“If I recall, you two did have quite a competitive thing going there, always trying to outdo one another. Shooting hoops at the park, running relays…” Brie’s grin widened.

  “I always wondered why you never dated Tim in high school.”

  Her expression turned serious. “My own stupidity, I suppose. He’s a treasure who came into my life later and I thank the good Lord every day for that. Hard for me to believe a good thing like Tim was right in front of me all those years in school and I never gave him a thought.” She shook her head for a moment, then said, “So Mr. Chief of Police, what can I do for you?”

  “I need you to think back and try to recall if Gayle said anything to you recently about a feeling she was being watched. Even the smallest comment, like maybe she mentioned she was having creepy feelings lately, or hated to go out alone at night, anything like that.” Daniel found himself holding his breath as he waited on an answer.

  “Let’s step into the back room, away from the counter.” She signaled for a sales girl to come tend the register and led Daniel down a short hallway into a kitchenette not unlike the one at the station, only this one had more eating room. Two round tables sat opposite a sink, countertop and refrigerator. There was no one else in the room.

  “You want some coffee?” Brie offered.

  Daniel declined. Too much acid was sloshing around in his stomach as it was.

  Brie sat down at one of the tables. Daniel took the seat across from her.

  “I got chills when you asked me that question about Gayle. About a week before she died she was as skittish as a cat with a hotfoot. If a car would go by on the street too fast she’d about jump out of her skin. One night, when Mark was tied up with a client, we decided to go get dinner at the Dovetail Inn. It was sort of windy that night. When she parked in the back lot and got out, some tree branches slapped against a light pole and she whirled around like she expected to see the devil standing there. I asked her why she was so nervous all of a sudden.”

  “And?” Daniel prompted.

  Brie sighed. “She said it was pre-wedding jitters. But now I wonder. I mean, the wedding was four months away. I didn’t start acting that bizarre until about three weeks before mine.”

  Daniel got up. “Thanks for your help, Brie.”

  Brie rose and followed Daniel toward the boutique’s back door. “Daniel, are you making any headway with these murders? Like I said, the women in town are getting very nervous. It might help if I could tell them something encouraging.”

  He unlocked the door and stepped outside. The chill in the air was like an icy embrace. “We’re doing all we can. Just tell them to be careful.” He felt like a failure at that moment. As the chief of police he was supposed to protect the citizens of his town.

  Luke was waiting for him when he returned to the station. They settled in Daniel’s office with the door closed. Briefly he told Luke about his visits to Mark Cardosa’s office and Brie’s Boutique.

  “So, Cardosa did have a squeeze on the side. You buy the alibi, Daniel?”

  Daniel nodded. “She claims it’s true love. Just one of those things that happened…like kismet.”

  Luke’s expression resembled a scoff. “”Cardosa’s a dog. He needed Gayle to be the good wife, to add stability to his image so he could gain the trust of the people here in town in order to build up his practice. Once a cheater, always a cheater.”

  Daniel was silent for a moment, then said, “Tell me about your visit with Gayle’s mother.”

  Luke’s facial muscles relaxed a little. “She’s still devastated, of course. The husband is gone, and Gayle was an only child. Her own parents are dead. No siblings. She has one of those Tudor-style houses on Main Street in Rosewood. Very neat and clean. Just a nice woman whose been dealt a lousy hand. One thing she made clear though, was that she did not like Mark Cardosa. She and Gayle had gotten into it a few times about him. It got to the point where Gayle told her mother if she couldn’t accept Mark then maybe she needed to stay away from the wedding.”

  Daniel exhaled slowly. “What did Mrs. Nelson do about that?”

  “She did an about face. Told Gayle that if she loved Cardosa, then that was all that mattered. After that the two began planning the nuptials. She doesn’t recall Gayle saying anything about being followed or watched. In retrospect, however, Mrs. Nelson feels that we should take a really good look at Mark as the murderer. She thinks he was the kind to keep women on the side, which it turns out is true. Now, Daniel, I’m not all warm and fuzzy about taking this secretary’s word about Cardosa’s whereabouts. They could be in it together.”

