The Detective Lane Casebook #1

by Garry Ryan

  “I’m not really hungry.” Ernie sipped his pop.

  “After Bob was through with you, one of the emotions you felt was helplessness. Helplessness because someone took control of your life and there wasn’t much you could do about it.”

  Ernie said, “How did you know?”

  “I’ve been there. Now you have a choice. I’m asking you to eat. All you have to do is listen. You can get up and leave any time you want or you can sit, eat and listen.”

  Ernie crossed his ankles and sat. He put the pop between his legs, unwrapped the end of the bun and took a bite.

  Randy lifted his pop. “Ernesto came here the morning Bob attacked you. It was a Tuesday?”

  “Yes,” Ernie said.

  Beth nodded and realized how hungry she was when she bit into the bun and tasted fresh baked bread.

  “Ernesto was driving a Lincoln. Helen was in the passenger seat. He didn’t see me. It was coffee time and I was leaning up against this tree. You get to know someone real well when you work alongside him day after day. The way Ernesto moved when he got out of the car, I could tell there was something wrong. There was something about his posture. And he didn’t usually show up at that time of day.” Randy took another sip. “See those two willows?” He pointed at a pair of trees with white limbs and leaves hanging close to the ground. “The backhoe was down there. See the large headstone in black? The one shaped like a cross.”

  Beth and Ernie looked down over the tops of rows of gravestones and into the valley. One headstone stood out among the others. It was under a hill of fresh earth dotted with Canadian and American flags.

  Randy said, “One of the other guys had just about finished up the hole but was gone for coffee. Ernesto was real careful to back the car up close to the hole. Then he climbed into the backhoe and started digging. I wondered why he went so deep. It all made sense when he eased the backhoe’s bucket over to the rear of the Lincoln. He got down off the tractor, pulled a rope out of the trunk and tied it to the bucket. It was kind of slick the way he used the bucket to lift the body out of the trunk. For a moment it just hung there. Even from up here I could see the dead guy’s fly was open. Ernesto eased the body into the bottom of the hole, climbed out of the cab and cut the rope. He pulled a couple of bags out of the trunk and a big sheet of plastic. He dumped the bags into the hole. Then he refilled part of it and used the bucket to flatten the bottom. That way nobody would know what he’d done. The backhoe operator joked later on about how one hole had dug itself. He looked at me like I’d played a practical joke on him. I played along.”

  Ernie looked at his sandwich. One bite was left. “Uncle Bob. It had to be him.”

  Beth put her arms around her belly and looked at her son.

  She felt sick with the certainty of what must come next.

  “For the rest of that day and that night I tried to figure out what kind of mess Ernesto was in. The next day, I read about what happened to you. Then, it all made sense,” Randy said.

  Beth said, “My mother must have called Ernesto. All he had to do was back the Lincoln into the garage and drag Bob down the hall. Then Mom called the ambulance for Ernie.”

  “That’s what Ernesto said when I asked him three days later. He told me that Leona had been asleep upstairs, heard a noise and found Ernie and Bob on the floor. Bob was dead and she couldn’t get Ernie to wake up. Leona phoned Ernesto for help. When he got there, they rolled Bob over. His pecker was hanging out of his pants and the knife was on the floor. They put two and two together. Leona cleaned some of the blood off Ernie’s face and they decided the best thing to do was look out for their grandson.”

  “So, he’s not coming back?” Ernie looked first to Beth and then to Randy for confirmation.

  Beth opened her mouth to speak then said to herself, What will Ernie do when he figures it out?

  “I don’t have to worry,” Ernie stared down into the valley at the headstone.

  “Who else knows?” Beth said. Fear scratched its nails along her spine.

  “The three of us and Lane.” Randy watched Ernie and waited.

  “He knows?” Beth put her hand over her mouth.

  “Lane suspects, but his hands are tied without proof,”

  Randy said.

  “All he has to do is exhume the body.” Beth’s mind raced as she tried to think ahead.

  “Two bodies, actually, and that creates a bit of a problem,”

  Randy said.

