I blew out a breath. "Maybe Jennifer only kept the things that had sentimental value. Tossed everything else. Or maybe Jason only grabbed one box. Maybe there’s more? Who knows?"
Boomer’s sudden yapping alerted us to Ted’s arrival. I put a finger to my lips and Zelda nodded.
Chapter Forty-Two
Thanks to Eric, we knew Joe was at Dan’s, so we let ourselves into the office with our key. Still, I checked the front office and the back room to be sure. I grunted. "Good."
"You and Gramps still on the outs?"
I flailed my arms. "What do you think? He abandons me for a murderer and expects me to do what he wants? Screw him." I opened a storage cabinet, looking for Marley’s files. "Are you and Eric still working on the case?"
Zelda pawed through filing cabinet drawers. "Not since before Christmas. And even then, it was only a couple of interviews. Eric’s still doing document searches and working that stupid website though." She shrugged. "It seems pretty pointless, but what do I know?"
I glanced at her. "Anything coming in on the website?"
Zelda closed a file drawer and rolled another one open. "Nothing worth a crap according to Eric." She creased her brow. "Joe’s going to railroad us into working on it too, right?"
I scoffed. "Let him try. I’ll be damned if I’ll lift a finger to help Atkinson." I closed the storage cabinet and moved onto the next one. "And why should I help Joe, when he dumped my case?"
Zelda scooped files out of the drawer and stacked them on Joe’s desk. "Pay dirt." She frowned at me. "I thought you were on the fence about Atkinson."
I pursed my lips. "Things change. And there’s something I haven’t told you yet." I looked around feeling paranoid. "But let’s get out of here first."
We packed the files in an empty banker’s box and Zelda grabbed it. "Let’s go."
We met Joe on the way out. "Well if it ain’t my two favorite lady investigators."
Zelda said, "Happy New Year, Joe."
He stared at the box in Zelda’s hands. "Whatcha got there?"
I glared at him. "Marley’s files. They’re mine, and I’m going to take them home. Since I’m sole investigator on Rose’s case now."
Joe backed us into the office. "Do tell? Looks like there’s two of y’all to me."
I grabbed Zelda by the arm and stepped around Joe. "So? You have a problem with that?"
He waved an arm at the visitor chairs. "No need to be pissy Miss Scotti. I admit I been derelict in my duties to you, and I aim to rectify that. But we got other things to discuss today."
Zelda gave me a hopeful look. I threw up my arms. "Make it quick."
We sat in the chairs across from Joe’s desk. He plopped into his chair and said, "You’ll be happy to know that we got ourselves a jury in the Atkinson case."
Zelda said, "Congratulations."
He smiled like a proud papa. "Yes indeed. Eight women and four men. And as I’m sure you’re aware, Dan, legal genius that he is, got the bail revisited, which the judge in his infinite wisdom granted."
I shook my head. "I still can’t believe it."
Joe grinned like the carnival was in town. "Believe it. The prosecution has failed to find a second body, and rightly, the charges were reduced to a single count of second degree murder. You got a problem with that, take it up with D.A. Pembroke."
Zelda and I exchanged a look. Pembroke worked another case we were involved in, and she was no cream puff. I smiled. "Pembroke? Interesting."
Joe sat back and rested his laced hands on his belly, looking more pregnant than me. "That’s right. Pembroke wasn’t too happy, but all we did was follow the law."
I smirked. "Not guilty by reason of missing baby? That’s the defense?"
Joe nodded. "Something like that." He rapped the desk top with his knuckles. "Which brings me to y’all. Eric needs help on the tipster website. Doing follow up and such."
I gaped at him. "You’re kidding right?"
Joe’s enthusiasm could not be quelled. "Not at all. I figure you work the website, then Zelda and Eric can do any field interviews needed." He waved a hand. "Oh sure we’ll get our share of crackpots — that can’t be helped. But mark my word, this’ll shake things loose."
I slumped in my chair. "What if we don’t want to work on this?"
Joe shrugged. "I seem to recall a couple of young ladies coming to me and asking for help to get their licensing. Said they was willing to do anything they needed to do. Something changed?" I pouted. "Don’t look so glum, Miss Scotti. Fact is, you should be proud of yourself. It’s you who got us thinking about the baby, and that led to this strategy."
I shook my head. "Oh no, you’re not blaming this on me."
Joe scoffed. "Blame? Ain’t no blame about it. Cheer up. You can get in the hours and do it all from the comfort of your home computer."
I wriggled to the edge of my chair and stood. "I expect a little quid pro quo Mr. Enders. You understand?"
Joe nodded and flapped a hand. "Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that — we’ll get it done." He jotted something on a piece of paper and handed it to me. "That’s the website and the password. If you need help with it, call Eric."
I read the piece of paper and smirked. "Findspencersbabynow dot com? Who thought of that?"
Joe chuckled. "Kinda catchy, ain’t it?"
Zelda stood and picked up the box of Marley’s files.
"Well what are you doing staring at me?" He waved a hand toward the door. "Get going, we got a trial to win."
