“Finished down there, Lieutenant?” she asked. “Come on up, I’ll give you the guided tour of this floor.”
Lucinda wanted to go to the left to the room Karen just exited, but her hostess diverted her in the opposite direction. “Let’s go to this end of the hall and work our way back.” In the master suite, Karen pointed out the features as if she were a real-estate agent trying to sell the home. She flung open the door to a walk-in closet, proclaiming the glories of its spaciousness and design.
Most of the area seemed occupied by women’s clothing and accessories but, over to the side, one section of a pole held menswear. “Are those Jeremy’s things?” Lucinda asked.
“Certainly are, Lieutenant; I make no secret of the fact that we are sexually intimate. I suppose that makes me a ‘cougar’. But I’m proud of it; pleased that, at my age, I can attract and keep a younger man.”
Lucinda stifled a groan, knowing better than to comment on that statement. Special Agent Jake Lovett flashed through her mind. If he and I did get involved, would that make me a cougar? Or would I have to be older? “Could I look through his clothing to see if there’s anything that might help my investigation?”
“Absolutely not, Lieutenant. That would be a gross violation of his privacy. That is, of course, unless you have a search warrant.” She stepped forward into Lucinda’s space and looked straight into her good eye. She arched her eyebrows and with a smug voice added, “You don’t have one, do you?”
Damn. “No, of course not, Ms. King. Why, in heaven’s name, would I want a search warrant?” Projecting a look of startled innocence on her scarred face was difficult, but Lucinda managed a close approximation.
“Well, then, come take a look at the en suite bath and then we’ll go explore the guest bedrooms.”
Despite herself, Lucinda was impressed. The bath was almost as large as the living room in her apartment and at least twice as tasteful and expensive. Karen prattled on about the recent upgrades – the jacuzzi tub, the multi-head shower, the travertine tiles. The moment Karen turned her back to leave, Lucinda’s hand thrust out and grabbed a man’s electric razor and dropped it in her pocket. She held her breath, wondering what she’d say if Karen noticed. She exhaled a breath when the woman displayed no indication of awareness at all.
In the first guest room, Karen droned on about the family heirloom furnishings and led her into the attached bath. Out of view of the hallway, Lucinda thought she heard another footstep out there. She stuck her head out of the doorway but, seeing nothing and hearing no further noise, she blamed the sound on the creaks of an older home.
Lucinda followed Karen past the steps to the lower floor and into the second guest room. Her fingers involuntarily flew to the holster under her jacket as she tensed to enter the space where the possibility of an ambush seemed most likely.
Nothing untoward occurred and Lucinda relaxed. Back at the top of the stairs, Karen led the way, taking two steps down before turning to point out the chandelier in the foyer below. After that, the sequence of events grew muddled in Lucinda’s mind. She saw Karen step to the side and plaster herself against the wall and felt two palms land on her shoulder blades – but she wasn’t sure which happened first. Then, she felt the shove that knocked her off balance.
Instinctively, her fingers grabbed for Karen’s leg but slid off with nothing more than a breath of skin contact as she tumbled down. She grabbed the railing and a spindle bent back an index finger, sending a jolt of pain up her arm and into her chest.
Suddenly, she was aware that she was sprawled face down on the oak floor with an aching head, a throbbing finger and a nauseous feeling. Did I lose consciousness? She wasn’t sure, one way or the other. She heard the jingle of her cell but couldn’t figure out where her phone was. She was afraid to move – worried about further damaging her battered body and anxious about the reaction that would greet any attempt on her part to stand. She strained her ears, listening for any indication of what might happen next.
Twenty-Seven
A dazed Lucinda placed her palms on the floor, braced herself for another attack and pushed up to a kneeling position. Above her, Karen flapped her arms like a demented chicken and said, “Are you okay? Are you all right? I tried to stop your fall, but …”
“Ms. King, cut the crap. I know I was pushed...”
“Pushed? Whatever do you mean? I didn’t push you. You lost your balance, poor thing. I was in front of you, remember?”