  “Who else is buried there?” Beth said.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “Who?” Ernie said.

  Randy told them.

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” Beth said.

  “Nope.”

  “Lane will still get the body exhumed.” Beth looked at her son as she said the words.

  “Won’t do him much good.” Randy drained his pop. “Not now.”

  Ernie chewed the last bite of his second sandwich then licked his fingers.

  Beth put her foot to the floor and tried the engine again. It coughed, cleared its throat and caught. A cloud of black smoke puffed from the tailpipe.

  “This old girl doesn’t like the heat,” Randy crouched on Ernie’s side of the car.

  “Doesn’t like the cold, either,” Ernie said.

  Beth said, “Thanks, Randy, for everything.”

  Randy lifted his hand, fingers open, cocked his head to one side and said, “Forget it. Oh, I almost forgot.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to Ernie. “She’s a good doctor. Helped me deal with what happened. If you decide that’s what you want, she’s a good one to talk with.”

  Ernie took the card and tucked it into his pocket.

  Beth pulled away. The car gathered speed as the road dropped into the bottom of the valley. She braked. They passed the grave with its meter high black stone cross and the flags.

  “Aren’t we going to talk to Lane?” Ernie said.

  Beth hit the brakes hard. Ernie put his hand against the dash. Scout yelped when she fell against the back of the front seat.

  “Mom?”

  She looked at her hands gripping the wheel. “Are you crazy?”

  Ernie considered the question, “You think this will go away?”

  She felt the flat of Ernie’s hand between her shoulder blades.

  “Uncle Bob’s not coming back. You don’t know how it feels to know he’s not coming back.”

  “Do you know what it all means?” she said.

  “What?”

  “It probably means Bob is dead because you hit him.”

  “I just hit him once. He said he was gonna kill me if I didn’t do what he said. He was gonna cut my nose off and then he was gonna cut my heart out.”

  “You didn’t tell me all of it,” Beth said.

  “I didn’t remember it all till later. It came back in bits and pieces. I remember the knife. I remember what he smelled like. I remember the fear. I remember hitting him. I remember falling. I know what he said.”

  “What if you end up in jail?” Beth said.

  Ernie’s expression told her he hadn’t thought of that.

  “You don’t understand.” Beth touched the smudges of fatigue underneath his eyes.

  “You think the reporter is gonna give up? You think Lane will? Maybe you don’t understand.”

  She looked ahead at the intersection. Turn East or turn West? she thought.

  “I want this to be over. My Dad would run. I don’t want to end up like him,” Ernie said.

  Harper said, “Why not dig down beside the hole?”

  Lane looked across at his partner. The Chev’s air conditioner pumped a cool breeze. “What do you mean?”

  “Are there any graves right beside it? I mean, maybe we can dig a hole down alongside. That way we might not have to get permission to disturb the other body.”

  “Never thought of that,” Lane said.

  They heard the sound of an engine labouring up the hill.

  It w
as followed by the blue hood of Beth’s Dodge.

  “Do we follow her if she doesn’t stop?” Harper said. They watched Beth look their way and turn toward them. She backed in, leaving a parking space between her and the ghost car.

  Ernie opened his door, grabbed the dog’s leash, then waited for his mother to come around and join him.

  “You have any idea how this is going to play out?” Harper said.

  “Looks good so far,” Lane said.

  Scout’s tongue hung almost to the ground.

  Lane opened his window. He hitched his thumb and pointed at the back seat. “Want to cool off?”

  Beth frowned at Lane’s choice of words. Ernie opened the door behind Lane. “Okay if Scout gets in?” Without waiting for permission, the dog hopped in and sat to ponder the pair in the front. Ernie climbed in. The dog eased closer to the boy when Beth climbed in the other side.

  “You okay, girl?” Ernie said to Scout. He looked at Lane and Harper, “She was chasing gophers.”

  Harper smiled.

  “She need some water?” Lane leaned against the driver’s door.

  “Just gave her some,” Beth said.

  “We found out where Uncle Bob is,” Ernie said.

