Petchard huffed and muttered under his breath.
“Come on now boy, if you’re going to throw insults, you need to do it out loud. Let’s hear you,” Martinez said, cocking his steely head in Petchard’s direction. “Nothing? That’s what I thought, cabrón,” he grinned, standing to wrap a strong arm around Petchard’s narrow shoulders. “Yeah, you’re a Hugo all right.”
Petchard’s blush rose to the roots of his thinning blonde hair and he squirmed out of Martinez’s grip, reaching down to touch his shin. “I deserve a medal,” he whined. “That whole forest would’ve gone up if I hadn’t done something.”
“Nobody’s interested,” Martinez said, flicking his fingers at the small man.
“Time for roll call anyway,” Petchard muttered, limping around the desks.
“Why do you put up with him, Carlos?” Cass asked, watching the slight man leave. “Why not report him?”
“What, for the ‘beaner’ comments? He’s harmless. And it’s more fun to torture him – he’ll toddle home and grab his English – Spanish dictionary to look up cabrón, and that makes it worthwhile.” Martinez cocked his head at Cass. “Why don’t you report him for the sexist stuff?”
She shifted in her chair. “It’d cause me more trouble than him.”
“Sheriff Hoffner wouldn’t take you seriously?”
Cass rolled her eyes. Martinez grinned and turned to Mitch, who was watching Petchard with a scowl as he left the squad room. “What’s up?”
Mitch continued to watch until the door swung shut behind him. “How much do you know about him, Carlos?”
“Petchard? Not much. From up north somewhere.”
“He hasn’t been in Arcadia that long, has he?”
“Year or two, maybe. He moved down to join his parents. They’ve been here a while.”
Mitch shot a glance at Cass and pursed his lips. “Has he always been like this?”
“What, an idiot?” Martinez scratched his chin and leaned into the edge of Mitch’s desk. “Now that you mention it, no, he hasn’t. He started off pretty normal, but lately he keeps ragging on the racial stuff. Cass, have you had much problem with him?”
She shook her head. “We haven’t had much contact.” She hesitated. “He does that eye thing whenever I see him.”
“What eye thing?”
“Like guys do, when they’re checking you out. You know,” she demonstrated, using Martinez as a point of reference, “up and down the body, with strategic lingering. It’s like lifting a leg to mark territory.”
“Women notice that kind of thing?” Martinez blushed as Cass laughed. “Guess we’re not as smart as we think. Why are you asking about Petchard, Mitch?”
“He’s full of himself, and he’s got no reason to be. It’s almost like he’s got a chip on his shoulder.”
“I figure the food chain will take care of him,” Martinez said, stretching his arms over his head. “Something that weak can’t survive for long by itself.” He grinned and headed to his desk.
“Any word on the old lady?” Cass called.
“Iris Glenthorne? Nothing yet,” Carlos answered. “We found her car back in some trees. The keys were still in the ignition and her purse was on the seat.”
“You think she just wandered off?”
Carlos shrugged. “Maybe. Her friends say she was losing her memory. I’ve asked for tracking dogs from Watuga County, but they’re working on a missing teenage girl. In the meantime, I’m headed out to see what else I can learn about Miss Glenthorne.” He locked his desk and waved over his shoulder as he headed for the door.
“What’s up this morning?” Mitch asked as Cass started putting files in her desk.
“I’d like to go see Angie Scarborough again, tell her we didn’t find everything she told us about.”
“Think they’ll let us in this early? It’s barely seven.”
“Good point. Is Kado here? I want to take a look at that book from Lenny’s study.”
“Y’all finished the inventory last night?”
“We did. I’ll check with Elaine. If she’s got everything logged in, she can grab it from the cage for me.”
____________
CASS SLIPPED INTO THE receptionist’s alcove and watched as a small woman recorded a message before pulling the headset off and fluffing her wild curls. She started as she turned and found Cass behind her, her heart-shaped face warming into a smile. “Hey honey, what do you need?”
