First Murder

by Fred Limberg

  “Your husband was close to Mrs. Fredrickson?” Tony let Ray take the lead again but sensed that he could jump in this time if he wanted too.

  “We’re all close. Scotty handles some things for Barry. Deanna and I have known each other for, Christ, fifteen years…maybe more. Yeah, we’re close.”

  “Where were you Monday morning? Early…between 7:00 and 9:00?”

  “Is that when it happened? Oh my God! And Scott didn’t get back until this morning.” She squeezed her eyes together tightly, tried to keep them from leaking more tears, and failed. Tony hoped she had a kinder image of her dead friend than what real life, and death, had imprinted in his mind.

  She took a long pull of the whiskey and shuddered. “I was taking the kids to school.”

  “That’s kind of early isn’t it?” Ray suggested. Tony had no idea what time school started. He had little contact with children of any age.

  “Cherie’s on the swim team. They practice early. Monday I stayed to watch for a while, the little ones were with me.”

  Ray ran down what had become the standard list of initial questions. Enemies? The possibility of an affair by either of them? Any financial difficulties she knew of? All of them were met with what were becoming standard answers. No. Not remotely possible. Are you kidding? He made brief notes and turned the questioning to the ‘Go Girls’.

  “What do you want to know about our group for?”

  “Was there any friction in the group?” Ray couldn’t tell her that he was still scratching for a motive, even a hint of one, and that the ‘Go Girls’ and their trips intrigued him.

  “Is that a cop word? Friction? Get five or six women together and you’ll get more than that.”

  Ray frowned. “So there were problems?”

  “Not really. Not like you might think. Deanna is…was…the peacemaker of the group. I’d be jealous of something Lakisha bought and she’d get me over it. Erika pissing and moaning that all the good men were taken. She’s the only single one, well, unless you count Ally. Roxie would want to go to a certain bar and Ally would want to go to a restaurant. Problems like that. Certainly not life and death problems.”

  “Tell me about the ‘Go Girls’.

  Tia took another sip of her drink. “Like what? It’s just a bunch of us that have been friends for a long time. We like to do stuff together. We care about each other.”

  “Like your trips?”

  “That was originally Karen’s idea. Her husband is a big outdoors type, hunting and fishing—gone a lot. Hell, Barry’s gone half the year during the season, but she got it in her mind that we should ditch them for long weekends and get a little wild.”

  “Wild?”

  “Not really. Well…maybe a little. Like the time in Vegas when Lakisha entered this Texas Hold ’Em tournament. We were in the audience screaming every time she made a bet. We almost got tossed. We went deep sea fishing in Mexico. All of us, all but Ally, went scuba diving. We were just obnoxious in LA. We wanted to meet Harrison Ford. We got Woody Harrelson. We went to this strip joint. In LA they have strip joints for women. It’s creepy. That kind of wild.”

  Ray stayed with the trip questions, intrigued. “You went to a lot of places that are what, maybe risky is the term. Did you ever get in any trouble?”

  “Like cop trouble? No…never. Like men trouble? Not really. We’d get approached, sure. It was funny. We’d blow ’em off. Maybe tease a little, but that was all. It was girl time and we’re the ‘Go Girls’.”

  “Tell me about the others.”

  “No.” That took Ray back. Tia had been cooperative so far, informative. The ‘no’ had been definitive.

  He must have had a puzzled look on his face because Tia went on to explain, “Look, you’re asking a lot of questions about our group, about Deanna’s circle of friends. It’s not my place to tell you what I think about them. I could tell you Roxie’s a lush and Lakisha can be a real bitch and Karen is frisky all the time, but that wouldn’t be fair to them and it would affect your thinking. There’s no way…no way in hell that any of us had anything to do with Dee’s murder.”

  She stood quickly and the chair squeaked when she shoved it back. It almost tipped over. Tia retreated behind the kitchen island and poured more whiskey. A bit splashed over the rim of the glass. She looked like she was getting a little drunk.

  “Mrs. Bork, one last thing. If you don’t mind we’d like to get your fingerprints. It’s just for elimination purposes…comparison.” She looked at him strangely for a minute, like she was working through something difficult, like she was confused.

