Double Trouble

by Scott Wittenburg

“He claims that he brought them along to see if he could find a buyer for them. He’s been having some financial difficulties and had decided to sell the coins if he could get a good price for them. Says he had planned on giving Bill Mayer a call to see if he’d be interested in purchasing them. Bill’s a pretty well-known coin collector around the tri-state area.”

  “I don’t suppose Nick talked to Mayer prior to being picked up by the police.”

  “No. So again, there’s nothing to corroborate his story.”

  “Poor Nick,” Amanda said. “Is there any more bad news we should know about?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Ken said. “And it may be the worst.”

  “How much worse can it get?”

  “Decide for yourself,” Ken replied. “The authorities have gained access to Nick’s cellphone records and discovered that he placed a call to Jodi around the same time he arrived in town.”

  “Jesus,” Alan said. “Did she answer his call?”

  Ken nodded. “They had a brief conversation.”

  “And what did they talk about?”

  “Nick claims he’d just called to see how she was doing. Although Jodi told him she was pissed at him for calling, she filled him in on what she’d been up to and that was pretty much it—end of conversation.”

  “So of course the cops believe he was actually casing Jodi out.”

  “Exactly. The timing of that call couldn’t be more critical to the case. The call was placed at 8:47 AM—giving Nick just enough time to rob and murder his ex-wife and arrive at his folks home by 9:30.”

  “It still doesn’t sound like there’s enough concrete evidence to convict him,” Alan said. “Except for the possibly of the coins, is there any physical evidence linking him to the crime?”

  “No, but there’s certainly plenty of damaging circumstantial evidence. There were no signs of forced entry, so there’s a very good chance that Jodi knew who the murderer was—but not necessarily. Nick’s fingerprints were found all over the house but luckily they can’t prove that any of the prints were fresh and the ones they found could very well be old prints made by Nick when he lived there. After all, he and Jodi lived in that house as a couple for nearly a decade—so there’s bound to be some of his fingerprints still around.

  “As for any other forensic evidence, nothing substantial has been uncovered thus far. What they know for certain is that the cause of Jodi’s death was strangulation by ligature, most likely a lamp cord or similar object. There were signs of assault—some bruises and a cut lip. The murder weapon has not been discovered, however. No prints other than Jodi’s and Nick’s were found at the scene, no evidence of sexual assault and no trace DNA recovered. Whoever killed Jodi was very careful not to leave anything incriminating behind.”

  Ken paused for a moment before continuing. Alan could see the deep concern on his face. “There’s also been one recent development I want to share with you, and it’s my fervent hope that nothing comes of it. I just so happened to overhear something yesterday at the courthouse that could break this thing wide open.”

  “What’s that?” Amanda asked, literally holding her breath.

  “The sheriff’s department may have found an eyewitness who can put Nick Wilburn near the scene of the crime. Keep in mind that this hasn’t been confirmed and may be a rumor or some sort of scare tactic—the local law enforcers have been known to stir the pot on occasion. I’ll be frank—none of the authorities, especially the Sheriff’s department, has been very forthcoming or cooperative in this case from the get-go. It’s as though they’re hell-bent on proving Nick Wilburn’s guilt and not looking at anybody else. And that’s what really concerns me.”

  “I’ve always thought the cops in this town were corrupt,” Amanda said. “And this just confirms it.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure about that, honey. But unless something breaks, or another suspect suddenly materializes, I’m afraid Nick is going to continue being their prime suspect.”

  “Is there any chance we can go to the crime scene?” Alan asked.

  “The scene has been cleared and I picked up the key from Jodi’s father yesterday. But before we make a single move in this case, we need to discuss a couple of things. First of all, I’d like to know if you’d be interested in working on this case, Alan. I’ll be honest, I need somebody like you to get to the bottom of this and help me determine what’s fact and what’s fiction.”

  “It would be my pleasure. Not only does it sound interesting, but I owe your niece big time for helping me thwart the bad guy in the McPherson case.”

