Till Death - Mark Kane Mysteries - Book Four: A Private Investigator Crime Series of Murder, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Stories...with a dash of Romance. A Murder, Mystery & Suspense Thriller

by John Hemmings

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “How long have you lived in Rapid Falls, Bob?”

  “All my life. Most folks here are the same.”

  “You know Norman – the guy who runs the general store in town?”

  “Of course. We go to the same church. Norman’s wife has passed away, I’m afraid, but Gladys and I still see him every week. Norman and me are both Rotary Club members too.”

  “Norman knows Lisa – Elizabeth,” I said. “He knows what this is all about, I’m sure. Can you talk to him? Tell him he can trust me, and get him to open up?”

  Bob thought for a moment. “Leave it to me,” he said. “When are you leaving?”

  “We really ought to go tomorrow. We’ve got some important unfinished business back in Boston,” I said.

  “Gladys,” Bob shouted at the kitchen, “we got enough for another mouth?”

  “Sure,” she said.”

  “Give me half an hour or so,” he said to me. “I’m going out for a bit, honey,” he called out. “Hold everything until I get back.”

  Bob winked at me. “Norman can’t resist Gladys’s cooking,” he said.

  *

  Bob was back before eight. Norman was with him and Bob introduced us. The food was already on the table.

  “Let’s eat,” said Gladys.

  During the meal we made small talk and the subject of Lisa wasn’t mentioned at all. We talked of their lives out west and ours back east. We talked a little about my occupation and Lucy’s new career. When the dinner plates were cleared away Lucy went to help Gladys in the kitchen and Norman, Bob and I sat around the hearth.

  “I’ve told Norman about the purpose of your visit out here and I’ve urged him to trust you,” Bob said. “You don’t have a problem with that, do you Norm?”

  “In principle I don’t have a problem,” Norman said, “but I’d like to know a little bit more about Elizabeth’s problem. Bob says that there’s something been troubling her and you’re here to find out what it is.”

  “I’m going to put my cards on the table, Norman. Recently Lisa’s – that’s Elizabeth’s − husband could tell that she was worried, distracted and behaving out of character and he hired Lucy and I to try to find out what was troubling her. We discovered that somebody has been blackmailing her and we’re sure that the subject of the blackmail relates to someone or something back here – something that happened before she met her husband some five or six years ago. If we can find out what it is I’m confident that we can put an end to it for good. Whatever you’re able to tell me will remain confidential; I give you my word on that.”

  Norman was nodding sympathetically as I spoke. When I finished he leaned back in his chair, took a deep breath, and said:

  “I first met Lisa − I’m going to call her Lisa because that’s who she is now – when she was about eight years old. She came to my store and asked if I had any chores she could do. I’m sure you already know from Gladys about her background. Her mother wasn’t abusive to her or anything like that, but because of the booze she didn’t work much and Lisa pretty much had to fend for herself. Over the next few years Lisa and me grew closer than a gnat’s eyes. She was a cheerful kid; everybody liked her. The other storekeepers used to help her out too – feeding her, and giving her little jobs to do, and generally watching out for her.”

  Norman looked across at me before continuing.

  “After her mom died Lisa started hanging out with a young crowd and she got involved with a local guy. I guess she was about twenty when that happened. I didn’t see so much of her during those two or three years, but one day she told me she was going to get hitched. So she did too, and for a year or so, I guess, everything seemed okay. But the guy started knocking her about, Kane. I’d see her with puffed-up eyes, black eyes, bruises and stuff. She’d tell me she fell down, or had some kind of accident. Pretty soon I knew what was going on. Her husband was beating her – regular and pretty bad. Eventually it got so bad that she tried to leave him. She tried to leave him several times, as a matter of fact, but he wasn’t having any of it. He’d find her, wherever she was and drag her back.”

  Gladys came in with some coffee and placed it on a small table in front of us. We were sat in a semi-circle, the glow from the flames of the wood fire making patterns on our faces. Gladys left without a word and went back into the kitchen. There was a round wooden table in there and I could see through the doorway that Lucy was sitting there and Gladys was showing her albums of snapshots.

  Norman sniffed. “Anyways, I tried to encourage her to get a divorce; we all did. But she told us that he wouldn’t let her go. If she tried to talk to him about it he’d beat her something terrible. She said he told her that when they wed she took a vow to stay with him till death, and she wasn’t going nowhere. She could run to the far corners of the earth and he’d find her and bring her back.”

  Norman stopped to take a sip from his coffee mug. There was a tension in the air that was palpable. The only sound was the crackling of the logs on the fire and the murmur of voices coming from the kitchen.

  “Then things got so bad that we encouraged her to make a formal complaint to the police. The guy was arrested and Lisa came to stay with me and my wife for a while. The matter went to court and they put a restraining order on her husband – he wasn’t allowed to go within five hundred feet of her. After a while she moved to her own place, and things were quiet. But she’d tell me he’d park opposite her house every night and just stare in there. She was frightened, but he wasn’t breaching the order and the police said there was nothing they could do.”

  Norman sighed and rubbed the back of his forearm across his eyes. He took another sip of his coffee.