  “Barry!” she yelled with her head turned toward the hallway. Boom Boom quickly appeared. He didn’t look happy but Tony was still relieved when he didn’t make any moves like he was going to sack them. He glanced at the bottle on the counter, saw how much lower the level was, and sighed.

  “What is it, babe?”

  “They want my fingerprints?”

  Tony turned his palms up on the table top. “It’s just for elimination. There are a lot of prints in the house. It’ll help us find the killer.”

  “You want mine, too?”

  With that question the crisis was over, the issue decided. Tony got out the kit and printed both of them. Tia was sullen. Her husband rubbed her back while Tony guided her fingers from the pad and rolled them across the card. Boom Boom did his by himself. After washing her hands Tia excused herself, said good evening to the detectives, and climbed unsteadily up the stairs.

  “She’s upset.” Boom Boom shook his head. “Hell, I’m upset too. She usually doesn’t drink like this.”

  “It’s understandable. They were close.” Ray looked once more at his notebook. “I need to ask you where you were Monday morning, early, from seven to nine.”

  Boom Boom chuckled. “I haven’t needed an alibi since training camp last year.” He rubbed his hand over his face once. He seemed weary too. “Tia and the girls headed out early. Cherie has swim practice Mondays. I was up, read the paper. Oh yeah, about eight I got a call from Coach, wondering if I was interested in coming in for some weight work. I still help some of the guys with weights. That help?”

  Back in the car and headed for St. Paul, Tony stared out the side window, thinking about the Borks.

  “We don’t have a motive. We don’t have a suspect. We don’t have any leads. I’m discouraged, Ray.”

  Bankston stared out the windshield, looked straight ahead at the interstate traffic. He was thinking too, thinking so hard he didn’t even glance to the left at the massive Boeing 747 bathed in white light next to the gigantic maintenance hangar at the airport.

  “It’s early yet.”

  Tony started flipping through his notebook, looking for names and numbers. “You want to talk to someone else?”

  “Not tonight. I mean it’s early in the case. This one’s different. The first 48 hours usually makes or breaks a case. This one’s different.”

  “I don’t see us solving this tomorrow, boss.”

  “I don’t either, but I’ve been surprised before.”

  Ray glanced over when Tony fished out his cell phone. “I still haven’t heard back from the other roommate, Stuckey.” Tony dialed the number again and got Stuckey’s voice mail… again. He left another message. “You think it means anything? Him not calling me back?”

  “Not without more information.” Tony dialed another number.

  “Hello.”

  “David Hong?”

  “This is Dave. Hey, detective. What’s up?”

  “Just wondering if Sean’s there.”

  “You just missed him. He blew through, grabbed something out of his room and headed out. He’s probably gone for the night.”

  “Well damn. You talk to him? Tell him I want to talk to him?”

  “Nope. He was in and out. Hasn’t he called you?”

  “No. And I’ve left messages.”

  “Not surprising, Tony. If it isn’t a chick he doesn’t seem to have time fo
r it.”

  “A ladies man?”

  Hong laughed into the phone. “More like a pussy hound. You want me to give him a message if I see him?”

  “Just to call me. How’s Scotty doing?”

  “Haven’t seen him all day. He’s been with his dad.”

  “Sure. Hey, thanks David. Later.” Tony flipped the phone shut and went back to staring out the side window.

  Carol and Vang were at their desks when Tony and Ray trudged into the squad room. Vang was keyboarding his notes, Carol on the phone. Tony fished out his notebook and dropped it on what he guessed was his desk. Ray pointed to one next to his.

  “This one’s yours.”

  De Luca shifted over and spun in his chair. “Want me near you?”

  “Sure. Gotta keep an eye on you.”

  Carol finished her call and came over to join them.

  “How did it go?” Ray asked. Carol looked tired. Her jacket was wrinkled, her slacks creased behind the knee. Tony guessed she’d covered a lot of ground during the day.

  “We got squat, Ray. The woman was a saint. Loved by all. A tireless worker. Everybody’s friend. We couldn’t get a whiff of anything to look into.”

