“Really? Can I see them?” Sophie asked excitedly.
“I’ll be happy to read the sections that apply to your grandfather. But I can’t really let you look at the book. Some of the notes are about families still in the area, and for privacy’s sake…”
“I understand. I’d just appreciate any information on my grandfather.”
“Does the old man know you have those?” Adam asked.
“You mean Harrison?” Sam smiled.
“Yes.”
“Oh, yes, he knows.”
“Damn. Talk about job security.” Adam chuckled.
“The first time your grandfather is mentioned was in October of 1960.”
“He disappeared the next month,” Sophie said.
“The entry reads, JW—surveillance Anthony Marino Cliffwood.”
“What does that mean?” Adam asked.
“I took it to mean they had Marino under surveillance at the Cliffwood Motel,” Sam explained.
“What is JW?” Sophie asked.
“The better question—who is JW?” Sam said.
“It’s a person?” she asked.
“JW is a common entry in my grandfather’s calendar. I suspect it’s an officer. I assume he was assigned to keep your grandfather under surveillance.”
“Do you have any idea who he is?” Adam asked.
“I did a little digging. There was a Jerome Walker who worked for the department during that time.”
“Is he still around?” Adam asked.
“Yes. He lives at the Golden Years Retirement Home on the south side of town. ”
“Does he remember Sophie’s grandfather?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never met the man before; I only started digging around about him this morning after you called.”
“You think he’ll talk to us?” Sophie asked.
“I don’t see why not. I imagine he’ll enjoy the company. From what I understand, he doesn’t have any family. His wife died a few years back, and their only son was killed in Nam. I imagine he’d welcome a visit.”
“Were there ever any leads on my grandfather’s case? Suspects?”
“Not really; at least, nothing in the files or in my grandfather’s notes. From what I gather, the FBI took over the investigation. Yet, I did find something interesting in our files. Apparently, there was blood on your grandfather’s clothes, and it wasn’t his.”
“Whose was it?” Sophie asked.
“I assume the killers.”
“How do they know it wasn’t his?” Adam asked.
“Wrong blood type. Plus the cause of death, according to Grandfather’s notes, was asphyxiation.”
“They never found a DNA match for the blood?” Sophie asked.
“DNA? They didn’t do that back then,” Sam explained.
“Could they do it now? I know old convictions are sometimes overturned with new DNA evidence. Couldn’t they do that in my grandfather’s case, but instead of proving someone didn’t do it, prove who did?”
“I suppose it’s possible. But you’d have to have that blood sample, which we don’t have here.”
“Where is it? Don’t you have to keep evidence like that?”
“I didn’t say it isn’t somewhere; it’s just not here. The FBI took all the evidence into their custody. I would imagine they still have it somewhere.”
Sophie turned to Adam and asked, “I wonder how I would go about contacting the FBI?” She turned back to Sam and asked, “Do you have the names of the agents who worked on my grandfather’s case, a case file maybe? Anything that might help me contact the right person to see about doing a DNA test.”
“Sure, I have some names and other information for you, but I don’t know if that’ll be helpful. I doubt they’ll be willing to spend the money running DNA tests on such an old cold case.”
“I have a little money from my inheritance from my grandmother. I’d be willing to pay for the tests myself, if cost was an issue.”
“Not sure if that’s possible, but I already put a file together for you. I included copies of what I found on your grandfather’s case.”
A knock came at the office door, and before Sam had time to respond, it opened and Officer Barnes poked his head in the room.
“Sorry to bother you, Chief, but could you come out here for a moment, it’s important.”
“Sure, Barnes.”
Barnes nodded and then ducked back out of the office, closing the door behind him.
Sam opened his desk drawer and removed a file. He then put his grandfather’s calendar back in the drawer and locked it. Standing up, he handed the file to Sophie.
“This is what I prepared for you. Go ahead and have a look while I go see what Barnes needs.”
“Think he doesn’t trust us?” Sophie asked after Sam left the room.
“I saw that, too. He locked the drawer. Well, can’t say I blame him. I would’ve been tempted to look.”
Sophie chuckled and then began looking through the file. About five minutes later Sam returned to the office.
“Sorry, Adam, Sophie, I’m afraid something has come up,” Sam announced, his voice serious.
“I hope everything is okay,” Adam said as he and Sophie stood up.
“I’m afraid not… Adam, did you happen to stop by your house this morning?”
