Eighth Witness

by Kathi Daley

  “It seems he came home unexpectedly and was shot shortly after he entered his home.”

  “I did hear that,” Brooke replied. Her eyes grew wide. “Do you think that he interrupted a burglary?”

  “It is a theory we are looking at. The one possible clue we have is the presence of a black truck with a shell outside his house. That doesn’t ring a bell, does it?”

  Brooke considered my question. “Actually, I know three men with black trucks with shells. I’m not saying that any of them could be the burglar you are looking for, but I suppose that you need to consider everyone whose vehicle might fit the description.”

  I took out a notepad and pen. “What are their names and where can I find them?”

  “Lonnie Pierce has a late-model Toyota with a shell. Both the shell and the truck are black, although I think the truck might have a white tailgate. It might have been in an accident. Lonnie is a nice guy with a wife and three children. I would be very surprised if he was the guy you’re after, but he does always seem to be short on cash. He works as a mechanic down at the marina, which is probably the best place to talk to him.”

  “Okay.” I jotted down Lonnie’s name. “Who else?”

  “Drake Bolton has a large black truck with a shell. It is a big ol’ four-wheel drive with a lift kit. I think it is a Ford, but it could be a GMC. Drake works for Gull Island Plumbing. I guess you could just check with the gal in the office if you want to track him down.”

  “Does Drake seem the sort to burglarize homes?” I asked.

  Brooke laughed. “Actually, yes. He is single, arrogant, and overly assertive. My impression of him is not favorable in the least.”

  “In other words he is a jerk.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And the third man?” I asked.

  “The third man is a woman: Jolene Colton. She drives an extra cab with a long bed. Black with a shell. She owns a construction company. You can just look up her number; the company is Colton Construction. I’m sure she is listed.”

  I jotted down the information. “I’ll let Rick know what we discussed, if that is okay with you. With Carlton’s death, the closed case of Gina Portland’s murder could become an open one if it is determined that her death is related to Carlton’s.” I glanced at the list. “If Jolene owns her own company, I sort of doubt she is our thief, but perhaps one of the other two.”

  “If one of these individuals killed Gina, I hope you can nail them to the wall. I can’t tell you how my heart bleeds for that poor baby she left behind.”

  I left the coffee shop and headed to Rick’s office to fill him in on my conversation with Brooke. He had lived on the island for as long as Brooke, so I thought he must already have come up with a complete list of folks on the island with black trucks with shells, but having new information provided me with an opening to ask him what he’d learned since we’d last spoken. When I arrived at the office, I learned that he was out on a call and wouldn’t return for at least an hour, so I left a message letting him know I had been by and needed to speak to him, then headed to the pharmacy to pick up Garrett’s prescription.

  “Good morning, Tina,” I greeted her as I came through the front door.

  “Are you back with more questions?”

  I shook my head. “I am here to pick up a prescription that was called in for my brother, Garrett Hanford.”

  “Okay, I’ll check in the back.”

  I waited while Tina went into the back room where the pharmacist who owned the store worked most of the time. She came out with a yellow pill container, looked at the cost, and then rang it up in the register. “That’ll be twenty-three dollars.”

  I handed Tina my credit card. “I guess you must have heard about Malcolm Carlton.”

  “Sure. Everyone is talking about him. Valerie said that he was shot dead in his tracks before he even got all the way in through his front door.”

  “It appears that someone may have been inside the house when he arrived home,” I verified. “There is a theory out there that he interrupted a burglary.”

  Tina slipped the pill container into a small white bag. “I guess that makes sense. Valerie told me that Mr. Carlton wasn’t supposed to be home until the weekend.” Tina handed me back my credit card.

  “I understand that there was a black truck with a shell in the area on the night Mr. Carlton was shot. You talk to a lot of people during the course of your day; has anyone mentioned it?”

  Tina shook her head. “No one said anything to me about a black truck.”

  “I’ve been told that Lonnie Pierce, Drake Bolton, and Jolene Colton all have black trucks with shells. I don’t suppose that you know any of them?”

