The Heart of Lies, A Paradise Valley Mystery: Book Two

by Debra Burroughs

  “Was there anyone else on the security video?” Colin questioned.

  “Yes, but no one else that would have done it.”

  “Tell me who was on the video around the time of the murder,” Colin pressed. “You do have a time of death don’t you?”

  “Yes.” Ernie looked at the notes in the file. “Doc Walters says time of death was between six and seven last night. Around that time, the video showed Mayor Sullivan entering the building, then Josh Sullivan. Shortly after that, it shows Josh leaving, then Mrs. Wakefield, Lucas’s mother, entering, then Maggie and Emily going inside.”

  “Have you questioned all of them?” Colin asked.

  “Not yet, but I will. I’m working through the list, but it’s a little tricky. The mayor, the victim’s mother, the fiancée—you know what I mean?

  “It’s gotta be done, Ernie.”

  “Step by step, I’m working through it. Hey, did you hear Mrs. Wakefield is in the hospital? She had a heart attack last night, right after she found her son dead. They had to rush her to the emergency room.” He pulled out a small notepad and began to write. “I’ll have to check on her status.”

  “I hadn’t heard that. Poor woman, losing her son and having to be the one to find him.”

  “Just a crying shame all around,” Ernie said. “You know Josh is military, like you were.”

  “That’s what Emily said. I hope you’re wrong about him, Ernie.”

  “Me, too.”

  ~*~

  Alex phoned Maggie from the jail. Emily sat next to her on the couch, watching Maggie’s expression for any sign whether the news from Alex was good or bad.

  Maggie nodded her head at what Alex was saying. Her eyes were red and swollen and the remnant of her mascara bled below her eyes. Her mess of blonde hair was pulled haphazardly into a ponytail. She clicked her phone off and tossed it on the wooden coffee table, leaning back on the sofa, closing her eyes.

  “What did he say?” Emily asked.

  “He said Josh won’t be arraigned ’til Monday,” she replied, her eyes still closed, “but he’ll try to get me in to see him today. He didn’t know when, though.” She stifled a cry that almost broke through.

  Camille ambled into the living room, wearing her face of motherly concern. “The kitchen’s all clean, everything from breakfast is put away. What else can I do, Maggie?”

  Maggie sat up and looked at her through watery eyes. “Can you explain to me how this happened?”

  “I don’t understand, Maggie.” Camille rushed to the sofa and sank down on it. “What do you mean?” Camille had a look of confusion in her eyes and she glanced at Emily for some help.

  “Yesterday, I was engaged to a wonderful man and we had our whole lives ahead of us. I was so thrilled to have my boy home, and happy he could be here for the weddin’.”

  Maggie thrust her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders began to shake as she wept. “Now everythin’ has gone to hell! My Lucas is dead and my son is in jail, accused of killin’ him!” she bawled.

  Emily patted Maggie’s back softly as she wailed, and Camille put her arm around Maggie’s waist.

  After a few torturous minutes of sobbing, Maggie sat up and Emily handed her a box of tissues.

  “What a big blubber baby I am,” she said, wiping her nose with a tissue.

  “Don’t say that, Maggs.” Emily remembered having been a crying mess, too, after Evan’s death.

  “We would expect no less, hon,” Camille said, lightly running her hand up and down Maggie’s back. “Whatever you need, we’re here.”

  “Em, do you think my son could have killed Lucas?” Maggie dabbed at her eyes, the sobs subsiding.

  “I would hate to think so, but I guess it’s possible,” Emily replied. She didn’t want to tell her friend that, but she had to be honest. The evidence so far certainly did point to him. She could feel Camille’s stare heating her skin. “I’m sorry, Camille, but I have to be honest with her.”

  “We’re here to support Maggie, and by extension, Josh,” Camille snapped at Emily.

  “I am being supportive, but Maggie asked me a question and I’m not going to lie to her,” Emily defended. “It doesn’t look good, but that doesn’t mean he did it. Colin went to find out what the cops have. Let’s wait until we hear back from him before we start jumping to any conclusions.”

