“One more thing.” Jordan said. “We know that Mr. Ashcroft went to the cabin with Mrs. Santos the week before he died. There was another person with them. Do you have any idea who that might be?”
“That’s your job, not mine, but I suggest you start looking somewhere other than this family. It’s embarrassing. I have nothing more to say to you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ashcroft. That is all.”
Chapter Seven
From where she was sitting, Ellie had a good vantage point to observe the man who striding purposefully to the lieutenant’s office.
“Sir, can I help you?” she tried, but he ignored her, rapping at the door. He was called in a moment later. Through the blinds half way open, she could see the tense body language of the two men. This wasn’t good. It was one of the Ashcroft sons, and from the looks of it, he was not happy. She had the impression that the detectives were making progress in the Ashcroft case, and she herself had just gotten off the phone with a Dr. T, a psychiatrist named Dr. Torres, who might be able to help them.
Nevertheless, there was a lot of pressure to solve this case quickly, from the mayor’s office, from the press. Sergeant Bristol had brought in Jordan and Derek earlier to talk about the case.
Ellie wanted justice for every murder victim. She wanted to be in Homicide for that reason. What she found hard to deal with was that people put different priorities on investigations. They were all equally important to her, the wealthy charitable businessman just as much as a young woman who disappeared off the street.
She had been distracted from her goals in the past months, but she’d also set the vacation as a deadline to get back on track. It wasn’t that much longer until she’d be eligible to take the test. She had been assigned to work with the detectives on numerous occasions. Things were starting to look up, for both her and Jordan.
Even better they not only could share their troubles, but their victories.
At the moment, neither Jordan nor Derek Henderson was anywhere to be seen. Ellie made a call to Jordan’s cell and left her a message to call her back.
Ashcroft junior left the lieutenant’s office, and shortly after, a woman entered the department, giving Ellie a smile as she looked around, and their eyes met. Blushing for no reason, Ellie looked away.
Kate who had witnessed the exchange, grinned, but Ellie’s phone rang before she could say anything.
“What do you need?”
Ellie cleared her throat as the tone of Jordan’s voice brought even more heat to her cheeks. That was, of course, completely irrational. Or maybe not.
“I…um…about your Dr. T. I think I found her. Dr. Torres, a psychiatrist outside of town. I kind of convinced the receptionist to confirm that they had a record of him—of course she wouldn’t tell me anything, but I guess you won’t have any problems getting the warrant. He might have shared any concerns or fears with her, so that could be important.”
“I agree. Great job. Text me the address?”
“On its way. The doctor will be in until six today.”
“You’re the best. I’ll be back in time for Darla. We order in?”
“I guess so. I’ll see you then.”
“Don’t worry,” Kate said. “She would have turned my head too.”
“She didn’t…Who is she anyway?”
“The new A.D.A., didn’t you hear?”
Ellie vaguely remembered overhearing talk about the new arrival, Valerie Esposito. With her suit and high heels, the caramel-colored hair falling on her shoulders in waves, she looked like a character out of Law & Order.
“I didn’t know it was today. Okay. What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to a detective in missing persons…So far I haven’t been lucky. I see you made yourself comfortable here. You’re still planning on taking the exam soon?”
“As soon as possible, yes.”
“That’s awesome. All right. I need to go. See you later.”
“Yeah.”
When Josh Ward had first attacked her on her way home from the Code 7, Ellie had decided to take life head on, no regrets. That attitude had served her well—it had started her relationship with Jordan. Now it was time to think of her career as well.
* * * *
“Carpenter, Henderson, my office.”
Given the fact that they had barely set foot into the room, this command didn’t bode for good.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Derek muttered, and Jordan wholeheartedly agreed. She had a bad feeling since they left Craig’s office. Pre-emptively, she said, “Lieutenant, I was just going to call D.A. Hudson. We need a warrant for Mr. Ashcroft’s patient file at a psychiatrist’s…”
“You will do that, but could you explain to me why on her first day, A.D.A. Esposito has to deal with a possible lawsuit from Mr. Craig Ashcroft?”
“Yes, that wasn’t what I expected, so I came here to hear what you had to say about it, detectives,” Esposito said with a pleasant smile. “Of course, I can also look into that warrant for you, but you better have a good reason.”
Jordan hadn’t said anything since the lieutenant had interrupted her, and Derek was silent as well. The silence dragged on, turning awkward.
“Nice to see you two again,” Valerie Esposito finally said. “Now, about that complaint…”
“We have a witness who confirmed Craig took money out of the business recently. Both he and Mr. Ashcroft senior had suspicions as to where this money went. According to Craig Ashcroft, he used it to help his sister. We had to check on that,” Jordan defended their strategy.
“Of course you had, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to be cautious with this family. I understand there hasn’t been an arrest yet?” Valerie’s tone made it sound like a rhetorical question. “Are you even close?”
“You both said to tread carefully,” Derek said. “That’s what we’re doing. Some family members obviously had money problems.”
