by J A Whiting
“You think he might have made up seeing someone there? Maybe he wanted to be part of the excitement swirling around the investigation, so he made up a story about seeing a person at the woman’s door,” Tony said.
“I wondered about that,” Claire said. “I think it’s possible that over the years, Bricklin might have regretted giving the police false information. I also think it’s possible he could be a suspect.”
“What about the child abductor? Brandon Willis?”
“In my mind, he’s a suspect. I don’t care if he was let go due to lack of evidence. The Harrison kids picked him out of a line-up. He dated Janice a couple of times. He didn’t like getting dropped by her. Brandon was sort of stalking her. He could have been hyped up and seething that night, maybe he’d taken some drugs. He lashed out at a little girl and knocked her from her bike, then he ran away. Brandon Willis could easily have ended up at Janice’s house looking for revenge because she stopped dating him.”
“That’s a frightening thought.” Tony’s facial muscles looked tight. “Well, actually any scenario you could come up with is frightening.”
The market’s door opened and Judge Augustus Gunther entered the shop dressed in a blue, well-tailored suit, a meticulously pressed white shirt, and a blue and yellow tie. “Good morning. Am I later than usual? Have I missed an interesting discussion?”
Claire brought the former judge up to speed on where the case stood and told him about visiting the house where Janice Carter lived when she was murdered.
“Do you think the murder was premeditated?” Tony asked the young woman.
“Yes, I do.”
“Why do you think so?” Augustus asked, his intelligent blue eyes locked onto Claire.
Claire thought for a few moments. “I don’t why. It’s a feeling I have.”
“That won’t hold up in court, my dear,” Augustus said.
The corners of the young woman’s mouth turned up and she teased the judge. “No? Why not?”
“Does the feeling about the premeditation have any basis in fact?” Augustus questioned. “Perhaps, something you’ve learned during the interviews has made this seem to be a viable option?”
Claire shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the suspect took a knife from Janice’s kitchen and used it as the murder weapon.”
“You may not be wrong because taking a knife from the kitchen may have been preplanned,” Augustus pointed out. “The killer may have gone to Janice’s house planning to kill her, but didn’t want to chance being caught carrying a weapon so decided to use a knife found at the house. Were any knives missing?”
“I haven’t heard or read anything about the weapon besides that it was a knife. I don’t know where the police think it came from.”
“The initial investigation’s notes were lost,” Augustus said. “Perhaps no one presently in law enforcement knows whether or not a knife was missing from the woman’s kitchen. It’s a shame the original notes were destroyed. However, as I said, where the murder weapon came from cannot be the determinant for premeditation. The killer could have planned to kill Ms. Carter with a knife he carried with him or with a knife from her own kitchen.”
“You’re right,” Claire said.
“What other reasons might there be for you to suspect premeditation?” Augustus asked.
Taking in a long breath, Claire said, “I think that the actual attack must have been very quick. I know Janice was stabbed many times, but I think the killer did his work quickly because the child in the house didn’t wake up. If it was a prolonged attack, the noise in the home would have gone on for some time and the daughter probably would have woken up. But, I guess a fast attack could have been due to rage and not premeditation. The killer might have been set off by something, an argument, being rejected by Janice, who knows?”
“Good points,” Augustus told her. “Is there anyone you should interview that you haven’t yet?”
“I can’t think of anyone.”
“Is there anyone you should speak with a second time?”
Claire mentally ran through the interviews they’d done, but wasn’t sure there was a reason to talk to anyone again.
“What about Brandon Willis?” Tony asked. “He was rude and threatening the first time you met with him. Why behave that way? Does he have something to hide?”
Claire’s brain went into overdrive. Does Willis have something he hopes to hide from us?
“And what about Joe Bricklin?” Tony added. “Maybe he needs to be pressed about why he changed his claim that he saw a man at Janice’s door that night.”
“Maybe we should re-interview those two,” Claire said thoughtfully. “Maybe returning a second time will rattle them and something will slip out.”
“Just don’t go by yourself when you see those two guys.” Tony’s face was serious. “If you scare one of them, who knows what he’d do to keep his secret hidden. I doubt he’d hesitate to kill again. Make sure you have Nicole or Detective Gagnon with you. Don’t you dare go alone.”
The heartfelt warning from the kind store owner warmed Claire’s heart.
“If you need me to, Blondie, I’ll go along to protect you.”
Claire smiled at the man. “Don’t be surprised if I take you up on that.”
“I’ll be ready.” Tony went to the storeroom for some supplies and the dogs followed on his heels.
Claire and Augustus walked to the back of the store to the coffee bar where they poured drinks and carried them to the small table.
“I might re-interview Janice’s friend, Brittany Patterson. She might be able to shed more light on Joe Bricklin. She was dating him back then. She probably has some good insight about him. I sort of glossed over that when I met with her the first time.”
“Whoever you speak with,” Augustus said, “remember to be on your guard. The interviewing can set things in motion that you don’t expect. Be prepared. Question everything you’re told. Trust none of them.”
