by DK Herman
"That's because the mayor is his brother-in-law," Gram said, shaking her head. "He shouldn't be allowed such power. But in a small town, these things happen."
"Wow. It's like, everybody is related, to everybody around here,” Ben said.
"One of the quirks of a small town," George agreed.
I looked at the attached photo of Jerry Dalton. He looked his age and had curly dark hair and brown eyes. I put down the Dalton file and opened the next.
I began reading it aloud. "Jeffrey Davis is twenty-five years old and from Herville. He's a college graduate, majoring in law enforcement. He also runs a website design business from his home.
Jeff recently purchased his first home, is engaged to be married, and has several thousand in the bank."
I clapped a hand over my mouth. There was a sticky note at the bottom of the second page. It was a message from Rayna. Jeff's mother was the woman wanting a background check on her future daughter-in-law!
"What?" Ben said.
"I'll tell you later," I mumbled. I wanted to get to Kasey's file. I picked it up and scanned the first page. "There's nothing new here. Kasey is in serious debt, and he's carrying two mortgages."
"I told you, he's a gambler." Gram sipped her tea.
"He and his wife have no children, he has prostate problems, and the wife teaches piano from their home." I sighed. There was nothing that interesting. "There's nothing about his wife beating.”
"With his connections, there wouldn't be," Gram said.
"Doesn't the mayor mind if he beats his sister?" Ben fumed.
"People that age, don't talk about such things," Liv said. "Everybody can know about something, but nobody talks about it. If you brought it up to Ann or her brother, they'd act insulted and deny it."
Gram and George nodded sadly.
"Unbelievable," Ben said around a yawn. "I'll read the rest tomorrow, I'm beat, and I think I’m getting Poppy’s cold."
"Speaking of being beat, how's your head?" I asked.
"Lump's almost gone." Ben smiled sheepishly.
"What happened to your head?" Liv bent forward to look at Ben.
"Poppy hit me with her purse," Ben said.
"She keeps a big, blue crystal in her purse," I explained. "She was defending her new friend, Rob." I started to laugh at Ben's expression.
"Who's Rob?" George asked.
I got big laughs when I told the room about the zombie mouse scare.
"I gotta go," Ben said when things calmed down to a few chuckles. "I'll read the rest of the files in the morning." Ben yawned again.
"OK." I stood and walked Ben to the door. "Drive safe." I gave him a hug.
"See ya in the morning." Ben grinned.
I opened my eyes the next morning, and from the amount of light in my room, I knew I'd overslept. I had a nice long soak in my garden bathtub before bed, so I skipped the shower.
I hit my car's remote start. Then I brushed my teeth, fluffed my hair, and put on makeup. Digging around in my closet, I decided on black corduroy slacks, a white sweater and my gray scrunchy boots. After I smelled like lilacs, I stuffed my Ruger and cell into my purse, and I ran downstairs to the kitchen.
"I should be at the office by now," I told Liv. "So, I don't have time for breakfast." I poured a quick cup of coffee with extra creamer and chugged half.
I turned around and Liv handed me a breakfast sausage wrapped in a piece of french toast. "You can eat this on your way," she insisted.
"Thanks." I kissed her cheek. "Tell Gram, I overslept."
"OK, honey, be careful."
I ran out the door and headed for the office. It was a clear, crisp morning but still warmer than usual for a Pennsylvania February. Traffic was light on route eleven as I made my way into town.
I arrived outside my office, slipping into a spot just vacated by a minivan. I dashed inside and found everyone at their desks. I smiled. I have great people working for me.
The smile got wider when I entered my office and found a mocha waiting for me on my desk. I sat down and took a sip before digging my cell out of my purse. I dialed Chief Woods to see if he had time for that tour today. I wanted any information he had on the body Ben found, too.
He said, he would have time around one that afternoon. I checked my schedule and told him I'd be there. Then I took the files out of my briefcase and took them to Ben before going to the reception area to greet my nine-thirty appointment.