  “Then one day she got home and he was sitting there in her living room. She never had a chance to run. He beat her real bad. I’ve no doubt he would’ve killed her if a neighbor hadn’t heard her screaming and called the police. They took him away that night and they took Lisa to the hospital. He was charged with aggravated assault and Lisa was supposed to be a witness. But one day she turned up at my place in her old Corvette. What little she had was in the trunk. She told me she was getting out. She told me she’d have to cut all ties with Rapid Falls and that meant she’d never be able to come back and never be able to see any of us again. She told me she’d find a place far away. Before she left she made me promise her something.”

  “He’ll come looking for me Norm,” she said. “He won’t ever give up. If anyone ever comes looking for me here or asking questions about me I want you to promise you won’t tell them anything. Just tell them you don’t know me.”

  Norman looked over at me. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve again.

  “After she left we all got together – all her friends – and we made a pact. That’s why when you asked me about Lisa this morning I said I didn’t know her. I ain’t never seen hide nor hair of her since she left, and that’s all I can tell you Mr. Kane.”

  There was silence for a few minutes. Norman stared into the glowing embers of the fire.

  “What was his name, Norman? What was the husband’s name?” I said.

  He looked across at me. “Cody,” he said, disdainfully. “Cody Breen.”

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Making Plans

  “So now I guess I’ve broken that promise I made to Elizabeth all those years ago,” Norman said. “But if some good comes of it Lisa will understand. And what I told you ain’t going outside these four walls, right?”

  I nodded. “I’ve got some news for you that’ll help set your mind at rest Norman. Cody Breen was stabbed to death in a correctional facility near Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. He won’t be a threat to Lisa anymore.”

  Norman put his hands up to cover his face. He started to sob, almost soundlessly. “I’m sorry” he said, “just give me a few minutes.” He went outside to the porch and closed the door behind him.

  It was ten w
hen we left Gladys and Bob’s house and made our way back to the motel. I’d already told Lucy the gist of what I’d learned from Norman, but she wanted to know about it in detail. When we got back to the room I told her.

  “Why are there animals like that in the world?” she said. “How can one human being treat another one like that?”

  “It’s all about possession and control, Lucy. Often an abuser like Cody is suffering from low self-esteem. People like that sometimes try to bolster their egos by trying to impose their will on others. But in this case it seems likely that Cody was psychopathic. Psychopaths care about nobody but themselves. They have no emotion, no empathy for others. It’s a psychological illness, and some people are born that way. Then again, maybe Cody himself was the product of an abusive upbringing. I guess we’ll never know.”

  “But we know why Lisa was being blackmailed now,” she said.

  “Cody must have told Delmar about Lisa’s disappearing act and perhaps her bigamous remarriage when they were in prison together. Since both of them are dead now we won’t ever know all the details.”

  “But how did Delmar track Lisa down to Boston?”

  “That’s probably another thing we’ll never know. Maybe Cody already knew where she was somehow and told Delmar. Or maybe Delmar hired someone to find out when he came out of prison. A search of marriage records would be a start. Lisa was still using her birth name when she married Don. But there are almost endless possibilities – she and Don might have been spotted somewhere else when they were on one of their vacations. Those things really don’t matter anymore. The important thing is that now we know we can ensure that Lisa is never troubled about it again.”

  “We have to find a way to let her know about Cody’s death,” Lucy said, “to put her mind at rest.”

  “Well find a way to do that.”

  “So Lisa’s a bigamist. Or she was. Is she still one, even though Cody’s dead?”

  “I don’t suppose the finer points really matter, do you? From what I’ve heard tonight I don’t think any court would hand down more than a token penalty; maybe a small fine. But there’s no need for anyone but Lisa and us to ever know about it.”

  “What about Don?” Lucy said.

  “I think it’s up to Lisa. Maybe when she finds out that Cody’s dead she’ll think about telling him. But she’s gone to great lengths to prevent Don knowing about her miserable past. I don’t see how it will help anything if he were to find out now. And remember, he told us he didn’t want to know.”

  “But this case isn’t finished yet, is it?” Lucy said. “Because we still don’t know who murdered Delmar…or why. We still have two possible theories. I hope it had nothing to do with Don – I think Lisa’s had enough misery in her life without having to face the prospect of her husband – her second husband – being indicted for murder.”

  “I hope you’re right too, Lucy.”

  “So do you think we can catch a flight home tomorrow night? If we leave here early in the morning, we should be able to make it.”

  “No, I want one more night in Minneapolis,” I said.

  “Because you’ve grown so fond of the place?”

  “I want to see Atterbury again.”

  “Do you think that’s really necessary? I thought he said he’d call us if he found out anything.”

  “But when we spoke to him we didn’t know what we know now,” I said.

  “But how does that make a difference?” Lucy asked me.

  “Some criminals,” I said, “a small proportion, may be beyond redemption. But many of them have boundaries they’re not prepared to cross. A thief may justify his actions to himself in various ways – for example, by telling himself that it’s only an insurance company that’s going to suffer in the long run. But such a person may not condone robbery, blackmail, or kidnapping. And the majority of criminals – even hardened criminals – are often horrified by crimes against women or children. Predators of young children – like pedophiles – often need to be segregated from the other prisoners out of fear of reprisals. And violent crimes against women are frowned upon by many of them.”