The old judge’s warning sent a shiver of alarm down Claire’s spine.
18
“I was surprised when you wanted to meet again.” Brittany Patterson sat across from Claire and Nicole at a table in a Boston café. “Has something new come up?”
“We’re speaking again with everyone we talked to previously,” Nicole said. “After talking about the past, we’ve discovered that people think back and remember things they’d forgotten about.”
“Not me.” Brittany wore a look of bewilderment that she should have recalled something and hadn’t.
“We would like to hear more about Brandon Willis,” Claire said. “Can you tell us what his personality was like?”
“We discussed Brandon when you were here before.” Brittany looked at the two young women. “I don’t know what else to say about him.”
“What did he look like back then?” Claire asked in an encouraging voice.
Brittany frowned and thought for a few minutes. “He had dark hair, brown. He wore it a little longer than other men. He was fairly tall, maybe six feet. Thin. He was good at softball. He always got a hit.”
“Would you say he was good looking?”
“I guess you would say that. He wasn’t my type though.”
“Why not?”
“Like I told you before, he liked to drink too much. He lacked ambition. He didn’t seem to have any goals. That wasn’t for me. He could be moody, too. He’d turn quiet and sullen. Other times he would talk and make jokes. Too many ups and downs for my taste.”
“How was he with women?” Claire asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Was he respectful? Was he always flirting? Did he make inappropriate comments?”
“Hmm. I don’t remember him being overly flirty. I don’t think I ever heard him make a rude comment.”
“Did Brandon get along well with the other guys on the team?” Nicole questioned.
“He seemed to. He was a good player. People wanted him on their team.” Brittan
y took a sip from her drink and pushed a strand of hair over her ear.
“Janice liked him?”
“She was friendly to him. I think she only went out with him a couple of times. I told her he wasn’t the right guy for her. She didn’t like me voicing my opinions about her dates. I heard she didn’t accept his invitations to go out after a couple of dates.”
Claire noted the slight change in the information Brittany was sharing. When they’d spoken previously, what she’d told them was a little different.
“Do you know how Brandon reacted to being rebuffed by Janice?”
“I don’t,” Brittany said. “I’d see him at the games and practices, but we didn’t interact much.”
“You were dating Joe Bricklin back then,” Nicole said.
“That’s right.”
“Did you date him for a long time?” Nicole asked.
“Not really. A few months. I don’t know. Maybe four months or so.”
“Why did you stop seeing him?”
“Joe moved away shortly after Janice was killed. He said he didn’t feel safe in the neighborhood. The murder freaked him out. I think he was ready for a change and was probably thinking about moving before Janice died.”
“What was Joe like?” Claire asked.
Brittany seemed to be thinking back over the years. “Joe was intelligent, but I don’t think he used his brains. He was another guy with no ambition. He was a good athlete, strong, fast.”
“What did Joe look like back then?” Nicole asked.
“Joe was thin, but he had strong shoulders. He hard dark eyes, dark hair. He kind of looked like Brandon. People sometimes asked if they were brothers, but I didn’t think the resemblance was that strong.”
“What was his personality like?”
“Joe wasn’t boisterous, but he liked to talk, joke around. He drank, but not heavily. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist, really, he only talked about sports, music, celebrities. Joe didn’t follow or keep up with current events which I enjoyed. I think you need to be informed and can’t put your head in the sand. His conversation was pretty superficial. It was for the best he moved away. We weren’t a good match at all. It was easier to just drift apart.”
“Did you keep in touch after he moved away?”
“Oh, gosh, no. I was glad it was over,” Brittany said.
“Was Joe friendly with Janice?” Claire asked.
Brittany’s eyes widened. “He lived across the street from Janice, but I don’t think they interacted much. They weren’t buddies or anything. Different schedules, different responsibilities.” The woman sat up. “Why are you asking about Brandon and Joe? Do you think one of them did something to Janice?”
“We’re only gathering as much information as we can,” Nicole assured her.
Brittany’s voice took on a conspiratorial tone. “I think it was Brandon who tried to snatch that little girl from the ball field. Sometimes his eyes looked really dark, like he was thinking about bad stuff. His moods were unpredictable. Who knows, but maybe he was the one who attacked Janice. Maybe he was angry that she didn’t want to date him anymore. What do you think?”
“We just report on our interviews to Detective Gagnon,” Claire explained. “We aren’t told the details of the investigation. We give him our information and he adds it to the mountain of data that’s been gathered.” Claire didn’t mind not being completely truthful with Brittany about how the investigation worked, and she certainly wasn’t going to confide in the woman about who might be guilty.
“Did you happen to see Janice that night?” Claire questioned.
Brittany narrowed her eyes and her voice sounded gravelly. “What do you mean?”
“Did you happen to run into Janice the day she died?”
“No, I didn’t,” Brittany said. “I wasn’t exactly her favorite person at the time.”
“You didn’t have classes that evening?”
“No, we didn’t.”
“What did you do that night?” Nicole made sure to keep her voice even.
“I studied. I stayed in. I had a lot to do.”