“And you conveniently stepped out of the way, just in time, didn’t you? No, I don’t think you did the actual pushing, Ms. King. But I suspect I know who did.”
“Oh, my, Lieutenant, you banged your head real hard a couple of times on the way down. I think you’re disoriented, a bit addled. Maybe you have a concussion.”
Lucinda rose to her feet and stared down at Karen, wanting to cuff her and haul her in for questioning. Knowing this was not an option – and angered that it wasn’t – she stepped past her and out on to the front porch. Pulling out her cell, she called the local police.
A patrol car showed up in minutes. The officer listened to her story, before questioning Karen King. Returning to Lucinda, he said, “I’m sorry, Lieutenant. Unless you can give me more, there’s nothing I can do here. You say you were pushed but not by the woman in this house. The only uninjured witness says you tripped, fell, banged your head and are confused.”
Lucinda clenched her teeth. “Officer, I am a fellow member of law enforcement and I have been assaulted.”
“Yes, ma’am. I understand what you’re saying and I really want to believe your version of events, but, ma’am, you did bang your head – I can see a lump rising above your left eye.”
Lucinda’s cell chirped, interrupting their conversation. She pulled out her phone and turned around to talk. “Pierce.”
“Lucinda, it’s Ted. I’ve been trying to reach you but you didn’t return my call. I was getting concerned. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I was pushed down a flight of stairs by my suspect who is still at large. But no major damage, except to my pride. I can’t seem to get local law enforcement to take me seriously.”
“When are you booked to fly back?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. Why?”
“I think you need to get to the airport and get back today – you’re chasing the wrong suspect.”
“What do you mean – the wrong suspect?”
“We’ve just arrested Pamela Godfrey.”
“Arrested? You arrested Godfrey? This is my homicide – my double homicide – how dare you arrest anyone without talking to me first!”
“Whoa, Lucinda. We didn’t arrest her for murder.”
“For what then?”
“We nabbed her for breaking and entry inside the Sterling home.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope. Wouldn’t joke about that, Lucinda.”
“Damn. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Lucinda disconnected and turned back to the officer but he was gone. She saw his patrol car down the street, turning the corner. “Double damn,” she muttered. Something doesn’t feel right about Karen King or Pamela Godfrey or even Jason King aka whatever. Could Jason King and Pamela Godfrey be in on this together?
Twenty-Eight
As soon as Lucinda’s flight landed, she was on the phone to Ted. “Please tell me you still have Godfrey.”
“Have a nice flight?”
“Ted, don’t mess with me.”
“Yes, Lucinda. We still have Pamela Godfrey. She’ll probably get bailed out in the morning. But she hasn’t been transferred over to the jail yet. We still have her in a holding cell here.”
“Put her in an interrogation room. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“She asked for her attorney when we first brought her in. She wouldn’t talk until he got here and he wouldn’t let her talk after he arrived. You want me to call him first?”
“No, let me Mirandize her first. She might do the same thing but then
again, we could get lucky. And see if you can dig up any connection between Godfrey and Jason King.”
As she drove, Lucinda thought about that possible partnership and how the pieces of the puzzle might fit together. On the surface, it seemed unlikely. Jason preferred to pair up with older women to take advantage of them. Choosing Pamela as a victim didn’t fit. Pamela was a user, too, targeting men in power. Jason didn’t have any. What did he have to offer her?
Of course, a romantic connection had to be considered but Lucinda doubted either one of them was capable of truly loving someone to the point of putting the other’s needs above their own. It was possible, though, that both put up a false front of love and affection to manipulate the other without realizing that it was a two-way street. They’d both have to be pretty good at the game but, reflecting on their other liaisons, Lucinda believed they were.
It could also be a partnership of convenience. Both could be well aware that they were using and being used in turn and not minding it. Both could be willing to be manipulated to some degree because they believed they’d get exactly what they wanted in the end.