<<>>
After dinner, I went online and logged onto the Atkinson tipster website. The site was clean and simple. A forum where tipsters could chat back and forth and a tip box for visitors to type in their tips. I scanned the forum — over a thousand people had registered on the site already and there were hundreds of conversation threads going. Most of it was chatter about theories of the case. Some of it antagonistic to Atkinson, some of it sympathetic. I supposed if Dan wanted to get a feel for public perception of his client, scanning the forums could be helpful. Beyond that, I didn’t know what he hoped to gain.
Zelda and I had separate email addresses for receiving the tips, and I logged on to check mine. Thirteen hundred and twenty-seven messages awaited me. "Oh crap."
Grumbling about even participating in the farce, I spent a couple of hours slogging through the emails. Not one of the tips was useful or had any actionable information. Many were ravings of haters. Delete. Others inquired about Atkinson’s marital status and/or his need for romantic companionship. Delete. Plenty of spam promotions for drugs that cured anything from erectile dysfunction to balding heads. Delete. A few from reporters, requesting interviews with Atkinson. Those I forwarded to Peggy.
It was obvious to me that our only function was to be email traffic control. If anyone knew where Atkinson’s baby was, I doubted they’d send me a tip. If they had any sense, they’d contact the D.A.’s office, not a ridiculous website.
I logged out of the email account, then sent an email to Eric asking him to set up filters to trash as much of the spam and hate mail as possible.
Despite my disgust, I had to admit though that the tipster site was a stroke of genius. They do the press conference and make an impassioned plea to the public to help them. Then when they present their case, they have proof that the defense made tireless efforts to find the baby, to no avail. That alone could convince jurors that Atkinson had nothing to hide and sincerely wanted to find his baby. As long as they never found the baby it might just work. However, if that baby turned up, it could tank Dan’s defense. Unless Dan already knew the whereabouts of the child. If so, it explained their enthusiasm for the plan. Like they say, a lawyer never asks a question he doesn’t know the answer to. Maybe I needed to force their hand. God knows, somebody did.
I turned off the computer and stepped into the darkened kitchen. Boomer raised his head, whimpered and went back to sleep. On the living room sofa, I found another snoring creature. I
bent down and kissed Ted. "Honey?"
Ted’s eyes fluttered open, and he pulled me onto the sofa for a kiss. "Hi baby. What have you been doing?"
"Work for Joe."
He frowned and sat up. "What kind of work?" I rolled my eyes and sighed. Ted ran his hand through his hair. "You’ve got to be kidding me."
I shrugged. "He promised he’d help me with Rose’s case again." I held up my hands. "But it’s just computer work. You remember the website they mentioned in the press conference?" Ted nodded. "Like I predicted, we’re slogging through all the," I made air quotes, "tips." Ted just shook his head and groaned. I rubbed his arm. "Don’t be mad. I’m tired of people being mad at me."
Ted cupped my chin. "Poor baby, who’s mad at you?"
"Joe, my aunt, you." I shrugged. "Probably a hundred other people I don’t know."
He kissed me. "Okay, I won’t be mad. As long as it’s just computer work."
I raised my hand. "Scout’s honor, just computer work."
Chapter Forty-Three
Ted pulled the covers up to my chin, then smoothed the hair back from my face. "You going to be okay by yourself today?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I’m beat. I’ll probably just sleep all day." I looked toward the door. "Have Matt and Zelda already left?"
He stroked my forehead. "Yup. They’ve got it covered. And they promised to be quiet when they restock." He kissed my cheek and stood. "You just rest, okay?"
I nodded and smiled at my sweet husband. He paused at the door and turned back. "I can come home for lunch? Bring you some soup?"
I shook my head. "We have plenty of soup here, and I’ll probably be asleep." I smiled weakly. "You don’t have to check up on me. I’ll be fine as long as I can get some uninterrupted sleep. Okay?"
He held up his hands. "Roger that, do not disturb, I get it." He blew me a kiss. "I’ll see you tonight — I’ll be home early."
I nodded. "Love you. Have a good day."
Ted walked out of the room, then I heard his footsteps on the stairs. A few seconds later I heard him instruct Boomer to look after me, then he set the alarm and left. I cocked an ear for the Escalade’s engine. Then waited until I heard the car pulling away from the house. I threw back the covers and quickly dressed. If I was going to see William Hyden and get back before Ted checked on me at lunch time, I had to hurry. As I was rushing down the stairs, my cell buzzed with a text from Zelda. I ignored it, grabbed my keys and went out the back door.
Despite his promises, Joe kept putting me off on Rose’s case and dived deeper into the murder trial. Meanwhile, we’d slogged through their bogus website day in and day out. And I was fucking tired of it and waiting. After my one little side trip to see William Hyden, it would be all Rose all the time.
Hyden’s playhouse was on Lankershim in North Hollywood, along with several other small theaters. I parked on a side street and waddled back to the old storefront that was now a venue for local entertainment. The glass doors gave me a view of a tiny lobby with a ticket booth and steps leading down to the theater. I held open the door for a moment, wondering if I was doing the right thing. But right or wrong, I believed a child’s life was at stake and that belief drove me inside.
