The Edge, page 23
“When was the last time you saw Earl?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe a week ago, just seen him driving through town. He didn’t come around much, not after Bertie died.” He looked up at Devine with an expression of hope, which Devine could partly understand. “Maybe that’s why he did it, because of losing Bertie?”
“It’s possible, certainly.”
Dak shook his head. “So what did you want to ask me?”
“You said you had investors from Boston backing you.”
“That’s right.”
“Who are they?”
“Why does it matter to you?” asked Dak sharply, evidently not pleased at all about this change in the conversation.
“Knowing more is better than knowing less.”
“My business is private.”
“If that’s how you want to play it. So how goes the negotiation on selling Jocelyn Point?”
“It’s going well, actually.”
“And Alex is all on board?”
“When the time comes she will be.”
“You sound confident.”
“You may think you know my baby sister after meeting her a few times, but you don’t. She wants out of this place even more than I do.”
“Really? I thought she saw it as her safe space. And she likes teaching the kids.”
“She can teach kids anywhere. Putnam is where someone raped and nearly killed her. Do you really think she wants to be reminded of that every damn day?”
“Interesting choice of words, since she doesn’t remember the attack.”
“But people have told her what happened. Every time she passes by that spot she probably has all that horror rushing back to her, even if she can’t technically ‘remember’ it.”
“She didn’t know where it happened, until very recently. And now that spot will also always be the place where Jenny’s body was found. Don’t you find that curious? All the possible locations to leave Jenny’s body, and they chose that one?”
“I don’t know what to think about that. It does seem weird, but hell, life is weird.”
“I need something more definite than that.”
Dak rose. “Well, good luck on that. I’ve got to get back to making money.”
Outside, Devine found Harper and Fuss waiting next to his SUV. Their expressions were tight, focused, and grim, none of which he cared for, not a single one.
“What’s up?” he asked, half expecting them to say that someone else was dead.
Harper nodded at Fuss, who slowly took out her cuffs and said, “Travis Devine, you’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent.”
“What?” said a startled Devine, who took a step back.
“Anything you say can and may be used in evidence against you in a court of law.”
Devine took another step back. “What the hell is going on here?”
Harper said, “Do not resist, Devine, it’ll only make it worse.”
“What am I being arrested for, exactly?”
“On suspicion of theft of police evidence,” replied Harper.
“What evidence?”
“Alex Silkwell’s rape kit.”
“Bullshit!”
Harper put his hand on top of his baton. “Do not be stupid. I do not want to hurt you.”
Devine almost laughed at that one.
Fuss seemed to read his mind and said nervously, “Look, I know you could kill both of us with just your pinkie, but we’re only doing our job.”
Devine glared at Harper as he slowly put his hands behind his back. Fuss cuffed him while she finished the Miranda warning. “You’re making a big mistake,” Devine said to Harper.
“Just doing my job.”
“And I’ll do mine,” retorted Devine. “And then maybe you’ll be the one with the cuffs on.”
CHAPTER
46
THE TWO MEN STARED AT each other over the width of a table in the small interview room of the police station. A Bell and Howell surveillance camera that looked to be from the 1980s hung in the corner like a deflated party balloon.
Harper looked both cagey and pensive as he turned on a recorder and stated the date, time, and the identities of the two parties in the room.
Devine said, “Why are you doing this?”
“Are you having a relationship with Alex Silkwell?”
“What does that even mean?”
“I understand that you slept at her place one night, the night you were attacked.”
“Who told you that?”
“Is it true?” demanded Harper.
“I stayed in her art studio that night. I thought it would be safer than my place since someone has tried to kill me twice, including once there!”
“You stayed there with her permission?” said Harper impassively.
“She found out about it afterward.”
“So you broke in?”
Devine slammed his fist down on the table. “Are you really going down that road?”
“Breaking and entering is a crime, Devine,” Harper said calmly.
Devine struggled to get his temper under control, but the smug look on Harper’s face made it easier. And he’d been grilled by the best of Army CID agents.
“She approved of what I did after the fact, so I don’t see what the problem is. And I thought you were trying to nail me on stealing her rape kit?”
“Why does it have to be just one crime?”
“I’ve committed no crime.”
“Why did you want to look at that evidence file?”
“Because I think whoever killed Jenny also attacked Alex fifteen years ago. I already suggested that theory to you.”
“I don’t agree.”
“You don’t have to. But you didn’t have to drag me in here on some trumped-up charge.”
“The rape kit is missing.”
“Yeah, I know. It was missing when I opened the box. Mildred James knows that, too.”
“No, she looked at the box after you told her it was missing.”
“Why would I take it?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“Why did you look at the box ten years ago? You were the last one to sign it out before I came along.”
“I’m asking the questions here, not you!”
Now Harper was struggling to get his temper under control while Devine gazed at him placidly.
