“You didn’t notice anything unusual?” Piper asked.
“Other than the dead woman in the car? No.”
“Did you recognize the woman in the car?” I asked.
She hesitated, then said, “You’re the only one to ask me that. No, I didn’t.”
“What about the car? Had you seen it around here?” Piper asked.
“I don’t know. We don’t get a lot of traffic, but it’s rural, and a lot of teenagers drive out this way to drink beer. So silly, isn’t it?”
Yeah, silly, but off the point, I thought.
“You didn’t recognize the car?” I repeated Piper’s question in a different way.
She thought about it for a moment, then said, “I think I seen it next door a few times. I’m not positive, it’s just the same color. And I think the other car was a BMW, but they all look alike these days.”
That was true. Back in the day, a Mercedes look like a Mercedes, and BMW had its own distinct body, along with Lexus, Taurus and any other car. Now they all had a similar body, even Porsche. Only the emblem and interior gave them individuality. I’d bet I could swap the emblems on almost any sedan for a Mercedes, and no one would know the difference until they sat inside.
“Which neighbor?” Piper asked.
The woman turned around and pointed at the house to the left of hers, which looked a little more rundown than the other houses.
“Do you know them?” I asked.
“Only to say hi, but I don’t really even do that. They have a pit bull who barks all the time and a nasty little yappy dog, too. I can’t even let my kids play in the front yard. They keep the pit bull chained to the tree most of the time. I can’t believe he’s not there now.”
I looked at the front yard of the house and could see a heavy chain wrapped round the trunk of the tree.
“Did you ever see anyone get out of the car that looked similar to the one the dead woman was in?” I asked.
“I’m not even sure it was the same car, but if it was, a man was driving,” she said.
I wondered if Clive ever drove Edie’s car. I know I never drive Nick’s car, and he only drives mine if we’re together and I’ve been drinking.
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my pocket. A text from Nick, telling me Edie’s car was being released from impound. If we wanted to look at it before Clive picked it up, we’d better get there.
“Can you describe the man?” Piper asked.
She shrugged. “Not really. It was at an angle, and he wore a hoodie.”
“Young, old?” Piper asked.
Again, the woman shrugged.
I tapped Piper on the shoulder. “We’ve gotta go. Nick said the car’s been released. We need to get there before Clive does.”
We both thanked the woman for her help as we all walked back across the street together. I watched her walk up her driveway, then pulled forward and stopped in front of the next-door neighbor’s house.
“Take a few photos before we leave,” I said.
Piper pulled her camera out. “You were reading my mind.”
Sixteen
Mimi
I called Nick on the way back into town. He agreed to meet us at the impound lot so there wouldn’t be a fuss when we went through the car. I wasn’t sure what Clive would do with it after he got it back. Maybe cleaning the brain and bone off the back seat would be a good place to start.
When we arrived at the lot, the BMW sat outside the gates, and Nick stood next to it, deep in conversation with a Hispanic man in a patrol uniform. Nick looked up as my car approached, and the cop patted him on the shoulder, then walked away.
“Nice ride,” Nick said as he walked up to the driver’s side.
“Yeah, I know,” I said.
“What happened to the SRX? In the shop already?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t want to use it to go to the scene. Better to have a car that’s registered to the agency, not me.”
Nick looked over the roof of the car. “Hey, Mason, good to see you. How’s the P.I. life treating you?”
Piper came around the front of the car. “I’ll let you know in a few weeks. Right now, I still feel like I’m a homicide cop. This is an interesting introduction to private investigation. I have to say, I love not being tied down by rules and regulations.”
I put my hand up and shook my finger. “Oh, no, you didn’t say that. We have rules and regulations. Just not like cops do.”
Piper walked over to the BMW and said over her shoulder, “You know what I meant.”
“Let’s get this over with. Clive is meeting us after lunch, and I have to get back to the office,” I said.
Piper looked at Nick. “Can we open the doors and look inside?”
“Sure. It’s no longer evidence, so other than destroying anything, you can have a look. I’ll just hang out here, in case someone stops and asks questions. But make it quick, I have to get back to Gabe. We had a multiple murder come in early this morning.”
“Is that why you left the house before the sun came up?” I asked.
It wasn’t unusual for him to get up and leave before I got out of bed. This time, he’d left at half past three. At least I think that’s what my clock read. Hard to see with sleep in my eyes and a dream induced head fog.
Piper went around to the passenger side of the car first. She had her camera out and started taking pictures, even though we had at least two dozen photos from the investigation by the police. Then she pulled out a baggie and tweezers.
I went around the car to see what she found so interesting. She’d picked up the gum wrapper, which obviously the detectives and CSU didn’t seem to think was relevant to the case. Then she pulled out another baggie and tweezed a few specks of dirt from the shoe print left behind. After pocketing the baggies, she leaned in closer and took a photo of the print.
I opened the rear passenger door, looking at the mess left behind. I wondered how hard it would be to get the stains out of the leather seats and carpet on the floor, although most of the back of Edie’s head was stuck to the window and top part of the back door.
