Lulu told Todd that Tanner worked a basic 9-5 shift at Wal-Mart. Todd drove most of the way out there before he remembered he was going to pick Flip back up again. The guy would be crushed to not be included so Todd drove back to Flip’s apartment. It made it all worthwhile because of Flip’s first words when Todd told him where they were going.
“Good deal—we’ve got another suspect!”
At the Wal-Mart Todd was told to look for a small man wearing a white sport coat and a bow tie. He would be stocking shelves. They went down three aisles before they found him in the Electronics section. From a distance Todd could see that yes, Tanner was putting merchandise on the shelves, but for every three items he put there he took one and put it in his pocket. Todd told Flip to stop for a few seconds and watch. During the space of a minute they saw Irwin put two small cameras and three Smart Phones into that coat pocket.
Flip couldn’t contain himself. He rushed up to the man, grabbed his arm and said, “You’re under arrest.”
Todd followed quickly behind to not let the situation get out of control. “We’re the police. Come with us.” He walked Tanner down another aisle into a bathroom. He propped Irwin up against a wall, turned him around, and stepped back. Tanner was shaking so much he almost fell. Now face-to-face, Todd said, “Irwin, I have two options. I could turn you in, and you’d be back in jail quickly with no one left to bail you out. My second option is for you to put those items back and give us some information. Which do you want?”
“I. . .I’ll put the stuff back. I don’t want to go to jail.”
Two customers came in the rest room. “Is there a place where we can talk?” Todd asked.
“At the back of the store, there’s a break room.” The guy was still shaking.
“Let’s go there, but first back to the Electronics section where I’ll watch you put the items back.”
“I’m sorry, really I am. I just don’t make very much money.”
“I don’t need apologies. Like I said, it’s information I want.”
The break room had one other worker there, but he left a few seconds later to go back to the job. Todd sat Tanner down on a bench and the two of them sat across from him.
“Now, Irwin, I want to talk about a friend of yours, Walt Fosdick.”
“He’s dead.”
“I know that. From what I heard you two were close friends.”
“Definitely. Walt always had my back. He helped me a lot.”
“Do you know anything about who killed him?”
“The talk was Billy Jessup did it to get back at Walt for the naked hitchhiking thing. That was pretty funny. Walt and I had a few laughs about it.”
“Probably Billy didn’t think it was too funny. What Detective Carbon and I could do is take you out of town thirty or forty miles, strip you naked and have you hitchhike back. That would be pretty funny, wouldn’t it, Flip?”
Flip played along. “It would be hilarious. Let’s do it.”
They each grabbed an arm to lift him back up.
“No, don’t do it.”
“Why not? You just said how funny that kind of thing was.”
“All right, man, I get it. It was mean.”
“Do you think Billy could have killed Walt?”
“At the beginning I thought so. I went to his place with my shotgun. He lived apart from that clan of his on a ground floor apartment. I could shoot him through the window. He wasn’t there. I waited all night. The next day I found out through the town gossip that Billy was shacked up with Lulu. He had been with her the whole week, during the time Walt was killed. I wanted to make sure so I asked Lulu but she wouldn’t talk about it. Next, I went to Clem, her dad. The guy blurts out anything that comes into his brain. He has no control over himself. He told me that yes, they were together all week day and night. That cooled me off. Billy probably didn’t kill Walt. Then Billy left town, and I put him out of my mind. I still want to find out who killed my friend. I will kill that bastard.”
“Irwin, we don’t want you killing anyone. What we want is you to go back to work. If you forget we talked to you, we’ll forget what we saw in Aisle Seven. Is that a deal?”
“Deal.”
Tanner walked out. Todd and Flip continue to sit on the bench.
“Todd, from what I can see you’re pretty soft on criminals,” Flip said. “That man should be in jail for stealing.”
“If we had arrested him immediately we become the enemy, and he doesn’t talk to us at all. Did you see how much we got out of him just now because I gave him a break? Sometimes it’s important to have these slime balls cooperate with you. Remember, Flip, you’re simply trying to solve your specific case, not save the entire world.”
“How do you know when to arrest, or not?”
“It depends on your goal in the case. If you want information, try the friendly approach first. If it hadn’t worked, we still could have arrested him.”
“That is true. I’m beginning to learn.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
From the Wal-Mart they drove to Wendy Carbon’s place. “You may see me get tougher with her to get the information out,” Todd said. “What’s important for you as an investigator is to keep learning more about your case with each interview. The point is not to put everyone you talk to in jail, but get them to say what they know.”
“I understand the strategy better now,” Flip replied. “It’s like a game.”
“You’re absolutely right, but sometimes a deadly game.”
Wendy was not overjoyed to see them. “Why are you guys back? Was someone else murdered? I will say that my husband looked a lot better laid out on the slab than he did in real life. All right, just bring me the next corpse.”
