Linda Crowder - Jake and Emma 02 - Main Street Murder

by Linda Crowder

  “It’s so late, Detective,” said Emma softly.

  “It’s all right Emma,” Cheri assured her friend and counselor. “They’ve got to find the person who killed Ann.”

  She turned her head to face Joyner. “Ask me anything, Detective,” she told him. “But I’ll warn you right now, I didn’t see the person who did this.”

  Joyner sighed, “I’m real sorry to hear that, Ms. Jackson, but I’m just thankful you’re safe. Why don’t we start with what Officer Rutledge was doing outside of your house.”

  “She was walking Kristy to her car,” explained Cheri.

  “Kristy?” asked Emma in surprise. “What was Kristy doing there?”

  Cheri turned her head to look at Emma. “She stopped by to tell me about that dinner date you tried to set her up with tonight.”

  Emma reddened. “I meant well,” she said sheepishly.

  “Ms. Castle was there about what time?” asked Joyner.

  Cheri thought for a moment. “She called just as Ann and I were coming inside from the patio,” she mused. “Mosquitoes were thick as fleas. I guess that would have been about 10:30pm because the sun was already down.”

  Emma nodded. “She left our house just after 10 so that would have been about right.”

  “Anyway, I told her to come on over. She didn’t stay long, maybe half an hour or so.”

  “And Officer Rutledge walked her out?” prompted Joyner when Cheri failed to continue.

  “Yes,” she answered. “There was a noise outside.” She turned to Emma. “Jonas,” she told her and Emma nodded.

  “Jonas?” asked Joyner.

  “My cat, Detective. He’s always getting into fights with the neighbor’s tom cat. Jonas is little but he’s scrappy and that cat just gets on his last nerve.” She launched into a story about Jonas and his propensity to argue with the tom, but Joyner reeled her back in.

  “And Officer Rutledge went out to check on Jonas?” he asked.

  “Kristy was scared,” explained Cheri. “She about jumped out of her skin hearing that cat and it’s so dark in the drive. I really have to get some of those low voltage walkway lights.” Joyner sighed.

  “So of course, Ann got her flashlight and offered to walk Kristy to her car.”

  “Did you watch them go?” asked Joyner.

  “No, Ann told me to shut the door and lock it until she came back so I did.”

  “What happened to make you hit the panic alarm?” Joyner asked.

  “Well, they must have spooked the cats because not long after I shut the door I heard Jonas howling on the stoop like a banshee. I opened the door and he practically ran me over getting inside.”

  “When you opened the door, did you see anything other than the cat?” asked Joyner.

  “No,” said Cheri, tilting her head and casting her eyes up and to the side in thought. She looked at Joyner, “But I wasn’t looking down the drive.”

  “Did you hear Ms. Castle’s car or see her headlights backing out of the drive?” asked Joyner.

  “No, not that I remember,” she said uncertainly. “But again, I wasn’t thinking about that, I was thinking about Jonas.”

  “So you let the cat in and then what?” asked Joyner patiently. “What frightened you into calling for help?”

  “I was in the kitchen, trying to coax Jonas down from the top of the cabinets,” she looked at Emma again. “He always hides on top of the cabinets when he’s had a bad scare.” Emma nodded and Cheri continued.

  “I heard the door bell. I guess I must have locked the door again after I let Jonas in. I started to go open it but then I remembered I had to wait for Ann to give me the code word.”

  Cheri looked frightened and Emma squeezed her hand encouragingly. “Only she didn’t. I called out to her but she didn’t answer. It just got quiet. I saw a shadow through the window and heard someone rattle the door handle. My blood just ran cold.”

  Cheri looked up at Joyner. “I grabbed that panic button you gave me and ran. I went out the back door and down to the river as fast and as quiet as I could.”

  She closed her eyes, reliving the terror she’d felt. “I must have pushed that button a hundred times before I heard the sirens off in the distance.”

  She opened her eyes again and looked at Emma. “I was never so thankful in my life as when I heard those sirens.”

  “Did you see anyone in the house?” asked Joyner. “Or maybe they came around the house to the back when the front door was locked?”