  “I sort of expected that.”

  Carol crossed her arms and leaned on Tony’s desk. “What about you two?”

  “We interviewed Lakisha Marland and Tia Bork.” Tony looked up at her where she was perched. He knew she wanted the girlfriend interviews and couldn’t help but rub it in a little.

  “How’d the rook do?” She directed the question at Ray, her thumb at Tony. Tony knew she was hoping he’d stepped in it at some point during the day. Then he remembered he really hadn’t said much—nothing at all to the Marland woman and damn little at the Borks.

  “Tony did fine today.”

  Ray sensed that Carol was doing a little baiting, playing with his new partner. He’d heard rumors that they’d had a thing the last year or so and wondered if that was in play. He also guessed Carol was put out because the lieutenant had partnered him with Tony and not her. When things slowed down she would be back in the Sex Crimes unit. Homicide was not her permanent gig.

  Tony grinned up at her. “I got to meet Boom Boom Bork this afternoon.”

  “You get his autograph?” Maybe she meant it as a joke but it came out snippy.

  “Better than that,” Tony said. “I got his fingerprints. Which reminds me, should I run these down to the lab?” Tony waved the cards. He didn’t ask Ray about Lakisha Marland’s. He wanted to see what he would volunteer.

  “Before you go home is fine.”

  “So did you two sleuths do better than we did? Tell me we’ve got something to work with.”

  “Maybe. Until we come up with something better I’m going to concentrate on the women friends. The ‘Go Girls’.

  “Because?”

  “Because…” Ray flipped a few pages in his notebook. “Because Deanna was a saint, loved by one and all, supermom, and…Roxie’s a lush, Lakisha can be a bitch, Karen’s always frisky, and I don’t even have a clue what ‘we have Ally’ means. Tia Bork’s going to be hung over tomorrow.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s nothing.”

  “Want me to work the women with you tomorrow?” Carol was still angling, still pushing. Tony looked expectantly toward Ray.

  “Early, yes. Tony, the more I think about it the more I’d like you to get the last roommate either off the list or on it.” Tony nodded. “Maybe Kumpula will come up with something.”

  Vang drifted over, listening to them, and added, “I didn’t get much from the neighbors either. I had an idea though. It’s a couple of blocks away but there’s a Holiday station down the street. I’d like to see if their cameras look down Victoria.”

  “Do it.”

  “And I missed a couple of them. I’ll stay on that.”

  “And help Ted with the financials and the phone records. Who did she talk to Sunday night and Monday morning? Did she draw a lot of cash out of any of the accounts recently? You know the drill.” Vang nodded and left.

  Ray stood and stretched. “And with that, I’m calling it a day.” Tony realized that his first day as a detective was over. It had started out weird. It had started out damn early too, and he caught himself stifling another yawn. Ray gave a wave at the door and he was gone. Carol smiled down at him.

  “Want to go get a drink?”

  “I’m beat, Carol.” He checked his watch. It was only seven. If he hurried he could get to the Gander Mountain store and see about finding a holster.

  “Right.”

  Tony was sick of her attitude and the pissy tone. “Fine. Come on and go to the store with me. I need a shoulder rig for my Glock, maybe a clip-on, and something for my backup piece too. Then I’m going to indulge in something greasy and fast for dinner and then you can watch me sleep sitting up.”

  “You were on the call out for this, weren’t you?”

  “Four AM, sugar. Maybe another time.” He wondered if she heard the ‘maybe’.

  Chapter 10

  Wednesday started early for detective Tony de Luca. He’d made it to the store the night before and found a shoulder rig and a couple of clip on holsters. He’d even found an ankle holster for the little 5-shot .38. Real detectives wear ankle holsters and carry backup pieces, right? His dinner had indeed been quick and greasy and it reminded him early that morning how bad it had been. Even so, he was back in the squad room at 7:30, working on his notes and reports when Lieutenant Gullickson stopped by his desk.

  “Morning, de Luca.” He was carrying a styro-cup of coffee and a donut tucked in a napkin.

  “Lieutenant.”

