by Keene, Susan
“We can put that off until after the people in question are in custody.”
I stood and stretched. “I feel like two gals who just won the lottery and are dreaming about what to do with the money.”
I walked to the printer. Chili wanted me to pick her up. I kept telling her to wait a minute. I couldn't take my eyes off the paper the computer spit out. After the third reading I leaned back in my chair and read it out loud.
Mrs. Martha Caulfield, 1918 Moss Land Drive, Chicago, was found dead in her home on July 11, 2009. Mrs. Caulfield's daughter called local police for a wellness visit when her mother didn't answer the door. Mrs. Caulfield, age 91, died of natural causes.
Amy stood behind me to read over my shoulder. “Who was the so called neighbor who talked to you and Ryan?”
“I have no idea, but how did she know we were coming to visit and why did she go to so much trouble to lie to us? “
Amy perched on the corner of my desk. “When I was with the police force up there, I had a good friend, Stan Russell. I'll call and see if he’ll go over to the house and see what he can find out.”
“Oh, Amy, do you think he will go?”
“Sure, I do. If you'll take the dogs out to potty, I'll give him a call now.”
“So, he is the sort of friend you don't want to talk to with me in the room.” Her face turned the color of the red tank top she wore. “Come on, guys,” I said to all four dogs. “Let's give Miss Secretive some privacy.”
Digger, Chili, and Axel walked to me and began to follow. Sally, on the other hand, went to Amy and sat in a heel position and waited. “She won't leave me. I'll meet you outside after I talk to Stan.”
I gave her a bigger smile and went off with my parade of canine.
When Amy and Sally joined us, Sally waited for the command to go romp with the other dogs. Romp might not have been the correct word. Axel laid stretched on his side. Digger and Chili took turns walking over him. He didn't twitch an ear.
“Stan says he's off today and will drive over and look. It will take him a couple of hours, his wife is having an ultrasound, and he doesn't want to miss the first view of baby number two.
“Meanwhile, I didn't get a chance to tell you what I found. Eric Tucker had three partners. They shared in everything equally. Before the family left for their vacation, he sold his share to the other three for $1.4 million and had the money sent to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands.
“I have no way of finding out whose name the account is in.
“None of the other doctors had anything bad to say about him. The staff at the practice said they were all shocked to find out Dr. Tucker was leaving the practice. He gave no concrete reason why. He let them believe he wanted to retire and spend time with his family. No one had reason to question him.”
“Wow. This changes everything. Where did you get the information?”
We were back in the office which we decided to name, The Tomb, because on the inside it was as quiet as one. “This time instead of talking to the general employees, I talked to his Physician’s Assistant and his nurse of seventeen years. It must have been a secret because until the day he left, everyone but the partners believed he would be back in a few months.
“The amount of money he received from his liquidation was filed in court. I searched it on public records.”
“I don’t know, Amy; I think we have been barking up the wrong tree. It certainly doesn’t sound as if he planned to go home after his vacation.”
“I know. I’ve put everything we know about Sharon Tucker in the computers. They are working on it now.”
Amy’s phone rang. “Hi Stan, what did you find out?” She began to take notes and after her initial question, all Kate heard was, Huh, really, no kidding, amazing, Mr. Nelson, ok, got it, thanks.” She swiveled her chair toward me. “This just keeps getting better and better. Mr. Nelson, the neighbor two doors down bought the Tuckers’ home before they left. What was important to them and the kids, they put in a storage locker and paid two years rent.
“Mr. Homer Nelson made the house into an AIRBNB. The lady who greeted you as Martha Caulfield rented the house for three nights. He can’t tell us anything more about her other than her name, if it is her real name. She paid the rent and fees in cash.”
“Stan said the owner showed him the paperwork on her stay and the driver’s license and passport. Her name is Christine Hampton, age 45, her address is listed as Ashland, Texas.”
