by Lauren Carr
“She had become addicted to the power,” Archie said. “She probably could have gone on to her new identity with no one ever being the wiser if she hadn’t risked sending out this last message with hope of continuing to run the mob after being relocated.”
“Leah killed Ray Bonito and took over his operation,” Mac said. “But was she behind the poisoning at the café, and Gordon Crump’s and Mary Catherine Skeltner’s murders?”
“I really can’t think about this anymore.” David stood up. “I need to see Finnegan.”
Archie’s glance at Mac told him that he was obsessing again. He was so focused on catching the culprit in the latest series of murder to strike Spencer, Maryland, that he had forgotten that their friend had almost been killed. Leaving Mac alone with his thoughts, Archie escorted David down the hallway to where Randi Finnegan was asleep.
Funny. I never really pictured Randi Finnegan as David’s type. Finding the apprehension he felt at the thought of David becoming involved with the US Marshal unnerving, Mac paced the waiting room until he found himself staring out the window at the park across the street without really seeing it.
In the brief time that they had known each other, David had always been involved with beautiful, leggy, curvaceous women who were eager to please the handsome, slender young man with deep blue eyes. He had no problem attracting women. It was those that he chose to go beyond a one night stand who either got him into trouble or ended up breaking his heart—sometimes both.
With her abrasive manner and plain looks, Randi Finnegan was nothing like any of David’s past conquests. Recalling his latest love, Yvonne Harding, a leggy, blonde beauty queen who had broken his heart by moving to New York for a network anchor news show, Mac reconsidered his position. A change in pattern may do David some good.
“Why would Mary Catherine Skeltner’s murder be connected to this?” Archie’s voice broke through his thoughts.
Mac whirled around and grabbed his gun before realizing it was Archie who had come up behind him.
“I guess we’re both jumpy,” she said.
“We have reason to be.” Mac took her into his arms to give her a hug. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”
“You can’t be everywhere at once,” she sighed against his chest. “Besides, I had Bogie, Hector, and six armed men who basically tore apart the house while barging in. We’ve got some redecorating to do … again.”
After they sat down, she repeated her question about Mary Catherine Skeltner.
“In both murders, the suspect was wearing a hoodie and riding a silver bike,” Mac said. “Nora Crump claims that the killer said the hit on her husband was for Tommy Cruze. That’s what makes it appear as if all three murders are connected.”
“But,” Archie argued, “Mary Catherine Skeltner was tossed down a flight of stairs.”
“Bashed in her head and snapped her neck,” Mac said with a nod of his head, “to make it look like an accident.”
“Hired killer,” Archie said. “The hit on Gordon Crump certainly sounds like a hired gun. Maybe both Nora Crump and Russell Skeltner hired the same assassin to take out their spouses. He could have worked for Tommy Cruze.”
“But who is this black hooded, bike-riding killer?”
“That’s the question of the day,” Archie said.
Chapter Twenty-Three
They all cringed when Sari, after licking a tongue full of strawberry ice cream from the cone, held it out for Gnarly to do the same. Surprisingly, even though the German shepherd could have taken the whole two scoops from the top of the cone, he behaved gentlemanly and only took his share to allow the little girl to take her lick before offering him the next.
And so on and so on the two best friends ate their treat on the sofa in the reception area of the police station while the grown-ups conspired in Bogie’s office.
The federal marshal assigned to take custody of and be in charge of Sari until she was placed with a new home watched the dog sharing the cone with the little girl with complete amusement. Sari and the grandmotherly agent had hit it off like old friends from the start after the woman had showed up at the Spencer Inn with a bag of toys and goodies.
Archie came out of the office and crossed the area to sit in Tonya’s desk chair across from the little girl.
“Sari,” Archie began, “are you enjoying your ice cream?”
Sari nodded her head while taking her next lick before holding out the cone to Gnarly for his turn. “Gnarly likes it, too.”
