Resolved Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 3)

by T. E. Killian

  When she didn’t respond, he said, “Well, how am I doing?”

  All through his little speech, she had on what he had begun to think of as her cop face. Now, she slowly smiled and her whole face lit up. He could sure get used to that smile.

  “Until yesterday, I wasn’t so sure, but after passing the test with my overbearing family, I would say that you’re doing quite well.”

  With that, she went through the door with a wave of her hand. “I’d better get over there and start helping Grant and Stan with all those interviews.”

  Wayne stood where she had left him for so long that he began to draw curious stares from those passing by him in the hallway.

  * * *

  Sonia worked all morning with Grant and Stan interviewing the employees of Newcomb Motors both those at the dealership and at company headquarters upstairs.

  During one of the breaks between interviews, she called Hamilton Baar’s office and made an appointment for one o’clock to see him. That way, she would have her lunchtime to prepare herself to talk to the man who didn’t want to talk to her and for several reasons was high on her list of suspects.

  Right before lunch, she called in her last person on her list.

  When Ralph Richardson walked past her into the office she was using, she couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were exactly on a level with hers. She wasn’t sure who that gave the advantage to, but she still felt small next to him. He had large arms and a big potbelly. Added to his shaved head it all made him rather imposing as he glared at her.

  Well, two could play at this game. Sonia placed her hands on her hips, which positioned her left hand behind her belt badge and her right hand above her handgun.

  His eyes went to her handgun and he sat in the chair she had been indicating with her hand.

  Richardson worked in new car prep and thus would routinely use the keys and logs of every new car that came into the dealership. She needed to see what he might know, but he didn’t look like he was going to be very cooperative.

  She sensed, at the least, anger coming from the man. Then she remembered him. Last year when Grant had been on his honeymoon, she had been partners with Stan for the week. They had investigated a bar fight between two Newcomb employees. This guy was one of them!

  She steeled herself and started. “Mr. Richardson, I’m sure you are aware that we have met before.”

  She left that statement dangling as bait to see what he might say to it. She wasn’t disappointed.

  “Yeah, we met. You cost me a month’s pay.”

  She tried to remain calm and not show any reaction to that. “I’m sure you will admit that I had nothing to do with your fight in that bar, Mr. Richardson.”

  He continued to glare at her so she decided to get on with the interview. “The reason we are here today talking to all the employees is that two of the new cars off this lot have been used in the commission of two murders.”

  She let that one settle before continuing. “I’m sure you would like to see whoever did this with two of your cars be caught, Mr. Richardson.”

  He continued glaring at her so long that she didn’t think he would answer. Then he shrugged his shoulders and gave her a short choppy answer. “That’s your problem.”

  Sonia had to look away from those hate filled eyes. She’d wanted to hit the guy ever since he had strutted into the room. She had to get that urge under control quickly.

  “Have you seen anyone take the keys or the log of any new car who you didn’t think should have had them?”

  He shook his head. She received the same answer to her next three questions, so she gave up.

  “Thank you Mr. Richardson. If you happen to think of anything that might help us, please give us a call.”

  With that, he stomped out of the room leaving her steaming in her own anger. This was not good. If she had let this guy get to her, what would happen when she finally got to interview Hamilton Baar? It was a good thing it was lunchtime.

  She was in the parking lot, approaching her car when she saw Wayne standing in front of his car. He started toward her and they met in front of her unmarked car.

  “If you’re going to lunch, I’d love to go with you.”

  She frowned. “We’re already having dinner together tonight.”

  His grin almost won her over. “So . . . I’m not contagious or anything. It’s okay if you’re around me a little more than we planned.”

  When he hung his head in a little boy pleading stance, he won her over the rest of the way.

  She laughed. “Okay, but I’m still technically on duty.” She motioned to the badge and gun on her belt. “I’ll have to go like this.”

  His grin disappeared and his face grew serious. “No problem, Sonia. If anything, I’m proud of the fact that you’re a police detective, lieutenant even. Remember, you looked just like this the first time I saw you, and I don’t need to remind you how you affected me then.”

  She couldn’t say why but that gave her a warm fuzzy feeling. All of the men she had dated over the years had been at the least intimidated by her being a police officer. It was refreshing to hear Wayne say what he did, and looking into his eyes, she was sure he meant it.

  “Okay, but I don’t have much time. I have an important appointment at one. So we can’t go far and it needs to be quick.”

  “Fine, I know just the place. I know you like Mexican food, so we can go to one I know that has both fast service and good food.”

  She followed him back over to his car.

  When he parked near the front of a low flat building that looked more like a storefront than a restaurant, she recognized it as what she had thought was a greasy little place and she’d always avoided it.

  She knew she must have been giving Wayne an incredulous look when they climbed out of his little car.

  He laughed and said, “It’s much better than it looks.”

  He had been right, she had what she considered to be the safest meal on the menu, a green chili burrito and it was unbelievable. The chilies had a wonderfully strong roasted flavor and the beef was highly seasoned just the way she liked it.

  She smiled at him and motioned to her empty plate. “That was simply marvelous. I could kick myself for never trying this place before.”

