Murder! (Parker & Knight Book 1)

by Wells, Donald

  “What happened to the father?”

  “He and his family moved away and I never saw him again. He’s forgotten, by me and my daughter.”

  “A lot of girls would have given the baby up for adoption, did you ever consider it?”

  “No, I was stupid to have gotten pregnant so young, but I wanted her, wanted to be a mother, and it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  “I’d like to meet her someday.”

  Jo smiled. “We’ll make a point of it, but what about you, any kids?”

  “No, and I’m in the middle of a divorce. You’ll hear the gossip around the station so I might as well tell you myself. She cheated on me, twice, but, at least it was with the same guy.”

  “Sorry Rick, that must have hurt,”

  “Yeah, but life goes on, now tell me, what are your thoughts on the case?”

  “Not much until we get the autopsy results, but it’s a fair guess that one of the Kents killed her. I mean, she died in their home.”

  “The house has an alarm too. The Kents told the first cop on the scene that the alarm had been disarmed and then reset, which means that whoever killed her knew the code, because Mandy Kent swears she armed it when she took her daughter to her friend’s house on the way to work.”

  “That suggests an act of rage, doesn’t it? I mean who would plan to murder someone and leave them where the crime points to themselves, and only the Kents knew the alarm code.”

  Parker grinned.

  “All right, I’ll say it, I suspect the wife. I think she had to be livid when she found her husband with that girl, I also think the sex with the girl’s brother was revenge sex.”

  Jo grinned back.

  “I think it’s the husband. I think he talked Tiffany into the house and made another move on her, and when she told him no, he lost it, grabbed the letter opener, and stabbed her.”

  “I can buy that too, but like you said, we’ll know more after the autopsy.”

  “When will we have the results?”

  “Tomorrow morning, we have an eleven a.m. meeting with Stella Harvey, the assistant coroner.”

  “Good, that will give us time to verify the alibis. How do you want to go about that?”

  Parker thought it over for a moment, before answering.

  “Some verification will be electronic, like phone records and checking traffic cameras and such. Those we’ll look at together after the autopsy, but why don’t you verify the Kents’ alibis, while I track down Steve Grace’s girlfriend, and this ex-boyfriend of Tiffany’s, Kevin Mathias.”

  “Sounds good,” Jo said.

  “Hey Partner,”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks for starting early. I think I missed having a partner more than I knew.”

  “You’re welcome, and I know we’ve just started, but I think we’ll make a good team, Rick.”

  “We’re good enough to catch this killer, I’ll tell you that.”

  Jo held up the last piece of pie on her fork.

  “The bad guys don’t stand a chance.”

  5

  The following morning, Detectives Parker and Knight sat inside the squad room at the town municipal center, and filled each other in on what they had discovered while verifying the alibis of likely suspects in the murder of Tiffany Grace. They had both finished their morning tasks early and were now waiting for the coroner’s findings.

  Parker tapped his pen against his desktop. They were each sitting at their own small, metal desk, amidst other groupings of desks. Their desks were pressed together so that they were facing each other, thus making it easier to talk and pass each other reports. The arrangement gave Parker a view of the chief’s office at the back, while Jo’s desk faced the elevator.

  On Parker’s right was a line of windows that let in natural light, they were interspersed with gray filing cabinets. On the left were a tiny break room and the bathrooms. The large room’s beige walls were made of plaster, with multiple cracks and divots showing, while the floor was well-worn wood that creaked with each step. The building was constructed in the thirties, and there was talk of building a new, more modern municipal center, but Parker liked the old place and thought that it had character.

  “The Kents’ alibis check out.” Jo said. “However, that house in Hamilton that Mrs. Kent was showing is less than a fifteen minute drive away from her home. Mr. Kent was at his office, but his office is at the rear of a large warehouse and has its own exit, and he could have gotten home in as little as ten minutes. The problem is, that there’s no way to verify that either of them stayed where they were.”

  “If either of them slipped away then that would seem to indicate premeditation, and this murder has act of passion written all over it. Tiffany Grace was a little thing. I bet even Mrs. Grace could have dragged the body away, but it was just left there. That makes me think that the killer was shocked by the act.”

  “Yeah, but they did have the presence of mind to wash off the murder weapon,” Jo said.

  “But they didn’t dispose of it, why not? It sounds to me like they weren’t thinking straight.”

  “What did Tiffany’s ex say?”

  “He and the new girlfriend are in Vegas on vacation and have been there for three days. I was able to talk to Steve Grace’s girlfriend on the phone, but not in person, she’s a saleswoman and had to fly to Boston, but I’ve arranged to meet with her when she returns.”

  Jo checked her watch.

  “The autopsy should be done, let’s go get the results.”

  “Maybe there will be a clue that will break the case wide open.”

  Jo laughed.

  “You wish.”

  As they rose from their desks, the chief stepped out of his office and walked towards them.

  Chief Gabe Howard not only sounded like a college professor, but looked like one as well. He was tall, well dressed, with intelligent blue eyes behind stylish glasses, but Parker had heard tales of Howard’s days in uniform and knew that the man was tough.