I leaned in at an awkward angle to see if the bullet exited and hit any part of the car, which would answer the question of how the sunroof was blown out. I didn’t see any.
“Nick, did the coroner or the investigators find the bullet? I didn’t see mention of it in the files.”
Nick had been messing with his phone and looked up at me like he didn’t understand my question. More likely, he didn’t even hear the question.
I repeated myself.
“You don’t even have a completed investigation,” Nick said. “I’m sure you’re missing a lot of evidence.”
“How’s that? Clive said they had closed the case, calling it a suicide. So did you, if I recall correctly,” I said.
Piper backed out of the car on her side and looked over the roof. “No way they would have let him have the photos and files if the case were still open. His lawyer must be good.”
Nick swiped and tapped a few more times, then put his phone in his pocket. “His lawyer wanted to see what they had and gave him copies. The whole thing isn’t good. He shouldn’t have gotten them from his lawyer, but there are laws that allow evidence to be shared.”
“Did anyone do a sample on the dirt from the shoe print in the passenger seat?”
“Hold on.” Nick pulled his phone back out, then walked away from us as he spoke to whoever he called.
I closed the door and Piper climbed further into the car to take more photos. It looked a little different without Edie sitting in the front seat.
“I don’t see a ricochet from the bullet,” Piper said. “There must have been two shots fired. Which means there could have been someone in the car with her. It could well be a murder case.”
Nick walked back to us. “They did take samples, but nothing went to the lab because of the coroner’s ruling of suicide. They’ve moved on.” He indicated to the car. “Which is why you have access
.”
“So the case is closed,” I said, making a point.
Nick shrugged. “Not my circus, not my monkey.”
I rolled my eyes.
“What do we have in the way of lab access?” Piper asked me.
“We have a great lab right here on Blanco Road. They do a lot of DNA work for us,” I said.
“A lot of DNA? What could you possibly need DNA tests for?” Piper asked.
“Cheating spouses. If they have sex while having an affair, we can get the towel they showered with and see if there’s more than one person’s DNA. We’ve proven quite a few cases with it.”
Piper’s eyes went wide. “I still have a lot to learn.”
“I’ll team you up with Lydia after this. She’s had some great training and gone to some advanced conferences in the last few months.”
“Are you about done here? I just got another text from Gabe.”
Piper slammed the passenger door shut. “I’m done. Not much to see.”
Nick walked over and gave me a kiss before leaving. “Don’t make plans for this weekend.”
I frowned at him. “Why?”
“Do you always have to ask why? You’re like a two-year-old.”
“Ouch,” Piper said, laughing.
“Are women partners as bad?” I asked her.
“Worse,” Piper said as we got in my car. “Can we stop by the lab on the way to the office?”
I looked at the time on my dashboard. “Sure, we have time. I do have other cases to work, though.”
At the lab, Piper handed my tech the gum wrapper, which happened to have a chewed piece of gum in it, and the two baggies of dirt. The tech catalogued the evidence and said, “When do you need this?”
“Yesterday,” I said.
“What’s new?” he griped, but followed it up with a smile.
I looked at the baggies Piper gave him. Pointing to the baggie with “OSR dirt” written on it, I asked, “Where did you get that one?”
“When we were looking around. I wanted to test it against the dirt in the car.”
I should have thought of that. But I think, in my mind, I already had this case as a suicide. Thank goodness Piper was more open minded about it. And I should have been, too.
I dropped Piper at the office, then went to meet with a new client at her office. This case happened to be an insurance fraud case. Insurance companies paid well, even if they paid net 60, which meant they paid sixty days after getting the bill. I’d never had a check bounce, though.
When I got back from that meeting and lunch, Piper and I had just enough time to look at the photos she’d taken of the neighbor’s house before Clive was due to arrive. She downloaded them onto her computer, so we could get a better look with larger images. I wanted to set up surveillance on the property just to see how much traffic they got, but Piper said she’d call the narcotics division and talk to a detective she knew to see if the address was on their radar.
“We were right,” Piper said as she walked into my office without knocking and sat across from me. “Total drug house. They’ve been raided half a dozen times. It’s a rental, so it hasn’t been seized by the U.S. Marshals yet.”
“Why don’t the landlords kick them out?” I asked.
“Maybe the landlord likes having the house rented. If I had to guess, they probably get at least $3000 a month. It’s a big house with acreage. And I’ll bet the renters pay cash.”
I picked up the page I’d printed right before Piper walked in. “My lab tech sent me this. He said the gum wrapper would take a little longer. But he said the dirt in both baggies matched.”
“Damn straight,” she said. “Just what I thought. Edie wasn’t alone. And I’ll just bet if we look closer, there’s a bullet in the grass somewhere.”
I didn’t relish the thought of going back and digging through the grass, even with a metal detector. Who knew what we’d find on the shoulder of that road? I shivered at the thought of finding a used condom or something worse.
“So there had to be a second car. Was that person following Edie, or was she following them?” I said.
“Or maybe it was a meet up. That lady said she thinks she saw the BMW at the house next door.”
“We could always go have a talk with the drug dealers, though I don’t think they’ll tell us much,” I said.