  “How did it go yesterday?” At this early hour Gullickson didn’t seem hurried and harried like he usually did.

  “I think it went okay. I don’t have much to weigh it against, you know.”

  “If you follow Ray Bankston’s lead you’ll do fine. Any progress?”

  “Not unless something happened overnight I don’t know about.” His pager had remained blissfully quiet all night. He’d needed the sleep.

  “Hmm.” Gullickson juggled the coffee and pastry he’d just bitten into.

  “Ray’s taking Carol with him this morning, working on the girlfriends. I’m chasing down one of the roommates. Then I’m not sure what.”

  “Someone ducking you?” The lieutenant had a glop of yellow custard in the corner of his mouth.

  “Not sure if it’s that. Like Ray says, we need more information.” Tony pointed to the corner of his mouth. The lieutenant found the blob of custard with his tongue and smiled.

  “Well, keep me in the loop.” Gullickson wandered off to his office.

  Tony hadn’t had a lot of experience with the brass. Maybe the lieutenant had been a good investigator in his day, maybe as good as Ray. All Tony saw now was a chunky guy in a bad suit eating donuts and telling him to follow Ray’s lead. He was feeling pretty uninspired when his cell phone rang.

  “This is Tony,” he said without checking the screen.

  “You didn’t call me last night.” Sue Ellen sounded wide awake. Now he checked the caller ID screen. She was calling from her office, judging from the prefix.

  “I was bushed.”

  “So how’d it go, detective?” The way she said it made him think she really was pleased that he had been promoted, like there was some kind of pride or respect or something in her voice. Maybe, he fantasized for an instant, she’d had her eye on him for quite a while but couldn’t bring herself to date a lowly patrolman.

  “Well, other than we don’t have a motive, a clue, any forensics, a suspect, or anything but a dead body…it’s going pretty good.” He heard soft laughter.

  “But you survived.”

  “I did. I have no idea what my schedule’s going to be like the next few days. Can I call you late?”

  “I’m working on this Latin King case. We’ve only got a month before trial so I’m usually burning it pretty late. Call whenever.” That sounded enc
ouraging.

  “Do I get you as my coach?” Tony was the state’s premiere witness. The case she was talking about was the one he’d been in deep cover on. She was a thorough prosecutor and he knew she’d want him well rehearsed for the trial.

  “You’ll have to do everything I tell you to.” She wasn’t talking about testimony now, she was flirting. He liked that a lot.

  “Oh, I will. Count on it.” He saw Ray go into the lieutenant’s office and figured he needed to wrap the call up. “Uncle Rayford just came in. I think I better go.”

  “Is he being nice?”

  Tony was puzzled, wondered what she meant. “Sure. We get along fine.”

  “Okay. Good. Call me.” As he hung up Tony wondered why everyone kept asking him how he was getting on with his partner.

  Tony sat in an unmarked Crown Vic outside of Scott Jr.’s house.

  Morning dispatch in the Homicide Unit’s squad room was nothing like roll call. Ray had come from the lieutenant’s office, spoken quietly with Vang Pao, and given Tony his morning mission. It was simple and brief. Same as they’d talked about the night before. Nail down Sean Stuckey’s alibi.

  Tony thought he’d done pretty well in the interviews yesterday. He hadn’t said much, but he hadn’t done any damage either. Watching Ray and Lakisha Marland interact had been as interesting as the case, for a little while at least. He’d met one of his heroes. Now he was on the trail of a suspect…sort of. Okay, he was just chasing down an alibi, he admitted to himself, but cases on TV turned on this kind of shit all the time.

  He watched the activity on the street. Most of it consisted of student housing. He watched young men and women carrying backpacks or wearing shoulder bags juggle coffee cups and napkin wrapped bagels or toast while trudging north on 17th Street toward the nearest bus stop. Some walked alone. Others clumped together. Some looked serious and distracted. Others laughed and jostled, elbows nudged, heads rolled back laughing. Erin tripped down the stairs of the house next to Scotty’s and noticed Tony. She started to give a wave but ended up just looking puzzled and walked off. Tony chuckled and shook his head.