“No one else is murdered,” Todd said. “We want to talk about why Larry and you were living apart.”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“This is a murder investigation,” Todd said. “Everything is my business.”
“All right, I’ll tell, just as long you don’t spread it around town. A person can’t do anything here without everyone and his dog knowing about it. This isn’t meant to any offense against you, Flip, but when I got to know both you and your brother, I could tell right away that you were the gentle one. I didn’t want that. Larry had that little extra aggressiveness. He was a little more at the edge. I thought it would be interesting living with him. It was interesting all right. The guy could not contain his temper.”
“I could have told you that,” Flip said. “I was afraid to cross him.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered if you had warned me. I had set my sights on good old Larry. Well, what I thought was aggressiveness and ambition turned out to be violence. Almost every time something upset him he couldn’t contain it. It began with him breaking dishes and throwing silverware. One time he kicked a hole in the TV.”
“I remember that,” Flip said. “We had to watch the Super Bowl at the bar with a zillion other people.”
“It got worse because after I fussed about him destroying half our house, he turned it on me. At first it was a few slaps, but then it became fists. When he went out drinking I wanted him to come home totally wasted so he could just fall into bed and not take it out on me. I was afraid to do it, but I finally told him he had to leave. I braced myself for the beating, but to my amazement he agreed and left. A week later he said he wanted to come back. I said, no, and this time he told me I would be sorry. I worried every night that he would break down the door and give me my final beating.”
Todd interrupted. “So that’s why you killed him and made it look like it was the work of that serial killer.”
“No. Not at all. I didn’t kill the bastard, but I have to be honest when I heard about his death I was totally relieved that he could not hurt me anymore. I was right here that morning, not at the church.”
“Can anyone verify that?” Todd asked.
“No, I wasn’t thinking I needed an alibi, so no I didn�
��t call a neighbor so I would have some proof. I can’t prove it, but I didn’t kill Larry.”
“You can tell me, Wendy. Since you were that afraid of Larry, the judge might even accept a plea of self-defense. You were afraid for your life.”
“I was that afraid, but I tell you again, I did not kill my husband.”
Outside, back in the car, Todd asked, “Flip, what do you think?”
“I think she did it.”
“Why do you think so?”
“I know how afraid I would get when Larry would go on one of his rampages. Also, Wendy keeps saying how much of a victim she was, but I’ve known her a few years and she herself can be close to violent. She is not a passive person. I think she wouldn’t keep taking Larry’s abuse; she would do something about it.”
“At this moment I’m 50/50 on it. She could have done it. We’ll not eliminate her as a suspect and see if we can get some real evidence against her. If you think you know her fairly well, you by yourself could talk to her. Possibly she would tell you the truth.”
“That’s an idea. I’ll wait a couple days and do that.”
“What’s staying in my mind, Flip, is the water pollution that killed all those people a few years back. You told me it was Ma Brightly who traced it all back to that company.”
“That’s right. I know about it from hearing people talk about it. I was pretty young back then, so I don’t know all the details. What are you thinking?”
“You said the officers of that company were put in jail, and the company eventually had to close down.”
“Yes, they moved out, but like I told you the people responsible only had to serve a few months because that Chicago lawyer got them freed. People here were still angry about that years later.”
“Is there any kind of local newspaper here in town?”
“The Calypso Courier. Comes out once a week. So little happens around here that I always thought it should come out only once a year. Nancy Skylar runs it. She’s young and took over when Beatrice Unger, died. Beatrice was running stories about the pollution, and that’s what killed her—the water she was drinking. I know that sort of thing has a name.”
“It’s called irony.”
“Yes, irony.”
“I think I’ll take a drive to the newspaper office and see if I can find articles on the pollution. Ma Blessing might have been killed because she uncovered that company’s carelessness.”
“It sounds boring to just look over articles. I don’t think you’ll need me. I want to check back with Lulu, and talk to her about these killings. She might be able to recall other things.”
“Sure, Flip, you go ahead.” Inwardly, Todd was smiling. Flip now had the perfect opportunity to keep seeing the girl he was attracted to. Todd had never played Cupid before, but he was happy for the guy. Maybe the two of them could become close.
After dropping Flip off to pick up his own car, Todd followed the deputy’s directions to the newspaper building. He was surprised because he eventually drove up to a small cute bungalow surrounded by flowers. He was sure he had gotten the directions correct.
Answering the door at the cute house was a cute girl. The round face, and turned up tiny nose seemed to fit perfectly with the full mouth and blond curls. Nothing seemed out of place.
“You’re staring,” the girl said.
“Uh. . .yes. . .so I was. I guess I need more sleep, or I need something. I don’t know what I mean.”
“I don’t know what you mean either. Why are you knocking at my door?”
“I’m grateful for the question. I can answer it. Are you Nancy?”