  “Until I have absolute proof, I’m choosing to believe Josh is innocent,” Camille declared.

  “I agree, Cam,” Emily said, “but I’m not going to stick my head in the sand and hope it all goes away.”

  “Enough!” Maggie shouted and shot up off the sofa.

  Both Camille and Emily sat back, stunned.

  Maggie walked to the windows and looked out, before turning back to face them.

  “Emily, can I hire you to investigate this murder, clear my son. I have some money saved.”

  “No, Maggs—”

  “Why not?” Maggie interrupted.

  “Let me finish. No, I won’t take your money, but I promise you that Colin and I will do all we can to find out who murdered Lucas, and why.”

  “If my son killed Lucas,” Maggie dropped her gaze to the floor and crossed her arms, “then I’ll have to deal with it, although I’m not sure how. But if he didn’t do it,” she raised her head and looked Emily in the eye, “then the real killer needs to be rooted out and caught.”

  Maggie turned back to the window and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to kill my sweet Lucas.”

  ~*~

  When Maggie went to lie down again, Camille agreed to stay with her, leaving Emily free to meet up with Colin and find out what he’d learned from Ernie. She phoned him and he swung by Maggie’s place and picked her up.

  Colin filled her in on the security tape the police had, showing Josh was the last to leave the office before Lucas’s mother showed up, which he said lined up with the time of death the medical examiner determined. That evidence, together with Josh’s admission that he and Lucas had had a fist fight before he left the office was all the evidence Ernie needed to hold him.

  “I want to sit down and interview Josh,” Emily told Colin, “get his side of the story.”

  “I thought you talked to him last night when he came home.”

  “Yeah, but I have other questions for him. Something’s just not adding up,” she said. “Why was Sully there? Who else was on the security tape? What about—”

  “Whoa, slow down, Emily. You’re going to blow a fuse,” he warned. “I’m sure Ernie can get us in to see Josh, but we’ll probably have to have Alex with us. I’d like to talk to the medical examiner, too—see if we can get the cause of death dialed in a little clearer.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Ernie agreed to escort them to the medical examiner’s office on Monday, but he would make arrangements with the county jail to let them in to see Josh that Sunday afternoon if his attorney was with them.

  Emily phoned Alex and informed him she was setting up a meeting with Josh. Maggie had already told him she wanted Emily on the case. Alex agreed to meet them down there.

  Colin and Emily drove to Boise, the county seat about fifteen minutes from Paradise Valley where they found Alex already waiting for them. They were escorted into the sparse interrogation room and seated, and then an officer brought Josh in, wearing the standard orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

  “Are the handcuffs really necessary, Officer?” Emily asked, pursing her lips for emphasis.

  “He’s a murder suspect, ma’am. The handcuffs are for your protection and mine,” the man said as he turned and walked to the door. “Just holler when you’re done here,” he instructed before he left.

  “We haven’t met yet, Josh.” Out of habit, Colin stood to shake Josh’s hand. When Josh flashed the handcuffs in response, Colin smiled apologetically and sat back down. “I’m Colin Andrews, a friend of Emily’s.”

  “And your mom’s,”
Emily added, digging around in her oversized leather bag. “You know Colin was military too—he was a Marine a number of years back.”

  “Nice to meet you, sir,” Josh said, taking a seat at the table next to Alex.

  “I’ve filled him in on your current military status and he’s here to help me find the truth about Lucas Wakefield.” Emily placed a voice recorder on the table. “I’m only taping what you say in case I need to go back and remember something, Josh. No need to worry.”

  Josh looked at Alex, who nodded his approval. “Okay,” Josh consented.

  “The first thing we need to know is, did you kill Lucas Wakefield?” Colin asked.

  “No. I don’t think I did.” Josh looked Colin square in the eye. “He was alive when I left—I checked his pulse to make sure—then I got out of there when I heard someone coming.”

