Payback in Paxton Park, page 3
part #4 of Paxton Park Mystery Series
When Justice jumped onto Jack’s lap and purred, he chuckled. “The cat likes my ideas.”
“I do, too,” Shelly said. “They make a lot of sense.”
“Has Jay asked you to help out?”
Giving a quick nod, Shelly said, “She asked me to go with her to speak with Grant’s wife, Emmy, tomorrow. I am not looking forward to that. Just thinking about going to see that poor woman sends anxiety rushing through my veins.”
“It’ll be okay. Jay will do most of the talking,” Jack said reassuringly.
Shelly fiddled with her napkin. “It seems like such an invasion of the woman’s privacy. It seems like such an intrusion into her grief.”
“It will be awkward, for sure, but Grant’s wife will want his killer brought to justice,” Jack said. “She’ll be glad law enforcement is working hard to solve the case. She’ll want to help any way she can.”
“You’re right,” Shelly nodded as she stood to clear the dinner plates. “But I still don’t want to go. I’m glad the meeting is not first thing in the morning.” Putting the kettle on the burner for tea, Shelly removed some mugs from the cabinet and carried a platter of brownies to the table just as her phone buzzed with a text.
After reading the message and lifting her eyes to Jack, her expression was one of dread. “It’s Jay. She wants me to go with her to see Troy Broadmoor.”
“Tomorrow?”
With a sinking heart, Shelly shook her head. “Now.”
Shelly went to her room to get dressed with Justice’s green eyes watching her every move.
Jack hugged his girlfriend at the front door and warmed her heart with his words. “Justice and I will watch a movie. We’ll be here waiting for you when you get back.”
In the Broadmoor’s living room, Jay and Shelly sat opposite Troy and his wife, Roberta. Troy was a mess. The rims of his eyes were bright red and the whites were bloodshot. The man was tall, athletic, and strong, but now looked shrunken as though he’d lost ten pounds since the morning. He’d always impressed Shelly as being capable and calm. Now he sat wringing his hands together as his eyes darted nervously around the room.
Roberta’s face was drawn and worried watching her husband disintegrate right in front of her.
Although Jay had spoken with Troy earlier in the day, Roberta had called her in a panic at Troy’s rapid downhill slide.
“Tell us how you’re doing,” Jay asked the man with a gentle tone.
Troy’s gaze fell on Jay for a half-second before flicking away. “I’m okay.” The voice was at half its normal volume and had a hoarse quality to it.
“Have you spoken with your doctor?” Jay asked.
“Not yet.”
“He refused to go.” Roberta gave her husband a worried look. “I thought Troy should have a chat with his doctor. The day has been awful. It’s important to talk to someone. You can’t handle something like this by being stoic.”
“I can’t believe they’re dead,” Troy whispered. “How did it happen? Why were they killed?” The man turned to Jay. “It was a robbery, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. They attempted to steal the safe.”
“Did Grant and Benny try to stop them? Is that what happened?”
“We’re still looking into what happened,” Jay assured him.
“I overslept,” Troy muttered. “I didn’t get to work on time. If I’d been there when I was supposed to be….” His voice trailed off.
“It’s a good thing you weren’t there. You might have been caught in the middle of it all.” Jay chose her words carefully making sure not to say you might have been killed, too.
“Did you see anyone leaving the building when you arrived at work?” Shelly asked.
Troy’s eyes were like lasers. “No.”
“A car? Any kind of vehicle parked near the building?”
“No car. Nothing. At least, I didn’t notice anything.”
“Weren’t the men supposed to be out grooming the trails at that time?” Shelly asked.
Jay said, “We believe Benny and Grant were having trouble with a piece of equipment and drove it back for maintenance. It was parked out back behind the building.”
“I didn’t notice it,” Troy said. “I didn’t see it.”
“Did you hear anything when you went inside?” Shelly questioned. “Any noises? Did anything sound out of the ordinary?”