  Sonia could tell that Wayne was enjoying her enthusiasm. He grinned and said, “You’ve eaten at my grandparents’ house a few times.”

  When she nodded, he continued, “Well, would you say that Maria, their housekeeper and cook is a good cook.”

  “Oh yes, I always look forward to eating there.”

  His smile grew and she was suddenly caught up in it.

  “She taught all of her kids how to cook just like her and her oldest son, Roberto, owns this place and does all the cooking.”

  She clapped her hands together. “No wonder it’s so good then.”

  When Wayne dropped her off at her car, she was a little disappointed that she had to go back to work. What did that mean? She’d have to analyze that feeling later on, but not now.

  * * *

  When Sonia parked her unmarked car in the lot at Baar Construction and Development Company, she sat there for a moment trying to collect her thoughts as to how she wanted to conduct this interview.

  It would have been much better if she had been able to talk to Hamilton Baar when she’d been here on Tuesday, but that hadn’t worked out. She had a strong feeling that Baar would not be alone. She’d already tangled with his lawyer, Tom Wilkins, and didn’t look forward to doing it again, especially when she wanted to interview Baar instead of the lawyer.

  She had a few thoughts but wasn’t sure how she should go about it. Then she thought that she needed some legal advice before going into that office.

  She quickly called the city attorney, Dave Montgomery,

  When she disconnected, she dialed Grant right away. When he answered, she said, “Grant, can you meet me at Baar’s office right away?”

  “Sure, Sonia, I jus
t left home from lunch. I’ll be there in five.”

  This time when she disconnected, she let her emotions go for a moment. But she did stop short of tears. Was she slipping? She shouldn’t have needed the city attorney to tell her she shouldn’t go into this meeting alone.

  She needed to think about this later. Was she letting her new relationship with Wayne, yes that was what it was now, interfere with her job? She couldn’t afford to let it.

  By the time Grant arrived, she was as composed as she was going to get any time soon. She climbed out of her car and met Grant at the sidewalk leading up to the office.

  Neither said anything. There was no need. They’d both been in this kind of situation many times before. It was Sonia’s interview, so all Grant would do was back her up, follow her lead, but mostly remain silent and just be a presence.

  At the door, she turned to Grant and said, “I suspect that Baar’s lawyer will be present, so I called Dave Montgomery and he gave me some hints on how to word my questions. We’ll see what happens now.”

  They approached the reception desk at one o’clock sharp but Baar kept them waiting for fifteen minutes. She knew that was a ploy to take charge of the meeting. Well, she resolved, two could play at that game.

  They were finally ushered into Baar’s office, which was about the size of her office combined with both of the sergeants’ offices. It was furnished in expensive looking leather, dark wood furniture and paneling with a plush carpet on the floor.

  As Sonia had suspected, Tom Wilkins was sitting in a chair next to Baar who sat behind the massive desk. She could tell that Baar was a bear of a man, built much like her dad.

  She knew she would have to talk either through or around the lawyer, so she looked straight at Wilkins and said, “We meet again Mr. Wilkins. What a pleasant surprise to see you here today. As you know, we’re trying to get help in making a list of people who might possibly have wanted Mr. Hogan or his attorney dead. Have you thought of anyone else since Tuesday?”

  When there was no response to that Sonia decided to play dirty. With her eyes on Baar, she said, “Mr. Wilkins, by your own admission when we spoke on Tuesday, you said that you and Mr. Barr would be on that list, isn’t that true?”

  She heard Grant chuckle quietly beside her. Baar turned red in the face and turned a puzzled look at his lawyer.

  Wilkins showed no sign that her words had affected him in the least. “Lieutenant, as I told you . . . hypothetically on Tuesday, anyone who ever had any dealings with W. C. Hogan would have reason to not like the man.”

  Sonia smiled the smile she’d been hiding. “Sir, that’s not how I remember the conversation.” She pulled a small digital recorder out of her purse and held it up. “Shall I play it back for you right now to refresh your memory?”

  Finally, she had caused the man to react. He turned redder in the face than his client. They both looked like they were about to have a stroke. Baar was still glaring at Wilkins.

  Sonia knew that she had just made an enemy of the lawyer, if she hadn’t already done so on Tuesday. That’s okay. Lawyers weren’t among her favorite types of people either.

  She turned her gaze back to Hamilton Baar who had yet to speak. “Mr. Baar, could you tell me where you were Tuesday night at nine pm and last night at ten pm?”

  Wilkins looked at Baar and spoke before his client had a chance to say anything. “You don’t have to answer that question, Hamilton.”

  When Baar didn’t speak, Sonia smiled what she hoped was her cat about to pounce on a mouse smile. “No, Mr. Baar, you don’t have to answer that question . . . here.”

  She waited for a count of five. “But if you don’t we’ll be forced to take you down to the station where you will answer it or you will be locked up.”

  Still no movement or comment from either man. “Which will it be Mr. Baar?”

  Wilkins found his voice. “Don’t listen to her Hamilton, she’s bluffing.”