  “Who?” Emily asked.

  “It was his assistant, Fiona.”

  “You know her?” Emily questioned.

  “Met her at the engagement party,” Josh nodded, “and, you know, I saw her and Lucas together.”

  “Did she see you at the office that night?” Colin asked.

  “No, I hunched under the stairs. After she passed by, I beat it out the door.”

  “I don’t think the detective knows she was there.” Colin glanced at Emily, then at Alex. “She never showed up on the security tape. Ernie listed all the people coming and going, and she wasn’t one of them.”

  “Maybe she went out the back door,” Emily suggested. Since her office was in the same building, she knew there was another way out. “I don’t think there is a security camera out there.”

  “Terrific,” Colin said sarcastically. “That makes our job more difficult.”

  “Sorry, Josh. Keep going,” Emily said.

  “I went to the office to confront Lucas because I had caught him messing around with his assistant at the engagement party. Remember, I told you about that the night he died?” Josh reminded Emily.

  She nodded her acknowledgement.

  “I gave him twenty-four hours to come clean with my mom and call off the wedding. I warned him what would happen if he didn’t.”

  “Did anyone else hear you threaten him?” Emily crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward.

  “Fiona, maybe.”

  “Then what happened,” Colin pressed.

  “I went into Lucas’s office. He was sitting behind his desk. We argued. I dragged Lucas out of his chair and we argued some more. The more we argued, the hotter we got until he threw the first punch. Of course, I hit him back.” Josh still wore the black eye and busted lip Lucas had given him, proving it wasn’t just a one-sided beating.

  “Is there anything else you can remember, Josh?”

  “I went to a bar to have a few beers, hoping to work up the courage to tell my mother the truth about Lucas.”

  “I remember you telling me that the night he died,” Emily confirmed. “And you told the police about that?”

  “Yeah, but it didn’t seem to make any difference.”

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  Josh stared back at her, and Emily could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. He opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, something was right there on the tip of his tongue, then he closed his lips and shook his head no.

  “Josh?”

  Alex put his hand on his client’s shoulder for a moment.

  “What is it?” Emily was certain he had something more to say. She glanced at Colin. She could tell he wasn’t buying Josh’s story either.

  “Nothing.”

  “You seem irritated—we’re here trying to help you.” Emily crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

  “I just don’t get it. I already told the cops all of this, and Alex too. Why do I have to keep going over it and over it?”

  “Hearing the course of events straight from your mouth might help us discover something the others missed. That’s all,” Colin assured him.

  “There’s nothing more to tell.” Josh remained stone-faced.

  There was something, though, something he wasn’t telling them. His face and his body language were betraying him.

  “What are you not telling us?” Emily challenged him, casting a sideways glance at Colin. “If you want us to help you beat this thing, you’ve got to be completely honest with us. What are you hiding?”

  “If you have something to say, just say it,” Alex insisted.

  Josh sat silent.

  Colin’s eyebrows furrowed into a frown as he shot out of his chair, which went flying backwards against the wall. He slammed both hands on the table and stared down hard at Josh. “You want to go to prison for the rest of your life?”

  Josh hung his head and shook it.

  “Because that’s exactly where you’re headed if you’re not straight with us.”

  Alex flashed him a look and Colin stood up straight, then dragged his chair back to the table. “You think this is some sort of a game?”

  “Don’t scare him, Colin, he’s just a kid,” Emily insisted.

  “He’s not a kid, Emily,” Colin snapped. “He’s almost twenty-one, and he had better wise up and tell us everything he knows if he’s going to have any chance in hell of beating this murder rap.”

  “I’ll give you one last chance to tell us or we’re out of here. What are you holding back?” Emily’s eyes narrowed as she focused her attention on Josh’s response.

  Josh raised his head and set his clasped hands on the table. Tension hung in the air as he looked at Emily with sad eyes. He licked his lips and swallowed hard before he spoke.

  “Don’t be afraid, Josh. Just tell us,” Emily pleaded.