  A rush of emotions ran through Beth.

  Harper studied Ernie.

  Lane looked at the boy and said, “You know that what you say here can be used in a trial. Detective Harper is going to be taking notes.”

  Harper picked up his notebook and propped it on his knee.

  Ernie kept his eyes on Lane.

  “Do you want a lawyer?” Lane looked at Beth as he asked the question.

  “Do we need one?” she said.

  “You might,” Lane said.

  Ernie said, “I want to get this over with. Besides, you know most of it already.”

  “I don’t want my kid to go to jail,” Beth said.

  Lane said, “Look, I’ll keep the questions general and if you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to. Okay?”

  Ernie nodded.

  “You don’t agree?” Lane said to Beth.

  “He says this is what he wants. What else can I do?” She wiped her palms on the thighs of her jeans.

  “You can say no,” Lane said.

  “Ask your questions.” Ernie scratched the back of the dog’s head.

  Lane looked at the boy, “Have you remembered anything more about Bob Swatsky’s assault?”

  “I remember the knife, the smell of him, the threats and hitting him here.” Ernie used his free hand to tap the soft tissue at the base of his throat.

  “You said threats. Specifically, what did he say?” Lane said.

  “He said, he’d cut my nose off and then he’d cut my heart out if I didn’t get on my knees. He told me to suck his . . . ”

  Lane looked at Ernie then at Harper to see if his partner was keeping up with the notes.

  “He threatened your life,” Lane said.

  “That’s important?” Ernie said.

  “Very.” Lane thought for a moment. “Do you remember anything else?”

  “Just that he fell on me and then I remember waking up in the hospital and seeing my Mom leaning over the bed.”

  “Nothing else?”

  “Nope,” Ernie said.

  Lane chose his words carefully. “Now, you say you have reason to believe you know where Bob Swatsky is. You might not want to mention the names of anyone living if you decide to discuss his whereabouts.”

  What is he doing? Beth thought.

  Ernie considered this for a moment. “Nonno dumped Uncle Bob’s body in a grave. We can show you where.”

  “How do you know this?” Lane said.

  Ernie looked at Beth.

  “You see, I have to have a good reason if I go digging for a body.” Lane continued to gauge their reactions and study their eyes.

  Beth said, “A reliable source said we would find the body in a grave down the hill.”

  “Do you know the name on the headstone?” Lane said.

  Beth and Ernie nodded.

  Lane said the name.

  Ernie said, “Yes, that’s it.”

  “Do I have to go to jail, now?” Ernie said. “I might have killed my Uncle.”

  Beth gripped her son’s knee.

  Harper spoke before Lane could, “We have to determine the cause of death before we proceed.”

  Lane looked at Harper, then at Beth and Ernie.

  Harper said, “We don’t know if Swatsky died from a blow to the throat, a heart attack or if someone else killed him. In fact, we don’t know the cause of death until we have the results of an autopsy. We are obliged to make a solid case before laying any charges. We also have to consider the fact that this was a situation where Ernie’s life was in imminent danger.”

  I couldn’t have said it better, Lane thought.

  Saturday, August 12

  CHAPTER 28

  “V Channel morning news.” The anchor’s face was somber. “Reporter Ralph Devine has some shocking updates related to his ongoing coverage of the Swatsky saga.”

  Cut to a head and shoulders shot of Ralph Devine with the airport terminal in the background. “An exclusive interview with Lisa Swatsky, daughter of missing Red Deer Mayor Bob Swatsky, resulted in some startling revelations.”

  Cut to video tape of Lisa leaving the funeral home and waving at the camera.

  Devine’s voice-over continued, “Yesterday, a reporter talked with Ms. Swatsky as she waited for a flight to the Cayman Islands. Ms. Swatsky claims, and I quote, “I delivered a bag of cash to the Premier. My Dad told me it was part of a business deal.” When asked how much money was involved, she said, “$900,000, I think. I didn’t count it all.”