“Yes, I am. Now we’re making progress, but you still haven’t told me why you’re standing there with that silly expression on your face.”
“It’s about pollution.”
“Could you be more specific?”
“Water pollution. You run the newspaper?”
“Yes, I do. Now we’re taking lightning strides toward understanding. I’m sure you have a name. Would it be too much for me to ask what it is?”
“It’s Todd. Todd Henson. I’m a policeman.”
“I heard Larry Carbon was killed. Have you replaced him?”
“Sort of. At least for the time being. I’m investigating these serial killings that have occurred these last couple years.”
“The Clockwork Killings? Larry’s death fits right in to that pattern. May tenth at ten.”
“Maybe it fits in too neatly. I’m not sure all three killings are connected. It might just be something to throw us off the trail.”
“Come on in, and we can talk about it.”
This woman did like flowers. Todd quickly counted five vases of them in the living and dining rooms. “You run the newspaper from your house here?”
“Yes, the equipment is in the basement. We used to have a place in town but we couldn’t pay the rent. On-line news has virtually put us out of business. Lately we can’t sell much advertising to keep the paper going. We’re just barely above water. I understand the whole computer craze of the last twenty years, but me personally I like to have something in my hands.”
For a moment Todd had to turn away. Why had he taken that last comment sexually? He didn’t know what to say. “I do, too,” he finally managed to say. “Something in my hands.” Come hell or high water, he was not going to look at her body after he said that.
“Let’s go sit on the back porch,” Nancy said. “You’d better raise your head and look where you’re going. If not, you’ll trip over those steps you’re about to walk into.”
Things got worse out on the porch because Nancy choose to sit on the wide swing, showing Todd those nice slim legs.
“You don’t have to stand, Todd. Can I call you Todd? See, behind you, there are two chairs. Just pick one.”
“Oh, sure, sorry.” Now Todd was recalling why he came to this house. “A theory I’ve been tossing around in my mind about Ma Blessing’s death was it could be related to that water pollution that killed so many residents here a few years ago.”
“It is possible. She was the key person who uncovered that story. I was just starting with the paper, but Beatrice followed the story fiercely. Back then, people still bought papers, and I’d like to think our Calypso Courier was important in getting those company people arrested.”
“Unfortunately they got out of jail without much time served.”
“Yes, we covered that also. It was a crime that they didn’t have to pay the price for what they had done. They knew full well the water was being polluted, but they didn’t care.”
“Could I look at back articles about it all?”
“Of course. We’re trying to get with the modern world, so we do print our paper also on-line now. You didn’t have to come over here. You could have looked it up on your computer.”
“Oh, I’m very glad I came over here. “I mean, I didn’t know you had an on-line version.”
“I do a lot of that work on my desk-top in my bedroom.”
“No, I wouldn’t want to go up there.”
She laughed. “I’m not inviting you up there. You can look at my laptop. I’ll set it up on the dining room table.”
While she was gone, Todd told himself he had to stop being giddy like some kind of teen-ager. However, he was already thinking of how he could come back here to interview Nancy Skylar again.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The name of the company was Arista Chemical. The way Nancy explained it to Todd was that they made products that other companies used for their primary business, for instance titanium dioxide that makes paint white. “In court the company said they had all sorts of safety guidelines, and they were not polluting the water supply. When Ma Blessing did her research she told them differently.”
“I see now, reading the court documents, that she actually testified against them,” Todd said.
“Yes, she hired her own experts who tested the waters and then traced the harmful elements back to the company. Appar
ently she herself was a most persuasive witness.”
“It says here the company eventually moved to South Bend, Indiana.”
“Exactly, where they are probably now causing people to become ill over there. Ma’s lawsuit was to get them out of our area. The company was not totally shut down. I’ve checked within the last month, and their profits have doubled during the last five years. So it seems they have fooled other people.”
“It says here that the CEO was Robert Granville, and the Managing Director, Stuart Mencken. They were the people who were jailed for those few months, but then released when their lawyer called a mistrial because of a procedural violation.”
“Yes, it was a technicality. They could have been retried, but of course Ma or our town didn’t have enough money to begin the process all over again. When I checked recently, I saw that those two people were still running the company.”
“My thought is that one or both of those people were responsible for Ma Blessing’s death.”
“It’s possible. In reporting on it, when I interviewed people who were at the trial, they said that both leaders of the company were very smooth, but when they were pressed by the prosecuting attorney anger erupted from each of them. What came across for sure was that management was not interested in the welfare of any community they were in. They were in it for profit. Not only was that the bottom line, it was the only line.”
“Possibly I can find out if those people killed Ma Blessing.”
“If you could do that, this town would be indebted to you because justice would have been achieved. You could be my new hero.”
If that wasn’t an incentive, Todd didn’t know what was. Especially the part about Nancy’s admiration was motivating him. He was definitely going to South Bend.
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