by Lee Driver
“Only thing is,” Padre continued, “it was all true.” He nodded toward Luther’s report.
Wozniak’s face lined with worry. “I don’t like this.”
“Me neither.”
“What do you know about the guy in the trunk of the rental car?”
“He’s definitely Lee Connors. He’s a sales rep for a water filter company. Lives in Boston and was in town for a sales conference. Wife is flying in to retrieve the body.”
Wozniak anchored his elbows on the desk, steepled his fingers in thought. “Dagger, this Lee Connors, whoever the guy was in the quarry, whoever the twin…and good God it has to be a twin. What the hell else could it be?” Wozniak shook that line of thought out of his head. “Let’s say twin for now, and then we have Cardinal Esrey and the bodyguard. Everything all tethered together and we haven’t a clue how, when, or why.”
“That about covers it, although Lee Connors was probably an innocent bystander. Our quarry guy needed Connors’ rental car and a room to lay his weary head.” Padre stood and gathered up the reports. “When you figure it all out, let me know.” He turned to leave.
Wozniak’s head snapped up. “What do you mean when I figure it all out?”
Padre smiled and sat back down. “I just thought I’d take a few days vacation.”
Wozniak waggled a finger at him. “No you don’t. You get over to Dagger’s and wring it out of him. Talk to that cute assistant of his. She’ll give you the lowdown.”
Padre’s smile faded. “You’re kidding, aren’t you? In that last case with the art thief she literally threw her body in front of Dagger to save him. You were there. You saw it.”
The chief sank back in his chair. “You’re right. She’s as loyal as a pit bull.”
“When she gave Jimmy Cho a description of the guy who allegedly showed up on her doorstep, the damn sketch looked like me.”
“Then lean on that squirrelly friend of his. Dagger joked that he’s the one who tossed the body into the quarry, right?”
“I’m just starting to get this guy to trust me. I can’t go jack boot stomping into his pawn shop and drag him down for questioning. I just can’t.”
“Then you have no choice. Haul Sara in for questioning.”
Padre glared at Wozniak. “On what grounds?”
“Obstruction of justice. Tampering with evidence. Being too damn gorgeous.”
“That’s not a crime.”
“Which one?” Wozniak slowly smiled at that one, the gruff big daddy grin that worked on all of his previous wives. The one that showed appreciation for the female gender which kept him from becoming a priest.
Padre pushed away from the desk and stood. “I’ll have to try something else that will shock Dagger into leveling with me.”
“What’s that?”
“The truth.”
CHAPTER 15
“Aren’t you looking dapper.” Sheila stroked the fabric of Dagger’s black and gray pinstriped jacket.
Dagger slid onto the bar stool and signaled the bartender. “You hate this outfit, Sheila.”
“Maybe it’s growing on me.”
Dagger doubted that. He shoved a twenty across the bar and studied his reflection in the mirror. So maybe the black crew neck shirt under the pinstriped jacket was a little much. Black was supposed to make him blend into the shadows but with all the loud colors people wore these days he was sticking out like a sore thumb. He also had to quit scanning his surroundings like a cyborg checking for suspicious characters. Sara once said it made him look as though he were casing a place out to rob later. But he couldn’t give up his black and gray just yet. There was something about bright colors that repelled him.
He turned away from the mirror and toward Sheila. “So, how’s Father Thomas these days?”
“A little stuffy but congenial. I did talk to Lawton Security though. Snippy little receptionist almost wouldn’t let me speak to the owner.”
“I almost forgot about the security guard.” He didn’t ask any prying questions. Sheila would spill it all in due time. It was a matter of separating the wheat from the chaff, or the lies from the half truths.
“Hank Hanover was a ten-year veteran with the security firm,” Sheila said without referring to any notes. “Great work record. Former Saint Louis cop who was sidelined by an injury. Pretty active in his local church which is why he wanted the security detail for Cardinal Esrey.”
“I take it Padre also spoke with Lawton Security?”