However they were connected – if they were connected – the crime scene made more sense with both of them present in the Sterling home than it did with either one of them there alone. But do crime scenes always need to make sense? Lucinda wondered as she pulled into a space at the justice center parking lot.
She stopped first at the forensics lab where Beth Ann Coynes was working late again. Audrey Ringo’s office was dark. “Audrey still out?”
“Yes, but Dr. Ringo called this afternoon and said she’d be in next week.”
“Did she give you any reason for her absence?”
“When I asked, she just said, “When you’re a woman, life sucks’.”
“Audrey said life sucks’?”
“Yeah,” Beth Ann said with a laugh. “Kind of took me aback, too – like a Sunday School teacher cussing out a class of third graders.”
“Well, I’ve got another little present for you,” Lucinda said as she handed her a paper bag.
“A heavy present,” Beth Ann said as she unfolded the top and looked inside. “An electric razor? You want DNA?”
“Yeah, like yesterday.”
“No problem. I should find a lot of skin cells in there. You want a profile comparison?”
“Yes. With Freddy Sterling.”
“Freddy? Isn’t he a little young to shave?”
“Yeah,” Lucinda said, laughing, “but I’m thinking of possible paternity here. I’d like to know if the owner of the razor is Freddy’s father.”
“We know Jeanine is Freddy’s biological mother so that comparison will be relatively easy. I’ll get right on it.”
“Tonight?” Lucinda asked, not believing her good fortune.
“Oh, yeah. A double homicide in an affluent neighborhood takes precedence over everything else.”
“No, what I meant was, it’s late. Don’t you need to go home?”
“I’m stuck here waiting for a process to complete on a sample in another case. Might as well work on this while I wait.”
“Thanks, Beth Ann. I appreciate it,” Lucinda said before leaving and going up to the third floor. She met Ted in an interior hallway and they both went into the observation room to watch Pamela Godfrey through the glass. She sat with her legs crossed, the raised foot jiggling up and down. She shifted legs and the opposite foot went into motion.
“She’s been more agitated this time than she was earlier today,” Ted said. “I’ve seen her get up and pace more than once in the last fifteen minutes and the scowl on her face continues to deepen.”
“Good. Let’s see what she has to say for herself.” Lucinda walked out one door and into the other. “Hello, Ms. Godfrey. I’m Lieutenant Pierce. Remember me?”
“Of course I do, Lieutenant. Your face is not one anyone would easily forget.”
“You have the right to remain silent …”
“Don’t go through that again,” Pamela interrupted. “I’ve already done the Miranda thing and listening to that is pretty depressing. This whole thing is really stupid.”
“Before I can ask you about that statement, Ms. Godfrey, I need to read you your rights.” Lucinda read the Miranda statement from the top and then asked, “What do you mean, ‘stupid’?”
“The whole thing is stupid. It can be easily explained.”
“Please, be my guest.”
“I’m sorry. But on the advice of my attorney, I cannot talk to you unless he is present.”
“Okay, fine, Ms. Godfrey, but I imagine he’ll just stop you from talking at all.”
“Just the same, I am invoking my right to counsel. If you want to talk, get Mr. Prager in here first.”
“Your call,” Lucinda said, walking out of that room and joining Ted in the other.
He was already on the phone. When he hung up, he said, “Prager’s on his way. Not real happy about it. But he’s coming.”
“Did you find anything tying Godfrey and King together?”
“Not yet. A cross-check of their histories, as we know them, has not put them in the same place at the same time until King arrived here. I made a few quick calls and no one who knows King seems to be aware of Godfrey and vice versa.”
“Except for our victims.”
“Yes, there is that,” Ted agreed.
“And that doesn’t get us much of anywhere,” Lucinda sighed. She went to her office to check her messages and plan for her next confrontation with Godfrey. She tossed three messages from Dr. Rambo Burns in the trash and set one from her brother Ricky by her phone to return later.
She was in mid thought when Ted stuck his head in the door and said, “Prager’s here.”