  “Yes, that’s what we thought about Susan Hatfield and Douglas Underwood after Jerry’s murder back in December, and look where it got us,” Daniel groused.

  “Well, we need to put that behind us. This is a different case.”

  “Let’s look into this secretary’s background. Her name is Janet Webster. She hails from Marietta. She’s in the process of moving into Creekside Village.”

  “On a secretary’s salary?” Luke shook his head.

  “Yeah, my thought exactly. I live there, so I know how much the rent is.”

  Daniel’s desk phone rang and he snatched up the receiver. “Chief McBride.” The moment he heard who was on the other end he pushed a button on the keypad. “Lieutenant Luke Fagan is in the office with me, so I’ve put you on speaker, Sergeant Bodine.”

  “Call me Clay,” the voice with a marked southern accent replied. “I’m with the Wheeling, West Virginia police department. We just saw a BOLO you put out on a guy who matches a drug overdose we got yesterday afternoon. Evidently he’d been staying with a friend and the guy came home from a two-day business trip, found him dead and called nine-one-one. ID says Peter Hicks. From Rosewood. ME says he’s been dead since early Tuesday morning.”

  Luke said, “Can you fax us the information?”

  “Sure thing. Hope this clears up a case for you,” Bodine said.

  “Well, it makes some things a lot clearer, that’s for sure,” Daniel said. “Thanks for the call, Clay.”

  After Daniel gave Bodine their fax number and disconnected the call, he sat for a moment, taking in what he’d just heard. “There’s no way Hicks could have killed Gayle Nelson. He was already dead by then.”

  “I’ll start looking into Janet Webster’s background,” Luke told him as he exited the office.

  * * * *

  Adelaide wasn’t having a very good evening. Many things were on her mind, the least of which was thinking of ways to avoid James Preston for a while. His declaration outside the church had only added to the uneasiness she now experienced when she was in his presence.

  All because of that kiss. That warm, unexpected kiss.

  Adelaide also had Saturday night on her mind. Vernon was coming for dinner and she wanted to make it a special evening. Not romantic, necessarily, but companionable, with pleasant conversation and good food. She’d decided on Hungarian apple strudel for dessert to compliment the cabbage rolls.

  As she entered the living room and reached for the remote to turn on the television, her thoughts went to the recent murders. Personally she felt that the police were making a mistake by focusing on Bob Jackson simply because he worked with Patty and was involved with her and also because he lived in the same apartment complex with both victims. There was no evidence that Patty and Bob were having problems, first of all. So why kill her? As for Gayle, what possible reason could he have for killing her? Nothing linked them except their residences. And what about the methods of both murders? Ice picks with a Valentine card. It was almost like something you’d see on an episode of Criminal Minds.

  She jumped when a knock sounded at the front door. Cautiously, she looked out the front window and saw that her son was standing on the front porch.

  “Daniel. I didn’t expect to see you tonight,” she said. She closed the door behind him. “Has something happened?”

  Daniel took off his gloves which he stuffed in the pockets of his jacket before looping it over the newel post at the bottom of the stairs. “Got any coffee ready?” He passed her and went into the kitchen. She followed.

  Oscar, roused from his sleeping spot next to the refrigerator, gave Daniel a glare and yawned widely, his way of indicating he didn’t like being disturbed once he was settled in for the night. He didn’t get up. Instead he repositioned himself so his back was to them.

  “How about hot chocolate instead?” She examined her son’s appearance. His hair was mussed and his eyes puffy. He also needed a shave. She put some milk on the stove to heat while he sat down at the kitchen table. She retrieved a container of cranberry muffins out of the freezer and put two on a plate, which she then popped into the microwave. “When was the last time you ate, Daniel?”

  He shrugged his muscular shoulders. “Lunch, I guess.”

  She got out sandwich makings and put together a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich. After putting it on a plate she placed it in front of him and ordered, “Eat this.”