“I see that.” Archie glanced over her shoulder at where Mac was watching from inside the doorway of the office. He gestured for her to continue with the questioning as they had discussed. “Sari, did you tell Gnarly about all that excitement at the café the other day?”
Sari’s eyes met hers.
“You know, Gnarly works for the police. Maybe if you told him what you saw, he could help to catch the people who hurt those people.”
“Mommy did something bad,” Sari said.
Startled by her directness, Archie said, “Did your mother ever discuss the bad things she did?”
“I listened,” Sari said. “She told me that Daddy did really bad things. But I think she did, too. She kept a lot of secrets. Sometimes she would forget I was there and I’d find them out.” She cocked her head at Archie. “Did Mommy kill anyone? My Daddy killed people. Did she kill people, too?”
With tears in her eyes, Archie nodded her head. “But you do know that killing people is wrong, don’t you?”
“That’s what Gnarly says.”
“Gnarly told you that?” Archie asked with a smile that didn’t quite come off.
“Gnarly’s really smart about stuff like that.” Sari patted his head while gazing into his eyes. “He led me out of the house through that secret room when Mommy went crazy. He’s my best friend.”
Behind her, Archie heard Mac mutter, “Secret room? What secret room?”
“Secret passage out of the manor,” Bogie whispered. “Robin had it installed when Archie moved in.”
“I think Gnarly wants you to tell him what you saw that morning at your mommy’s cafe,” Archie was saying, “the morning that those people died.”
Sari eyed Archie over the top of her ice cream cone. She then held it over for Gnarly to take his lick. “I saw you out the window eating a croissant that Mr. Faraday bought for you,” she told the German shepherd.
She took her lick. “Then Mr. Skeltner came up to Mr. Faraday and made fun of him before coming in and ordering an espresso like he does every morning.” She lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. “I don’t like Mr. Skeltner. Do you, Gnarly?”
Gnarly lifted his paw and bowed his head as if in agreement before taking his lick.
“He never looks at people when he talks to them,” she said while he took a lick from the strawberry ice cream. “My Daddy would never look at people either. I find that when someone doesn’t look at you, you can’t trust them. Mommy used to look at me. Then, she stopped. That was when she became like Daddy—all secretive and stuff. What do you think, Gnarly?”
Gnarly rose to a sitting position. His head now towered over Sari. She sat up so that their eyes could meet.
“That’s what I think, too,” Sari said with a nod of her head.
“What else happened, Sari?” Archie asked.
The little girl continued talking to Gnarly. “Mommy was making Mr. Skeltner his espresso and he went into the dining room and was looking out the window at the lake and doing his stretching exercises, like he does every morning. He puts his hands over his head and bends over and touches his toes. A lady runner came in and stood there and looked at him. Mom didn’t see her because she was making the espresso. Mr. Skeltner then took a bunch creams from out of his fanny pouch and put them on a table. Then he dumped the creams that
were in the bowl into his pouch, and put his creams in the bowl and put it on the table.”
Gnarly cocked his head at her.
“Yeah,” Sari said. “Weird. Why did he take our creams when he had his own?” She shrugged. “So then, Mom was done with the espresso. So she gave it to Mr. Skeltner. Then, the lady runner’s husband came in and Mr. Skeltner left. After she was done with Mr. Skeltner, Mom took them to their table and the lady wanted to sit at the table where Mr. Skeltner left his creams.”
Gnarly let out a yap.
“The lady runner wanted the creams that Mr. Skeltner had left,” Sari said. “I know because she got real mad when those bunch of men came in and the one took them. Her and the funny smelling man didn’t have their coffee yet because the man said Mom’s coffee wasn’t fresh enough because it was twenty minutes old. But the men took Mom’s coffee even though it was old, and the one took Mr. Skeltner’s cream. That was when the lady runner got real mad at her husband and called him a wuss—what’s a wuss?”
Gnarly barked his answer.