  “Wonderful! Now with regard to your services—what are your rates and conditions?”

  “I’ll be honest, Ken. I view this as something I’d like to do for Amanda and her friend. It will also be sort of a test of sorts to see how well the two of us can work together. Has she told you we’ve been considering teaming up in my practice?”

  “Why no, this is a total surprise. Is that true, Mandy?”

  “More or less,” she replied. “Although Alan’s a bit more enthusiastic about it than I am. For some reason he thinks I could provide valuable insight into his investigations—be ‘the missing component,’ as he puts it. I’m flattered of course, but I think he’s giving me a little more credit than I deserve. At any rate, I told him I’m not opposed to giving it a try, and I’d be lying if I said this whole investigation thing isn’t fascinating.”

  “I think that’s wonderful. But I insist on paying you both for your services. It wouldn’t be right, otherwise.”

  “Tell you what,” Alan said. “Let’s see how things go and take it from there. Play it by ear. How does that sound?”

  “Very well,” Ken said with some resignation.

  “Where’s Nick now?” Amanda asked. “I really want to see him.”

  “At his parents’ house,” Ken replied.

  “They still live on Highland Drive?”

  “Same place. I informed Nick that you were coming down today and he was elated, to say the least. He can’t wait to see you—and told me to have you call him when you arrive so you could get together.”

  “Great, I’ll call him right now. You have his number? Hey, come to think of it, I still remember it if it hasn’t changed,” Amanda said, reaching for her phone.

  CHAPTER 4

  Amanda ended her call to Nick Wilburn and glanced at her uncle. “He wants us to come over as soon as we can.”

  “Let’s go, then. We’ll take my car,” Ken offered.

  On the way to Nick’s parents, Alan was lost in thought. Something didn’t seem right. For one thing, he felt odd sitting there in the passenger seat, being driven around on a new case in unfamiliar turf. He wasn’t in any sort of control at all. This feeling of insecurity made him question if teaming up with Amanda was such a good idea after all. He had always worked cases on his own with little or no help from anybody else, except for Charlie Ling. Charlie was his computer hacker friend and quasi-associate whenever he needed the computer geek’s unique, invaluable services. But beyond his relationship with Charlie, Alan had basically been a loner, and quite comfortable in that position.

  On the other hand he enjoyed having somebody to bounce ideas off of and get input from. And even though this case was beginning to feel like some sort of family affair, he would keep his mind open and see where it all went.

  They arrived at a two-story brick home and parked out behind a blue late model Toyota RAV4.

  “Nick’s SUV?” Alan asked.

  Ken nodded. “Yup.”

  They got out and Alan took a moment to peek through the Toyota’s window. In the backseat were several of the items he presumed Nick planned on taking back to Indiana.

  If he ever got the chance, that is.

  “My old house is right there, just a few doors down,” Amanda said, pointing toward a similar two-story home.

  Alan said, “I’ll bet you have a lot of memories of this neighborhood.”

  She nodded. “Plenty. I re
ally did like growing up here. Everybody was so friendly all the time.”

  Amanda led the way up a narrow stairway to the front porch. She knocked on the door and a moment later a man wearing a Cincinnati Reds ball cap over closely cropped hair opened the door, stepped outside and gave Amanda a big hug.

  “Damn, it’s good to see you!” Nick Wilburn said.

  “Me, too,” Amanda replied. “Sorry it has to be under these circumstances.”

  After the embrace, she motioned to Alan and said, “This is Alan Swansea, Nick.”

  Alan shook the man’s hand, noting the telltale signs of stress and anxiety written all over his drawn face.

  “Nice meeting you. Let’s go inside—Mom and Dad are dying to see you, Mandy.”

  They followed Nick into the living room where a man and woman in their early to mid-sixties were sitting on the sofa. They immediately stood up and came over to greet them.

  “You look as beautiful as always,” Nick’s mother said, embracing Amanda. “It’s so wonderful to see you after all this time.”