My phone rang, it was Ryan. “There is a play tonight in Webster Groves, Shakespeare in the Park Series. The program is Rent. I thought since the nights have been so cool, we could grab a couple of lawn chairs and go.”
This would be tough. My head had been wrapped around the case for months. We’d had no normal life and I knew it would lift his spirits. I wanted nothing more than to stay where I was and keep going now that the floodgates started to open. I took a deep breath. “Sounds like fun. I assume it’s casual. What about Axel and Chili? Is it a picnic sort of thing? Do I need to fix something? Okay, what time is it now? My goodness, I’ll stop what I’m doing and get dressed. See you in a few.”
A minute after I hung up Nathan called Amy. I leaned back in my chair, crossed my arms, and listened to an almost exact conversation as the one I had with Ryan.
She stood. “No use going over this with you. I’d better get these dogs home, shower, feed them, and be excited about this evening when Nathan gets home. I’ll see you at six-thirty at the Root Beer Stand.”
The dogs and I walked her to her car and waved goodbye. The things I did for love. Then I chastised myself. I had everything a woman could want and a loving husband. I should never make light of it.
I went in, locked the front door behind me and fed the dogs in the kitchen. They followed me upstairs while I picked out a peach colored tee with a scoop neck and a pair of teal Capri’s with flowers the color of my shirt.
Axel lay outside the bathroom door as I showered.
The next voice I heard was Ryan’s. “Are you almost done in there or can I join you?”
I stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in two spa towels, one around my body and another around my head. “Ten minutes earlier and this would all have turned out differently.”
He laughed and glanced over his shoulder at the bedside clock. He looked back to me, smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry I didn’t call sooner. Michael White dropped by with the tickets and looked as though he would be offended if we didn’t take him up on it. His wife plays Maureen.”
I walked over and kissed him. “It sounds like fun. You’d better get ready. We need to meet Amy and Nathan in an hour.”
One of Ryan’s men had four chairs set up for us when we arrived. We got some odd looks when Axel and Sally walked beside us. No one saw the little guys. They were in their carriers during the entire performance.
No one offered to pet the two big dogs. Without being told, one of them laid behind the chairs and faced away from the stage. The other one lay in front of the chairs facing the stage. After the first act, I relaxed. Unless someone hunted us with a long-range sniper rifle, no one could hurt us. I wondered if the other playgoers noticed the men strategically placed around the park, in dark suits and bulges under their jackets.
I didn’t realize how much we needed a night out without the Tuckers following us. By the time we left the park, we were relaxed and chatting about how much Amy and Nathan enjoyed their yard and outside in general.
Amy had a baby bump and Nathan took care of her as though she would break. We were all in a hurry to go to our own homes. We said our good-byes in the parking lot. I realized on the way home I held my breath. Ryan broke my train of thought. “A penny for your thoughts.”
“Nothing really. I keep waiting for something to happen. It’s been a long time since we had a non-eventful evening.”
“Kate don’t jinx it. A lot has to do with the new dogs.” He laughed before he said, “Did you see the other people walk around
us in a circle much bigger than needed to stay away from them? I don’t know which one they fear the most, to me, Sally looks the most ferocious.”
“I wouldn’t want either one of them mad at me.”
We pulled into the garage and Ryan unlocked the kitchen door. Axel went in, and after a few minutes, he came back to us, sat, and barked one time, indicating the house was secure.
I smiled. I loved it.
The Tent Theater Event made for an early evening. We were home, sitting around in comfy clothes with a glass of wine by ten. It felt good to have nothing to do for a few hours.
Ryan caught me up on his work. “I would like to utilize a few drones. There’s a place in Manitoba called The Sky Spies. I want to go up next week, meet them and make sure I know what I’m doing.”
“Does that mean you will replace men with drones?”
“Kate, you know I wouldn’t do that. It’s a safety net for my guys. Last week, two men sneaked in the lot at Can Co Pharmacy Distribution. James and Benny did a great job stopping them, but spent two hours chasing them down, waiting for the police to arrive and get back to their posts. It left the warehouse unguarded.