“Had you talked to Janice on the days before the murder?”
“We exchanged pleasantries, but she was still angry at me for giving my opinion on Brandon. Janice didn’t want me giving her advice on her love life.” Brittany shrugged. “She wouldn’t have stayed angry with me. It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“Did Joe talk to you after Janice got killed?” Claire asked. “Did he mention seeing anyone at Janice’s house?”
“Seeing someone there?” Brittany asked.
“Joe told police he might have seen someone at Janice’s door that night.”
“Really? I didn’t know that. He didn’t tell me that. Did he say who he thought it was?”
“He only saw a form. He couldn’t identify the person.”
“Who could it have been?” Brittany asked.
“Joe isn’t sure he saw someone. He says now that it might have been a shadow.”
“A shadow? He confused a shadow for a real person?” Brittany gaped at the two young women.
“He isn’t sure he saw anything.”
“Well then, maybe he shouldn’t have said anything if he wasn’t sure about it.” Brittany shook her head. “Joe liked to exaggerate. He told tales. I think he wanted to be important so he would embellish whatever happened to him. I was never sure I could believe what he said. I took everything with a grain of salt. Funny, I’d forgotten that about him.” Something passed over the woman’s face. “I remember Joe losing his temper a few times. I contradicted something he was embellishing and he did not like that. He raised his voice to me. He told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. Joe was almost menacing. His face got all contorted. I thought he might hit me.”
The little hairs on the back of Claire’s neck stood up. “This happened only once?”
Brittany said, “Twice, I think. I didn’t like it. I told Joe never to do that to me again.”
“How did he take that?”
“I didn’t confront him in the middle of his hissy fit. I talked to him about it the next day. I wouldn’t have said anything when he was so angry. I was afraid he would strike out. He grumped at me when I told him I wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behavior.”
Nicole asked, “Did you ever see Joe in an argument with one of the softball players? Did he ever get into a fight?”
“Not that I saw,” Brittany said. “That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen though.”
“You look very athletic,” Claire noted. “Do you run?”
“I work out all the time. I lift, run, bike. I like to keep fit.”
“Were you involved in athletics when you were younger?”
“No, I wasn’t. I got involved after Janice died. Maybe it was my subconscious telling me if I didn’t want to end up like Janice, I’d better be strong.” Brittany’s eyes darkened. “Unexpected things have unexpected consequences. I think about the night Janice died. If we hadn’t got into a snit about me criticizing Brandon, I might have been at Janice’s house that night. We often studied together. We’d put the television on as background noise and then we’d quiz each other or go over lab notes. I could have been there. I might have been killed, too.” Brittany’s shoulders gave a little shake. “Fate. Fortune’s favors. Some people are lucky … and some are not.”
19
Claire returned to the townhouse after a run with Ian, showered, and made a personal pan pizza for herself after feeding the two dogs their dinner. Ian had to work a night shift so he wasn’t available to stay for dinner. The chilly October air kept Claire inside and she took her pizza to the living room, made a fire in the fireplace, and put on some music before settling onto the sofa with a cozy blanket.
Despite wanting an evening free of the cold case, she couldn’t stop bits and pieces of conversations she’d had and details she’d read from old news accounts and the retired officer’s report on the murder from swirling around an
d around in her head. Setting her dinner plate on the coffee table, Claire sighed. “I can’t escape it,” she told the Corgis and got up to get her own notes on the case from her desk.
There were things that bothered her after speaking the second time with Brittany Patterson, but try as she might to understand the reason for her concerns, she couldn’t place why things felt off when she’d talked with the woman. Thoughts and ideas seemed to flit by invisibly on the air, but Claire was unable to grasp at them.
Flipping through her case notes, her phone buzzed. Tessa wanted to come by. She had a friend she wanted to introduce to Claire.
Twenty minutes later, Claire met the two women at her front door and invited them to come in and sit by the fire.
Bear and Lady welcomed the visitors with wiggles and wagging tails.
Tessa’s friend, Rowan Mink, was a few inches taller than Claire, willowy, with long brown hair that hit past her shoulders, and the brightest blue eyes Claire had ever seen. It was hard to judge the woman’s age. Claire initially thought Rowan was in her early thirties, but the more she looked at her, the less sure she was about her guess.
“What a wonderful fire.” Before taking a seat, Rowan held her hands out to the flames for their warmth.
“It’s a chilly night.” Tessa shivered and sank onto one of the comfy white chairs that flanked the fireplace. “The fire is just what I needed.”
Claire brought out tea and a plate of cookies and the three women engaged in pleasant chit-chat about the weather, the fall season in Boston, and their various travels to different places around the world.
Rowan set her teacup on its saucer. “Tessa tells me you’re having some difficulty with a cold case.”
Claire almost spit out her mouthful of tea. She gave Tessa a quick look of surprise. “I … yes, it’s a bit of a mess at the moment.”
Rowan leaned forward. “Do you feel things on the air?”
Dumbfounded, Claire’s mouth dropped open slightly.
Tessa said, “Rowan knows about your skills. She has abilities of her own.”