“Oh,” Sari responded like she understood him. “You’re not a wuss, are you?” With that, she presented Gnarly with the remainder of the ice cream cone.
Mac turned to David, Bogie, and Special Agents Delaney and Bennett. “Not only did Skeltner have his wife killed, but he also tried to kill Gordon Crump, and ended up killing Tommy Cruze and his bodyguard by accident. Gordon Crump took double cream in his coffee. He would have been killed instantly if he hadn’t insisted on Leah making a fresh pot. When Skeltner failed to kill him the first time, he completed the job the second time.”
“And Gordon’s wife pointed the finger at the mob,” David said, “to divert suspicion from Skeltner.”
Garrett County Prosecutor Ben Fleming swung the golf club to send the ball sailing across the grass to land with three bounces on the green. A pleased smile crossed his face before he turned to Mac and David. “How old is this witness?”
David bowed his head to look down at his feet. “Six years old.”
“And she only talks to Gnarly.” Ben chuckled. “Plus, she’s in the federal witness protection program.”
“Her mother is dead after shooting a federal agent,” Mac agreed, “The US Marshals are placing her with another couple who are in the program who have been wanting to adopt a child. Once she’s sent to live with them, there’s no way the feds will risk bringing her back to testify at trial.”
“So she’s worthless.” Ben dropped his club in the golf bag. “Maybe she made up the stuff about Skeltner planting the poison to protect her mother.”
“Who happened to be secretly running a big crime operation,” David said.
Mac said, “Russell Skeltner is a killer.”
“Is that what your gut is telling you, Mac?” The prosecutor slung the strap of his golf bag over his shoulder.
“My gut has never let me down yet.”
“We can’t get a search warrant for Skeltner’s house for traces of the strychnine based on your gut.” They walked as a group across the golf course in the direction of Ben’s golf ball. “And don’t even think of trying to put Gnarly on the stand to testify to what she told him,” he joked. “That’s hearsay.”
Disgusted, but not surprised, Mac and David failed to connect to the humor.
“Listen.” Ben stopped to place his golf-gloved hand on his hip. “I believe you, too. Something in my gut always said Skeltner was a snake. But, he’s good buddies with Bill Clark, a town councilman. Try to implicate him in this murder with what you have now, and you,” he pointed at David, “will be shooting your career in the foot, even if you are best buds with Mac here. Have you got anything?”
“A bicycle,” David said. “A silver bike matching the description of the one the witnesses saw at the Skeltner place was found at the Santa Fe Grill and Cantina after Crump’s murder. A couple said they saw the shooter ride up on it before the murder. No fingerprints were found on it. Forensics is looking to see if they can find anything else.”
“Have you questioned Skeltner about the Crump murder?” Ben asked.
David and Mac glanced at each other.
“I don’t want to question him until I have something more solid,” Mac said.
“And I don’t want to go looking for a search warrant until you have something more solid, either.”
“How about DNA?” Mac asked. “Is that solid?”
Pausing, Fleming turned to Mac. “That is very solid. Tell me more.”
“A contact lens was found in Mary Catherine Skeltner’s bedroom,” David said. “She did not wear contact lenses. Neither does Russell Skeltner. The victim had hair under her fingernails. Forensics collected a woman’s DNA from both the lens and hair. We need a suspect to match it with.”
“Then get one,” Fleming said.
“We’re working on it.” Mac scratched the back of his head. “We need to find a connection between Russell Skeltner and the Crumps.”
“Bogie and Archie are digging into their backgrounds right now,” David said. “They couldn’t find anything between Russell and Gordon Crump, so we have them looking for a connection between Russell Skeltner and Nora Crump.”
“Are you thinking they were having an affair and decided to do away with their spouses?” Fleming asked.
“Isn’t that a classic motive?” Mac grinned.
“So far, we’ve had no luck proving they’ve even met,” David said with a frown.
“Keep digging. If Skeltner is a killer, I want him out of Spencer.” The prosecutor’s expression softened when he turned to Mac. “How’s Archie?”