Troy’s brow furrowed. “Sounds? No, nothing.”
“Can you tell us again what happened when you went inside?” Jay asked.
Troy took in a long, deep breath. “I went inside. I headed for the break room to get a pot of coffee going. I’m usually the first one in, but I was late. It was … quiet.”
“Are other employees usually at work by the time you get there?” Shelly questioned.
“The maintenance guys are in first and they go out right away to take care of the slopes so they’ll be ready when the park opens. Shannon is at her desk by that time, but she was out sick today. Mike comes in a little later.”
“Mike?” Shelly asked.
“Maintenance and communication,” Jay said.
“What does Shannon do?”
“She does accounts receivable and bookkeeping,” Troy said.
Shelly made eye contact with Troy. “Did anything seem wrong this morning?”
“No,” Troy used a forceful tone. “I didn’t think anything was wrong. I made a cup of coffee and headed to my office.” He stopped, cleared his throat. His breathing rate picked up.
Troy raised a shaky hand and then let it fall into his lap as a look of confusion washed over his face. “They were on the floor.” The man stared at Jay and raised his voice as if that would alter the course of what happened early that day. “They were on the floor.”
“Yes,” Jay nodded slowly. “I’m very sorry.”
“I didn’t see anything,” Troy returned to muttering, his voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t see anything.”
Shelly watched the man closely. Why did he keep saying that?
5
Snowflakes drifted lazily down over the mountainside and the early morning light filtered through the evergreen trees. At any other time, Shelly would have marveled at the natural beauty, but not at that moment.
Walking from the resort’s main building, around the side, and up the hill near the ski slopes, Shelly and Juliet trudged along behind Jay, Detective Andrew Walton, and his cousin, Officer Porter Walton, as the group headed for the maintenance offices. Yellow crime scene tape surrounded the barn and flapped whenever a breeze came up.
Andrew had been trying to banter with the young women, but Shelly and Juliet, feeling anxious and uncomfortable, gave him short replies and forced smiles.
“I’m still not clear why you two are joining us today,” Andrew said.
“I explained the reason to you.” Jay sounded long-suffering. “Which part of my explanation did you have trouble understanding?”
“Neither one of them is with law enforcement,” Andrew said.
“Shelly is a hired consultant,” Jay corrected. “And my sister is here to assist me by taking notes ... at no charge to the department.”
“But they don’t have any experience,” Andrew persisted. He turned to the young women. “Do you?”
Before Shelly or Juliet could reply, Jay answered the question. “They have the necessary experience and have worked with me on previous cases.”
Andrew chortled. “What are they? Psychics or something?”
Jay gave the man a death stare. “The five of us are working together here this morning. If you feel uncomfortable, you are free to ask for reassignment.”
Porter walked along quietly, but he gave Shelly and Juliet an empathetic smile.
“So.” Jay’s eyes traveled over every inch of the front of the building and after a few minutes, she lifted the yellow tape. “Shall we?”
Andrew unlocked the front door and pushed it open for everyone to enter. The heat had been turned down and the chill, empty air surrounded the group as they stepped inside.
Even though it wasn’t really that cold in the main office space, Shelly couldn’t help but shiver.
Juliet slipped off her gloves, pulled a tablet from her bag, and began taking notes.
“I’ll run-through the timeline, as we know it right now.” Jay lowered the zipper on her heavy, winter coat. “Benny and Grant arrived in the employee parking lot around the same time. They stopped to talk with another resort employee. That employee reported he saw the two men follow the walkway on their way up to the maintenance offices. The employee also reported the men were their usual talkative, cheerful selves. Their lunch containers were in the break room refrigerator so we know they came in here.”
Jay walked slowly around the room while Andrew and Porter glanced at the items and papers on top of the desks. Shelly and Juliet stood near the entrance, watching and listening to Jay as she continued the story.
