I prepared myself for reactions to my face. It wasn’t like I could hide behind a veil or anything. I kept telling myself that it didn’t look that bad and I felt much better. I’d decided that if anyone asked, I was going to stick to the mugging story. Pretending there was nothing different, I went to my office and followed my usual routine. In Georg’s, the clerk’s eyes telegraphed his initial reaction and then he recovered. I moved quickly to my class and prepared to just fly through my lecture.
Many of the students had fleeting expressions of shock but recovered quickly. All in all, it seemed like nobody noticed after the first few minutes. That was a relief. After class Deedee and Dirk came up and asked if I needed any help. I thanked them, but declined.
Back in my office, I relaxed. That was when I realized just how tense I was. I’d tried not to think about facing Brendon again, but he wasn’t in class. I was relieved, and that bothered me. I tried to shake it off and get to work.
“Sheridan, are you all right? You didn’t look so good on Friday. How are you doing?” Max spewed from my doorway.
As I turned toward him, he took a step back and his hand went to his mouth. “I’m doing good Max, thanks for asking.”
“Oh, Sheridan, that must be painful. Did your detective figure out who did this to you? I checked the news on line and I didn’t see any mention of what happened. Is this a pattern? Should we be extra careful on campus? I just can’t believe our quiet campus has changed so much!”
“Chill, Max. I was mugged. There’s no serial mugging going on, no need to think it would happen to anyone else.” Of the last part I was fairly confident. I had been targeted and so far at least, whoever was behind this didn’t see Kim as a risk.
Max fussed a bit more, echoing his usual goal of getting to a larger university. He offered his help if needed, and went back to his research. Several others stopped by as well. I tried to think positive and feel their support, but when Priscilla came by, I had a hard time. She was pleasant enough but lacked sincerity. In the back of my mind I wondered about her connection to Malloy. This whole situation made me suspicious, almost as paranoid as Max.
My phone beeped with a text that it was time to go. On the way to the dentist, Brett shared what he knew. He had checked on Malloy and he didn’t have a record. From his car to his house, he was living well above his salary as a security guard, even for Cold Creek. He and Hirsch planned to find Malloy after they interviewed Brendon again. He ranted some about the Chief who just kept insisting Clive was the obvious suspect. I could tell he was very thankful he could bypass the Chief.
So far there was no word about Malvodio Dunn, Garrett’s contact person. Garrett had been arraigned, pled guilty to some lesser charges on his threats and intimidation with Kim and I. He was fined and released, but there was an ongoing investigation of his business practices and Investment Surge in particular. Brett looked very satisfied to let me know that Garrett had been immediately fired once they were alerted to his behavior and the not quite above board loan and relationship with a client. Brett also suggested to Kim that she contact that dating service.
He went on to describe the tension at the police station. Mr. Bergner was there talking to some of the officers. He chewed out the Chief over the notice he’d received from Marty for full disclosure. I’d shared how shaky Marty was for his defense, and Brett said Bergner wasn’t in any better shape. About the only thing worse than trying to get a conviction with no murder weapon or obvious connection was one without a corpse.
By then we’d reached Alta Vista and Dr. O’Donto’s dental office. He checked me out and gave me special toothpaste with a numbing agent to make sure I wouldn’t avoid that task. I must have flinched because his expression was one of “caught you.” He didn’t think there was any lasting damage, but recommended I avoid foods that required a lot of chewing for a while.
We grabbed lunch there and then drove back to Cold Creek. I went to teach my class and Brett went to the meeting with Hirsch and the Whitfields. In the small seminar class, I decided to outguess them and wrote on the board “A mugging.” That brought a few nods as their eyes skipped from me to the note.
Glad to be done, I trudged back to my office to find Mitch waiting. He shook his head and gave me a hug. We exchanged pleasantries and then got to the heart of the matter. Clive’s trial was the next day and the media had already tried and convicted him. Mitch had a couple students arguing about the case in one of his classes. We talked about the criminal justice system and the way it was supposed to work. After a bit, he took his leave and I went back to work.