  “When I got to the office that night,” Josh began slowly, “Uncle Sully was already there talking to Lucas. They were arguing about money. I’ve never heard him so angry.” Josh shook his head as he looked down at his folded hands. “He even pulled a gun on Lucas.”

  Emily gasped at the thought of Sully pulling a gun on anyone. “Did you believe Sully was going to shoot him?”

  “I thought he might, ’cause he was real mad. I was in the dark outer office and I stepped closer to the open door, trying to hear better, but I bumped into something, a trash can I think. The noise must have startled Uncle Sully, because he came running out of the office and took off.”

  “Did he see you?” Colin questioned.

  “No, I hid behind a file cabinet as he raced by. That’s when I went in and had it out with Lucas myself. You know the rest.”

  “Is there anything else you haven’t told us?” Emily pushed, studying his expression and body language for any tells.

  “No, that’s it. I just didn’t want to drag my uncle into this. He’s always looked out for me, like a dad. I don’t want you trying to pin this on him to save me.”

  ~*~

  “Let’s get some lunch, Emily,” Colin suggested, driving out of the county jail parking lot. “I’m famished. Why don’t we head over to Goodwood?”

  “You and your barbecue.” She grinned at him. “I’d like to call Sully first, see if I can meet with him to get his side of the story, you know?”

  Emily dialed Sully’s personal cell phone number as they drove. It rang a few times. “It’s just going to voicemail,” she told Colin. Then, Emily left a brief, vague message asking Sully to call her back.

  “Maybe I should call Camille and see how Maggie’s doing,” she suggested, “or head over there after we have lunch.”

  As they drove down Main Street toward the rib joint, they passed the Paradise Valley police station and noticed a crowd gathering around the main entrance. It looked like maybe thirty or forty people.

  “I wonder what’s going on over there.” She pointed toward the station.

  “I can’t imagine. Why don’t we check it out?” Colin made a U-turn in the middle of the street.

  “Hey, you can’t do that! U-turns are illegal here,” Emily scolded. “Only police with fl
ashing lights and sirens can do that.”

  “Sorry, I’m used to the big city. Let’s just say it was an emergency. Looks like Ernie could use our help,” he chuckled.

  Colin pulled the car into the police station parking lot and then he and Emily wormed their way through the crowd. He tried to open the front door, but it was locked. They turned and faced the men and women milling around.

  “What’s going on, Mr. Peterson?” Emily asked. The gray-haired man standing in front of her was her office landlord and the scowl on his face told her he was not happy. “Why are all these folks here?”

  “We all heard what happened to Lucas Wakefield on the TV news last night and we’ve been calling each other, trying to figure out what’s happening with our money,” he explained, with crossed arms and a deep frown. “We all invested quite a bit of dough in his resort. What’s going to happen now that he’s dead?”

  “I don’t know. That’s an excellent question, Pete, but you can’t believe the police chief would have the answer, do you?” she asked.

  It sounded like it would be more of a question for the bank Lucas put the money into, or an escrow company who may be holding the funds, neither of which would be open on a Sunday.

  “We tried to call the mayor, find out what he knows about this, but no one can seem to reach him. I left a message, so did Ralph and Kaye and John and Travis—heck, most of the people here probably left him a message. The city offices are closed today—it is Sunday, you know—so of course no one is answering the phones. So a bunch of us thought we’d ask the police chief or Ernie—I mean, Detective Kaufman, see what they know.”

  “So why are the front doors locked and all you guys standing out here?” Colin asked.

  Mr. Peterson’s face flashed with recognition. “Hey, I know you. Aren’t you that California guy who was the police detective here before Ernie? You didn’t last long.”

  “Yeah, that’s me,” Colin replied with a sheepish look, “but I hope to be back before long.”

  “Yes, Pete, Colin will be back in Paradise Valley before you know it.” Emily winked at Colin, then turned her attention back to the elderly man. “You didn’t answer the question, though. Why are the front doors locked?”