“Answer my question,” demanded Harper.
“I already did. I didn’t take it, so I can’t have a reason why I did. But I am puzzled.”
“About what?”
“Did you have doubts about the case? Did you wonder why it was never solved? Did you wonder why there was never a suspect to match the forensics to?”
“You’re not listening, Devine.”
“Did you take the rape kit?”
“No, I didn’t,” huffed Harper.
“Good, neither did I. I think we can call it a day.”
Harper pointed a finger at him. “You were the last person to access that box.”
“After you did, a long time ago. When you were still a sergeant.”
Harper shifted in his seat and shrugged. “Okay, you’re right. It was unsolved. I wanted to see if something clicked. It was part of my job.”
“Did anything click?”
“No.”
Something occurred to Devine. “Was the rape kit there when you accessed the box?”
Harper didn’t answer right away. “Y-yes.”
“Would you swear to that on the witness stand?” asked a clearly incredulous Devine.
“I’m not on a fucking witness stand,” roared Harper.
“You might be one day,” Devine shot back. “If you push this.”
Harper sat there for a few moments before ending the interview and turning off the recorder. “Get out of here.”
“You read me my rights. Am I being formally charged?”
“We didn’t process you yet, and you haven’t been officially booked or arraigned. But we can pick you up anytime. So much as a parking ticket.”
Devine rose. “I’m not the enemy here.”
“The enemy is who I say it is.”
Devine walked out. In the lobby he saw Mildred James. She looked up at him guiltily. In a low voice she said, “I am so sorry about all this.” Her gaze darted toward the hall where the interview room was. “I know you didn’t take that rape kit. The rear doors are alarmed. You would have had to pass me with it, and you didn’t. It’s not like you could have hidden the dang thing in your pants. I told the chief that.”
“I appreciate that. Well, at least I’m free to go, for now. Where is Sergeant Fuss?”
“She got called out on something.”
He nodded and glanced through the glass partition into Harper’s office. He eyed the line of photos on the wall of former police chiefs he had seen before. As he looked more closely, the picture of the man next to Harper seemed familiar for some reason.
He pointed at it. “Who’s that man? The one who was chief before Harper?”
James glanced at it. “Oh, that’s Benjamin Bing.”
Devine’s jaw dropped. “Bing like in Bing and Sons?”
“Yes, he was the third brother. The other two followed their father and uncle into the funeral business, but Ben became a police officer. Worked his way up to chief. A little too overbearing and full of himself for my tastes. He would grind you up if you made him look bad.”
“What happened to him?”
“He retired and moved to Florida to be with his brothers.”
“Where in Florida?”
“Naples. I saw a picture of the house once. Right on the beach. It was breathtaking.”
“Interesting. Is he still alive?”
“Probably. He’s still young, maybe a year or so older than me. Françoise or her brother might know for sure. Or the chief. He probably keeps in touch. They were tight.”
“Yeah, I bet,” said Devine, who now had a whole new angle to explore.
CHAPTER
47
DEVINE CALLED CAMPBELL AND FILLED him in on his arrest, the missing rape kit, the fact that Benjamin Bing was the police chief when Alex was attacked, and his strong opinion that Françoise Guillaume was lying to him.
“She’s thinking of moving to Charlotte and fed me a bullshit story about losing the money, when her brother was giving her half regardless.”
“So do you think Benjamin Bing took the rape kit? Or Harper?”
“Why leave it there all those years in case it incriminates someone you know? I think Harper was going to look at it for the reasons he said, found the kit missing, and either kept his mouth shut or did speak to Bing and probably got his ass handed to him. We need to find out if Bing is still alive. Jenny came up here to take on some unfinished business and the attacker obviously didn’t like that.”
“And you said you believe Steve and Valerie Palmer saw who the attacker was or at least suspected, and thus they had to die?”
“Yes,” said Devine.
“But why didn’t they report it immediately? You didn’t have an answer to that.”
“The Palmers were going through tough times financially,” Devine said. “After their deaths their house was actually foreclosed on.”
“Why is that significant?”
“You have to understand I have no proof of this, but one possibility is they might have known the rapist and decided to blackmail him to get needed money. But instead of paying, the rapist struck back, hard.”
“And Earl Palmer? I understand why he had to die. If he was forced to lie about finding Jenny’s body, he’s a loose thread. But how did the person get him to pretend to find Jenny’s body in the first place? From all accounts he was an honest man.”
“Maybe they had some dirt on him. If they did, I need to find out what it was.”
“I found something out about Jenny’s activities that might help you,” said Campbell.
“What?”
“She did use her CIA resources to investigate the attack on Alex.”
“How?” exclaimed Devine.
“Satellite surveillance imagery for the night in question.”
“How did that come to be?”