I was finishing up when Kim came by. I told her what the dentist said. We chatted a bit and she mentioned that she was having dinner with Marty again. She tried to pass it off as something she felt she should do since she got him involved. I looked at her quizzically and she finally caved and admitted she liked Marty. We both laughed. She related that she had contacted the Internet dating service and reported Garrett. He wouldn’t be getting any more matches from that site. A minute later, Malloy was at the door and neither of us was laughing.
“Dr. Hendley. I wanted to stop and see how you are. If you’d like, I can walk you out when you’re ready to go to your car.” The words sounded good, but his posture was tense and his face blank. It also seemed odd that he didn’t include Kim.
“Thank you. I’ll call if I need you.” I smiled and waited, hoping he would go away.
“Good. Keeping Cold Creek College safe for everyone is my job.”
“That’s a good attitude, Mr. Malloy. Detective McCann and I would like to discuss that with you if you have a few minutes,” Hirsch stated as he came up behind the security guard. I could see Brett hanging back behind Hirsch.
Malloy looked shaken by his comment. Hirsch took his arm and walked him down the hall. Brett hesitated long enough to give me a quick kiss and ask Kim to take me home. Then they were gone.
Kim went to collect her things and I got my work together. As we were leaving, Max saw us and asked us to wait so he could walk out with us. We got to Kim’s car with no incident and went to my house.
We took Charlie for a quick walk, but still no word from Brett. I tried to convince Kim to go on home and to dinner with Marty, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She called Marty and explained that she didn’t want to leave me alone. He was agreeable and offered to pick up pizzas for all of us. We’d about finished eating when Brett came home. If he was surprised to see Marty, he hid it well. We all talked for a while about nothing in particular and then Kim and Marty took off.
I was dying of curiosity, but waited while Brett finished off the pizza and his beer. As he sat back I squealed, “So what’s with Malloy? What happened at the station?”
Brett laughed and then shook his head. “Don’t you want to know about Brendon first?” he teased.
I had completely forgotten about Brendon’s interview. Brett painted a picture of Brendon, his father, and another attorney from North Shore. Mr. Whitfield introduced Mr. Drake as co-counsel, but in fact, this new attorney did all the talking. Brett’s take on it was that Mr. Whitfield came to his senses and realized he shouldn’t be his son’s attorney. Brett and Hirsch were pretty sure that neither Cramer nor Standish would take the case. For both, it would be a conflict of interest. That left this Mr. Drake to fill the position.
“Once that was established, with dueling recorders, Hirsch started in on Brendon again. It didn’t go much differently from Friday.”
“Wait a minute! Where was the Chief during all this? Shouldn’t he have been in there?”
“Oh, he was. He glad-handed with Whitfield and Drake, made introductions. He re-asserted the Miranda warning while assuring them how sure he was this was all a misunderstanding. Then he turned around and looked at the wall, but didn’t leave. Remember this is now Hirsch’s case.”
“So, why would he stay?”
“I think he was hoping it would make Hirsch nervous. No way was that going to happen though.” Brett chuck
led and resumed his story.
“First off, Hirsch shared information with the new attorney, Drake. He reviewed the charge already made. Then he went on from the threats to the assault. He asked questions about drugs, lots of different drugs. He asked Brendon again about how he knew Justin and what Justin told him about his job. He surprised Brendon and Mr. Whitfield with documentation showing that Investment Surge was not only the company Brendon worked for, but also the one Justin worked for. Then, Hirsch threw out a line about Malloy doing pretty well too.” Brett nodded then and waited for me to respond.
“So is there evidence that Malloy was involved in all this? What was his role?”
“That’s where it gets complicated. Brendon eventually explained that his connection to Justin was to give Justin any monies he collected in the investment scams. Malloy was his contact if there were any problems. He admitted to saying something to Malloy about Justin’s suspicions about the high-end drug ring. Brendon got upset and just kept saying how he didn’t think he was putting Justin in danger and then he was dead. Sound a bit familiar?”
