The 6:10 To Murder (The Maude Rogers Crime Novels Book 3)

by Linda L. Dunlap

  After the disconnection, Joe ambled outside, stretching. “I’m glad to be going home,” he said. “These little burgs are depressing. You can see why the kids leave as soon as they graduate high school. Nothing for them to do.”

  She hated to do it, but the sooner the better. “Joe, we’re skipping the hot dogs and going back. Gloria had a change of heart and wants to tell us the truth about Anna. Said she heard her talking about killing Ronald.”

  Joe turned and spat into a drainage ditch near the store. “Uh-huh. Figured it was too easy. Want me to drive?”

  “Joe, I love you, kid. No, I can get us back. You go ahead and sleep; it’ll take an hour. Then we wait until Gloria shows up at Dairy Queen. We can eat there; a DQ Dude will work for me.”

  About an hour later, they parked in the drive of the fast food restaurant and went in. After ordering their food, Maude began writing in her work notebook, catching up.

  “You have the recorder, Joe? We’ll need it for Gloria.”

  “Yeah, let me test the battery.” Joe turned the device on, but received no sound from it. “Uh-oh, it’s bad. Wonder if there’s a store around?” He walked to the ordering counter and had a conversation with the redhead behind the cash register. Soon, he returned to the table with two triple-A batteries then sat down. He grinned as he changed the old for the new.

  “You’re waiting for me to say something insulting, but it isn’t going to happen. Bless that little girl if she gave you those batteries.”

  “She didn’t give them to me; sold them for five bucks.” Joe’s grin got wider. “I’ll put in for reimbursement.”

  “Jeez, mighty expensive power,” Maude said, and dove into the sandwich and fries in front of her. “Food came while you were gone,” she said. “Better eat before Gloria gets here.”

  A half-hour later, Gloria arrived in a small car. Maude remembered seeing it in the yard beside the big dog. For sure, no one would try and steal either. She watched the woman for a minute, and realized they were expected to go to her. Considering Gloria’s physical condition, it was a no-brainer who should do the traveling. The door to the small Audi was unlocked, and Maude got in the front passenger seat as Joe opened the back door and scooted his long-legged body inside. When the pleasantries were over, Maude told the woman that whatever she had to say would be recorded. Expecting an argument, Maude was prepared to turn off the device, but Gloria simply nodded.

  “I understand. It will all come out anyway, and if this makes it easier to put that girl where she belongs, then okay. Last month I went to MacArthur with my daughter. She’s thirty-five, very successful in the financial world. There was a convention she had to go to, and I needed to get out of the house. Sometimes Mary and I get on each other’s nerves. Of course, I know it’s usually my fault when we have disagreements. I’m a troublesome person, a burden to my sister.

  “That evening, we stayed in the Marriott where the business conference was held, and I intended to take my Kindle and go to bed, read for a while, a sci-fi by Dan Thompson. But my daughter, Penny, short for Penelope, had called Anna and asked her to come to the hotel after the conference. She suggested they go to the hotel bar and have a few drinks, maybe dance with some of the businessmen. Just fun. But see, she didn’t tell Anna I’d come with her. Probably intended to, but forgot. She and Anna had been friends off and on, not best buddies, but neither one had brothers and sisters, so they got together some times.

  “I went to bed in the second room of the suite, and was drowsy—my book wasn’t interesting enough to keep me awake—when I heard the door open. I figured it was Penny, forgot something. My eyes opened when I heard the phone ring a couple of times, and Anna answered it. She sounded mad, real mad. I heard her say Ronald’s name, then she got quiet for a minute. A little bit later, she said, ‘Ronald, if you won’t steal the diamonds for me, I don’t need you around. Not only do I not need you, if you don’t do the job, I’ll get someone else to do it and swear you were the one. With your record, it’ll be easy to convince my husband you did it. Why do you think I got the job for you? Because I love you? Don’t be absurd. Just because I let you in my bed, doesn’t mean I love you.’ She yelled for a while, talking about the safety deposit box in the bank, the place her husband stashed the four-carat diamonds. Then she got real quiet again, and I heard her say, ‘I’ll kill you if you even try to tell him. He’s a chump, but he’s my ticket, and you’re never going to tell him about us.’