It was another infidelity. This time a husband had suspicions about his wife. He worked the evening shift at a local factory. A neighbor told him that recently, his wife left every day, just after he did.
His wife no longer answered their landline when he called. If he called her cell, she answered after five or six rings and sounded distracted. Once, he heard a male voice in the background, and she was acting very distant.
I offered to have her surveilled, but I warned him, that at a hundred dollars an hour, it could get expensive. But he insisted it was worth it to know for sure. I asked for information about his wife's vehicle, and he gave me a recent picture of her.
Like her husband, she’s in her mid-thirties with brown hair and eyes. She has average looks and figure, but looked tired. The husband gave me a retainer and after he left, I called Harry Ikeler.
Harry was free tonight, so he agreed to pick up the file before three o'clock. He would be in place, outside the target's home, when the husband left for work.
I was free for a half-hour, so I went to the break room to nuke my Mocha. I found a box of honey glazed donuts and ate one before the microwave dinged. I realized I'd screwed up my resolution again and sighed. I took another donut with me to check on Poppy and Rayna.
The two friends were working on their laptops and chatting.
“How’s it going, guys,” I said from the doorway.
“Great.” Rayna gave me a big smile.
“It sure is,” Poppy agreed. “We’re all coming to your house for supper. Mom made a lemon meringue pie to bring with us. Wait until you taste it, it’s almost as good as something Liv makes.”
“I’ve had your Mom’s pie, it’s fantastic. Who’s Liv? Is she a professional cook?” Rayna asked.
I shook my head. “She’s my second cousin. She lives with us since she lost her family, and she likes to cook for us.”
“Everything she makes is so good,” Poppy said as she turned toward the printer. She took the paper that just came out and placed it in a file folder. “We’ll have Karl’s searches done today.”
“Terrific! You two are a force of nature.” I smiled watching the pair blush at my praise. “I’ve got another meeting with a lawyer soon, who needs your services. Do you mind if I introduce you both?”
“Sure,” Poppy said. “Is he single? Rayna needs a boyfriend.”
“I can find a man, Poppy.” Rayna rolled her eyes. “I’ve been single for six months because I’m being choosy this time.”
“Her last boyfriend took her car and charged a thousand on her Visa when he left.” Poppy began typing again, not noticing the look of disbelief on her friend’s face.
“Don’t feel bad, Rayna. My ex took me for two million, my SUV, and a five-bedroom house.
“Ouch.” Rayna grimaced. “Sorry to hear that. But I tracked my ex down and had him arrested. Now he’s paying retribution.”
“That sounds good, but I have no idea where Max went,” I admitted. “I heard he left the country.”
“I can find him.” Rayna smiled wickedly. “Give me what information you have on him, and I’ll work on it in my spare time.”
“Do it, Hallie,” Poppy said. “Rayna could track someone into hell.”
“I’ll send you an email.” I grinned at the possibilities. “Thanks, Rayna. You’re welcome to come to my house and eat with us, tonight.”
“OK. I’ll follow you two there.”
Rayna and Poppy continued their chatter and I went back to my office. I sat at my desk and sent Rayna my ex-husband’s name, socia
l, his family’s names and addresses, and his description. I no longer had any pictures of the con artist, asshole. My life was going great, but I was still angry enough, to cause Max a little grief.
Soon it was time to meet my new client. I went to Ben’s office to see if he wanted to sit in on the meeting. He was reading the files, I’d given him that morning pertaining to Andy’s case.
“Sure,” Ben said and sneezed. He took a slug of cold medicine straight from the bottle.
“You caught Poppy’s cold,” I said. “You can go up to your apartment and get some rest.”
“I’m ok,” he insisted. “I sleep better at night if I keep busy during the day.”
“If you change your mind, let me know.”
The new client arrived, and we all went to my office.
Ben and I wrapped up our meeting and arrived at the police station, five minutes early. I wasn’t surprised to see Karl Beyer waiting in the Chief’s office.
“Hallie and Ben,” Karl greeted us with a smile. Chief Woods called me because I wanted someone to walk me through the scenes too.”