“A drone could have tracked the thief and know exactly where he was when the police arrived. The men don’t wear uniforms and I’m always afraid one could get shot.
“Would you like to go to Canada with me?”
I moved closer to him which isn’t always easy with Chili between us. “I’d love to but knowing Eric Tucker never planned to go back to Chicago has got my imagination on overload. Tomorrow we are going to check into how Sharon left her practice.”
“Maybe they knew their family was in danger and wanted to get far away.”
He picked up Chili in one arm and extended his other hand to me. “Let’s take these critters outside and go upstairs. I’m tired and my plane leaves at seven which means I have to be at the airport at five.”
“What am I missing here?” I asked. “You’re going out of town and leaving me in the care of Axel? I believe he can handle it, but I still can’t believe you even considered it.”
Axel picked up her ball and nudged Ryan’s hand for him to throw it. He did, so, of course, Chili and I had to play tug-o-war.
Once we made it upstairs, Ryan said, “I really do think the dog can take care of you, but since we haven’t tested him out yet, I have two of my men standing guard. They’ll be over to meet Axel in the morning, so they’ll still have all their limbs when I get back. I sent a text to your private cell number with the password.”
I laughed and said, “I know, if they don’t know the passwords, shoot them.”
CHAPTER 24
D r. Sharon Tucker sold her portion of her practice also. She had one partner, a Dr. Kenneth York. According to the disillusionment papers, her portion was well over a million dollars.” I told Amy.
She came to stand behind me and look over my shoulder. “Does it say how the money was paid?”
“It says it was a cash settlement. We both know what that means. The money could be anywhere.”
Amy put her hand up to her mouth and gasped. “Maybe the money was in the boat. It would have been motive to rob and murder the Tuckers.”
I turned farther around so I didn’t have to strain my neck. “I thought of that too, but where was the money? If Ivy’s pictures of the happening are correct, which we have assumed they are, why would the man burn the boat?”
“Maybe the money wasn’t in the boat at that point. Maybe he stowed it in the dinghy, and someone found out, so he had to kill them,” she said.
I relaxed in my chair. “Okay. Let’s make a list of everything we know.”
Amy chose a desk, turned on the computer, put her hands on the keyboard. “I’m ready.”
When we were finished, we each read it over.
Both Doctors Tucker sold out their partnerships, kept it quiet, and let everyone think they were going on vacation.
They had the children’s permanent school records.
They sold the house, cars, and gave the furnishings to charity. The things they cared about were in a storage locker prepaid for two years.
The woman next door died years before and a Christine Hampton of Ashland, Texas pretended to talk to us and most likely did it to reinforce the story of the family vacation.
If we believed Ivy’s drawings, someone on the boat killed everyone but her. The logical person to be the murderer would have been the captain, Michael Mannes.
According to Maria, Ivy stayed with her and her niece for ten years until she decided to leave.
At which time, she was murdered, and murdered with something leading to Mexico.
Someone attacked you and Nathan and me and Ryan and threatened to throw us off track.
I made a copy for each of us. We both stared at the bullet points until one of the dogs whined, and we realized they wanted to go outside.
After I alerted the men on guard what we were going to do, we stopped by the kitchen for a cold drink and headed for the patio.
We didn’t talk for a long while. The dogs let us know they were ready to go in. Each took a drink of cold water from the bowls on the floor and followed us to The Tomb.
At almost the same time, we both said we thought we should find out more about Christine Hampton. We ran her through all our databases. She had no criminal record. There was no record of anyone by her name that ever lived in Ashland, Texas. We ran her driver’s license number through the DMV. It came back as belonging to ninety-five-year-old Marci Dodd of Dallas. She died three years earlier.
“There is no reason to pursue her further. Before we stop, let’s see if she has a past in the Chicago area.”. The first button I pushed brought up a story about Christine, her son, Levi, and her husband John. I read it out loud.