  “Anna slammed the phone on the table then, real hard. I could hear it plainly when it smacked the table. I…think I must have made some noise, because she stopped, and I heard the chair squeak. Her high heels made a clicking sound as she got up, headed for the door to the room where I was hidden. Then someone knocked on the door. It was the maid, bringing towels. I lay there, scared to death, knowing what my niece is capable of. I knew she would kill me to keep me quiet.

  “Pretty soon, I heard her on the phone again. I guess she had thought it was the maid making the earlier sound. Anna spoke to Penny and said she had to get back, that something had come up. Then she left the room. I…had to call the maid. I’d been so scared I had an accident.” At that, Gloria blushed.

  Maude had sat quietly, not disturbing the woman’s story. Too many sordid tales had come across the Homicide desk for her to question the validity of Gloria’s testimony. Anna Avery was a conniver and a murderer. What they needed was the gun with her prints on it. Thanking Gloria for her bravery, Maude started to get out of the car then turned back for a minute.

  “That skate was no accident, was it?”

  “No, detective. It wasn’t. She planned it. Laughed at me lying on the floor. I never trusted her after that, but I never pushed her either. One time I caught her looking at me when she was about thirteen, and the hate on her face scared me. I never went back around that house until she was gone for good. The only reason she let her parents alone was so they could get what she wanted. If she finds out I knew about what she said to Ronald, she’ll kill me.”

  Driving back home, Joe wanted to talk about Gloria’s story. He had logged it as a statement from Gloria Adams, signed along with another piece of paper that read, “The information given is true and accurate.” She’d heard her niece threaten to kill Ronald Marshall, a.k.a. Marlin Thompson. Gloria knew she would be called on when the time came, and even though it upset her to think about testifying before a jury, she was resigned to do the right thing.

  “So what’s next, Maude? How do we trap Anna into admitting she killed her ex?”

  “What if we get her duped husband to help us? See if he has any cojones. Course, it’s a risk, he might not believe it, and run to her, hoping she’ll deny it.”

  Maude sat with the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book in her lap. She had been reading, using a small light attached to the book’s cover. Closing it, she went on, “He has the diamonds, and we now know where they are. What if we can make a deal with him; the district attorney might cut him some slack if he gives up his source for the diamonds. Sounds like someone stole them and Avery is supposed to sell the stash for a cut. Or we could go to the bank with a warrant and get them ourselves, then put the deal before him. I’d rather see him open the box and we’d have him for sure. What do you think, Joe?”

  “I think we’ll have to keep Anna busy so she doesn’t get suspicious. That would blow the whole thing. Just say it works, do you think she’ll admit to killing Marshall, even to her husband? What’s to keep her from killing him? Or what if he refuses to testify after all is said and done, and takes his chances with the court?”

  “It has to be sweet. We need his involvement. She sees him as her bus ride out of town. I don’t think she’ll double-cross him, but if we can make him believe she has that in mind, he might rethink any doubts he’d had before.” Maude opened the book, finding the text soothing. Funny how still the craving animal lay while she was reading.

  The next morning both detectives were at their desks—it was hump day, and neithe
r was on call for the upcoming weekend. The rest of the week should go fast, and that was okay with Detective Allen. He had a plan in the works for a short trip to visit Lilly Ann. She expected him to arrive by ten in the morning on Saturday. He could hardly wait. Glancing across the desk, he noticed his partner involved in a book. She called it the Big Book. Joe was happy that Maude was on the wagon. He had been concerned for her before—seemed like the gin was taking over. He also hoped Bill Page would soon show up—she needed company. Maybe, he thought, Bill needs an update.