“He didn’t say.” Sheila slapped a silver cigarette case on the bar. Before she had a chance to shove the cigarette in her mouth, the bartender had already flicked a lighter. “Thanks.” Her eyes dragged over the bartender’s sculpted body.
“And Father Thomas also didn’t know who leaped out of his hotel window?”
“Why would he? They are only traveling through town, giving a speech, some meet and greet, then off to Rome. Father Thomas let it be known that the cardinal is up for a Vatican appointment. Of course, I’m not supposed to repeat that.”
Sheila took a long drag from her cigarette. Dagger could tell by the way she was pursing her lips that she was just dying to share some hot rumor with him. He concentrated on his drink and wished the smoking ban in Illinois would be adopted in Indiana.
“Your turn. Tell me the real reason you were at the crime scene scouring the hotel parking lot.”
“Does there have to be a reason?” He pushed his empty glass to the edge of the bar and motioned at Sheila’s glass. “Guess it’s the almost a cop in me.” Dagger had once attended the police academy with the thought of making an honest living. “Since I had been invited by Robert Tyler to attend dinner as added security, I felt compelled to check things out. As you saw, Padre’s guys picked the place clean before I got there.” He placed another twenty dollar bill on the bar. “I would think your connections could get more details on the coroner’s report. Padre has been pretty tightlipped with me lately.”
“Yes, I have noticed a bit of a cooling off there. Is the honeymoon over?”
Padre was still straddling the fence between being shocked by the Friday the Thirteenth case and intrigued by witnessing the unimaginable. Eventually Dagger knew intrigue and the blue rush would win out. Once cops got the adrenaline going, it was hard to deny the rush.
“We’re just in a chess game of wits at the moment.” Dagger’s eyes scanned the faces in the mirror behind the bar, searching out of habit for danger. Maybe subconsciously looking for another Demko. His gaze drifted to Sheila’s reflection as she sucked on her cigarette. The foul habit made the lines around her mouth more pronounced, not that she still wasn’t beautiful. “I’m more interested in what the Daily Herald’s ace reporter thinks. What’s your take on the jumper? Any buzz in the underworld about zealots wanting to vent their frustrations with the church?”
Sheila stabbed the remainder of the cigarette in the ashtray and fished around for another one. Her cigarette case was empty. Next, she attacked her purse while the bartender waited in the wings with a lighter. “The hotel turned over the incoming phone records to the police department. Padre is checking for threatening messages. In the meantime they have moved his speech from the hotel to an undisclosed location.” She sighed when she didn’t find a pack of cigarettes in her purse and waved off the bartender’s offer to buy her a pack. “I need to cut down anyway.”
“What about fingerprints in the hotel room? Padre share any of those results with you?”
Sheila’s gaze raked over his body and she leaned back with a look he recognized. “No, Padre was tightlipped but I have a man on the inside who will give me the scoop which I’d be willing to share with you…for a price.”
Dagger knew that price. It had dragged him back into her clutches too many times to count. “Thanks, but I also have my sources.” In an effort to avoid pissing her off entirely, he added, “But nice try.”
This warranted a shrug. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Sara
was on the phone when Dagger returned home. She sat curled up in a corner of the sectional, a smile on her face that told him Nick Tyler was on the other end of the receiver. He closed the outer door to Einstein’s aviary. He had carpeted it which added more soundproofing in addition to keeping out the light from the living room.
He walked over to the bar under the staircase to grab a beer from the refrigerator. He took his time so as to catch portions of her phone conversation.
“I’ll be ready. Night.” Sara pushed the END button, a smile illuminating her face. “Nick’s home.”
“Really? For how long this time?”
She uncurled from the couch and set the phone on the coffee table. “What did you learn from Sheila?”
Sara had deftly ignored his question. Dagger didn’t consider it prying. He just knew guys like Nick. He was Paris Hilton in pants. Wherever there was a camera or a party, he was there, leaving broken hearts in his wake. Dagger didn’t want Sara to be one of them.
