The Murder in Red Arch

by J. Valentine

  “So the police think he did it but not you?” Anna asked.

  “They got the harddrive back?” Layla asked, excited at the prospect of the currency being returned.

  “They arrested him on suspicion, just so they could keep him in custody longer I believe, and also maybe to rattle him a bit. I know the lead detective on the case, and he will listen to me that Barry didn’t do it, and of course there isn’t any hard evidence yet. As for bitcoin. I have a recording of him admitting to hiding it in Winnipeg. The police don’t have it yet,” Olivia told the grieving pair.

  “So we might still not get the bitcoin back?” Layla asked.

  “Well he is likely going to lawyer up pretty quickly, and I imagine they’ll get him to use its location for leverage. Maybe get a better deal on the assault and theft charge, considering the immense worth of the harddrive,” Olivia explained.

  “How can the police think he murdered Maryam, but not you? Besides if they arrested him, I’m sure they’ll find evidence. We know it was him,” Anna said, sternly.

  “Well there’s always that possibility. Until then, I’m going to keep investigating.”

  “Because he’s the one paying you?” Anna said sharply.

  “Because I think he’s innocent.”

  “Is there anything else you need?” Anna asked her.

  “I actually do have a few questions. I learned a few things and I wanted to see if you could clear up a few things, and what your side of the story was,” Olivia was getting a bit angry at the accusation against her character.

  “We want to do whatever we can to help,” Layla said, nudging her mom to calm down a bit.

  “Thank you Layla. I understand you have both been through a lot, and I’m truly sorry for that fact, but I just want to do my job, and find the truth,” Olivia explained.

  “And we want to help in any way we can,” Layla said, looking towards her mother.

  “Yes, we want to help,” Anna agreed.

  “The next questions may be a little bit difficult to answer, but I urge you to just tell me the truth,” Olivia expressed.

  They both looked at each other, then back to Olivia, nodding in agreement. They looked nervous. Olivia thought for sure they knew what was coming. She just hoped they would react kindly to the prodding personal questions about their pasts.

  “Could you tell me about Maryam’s history of domestic violence?” Olivia asked.

  Sadness came over both of them. Anna answered slowly and methodically. “Listen, we don’t want this information to get out. The Cartwright’s have a good reputation in Red Arch, and we care about that deepy. That’s why we kept the case quiet.”

  “She had her problems, but we still loved her,” Layla added.

  “It was mostly just an argument that got out of hand,” Anna continued. “It was so rare that she got like that, but with the drinking, sometimes she got out of control.”

  “Thank you,” Olivia jotted down in her notepad. “Maryam had a drinking problem?”

  “She did,” Layla answered succinctly.

  “It was bad some days, but I always thought it was just a phase since the transition. She wasn’t as good of a person as it seemed like from the outside,” Anna explained.

  “I understand. Every family has their problems.”

  “She never had the chance to make things right,” Layla hugged her mother.

  “There’s another difficult question I’d like to ask you,” Olivia said.

  “Anything,” Anna agreed.

  “Were Maryam and Barry having an affair?” She asked plainly.

  Anna and Layla looked shocked that Olivia knew. Anna leaned forward, hitting *stop* on Olivia’s recorded. Olivia was in turn also shocked at the woman’s overstep, thought it was nothing she hadn’t seen before. Asking difficult questions to family member’s about the deceased was always difficult and a problem causing affair.

  “I don’t see how that could be relevant,” Anna told her.

  “Well… if Maryam and Barry were intimate with one another, and Maryam cut him off. Maybe he wanted to retaliate in some way,” Olivia explained a possible theory to the woman.

  “Yeah. That’s probably what happened,” Anna answered shortly. Her daughter began to cry.

  Olivia passed her a tissue from the table, “I’m sorry Layla, I know this is difficult. So this is true?”

  “It is,” Layla said through the tears streaming down her face.

  “Is that why the two of you broke up?” Olivia asked.

  She nodded, agreeing to the deduction.