  Howard sent Jo a warm smile.

  “How’s it going so far?”

  “Great,” Jo said. “Rick and I work well together and the case is moving along.”

  “Any suspects?”

  “The husband and wife who own the home, naturally, but I think there’s something we’re not seeing yet.” Jo said.

  “Well, it’s early days, you two drop in later and update me.”

  Parker said, “Will do, Chief,” and then he and Jo went off to talk to the coroner.

  ***

  The town morgue was located right along the border of the airfield, because when they first opened the field, nine amateur pilots had crashed in the first six months and they figured they might as well be where the action was.

  In the intervening decades, air travel had become far safer, even for small planes, and the squat, lime-green brick building was seldom used, and would soon be closed down, as the coroner’s office was relocated to the basement of the new hospital being built.

  Joanna Knight wrinkled her nose as she walked into the small building, not liking the antiseptic smell, or the odor of death beneath it.

  “I’m glad we didn’t actually watch the autopsy being performed.”

  “I do sometimes,” Parker said. “But it seemed pretty clear that she was killed by a single thrust from that letter opener. I don’t expect any surprises.”

  “And you won’t get any either,” a voice said from their left.

  It was Stella Harvey. She was wearing a white lab coat and taking off a pair of gloves.

  “Your Vic was killed by that antique letter opener, murdered by a single downward thrust that slipped the tip of that thing right into her heart.”

  Jo raised an eyebrow.

  “Downward? Such as a blow a man, say, six-foot-two might deliver?”

  Stella nibbled her bottom lip, before answering.

  “It could have been a man or a woman, but yeah, someone taller is more likely
to have made it. I found several foreign hairs on the body; however, you can forget getting any usable DNA if it turns out that they belong to the homeowners. If either of the Kents left those hairs behind, than so what? It’s their house; you’d expect to find them.”

  “I’m liking the husband more and more for it.” Jo said, but when she looked over at Parker she saw that he was deep in thought. She touched his arm. “You got something?”

  He smiled and shook his head.

  “The Kents both say that no one else knew their alarm code, but what if they’re wrong and Tiffany knew it. She was in that house a lot; maybe she knew the code and let herself in. If that’s the case, then almost anyone could have killed her.”

  “True, but don’t forget, the alarm was reset after her murder, that would mean that the killer knew that code too, and that brings us right back to the Kents.” Jo said.

  “We need to talk to the people that service the alarm, maybe they can help us.”

  “Okay, but why don’t we talk to the Kents again soon, and this time we’ll make it more formal and have them come in,”

  “Sounds good,” Parker agreed, and then he asked Stella a question. “I take it there were no signs of recent sexual activity?”

  “None, and no bruising or scratches, whatever happened, happened quickly, before she could defend herself.”

  They talked with Stella a little longer and then left. They had taken Parker’s car and as they walked toward it, he asked Jo a question.

  “Can you drive a stick?”

  “Hell yeah? My father wouldn’t have it any other way; it’s how I learned to drive.”

  Parker tossed her the keys.

  “You drive.”

  ***

  They stopped for lunch at a chain restaurant that was a favorite of Parker’s and Jo was still smiling from getting a chance to drive the Mustang.

  She handed Parker his keys.

  “That was fun, thanks,”

  “No problem, it gave me a chance to look over this autopsy report, not that I found anything.”

  They entered the restaurant and took a booth.After getting something to drink and ordering their food, they talked more about the case.

  “When they come in to be interviewed, I want Mr. Kent this time.” Jo said.

  “That’s a good idea, it might throw them off even more, oh, and don’t forget, after lunch we’re meeting the alarm guy.”

  “Good, he may help to narrow down the time of the murder. Someone had to disable and then rearm the alarm.”

  Parker held up a finger. “I have a new theory,”

  “I’m listening.”

  “The Vic was killed by Mrs. Kent... and her brother.”

  “The brother? I don’t know, he seemed genuinely shocked and devastated to me.”

  “To me too, but I’ve seen murderers that should have been in the theater.”

  “True, but why would he help her?”

  “With his sister dead, he gets the whole house and what’s left of their parents’ insurance payoff, and if Mr. Kent goes down for the murder, then Mrs. Kent gets all his goodies, including their house.”

  “What made you think of this?”

  “You told me that Mrs. Kent says she broke off her affair with Steve Grace, that doesn’t ring true to me. Grace is a good-looking kid nearly half her age. Maybe it’s different for women, but speaking for myself, if I was fooling around with a beautiful girl half my age, I don’t think I’d be the one to end it.”

  Jo thought that over.

  “Yeah, I see your point, but I still think it’s the husband, and I can’t wait to put him in a box and sweat him.”

  Their food came and they began eating, but halfway through the meal, Jo smiled at Parker.

  “I think you have an admirer at the bar who wants your attention.”

  Parker had been giving his full attention to a bacon-cheeseburger with a tangy jalapeno sauce, but he turned his head and looked where Jo indicated. Sitting alone at the bar and smiling at him was Rachel, his wife.

  6

  The bacon-cheeseburger suddenly tasted like wet newspaper as Parker stared at the smiling face of his soon-to-be, ex-wife.