  “I don’t know,” she started to shake and tears glimmered in her eyes. “I was so scared. I just hid in the dark and prayed they wouldn’t find me before the police got there.”

  “They?” asked Joyner. “Do you have the impression there was more than one person?”

  “I don’t know, Detective. I just don’t know. I was afraid if I could see them they could see me.” Cheri’s voice trembled and Emma touched her arm soothingly.

  “It’s ok, Cheri,” Emma told Cheri, her voice sympathetic and reassuring. “You’re safe now. That’s all that matters.”

  Emma sent a warning look at Joyner, who thanked Cheri and left the room. Jake followed him into the hallway. “Emma and I will stay with her tonight,” he assured the detective. “I’ll call you if Cheri remembers anything else.”

  “They keeping her here overnight?” asked Joyner, referring to the Emergency Department.

  “That’s what they told us,” said Jake. “They want to keep her under observation. She’s had quite a shock.”

  Joyner ran his hand absently through his hair. “I just don’t get it,” he said at last. “I get it that our killer wants to get to her now, before her memory returns, because he thinks Ms. Jackson can identify him. What I don’t get is why anyone wants to kill her in the first place.”

  Jake leaned against the wall, thoughtful. “Are you any closer to identifying the men Emma heard at the parade? If they were talking about Cheri…”

  “They’d still have to have a reason to want her out of the way,” observed Joyner. “And I can’t think what that reason would be.”

  “No connection at all between Cheri and Vince Shipton?” asked Jake.

  “Only one that I know of,” said Joyner, “and you’re wife isn’t going to like it.”

  “Kristy,” said Jake.

  Joyner nodded. “She lives upstairs from Shipton and says she was home alone when he was killed - during a blizzard that shut the city down.”

  “Travel was hazardous but not impossible,” Jake pointed out. “Emergency crews made it to work.”

  “True, but then she was with Ms. Jackson at the Solstice. She was the last person Ms. Jackson says she talked to before the attack and the first person who saw her after.”

  “I saw Kristy that night,” said Jake. “She was white as a sheet. If she was acting, she’s damned good at it.”

  “And now she’s with Ms. Jackson again tonight and Ann Rutledge is killed after walking Ms. Castle to her car,” Joyner finished. “I think I’d better go have a talk with Kristy Castle.”

  “Does she need an attorney?” asked Jake.

  Joyner looked sideways at him. “You?” he asked.

  “Kristy’s a friend,” he explained. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable representing her, but if you’re planning to arrest her, let me make a few calls.”

  “I don’t have enough to go on for an arrest just yet,” admitted Joyner, “but I’ll be mighty interested to hear what she has to say about her visit to Ms. Jackson’s tonight.”

  “Then I’d better come with you,” said Jake. “For moral support.”

  “For me or for her?” asked Joyner.

  “Let’s just say for justice right now.” He smiled and ducked his head back into the examining room. Emma looked up and Jake motioned for him to join them. She assured Cheri she’d be right back, then went into the hallway.

  “What is it?” she asked Jake.

  “I’m going to give Matt a hand with something if you and Cheri
can spare me,” said Jake. He thought it best she not know at this point what the nature of the help would be.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked, looking at each man in turn.

  “No,” answered Jake. “I just feel like a fifth wheel in there,” he nodded toward the hospital room. “This way, I can feel like I’m doing something.”

  “I understand,” said Emma, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Stay safe.” She started to turn away, then stopped and looked at Joyner.

  “Oh, I forgot. Cheri’s been asking about Jonas,” she said. The detective looked puzzled. “Her cat. She’s asking if your team could check to be sure he’s inside before you leave her house.”

  Joyner agreed to let the crime lab team know about the cat. Emma thanked him and returned to Cheri’s side while the two men walked out to Joyner’s car. “You’re only there in an unofficial capacity, got it?” he asked Jake, getting into his car. Jake would head to the parking lot to pick up his vehicle and they would meet in front of Kristy’s building.

  “Unless she specifically asks me to represent her, yes,” he answered.

  “Just you don’t go advising her not to talk to me,” Joyner warned.