When I walked into the theatre, the house lights were down, and low spots lighted the stage. A middle-aged man stood center stage, talking into his cell phone. As I walked up the aisle, I could see we were alone. He acknowledged my presence with a held up finger, talked for a few more moments then ended his call. His smile was warm and welcoming. "Hello."
I stopped at the foot of the stage. "Mr. Hyden?"
He stepped closer to me. "That’s me. How can I help you?"
His open, trusting face made me waver. I was flat out guessing who the man was, and I could be terribly wrong. I was there strictly on a gut feeling, and at that moment my guts were rumbling with doubt.
Hyden’s soft brown eyes filled with concern, and he came down the steps to me. "Are you all right, ma’am?" He offered me a hand. "Do you need help?"
I swallowed and said very quickly, "I shouldn’t be here." I looked over my shoulder to be sure we were still alone. "I know that. And I can’t tell you my name."
Hyden tilted his head and smirked. "Is this a joke or something."
I held up my hand and shook my head. "No, this is not a joke. I just came to say that if you know anything about Tina Devereaux or her murder, you need to go to the police."
Hyden’s face went from concerned to sad. "I knew Tina…"
I held up my hand. "No! Don’t tell me anything. Please. Tell the police." I looked into his concerned eyes and whispered, "I think your baby is still alive, and if you ever want to see her, you need to do something now."
Hyden gawked at me. "What?" Quickly, I turned and walked up the aisle toward the lobby. I cursed myself for sticking my nose where it didn't belong. Certain I'd made a mistake by going there, I prayed no one would ever know I spoke to him. Hyden called after me, "Hey, wait. What are you talking about?"
I moved chubby pregnant body as fast as I could and kept moving until I was back at my car, bent over and panting. I felt eyes on me, and I looked around, but Hyden hadn’t followed me. Trembling, I got in my car and switched on the engine — I had to get home before Ted came back to check on me.
<<>>
On the way home, I stopped and got a pint of ice cream — not because I wanted ice cream, but because if Ted caught me, I could claim I had a craving. But when I pulled into the drive, the Escalade wasn’t there. I ducked in through the back door, stuck the ice cream in the freezer, then ran upstairs to the bedroom. Quickly, I changed back into my pajamas and dived into bed. And just as I started to drift off, I heard Ted coming up the stairs.
He tiptoed into the room and stood at the foot of the bed watching me. I fluttered my eyes open and stretched out my arms. "Hi, is it lunch time already?"
Ted sat next to me on the bed. "How you feeling?"
I sat up. "Okay. Still tired."
I started to get out of bed, but Ted put his hand on my shoulder. "No, stay here and I’ll bring you lunch." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I stopped at Billy’s and got matzo ball soup."
A few minutes later, we were both in bed, eating soup while Boomer perched on the edge hoping for leftovers. I raised the bowl to my lips and drank the last drops of soup "That was good. Thanks, I needed that."
Ted moved the tray then sidled next to me, pulling me into a one-armed hug. "Anything for you, babe."
I lay my head on his chest and sighed. "When do you have to go back to work?"
He chuckled. "Trying to get rid of me already?"
I gave him the innocent eyes. "No, not at all." But I was lying because I was dying to start doing interviews on Rose’s case, and I couldn’t do it with Ted hanging around. "If I had my way, you’d never leave the house."
He chuckled and his eyes twinkled. "Well baby you get your wish because I’m home for the rest of the day." I raised my eyebrows. "Steve can handle things without me for an afternoon." He kissed my forehead. "Besides, I want to make sure you get your rest."
I smirked. "So you’re going to just watch me sleep for the rest of the day?"
"No, I have some calls to make and some paperwork. But I’ll be close by."
I had some calls to make too, but they’d have to wait. I smiled at him. "What’d I ever do to deserve such an attentive husband?"
He pulled me closer and rested his chin on my head. "I’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s time to have Matt take over for you on the truck."
I frowned. "What did you do?"
He gave me the innocent eyes. "Nothing."
I wriggled out of his arms and stared at him. "Come on, out with it."
His eyes evaded mine. "Matt’s rearranged his school schedule, and he can start Monday. And I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t." He waved a hand at me. "You’re exhausted. You need a break." He patted my belly. "And they need you to get your rest."
I leaned against the head
board and sighed. "I’d like it if you ran things by me before rearranging my life." Ted laughed because that was usually his line. "Fine, Matt can start on the truck Monday." All the more time for me to work Rose’s case. "You happy now?"
Ted squinted at me. "You gave up awfully easy."
I threw up my hands. "Do you want me to stay home, or do you want me to put up a fight and then stay home?"
Ted climbed out of bed, then bent and kissed me. "You’re right, I shouldn’t push my luck."
Chapter Forty-Four
I missed being out on the truck, but it gave me the time to follow the Atkinson trial. I watched in the morning until Ted came home for lunch and in the afternoon until Matt and Zelda came to stock the truck. I didn’t give a hang about the trial, although Dan was impressive to watch on cross, but I was hoping to see the prosecution call William Hyden.
Death of the Family Recipe (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 3) Page 26