“Yeah, this is easier for me,” Chief Woods said. “With the body Ben found, we’ve got another murder on our hands.”
“Is Kasey blaming that one on Andy?” I asked, unbuttoning my coat. The police station is in another old stone building, but the heat works well. I draped my coat over a chair.
“Why don’t you all get comfortable and sit down.” Chief Woods closed his door, and sat down behind his desk. He waited for the three of us to get settled before speaking. “He can’t blame Andy for the new murder, Andy was in jail when it happened.”
“Was the cause of death, the same as Marlowe’s?” I asked.
“Yes, ligature strangulation.” Chief Woods picked up a file. “The body has been identified as a thirty-six-year-old man from Bloomsbury, named Ted Strode. Strode’s wife reported him missing two months ago.”
“He’s been this close, all this time. Did he leave his wife for another woman and not have the guts to tell her?” I couldn’t help it; my mind went there on its own. I hoped I didn’t sound bitter.
“Not unless he and the new woman were into some serious bondage.” Chief Woods placed several autopsy photos on his desk. “He’d lost a lot of weight, so somebody wasn’t feeding him. Plus, he’d been beaten more than once, and see the marks on his wrists and ankles?”
“He was restrained,” I murmured. Some marks were old, others were new, and most were deep, cutting into his skin and drawing blood. They looked like they’d been painful. “Those marks weren’t made by a rope.”
“The coroner thinks the killer used handcuffs, and the same kind of wire that was used to strangle him,” Chief Woods said.
“I’d like a copy of the autopsy report,” Karl said.
Chief Woods nodded. “We’re waiting on the toxicology reports, but you can leave with a copy of the rest.”
“What did he do for a living?” Ben asked.
Chief Woods looked at the file again. “Chemical Engineer at the pharmaceutical company. He was with them for eight years.”
Bells went off in my head. A Chemical Engineer and missing crystal meth, I’d bet there’s a lab nearby. A lab that someone was trying to protect. But why did they kill their chemist? If they had to keep him restrained, he wasn’t there willingly. Did he anger them, trying to escape?
"Let's go look at the evidence room," Chief Woods said. "Now, our system is outdated. It's an old non-pass-thru system. But our mayor doesn't think it needs updating."
We filed out of his office, behind him. He stopped outside an unmarked room and used a key. Opening the door, we crowded into a room that reminded me of a walk-in closet.
"This is the key room," he said. "All the locker keys are kept in this locked room." He led us back out into the main room. "Entrance to this room is visible to any cop at his desk." He reached back inside the key room. "My officers sign a specific locker key out, and then back in. See, Andy did on Saturday night, right here."
He put the sign out sheet back and locked the door. We moved on to another door. Chief Woods unlocked that door with another key, and we followed him inside.
It was small, but it was larger than the key room. There were no windows and two walls were made of different sized metal lockers.
"If they're open, they're empty." Chief Woods pointed at a two-by-two-foot locker with its door ajar. "Andy said he put the methamphetamine in this one." He opened the door to show us it was empty.
I looked around for anything helpful, but there wasn't anything there. In the report, there were several different sets of prints on the locker. Those prints belonged to four different cops, Andy, Chief Woods, Jerry Dalton, and Detective Kasey. But they all had reason for their prints to be there.
"Damn it," I whispered. There's something I can't quite put my finger on.
"Shall we go outside to the murder scene?" Chief Woods relocked the evidence room behind us.
Grabbing our coats, we went outside. The Chief led us to the rear of the building. At the southern side, was an enclosed cement staircase. It led to the police station basement and had a locked door at the bottom, but no door at the top.
"There was all kinds of garbage on the bottom," Chief Woods told us, " including empty beer bottles, fast food wrappers, and used condoms."
"But everything was bagged and sent to the lab?" Karl asked.
"Of course." Chief Woods seemed a little insulted. This mess had to be hard on him, too.
Ben and I started back toward the front door when I realized what was bothering me. "Chief, did the thief take the little bags too."
Chief Woods looked puzzled.