  “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I think you’ve gotten enough. Please don’t write about this. Our reputation has been damaged enough. We’ll deny everything and you’ll hear from our lawyers if this information gets out,” Anna told her.

  Olivia picked her tape recorder back up, and calmly walked out of the house. “Thank you for your time,” she told them as she exited.

  Olivia left the home, and got back into the old civic to drive home. She stopped again to admire the beauty of the house. It’s tall wooden support beams holding up the dark green roof, floor to ceiling windows, and generally beautiful craftsmanship. She fantasized about living in a home as beautiful as this one day.

  Thoughts racing through her mind about the case and the potential bad actors. She had to talk with Barry again. Talk with Brad again. Convince the police department that more investigation still needed to be done. She didn’t want Barry, her client, to be the fall guy, even after the assault and theft. He had his problems, but to prove someone murdered another human being required a tremendous amount of hard evidence. More work was to be done.

  Chapter 20

  I need to give the police their time to interview him. I’m sure I won’t get a chance to talk with him anytime soon. I also need a fu*king break from all the drama and lies. What I wouldn’t give to just be lying peacefully in Brad’s arms on the ratty old basement couch right now. I also need to clear my head. Maybe it’s time to take Max up on his offer to get some exercise in. Going over the case with my brother, and talking things through would help as well. Maybe him looking at it from a different perspective could help me see something I’m missing.

  She set down her personal diary. She had driven home slowly and carefully. The roads were still horrible from the winter’s biggest blizzard yet. Also, she had been speeding far too much, and playing too fast and loose with the rules. She made it back home safely in one piece and was happy to be greeted by Alvi at the door.

  “Hey boy!” She played with the dog for a moment.

  Olivia went downstairs to look over her evidence board. Confirming multiple suspicions and erasing question marks. Maryam, confirmed domestic abuser, and adulterer. Barry a confirmed sex and drug addict. Layla, and Anna are confirmed to have known about the affair. And of course, confirming the affair between Barry and Maryam itself. She put the picture she had of Richard Miller on the board, adding the words “truth teller,” and “crazy” to it. Adding that he was unlikely to be involved in the death, but knew about the affair, but kept it to himself. Olvia wondered if he potentially had any more useful information.

  Olivia stood with her hand on her chin, gazing over all the evidence and theories outlined on the corkboard. Max walked down the stairs to greet her.

  “I thought I heard you come in,” Max told her.

  “Yeah just going over some things,” Olivia told him.

  “It’s nice to see dad’s old stuff get some love.”

  “Yeah, he had quite the collection of cool private investigation tools.”

  “What did you think of the ATV by the way? I think I forgot to thank you for doing the driveway earlier,” Max thanked her.

  “Oh you’re welcome, it was no problem at all. The ATV is a lot of fun, I was so happy when I found the keys,” she laughed.

  “It is fun. I was actually thinking of getting a side by side. Something with a little more power for getting through the trails with ga
me.”

  “Yeah that sounds fun,” Olivia agreed. “Hey what do you think of all this?”

  “I don’t know. I find it hard to follow along with all this stuff, and I don’t really like it since…” he stopped.

  “Since I couldn’t solve mom’s hit and run?” Olivia asked.

  He looked down, not wanting to make his sister feel bad. “I’m sorry,” he told her.

  “It’s okay. Maybe something will turn up one of these days.”

  Olivia thought back to how happy their mother had been. One of the best hairdressers in town. When Olivia had been a girl, she’d often go spend time at the salon. Listening to all the older women getting their hair done, and gossiping about new men coming to the mining community, and everyone’s different, but similar, relationship issues. Maybe that was where Olivia got her love of drama, mixed with her love of private investigation from her father’s side. Olivia missed her mother greatly, both of her parents dying too soon.

  Max and Olivia embraced each other in a hug. Both upset at the situation, and being left orphaned by their parents.

  “It’s good to have you back, Olivia. Have you thought about staying longer?” He asked her.

