After his first killing six months ago, he’d believed he’d put the yearning of weeding out the truth from the liars behind him; but it was back. Despite keeping busy, his craving was getting stronger while each of his guppies were getting easier to reach with the help of cyber surfing.
Then, an old friend had showed him the picture of Tanya, triggering the familiar adrenaline rush he’d felt as he closed in on last victim.
Chapter 4
4:00 p.m.
The O’Neal household was located about seven miles outside of Fort Atkinson, in the rural subdivision of Koshkonong. Their home rested on at least five acres of land and paralleled old Highway 26 that led to the lake.
When Lily and Morgan arrived at the two-bedroom cottage, a rotund young lady of about twenty-four, who stood five-foot-three with slumped shoulders answered the door. “Hi there. My name is Ursula.”
Ursula’s hair, leeched of all vitality, appeared dry and lifelessly waved wildly in all directions. It resembled last year’s pampas grass so much that Lily had to force herself to pay attention to the girl and not the hair.
“My uncle went to get my aunt,” Ursula said, offering them seats in a cozy but plain living room.
Lily sat on a plastic covered sofa placed near a diamond paned window which looked out on a tomato garden and a few chickens who wandered around aimlessly. For a second, she felt like she was back at Grandmother Blanchette’s farm house, the only place where she could escape the confines of her mother’s hovering and demands for perfection.
“So, why you wanna see my aunt and uncle? Is this about my cousin?” Ursula asked, standing under a set of polished Texas longhorns mounted on the wall.
“Ursula!” a middle-aged gentleman shouted as he walked briskly up the narrow hallway toward them. His black tee shirt and overalls matched his work boots. “Don’t go getting in grown folks’ business. Go to your room and your aunt will call you when it’s time for lunch.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
As Ursula left, both Lily and Morgan stood to greet the O’Neal’s.
Tears immediately sprang from the mother’s eyes, mixing with the heavy mascara that clumped her eyelashes, and zigzagged down her cheek against her olive skin. Mrs. O’Neal wasn’t strikingly beautiful, although she was no plain Jane either, with her swan-like neck, long arms and slender fingers; one could imagine why Mr. O’Neal chose her to be his wife.
Lily didn’t have any children and couldn’t imagine what the woman was going through after losing her only child. “Mrs. O’Neal, I’m sorry for your loss.”
“I can’t believe this is happenin’,” Mrs. O’Neal sobbed.
“I’ve told the police all I know regarding Tanya’s disappearance,” Mr. O’Neal said, rubbing his sloped forehead.
“It’s important that we gather as much information as possible to help us during this investigation,” Lily said.
“Is there something that might’ve been forgotten?” Morgan asked, flipping open her notebook.
“No. I’m pretty sure I told them everything.”
“Did she suffer?” Mrs. O’Neal asked, grasping Lily’s hand.
Lily squeezed Mrs. O’Neal’s crabbed, cold fingers. “What about problems in the family? Had there been any fighting of late that you can recall?”
“No,” Mr. O’Neal replied sharply, placing his arm around his wife.
Lily studied Mr. O’Neal’s body language for a few moments as he held on to his spouse. Was he keeping her close as a way of signaling her to not say too much? Did they have anything to hide? Maybe I should try a different approach. “Teenagers are unpredictable and moody. No one is blaming you or your wife. We just want to find out what happened.”
Mrs. O’Neal laced her arm through her husband’s and they took a seat on the sofa.
“We fought the day she left,” Mrs. O’Neal revealed, releasing a sigh.
“About what?”
Mrs. O’Neal shifted in her seat. “Tanya wanted to attend Berman University in Texas. At one point we had family down there: my mom and brother. Mom is elderly with a full time nurse and my brother moved back to Wisconsin about a year ago, leaving me with no one to watch after my daughter.
“So we told her we couldn’t afford it. Tanya wasn’t happy about our decision. Actually, she hasn’t been happy with us for the last few months. She began spending more time online, talking to folks all over. Tanya claimed they were her friends, only we knew better. Who in real life has three hundred friends?
“Three weeks ago, I grounded her after learning some of those friends were older men.”
“Can you give us any names?” Lily asked.
“No.” Mrs. O’Neal said.
“You said your daughter was set on attending Berman, but she’d arranged for a campus visit at Whitewater University. Did she change her mind?”
“Not really. Tanya had gotten accepted at both colleges. She said she was tired of trying to make things happen just to go. The visit was to prepare her for next year.”
“Is it okay to search Tanya’s room?” Lily asked.
Mrs. O’Neal turned to face her husband. He hooked his thumb underneath the overall strap and nodded.
“Her room’s this way,” Mrs. O’Neal said, rising from the sofa.
With Morgan behind her, Lily followed Mrs. O’Neal down the hall.
Nearing the bedroom, Lily heard rock music playing as Ursula mangled the lyrics of a popular song.
When they entered, Ursula silenced her wailing during mid-chorus and tossed the bottle of mousse she was using for a microphone up on the dresser near the CD player.
“Time for lunch,” Mrs. O’Neal said.