  Later, they walked over to the district attorney’s office and presented the case they had so far. Daryl Stevens, the DA, was busy, but his assistant Burl Metz was free. As they had thought, the opportunity to grab two birds with one stone was acceptable. If the smaller bird got a break, it was okay as long as the big one went away. Anna Avery was known by the assistant district attorney. He had met with her concerning the mayoral race, and found her to be pushy and inconsiderate. The detectives had the liberty to mention a deal with Wallace Avery if he gave up his diamond source, and worked with them to arrest Anna. There was a good chance he would turn on her after finding out she had slept with her ex-husband and planned to steal Wallace’s hidden diamonds. The murder of Ronald Marshall should be a sign to Wallace—Anna would stop at nothing, not even killing the man she was sleeping with, to get what she wanted. If worse came to worse, they would play the tape for him to hear, or at least a copy of the tape. The DA wouldn’t let the actual tape out of sight after the detectives showed it to him.

  They made a trip to the captain’s office, cluing him in on the earlier events, and the upcoming plan to arrest Anna Avery. Next, they made a call to Wallace Avery at the pawnshop. Saying they had some news about the murder, Maude told the pawnshop owner they would be coming by his office in about twenty minutes. Upon arriving, they found a new employee in the shop, Wendy James, a pimply-faced thirtyish woman with nice brown hair and slim hips. The rest of her was attractive enough, but Maude thought it shameful the woman’s complexion had destroyed her appearance.

  Wallace Avery sat behind his desk, appearing interested in what they had to say. They were both prepared with a way to get Anna out of town, but it proved unnecessary. She had gone on a short trip with the mayor, and would return in the evening, Joe was told in conversation with Avery. They were asked to sit and given coffee by Wendy, a task she seemed reluctant to perform. Maude thought she might be embarrassed to be a waitress.

  Joe looked at Maude and nodded, urging her to begin with Avery. She pulled the notebook from her pocket and opened it as though she needed reminding of its contents.

  “Mr. Avery, we have a statement from one of your wife’s relatives about a conversation she overheard between your wife and her ex-husband. Let me read from here: ‘Ronald, if you don’t steal the diamonds, I have no need of you. Just because I let you in my bed do you think I love you?’ I’m sorry, I am paraphrasing a little. She goes on to say that ‘If you tell my husband about us, I will kill you.’ Now, Mr. Avery, can you tell us what diamonds she’s talking about, and did she kill her ex-husband? Was that in fact Marlin Thompson, a.k.a. Ronald Marshall?”

  Wallace Avery had lost all color in his face—the smile he’d pasted on when they arrived had turned upside down. His watery blue eyes seemed ready to burst out of his head, and Maude almost felt pity for him.

  “What are you talking about? Do you mean Anna, my wife? I can’t believe this. I intend to call your supervisor about such nonsense. Who is this relative?”

  “Well, Mr. Avery,” Maude said, “if we have it wrong, I apologize, but I must tell you, I’m interested in those diamonds she talked about. Do you know of those?”

  Too quickly, Avery shook his head. “No, I haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re talking about. I have diamonds in the showcase, as you know.”

  “Sure, I understand that. But why would she say such a thing? As though it was a plan to steal from someone. Maybe you?”

  “I know nothing about this, and your insinuation my wife was having an affair with her ex-husband is ridiculous. She wanted nothing to do with him.”

  “Then why did she convince you to hire him?” Joe asked, giving Maude a rest.

  Avery sputtered for a minute, then quit. He knew he had been deceived but didn’t want to admit it to the police.

  “I don’t know. I didn’t know.”

  “We may be calling on you soon, Mr. Avery, to ask for your help. In the meantime, let me warn you to say nothing to your wife about what we told you today. Go on with your business, and if you hear anything about a cache of diamonds here illegally, you are instructed to call and report it. To do anything else would be to commit a crime. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I understand, detective. But this is all foolishness. I will be expecting an apology as soon as you have the right information.”

  “Yes, sir, we’ll be looking into it, you can bet,” Joe said, standing. Maude moved from her chair, admiring the way Joe had handled himself.