“I take that as a no.” She sighed. “Okay then. Whoever was in that cabin with Mr. Ashcroft and Mrs. Santos, find them. Mr. Ashcroft junior thought there might have been a homophobic undertone to the conversation. Please don’t do that. If he’s the one, we don’t want him to look sympathetic in any way.”
“That’s all,” the lieutenant added. “Now get back to work.”
“I’m done here too.” The A.D.A. got to her feet. “Detective Carpenter can walk me out?”
“No problem.”
Jordan got to her feet and followed her outside, not sure if she should be relieved.
“Relax,” Valerie Esposito said when they had reached the double doors. “I got an opportunity to come back, and I took it. It had nothing to do with you.”
“That’s…great.”
“I hear you moved out, pulled yourself together. Good for you. I look forward to working with you.”
“Yeah, me too,” Jordan said after the slightest bit of hesitation, which hadn’t gone unnoticed with Valerie. “You heard these things where?”
“Here and there. It doesn’t matter. I guess I see you around?”
It would be hard to avoid.
“Dr. Torres will be in her office until six. You think you’ll have the warrant for me before that?”
“I’ll get right on it. Don’t make me come back here for the Ashcrofts, unless you have a solid arrest, okay?”
“I promise.”
“It’s good to see you again, Jordan.” Valerie Esposito left, and for a moment, Jordan couldn’t help but wonder about the irony of fate, or coincidence.
* * * *
“I’m not sure if I can help you much. Mr. Ashcroft came to see me because he had a mild case of anxiety. He had trouble sleeping, and nothing he’d tried had worked. I prescribed a mild sleeping aid. As you know he was involved with various charities, but he worried about not doing enough, and what might happen with his children if he wasn’t around.”
Fortunately, Dr. Torres was more forthcoming. “We only had a cou
ple of sessions.”
“Did he ever mention concerns about being threatened?”
“No, his family was all he talked about. You wouldn’t be able to use that in court, but he was worried about the relationship between the brothers. The younger one married into a very conservative family, and there were regular arguments because his older brother is gay. He also stopped giving money to his daughter after the umpteenth business idea flopped. He didn’t worry about their financial future, but more about his legacy. He cared deeply about these causes.”
“More than about his family?” Derek asked.
Dr. Torres shrugged. “The people he worked with were always grateful. They never disappointed him. What do you think?”
She was right, Jordan reflected. This added to the picture they had already established so far, but it didn’t give them anything new.
“In any case, he thought Craig and Abigail might go as far as embezzle from the firm, and that Craig was in on the scheme to finance a relapse in his gambling. He talked about all this during his last visit, and he was pretty upset about it, but as far as I can tell, he had no real evidence. He wondered if he might be too paranoid about these things, and we talked about what he could do to find some distance. Not about the business, that’s not my forte.”
Ashcroft had at least been partly right, and Coburn’s findings confirmed that.
It was still unclear who could have been the third person in the cabin. Torres had no idea.
* * * *
When they arrived at Kate and Ellie’s apartment, Darla Pierson was already there, greeting Jordan with a hug.
“Hey. You’re still busy, I see.”
“And you’re almost due.”
“Tell me about it.” Darla sighed. “I can’t believe it’s going to be another nine weeks.”
“You look great though.” Jordan said, catching Ellie watching them with a smile. It was true, she had reacted quickly and unfairly at first, and she was lucky Darla had forgiven her. The first twelve years of her life had an impact, making it hard for Jordan to believe that an unexpected pregnancy could ever be a blessing, and that someone this young could be ready to be a parent. Surprisingly, Darla had grabbed her new life with all its opportunities and challenges with both hands.
Being confronted with her own childhood had been uncomfortable, reminding her that at one time, she could have taken a similar path. Jordan was lucky to have been dealt better cards along the way.
“Thank you.”
Ellie got up to get a juice for Darla and a beer for everyone else, while Kate passed the takeout menu around. After everyone made their choice, she called the pizza delivery service.
It was a relief to see that Darla would be okay. It was odd to think that some of Ashcroft’s money might have gone into one of the programs that helped her shape her own future.
The Ashcroft siblings all had started out with so much privilege, the means to lead comfortable lives while making those of others better. Yet, one had become a homophobe, one was aggressively making false accusations, and one seemed unable to make her ideas reality.
How much had they resented their father for giving in other places?
What conversations went on now behind closed doors?
* * * *
The space next to her in the bed was empty, though still warm. Ellie got out of bed and put on a robe. She didn’t have to go far: Jordan stood by the window in the kitchen. She had turned on the light of the hood above the stove, on low, as to not disturb the other occupants of the apartment.
“Can’t sleep?” Ellie asked softly.
“Just thinking. I’m sorry if I woke you. You need a good night’s sleep too.”
Ellie knew she’d have a better chance with Jordan by her side, but it was no secret that both of them had a lot on their minds.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.” She stepped closer, into Jordan’s arms, and they stood like that for a moment, before they both took a seat at the table.