  Sonia fought a grin and turned to Grant. “Sergeant Thompson.” She motioned with her head and Grant pulled out his cuffs and approached the desk.

  Wilkins came up out of his chair and said, “You can’t do this. I’ll have both your badges for this.”

  Sonia was thoroughly enjoying this now. “Sergeant, if Mr. Wilkins says one more word or does not move out of your way, cuff him first.”

  As Grant approached Wilkins, Hamilton Baar spoke for the first time. “I was at home with my wife and teenage daughter both of the times you mentioned.”

  “Thank you, sir.” She turned her gaze on Wilkins. “Now, wasn’t that so much easier?”

  As she expected, Wilkins remained silent, but continued to glare at her around Grant who was still standing next to Wilkins with his cuffs in his hand.

  Baar cleared his throat noisily. “Can we get on with this? I have important business to conduct.”

  Sonia went on to ask several innocuous questions after that just to extend their stay a little longer. She had already gained all the information that she felt she needed.

  Once outside and standing in front of Sonia’s car, Grant whistled and said, “Remind me never to play poker with you. You were phenomenal in there just now. I don’t know how you did it, but I’ve never been able to bluff a lawyer like that.”

  Sonia felt good, not only about Grant’s compliment, but also from all that she had learned about the two men they had just interviewed.

  “Thanks, Grant. But I wasn’t bluffing.” When he stopped laughing, she said, “What do you think about those two?”

  Grant scratched behind his ear then stuck his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know, but if I had to make a guess right now, I’d say those two are in this up to their eyeballs.”

  Sonia started around her car to the driver’s side. “Yes, Grant, I think I would have to agree with you. But now comes the hard part . . .”

  “Yeah, proving it.”

  They both laughed as they opened their car doors.

  * * *

  After their unscheduled lunch together, Wayne had half-expected Sonia to call off their dinner date for tonight. He was still surprised that she didn’t when he pulled up in front of her condo.

  Sonia was out her front door before Wayne could turn the engine off so he jumped out of the car and rushed around it to open her door for her.

  Sonia glared at him but sat down without comment. But as soon as he was back behind the wheel, she turned to face him and said, “Why did you do that?”

  Wayne knew this was not an idle question. He’d better have the right answer or all the progress he had made with Sonia so far would be gone.

  He didn’t put the car in gear but turned sideways to face her taking note of how nice she looked in a charcoal pantsuit. He wondered idly if he would ever get to see her in a dress.

  Well, he’d better answer her question. “I think you know my grandparents fairly well.” She nodded. “Well, my grandfather started doing that for my grandmother on their first date and he’s still doing it fifty something years later.”

  He paused for breath then rushed on before she could say anything. “He says he does it for three reasons. One, because she is a lady and he is a gentleman and that’s what gentlemen are supposed to do for ladies. Two, because he respects her very highly. Three, because he loves her and couldn’t do it any other way even if he tried.”

  He looked into her eyes. “Those are my reasons too.”

  With that, he put the car in gear and drove off.

  After he had driven a few blocks, he chanced a quick look over at Sonia. He almost hit a parked car. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. Sonia? The tough police lieutenant was crying?

  He pulled over to the curb and took the car out of gear so he could turn to her again.

  “I’m sorry if I offended you in any way, Sonia. I was just answering your question honestly.

  She continued staring straight ahead still making him think that he’d somehow said the wrong thing. How could he dig his way out
of this one?

  Finally, she turned to him and said, “That was the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me, Wayne. I just don’t know how to respond to it. And the terrible thing about it is that I don’t think I’m ready to respond to it. I hope you can understand.”

  “That’s okay. You don’t need to respond.”

  She wiped her cheeks again. “Could we just go on the way we’ve been going . . . slowly?”

  Wayne wanted to shout out with joy or dance to express how happy he was. “Sure, Sonia, we can continue doing things at your pace. Please. I don’t ever want to rush you again.”

  When they had their meals in front of them at the Chinese restaurant he had chosen this time, Sonia surprised him again. She picked up her chopsticks and began eating her Schezwan Beef expertly with them. When she even ate her fried rice with them too, he had to say something.

  He looked down at the chopsticks in his hand then at her. “How did you learn to use chopsticks that well? I’ve been to China and I’m not as good as you.”

  She placed her chopsticks across her plate and leaned back. “Well, I’ve certainly never been to China, but my roommate at NAU was from Taiwan and she taught me.”

  Wayne picked his chopsticks back up to continue eating. “Then I don’t feel so bad. You must have had plenty of practice.”

  She smiled back and said, “Yes, Connie was a very good teacher. In fact, that’s what she is doing beck in Taiwan right now. She teaches fifth graders. We still keep in touch.”

  They were both silent for a few minutes while they finished their meals.

  Sonia placed her chopsticks down for the last time and looked up at Wayne. “You’ve met my family, and survived. You’ve seen me at my job quite a bit. And I think you know what motivates me pretty much.”

  She paused and placed her fingertips on top of his hand briefly. “But what about you? All I know is that you have an MBA and are the general manager at the dealership.”