Hannah winced as she shot forward. “You have no right to ask these types of questions.”
“My wife is right. I don’t see the point, Detective. Just what are you inferring?”
Vargas said, “Agent Haines thought it was possible that someone may have been embezzling money from the church. The scheme may have been discovered, and to cover it up, he or she had to resort to killing.”
Hannah narrowed her eyes as Booth said, “This sounds like a Hollywood movie.”
I said, “Who handles the finances for the church?”
Booth said, “It’s my responsibility to safeguard the resources we receive, and I take it very seriously. The thought someone might steal from us, steal from God, is impossible to comprehend.”
Was he really that ignorant, or was something going on here? We’d have to nose around before we pushed him any further. “Does anyone help you manage the resources; maybe your wife?”
“Hannah has enough to do around here, but thank God for Ronnie Sales. He’s very good with numbers.”
I’d arrested quite a few mathemagicians when I was up in Jersey and asked, “Who receives the statements from the bank?”
“We get them here, at the office.”
“Do you review them before anyone else, before Mr. Sales sees them?”
“The seminary stressed, no, actually drilled it into us, the importance of independent verification. In fact, I check our account activity almost daily online.”
Vargas said, “That’s good. You can never be careful enough these days.”
We’d been asking questions for ten minutes, and Hannah had barely spoken. It was time to change that. I nodded at Vargas and said, “Mrs. Booth, I’d like you to explain something to me. Forensics recovered a couple of strands of hair from Shaun Parker’s body the night he was found dead.” As I reached for the report Vargas had dug out of her folio, Hannah shifted her shapely legs.
I flicked the report with my fingertip and said, “This lab report conclusively identifies the hair found on Parker’s body as Hannah Booth’s.”
Minister Booth’s eyes bulged. “What? Are you certain?”
“Absolutely certain. Mrs. Booth, can you explain how that came to be?”
“I have no idea.”
“You’re going to have to do better than that.”
Hannah crossed her arms. “I honestly don’t know. Maybe he picked up a strand of my hair from working here.”
Vargas said, “Were you working with Shaun Parker on the day he was found dead?”
Hannah paused and shook her head. “No, no I don’t think so.”
“What about the days immediately preceding his death?”
“I could have, but I don’t think so.”
“Did you sit in his chair, or did he sit in yours?”
“I don’t know if he sat in mine, but I didn’t sit in his.”
“Did you ride in his vehicle?”
“No.”
“Was he in your vehicle?”
“No.”
I said, “Did you visit Shaun Parker’s home?”
“No.”
“I’m sorry for having to ask this, Minister, but Hannah, were you having an affair with Shaun Parker?”
“Are you crazy?”
Minister Booth stood up. “I’m afraid I can’t allow this to go any further, Detective. If you have further questions I’m going to have to refer you to our attorney, Marcus Knight.”
Chapter 26
The sheriff’s door finally opened, and after a stream of stern-faced officials came out, the door slammed shut. I hated following bad news and wished that Vargas were here. I was about to run to the bathroom when his secretary told me it was okay go in.
I rapped a knuckle on the door and entered. Chester was behind his desk, sleeves rolled up and red tie untied. Was it me, or was it stuffy in here again? I was no fan of keeping the air-conditioning low, but there’d be mold growing if he kept this up.
“Sir?”
“Take a seat, Luca.”
“Sorry to hear about the Grey Oaks burglaries. Is there anything I can do to help?”
He shook his head. “You just concentrate on these killings, nothing else. you hear me? Delivering my report to the commission this morning, the only thing they asked about was this damn case. So, make sure you stay focused on it.”
“Absolutely. But before we move on, I think you’ve got to look at these burglaries as an inside job. I mean seven houses, and I understand these guys took their time. Jacking a safe out of concrete is not a quick thing.”
“Exactly how I feel. It’s either the gate guards or the landscapers.”
“Probably. Don’t forget to look at the pest companies; they know who’s around.”
“They won’t get far. Where're they going to fence all this high-end jewelry?”
“It’ll be tough.” I didn’t want to depress him, so I kept quiet about a ring I’d run into in Jersey that fenced goods through an overseas network. The pundits were right for once; the world we lived in was truly global.
“I’m glad you had the sense to call. As you can imagine, Minister Booth called and then his attorney.” Chester reached for a blue Post-it. “some fellow, Marcus Knight, with a British accent. What transpired?”
“We went easy with them, trying to explore the money aspect of the case. We know they borrowed a million and that there’s only two of them, the minister included, handling the church’s finances. We didn’t push it too hard. Without more data about their finances, it’s going to be difficult to pursue that line.”
“And you want me to do what?”
“Honestly, sir.” I paused when I realized I used the ‘H’ word. “I didn’t come here to ask for anything, but maybe you could ask FCU to dig into this.”
Chester made a note but only said, “What about the hairs?”
“When we confronted her with the fact the hair found on Shaun Parker was hers, she claimed she didn’t know how it got there. She said she wasn’t with Parker on the day he was found, blah, blah, blah. The minister blew a fit when I asked if she was having an affair with Parker.”