“Police don’t know anything, although I think Padre was dodging her questions.” He took a long pull off the beer bottle, kicked off his shoes, and sank onto the couch, propped his feet on the coffee table. “The security guard, Hank Hanover, had a clean work record, was a cop in a previous life, a churchgoing guy and volunteered for the assignment to guard the cardinal.”
“Any fingerprints in the hotel room?”
It scared him sometimes how her mind was starting to click like his. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe he wasn’t giving her enough credit to recognize a two-timer like Nick when she saw one. “She claims to have someone on the inside but we’ve got Skizzy and he’ll let us know when something pops up in the department computers. Speaking of which.” Dagger picked up the phone and called Skizzy. “Look over Cardinal Esrey’s travel itinerary for the past month. Check airport and hotel cameras and see if you can find anything suspicious.”
“What are you looking for?”
“A stalker maybe, someone following him, getting on the same plane, sitting close by at a restaurant, anyone suspicious. No rush. Tomorrow will be fine.” Dagger hung up before Skizzy could rant.
CHAPTER 16
Dagger gave a low whistle. The macaw peeked out from behind a frond in one of the upper branches of the tree in the aviary. “Fetch, Einstein.” Dagger tossed a frisbee in the air. A blur of bright blue and scarlet charged from the tree as Einstein caught the Frisbee in his beak, then landed on a perch by the window.
“Einstein, you are supposed to return it to me.” Dagger shook his head. “Training a macaw isn’t as easy as they say.”
“That’s because he’s a bird, not a dog. If you wanted a pet that fetches, you should have bought a dog,” Simon said.
The Frisbee dropped from Einstein’s beak and landed in the birdbath. The macaw pulled a chain then stood under the shower flapping his wings.
Simon cackled at Einstein’s antics. “You got some coffee?” They convened in the kitchen. Morning light splashed across the room. Simon slapped the Daily Herald newspaper on the table and shuffled over to the coffeemaker. “Might find the society page pretty interesting.”
“I doubt it.” Dagger grabbed his cup of cold coffee and set it in the microwave. “If it’s about Sheila, I don’t care to read it.” He punched the one minute button on the panel.
Simon scanned the kitchen counter. “Got anything to eat?”
“Eunie told Sara to only serve you fruit so there’s a fruit salad in the fridge.”
Simon mumbled something unintelligible and reluctantly dragged out a bowl of fruit salad from the refrigerator. Once they were settled at the table, Simon winced at the fading bruise on Dagger’s cheek and tsked. “You should cover that with makeup. People are going to take you for a thug.”
“They already do. Besides, it makes people keep their distance.”
“Aren’t you the social butterfly. Speaking of which.” Simon nudged the paper toward him.
“What am I supposed to read?”
“That Gabby lady’s column. The one that tells you what the rich and famous are doing.”
“And I should be interested because…” Dagger’s words caught in his throat as he saw Sara’s picture overlaid next to Nick Tyler’s. His eyes quickly scanned the article that reported a rumor from an undisclosed source that Cedar Point’s answer to Brad Pitt had purchased an engagement ring. Speculation was that a local woman with whom he had been seen with on occasion, would be the recipient of a four-carat pink diamond. Dagger realized his index finger was hot from grasping his coffee cup.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Simon stabbed at a strawberry with his fork. “But no. Now Tyler is going to dangle this gorgeous ring in front of her. He’s young, good looking, not that you ain’t.”
“Young or good looking?” Dagger glared at the postal carrier.
“He’s got more money than God for one thing. Lots to offer a woman.”
“Sara doesn’t care about money or mansions.”
“She spends a lot of time with him…when he’s in town.”
“Right, when he’s in town.” Dagger stalked over to the coffee machine and filled his cup. “Sara knows he dates other women which is why I don’t think the ring is for her. They aren’t serious serious.”
“Serious serious, like in sleeping together serious?” Simon’s eyes twinkled as they followed Dagger back to the table.
“She would have told me.”
Simon barked out a laugh. “And why is that?”
Dagger shrugged in response, his eyes drifting to the article again. He and Sara had shared a lot of information in the past. Of course she would come to him…even though she always avoided the subject of Nick in the past. And why was that? He didn’t want to think about it.