“Grant and Benny were seen on the slopes in the grooming vehicle doing what they do first thing every morning. The assumption is the machine was not working properly so the men returned to the maintenance area, parked it, and went inside the barn where the robbery was taking place. Troy Broadmoor was late that morning and the bookkeeper was out sick.”
“Lucky for them,” Andrew noted. “Or we’d have four dead people on our hands.”
“The other workers weren’t scheduled to begin their shifts until thirty minutes to an hour after Troy discovered the bodies,” Jay added. “The crime scene investigators were here all day yesterday and into the night. They’ll be returning in about forty-five minutes. Let’s look around in here and then go outside to walk the grounds. There are lots of footprints in the snow from yesterday’s investigation, but I thought it would be helpful if we came this morning to have a little time without a horde of law enforcement personnel bumping into one another.”
When everyone began moving through the building’s various rooms, Porter sidled up to Shelly and Juliet.
“My cousin can be a little abrasive, but he’s an excellent detective.”
Shelly didn’t want to share her views on Andrew with Porter so she gave the man a nod and moved into the kitchen-break room.
Juliet tapped at the screen of her tablet.
“You help your sister with administrative duties?” Porter asked.
“When she needs me, I step in, if I can. I work full-time for the resort as an adventure guide and instructor and my hours are irregular so sometimes I can help out.”
“And the other woman, Shelly? She’s a consultant?”
Juliet looked up from her notes. “She works as a baker for the resort on a part-time basis. She has some skills the police department finds useful so they ask her to step in on occasion.”
“Has she worked previously in law enforcement?” Porter asked.
Juliet fibbed. “I don’t know her work history.”
“Is she ex-military?”
“I’m not sure of her background. Why not ask her?” Juliet smiled and moved away from the officer.
Walking slowly around the kitchen and breakroom, Shelly ran her hand over the tabletop where the workers ate and gathered, and her fingers touched some tiny crumbs left behind from previous days.
She opened the refrigerator to see a carton of milk, a piece of cake wrapped in cellophane, some yogurt containers, and a couple of bottles of salad dressing.
A brown lunch bag sat on the fridge shelf with the word Benny scrawled on it. Shelly’s heart squeezed. Before closing the door, she noticed a black metal lunch box shoved to the side and wondered if it belonged to Grant.
Reaching for it, she stopped when Juliet spoke to her from the entrance to the kitchen. “I’m going to Troy’s office. Will you come with me?”
It was the last place Shelly wanted to see, but she gave a nod and closed the refrigerator door.
Andrew squatted down in the corner near the spot where the safe stood and he looked up briefly when he heard the young women’s footsteps and then returned to photographing the now mutilated cement floor with his phone.
Shelly and Juliet stationed themselves by the door just inside the room and glanced around without advancing any further into the office. Their eyes were drawn to the blood that had dried in thin puddles on the floor.
The room seemed close and stifling and Shelly wanted to flee, but she stood still not wanting to appear unable to handle the investigation. Averting her gaze from the blood, she let her eyes roam around the room.
A metal toolbox was overturned on the tiles with some of the contents spilling out. Small chunks of cement littered the floor from the previous morning’s chiseling and attempted removal of the safe, and Shelly noticed something shiny under the baseboard on the far wall. It looked like a coin had rolled there or maybe a nail from the toolbox had been kicked across the floor.
“What do you think happened?” Juliet addressed the question to Andrew. “Did the men hear a noise in here and came to see what was going on?”
Andrew leaned back on his heels. “That could be how the deceased ended up in here … or the thief or thieves heard the men come into the building and went out to the main room to meet them. The guys were herded back here and….” The detective’s voice trailed off and he shrugged. “Have you seen Porter?”
Juliet said, “He was in the main room with me for a bit. I haven’t seen him for a while.”
“I’ll find him.” Andrew stood and left the office and as soon as he was gone, Shelly let out a long breath, leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes. “I’m glad he’s gone. I didn’t want him to see how shook up I am.”