“As you know, we have satellites that sweep the globe around the clock. That particular part of the country is pretty important. The Canadian border is nearby. There are planes coming in from overseas nonstop along that route, and that sector is right along a principal trajectory path for both in- and outbound nuclear missiles. So there were pictures of Putnam, Maine, in the database.”
“How come no one thought of that before?” said Devine.
“I have no idea, but I confess, I didn’t.”
“But why did Jenny wait all this time before checking that angle?”
“I think I know the answer to that. It was only three months ago that she was elevated to a position at CIA where she would have unfettered access to intel like this. Knowing her, she probably tried before, and was rebuffed. But we have the digital trail of her requesting and accessing this data about three weeks ago, from sat pictures taken on the very night Alex was attacked fifteen years ago.”
“They keep that stuff from back then?”
“They keep a lot of stuff forever, Devine. Sometimes it’s patterns people are looking for and then changes to those patterns. And for that you need the context that only time delivers. The U.S. government is the world’s biggest data hoarder when it comes to that.”
“Did the satellite record the actual attack on Alex?”
“No, we weren’t that lucky. It wasn’t positioned in a spot that would show that.”
“What, then?”
“It shows a vehicle traveling away from that location at the time in question. And before you ask, no, there was no license plate shown. Again, it couldn’t be that easy, right?”
“That doesn’t help us much.”
“Ah, but that’s not all it showed. The vehicle passed a car coming the other way. It was around a curve so both vehicles had to slow. The way the other vehicle was positioned it blocked the other car for the most part from the satellite’s cameras. Remember it doesn’t remain static. It keeps roaming.”
“And?” Devine said expectantly.
“And that satellite did capture the plate on the other car.”
“Let me guess—it belonged to Steve and Valerie Palmer.”
“Bingo,” replied Campbell. “And now the blackmail theory you just articulated seems far more plausible.”
“And that means they recognized whoever it was. Which means the attacker was probably local.”
“And still in Putnam if he’s the same person who killed Jenny,” noted Campbell.
“Was there anything on the imagery that can help us identify the other vehicle?”
“Not much, no.”
“Can you send me the imagery?” said Devine.
“Yes. Now one thing puzzled me and I know it puzzles you,” said Campbell.
“What’s that?”
“Jenny and her mother were estranged. So why would Jenny tell Clare what she was planning? About the unfinished business?”
“I can call Clare and ask her,” said Devine.
“I think it better to confront her personally.”
“I can fly down and—”
Campbell interrupted. “You’ve got your hands full up there. It would be counterproductive to pull you away. I’ll meet with her.”
“You sure that’s smart, sir? I know this is personal with you.”
“It is personal, Devine. And it’s also my job. I’ll report back what I find out.”
CHAPTER
48
IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME, Emerson,” said Clare Robards.
It was evening and she and Campbell were sitting in front of a roaring fire, which eased the chill from the old general’s bones.
“Yes, it has been,” he agreed. He studied her for a moment, his thickly tufted eyebrows edging up and down. “Look, people have their opinions, Clare. But it’s your life to lead and no one else’s.”
His words did nothing to lighten the mood of the room. Indeed, Clare’s features grew even more unfriendly.
He noted this and said, “Um, I know that you visit him regularly. That’s good of you.”
She leveled a rigid gaze on him and said in a querulous tone, “Good of me? We were married for a long time, and we had three children together. Do you really think I would simply abandon him, Emerson? Although I guess that’s what people do think. Including you. But Curt also wanted the divorce. We had gone our separate ways. We only stayed married because of his upcoming election.”
“I know,” said Campbell curtly, looking down.
She pressed on. “But you don’t want to believe it, do you? It’s easier to think poorly of me and never bring perfect Curt into the equation. But he was seeing someone, too, did you know that?”
Campbell stiffened and eyed her cautiously. “No, I didn’t.”
“Now she did clear out at the first sign of his declining health. I was already engaged to Vernon by then. I suppose you didn’t know that, either. Or didn’t want to know it.”
Campbell cleared his throat and said, “Well, you have put me in my place by simply asserting the facts, Clare. I’m… I’m sorry. I really am.”
“Thank you,” she said, her cheeks flushing with emotion. It seemed that Campbell’s last words had finally mollified her. “Now, how can I help you?”
“Agent Devine reported that you told him that Jenny had informed you about her trip to Maine. And that it was for some unfinished business.”
“Yes, that’s right. I… I told him that she called me. But… she actually came in person to visit me here. We sat in this room together.” Her gaze swept across the library and the pain associated with the loss of her eldest child became starkly etched in the woman’s features. “I had no idea it would be the last time I would see… Jenny.”
“I apologize if my questions are causing you pain.”
“They can cause me any level of pain so long as whoever killed Jenny is arrested and punished,” Robards cried out.
Campbell waited a few moments before continuing. “I knew that you and Jenny were estranged. So it was curious that she—”