“Yes, that is the same sentiment that Garrett expressed. So why was Justin at the Arboretum? What really started the fight at the ChickShack? Where did the hairy beady-eyed guy come from? I’m confused.”
Brett patted my arm and shook his head before he answered. “We still don’t know all the answers, Sher. Eventually, as Hirsch kept asking questions, mostly about the possible drug issue, Mr. Whitfield made noises of disgust and Brendon stood up and started yelling about how everyone knows that half the people at the country club are high on something at least half the time, and who better to run the drug business than a security guard. Then all hell broke loose.”
He smiled and continued, “Mr. Drake and Mr. Whitfield about had a coronary on that one. They both grabbed onto Brendon and got him sitting back down. They told him to keep his mouth shut. After that, the only thing he said was he didn’t think Justin would get hurt.”
“So what happened with Malloy? Is he the one with the drugs? Did he kill Justin?”
“Malloy lawyered up real quick when we got him down to the station. Hirsch didn’t get very far and our friend the Chief wasn’t much help. There wasn’t enough to charge him and the Chief didn’t want to hold him.”
“Wait a second, Brett! Are you telling me that after all that Malloy is on the loose, back on his job at the College, and able to clean up his mess?” Now I was riled up.
“Yes and no. Yes, he is free. But he is being followed and watched by several sets of eyes. Hirsch got the Chief to keep him long enough to get a judge to sign off on a wiretap and a blood test. Matthews and someone else are also going to follow Malloy wherever he goes. You were right, you know, Matthews was not impressed the night your office was trashed. He volunteered for stake-out duty on Malloy.”
Brett and I talked some more. It seemed to make the most sense that Brendon happened to mention something to Malloy, maybe told Malloy that Justin was getting suspicious about his job. So either Malloy contacted Justin or Brendon could have told Justin to call Malloy to talk about his suspicions. Either way, Malloy could have suggested that he meet with Justin in the Arboretum where it was quiet and then killed him.
There were only two major problems with this story though. First, there was no proof. The second was it still didn’t tell us who the hairy, beady-eyed man and his friends were. The other looming problem was that Clive’s trial was set to begin the next day and nothing had been turned up that would stop that from happening.
Chapter 26
I drove myself to work on Tuesday. The news highlighted the trial starting, and reporters shoved microphones in faces trying to get the pulse of the campus. The stylish KCCX reporter blocked my way into the building. As she talked into the microphone and then poked me with it, I wondered just how much I’d have to push her to get her to topple off her very high heels. Only after she hit the edge of my jaw did she seem to process the bruising. I considered threatening to have her arrested for assault, but she continued to fire questions at me. I decided it was better to move forward with repeatedly stating “No comment.”
She dogged me until Max came to my rescue by talking to her. I took advantage of her lapse of attention and darted to my office. I prevailed on Terra to get me my coffee to avoid the reporter and used a back stair to get to my class. Everyone, of course, was wired and the lecture was probably a waste of all our time, but routine prevailed.
Kim met me at the door as I was heading to the back stairway. She told me the coast was clear and we both grabbed coffees before going upstairs. In my office, I pulled up the news. At regular intervals, the newscaster gave a running commentary on the trial and I did catch a clip of the reporter and me. Thankfully, my hair covered what remained of the bruising. If I decided to press charges, all the evidence was right there. Nothing of substance as yet on the trial though.
Around lunchtime, Brett came by and he explained that aside from the media circus, the trial started out pretty standard. Bergner gave his opening statement and focused on Clive’s history of violence. He alluded to Justin being involved in drugs and Mrs. Blake had broken down. Mr. Blake stood up and was almost charged with contempt. All in all, it was not a great beginning for the prosecution. Marty opted to hold off on his opening statement.