“Are you okay?” Juliet gently touched her friend’s arm. “Do you want to go outside?”
“I’ll be fine. I just need a few seconds to collect myself. The images of the dead men on the floor in here keeps flashing through my mind. I wish I hadn’t seen it.”
“Come on.” Juliet lightly tugged on Shelly’s jacket. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll go outside and look around. I’ve had enough of this building.”
As they passed the kitchen-breakroom, Shelly took a quick look inside and a strange feeling came over her causing her to quicken her pace to hurry after Juliet.
Stepping out into the cold, refreshing air, Shelly took several deep breaths and tried to relax her tensed muscles by stretching her arms out behind her. “I felt like a caged animal in there,” she confided to her friend. “I’d like to go for a run or a long bike ride to let out my nervous energy.”
“Maybe we can do something later in the day.” Juliet glanced around for Jay.
Shelly pointed. “There are footprints in the new snow. She must be out back.”
When they rounded the corner of the building, they spotted Jay standing at the edge of the fir trees.
“What are you looking at?” Juliet asked.
Jay didn’t turn, only pointed between the evergreens. “One of the fire roads is right over there. Someone could have driven up and left a vehicle parked on the road.”
“You think the robber came this way?” Shelly asked. “Approached the maintenance building through these trees?”
“It seems the smartest way to come at it. When they get here, I’ll speak with the investigators about the road. I’d bet some money they’re thinking the same thing I’m thinking.”
“Maybe they spotted some tire marks,” Shelly’s tone was hopeful.
“We didn’t have fresh snow the night before. There might have been multiple old tracks from vehicles, hikers, fat bikes. It will be hard to sort it all out,” Jay said.
Looking down the hill towards the resort and then back to the work building, Shelly asked, “Are there security cameras anywhere?”
“There’s one at the back of the building facing the small lot where the trail-groomers and snow removal vehicles are kept.” Jay gestured in the direction of the camera. “The investigators took the tape last night. My guess is either the camera doesn’t work or the images will show nothing. The robber doesn’t strike me as a dummy. He wouldn’t park in the lot and waltz over here like he’s on holiday. This guy, or guys, they’re smart.”
“Great,” Juliet groaned.
“We’ll just have to be smarter,” Jay said with conviction.
6
Thirty-year-old Emmy Norris had bleached blond, shoulder-length hair and the bluest eyes Shelly had ever seen. The woman was very slender, but she did not have the look of a runner or an athlete. The whites of her eyes were bloodshot and her grief made the muscles of her face look loose and rubbery. A small white dog sat on Emmy’s lap and its dark round eyes scanned with interest the people sitting on the sofa across from her.
Jay did the introductions and expressed condolences to the woman.
Shelly and Emmy had met several times at some resort activities, but had never spoken at length.
Emmy squeezed a disintegrating tissue, swallowed hard, and nodded. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without Grant’s salary. I know it’s a terrible thing to be thinking about, but I’m so worried about it. Between that and Grant being gone, I can’t sleep at night. I toss and turn and cry and then toss and turn some more.”
“Do you have family nearby?” Jay asked gently.
“No, but my sister is coming from New Jersey. She’ll be here tomorrow.” Emmy dabbed at her eyes.
Shelly sat on one side of Jay and Officer Porter Walton sat on the other.
Porter said, “Make an appointment with the resort’s human resources department. They can review any benefits or compensation you might be due because of the loss of your husband.”
“Oh, okay.” Emmy blinked. Shelly wasn’t sure if the woman would remember to contact human resources and hoped Jay would follow-up to make certain Emmy didn’t forget.
“How was Grant lately?” Jay asked. “Did he seem like anything was bothering him?”
When Emmy took in a long breath, her lips trembled slightly. “He was his usual self. Nothing seemed wrong.” Looking down at her hands, she said softly, “We had a little fight before he went to work yesterday. I feel really bad about it.”