“What’s your intuition telling you?”
I didn’t want to tell him that lately my intuition was as reliable as a Rolex bought on the streets of Shanghai. “I’ll be honest, Sheriff.” Man, I must be losing it—the H word again. “Something about this Hannah Booth is off. She was weird the day we first met, and this hair on a victim is a striking piece of evidence, but it could be that she was having an affair with Parker. Other than the fact she misled us about Chapman, we don’t have much to go on.”
“Perhaps she was having affairs with all the victims.”
It was an interesting angle, but though she had some nice lines, I couldn’t imagine, or maybe I could. “That’s a possibility, and one that would explain a deeper relationship to the vics above and beyond the church connection.”
“She’s the only one with physical evidence tying her to a body.”
“We need more info, but it’s slow going. The only way to speed this up would be to drag in others who work at the church and see if they’ll reveal if any cheating was going on. Or we could do a physical search and see what comes up.”
“A search of her house and office?”
“I think if it’s an affair, we need to see if we can link her to the other victims.”
“If we can limit it to a search of the church’s office, and recreational, or social areas, I’ll consider going to the DA. We have to respect all their religious space, or we’ll be skewered in the press. If we find something on her there, we won’t have to worry about blowback from the public.”
It was a ballsy call. Almost too shocked to speak, I spit out, “Uhm, uh sure, no problem. a search would certainly help . . . clear things up.”
“I’ll have to think this over before I decide. It’s a sensitive matter. Religious institutions play a huge role in
the South. The Spirit of Fellowship has a large parishioner population and does good work, I’m told.”
“I understand, sir, we’d do this delicately with a small force—”
“Stop trying to convince me, Luca. I said I’d consider it. In the meantime, I expect you to keep this confidential. No one, not even your partner, should be informed about it.”
Chapter 27
No Maybelline girl, my ex-wife used to drive an hour to North Jersey to get her makeup. Her Swiss makeup was expensive, so going with Mary Ann to Waterside for her cosmetics was nothing.
It was another thing I liked about Mary Ann. She shopped like a man—go to a store for what you needed, buy it, and leave—no lingering around, paging through racks of clothes you didn’t need nor come to buy.
After making her purchase, we grabbed seats at Brio’s bar, which was hot and empty. A bank of fans played havoc with my napkin but made it comfortable. We ordered glasses of Riesling to go with Mary Ann’s kale salad and my grilled mahi-mahi. After clinking glasses, I took a sip of wine. It was ice-cold and refreshing. I pecked her cheek, and we made small talk.
A bartender delivering our food interrupted my study of Mary Ann’s neckline.
Swallowing my first forkful of mahi, Mary Ann pointed to a TV. “Uh-oh. Take a look at that.”
Several dozen people, some with signs, were chanting in front of The Spirit of Fellowship Church. A reporter from WINK News was speaking to Nick Santangelo. Scrolling across the TV was the closed-captioned conversation. “We believe our church and leadership are being unfairly targeted by the sheriff’s department. Not one shred of evidence implicating anyone has been produced. Yet they continue to harass Minister Booth and his wife.”
My fork clattered onto the bar. “Shit, it’s going to be impossible now.”
“What’s impossible?”
I kept my eyes on the TV. “Uh, nothing. You know everything.”
“Frank, what are you talking about?”
The segment was still playing. How much time were they going to give this? “Nothing. I meant, you know, investigating anyone at the church.”
“Frank, you remember what we said about being truthful with each other?”
Suddenly, there was my mother, bending down with a finger in my face. “I . . . the sheriff said not to say anything to anyone.”
“I certainly hope I’m not just anyone.”
Man, did I want to get back to my mahi. “Of course, you’re not. Look, why don’t we finish dinner and talk later.”
She pushed her plate away. “I’m not hungry.”
Jesus Christ! Is she kidding me? “But you didn’t eat anything.”
“Look, if we can’t trust each other, we’ve got nothing.”
“No doubt, and I do trust you, it’s just that the sheriff—”
“You mean the guy whose direct order you disobeyed? Spare me the loyalty bullshit, Frank.”
She should have been a lawyer. I dragged her plate back and said, “Okay, okay. You’re right. I’ll tell you, but it had nothing to do with you. I was trying to—”
“Fess up, Frank.”
Lowering my voice, I told her about the possibility Chester would get us a subpoena.
“I can’t imagine Chester doing that.” She pointed to the TV.
“Maybe, but we’ve ID’d her hair, and I know the pressure is mounting on him.”
“I still don’t think he’s gonna go for it.”
I wanted to tell her she was wrong, but my night was riding on it, so I just shrugged. Wanting a happy ending to our date tonight, I told the bartender to get us each another glass of wine.
***
Sprawled out on Vargas’s couch, I complained the movie playing was too predictable and grabbed the remote. Flicking through channels, a news report on WINK caught my eye. It was the story on The Spirit of Fellowship Church. I watched what was basically a repeat of what we had seen at Brio and was about to click to another channel when the newscaster began reading a statement from the sheriff’s office,
“The sheriff’s office denies it is targeting the church or Minister Booth and his wife. While we respect the privacy of The Spirit of Fellowship Church and the rights of all religious institutions to practice their beliefs, we are charged with protecting the safety of all Collier County citizens. If we fail to follow the evidence linking members of the church to the so-called Aquatic Assassin we’d be derelict in our duties.”