  Tina raised a brow. “You think one of them shot Mr. Carlton?”

  “Not necessarily. All I am really saying is that a black truck with a shell was seen near his house the night of the murder and the three individuals I named have black trucks.”

  “I know Lonnie, but he wouldn’t shoot anyone and he wouldn’t be out late at night. His wife is pregnant again, although I’m not sure that is common knowledge yet, so maybe you could not mention it. She has been having a tough time, so Lonnie has been home every evening, helping her out.”

  “I’ve been told that Lonnie is a nice guy and most likely wouldn’t have been involved.”

  “You can count on it,” Tina said.

  “What about Drake Bolton?” I asked.

  “I don’t know him. I do know Jolene. She was friends with Gina. In fact, the two of them were really tight during the last months of Gina’s life.”

  “Do you know how Gina and Jolene knew each other?” I asked.

  “After Gina and Ryan broke up, Gina needed someone else to handle the repairs on the properties her broker listed. Gina knew a woman at her gym who told her that her girlfriend Jolene owned her own construction company. I guess the friend, Nancy, introduced them, and I know Jolene worked for Gina’s company on several occasions after that. Jolene and Gina had similar personalities and seemed to hit it off. I know they spent quite a bit of time together toward the end. In fact, Gina seemed to be hanging out with Jolene more than she hung out with Valerie and me.”

  “You sound jealous.”

  Tina shrugged. “I guess I was. And just in case you think that means I killed her, I didn’t. It’s just that Gina, Valerie, and I were so tight at one point, but it seemed after she had Hannah, she sort of drifted in another direction.” Tina sighed. “I suppose moving on is a normal thing to do.”

  “Yeah. It is hard to keep the old high school gang together in the long run. Thanks for sharing with me.”

  I supposed that Jolene could be the owner of the black truck the neighbor had seen. That didn’t necessarily make her a burglar or a killer, but it was definitely something to discuss with Rick. By the time I finished up at the pharmacy and then dropped Garrett’s medication off at the resort, I figured Rick might be back in the office, so I drove there before heading in to the newspaper.

  ******

  “I don’t know who killed Gina, but I do know that it wasn’t Lonnie, Drake, or Jolene who killed Malcolm Carlton,” Rick said after I presented the information I had gathered that morning.

  “How can you be so sure?” I asked.

  “Because a man named Marvin Newman has confessed to the killing.”

  “Confessed?” I asked.

  Rick nodded. “I bluffed a bit and was able to persuade the agent who handled the open house for Malcolm Carlton that I knew about the burglary ring and it was in her best interest to cooperate if she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life in prison. She was hesitant at first, but after a bit of pressure, I was able to get her to confess to her part in the scheme. As we suspected, she would obtain a key to the residence where the open house was being held, which she would pass off to Newman, who would make a copy. She also had access to the codes of the houses that had security systems, and she was provided the homeowners’ schedules should they leave town
so that she would know where to find them should an offer come in. She told me that initially she didn’t go along with Newman when he burglarized the homes, but she was with him on the night Carlton was shot.”

  “I take it she wasn’t the shooter.”

  “She wasn’t,” Rick confirmed. “She was simply there to show Newman how to access some of the rooms that had additional keypad entries. As we suspected, Carlton came home unexpectedly and, according to the agent, Newman freaked out and shot him.”

  “And the burglar confessed?”

  Rick confirmed that after he was arrested and the evidence presented, he gave a full confession in exchange for consideration of a somewhat lighter sentence.

  “So how do you know he didn’t kill Gina?” I asked.

  “He said he didn’t. He did confirm our suspicion that Gina had been his partner before her death, providing him access to the homes he burglarized as well as the homeowners’ schedules, but he said that he had not seen Gina at all during the week preceding her death and did not kill her.”

  “And you believed him?”

  Rick shrugged. “He had no reason to lie. He was already going away for a good long time.”