  As Nick’s father gave Amanda a hug, Alan noticed the same stress and despair on Nick’s parents’ faces. He recalled Amanda mention of the family’s other problems and he could see that this latest one had taken its toll.

  “Have a seat,” Nick said. He looked over at Ken. “I’ve asked Mom and Dad to let us talk privately if that’s okay.”

  “That’s fine. Are you okay with that?” he asked the elderly Wilburns.

  “If Nick feels better not having us around, we’ll just make ourselves disappear,” Mr. Wilburn said.

  “But before we leave, would any of you like something to drink?” Mrs. Wilburn added.

  When no one replied, she said, “Well, just holler if you need anything at all. And don’t you dare leave without saying goodbye, Mandy Linville!”

  “I won’t,” she smiled.

  After they left the room, Nick said, “Thanks for coming down—both of you. This whole mess has just about killed my folks and I hope to hell I get cleared before things get any worse. Mom’s got cancer and Dad just got laid off last month. I feel so damn guilty now that all this shit has come up and added to their misery.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of this,” Amanda said. “You have the best lawyer in town on your side—you’ll see that justice is served, right Uncle Ken?”

  “I’ll do my best. We’ll all be working together to get this sorted out.”

  “I really appreciate it, you guys. I’m in really deep shit, here—I need all the help I can get.”

  “You’ve got to try and be positive, Nick” Amanda said. “They haven’t even charged you with anything yet. You’re acting as though you’ve already been tried and convicted!”

  “No wonder. Ken was telling me what he heard at the courthouse—that some neighbor claims to have seen me near the house around the time Jodi was murdered. That’s utter bullshit—it’s obvious that I’m being set up!”

  “Can you think of anybody who might want to do that?” Alan asked.

  Nick shook his head. “Nobody. I mean, I may not be the most popular guy in Milldale since Jodi and I split up, but I can’t think of anyone who hates me enough to do this kind of shit. I swear, it was the stupidest thing I’ve done in my life, hooking up with that girl. It was the beginning of the end for me. And now—this happens.”

  “I am so sorry about Jodi,” Amanda said. “I know how much you loved her.”

  “That’s what I don’t get about this. How in the hell could anybody think I’d murder the only woman I’ve ever loved? I’m no idiot—I know the spouse or ex-spouse is always the first person the cops look at when something like this happens. I get that. But I didn’t do this, man—you gotta believe me!”

  “We believe you, Nick. Everyone in this room believes you, or we wouldn’t be here,” Amanda said.

  “Why don’t you tell Alan and Mandy about that day, Nick,” Ken said.

  “Okay,” he replied. He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “So the used car business has been shit lately with the economy and all so I figured I’d drive down here and look up Bill Mayer. Jodi had given me some old coins that her grandma left her when she passed and I figured I’d sell them to Bill to pick up some extra cash. I also wanted to collect some of the stuff I’ve been wanting to take back to Richmond.

  “I hadn’t talked to Jodi for months so I decided to give her a call to see how she was doing on my way into town. I’ll level with you; I’d called her several times before but she’d never pick up once she saw it was me on her caller ID. But that day she actually answered, which totally surprised me. Although she wasn’t exactly friendly, it was better than nothing. So we talked for a few minutes—just idle chat—and then she told me she had to go. I was bummed we didn’t talk longer but at the same time it was nice to just hear her voice for a change.”

  Nick fell silent, his eyes clouding up. Alan could see that he was struggling to compose himself. He knew exactly what Nick was going through—he had experienced the same emotions himself after he’d lost Julie. He felt certain this man was innocent. His pain was too real, his loss too genuine.

  Nick managed to compose himself and continued. “Sorry about that. So then I got here at around 9:30, ate breakfast with the folks, and spent the rest of the day puttering around in the attic looking for the stuff I want to take back with me. That evening, we had no sooner sat down for dinner and the phone rang. It was Jodi’s cousin. He told me that Jodi was dead.