“So much more to do,” Piper said. She stood. “Want some coffee before Clive arrives?”
I looked up through my open door. “Too late, he just walked in.”
“I’ll see if there’s any made and bring in a tray, just in case.”
Uta knocked on the doorframe. “Mr. Pratt is here.”
I looked toward the door to the kitchen, then looked back to Uta. “Give me a minute. Could you ask him to take off his shoes? Tell him we just had the rug shampooed.”
Uta looked at me like I was crazy. “Okay, if you say so.”
I jumped up from my desk and jogged into the kitchen. “Take your shoes off before coming back into the office,” I said as I kicked my own shoes off.
Piper had a tray on the counter. She didn’t have coffee, but she had an assortment of sodas and a couple of cans of iced coffee, along with a small bucket of ice. “What?”
“I told Uta to have Clive take his shoes off before coming into my office. He’ll probably leave them by the door. I’ll take the tray.” I walked over to the counter and picked up the tray. “Check the treads of his shoes against your photos.”
“I never considered Clive, though he should have been my first suspect.”
“I don’t think he did it, but you never know. I mean, if he did it, why would he want it ruled a homicide? Right? Let sleeping dogs lie, and he’s off the hook.”
“I think it’s a long shot, but stranger things have happened.” Piper stepped out of her shoes. “I’ll be in there in a minute.”
Seventeen
Charles
We got bumped off an earlier flight, so Max and I flew a redeye to Chicago.
Note to self: NEVER, NEVER take a redeye again!
The plane felt like a sardine can full of crying babies, nasty people, and cranky moms. Was it any wonder the moms were cranky? Who flies with kids and thinks it’s going to be fun?
Even though we were in first class, the screaming four-year-old (or I’m assuming the snotnose brat was four) could likely be heard from the ground, even though we cruised at 30,000 feet. Damn, I feel for parents. Traveling with kids had to suck. Not being a fan of anyone under the age of thirty, I realized I should have taken my chances and flown in the morning. There were plenty of nice hotels near San Jose International Airport, and we’d still arrive in time for the funeral.
I even had my noise cancelling headphones, and bought a set for Max at the airport, but there’s only so much they can do. After a couple of cocktails, I settled in and no longer wanted to go back and duct tape the kid’s mouth. Besides, with the green slime running from his nose, I doubted he’d be able to breath. Poor, kid, flying with a stuffed-up head was the absolute worst. I blamed the parents, and I could do that because I’m not a parent.
I called ahead to let Jared know we wouldn’t need a ride, since I wouldn’t want to get up and pick someone up at the airport at that hour. Getting a decent rental car at four in the morning was as much fun as flying the redeye. You’d think the graveyard shift would be nicer, since they didn’t have to deal with as many people. Then again, people fly the redeye because it’s a cheap flight, so these customers were likely difficult and cheap, too.
Judge not, lest ye be judged, I reminded myself. Who was I kidding? I’d been judged all my life, and I was going to hell in a handbasket anyway. At least I kept my snide comments to myself, unlike a few of the passengers. And I was as nice as I could muster, considering the attitude of the rental car employee.
Normally, I’d have a driver if I was in Chicago, but I didn’t think it was appropriate, considering the reason we flew to the Windy City in the first place. I didn�
�t need any collateral damage, in case someone recognized the witness and didn’t care that it was his dad’s funeral.
We arrived at the Hyatt in time for a short nap, then time to shower, shave and change into appropriate attire. I didn’t bring my best suit, because I didn’t want to get blood on it, just in case. But I knew between Jared, Max, and me, this guy would be well protected.
Jared made plans to meet us in the hotel restaurant around eleven. We arrived fifteen minutes early. I’d gotten Max up to speed on the plans, at least what I knew so far, so he’d be in the know when we met the witness.
I knew I shouldn’t have been, but I was anxious to meet this guy.
Max and I already had drinks in front of us when Jared arrived with his man. We drank soda water with cranberry juice, because it was the only non-caffeinated beverage the restaurant offered that wasn’t alcohol. No caffeine before this type of job. Didn’t want to have jitters.
Max and I stood as Jared and the man approached the table. They both wore dark suits, with the witness being better dressed than the U.S. Marshal.
“This is Michael Ricci.”
Michael Ricci had been living the good life on Uncle Sam’s dime. The suit he wore cost more than most people could afford. I wondered how innocent he was these days, or was the suit a remnant from his previous life? It fit him well, and I could see diamond cufflinks at his wrists. I couldn’t quite place the shoes, but they looked new. He wanted to look good for the funeral. He’d dressed to impress. But how impressive would that suit be splattered in his blood?
“Charles Parks,” I said. We shook hands. I felt a shiver at his cold, clammy, limp grip.
“Max Daniels.” I thought I saw Max recoil at Michael’s grip, too.
Michael looked at Jared. “This is my security detail?”
Jared sat. “This is it. A former SEAL and a current FBI agent, and you’re lucky to have them. After this, you’re out of the program.”
Michael adjusted his suit pants and sat. “I know.”
A Lie in Every Truth Page 11