  They left the pawnshop and parked across the street, waiting to see what would happen next. It wasn’t long before Avery left his business and hustled toward the garage where he parked every day. There was only one entry, so they waited for him to drive out then followed him all the way to the Central Bank of Madison. After parking across the street from him, both detectives hurried to get in the bank and observe his actions. The director of Central Bank had been notified of what to expect, and although he was not involved in Avery’s business, he had informed one certain clerk to be ready and handle the man’s request. The detectives waited a minute then followed the bank clerk and Avery into the room where safety deposit boxes were kept. A curtain had been pulled, and Maude walked over to find Wallace Avery behind it, box in hand. She showed him a search warrant for the box and took it from him, and located a pouch with a handful of large, clear stones. She assumed they were diamonds, a girl’s best friend.

  Wallace Avery had the look of a man doomed to spend his days locked away from society. He had tears in his eyes, trying to explain away his wrongdoing. “The diamonds are from Germany. They are part of the property stolen from Jews during the war. I never meant to profit from them—on the contrary, it was my intent to return them to their owners, once I had found them.”

  “Mr. Avery, it would be better if you don’t compound your crime with lying to the police. We have records showing these stones were brought into the country via a Colombian cartel and you have been holding them since they arrived. Let me advise you of your rights, Mr. Avery.” While Joe ran through the Miranda warning, Maude found a comfortable seat. She waited until he was finished then spoke through the curtain. “Joe, bring Mr. Avery outside where we can talk.”

  Seated finally, Wallace Avery was shaking from fear, his memories of jail coming back full force. After a little time, he looked at Maude as though hoping she might save him.

  “Detective, I can’t go to jail. They will kill me there. What can I do?”

  “You can tell us about your connection with the people who gave you the diamonds.”

  “It was Phillip Mason. He brought them to me. I tried to tell him no, but he was no longer in the jewelry business and needed my help. Some people had threatened him that they would kill his family if he didn’t hold the jewels for them. He came to me a week before the murder of my assistant and brought the stones. I refused at first, then he threatened to tell those people that I had stolen their diamonds if I didn’t help him. Again I refused. I knew it was not keeping the diamonds—that wasn’t what he wanted. He was looking for revenge. He knew if I got involved with those men, he would have me, and I would lose everything. The last time he came was the day Marlin was killed. I had grown weary of his presence and agreed to take the stones. He told me some men would fly in from Columbia and claim them. I knew then that I was lost, for they would never let me go.” Avery lowered his head and sniffed, misery written deep within the lines upon his face.

  “Mr
. Avery, we can help each other. We’ve spoken to the district attorney, and been authorized to offer you a break. It will cost some, but if you value your freedom and your life, you may come out of this with only a misdemeanor—obstruction of justice. If you don’t choose to do what we ask, you’re on your own.”

  “What must I do, detective?” Avery was seeing some light at the end of a previously dark tunnel.

  “You have to search your house and find the gun your wife used on Ronald Thompson. You must also get her to confess to killing him.”

  “But how, why? What makes you think she did this?” Avery was getting confused—first he was a jewel thief then he was in bed with a murderer.

  “Just listen, Mr. Avery.” She played the tape once, then twice, so he got it all. He listened at first with disbelief, then with sadness, and finally the anger started.

  “She used me. She never loved me—she only wanted what I could give her. I was afraid she might love my money, but I never dreamed she could betray me in such a way.”

  “So how about it? Are you helping, or going to jail today? Later, the organized crime task force will take over, asking you questions and expecting your help. Those diamonds have to be explained.”

  “Yes, tell me what to do.”

  Chapter 14

  Maude stayed closely in touch with Wallace Avery, watching his movements as he left the bank. The diamonds were turned over to the district attorney, who gave the detectives a receipt for twenty-five clear stones. The special evidence was closely watched and logged. If the diamonds were stolen, the rightful owners would eventually reclaim them; if not, they would be sold and added to justice coffers used in apprehending criminals in the drug trade. A few years earlier, law enforcement officials were given legislative approval to confiscate evidence in illegal activities. The impounded goods could then be sold to benefit law enforcement agencies. At least Maude hoped they would be. Something that spectacular could be tempting to anyone, even those on the side of the law.