  Cut to a head and shoulders portrait of a smiling Bob Swatsky. Devine said, “Lisa Swatsky is the daughter of Bob and Judy Swatsky. Judy recently divorced her husband and now lives in a million dollar mansion on the Cayman Islands. Officials believe Swatsky and his partners used money from an illegal land deal to buy real estate near this petrochemical plant.”

  Cut to a shot of smoke stacks and concrete buildings. “Investigators believe Swatsky bought the land after receiving insider information on plans for plant expansion. The land was sold for an estimated 15 million more than its purchase price.”

  Cut back to Ralph Devine, “When confronted with these allegations, the Premier replied . . . ”

  Cut to the Premier saying, “I want to know why Lisa Swatsky left the country only days after her father disappeared!”

  Back to Devine. “We may never know what happened to Mayor Bob Swatsky and the missing money. Ralph Devine.

  V Channel News.”

  Arthur sat at his kitchen table and said, “Did you read this?” He dropped the folded front page of The Calgary Herald on the kitchen table. Its headline read PREMIER IMPLICATED IN SWATSKY SCANDAL.

  Lane glanced at the clock on the stove. Just back from an early two hour walk around Glenmore Reservoir with Riley, he used a napkin to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Then he poured himself a cup of coffee. He glanced at the headline and said, “Not yet.”

  “The reporter maintains Lisa Swatsky told him she gave the Premier a plastic shopping bag. And the bag contained close to $900,000.”

  Lane’s eyebrows shifted, “Beth said Lisa had rolls of thousand dollar bills in her handbag. I wonder if the Premier’s shopping bag was a little short?”

  “Lisa’s statement about not counting the money was kind of odd.”

  “Lisa is odd,” Lane said.

  “Ernie might end up being a small part of a much bigger scandal.”

  “Or a bigger part, it’s hard to tell.”

  “What do you mean?” Arthur said.

  “You know how it goes. Some reporters like to speculate.

  The Premier has already survived three scandals. Suspicion could easily shift to Ernesto, Leona, Beth or Ernie. Who knows, somebody might even get the story right.”

  “Still, Judy
living in the Cayman Islands in a million dollar mansion is sure to send some suspicion her way.” Arthur rubbed Riley under the chin with his toe.

  “Too early to tell. I’m heading for the shower.”

  The phone rang.

  Arthur reached for it. “Hello? He’s right here.” He covered the mouthpiece and handed the phone to Lane, “Harper.”

  Lane took the phone, “Good morning.” He listened intently before before saying, “Thanks.” He handed the phone back to Arthur.

  “Well?”

  “He says the medical examiner may not be able to determine the exact cause of Bob Swatsky’s death.”

  “The body was only there for two weeks,” Arthur said.

  “The body was covered with lime,” Lane said.

  “Lime?”

  “If you choose the right kind of lime and know how to use it, it accelerates decomposition. They had to use dental records for a positive identification on the body. Very little was left except for bone, 13 centimeters of zipper, spare change, a tie clip, cuff links and a wrist watch.”

  “Ernie’s off the hook?” Arthur said.

  “Even discounting self-defense, how could the Crown prove Ernie, Ernesto, Leona, or even heart failure was the cause of death? Apparently, Bob’s heart wasn’t in great shape. All we may have is interfering with a body and the people responsible for that are already dead. The Premier has suggested Lisa may be responsible for her father’s disappearance. Next, she’ll be accusing the Premier. It looks like Beth and Ernie are last week’s news.”

  Thursday, August 17

  CHAPTER 29

  Ernie opened one eye. He was in his grandfather’s house.

  The phone rang.

  He opened the other eye.

  The phone rang.

  He lifted his feet out of tangled sheets, sat up and felt the cool touch of hardwood. His nose filled with the scent of fermenting wine.

  The phone rang.

  He stood and stumbled into the hallway, then lifted the phone.

  “Ernie?”

  “Hi Mom.”

  “Did I get you out of bed?”

  “Mmmhmmm.” He leaned his left arm against the wall and rested his head against his forearm.

  “It’s 10:30, Ernie.”