“You’ll see,” Dagger said. “The ring is probably for some daughter of a U.S. ambassador he met overseas. Someone with comparable status and a lot of connections.”
“AWK AWK. WHAT A BODY.”
Dagger heard Sara tell Einstein to shut his beak. He shook his head at Simon as a caution to change the subject, then quickly pulled the paper off the table and put it on the chair next to him.
Sara breezed into the kitchen, her hair a mass of tiny pink papers. “Hi, Simon. I see you are eating healthy.” Sara planted a kiss on Simon’s pudgy cheek. “I’ll be sure to report back to Eunie.”
Simon shot a puzzled look at Dagger who seemed just as confused by her appearance. Sara pulled a bowl from the cabinet then settled into a chair next to Simon.
“That all you’re eating?” Simon asked as he watched Sara scoop fruit into the bowl. His gaze kept drifting to the pink papers infesting Sara’s hair.
Sara unwrapped herself from the chair, pulled a bag from the freezer and popped it into the microwave. Next she grabbed three plates and set them on the table along with napkins. When the microwave dinged she pulled the bag out and shook the contents onto a platter.
“I made ham and cheese crescent rolls last month and froze several bags. Eunie said you can have two.” Sara smiled at Simon’s grumbling.
“Thanks,” Dagger said. He watched Simon’s puzzled stare at Sara’s hair. He couldn’t take it anymore. To Sara he asked, “Did you borrow Skizzy’s headset?”
“No,” Sara said with a withering glare. “They showed this on TV. I took small strips of hair and wound them around the pink papers. After several hours, I’ll have a head full of corkscrew curls.”
“Going someplace special?” Simon asked.
How like Simon to get to the meat of the question, Dagger thought.
“Nick is taking me to dinner at the country club. Said to go all out because it’s a special occasion.”
Simon’s smug smile had told you so written all over it. Dagger wanted to punch him silly.
Father Thomas paced in front of the caterer, menu in hand. The event had been moved from the hotel to the Tyler mansion. Robert Tyler had given his name and introduced the timid priest as a staff member in order to keep t
he caterers from knowing the location of the diocese farewell reception. Father Thomas had obliged by not wearing his clerical collar.
The caterer sat patiently at the table, her starched blouse looked as prim and proper as a cleric’s collar. Elaine Godet had catered for the wealthiest families and high-profile functions for over twenty years. She pulled a pen from the twist of salt and pepper hair which obediently remained in place.
“Being that it is summer, you might want to avoid the heavier creamed sauces and dishes,” Elaine suggested.
“Yes, yes, Mizz Godet,” he agreed.
“It’s Go-DAY,” Elaine stressed. “Since this will take place later in the afternoon we will need to offer more éntrees.”
Father Thomas appeared not to hear. “The strawberry walnut salad will be nice and light as well as the spring vegetable soup.” He turned and retraced his steps. “Raspberry iced tea and coffee. The dessert selections look fabulous. I just don’t know about the éntrees.”
Robert watched him struggle with the number of choices and decided to step in. Any minute he expected the priest to start a mantra about Cardinal Esrey’s nap time, digestive problems and allergies. Not that Esrey had any but it wouldn’t stop Donald from worrying about them.
“We probably need one red meat, one white meat, and possibly a fish. Maybe a blackened salmon with dill sauce. Do you agree, Donald?”
He bowed his head, the sunlight shining brightly on his bald dome. “Yes, yes. What about a potato?”
“Seasoned rice with mandarin oranges perhaps?” Robert pleaded with his eyes for fear the meek man would offer to ask the cardinal’s opinion.
“But the red meat needs a potato.” Father Thomas’ fingers wound together like plump white worms. “Rice with red meat doesn’t go.”
The woman seated at the table tapped her pen repeatedly, snatching glances from one man to the other. Father Thomas caught the irritation of the tap-tapping but before he could say anything, Elaine offered, “Boiled pearl potatoes with parsley works fine with the beef burgundy.”