Lucinda walked down the hall to the interrogation room where Edwin Prager sat by his client’s side. All the muscles in his face were tight and drawn, making him look irritated and irritable. Pamela Godfrey’s shoulders were rounded and her hands, on the table’s surface, clenched together so tightly that her knuckles and fingertips were white. She gave her lawyer a sidelong glance that spoke of a brewing disagreement between the people on that side of the table.
“Mr. Prager, I believe we’ve met.”
“I’d say it was my pleasure, Lieutenant, but I don’t like to lie,” Prager snapped.
“Not outside of the courtroom, anyway,” Lucinda said with a laugh.
Prager was not amused. “Can we get down to business here?”
“Certainly, Mr. Attorney,” Lucinda said then turned to Pamela. “Ms. Godfrey, when we spoke earlier, you said that this whole thing was ‘stupid’. What did you mean by that?”
“Don’t answer that question,” Prager ordered.
Lucinda stared at Pamela, who focused her gaze on her own hands. Lucinda continued, “Surely, you can answer this, Ms. Godfrey. You were apprehended inside the Sterling home. Do you acknowledge being there?”
“Yes,” she said, without looking up.
“Ms. Godfrey,” Prager chastised, “do not answer any questions without getting my approval first.”
Lucinda continued. “Why did you break into the Sterling home?”
“I didn’t …”
“Ms. Godfrey! Please!” Prager interrupted.
“But I didn’t. I have a …”
“Not another word, Ms. Godfrey,” Prager pleaded as he laid his hand on his client’s arm. “Ms. Godfrey, look at me.”
Pamela breathed deeply, making her shoulders rise and fall. Then she turned her face toward her lawyer. “This is stupid.”
“You have what, Ms. Godfrey?” Lucinda asked. “A key? Do you have a key to the Sterling home?”
“Yes.”
“Pamela, please stop answering questions. Lieutenant, may I please have a moment alone with my client? And could you turn on a light in the other room so I know you’re not listening in to our conversation.”
“Not big on trust, are you?” Lucinda rose and nodded to Ted on the other
side of the glass. The room beyond lit up and Ted exited. Lucinda joined him in the hallway. “A little trouble in paradise, I believe.”
“I noticed. It seems she thinks she can explain everything away if her attorney would only let her talk. And he seems to think that if she doesn’t shut up she’ll never get out of here.”
“Wonder who’s going to win that battle?” Lucinda mused.
“Usually, the odds are in favor of the lawyer but with Godfrey in the equation, I’d have to put my bucks on her.”
The door opened and Prager said, “Okay, Lieutenant. You can come back in.”
“Ms. Godfrey,” Lucinda began, “you say this matter is ‘stupid’. Does that mean you have a simple, harmless explanation for your presence in the Sterling home?”
“Don’t answer that, Ms. Godfrey,” Prager warned.
“Damn it, Edwin. It’s not you who will spend the night in that nasty cell wearing nasty jail clothes. It’s me. If I don’t answer her questions, it is certain I’ll spend a nasty night in the nasty jail. Me. Not you.”
“That’s not the point, Ms. Godfrey. Even if you answer all of her questions, you will, unfortunately, be spending the night in jail. I should be able to bond you out first thing in the morning.”
“That’s not soon enough. I think I’ll take my chance with the ugly cop.”
“Sorry, Lieutenant. That was uncalled for,” Prager said to Lucinda, then turned back to his client. “Ms. Godfrey, you are not helping yourself here. Just plead the fifth and let’s call it a night. Tomorrow is another day.”
“Save me your platitudes, lawyer. As I said, you won’t be the one in that snake pit all night. Yes, Lieutenant, I did have a good reason for being in that house and it had nothing to do with the murders.”
“Ms. Godfrey …” Morgan cautioned.
“Shut up, Edwin. Lieutenant, we talked about my relationship with Jeanine. When I told you, you seemed quite surprised. And I don’t think your reaction had anything to do with shock over lesbian intimacy. Am I correct on that?”
Lucinda sat in silence waiting for more.
Mistaken Identity (A Lucinda Pierce Mystery) Page 14