Be Mine, Dead Valentine, page 16
part #2 of Crescent Falls Series
“I think we just got our biggest lead,” Luke said as he sat down opposite Daniel.
Daniel leaned back in his chair. “I’m ready for some good news.”
Luke took a small notebook out of his shirt pocket and flipped it open. “The sheriff’s ready to close the case. He thinks it was a home invasion. After I looked over their file, I took a drive out to that farm. As luck would have it, the nephew, Kyle, was there. He recalled his aunt saying something about the woman who bought that pup. The aunt said she was strange and almost masculine looking. She wore a stocking cap, a long wool coat that looked a little big on her, and that she never took her gloves off, not even to handle the dog. She was wearing big boots and glasses that had slightly tinted lenses. No makeup. She said she wanted the dog for protection. Paid cash. Oh, and she was tall, which was one of the reasons Aunt Stella thought at first glance she might be a man.”
Daniel’s insides clutched. “We need a warrant.”
Luke’s eyebrows shot up. “You think you know who it is?”
“I’m afraid so. Can you get a warrant from your friend the judge?”
Luke leaned forward in his chair. “Have you been holding back information from me, Daniel? I’m not calling a judge until I know everything.”
Daniel felt a flutter of regret. He should have shared Adelaide’s information with Luke, but wanted to wait until he had more proof. “A few nights ago, my mother saw Mary Ellen Oliver coming out of Mark Cardosa’s house. It was close to nine in the evening.”
“So? Maybe he’s her lawyer. Maybe she was dropping off a book from the library.”
“His office in town was open by then. So why was she visiting him at that hour at home? And I doubt she was dropping off a book.”
Luke chuckled. “You think he was also diddling her? The town librarian?”
“Maybe. Or, maybe not. Haven’t you noticed the physical changes in that woman over the past few weeks? The new hairdo, new wardrobe, contact lenses.”
Luke’s expression sobered. “Can’t say I have.” He studied Daniel for a moment then added, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Gayle was engaged to Mark. Gone. Mark was involved with Janet. In a coma. We already discussed jealousy as a motive. We know the killer used that puppy to lure Janet over to the fence out of camera range. A woman bought that dog. A tall woman, trying to disguise herself. Along with my mother, Mary Ellen Oliver is one of the tallest women in town.”
“What about the first victim, Patty? She had no connection to Cardosa,” Luke reminded him.
Daniel tapped an index finger on his desktop. “Your infamous red herring, Luke.”
Luke shook his head. “We need more.”
“Let’s go talk to Mark Cardosa and see what that nocturnal visit was all about, then,” Daniel said, rising from his chair. In the back of his mind Daniel realized he should have had a talk with Cardosa right after his mother told him about seeing Mary Ellen Oliver coming out of his house at night, but he really hadn’t seen any connection between that event and the crimes. Until now. Pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place in his mind and he felt an urgency he couldn’t completely explain.
It was nearly dark and snowing again when they exited the police station. Using Daniel’s truck, they drove cautiously along Buckeye to Mark’s stately Victorian home, parking in the driveway.
“No lights on inside. Maybe he’s gone, or at his office.” Luke said as they mounted the porch steps and rang the bell.
Daniel banged on the door. “Cardosa,” he called. “It’s the police. We need to talk to you.”
“I’ll check the garage for his car,” Luke said. He exited the porch and made his way up the driveway.
Daniel went to the front window. The drapes were open, but the sheers kept him from seeing much inside the living room.
Luke returned. “His car’s there.”
“Something’s wrong. Let’s go in.” Daniel jiggled the knob. To his surprise the door opened easily. “Cardosa,” he called as he entered the wide foyer. Behind him, Luke flipped a light switch and an ornate chandelier bathed the area in a pale amber glow. Daniel removed his gun from the holster on his hip and moved slowly toward the living room on his right.
Luke said, “I’ll check the kitchen,” and hurried out of sight.