Bergner had started to call witnesses, mostly from the first responders. Dr. Wellburn was to be the first witness after the lunch recess. It was all fairly predictable as Brett related the morning. We had sandwiches for lunch and he took off, back to the trial.
I worked in the quiet of my office and readied myself for my afternoon class. The quiet was interrupted by a call from Brett. I needed to get to the police station as soon as possible for a line up. They thought they might have the man who assaulted me.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to focus on the seminar so I shot off a quick email to the students that class was cancelled. I threw my stuff together and went to the station.
Brett and Hirsch were waiting for me along with another man they didn’t introduce. They drilled me on the line up format. There would be five men for me to look at. I was to tell them if one of them was the one who assaulted me. I nodded and we went in. The other man, still not introduced, came into the room as well.
The possible suspects walked in and stood there, looking forward or down. I had to wonder how they found five men with long hair and beards. They all wore t-shirts and all had some kind of tattoos on their arms. I suspected some makeup had been used to provide matching tattoos. Hirsch asked them all to look straight ahead, step forward one at a time, say “What do you think?” and step back.
After number two, I didn’t pay as much attention. He was the only one with beady eyes that seemed almost devoid of any emotion. I said his number and just kept staring at him. He kept his hands behind his back and I wondered if his hand had the matching bruising to my face. I shook myself and Brett put his arms around my shoulder.
Hirsch asked number two to step forward again. He asked me to state what I believed he had done. I answered that he was the leader of a group in the Arboretum and he was the man who assaulted me. When Hirsch asked if I was sure, I finally stopped staring at the man. I looked directly at Hirsch and stated, “Yes, I am sure he is the man who assaulted me.”
Hirsch looked at the still unidentified man in the room. That man shook his head and left the room. Hirsch thanked me and left Brett and me in the room. While we waited for the men in the line up to exit, Brett explained that the other man was the attorney for the man I identified - an attorney arranged through Investment Surge no less.
Brett told me the stake out on Malloy had led to the beady eyed man’s arrest early in the morning hours. Malloy tried to say he didn’t know who he was, that they had just bumped into each other. Matthews had recorded enough of their interaction that it was obviously not just two men passing by each other. Malloy clammed up after that. The beady eyed man was identified as Jared Skinner based on hi
s finger prints. He’d been arrested multiple times, but no convictions.
They had to delay the line up until the attorney arrived and they could find enough men with beards and long hair. The tats on the other men were fake and at least one of the men had a wig on. I still wasn’t sure I’d be able to recognize him at a trial if he shaved and had a haircut.
Hirsch stuck his head in and told us it was clear. With my class cancelled, Brett and I both went over to the courthouse. Dr. Wellburn was still on the witness stand when we arrived. Brett related that Bergner had decided to call Nick first to establish how the body was found. He smiled as he described how well Nick had done at sticking to the facts and not getting led on by Bergner’s questions.
As Bergner finished with his questions, Marty stood and adjusted his jacket as he moved to center stage. He walked Dr. Wellburn back through the evidence. His questions established that there was no blood or tissue on any of Clive’s tools, no match of bruising to the tools, and that the tissue under Justin’s nails was not a match to Clive’s DNA. He then asked Dr. Wellburn if there had been any other DNA matching for this tissue. Bergner jumped up when Dr. Wellburn answered, “Yes, sir, just this morning.”
I looked over to Brett and raised my brows. I wondered if they had taken a DNA sample from the beady eyed man. Brett shrugged.
“I object. This is just an attempt to distract the jury from the facts of the case!” Bergner shouted as he jumped up from his seat.
“Objection overruled. If there is a match, Mr. Bergner, that would be a fact in this case that seems sorely lacking in same. Mr. Cohn, please continue with the question I suspect you were about to ask.”
“Dr. Wellburn was that test a match?”
“Yes, sir. It was 90% matched. Not quite 100% given that the tissue sample was so small.”
Murder in the Arboretum (Cold Creek Book 2) Page 16