  “Maybe I’ll stay for a bit after this case. Get that vacation I initially came here for. It’s getting closer, I can feel a big break coming,” Olivia told him.

  She was just comforting him though. She wasn’t sure what to do next. She could no longer talk to Anna and Layla. She’d found everything she could. Now it was in the police’s hands to figure out if Barry did it or not. She thought that surely they’d be re evaluating everything, talking to his alibi once again, and trying to poke more holes in his story. Everything in her gut told her that Barry wasn’t the man who committed this horrible crime though. There had to be something she was missing.

  “You’ll solve it soon Olivia, I know it. You’re the best,” he complimented her.

  “Thanks Max. Hey what do you think about getting that run in? I need to get my mind off all this, and maybe some exercise will help me reset,” she suggested.

  Max’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. An avid runner himself, he was always looking for human running partners. Alvi was great, but he tired out too quickly, and would pull to the side to smell all the interesting smells along the route. Max opted to leave the pup at home. They both got into their work out attire. Wearing thin material hats and gloves appropriate for the cold weather, and base layers, with joggers, and vests. Max, being a bit dorkier than his sister chose a high visibility green vest to avoid any accidents. A smart man.

  They left the house, and started the 5km run, working up a bit of a sweat and a good heart rate. Two kilometers in, Olivia started to feel her runner’s high again, and the stress of her visit to Red Arch evaporated off of her body. They both chose not to wear any headphones, instead listening to each other’s company, and their rubberized high tread shoes crunching the snow beneath their feet. The cool winter’s air filled Olivia’s nostrils, and she felt invigorated with the environment. Snow fell lightly onto them, like an aftershock of the previous blizzard.

  “So what’s next Olivia?” Max asked her as she was running.

  “Well I would have liked to go up to see the Cartwright cabin, but I don’t think Layla and Anna would allow it. And I’m not trying to get arrested for trespassing when up here,” she laughed.

  “They’re pretty angry at you huh?” He asked.

  “I’m not sure about being angry, but they weren’t too happy with the questions I was asking them.”

  “Think they’re still hiding something?”

  “Maybe,” she told him.

  “Well let me know if you decide to break the rules and go up there. I can cover for you back here,” Max laughed, thinking there was no way his sister would ever take him up on the silly offer.

  “I might take you up on that,” Olivia laughed with him.

  Max got a bit quiet, clearly nervous about the possibility. They continued on their run.

  ***

  They got back to the house, greeted by Alvi.

  “I’m thinking about doing another hunting trip once all this blows over. Just birds or small game. Alvi needs it,” he explained.

  “That’s a good idea,” Olivia agreed.

  “Have you decided what you’re doing next in the case?”

  “I’d like to talk to Barry again, if he’ll talk with me. Maybe there’s something I missed,” she explained.

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  “I’m starved after that run, order in?”

  “Sure.”

  “Chinese?” She asked.

  “Definitely,” he agreed.

  “Should we invite Stephanie?” Olivia offered.

  “Oh she’s working tonight. Besides, I only get so much time with my sister. I’ll be happy just the two of us,” he remarked, making Olivia feel loved by him.

  The food came shortly after. They tipped the delivery driver from the local chinese spot, and began eating. Having a few whiskey cokes, and pink whitney sprite’s to ease off after the long day. Wonton soup, chicken balls, shrimp fried rice, beef and veggie stew, all drenched in plum sauce. As authentic as western chinese food in northern Ontario can get, they laughed. They spent time together drinking, eating, and talking about stories from their childhood. Reliving memories of their late parents.

  Later, Olivia wrote in her personal journal before going to bed.

  The murder was over a month ago now, but still fresh in everyone’s mind. The police have a man in custody who I know didn’t commit this crime. The police. My detective lover is probably interrogating the man right now. I hope he can find the truth.