Daniel felt around for a light switch, finding it on the wall to his left. The minute he flipped it on, it became obvious why Mark Cardosa hadn’t answered his door. “Luke,” Daniel called as he hurried to the prone figure lying on an expensive looking Oriental rug in front of the fireplace.
Daniel knelt beside Mark, whose hair was matted with blood. A pool of the red liquid had soaked into the rug. He heard Luke come running into the room. “He’s barely got a pulse.”
Luke was already dialing nine-one-one.
Daniel looked around for something to stop the blood, finally settling for a woven throw tossed over the arm of the nearby sofa. Quickly he checked Mark for other injuries but found none. . “Looks like he was bludgeoned. Just like our dog lady, Stella Prichard.”
Luke took a pair of latex gloves from his coat pocket and picked up a fireplace poker from the hearth. “I guess we have our weapon.”
Daniel could see blood on it along with hunks of hair.
Paramedics Reed Fletcher and Paul Carmody arrived moments later. Daniel and Luke stepped aside so they could work on Mark. “You process the house and see if anything else is disturbed. Ray’s working a double shift today. I’m calling him in off patrol. I want him to be at the Medical Center when they take Cardosa in. If he has a moment of consciousness, I want someone there to take a statement.”
“Where are you going?” Luke asked.
“To see our new suspect,” Daniel told him as he hurried out the front door.
Daniel drove the truck carefully along Hawthorne Avenue, since the snowfall was cutting down on visibility. He parked in front of the Oliver house and sat for a moment, trying to make sense of all that had happened. Was it really possible that this unassuming, timid woman was a vicious killer? He’d known Mary Ellen all his life. She was only a couple of years older than him. They’d never been friends, but he’d always considered her a friendly acquaintance. That was a term his mother used often when referring to people she wasn’t close to yet thought of fondly. The house was dark and foreboding looking all of a sudden. He felt a lump of dread forming in his midsection. Slowly he exited the truck and made his way up to the front porch. He rang the bell and waited, knowing down deep that there would be no answer. He walked around to the back of the house and looked in the back door. All was silent inside. He checked the garage, peering in one of the windows, but didn’t see her late model sedan.
Maybe she went shopping. It could be that simple. She wouldn’t be at the library. It closes at one on Saturday. He got out his cell phone and called Luke. “We need that warrant. She’s not at home. I have a feeling she’s in the wind.”
“I’ve already called the judge. We found something under Cardosa when they moved him.”
Daniel almost hated to ask. “What?”
“A Valentine.”
Chapter Twenty
Adelaide came downstairs and went straight into the kitchen. The hot shower she’d taken had worked wonders. After spending the afternoon preparing the cabbage rolls and the cake, she’d needed it. For tonight’s dinner with Vernon she’d decided to wear a pair of tan slacks and the off-white cashmere sweater he’d given her for her birthday. A diamond, heart-shaped pendant hanging from a gold chain and diamond stud earrings were her only jewelry.
Glancing out her kitchen window she noticed that it was snowing heavily. She lifted the lid on the big enamel roasting pan containing the cabbage rolls, and the rich aroma of the combined ingredients wafted out into the room. The cake was cooling on a wire rack on the counter.
It was then she heard the siren.
That sounds very close.
She went quickly into the foyer and opened the front door just in time to see an ambulance pulling away from Mark Cardosa’s house. There was also a police cruiser sitting at the curb. “What on earth has happened?”
She quickly donned her coat and pulled a pair of rubber boots on over her tan suede shoes. Exiting her house she made her way across Buckeye Street. Officer Ken Lafferty met her on the sidewalk. “What is going on, Ken?”
Luke Fagan exited the house and came down the porch steps. “Hello, Adelaide. Have you heard from Mary Ellen Oliver at all today?”
She could see the lines of fatigue around his eyes and mouth, even in the dull light of a nearby streetlight. “No. What’s happened?”
Luke’s cell phone rang and he stepped away to answer it.
“Mark Cardosa was attacked earlier. He’s in bad shape,” Ken told her.