“It’s one of the weirdest cases I ever worked on,” Jordan said, sounding frustrated. “One of them thinks being gay is a dysfunctional lifestyle, the ‘you’re going to hell’ kind—the other one actually accused me of being homophobic.”
“Wow.” Ellie didn’t have much more to say to that.
“And the sister, she’s somewhere in between, but all of them are…off. That doesn’t have to mean they killed anybody, but they are sure starting to give me a headache. Their father just died—according to everyone else who knew him, a saint. There they are complaining about how he was spending too much money on charities.”
“Privilege can be blinding,” Ellie offered. “Not that it’s an excuse. In fact, it’s damn cold. And they seem eager to blame everyone but themselves, for just about everything. Do you think they did commit any crimes, other than murder? It seems to me that they’re all cocky enough to think they could get away with a lot.”
“I’m not sure. Craig had this gambling problem, but he swears it’s over. Abigail has lots of shiny ideas but doesn’t see them through. And Linwood is not happy about having to share with them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start accusing one another soon.”
“Could it be somebody from the outside?” Ellie asked. The puzzle intrigued her. “Whatever people say, he must have pissed off more people than just his offspring. Those charities…He was making a pretty big political statement with his choices.”
“Yeah, not what you would expect from a rich old white guy…but apparently, he was the real deal, a good Samaritan. Too bad his own family couldn’t see that.”
“That bothers you?”
Jordan laughed, surprised at the question. “It doesn’t bother you?”
“I don’t know. It’s not personal. I know my family, my values…I’m sorry. I feel like I’m overstepping.”
“No, you’re right.” Jordan sighed. “It’s stunning to me. I don’t even feel that way about Kathryn. At least I hope I don’t.”
“I know you don’t. You’re a better person than that.”
“It’s debatable if either of you is a good person.” Kate came into the kitchen, yawning. “There’s no coffee. I thought we had a rule—who gets up first, makes it.”
“It’s that late already? Oh, crap.” With dismay, Ellie realized there would be no time to continue their conversation in bed. A moment later, the shower came on.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jordan muttered. “All right. I’m going to make it. It doesn’t look like anyone is getting a shower around here anytime soon.”
Kate laughed. “You are all so cranky in the morning. I see a whole new side of you all with these living arrangements.”
Ellie caught Jordan’s gaze on her, realizing that she, like all of them, was grateful for this bit of lightness and banter. They had made good choices. They would build on them—and figure out who had hated Gerald Ashcroft enough to end his life and legacy.
Chapter Eight
Ellie and Casey had barely pulled out of the department’s parking lot when the 911 call came in: A jogger had found an unconscious woman in an alleyway. They arrived seconds after the ambulance, two paramedics heading for the figure lying beneath the fire escape. The jogger, in her thirties, stood on the other side of the alley, clutching her cell phone.
“Thank God you’re here. I’m Teresa, I called 911.” Her words came out in breathless gasps. “She’s not dead, is she?”
Ellie recognized the paramedic kneeling next to the pale, unmoving woman, Marietta Bruno. She looked at Ellie and shook her head. Casey was taking Teresa aside while Marietta’s colleague tended to her.
Ellie took in the dead woman, noticing the bruises around her neck and arms. She’d have to make a call.
Afterwards, she went over to Casey and the witness. Teresa, while shocked about the turn of events, related how she had found the woman. “I can’t believe I was late this morning. I always take this route, same time, every day. If I’d found her earlier…”
&nb
sp; “It’s likely that it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Ellie said softly. The woman must have been out there for a few hours, she guessed. Other people, residents, must have come by?
“You can’t be sure.”
No. One small decision, a left turn, could make a big difference at times.
“We’ll be sure soon. What do we have, Harding?”
Ellie followed Detective Maria Doss who had just arrived. “Caucasian female, thirties, has bruises on her arms and around her neck. I didn’t see any ID. She’s not wearing a coat or a purse, so…maybe a mugging gone bad.”
“We’ll get to that, thank you,” Doss said. Ellie wondered if there had been a subtle reproach in her voice. Before Henderson started going out with Kate, he had briefly dated Maria Doss, which connected them all in an odd awkward way—but this wasn’t about any of them.
“I didn’t mean to suggest…”
“That’s okay. It could be.” Donning latex gloves, she crouched next to the body, carefully turning the woman’s wrist to show the marks went all around. The medical examiner’s van pulled up as well.
“Or not,” Doss continued. “Look. She was tied up. Are you going to throw up?” she asked, matter-of-factly, without any judgment.
Ellie caught herself. “No. I promise. That just caught me off guard.”
“Good. Get some backup here. I need you guys to canvass the neighborhood, see if anyone saw anything.”
She pointed to tire tracks a few feet away. “See how wide those are?”
“They don’t look like they belong to any of the cars around here, I would assume. He dumped her.” Ellie said.
“Nice. Now see if anyone has heard or, hopefully seen, a big truck passing through last night.”
“I’m on it. Detective Waters isn’t here?”
Maria Doss looked surprised, but she gave an answer anyway. “No, doing some work on Carpenter and Henderson’s case. Isn’t everybody these days?”
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