“Hey Elaine. Have you found Kado’s inventory yet?”
She frowned and shuffled a stack of papers on her desk. “Where’d he leave it?”
“Second drawer.”
She pulled it open and took out an envelope, peeling it open and sliding out the paperwork. “It’ll just take –”
“Turn that over,” Cass interrupted, watching as Elaine flipped the blank envelope in her hands. She plucked tissues from the box on the counter and took it from Elaine. “Kado left a note on the envelope, saying that we went through everything from the Scarborough’s place last night. All you need to do is load the inventory database.”
“What happened at the Scarborough’s?” Elaine asked as she switched on her computer.
“Lenny was killed.”
“Oh no,” Elaine said, hand flying to her mouth. “What happened?”
“He was impaled on a hay dolly,” Cass answered. “What’s wrong?”
“Lenny was my brother-in-law, Brian’s half-brother.”
“Oh Elaine, I’m sorry you found out this way. I didn’t realize you were related.”
She waved a hand, the color returning to her cheeks. “I haven’t had much to do with them since Brian died. I was thinking about Angie and those kids. She must be so relieved. Lenny was an intolerable jerk.” Cass arched an eyebrow and Elaine blushed. “I couldn’t stand him and Brian didn’t think much of him either.”
“Why not?”
The small woman leaned back in her chair and reached for her coffee cup, warming her hands around it. “Lenny tried to recruit him into some religious group. He told Brian there was a need for strong men to stand up in the community and keep things on an even keel. To keep the minorities and what he called “freeloaders” in their place. That to be a real man Brian had to take charge of his family, get me under control.” She rolled her eyes. “What a load of crap. He didn’t tell me all of it, but whatever Lenny said really made Brian mad. He wouldn’t speak to Lenny after that.”
“Did he tell you anything specific about this religious group? Did it have a name?”
Elaine shrugged. “If it did, Brian didn’t tell me. Just said he wouldn’t be caught dead out in the woods with that bunch.”
“Any names?”
“Of members? Other than Lenny, no. Why does it matter? This was years ago.”
Cass shook her head. “I don’t know yet. Angie’s in the hospital. We’ll be going over to see her later.”
“What happened?” Elaine asked, concern cleaving a line between her eyes.
“Lenny hit her.”
“Oh my God, and she ran him through with the hay dolly?”
Cass nodded.
Elaine’s lips narrowed to a tight line. “Tell her I’ll see her tonight. That bastard.”
“Whoa,” Mitch said, swinging around the corner and into Elaine’s alcove. “Who’s a bastard?”
“Lenny Scarborough, that’s who.”
He frowned and Cass shook her head at him. “I’ll fill you in later.” She waved the envelope at him. “I need to see Kado.”
“I came out here to find you. He just got in.”
CHAPTER 24
KADO GLOVED UP AND turned the envelope over in his hands. “Where was it?”
“Right where you left it.”
“Come with me,” he said, grabbing a forensics kit and striding down the hall. He stepped into Elaine’s alcove and she turned with a smile on her lips. “I need to process your desk,” he said, face drawn. The smile vanished and she slipped the headset
off, pushed a button on the phone and hurried to stand with Cass and Mitch.
“What have you touched?”
She looked around the alcove. “Everything, just about. I haven’t used the fax machine or the copier yet.”
“Cass, go check the trash cans in the foyer.” He worked rapidly, muttering to himself as he dusted, lifting several fingerprints from Elaine’s desk. The laser printer spat pages of court transcription, whirring rhythmically. Kado sighed in frustration when he dusted the copier. “It’s clean.”
Cass returned. “They’re empty.”
“Kado, what is it?” Elaine asked.
“The envelope I put the paperwork in is gone. Someone opened my envelope but left the inventory from the Scarborough’s place in a clean envelope.”
“What was in your note?” Mitch asked.
Kado stripped off his gloves. “Nothing. I just asked Elaine to update the database first thing so we can start checking the evidence in and out.”