Three-year-old Levi Hampton drowned in the family swimming pool on Sunday, June 7, 1999. A neighbor, Dr. Eric Tucker, a pediatrician from Midland Hospital was the first one on the scene and said he did all he could for the child.
Dr. Tucker pronounced the boy dead before the ambulance arrived. Mrs. Hampton had to be sedated when she wouldn’t stop screaming that Dr. Tucker never liked the boy and didn’t try hard enough and long enough to save him.
Midland coroner agreed with Doctor Tucker that nothing else could have been done for the boy. An autopsy confirmed Levi had been in the water over thirty minutes before his father found him.
Amy patted her stomach. “How horrible. Apparently, Mrs. Hampton blamed Eric Tucker for the boy’s death. I wish I knew why he was alone by the pool.”
“I’ll dig deeper,” I said. “Here’s something else.”
John Robert Hampton was found dead this morning. Mr. Hampton was the father of little Levi Hampton, age 3, who drowned in the family’s backyard swimming pool. The investigation of Levi Hampton’s accidental death pointed to his father John.
At the time of the accident, Mrs. Hamilton blamed her next-door neighbor Dr. Eric Tucker for the boy’s death saying he didn’t try everything he could to save the boy.
His father was supposed to swim with Levi and not leave him in the pool alone. John became interested in a baseball game and went inside to get a beer.
Mr. Hamilton said he didn’t know how much time had passed before he realized the boy was floating face down in the water.
Friends and family said John Hamilton was a loving and devoted father who became distracted.
Although authorities haven’t released the suicide note Mr. Hampton left, they say he felt solely responsible for his son’s death and couldn’t live with the guilt. Mrs. Hampton, who is under a doctor’s care, did not comment.
“We need to delve further into the Hamiltons. I mean Mrs. Hamilton. She could have something to do with all of this.”
Amy shook her head. “Surely not. It sounds as if it was a horrible accident.”
We went back three years before Levi Hamilton’s death and scoured the papers for articles we could find with Christine Hamilton,
Eric Tucker, and Sharon Tucker, in the same article.
Several came up with the desired criteria. “The problems with the Hamiltons all took place in Glencoe. When the Tuckers left the area to go wherever they were going they lived in Long Grove. I’m guessing they moved because of the tragedy that happened in the neighborhood.
“Before the date of the drowning, John Hamilton filed a boundary dispute stating the Tuckers’ driveway sat mostly on his property. It says here the case was settled out of court for an unspecified amount of money.”
“They had trouble long before Levi’s death,” Amy said.
“A year later, Christine ran over the Tuckers’ dog. One of the neighbors said she veered to the other side of the street to hit him.” I looked at Amy. “How many stories have you read over the years where two families can’t get along and act like small children?”
“What was the outcome of the incident?”
“The Tuckers did not press charges. They went before the Neighborhood Association and got permission to fence a part of their yard for the dog. According to this story, it was a long hard fight.”
Amy asked, “Why didn’t the Tucker family move?”
“They did after the last confrontation. It says here Christine put signs on the Tuckers’ lawn. Baby Killer, Sharon Tucker is an illegal. They sold the house and moved to the house Ryan and I went too. Amazing. Maybe she is behind all of this.”
Digger and Chili began to demand attention. Amy picked them up, one in each arm. “It would destroy me if someone hurt one of these dogs.” She motioned with her head to encompass all four dogs. “Let’s take a moment. This is all too emotional for me. Maybe because I’m pregnant. I just want to cry.”
“Okay. I’m going to text the guys outside and offer them something to drink. Ryan has them on twelve-hour shifts to make sure no one bothers me, as if Axel would let anyone get near me.”
The men were thrilled to get a cold drink. Ryan told them to order lunch and not to leave their posts. One Coke or iced tea from a fast food restaurant wouldn’t be enough for a big man in the heat.