  My brother still seems to be in shambles. Plagued by the memory of our late parents, he is always thinking about them, loving their past selves. I hope the relationship with Stephanie will help him out of this funk. She’s a good girl, and as the poetic rapper Kanye West says, “one good girl is worth a thousand bi*ches.” I hope he gets better soon, back to his old self. If only I could solve our mother’s hit and run. I think that would give him the closure that he oh so desperately needs.

  Chapter 21

  Olivia walked through the dark forest.

  “Who’s there?!” She shouted.

  She heard rustling on the forest floor. Animals scurrying across the ground. Eyes glowing through the trees.

  A mountain lion, she thought, terrified.

  She began to run as fast as she could, but something was slowing her down. She couldn’t get her pace up, as if she was running through wet cement. She looked down and saw her feet, red and swollen, the physiological beginning stages of frostbite starting. Terror swept through her body. She looked back to see the eyes raise to human height, and walk into the moonlight. She tried her best to make out the figure, but didn’t know who or what it was. She tried to scream, but couldn’t.

  *ERR ERR ERR*

  She woke up in a cold sweat from the nightmare, and quickly relief washed over her, knowing that it was only a bad dream. She reached over to turn off the alarm, and laid back down head deep in the down feather pillow of her old bedroom. She did her best to calm her breath, and lower her heart rate down to something more appropriate for a sunny, nice, beautiful winter morning.

  She looked back at her phone to see a nice “Good morning, beautiful,” text from Brad.

  “Good morning, how are things with Barry?” She got straight to the point, wanting all the information the detective could give her.

  “He got a lawyer right away, and isn’t answering many questions. He actually asked to speak with you,” the text read.

  “When can I come by?” She texted back, straight away.

  “He’s not going anywhere LOL come by whenever.”

  Olivia smiled upon reading the message. Excited, to speak with him again, and see what he had to say about their last discussion… or, altercation.

  She wanted to look presentable. She went to the shower and took all the time sh
e needed to do each step of her, every other day, hair care routine, taking around a half hour. Then she picked out some professional clothing. She did her best to look as much like a professional detective as she could. She took her inspiration from Rachel McAdam’s character in True Detective. A black shirt, and a brown / green leather jacket overtop, and black slacks. Sexy, classy, and professional. She looked over the outfit choice in the full length mirror in her childhood room. Thinking deeply about what Brad would think of the outfit choice.

  Enough of the girly sh*t, she thought. It was time to focus, and think about the case. What questions she would ask Barry. He wanted to talk to her, so she had the upper hand. She had to play it cool, and find out what information exactly he wanted to share with her. She thought back to the blank check. Still having not written any amount on it, or cashing it in. She didn’t particularly need the money, since she had budgeted for this trip to be a vacation, but hey, maybe she could buy all bitcoin with the unexpected payment. She could find out all the information she needed from Max, and figure out the best way to gamble, she laughed to herself.

  She went downstairs to slam a cup of instant coffee. No time for the delicate intricate process that Max had perfected over the years of coffee snobbery. She wanted her caffeine, and to be on the road, skipping breakfast. Max had already dealt with the dog, and was out of the house running errands with the pup.

  “Heading to the police station to talk with Barry, at his request. Wish me luck bro!” She messaged him.

  “You got this, Olivia,” he replied quickly.

  She climbed over the middle console of the old beat up civic, and thought maybe a new car would be a good thing to spend some money on. Then she can drive back home instead of taking the train. Surely her readers were getting sick of the Canada Pacific Rail porn by now. Maybe a cute little Miata, she pondered.

  ***

  She drove quickly to the police station. She never really liked spending much time here, but her work required it often enough. Most police officers and detectives don’t really respect private investigators, let alone cute female ones like Olivia. She always had to earn their respect, and do her best to “cop talk” with them, letting them know she isn’t so dainty, and is able to hold her own. Or at least she liked to think that. Most of the time she just kept to herself, and got in and out. She was happy that she’d have Brad nearby to be on her side. Although, she imagined that he was probably getting a hell of a time from his cop buddies. Ripping on him for falling for some big city private eye.