“So that wasn’t what they wanted.”
“Nope, it was the inventory. The copier has been wiped down, so they must’ve used it and slipped the papers into a clean envelope thinking that you wouldn’t miss something that wasn’t there.”
“Why would somebody want the inventory?” Elaine asked.
“To find out what we took from the house, I guess.” Kado pinched the bridge of his nose. “Who has access to the courthouse after hours?”
“Everybody with the code,” Elaine snorted. He stood behind her as she called up the courthouse security system and scrolled through the entries from Sunday night. “I can’t tell you who came in, only what time someone punched in a code.”
“What time did we leave, Cass?”
“Eight-ish? A little after?”
“Did anybody come in about that time?”
Elaine pointed at the screen. “Eight twenty-two. The next entry’s not until nine seventeen.”
Kado ran a hand over his dark hair. “Cass, did you see anybody else here?”
“No. And I don’t remember any other vehicles in the parking lot.”
Mitch snapped his fingers. “Cameras. Show me the back entrance.”
Elaine swiftly maneuvered to a new software package and found the time they wanted.
“Roll it,” Kado commanded.
Elaine released the mouse and they watched as a patrol car pulled into a parking space and the headlights were cut. The driver’s side door opened, interior light flaring to reveal a muscular figure wearing a baseball cap. Stepping from the car, he rubbed a hand across his lip as he looked around the parking lot. He strode quickly to the station’s back door, keyed in the code and slipped inside where he was lost from the camera.
“Unbelievable,” said Mitch.
“Run it forward,” Kado said, watching until the door opened and the figure hurried back to the car, clutching a large envelope to his chest with one hand. “That’s our boy. Back it up to where he parks.”
Elaine rolled the image back and released the mouse.
“Again.”
Elaine obliged.
“Good. Freeze it there. Send that shot to me on email.” He spun on his heel and trotted through the swinging doors to the police station.
“Thanks Elaine,” Cass called as they hurried after Kado.
They found him hunched over his computer in the evidence room, tapping at the keyboard.
“Have you had any coffee?” Mitch asked.
“No. You offering?”
“Sure, black?”
“Uh huh,” Kado answered absently, and began maneuvering the mouse. Mitch raised an eyebrow at Cass, she nodded, and he left the room. She stood behind Kado and focused over his shoulder at the screen as he enlarged the digital image and tried to sharpen it. He stretched forward and she leaned with him, catching the gentle scent of his cologne. Her body flooded with warmth. Irritated, her jaw tightened and she dropped her eyes from the screen, noticing that Kado’s wavy hair was so dark it carried a blue hue. She fought the urge to touch a curl and stifled a burble of hysteria at her reaction to this man.
“Cass, could you just…,” he said, waving a hand.
She cleared her throat and moved away, taking in the room where Kado spent so much of his time. Glass fronted cupboards housed jars and cans of forensic chemicals and potions. The wide evidence table was switched on, illuminating a set of paperwork from underneath. She peered between the bars of the gate into the evidence cage. Metal shelves were stacked with brown boxes, those near the front neatly labeled and stuck with a barcode tag, others toward the back of the cage shoved haphazardly on the shelves, apparently waiting for Kado’s organizing touch. They stretched from floor to ceiling and across the wide room.
“Got it,” Kado called.
She hurried to stand behind him as he sharpened the image one more time.
“Whose plate is that?” he asked himself as he opened a database and scrolled through the list of department issued vehicles.
“Gotcha,” he whispered as the evidence room door swung open. They turned at the sound. Mitch filled the opening behind the newcomer, mugs of coffee resting uneasily in his grip. “Officer Chad Garrett,” Kado said, gesturing them into the room. “Just the man.”
CHAPTER 25
“WHY’D YOU LET HIM go?” Cass asked. “He’s the one.”