  He spoke to Jo as he wiped his hands on a napkin.

  “That’s not an admirer, that’s my wife.”

  “Oh,” Jo said.

  “Excuse me a moment while I go say hello.”

  As Parker walked towards Rachel, the detective in him couldn’t help but take inventory, and he realized that the skirt she wore was shorter than the norm for her. Her face, besides offering a nervous smile, was also expertly made-up and her blond hair glistened in an arrangement that was very becoming.

  She looks damn good. Life without me seems to agree with her.

  “Hello Rachel,”

  Rachel stood and gave him an awkward kiss on the side of his mouth.

  “Hi Rick,”

  “I would ask how you’ve been but I see you look fantastic.”

  She smiled. “Thank you, and your lunch date is beautiful, what’s her name?”

  “That’s not my date; she’s my new partner.”

  “Oh, well, she’s still pretty,”

  “Yeah, well, take care,”

  He started to turn away and Rachel grabbed his sleeve.

  “I actually came here hoping to run into you. I wanted to tell you something.”

  He sighed.

  “That’s what the lawyers are for, but I thought you already agreed to sign?”

  “Tim and I have broken up.” She blurted.

  “Did he go back to his wife?”

  “No... someone else,”

  “What do you want me to say, Rachel, that I’m sorry?”

  “I, I just wanted you to know.”

  Parker stared at her, while wondering if she could possibly believe he’d take her back a second time. Forgiveness was one thing, being a doormat was another.

  “You’ve told me, and now I know it. Take care,”

  Parker spun around and walked away before she could utter another word, when he slid back into the booth he looked down at his food and realized he’d lost his appetite.

  “Your wife is gorgeous.” Jo said.

  “Ex-wife, or she soon will be,”

  “You want to talk about it?”

  “No, and I’m ready to leave when you are.”

  “Okay Partner, but I’ve got the check,”

  “Thanks, I’ll get the next one,”

  Jo caught his eye and smiled.

  “There’s always a next one, you know?”

  Parker understood her meaning and smiled back as he realized she was trying to cheer him up.

  “And plenty of fish in the sea,” he said.

  “That’s right, now, where’s that waitress?”

  ***

  The man at the alarm company was named Matt Hooper.

  Parker and Jo spoke to him in his small, cluttered office inside Ace Alarms and Security, the company that installed and serviced the Kents’ alarm system.

  Hooper was an energetic white man in his thirties, with curly brown hair and emerald eyes, eyes that seemed to stay locked on Joanna Knight, who Hooper smiled at often.

  “Could someone have tampered with the Kents’ alarm pad?” Parker asked.

  Hooper answered him while looking at Jo.

  “No. I checked for that and they haven’t been touched.”

  Parker thought that Jo looked flattered by Hooper’s attention, and saw her smile back once or twice. The guy was good-looking, and not married judging by the lack of a ring.

  Jo pointed out two times listed on the sheet that Hooper had given them. The sheet showed the times and dates that the Kents’ alarm system had been activated and deactivated over the last few months.

  “On the day of the murder, someone disabled it via the pad near the front door at 1:58 p.m. and rearmed it at 2:09 p.m. via the pad on the back door, that time frame is likely when the murder took place. The alarm then stayed ar
med until the Kents’ daughter came home with her friend at 4:02.”

  “Eleven minutes,” Parker said, “Something went horribly wrong in those minutes,”

  They thanked Hooper for his assistance and he handed Jo a card.

  “That’s my cell phone, Detective Knight, just in case you have further questions,”

  Jo stared at Matt Hooper for a beat, but then took out one of her own cards and handed it to him.

  “My cell, in case there’s anything you might want to ask me.”

  Hooper grinned as he took the card.

  “Expect a call very soon,” he said.

  “I’ll do that, Matt,” Jo said,

  As she and Parker left the building, he started chuckling.

  “What’s that laugh about?”

  “Hooper, if I walked back in there right now he wouldn’t recognize me. I don’t think his eyes ever left you.”

  “What can I say; he liked what he saw,”

  “I hope it leads to something good, being alone sucks,”

  They climbed in the car and buckled up.

  “It doesn’t sound like your looking forward to being divorced.” Jo said.

  Parker shrugged.

  “I still love her. I can’t trust her as far as I could throw this car, but I think I’ll always love her.”

  “One doesn’t work without the other, not in a relationship,”

  Parker sighed, and then realized he’d been doing it a lot lately, but sighing was better than the lethargy that plagued him the first few days after finding Rachel’s “Dear John,” letter.

  He briefly wondered if he’d ever be happy again, but then abandoned that train of thought and got his mind back on the case.

  “Let’s have another conversation with the Kents, and this time, we put their backs to the wall.”

  7

  The following afternoon, Parker sat across from Mandy Kent in a room the size of a closet and stared at her until she squirmed.

  The walls of the room were made of cinderblock and painted a stark white. The only furniture was a small, wooden table and two chairs without arms, they too were painted white and the floor and ceiling were just as devoid of color. The effect was a starkness that begged to be stained by something, by anything, such as the contents of a guilty mind.