“Oh, no. Did he say who hurt him?”
“He’s still unconscious.”
“Why was Luke asking about Mary Ellen?” She was afraid she already knew the answer.
“Daniel is down at her house right now. We’re waiting on a search warrant to come through.”
Luke got off the phone and rejoined them. “I need to finish processing the scene. But, just so you know, Mrs. McBride, the woman who sold that puppy we found at the scene of Janet Webster’s attack was murdered sometime late Thursday night or early Friday morning. The description of the person who bought the puppy from her matches Mary Ellen Oliver, although we got that knowledge second hand from the woman’s nephew, who she’d, discussed the sale with.”
Adelaide felt her knees weaken a little. “And now you can’t find Mary Ellen?”
“Exactly,” Luke said before leaving them to return to the house. “Along with what you told Daniel you saw the other night, we have reason to believe there may have been a relationship between Ms. Oliver and Cardosa, and she decided to eliminate her competition.”
Ken took hold of Adelaide’s arm as though to steady her. “When they moved Cardosa onto the gurney to take him to the medical center, they found a Valentine card under his body. But it didn’t match the ones from the other crime scenes. It was very fancy and romantic. It was signed by Mary Ellen. The envelope was there too, but only had his name on the front, no address. We figure she brought it to him and things didn’t go as she expected.”
“Was he stabbed?” Adelaide felt a little dizzy.
Ken shook his head. “Bludgeoned. With the fireplace poker from the set on his hearth. The woman in Mosely, Stella Prichard, was also killed by a blow to the head. Only, in her case they haven’t found the weapon…yet.”
Adelaide began to shake all over. It was then she felt another presence nearby and looked around to find Vernon standing behind her.
“Glad you’re here, Mr. Dexter,” Ken said, shaking Vernon’s hand. “I think Mrs. McBride needs to get in out of this cold and snow.”
Vernon put an arm around Adelaide’s shoulder and began guiding her across the street. “We can’t do anything here but get in the way. Let’s go to your place.”
“Where can she be? Oh, this is all my fault. I should have said something to Daniel sooner about the night I saw Mary Ellen coming out of Mark’s place,” Adelaide muttered.
Once they were back inside Adelaide’s cozy home , she got on her cell phone and called Daniel. He answered on the second ring. “I just saw them take Mark Cardosa away. Is it true, Daniel, are you going after Mary Ellen?”
“I’m at her place now waiting on word about the warrant. I’ve got Larry Schwartz and Dennis Ackerman lined up to come over here when we’re cleared to go in. I’ve put out an APB on her car. Just stay home, Mother. I don’t want you in harm’s way again. Do you understand me?”
“If it is her and she’s on the run, Daniel, there’s no telling what she will do. How could this be happening? She’s such a gentle soul.” Adelaide felt tears spring into her eyes.
“Everyone has their breaking point, Mother, as well as their obsessions,” Daniel said.
She started to respond but realized he’d hung up.
Vernon had removed his coat and put it in the closet. She noticed he was wearing a new looking pair of tan slacks with the pale yellow sweater she’d gotten him for his last birthday. Once again, they were dressed almost identically. She glanced down at his shoes, not at all surprised to see he was wearing the brown suede ones he often favored. He helped Adelaide off with her coat, then led her to the Queen Anne chair in the foyer and took off her boots, putting them on the doormat next to his, which she hadn’t even noticed him removing. Her mind was going a mile a minute, her thoughts creating one disastrous scenario after the other.
“I’ll help get dinner on the table,” Vernon suggested.
Adelaide got up and glared at him. “Who can think of food at a time like this?”
“You need to eat something. And, I haven’t had anything since breakfast. We’ll be able to think more clearly if we settle down and get some food into our stomachs.” He took hold of her arm and marched her into the kitchen.
“Always the voice of reason,” Adelaide murmured.
Vernon lifted the lid on the pot of cabbage rolls. “These look ready.”