They had questioned Garrett in the conference room and then moved down the hall to the evidence room, stopping on the way for fresh coffee. Kado leaned over the backlit table, copies of the inventory sheets spread in front of him. “It’s circumstantial. He came into the courthouse at the right time and took paperwork with him when he left. We’ve got that on film. He used a brown envelope. Most likely, he took that from Elaine’s desk – brown’s only for forensic stuff. We use white for all the patrol information.”
“He said he was here to look for his softball glove. At eight thirty at night, four hours after his shift ended, and he’s got no practice or games for a week. It’s lame.”
Kado lifted his arms over his head in a stretch that grew into a yawn. “I’ve got no fingerprints and I can’t prove that someone didn’t leave a forensics envelope in the squad room.”
“Why would Chad Garrett care what we took from Lenny Scarborough’s house?”
Mitch shook his head slowly, eyes unfocused. “I don’t know. But Garrett was on duty out at the Scarborough’s yesterday until four.”
“He arrived after the ambulance,” Cass said. “He was never out there on his own.”
“He could’ve gotten in the house.”
“When?”
“He had a couple of opportunities. One was when we were out at the barn with Lenny, getting him off that spike. The second was when just Garrett and Munk were at the house. Munk went out to the barn to work on the hay dolly. There was nobody in the house and Garrett could’ve slipped in then.”
“Let’s talk this through,” said Kado, sitting down and turning off the table’s light. “Garrett slips into the house while everybody else is occupied. What does he see?”
“We didn’t process the photographs for evidence until late afternoon,” Cass answered. “If he came in through the kitchen, he would’ve seen them.”
“What else?”
Cass squinted into the distance, thinking. “From what we saw, there was nothing disturbed. Angie’s vomit would have still been in the wastebasket. Other than that…”
Mitch straightened. “Maybe he took the briefcase.”
“You’re talking about tampering with a crime scene, removing evidence. He could be prosecuted for that. You saw him just now. He was adamant that he hadn’t done anything. And Garrett’s too close to retirement to screw up. He has too much to lose.”
“Kado, do you have the photographs Munk took before lunch?”
He turned to the computer. They scrolled through the shots of the kitchen and study, stopping to count the photographs on the floor. “Seventeen. Same number Cass counted, so he didn’t take
any of those. But there’s no briefcase in the study,” Kado said, turning to Cass. “When did Munk take the photos?”
“Right after we pulled Lenny off the hay dolly.”
“If Garrett slipped inside the house, he did it early,” Mitch said. “Print those shots of the study, Kado. It’s almost eight. Cass, let’s go to the hospital and show them to Angie, see what else she can tell us.”
CHAPTER 26
CHAD GARRETT PULLED TO the side of the road, hands trembling as he dug the phone from his trouser pocket. He rested his head briefly on the steering wheel, letting the air conditioner cool his sweaty face. Cars flew past, brake lights flashing as drivers realized they were speeding past a patrol car.
There was only one way out of this. Things had gone too far. Reporting on somebody’s movements, passing along gossip, even planting gossip, that was one thing. He’d tossed a handgun into the Sabine River last autumn when the old man had squeezed him, and that had been questionable. But tampering with an investigation? This was something else entirely. He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t do it. It was like he told the detectives, he wasn’t unethical. What he did last night was slipping a toe across the line, but he wouldn’t go any farther. He’d just have to live with the consequences. The police radio burbled and he reached to turn the volume down, pushing the speed dial button before his composure broke completely.
The voice that answered was sharp. “Bring them to the house.”
“I uh, I didn’t get them,” Garrett answered.
“Goddamn boy, what did I tell you?”
“I know, sir. I tried, but they know I was in the courthouse last night, and think I took the inventory.”
“So what?”
“I can’t jeopardize my pension. You’re asking me to interfere with an investigation,” he answered, voice rising. “I could go to jail for that.”
“You’d rather she cut your balls off?” came the grim reply. “Be a hell of a way to spend those golden years, wouldn’t it? No balls. No wife.” He chuckled. “No pension.”
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