  He had the sandwich gone by the time the hot chocolate was ready and the muffins had defrosted.

  She brought his mug and the plate of muffins to the table and sat down opposite him. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

  After downing several sips of hot chocolate and one of the muffins, Daniel sat back in his chair and sighed. “We interviewed several people today because we discovered that both Patty and Gayle were acting strange before they were killed. Patty said she felt like she was being watched and Brie said Gayle was acting all paranoid too.”

  “You mean they were being stalked?” Adelaide felt a tingle of apprehension creep up her spine.

  “Maybe. The most interesting thing though is that when I went to talk to Cardosa, who by the way is now in his new office, I discovered he wasn’t visiting a client in Marietta on the night Gayle died. He was visiting a woman named Janet Webster. She’s his new secretary and his lover.”

  “He admitted it?”

  “She admitted it. After that he came clean.” Daniel took a few more sips of his cocoa.

  “That hardly gives him a motive to kill Gayle, though, does it? I mean, if he’s fallen for someone else, he could just break the engagement.”

  “I know. That’s why I’ve scrubbed him from the suspect list.”

  “What about Patty’s ex-husband?”

  “Dead.”

  Adelaide felt her stomach lurch several times as Daniel told her about his call from the West Virginia authorities. “So he was dead before Gayle was killed?”

  “Right. Our suspect pool is narrowing, Mother. Gayle’s ex-boyfriend is in the clear, Patty’s ex was dead before the second murder occurred and Mark has an alibi for Gayle’s murder and had no reason to kill Patty Regan, a woman he didn’t even know. But we still have Bob Jackson, who had connections to both women and discovered both bodies.”

  Adelaide shook her head. “He’s not the one.”

  “So you say. But we’re going to have to concentrate on him for now.”

  Adelaide thought for a moment. “What about this Janet Webster? Did she say anything to indicate Mark planned to break his engagement to Gayle?”

  Daniel shook his head. “Believe me, I thought of that. Maybe she wanted the competition out of the way. But, to be honest, she didn’t appear to be…the type to plan out these kinds of murders. Our killer is methodical, organized and has a very good knowledge of anatomy. Besides, the forensic evidence tells us the killer is at least five feet eight inches tall and strong. So, even if we could entertain the possibility that our killer is a woman, which I seriously doubt, Miss Webster is only about five feet three inches tall. She’s too short.”

  “So because Bob Jackson is a tall male who lives in the same complex as the victims and discovered both bodies he’s a viable suspect? What about motive? Are you ignoring that?”

  Daniel got up. “You know better than that, Mother. The motive for murder isn’t always immediately obvious. We’re going to talk to Bob again tomorrow. We’re also talking again to his neighbors and coworkers at the bar and on the EMT squad. We’re also going to get a search warrant for his apartment and car. Also his computer and cell phone.”

  “What about Patty’s cell phone and computer? And Gayle’s? I assume you already checked them. Anything show up to indicate trouble with Bob or anyone else?”

  “Nothing that will help our investigation, unfortunately.” Daniel walked to foyer, grabbed his coat and put it on. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Stay in at night. Don’t go around asking questions, that’s our job. Lock your doors. Thanks for the food. I love you.” He opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

  Following her son to the first step, she watched him hurry to his truck, get in and drive away. Just as she turned to go back inside, movement to her right, across Buckeye Street, caught her eye. Someone was hurrying down the walkway from Mark Cardosa’s front porch. The figure turned, coming her way, so Adelaide stepped back into the shadowy recesses of the porch and watched. Shoulders hunched against the frigid wind, the figure walked by without looking up but she had no problem recognizing who it was. The figure continued north on Hawthorne Avenue, heading home no doubt.

  “Now what is that all about, I wonder,” Adelaide said aloud. She hurried back inside the warmth of her home with a whole new set of questions cascading around in her brain.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The weekly edition of the Crescent Falls Tribune was waiting for Adelaide on her doorstep Thursday morning. She felt sickened by the headline which read Another Murder – Police Still Clueless. The bold text below the headline was no less disturbing. Women of Crescent Falls Terrified! When Will the Valentine Killer Strike Again?