  Lucy thought about this for a moment. “I see what you’re getting at,” she said.

  “Suppose somebody knows something about the blackmail,” I said. “They may not be willing to divulge what they know. But if they find out about the background to the crime – the fact that at the very root of it was a hideously violent and abusive husband, they may well have a change of heart.”

  “Especially if they also know that Delmar may have been double-crossed and killed by Barbara,” Lucy said. “Then they may be more likely to reveal what they know about her connection with the case.”

  “Exactly; I think it’s worth an extra night in Minneapolis to put Atterbury fully in the picture, don’t you?”

  “After finding out about the dreadful way Lisa was treated by Cody I’ll agree to anything that might help to put the blackmailers away,” she said. “However many of them there are.”

  “Me too. And that brings me to another matter. We’ve yet to find out whether Withers may have played a part in this. If Barbara was responsible for Delmar’s death, she couldn’t have been acting alone. So far Calley hasn’t been able to find out anything about either Barbara or Withers.”

  It suddenly occurred to me that he hadn’t even asked me why I wanted to know. I often wondered how Calley had lasted as long as he had in the police.

  “It will help if we can find out more details about them,” I said: “ID numbers, dates of birth etcetera. It occurred to me that if Withers is the tenant of that apartment then the management are likely to have that information – or if not the management then the owner of the apartment – the landlord. When we get back we’d better look into that.”

  “How about Barbara’s ID?” Lucy said, “Is there any way we can find that out, do you think?”

  “Well the hospital is bound to know.”

  “The hospital’s a...”

  I looked at Lucy, cocking my head to one side and putting my hands on my hips. “And before you point out that a hospital is a building and therefore can’t know anything, you know perfectly well what I mean.”

  Lucy poked her tongue out at me.

  “Do you think we’ve still got a chance to recover the money that we assume Lisa handed over to the blackmailers?”

  “Well we know Delmar didn’t have it. I doubt she’d have paid the money into a bank account. Maybe in due course we’ll find it in Barbara’s safe deposit box.”

  “Or the police will,” Lucy said.

  “I’m hoping that the police won’t need to be told about Lisa’s blackmail,” I said, “otherwise the whole story will have to come out – including the bigamy.”

  “But how would we get access to Barbara’s safe deposit box – assuming she even has one?”

  “I still haven’t thought that one out. Why don’t you dig out the laptop and find out what weather the Lord has in store for us tomorrow? I can’t say I’m looking forward to the drive back much.”

  “Or indeed, at all,” Lucy said. She gave me a sideways look and opened her mouth, cheekily, running her tongue over her bottom lip and raising her eyebrows.

  “Or at all,” I conceded.

  “Ooh,” Lucy exclaimed from the bed where she was using the laptop in the way in which it was intended, “It’s going to be sunny tomorrow.”

  Things were looking up. I dug out my bottle of Jack Daniels from the recesses of the closet where Lucy had attempted to hide it.

  “And now,” I said, “I’m going to permit myself a celebratory drink.”

  “Isn’t it a bit late?” Lucy said.

  “It’s never too late for a celebratory drink,” I replied.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Taking Stock

  The drive back to Minneapolis was a lot quicker and easier than the drive to Rapid Falls had been. Partly that was due to the weath
er and partly, I guess, because my mood was buoyed up by the success of our venture. As we sped along, largely unencumbered, I handed Lucy an envelope that Gladys had given me.

  “Gladys gave me this note for Lisa,” I said, taking it out of my inside pocket. “Maybe you can keep it in your purse for the time being.”

  “What does it say?”

  “I don’t know – good luck for the future or something like that, I guess.”

  “They were a nice couple, weren’t they – Bob and Gladys?”

  “We wouldn’t have got far without them,” I said. “We wouldn’t have got anywhere without them.”

  “Atterbury, the Applebees,” said Lucy. “We’ve been very lucky really, haven’t we?”

  “Let’s hope our luck holds,” I said. “So we can put this whole darn thing to bed.”

  “I thought at one time there was some kind of malevolent force at work,” Lucy said, “trying to thwart all our efforts. But now we’re on the right track, it’s almost as if good is triumphing over evil. It’s rather encouraging isn’t it – and comforting − when you think about it like that?”

  “We’re not home yet,” I said. “We’re going to need some more luck.”

  “What’s our next move when we get back to Boston,” Lucy said, “assuming Barbara’s still in the hospital?”

  “Well, Jill’s already in the process of profiling the DNA samples I gave her. One is Don’s of course and the other is Barbara’s. The police examination of any DNA found at the apartment in South Boston is likely to take some time, but Jill will have hers done in a few more days, I hope. I already have the profile of the female DNA from the cold case, so I’ll soon know if that matches Barbara’s. It’s probably a long-shot, but you never know. But it’ll be a while longer, I guess, before we can compare both with the DNA from the apartment where Delmar met his death. Fingerprint examination ought to be quicker, but with no prints on file for Barbara or Don that’s not going to help the police much.”