I sat up. “You see, Mary Ann, I told you, he’s gonna get the subpoena. Chester finally grew some balls.”
“He had to issue that statement. No way he can let a protest intimidate him.”
“I think it’s more than that. Chester thinks Hannah is involved.”
“He said that?”
“Not directly, but that was the vibe I was getting from him.”
“Another hunch, Frank?”
“Just a feeling, that’s all. Maybe we’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Put on American Idol. I wanna see if the girl with the tattoos made it through.”
“Yeah right, you just wanna see that country hick you like, Luke Bryan.”
Vargas gave me a barefoot kick as a text came in on my phone. I put Idol on and checked my cell. It was a text from Kayla.
“Where you going?”
“Time for a leak.”
I sat on the bowl and opened the message: ‘Hi Frank. I hope everything is going good for you. Sorry I haven’t been in touch, but I’ve had a lot going on. I’ll tell you when I see you. I’m coming to Naples in two weeks and would love to see you.’
My heart didn’t skip a beat, but something ran up my chest. I read it again and debated deleting it.
Chapter 28
Peeling off my suit, I lay on the cabana’s bed knowing I had to answer Kayla’s text. Well, I really didn’t have to—I wanted to. It was dangerous, but Kayla was different, and we never got the chance to see what would happen. What would happen? What’s wrong with you, Luca? You had two dates, that’s it.
The rain began to beat on the window as I got dressed. I was supposed to meet a buddy for a burger and, without a garage, was gonna get soaked getting to my car. Down on my knees, I pulled a plastic bin from under the bed and rooted through it for my purple polo shirt. Banging my knee, I cursed the size of the cabana. How long could I stay in this shoebox?
I gotta call that Realtor and check out the place she mentioned. I didn’t want to part with my savings, but what the hell? Putting it in the stock market was no sure thing.
Peering through the blinds, the rain intensified. Pulling my phone out, I tapped a text to Kayla, telling her to let me know when she was in town. Then I left a message for the Realtor to see if I could get in to see that house.
***
I was sitting at the bar in the La Moraga when a call from Sheriff Chester came in. I threw a ten on the bar and answered the call as I headed to the door.
“This is Detective Luca.”
“You got a minute, Frank?”
Pushing through the doors, I said, “Absolutely. What’s up, sir?”
“Just got a call from Agent Haines, said it was a courtesy call. They’re executing a search warrant on The Spirit of Fellowship Church.”
“What? When?”
“They’re at the church now. They went to the Middle District Federal Court in Fort Myers.”
I walked into the rain and turned around. “Based on what?”
“They received a call on their hotline about a gun in Hannah Booth’s office. It was anonymous; guy said he worked at the church.”
“I wonder why he called the FBI instead of us? You think the Feds are being straight with us?”
“Frankly, I’m not sure at this point. At least we don’t have to worry about a backlash from the public. They come up empty, and I’ll make damn sure everyone knows it was the Feds who conducted it.”
“They going to take this away from us?”
“I don’t know. Let’s see what, if anything, they find.”
“I’m gonna take a run up there; see what’s going on.”
“No, Frank. I don’t want a picture of any of us ending up in the papers. Haines said he’d call when they were done.”
“I’m heading into the office.”
“It’s not necessary. I’ll let you know when they’re done.”
“I’m going anyway. I won’t be able to do anything else with this hanging out there.”
“It’s your call, Frank.”
“And, sir, I appreciate the heads-up.”
I put my hands over my head and ran to my car.
***
Vargas had brought me in a sandwich, and I was wolfing it down when Chester called. Listening, I dropped the sandwich on its wrapper and hung up.
“Chester said the Feds found a gun in Hannah’s office. He’s on the way in. Haines is bringing the gun in.”
“They’re going to turn it over to us?”
“Didn’t say that, but maybe they want to test it here instead of running it up to Fort Myers.”
“I don’t know. That doesn’t make sense. They never trust the local labs, and theirs is only a half hour away.”
“We have a good lab here, and Haines knows it. Who knows, maybe they’re really only doing an assist here.”
“I think Chester orchestrated the entire thing, Frank.”
“You think so?”
“He needed cover, and using the Feds, he’s got it. Don’t forget, he’s publicly elected.”
“What do you make about the call to the tip line?”
“I don’t think they’d fabricate that. It probably came in, and Haines told Chester, who suggested the Feds go in.”
It made sense, but would Chester really lie to me? I tossed it around a second when what Vargas said echoed in my ear: ‘he was an elected official.’ Chester was a politician. Of course, he lied.
***
Haines handed the Colt .45 to a technician. “I hope this helps you guys solve the case, Frank.”
Help me? I wanted to body slam Haines.
Vargas moved between Haines and me, saying, “Let’s see where this leads.”
Third Chances Page 11