“I’ll pop the rolls in the oven. They only take a few minutes to warm up.” She’d set the dining room table earlier with a white linen tablecloth, good china and her best crystal and silverware. A silk floral arrangement of red and white roses surrounded a candle holder containing three white tapers. “Why don’t you go light the candles on the table while I finish up in here.”
Once Vernon was out of the room, she leaned over the kitchen counter, taking deep breaths while her heart raced and her mind whirled.
This isn’t going to end well. I can feel it in my bones.
* * * *
Daniel was waiting in his truck with the motor running so he could use the heater when Larry and Dennis arrived with the warrant.
He gave them the quick version of what had been discovered so far. “Our suspect could be in another state by now.” He felt jittery, like he should be doing more.
“The APB is for the tri-state area. If she’s driving somewhere in her car, we’ll get her,” Larry said with confidence.
“Always the optimist, aren’t you?” Daniel actually envied that in the young officer. He wondered how long it would take him to become a skeptic.
“The warrant includes the garage and her car,” Dennis told Daniel as they hurried up onto the front porch.
Without hesitation, Larry removed his nightstick from his belt and broke out one of the panes in the long, narrow window next to the heavy mahogany door. He reached in and flipped the locks.
The minute they entered the foyer and turned on the light, Larry headed upstairs while Daniel and Dennis split up to cover the downstairs. “I’ll take the kitchen,” Dennis said, heading that way. He flipped on lights as he went. Daniel found the light switch for the living room and soon the area was bathed in the yellow glow from an overhead brass fixture. He found nothing of interest and moved on to the dining room. Entering the kitchen, he found Dennis scrambling around trying to corral two cats.
“They’re scared to death, but we need to get them out of here,” Dennis said. He finally caught one, cradling it in his arms and talking soothingly to it.
The other one, also sleek and light gray, let curiosity get the best of it and began circling Dennis’s leg. Daniel swooped down and picked the feline up. Still holding the other car, Dennis opened the door to the back porch. “Aha, I guessed right. There are two carriers out here.”
“Let’s get them confined so they aren’t in the way,” Daniel said.
A few moments later, a voice calling from the foyer was followed by the appearance of Ken Lafferty. “We’re about finished at Cardosa’s. Need any help here?” He eyed the two cat carriers dubiously.
“Yes. You can take these two down to my mother’s house for safekeeping,” Daniel told him.
Ken leaned over and peeked into the carriers. “Russian blues? Wow. Those are expensive cats.” He picked up a carrier in each hand and carried them out of the kitchen.
“I’ll hit the basement,” Dennis said.
Larry’s voice calling from upstairs had an urgency to it that made Daniel’s pulse quicken. He bounded up the stairs, looking left and right. “Where are you?” he yelled.
“In here. Second bedroom on the right,” Larry replied.
Daniel rushed into the room but saw no one.
“You’re not going to believe this,” Larry called.
Daniel crossed the room and walked through an open door into another room just a little larger than a walk-in closet. He stopped on the other side of the threshold, staring in disbelief at the sight before him. Every inch of wall space was covered with photographs of Mark Cardosa. Candid shots where he obviously didn’t know he was being photographed dominated the scene, but there were also printed copies of newspaper articles, most of them from Cleveland newspapers, chronicling his career triumphs. “What the hell?” Daniel slowly walked around the small room, examining the display.
“The camera’s over there.” Larry pointed to one corner where a small wooden table held a framed photo of Mark along with a digital camera. “The bedroom across the hall is like a home office with a computer and laser printer. She had a nice supply of photo printing paper. She was snapping pictures of him, then loading them into the computer and printing them right in the comfort of her own home.”
Daniel felt his stomach churn. Then he noticed a section of the wall where some different photos hung. “Look at this.” He walked over and pointed to the half dozen prints. They were close-ups of Gayle and Janet who, like Mark, seemed unaware they were being photographed. All six of the pictures had red lines forming an X through them. He picked up the camera and scanned the photos still inside. “All of Mark, but taken four days ago according to the date and time stamp. None since.”