Once Mrs. O’Neal and Ursula were gone, Lily surveyed the cream colored room, furnished with two four-posted twin beds lined side-by-side and a full length mirror attached to the closet door. A prep guide on studying for the ACT and course manuals were stacked next to a scuffed and battered laptop. Lily looked at the flashing red light indicating sleep mode.
“There’s no diary or notebook,” Morgan said, taking pictures with her cellphone.
Lily touched the keypad and watched as the screen came to life, displaying a vertical list of three user profiles. “For a teenager, a laptop or tablet is their diary. Lump in social networks and you’ve got your latest teen hangout. We’ll take the computer with us.”
“It’s been several days since I deleted her emails,” Ursula said, coming into the room. She stood in front of the mirror attached to the door, primping and teasing stiff strands of her hair.
Lily snapped a picture of the laptop. “Why would you have access to her emails?”
“Tanya was super excited about her new online boyfriend and made plans to meet him. The night before she left to hang out, she asked me to delete her viewing history and emails, but I forgot. She didn’t want my aunt to find out what she was doing.”
“What was she doing?”
Ursula’s eyes met Lily’s in the mirror. “She posted ads for massages.”
“What type of massages?”
“Sensual ones.”
*
4:27 p.m.
Deena sat in the plush Madison office belonging to her lawyer, Zach Kind. Pushing sixty, he adjusted his retro eyeglasses on the bridge of his nose and finished reading the email she’d sent him earlier. Zach sagged back into his oversize chair with a look of concern.
“Don’t give me bad news,” Deena snapped. “There has to be something you can do. I want that house.”
“Wisconsin is a 50-50 state for marital property, but that doesn’t include certain properties that are locked in a trust. In this case, Collin’s right; legally the house isn’t yours. His father’s wishes were for the house to remain in the Blanchette family and passed down to the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. You’d be entitled to compensation for the things inside the home, but that’s it.”
“Meaning, it belongs to any child or grandchild that carries the Blanchette name?�
�
“Correct. Right now the only family member is Lily. And trust me, you’re not going to want to open up the past about your long time affair during the divorce. Lily was born while you were married to Collin. Does he have any siblings that can claim the property?”
Deena let out a heavy sigh. “No. He’s the only child.”
“From what I know of Collin, he’ll take you to court if it comes down to his “daughter.” Technically, a judge may consider Lily the heir. She’s not a minor and she most likely will choose to keep the only name she’s known.
“Pushing back will only make things worse for you and without Lily you’ll lose access to the house. I say keep the peace in the family and as far as anyone is concerned, Collin’s the father of your daughter. Please consider settling this amicably.”
Zach stood, grabbed his cane and walked around his desk. “You’ve created your own wealth with your real estate company, along with the assets you’ve accumulated during your marriage. You’ll be more than comfortable after all is said and done.”
Deena studied her lawyer for a minute while she continued to digest his words. It was true she had forgotten about the trust. But it wasn’t even about that. She didn’t want a divorce. She wanted to grow old with Collin. He’d been a good husband and father, and there was nothing she could do to take back all of the hurt she’d caused him.
The last thing she needed was for everything to come out. So much was at stake. Her name would be in the media and her flawless reputation as a trusted business woman would be shattered. “I agree. I’d like this settled as quietly as possible.”
*
4:49 p.m.
Collin explored his wooded property near Liberty Creek. The seven acre lot was a tangled mass of buckthorn and black cherry trees, blended with quaking aspens underneath the crown of broad old burr oaks.
Turkeys gobbled in the underbrush, while overhead he heard the hoo-hoohoohoo-hoo of a great horned owl.
Wind rustled the fallen leaves while the soft babbling water from the rock pile fountain flowed through an irrigation ditch out to the fields.
Finally, Collin had his piece of heaven.
He trampled the overgrown grass and made his way up to the house. As he neared the garage, his eyes rested upon such beauty that even the scuffed woodwork didn’t turn him away from what she could be once he was finished.
He fished his phone out of his coat pocket and dialed Lily’s number.
The line rang once before she picked up. “Hi, Dad.”
“I’m looking at a boat.”
“Is it a classic?”
Fresh energy filled Collin. “Mm-hmm. It’s a 1959 mahogany and teak Chris Craft Sportsman. Beautiful woodwork. Chrome to polish. I’m in love.”
“Are you going to buy it?”
“I haven’t decided. A friend dropped it off to see if I’m interested. He’s giving me a couple of days to make up my mind.”
He heard muffled voices on Lily’s end. “Okay. I’m about to interview Officer Martinez. Talk later?”
“Don’t bother using the 80/20 rule with him. He’s too rigid.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
The line disconnected.
Collin turned, looked around the property, then back at the boat. You definitely belong here.
*
Lily walked into the interrogation room as rookie officer Xavier Martinez slid his beefy arms out of his coat, placed it on the back of the plastic chair, and sat down. Martinez gave her the same look as when they first met at a call for a gunshot victim. It was as if he was repulsed that he had to answer to a female.
Placing the green folder and a spiral notepad down on the rectangular table, Lily took a seat across from Martinez. “Do you know why you’re here?”
“Yeah,” he replied with a slight accent.
“Good. Then I’ll get right to it. Why did you touch the bodies?”