  I sat back in my chair and let all this sink in. I guess it was satisfying to know that at least part of our theory was correct. Gina had been using the open houses to gain access for future burglaries that would be carried out by her partner, but if he didn’t kill her, it seemed like we were back to square one in that regard.

  “So where does that leave us in terms of proving that Ryan didn’t kill Gina?” I asked.

  Rick narrowed his gaze. “Are you sure he didn’t?”

  “No. Not really,” I admitted.

  “When we realized that Gina might be part of the burglary ring and it seemed as if her partner in crime might have killed her, I was on board with the idea that perhaps the father of her baby hadn’t. But now that we know the man she was working with to burglarize homes on the island didn’t kill her, I can’t see that we have any other viable candidates.”

  “I guess at this point our best bet will be to go back through everything again to see what we might have missed. The Mastermind group is meeting tonight, and I know that Alex and Brit have been working on the case, so maybe they will have new information.”

  “If they come up with something, let me know.”

  “I appreciate that you are always willing to help us even though it does sometimes put you in an awkward position.”

  “If there is a truth to be found, I am all about finding it. So far, the group has a very good track record.”

  “We’re having dinner tonight before the meeting,” I said. “I know you don’t usually attend our meetings, but you are welcome to join us for lasagna.”

  “I’d like that,” Rick said, “barring any emergencies. I’m actually hoping to wrap things up early today so I can spend some time with Vikki. She seems sort of withdrawn since she has been back. Has she said anything to you?”

  “No. She might just be tired.”

  Rick agreed with my assessment, but from his expression, I thought he must have picked up the something more I’d hoped Vikki had left behind in LA.

  Chapter 12

  After I left Rick’s office I stopped in at the newspaper for a couple of hours and then headed to the market. Clara and I planned to make dinner together, something we often did on Mondays, so once I’d purchased everything we’d need, I drove back to the main house at the resort, where Garrett and Clara lived.

  “Have either of you heard from George today?” I asked them as I grated cheese.

  Both said that they hadn’t. I knew he had been visiting his friend up north but had assumed he’d be back for the meeting. Deciding to call to see what his status was, I washed my hands and then stepped into the deserted living room.

  “Jill, I was just about to call you,” George greeted me.

  “You were? I was calling to find out if you would be back for the meeting tonight.”

  “I’m afraid I won’t. I’d planned to fly back this afternoon, but we’ve managed to track down Toby Wells, who is still alive and is willing to speak to us.”

  “Really?” I had to admit that this particular piece of news surprised me. “Where are you anyway?”

  “Bethesda, Maryland. Toby lives in Richmond, Virginia, so I am heading there tomorrow. I’m hoping he will be able to tell us something that will make sense of everything. My plan is to head back to Gull Island after I speak to him unless he gives us another lead to follow up on. I’ll call you tomorrow to let you know how the interview went.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate that. Wouldn’t it be something to be able to clear Jeremiah’s name after all this time?”

  “It would indeed.”

  I hung up with George and headed back into the kitchen to fill Garrett and Clara in on the details of the conversation. I think we all wanted to prove that Jeremiah had died an innocent man, but we’d all realized that proving it was going to be close to impossible. The fact that the only witness to the crime—at least the only one we knew of—was alive and willing to speak to us seemed like a real break in accomplishing what we hoped to as far as I was concerned.

  “Have you received any applications for the cabins we have open?” Garrett asked me, changing the subject.

  I was about to answer when Jack walked in with Alex. After greeting both men, I responded to Garrett’s inquiry. The Gull Island Writers’ Retreat was made up of the main house, where Garrett and Clara lived, the large cabin that Jack had built, and ten smaller cabins that could be leased by the week or month by writers working on short-term projects or annually by those who had decided to make their lives here. Currently, four of the cabins housed long-term tenants, three had monthly tenants, and three were empty. In the past week I had received applications for two of the latter, both of whom would be long-term tenants. “The first applicant is a writer named Rena Littleton. She writes mostly fantasy stuff and seems to have done very well for herself. She is twenty-seven and single. I spoke to her on the phone and she sounded cheerful and outgoing. She told me more than once that she was very excited about the prospect of belonging to a writers’ community. From my research, I feel that Rena would be a good addition to the group, so I thought I’d invite her to come by this week for an interview and tour.”