  “I was in total denial. I remember thinking for a split-second that this was some kinda sick joke—Tommy Brooks has always been sort of a prick and I figured he was just making it up to get back at me for cheating on his cousin. When I finally realized he was serious, I asked him how she died and he just said they’d found her murdered out at our house. I started freaking out and asked him if they’d caught who did it and he said no and then hung up.

  “I remember just standing there speechless with the phone still in my hand. Mom and Dad were staring at me, trying to make out what the call had been about. I told them that Jodi had been killed and we all just started bawling—I was fucking shell-shocked, man.

  “After I got over the initial shock, all I wanted to do was find whoever killed Jodi and blow him away. I stormed out of the kitchen and ran down to the basement to get my twelve-gauge. Dad followed me down and told me to hand it over to him, and that all I was going to do was get myself in trouble if I took off carrying a loaded shotgun like some kind of lunatic. At first I refused— told him that I wanted justice—but he finally talked me out of it. Once I saw how scared and concerned he was, I decided not to get him any more upset. He managed to convince me that there was nothing I could do and that I should just let the cops handle it. Well, you can see where that’s gotten me.”

  “Your father was right, though,” Ken said. “Can you imagine how much worse this would be if the police had caught you driving around town with a loaded shotgun in your car?”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I didn’t want to just stand around doing nothing about it. Jesus, who in the hell would want to murder that sweet girl? That’s all I could think about. That, and how I had just spoken to her a few hours ago. Then all the guilt suddenly hit me like a freight train. How I’d cheated on her and destroyed our marriage. And how she never deserved any of this shit. I—”

  Amanda went over and put a comforting arm around him. “It’s okay, Nick. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  “But I fucked everything up, Mandy! If I hadn’t screwed up, I would have been with her and none of this would ever have happened. Jodi would still be alive.”

  “You know that’s not true. You can’t beat up yourself over something you couldn’t control. Even if you two had still been together, you could have been away at work that day, or just running to the grocery for a gallon of milk when she was attacked. It wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

  He just shook his head.

  “When
did the police interview you?” Alan asked.

  “The first time was later that evening. They came to the house about an hour after Tommy had called. After informing me that Jodi was dead, they asked me where I’d been for the last twenty-four hours. I told them that I’d been at my home in Richmond the night before and had driven to Milldale that morning. I said I’d left at around six-thirty and got in town around nine-thirty.

  “I then proceeded to tell them what I just told you—that I’d driven straight here and stayed in the house all day. I could tell they didn’t believe me, even after my parents confirmed I had never left the house.

  “Then they asked me when I’d last seen Jodi. I told them I hadn’t seen her in six months—when I’d come down here over the holidays. I had dropped in on Jodi to wish her a Merry Christmas.”

  “And how did that go?” Alan asked.

  “Not too bad, really. She’d been in pretty good spirits and asked me about my life in Richmond and if I was still selling cars—shit like that. I asked her if she was seeing anybody and she said no—that she was ‘through with men,’ was how she put it.”

  “Tell them what she gave you that day,” Ken said.

  “Oh yeah. I asked her if she’d still let me have her grandma’s old coins she’d promised me a ways back. She wasn’t thrilled at the prospect but still kept her word. Shocked the hell out of me.”

  “Those coins have ended up being a curse, as it turns out,” Ken said. “If it weren’t for them being found in your car, the cops would have very little to go on.”

  “Tell me about that, Nick,” Alan said. “When did they discover the coins?”

  “The next day. After their first interrogation, they strongly advised me to stay in town. Then they came over with a search warrant the next morning and found the coins in my car. That’s when I decided to give Ken a call—I knew I was in deep shit then.”

  “They wanted to arrest him right then but changed their minds after contacting the D.A’s office,” Ken explained. “Jack Spradlin is a meticulous prosecutor who likes to leave no stones unturned. He knew there wasn’t enough on Nick to convict him, so they had to back off. That was before they had subpoenaed his cellphone records, however, and discovered that he had called Jodi earlier that morning within the time frame they believe she was murdered. Now they think he was casing her out before going to her home and murdering her, which pretty much leads us to where we are now.”