  “Just you don’t go trying to trap her into saying something she shouldn’t,” Jake countered good-naturedly. He had a healthy level of respect for Joyner, having worked with him on a number of cases. He knew the detective would do his best to get at the truth. He just hoped the truth was in Kristy’s favor.

  13

  “You do realize it’s the middle of the night,” observed Jake when he joined Detective Joyner in the lobby of Kristy’s building. “This could wait until tomorrow.”

  Joyner checked his watch. “It’s not even 2 am,” he countered. “Bars aren’t even closed yet. You’re sounding like an old married man, Jake.”

  “I am an old married man,” laughed Jake. “But Kristy’s no barfly. She’s not going to be too thrilled about you waking her up.”

  “If she’s asleep,” noted Joyner, leaving his unspoken suspicions hanging in the air between them.

  He pushed the intercom button for Kristy’s condo and waited. Lobby doors that locked after midnight was a new feature in Casper. Old-timers grumbled about the inconvenience but it did make living downtown more appealing to young professionals.

  When there was no response, Joyner leaned on Kristy’s buzzer and kept on leaning until her voice came over the intercom. “Go away, you idiot! It isn’t funny,” she yelled.

  “It’s Detective Matt Joyner, Ms. Castle. I need to speak with you.”

  “It’s who? Detective Joyner? Do you know what time it is?” came the answer, but the front door buzzed and the lock opened.

  Kristy was waiting for them when they stepped off the elevator. She wore an oversized Wyoming Cowboys t-shirt with a pair of gray cotton shorts. Her platinum blonde hair was going in every direction but what riveted Jake’s attention was the 9mm pistol she was pointing in their direction.

  Joyner instinctively started to reach for his service weapon when Kristy, recognizing them, lowered her arm and stepped back into the apartment, leaving the door open for them.

  “You scared the hell out of me,” she told Joyner as she engaged the safety on the weapon and set it down on the kitchen counter.

  “You were expecting someone?” he asked, eying the gun and noting it was the same caliber as the gun that had killed Vince Shipton.

  “I was asleep,” she answered. “Jake? What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Did something happen to Emma?”

  “No, no, Emma’s fine,” Jake answered. He caught Joyner’s warning look and left the rest of the explanation to the detective.

  “Who did you think was buzzing you at this time of night, Ms. Castle?” Joyner asked.

  “One of the disadvantages of living downtown,” she told him. Taking a seat on the couch, she gestured for the two men to make themselves comfortable. “Proximity to the bars. The last few nights, some crazy drunk has got it into his head that it’s funny to sit on the intercom button in the middle of the night.”

  “Have you seen anyone?” asked Joyner.

  “Heck no,” she answered. “I’m not going downstairs at,” she looked up at the clock, “two o’clock in the morning just to look at some moron.”

  She studied Joyner’s face and looked from him to Jake, then back to Joyner again. “Why are you here?” she asked. “Are you sure Emma is all right?”

  “Mrs. Rand is fine,” said Joyner. Jake noticed he was watching Kristy carefully. “She’s at the hospital tonight, sitting up with Cheri Jackson.”

  Kristy sprang up from the couch, “Cheri? Why didn’t you say something? What happened to Cheri?” She dropped back onto the couch. “Oh my God, I was just at her house. She was fine.”

  “Why don’t you tell me about your visit with Ms. Jackson,” said Joyner. “Why were you there?”

  Kristy shot an embarrassed glance at Jake. “I thought she’d get a kick out of Emma trying to fix me up with Clint Taylor. I called her and she said to come on over so I did.”

  “And this was at what time?” asked Joyner.

  Kristy looked up at the clock again. “I got home around midnight,” she mused, working her way backward in time. “I stopped at Just Gas on the way home, so I must have left Cheri’s a little after 11:30. I hadn’t been there very long. It was late and Cheri looked tired so I didn’t want to wear her out. I guess I must have gotten there somewhere in the neighborhood of 11.”

  She looked up at Joyner, who nodded. Kristy’s timeline meshed with what Emma and Cheri had told him. “Anything unusual happen?” he asked.

  “Not really,” said Kristy. Joyner waited. He found most people said more to a policemen when he wasn’t asking questions than when he was.