  “I met Rena at a writers’ convention,” Alex said. “She struck me as being both easygoing and serious. She spoke intelligently and seemed to really know her stuff as she worked the room, but she also seemed genuine in her enthusiasm for her craft, and she expressed a willingness to go with the flow and let life take it where it will. I think she will fit in just fine.”

  “Great. I’ll give her a call,” I said. “The second application is from a woman named Lorelei Walker, who writes cozy mysteries and has been a published author for more than thirty years. Her husband recently passed away, and she decided to sell their family home in favor of something smaller requiring less maintenance. She seemed like a perfectly lovely woman when I spoke to her on the phone.”

  “I know Lorelei,” Jack said. “We’ve done a few book signings together. Other than the fact that she always pinches my cheek and calls me Jackie, I adore her. I think she will fit in wonderfully too.”

  I glanced at Garrett.

  “Whatever you think,” he answered.

  “Okay, then, I will give her a call as well.”

  “Will the others all be here tonight?” Alex asked.

  “As far as I know, Brit and Vikki will be here, but George has been held up.” I explained about George’s successful search for the only witness to the murder for which Jeremiah Groverson was convicted, and his plan to meet with him the following day. I also updated Alex on my conversation with Rick, in the event he hadn’t spoken to him, but apparently he had, although he wasn’t discouraged because, he said, he had news to share of his own.

  I opened a bottle of wine and poured everyone other than Garrett a glass; w
ith the medication he was taking, alcohol wasn’t recommended, so he usually abstained. We chatted about subjects of general interest to the group, saving the meat of the mystery we were working on for the actual meeting. By the time Brit showed up and Vikki arrived with Rick, the lasagna was done baking, so everyone sat down to eat.

  “So, how was LA?” Garrett asked Vikki.

  “So good.” Vikki smiled. “It was sunny and warm and full of life and energy. I’d forgotten how much I love it.”

  “And the movie?” Clara asked.

  “It is going to be really good,” Vikki answered. “I watched part of the filming and I was blown away. I had tears in my eyes during many of the scenes, even though I, of course, already knew exactly what was going to happen.”

  “I can’t wait to see it,” Clara said. “I just love Brent Wildwood. He has so much natural sex appeal.”

  I glanced at Garrett, who was smiling happily at Clara, so I assumed he wasn’t jealous of Clara’s crush on the young movie star.

  “Filming wraps up in a couple of weeks and the release has been set for the summer, so I probably won’t need to go back, but if I do, I’ll have him sign something for you,” Vikki offered.

  “Oh, that would be wonderful,” Clara gushed.

  After everyone had eaten and the dishes had been loaded into the dishwasher, Rick left and the rest of us gathered in the living room for our weekly meeting. Because the case had been brought forward by Alex, he once again took point. He explained to anyone who might not have heard that Malcolm Carlton’s killer had been identified and detained, and also explained that while Marvin Newman had confessed to having carried out a series of home burglaries with Gina’s help, he claimed not to have killed her. Everyone agreed that finding out that the burglar was not her killer was a real blow to our investigation.

  “So who are you still looking at as a potential suspect at this point?” Vikki asked.

  Alex didn’t answer. I was pretty sure he didn’t have anyone.

  “If Gina’s death was not tied into her involvement with the burglaries in the area, we really don’t have much at all to go on,” I finally answered. “Newman’s confession that he was working with Gina explains where she got the extra money to buy the new car Tina said she had and the identity of the driver of the black truck the neighbor remembered seeing. The only unanswered questions right now are the location of the red sports car that Tina insists Gina purchased and the identity of the owner of the red Corvette the neighbor saw, if they don’t turn out to be one and the same.”