  Adelaide read the article over breakfast. Julie Buckner Simpson had done a wonderful job of Daniel-bashing. The article was slanted to make the police look like incompetent boobs, stumbling around like bulls in a china shop. She went on to state “the police chief is baffled.”

  “Baffled. Indeed,” Adelaide muttered. The next paragraph caused her stomach to tie up in knots. “Sources close to the investigation state that the women may have been stalked before they were killed,” she read aloud.

  She got up from the table and went to get her cell phone. She used the station’s phone number, knowing her son would already be at work. His voice was gravelly as he answered his private line. “Did you see the paper?” she asked without preamble.

  “Who could miss it?” he snapped. “I’ve got a call in to Rick Blanchard.”

  “All the good that will do. He’ll just tell you we have freedom of the press in this country.” Truthfully, she’d like to get five minutes alone with Julie to shake the truth out of her.

  “I’m hoping to appeal to his sense of civic duty. We can’t have inside information showing up on the front page. He knows how things work. He realizes we keep certain things back in hopes of using those facts later to lock in a case against a suspect.”

  Adelaide’s mind was working furiously, trying to come up with a way to help her son. “What can I do, Daniel? Is there anyone I can talk to? Maybe I can get through to Julie or Rick.”

  Instead of answering her question, he said, “Gayle Nelson’s obit was in the paper this morning too. The funeral is Saturday at eleven. St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.”

  Word had spread around town about the time and place, of course. She’s heard it from her good friend, Ethel Henshaw yesterday. “I know. Daniel, I’m worried about you. Please take care of yourself.”

  “I’ve got to go, Mother. We’re bringing in Bob Jackson again this morning for further questioning. With any luck we’ll have search warrants for his place this morning also.”

  She wanted to, once again, tell him he was pursuing the wrong suspect, but realized he’d hung up.

  * * * *

  Daniel was still furious about the newspaper article when Luke escorted Bob Jackson into his office at a little after nine-thirty. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a yellow sweatshirt with the Marty’s Pub logo on the front. His green eyes focused on Daniel as he sat down in one of the chairs opposite the desk.

  Luke closed the door and remained standing, as he usually did when they questioned a suspect.

  Before Daniel could say anything, Bob spoke. “I just want you to know that I fired Mark Cardosa as my attorney yesterday. He’s a jerk. That whole thing was my mother’s idea. I want to cooperate. I didn’t kill either of those women and I think you know that, Daniel. But I realize you’re under a lot of pressure, and it’s bound to get worse after people read that article in this morning’s paper. By the way, it is all over the Internet, too.” He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “You probably should retain other counsel,” Luke said.

  Bob didn’t look over his shoulder but answered Luke nonetheless. “If you decide to read me my rights, then I’ll get another lawyer.”

  Daniel had the tape recorder on his desk. He’d turned it on the minute Bob sat down. “I’m recording this. Just so you know.” He then spoke the date, time, place and those involved in the interview into it. “Just so we’re clear, Bob, you have now waived your right to counsel?”

  Bob’s voice was clear and steady. “For now, yes.”

  Just then Luke’s cell phone rang. He answered curtly and then listened for a moment. “Good. I owe you one,” he said before hanging up. He looked at Daniel. “The warrants came through.”

  Daniel saw a brief flicker in Bob’s eyes but it was gone as quickly as it came. “Then go. I’ll take care of this.”

  Luke left the office, closing the door behind him.

  Daniel stared at Bob for a moment before speaking. “We’ll be searching your apartment and car this morning.”

  “Go ahead. You won’t find anything.”

  “Why? Because you’re a very clever killer who has managed to hide anything incriminating? Where did you get the ice picks? In your mother’s basement? Those Valentines have been around a while too. Maybe they’re the ones you had as a kid, you know when we used to punch them out and take them to grade school for the Valentine parties. Zelda seems like the type to keep mementoes. Maybe we need to search her place too.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20