“She’s fine,” Mac said, “especially since Cruze is dead. All of the fed’s sources are saying the contract died with him. Now that they seem to have wiped out Bonito’s men and their virtual leader, Archie’s in the clear. It looks like she can leave the program.”
Fleming smiled. “Good news for you both.”
“Yes, it is.” Mac glanced over at David, who shot a smirk in his direction.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Well, that went about how I expected,” David said when they returned to the Spencer police station and went upstairs to his office with cans of soft drinks.
“Admit it,” Mac said, “I was right about Skeltner. He had his wife killed—”
“Too bad you’re his alibi.” With a chuckle, David plopped down onto the sofa.
“I wish people would stop telling me that.” Raking his fingers through his hair, he started pacing the length of the office.
“It’s the truth.” Smiling at Mac’s predicament, David took off his shoes and propped his feet up on the coffee table.
“Do you know what really infuriates me about being his alibi?”
“Skeltner used you and you’re taking it personally.”
“Not me alone. Anyone who happened to be at the café, Leah and Sari, anyone who happened to be there was his alibi.” The snap of Mac’s fingers startled David to grab his attention. Mac pointed a finger at him. “The same time his wife was being murdered, Skeltner was planting the cream meant to kill Gordon Crump. Don’t you see it? They killed each other’s spouses. Nora Crump was the guy on the bike.”
“Witnesses said it was a man—a teenager.”
“In black sweats with the hood up speeding by on a bike. These witnesses are elderly. Without a clear look, they could have assumed it was a teenaged boy. Nora is very slender and isn’t very well endowed. In the right clothes and speeding by, she could be mistaken for a teenaged boy.”
David sighed. “Now it’s Nora Crump who killed Mary Catherine Skeltner? Wasn’t she at the café, too? Sari said she came in and was waiting for her mom to seat her when Skeltner planted the poison.”
“She could have made it in time. The terrain on Lakeshore Drive is flat. Nora i
s athletic enough to have done it.” Mac plopped down on the coffee table directly in front of David which forced him to take his feet off the table. “The B and B is three miles from the café. The ME can’t be precise down to the minute. She could be a few minutes off.”
Mac recalled the moment she first saw Nora Crump running across the parking lot. Her husband was lagging far behind her. As she came down the hill, she stumbled off the curb and almost landed on her face. She couldn’t see the curb clearly because she had lost a lens. She wore an athletic suit, and he had thought that she was breathless from running. “She was breathless because she was in a hurry. In order for their plan to work, timing had to be precise. She had to speed three miles on the bike to get to the B and B to kill Mary Catherine Skeltner while Russell Skeltner was establishing an alibi. If she committed the murder too close to when he left, then the argument could be made that he killed his wife before leaving. But, she also had to make sure she got back to the hotel and got her husband to make it to the café in time to get the same table where Skeltner had planted the poison so that no innocent victims would die.”
“Which is exactly what happened,” David said.
“It was all over the news that it was Tommy Cruze who was murdered,” Mac said more to himself. “So they used it to their advantage. That night, Skeltner finished the job while Nora pointed the finger at a mob hit. That whole story about Gordon Crump borrowing money from Cruze is a lie.”
When David looked doubtful, Mac asked, “Why else did Nora Crump send you in the opposite direction when you asked her where the shooter went? They had no idea we were going to be on the scene.”
“She claims she was in shock and confused,” David reminded him. “A jury will find it hard not to believe her.”
“You and I both know that’s not true.” Mac shook his finger at him. “The lady runner.”
“What?”
“Out of the mouths of babes,” Mac said with a grin. “Sari hit on the connection between Skeltner and Nora Crump. She called Nora ‘the lady runner’. I’m willing to bet money that it’s what brought them together. They’re both runners. Skeltner’s neighbor says he’s always traveling to run in marathons. Do you realize how many people participate in those things?”