"Andy told me that he found hundreds of small, plastic, zip top baggies in Marlowe's glove box." I looked at Karl. "He said they had a cheetah on them and the words Run Faster."
"I didn't see them, or the paper work on them." Chief Woods stopped and looked me in the eyes. "Are you sure?"
"I heard him mention the bags," Karl said. "I just assumed that you knew about them."
"Did Andy say if he put them in the same locker?" Chief Woods asked me.
"He didn't say."
"Let's go have a look around." The Chief led the way back inside. He went straight to the key room and took all of them, off the wall pegs. Then we followed him to the evidence room.
There were about fifteen lockers in use. Chief Woods started opening them, one by one, to see what was inside. "Some of these items have been here a while."
I saw a pistol in one locker, and a small bag of marijuana in another. The sixth locker the Chief opened, we all gasp. There they were, in a sealed evidence bag with Andy's signature: tiny zip lock bags, exactly as he had described.
"Don't touch them," Chief Woods said and relocked the locker. "It has to be processed correctly if it's going to help Andy."
"Will it help him?" Ben asked hopefully.
"Yes," Karl said with a smile.
SEVEN
Ben and I left the police station when Detective Kasey was called about the plastic baggies. I wasn't up to dealing with him. Ben and I gave the Chief written statements before we left, swearing we witnessed him discover them inside the locker.
"Are you feeling well enough to show me where you found the body?" I asked after we climbed into Ben's truck.
"I'm OK, honest." Ben started his truck and headed south on route eleven, towards Bloomsbury.
About a mile later, he pointed toward a deep ditch on the opposite side of the highway. "Right there. I'm going to turn around at the lumberyard and go back."
A half mile later, we turned around, drove back, and parked. The shoulder was wide here, so we got out to snoop around. I doubted the cops missed anything, but you never know.
I pulled my coat tighter around me as a cold wind whipped off the river. My eyes scanned the ditch and surrounding area. Finding nothing, I turned to Ben. "Let's go talk to whoever's at the body shop."
We climbed back into
Ben's truck and drove the hundred feet, parking in front of the cinder block garage. I could feel eyes on us as we made our way to a filthy door, marked office entrance.
The inside of the building was more dirty, damp, and dismal than the outside. The man who came out of the work area looked dirty, damp, and dismal too. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties with greasy, red hair, and a torn pair of overalls. I smiled pleasantly in his direction.
"Whadda ya want?" He said and sneered in our direction. His teeth were horrific, broken and black with decay.
"Are you the owner?" I asked, keeping my distance.
"Yeah, I'm Marv Deeter. Like I said, whadda ya want?"
"A real people person," Ben whispered.
I fought off a giggle. "I'm from James Investigations. Were you working yesterday afternoon?"
"Yeah, but like I told the cops, I didn't see nothin," he declared rudely. "And unless you got work for me, get lost."
Ben's face turned red with anger, so I put a hand on his arm. "Sorry to bother you," I said to Marv.
I motioned to Ben, it was time to go, and we stepped back outside.
"He's hiding something!" Ben exploded just outside the door.
"Or he's just an asshole." I put an arm around Ben's waist as we walked back to his truck. "He hates his life, so he takes it out on everyone around him."
Back inside the warmth of Ben's truck, my cell rang. The caller ID told me it was Poppy's cell. "What's up?" I answered cheerily.
"Hallie, where are you?" The voice was Rayna's.
"On our way back to the office," I said.
"Good. We need you," she said. "Woody's missing!"
"What do you mean?" I put my phone on speaker, so Ben could hear the conversation.
"Every morning after Woody drops off Poppy, he picks up a friend on his way to the university. This morning he didn't show, so his friend drove himself.
When Woody didn't show up for class, he assumed Woody was sick. After class, he tried to call Woody about an assignment. When there was no answer on Woody's cell, he called Poppy's. Poppy has no idea where he is, and he's still not answering his phone." I could hear Poppy, crying in the background. "He wouldn't worry her like this or miss a class."