it if you would use your good manners and sit here like a real human being instead of a wild baboon. Think you can do that, or do I have to yell at those guards that you’re making threats against them, me, and the Federal Government.? Remember that chair has your butt’s imprint already”

  Gritting his teeth soundly, Leroy nodded his head that he understood. He did look a fright, Maude thought. The jail clothes were too small for him, the lower part resting a foot above his ankles, and the shirt split at the muscles on his arms. The jumpsuit was pink, to distinguish him as dangerous. What it did was make him look clownish with his hair starting to grow in on the sides and crown. The front of his head continued to be as slick as a billiard ball.

  “Thank you. Have you given any thought to what we talked about yesterday?” she asked him. “You know, about the needle.”

  He hesitated a minute, the corners of his mouth beginning to get wet, and he whispered, “Yeah. I thought about it.”

  “And what did you come up with, Leroy? Are you going to take it like a man and carry it all to the table then when they strap you down and hang that poison bag over you, will you think, ‘let’s win this for the Gipper?’ You know, that he-man sports talk you guys do.”

  “Huh?” Leroy was thinking, not listening.

  “We’re right here, just waiting for you to wise up,” Joe said. “You think the rest of your crew is going to cover for you? You already killed Spillar, so your chances for needle relief have gone down by one.”

  Maude waited, her experience telling her that Leroy was in the spot that criminals hated, to snitch or not to snitch-to live or die. He could go either way, but his innate selfishness would push him to his best advantage, however he played it. She was at a juncture with the man, and soon would wield no influence over him. It was now or never.

  She began to rise during Leroy’s silence, getting her badge and notebook ready to pocket and leave.

  “What are you doing? Where are you going?” The panic showed in the killer’s voice.

  “You’ve wasted enough of my time. You know what we want. Give up your accomplices and the money man, now, or I’m leaving, and you can rot in hell for all I care.”

  “Okay,” he whispered.

  “What? What did you say?” she pressed him; determined to finish it.

  “I said okay. I’ll talk.”

  “Guard,” Maude spoke from the door.“Do you have a recorder and a spare tape?”

  “Yes ma’am, came the response. “Right here, but we have a better digital one.”

  “I’m sure you do, but digital information gets erased or changed too easily.”

  “Yes, ma’am, whatever you say.”

  Harris County was known for being big, both in number of souls and square miles. Leroy Thomas told his story, no doubt embellishing where he thought it was needed, and keeping to himself the most incriminating descriptions of his violent life. Suffice to say that he was a man who had lived his life for himself, without thought of others’ welfare. His parents were old, in a Houston rest home, the thin gruel and milk-less gravy sort of establishment. He hadn’t seen them since the old man lost his social security income to the Home. The old lady was demented, or so Leroy thought, he didn’t care one way or the other.

  The son had lived with the elderly couple until five years ago then had to find his own pad after they were taken to the Home. He had always been big and other, smaller people were sometimes scared of him. That was how it happened, how he started working in the enforcer business, first as a bouncer in bars, then as debt collector for a bookie. He got into the murder business accidentally when one of the deadbeats wouldn’t pay his gambling d
ebt but pulled a gun instead.

  Leroy was strong, using steroids when he could afford them to build a huge muscular frame. He took the gun away from the deadbeat and strangled him with his hands. After that, he gained some expertise in killing, and developed his reputation. He also made a lot of money, though not so much at first as he made from the recent job.

  Part of the story he told to the detectives, the rest he kept to himself, never admitting anything that would make him look bad. What he told Maude Rogers for her recorder was his contact; the Boss, didn’t live in Houston; actually, Leroy didn’t know where he lived. The Boss had a phone number and an email address. Leroy’s money was paid to him through a post office box. He had a key and the Boss had a key.

  The contract on the doctor and his girlfriend was made a few days previous to starting the job. The Boss made his demands straightforward, giving the expected date of completion. The date of the assignment was explicit, the weekend set aside as the time frame. The method was orchestrated by Leroy, with stipulations from the Boss. Leroy didn’t know where the Boss got his assignment. You didn’t question a man who was that specific, even if you wanted to.

  Aaron Dennis and Jenny Marx had been in the resort for a few hours when one of the men that Leroy hired, Harry Charles, and the woman, Ginger Ferris checked in right next to the couple. The man at the desk said he could use the extra fifty they gave him. Harry told a story about ‘their wedding day five years ago spent in that room, nothing shady going on.’

  Harry and Ginger found out the couple’s intended boat outing on Monday and made their plans around that day. Harry had an acquaintance named Carl Spillar who lived in the projects. Spillar needed money and agreed to steal a boat for their use. He was told what kind they wanted-a small fishing boat that wouldn’t draw attention on the lake.

  Leroy liked the ladies and admitted to cozying up to the cleaning girl Perla Suarez, having sex with her then he told her what he wanted. He knew there was a maintenance man worked at the resort, and told Perla to get him in the sack Sunday night and save the used condom. She didn’t want to do it, but Leroy convinced her with money and a little slapping around. He never saw the man, didn’t want to see him, in fact, Leroy was never at the resort. Harry had arranged for Leroy to meet the cleaning girl the first time in the grocery store. She was impressed with his size and his muscles.