  Kristy frowned, then her face lit up. “Oh you mean the cat!” She laughed. “That crazy cat of Cheri’s scared the bejeesus out of me! I must have jumped a mile because that policewoman who has been watching Cheri offered to walk me to my car.”

  Kristy paled, “You don’t mean someone got into the house while I had the policewoman out at my car with me? Stupid cat! Is Cheri all right? I’m never going to forgive myself.”

  Joyner had to admit that if Kristy Castle was a liar, she was a damned good one. So far, she had seemed forthcoming with her story and her distress certainly appeared genuine. “We’ll get to Ms. Jackson in a minute,” he told her. “Go on with your story. You say Officer Rutledge offered to walk you to your car?”

  “Is that her name?” asked Kristy. “She was so quiet the whole time I was there, I almost forgot she was in the room. Anyway, she got her flashlight - one of those huge, heavy one that police have - and told Cheri to lock the door until she got back. “

  “And?” prodded Joyner when Kristy didn’t elaborate.

  “And she walked me to the car,” answered Kristy, looking puzzled at Joyner’s question. “We found the cats. Fixing to fight, just the way Cheri said they would be.” She shook her head. “I’m not sure what more you want. I got in my car and came home.”

  Joyner sat quietly again, but this time Kristy didn’t offer any more of the story to fill the silence. “You were parked at the end of the drive?” he finally asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You turned on your headlights and backed out?”

  “Of course, why?”

  “What did Officer Rutledge do when you left, did you see?”

  Kristy was silent for a moment. “Turned back toward the house I guess. I’m sorry, detective. As soon as I started the car, I noticed I was red line on gas and all I could think about was whether I was going to make it to the gas station in time.”

  “Did you see any cars parked near Ms. Jackson’s house?” he asked.

  “I imagine so,” answered Kristy. “There are always a few cars parked on the road along there. I don’t know that I noticed any in particular though.”

  Joyner nodded. He would have to check with Just Gas to see if
he could corroborate her story but for now, it was clear she either couldn’t or wouldn’t give him anything more.

  “What happened, Detective? Jake? Is Cheri all right?” Kristy looked from one man to the other, then Joyner nodded and Jake answered her.

  “Someone tried to get to Cheri tonight, Kristy,” he told her. “Officer Rutledge was killed.”

  Kristy’s face went ashen. Jake quickly moved to the couch, putting his arm around her shoulders, fearful she was going to faint. “Cheri?” she whispered.

  “Cheri’s fine. She was pretty shaken up so the paramedics took her to the hospital. Emma’s going to sit with her overnight so she won’t be alone.”

  Kristy nodded. She asked if Joyner needed her for anything else and when he said he did not, she showed the men out. They heard the distinctive click of a deadlock as the door shut behind them.

  Back in the lobby, they stopped to consider Kristy’s story. “Ms. Jackson hit that alarm button at 11:36,” Joyner mused.

  “So the killer must have seen Kristy’s car and waited for her to leave,” said Jake. “When they saw Officer Rutledge alone outside of the house, they took advantage of the opportunity to get her out of the way.”

  “Possibly,” agreed Joyner. “Or when Ms. Castle found a policewoman guarding Ms. Jackson, she made an excuse to lure Ann Rutledge outside.”

  “And clubbed a trained police woman to death?” asked Jake. “With what?”

  “I don’t know yet,” admitted Joyner. “But she could have had something in the car.” Or she could be working in league with the two men at the parade, he thought, though this he did not share with Jake. She could have gone in specifically to draw Ms. Jackson’s police protector out of the house while one or both of her accomplices closed in for the attack.

  Joyner said goodnight to Jake, who was headed back to the hospital to sit with Emma and Cheri, then drove home. He was back to square one with this case and the only thing that seemed certain was that all roads kept leading back to Kristy Castle. He was going to have to make it a priority to find out more about her life before Wyoming.

  Both women were sleeping when Jake arrived back at the hospital. Cheri looked peaceful in the bed, no wires and tubes hooked to her this time. Emma was curled up on a couch under the window in Cheri’s room but she stirred when Jake settled himself onto the oversized chair between the bed and the couch.