“I was checking for a pulse.”
“You did more than check for a pulse,” she said, opening up the folder. She laid out the crime scene photo taken of Tanya’s upper torso. “There’s a smear under the victim’s left breast. Her blood, your print. What were you doing?”
Martinez pulled the photo closer to him. After a brief moment, he directed his gaze at her. “It was accidental.”
“Accidental?”
He nodded.
“Are you right or left handed?”
“Right.”
“When you checked for a pulse, which side did you stand on?”
“The left.”
“And after that?”
“I kneeled down, took a hold of her arm and turned it to see if she had a pulse.”
“Come on, Martinez. Tanya’s hands were above her head. Your thumb came in contact with the face of the watch.”
Martinez pushed the photo to the side. “I wanted to be sure.”
“It was obvious they were deceased.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“That’s the story you’re sticking with?”
He shrugged and leaned back in the chair. “It was my first call on something so terrible. I did what I thought was right.”
Lily forced down a sick feeling. She couldn’t get a good read on Martinez. She knew he was being dishonest. Dad was right. This guy wasn’t going to budge. She needed to catch him in a lie or get him to at least admit he’d made a mistake.
She scribbled notes in shorthand in her notebook and reached for the photograph, putting it back in the file. “Do you care how this looks?”
“If I’d killed those girls, do you think I would be cooperating?”
“Lemme think. Umm, it doesn’t matter what I think. I’m not the one who’s on desk duty, pending the outcome of this investigation. I’ll be back.”
Lily pushed away from the table, stood, and stepped out into the hall. As she rounded the corner, Evan and Alec were huddled around the monitor.
“Thoughts?” Evan asked.
“He’s lying about something. He’s too evasive,” Lily replied.
“We can’t hold him,” Evan faced Lily. “You’re lead detective. Feel free to boss us around.”
“Let him go,” Lily mumbled. “We’re in limbo until we locate the scene of the crime. Maybe then it will be clear who killed them and why.”
Chapter 5
After Lily reluctantly set Martinez free, she sat at her computer, scanning through open cases, reviewing reports to see if there was anything in other counties that remotely matched up with her case.
Twenty minutes later, Lily logged out. Damn! There’s nothing in the system. Three women, how could this monster be so lucky? She picked up the phone and dialed the computer forensics division. It rang once on her end before it was answered.
“This is Detective Keys.”
“Hey, Keys! It’s Lily. Who’s working on the recovery for the laptop that was sent over yesterday?”
“You’re talking to her.”
“I’m going to be in and out of the office over the next few days. Can you call my cell when you get the results?”
“You’ll be the first.”
“Thanks,” Lily said and hung up the phone.
Morgan came into the cubicle and dropped a brown accordion file folder on Lily’s desk.
“Here are the reports on your sister and the two women.”
“Is this all of it?”
“All that I could find.”
Lily stared at the folder. The last days of Celine’s life were in there, waiting to be browsed for the hundredth time. “How did the interview go with Samantha’s parents?”
Morgan sat down, kicked off her multi-colored snake skin boots, and massaged her feet. “Clark and Mary Bernard gave me stuff we already knew. The girls had an orientation scheduled at the college and had planned a sleepover with a few friends.”
“Where?”
“Samantha paid for a room at the Cadence Motel in Whitewater using her credit card. The motel is owned by an elderly man and
his son. Most of their guests are college students. I walked it in ten minutes. My corns are killing me.”
Lily looked down at Morgan’s boots sitting on the floor next to her desk drawer and smiled. “You had to go barefoot.”
“Shut up.”
Lily chuckled as she shut down her computer. “I’m headed to McGinley’s. Can you pick me up for the poker game tomorrow?”
“It’s about time. You’re going to step out of your safe zone, kick off your loafers and have some damn fun?”
“Make fun of me all you want. My college years more than make up for the fun I’m missing as an adult. See you at the tavern.” Lily grabbed Celine’s file and left the station.
*
11:03 p.m.
A tap on the driver side window of her Silver Dodge Ram snapped Lily out of her thoughts. It was her husband. She hadn’t seen him since she witnessed him getting cozy with his reporter friend. She forced a smile and rolled down her window. “What are you doing at McGinley’s?”
Julius leaned through the window and kissed Lily softly on the lips. “Trying to catch up with you. I knew you’d be here with the others. Plus, I missed you this morning.”
She chewed the corner of her lip as she thought about the best way to respond to the man that she bumped into several months ago back at Hindle Cafe. Charming and sweet, Julius helped Lily forget about being dumped by Evan after he’d proposed to her a few weeks before. But unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Julius had ended up being a temporary distraction. Nothing more.
She wondered if Julius had figured it out and that’s why he was so jealous at the mention of Evan’s name. So should she really be mad about him flirting? In a way she believed he cared for her and it wouldn’t hurt to give it another try. Maybe she could learn to love him. “Am I that predictable?”
“A little bit,” Julius said, winking.
“Guess I better switch up my routine. I hear predictability is not good for newlyweds; we need more spontaneity in our marriage.”
Promised Lies (A Detective Blanchette Mystery) Page 3