“My house? No, we came here directly from Clement Falls. Why?”
“Were you up at Clement Falls all weekend?”
“Yeah, why?”
“And you didn’t stop by your house yesterday at all?”
“No, I told you I was there all weekend. What’s wrong?”
“It’s your neighbor, Myrtle Scarlett. She fell down her staircase, and I’m afraid she broke her neck. She’s dead.”
“Myrtle, dead? What do you mean she fell down her staircase?”
“Looks like it must’ve happened early yesterday morning. Apparently, she was putting her groceries away, and for some reason she decided to go upstairs, and then she fell. Her daughter found her this morning.”
“That’s impossible,” Adam insisted.
“I’m afraid not. But I have to go talk to her daughter; she’s quite upset and waiting in one of the other offices.”
“What I meant, Sam, Myrtle would never go up those stairs.”
“That’s what her daughter keeps saying, too. In fact, she’s quite hysterical about it, so I need to go to her. ”
“You aren’t listening to me. Myrtle had her knee replaced last year, and she can’t make it up the stairs.”
“Adam, sometimes old people forget their limitations and get careless.”
“But there wasn’t any reason to go upstairs, even if she wanted to. Nothing’s up there.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
“After Myrtle’s surgery, she and her daughter went round and round about selling the house and Myrtle moving into a smaller home, something without any stairs. Myrtle wasn’t about to move, so she told Molly she’d start using the downstairs bedroom. To prove how serious she was, she got rid of everything on the second floor. I know because I helped her with the yard sales and moving furniture.”
“I’ll think about what you said, Adam. But I need to go talk to Mrs. Scarlett’s daughter. Sophie, go ahead and take that folder with you, and if you have any question, feel free to call me.”
“Did you say Molly is here?” Adam asked.
“Yes, she’s down the hall.”
“I’d like to talk to her,” Adam said.
“Not now, Adam. I want to talk to her first.”
Sam didn’t get his way, for when they walked out into the hallway Molly Morgan was en route to his office. The moment she saw Adam, her eyes widened, and she rushed to his side.
“Adam! Are you here about Mother?”
“No, Molly, I just heard,” Adam said sadly, opening his arms to give Molly a comforting hug. She held him tightly for a moment, tears running down her face.
“It’s just awful,
Adam,” she sobbed.
“I’m so sorry. I really loved your mom.” Adam released her.
“I know. She considered you a grandson. Did you see anything unusual, Adam? Anyone around her house on Sunday?”
“I’m afraid I’ve been gone all weekend. I was up at Clement Falls with my family. I just got back this morning.”
“Mrs. Morgan, why don’t you come on into my office,” Sam said, ushering the grieving daughter away from Adam.
Chapter 20
Instead of going to the newspaper office, Adam drove to his house. He pulled up in his driveway, yet didn’t get out of the car. Next door at Myrtle’s house, several police cars were parked out front and yellow crime tape blocked the house’s entrance.
“I can’t believe it,” Adam said, staring next door.
“I’m so sorry, Adam. Were you close?”
“I’ve known her for years. This used to be my parent’s house.” He nodded towards his own home.
“Really?”
“I think it was Garret’s idea for Mom to sign the house over to me after they were married. I moved into it fulltime after college. Myrtle used to worry about me. She’d bring me casseroles, which was kind of funny if you think about it, because by that time I was working in the restaurant full time and could just eat there.”
“Do you really think it was foul play?”
They sat in the car looking over at Myrtle’s house.
“I don’t know. My gut response was that it had to be. Myrtle would never tackle those stairs; there was no reason. But then I thought about Pickles.”
“Pickles?”
“He’s one of the neighbor’s cats. Myrtle liked to bitch about how he was always running wild and spraying, but then she’d give him treats. It’s possible he slipped into her house, ran upstairs, and she was just trying to get him.”
“That would make sense.”
“I suppose, but then…”
“Then what?”
“Pickles would come to Myrtle if she called him. All she had to do was holler here kitty kitty, offer him a treat and he’d come to her. So there was really no reason to go upstairs.”
“I don’t understand. Why did she remove everything from the top floor? Even if she never went up there, didn’t she ever have company that would use those rooms?”
“Not really. Her daughter lives in Coulson. I think one reason Myrtle wanted to get rid of the stuff was because she was getting older and didn’t want to leave Molly with the task of sorting through her things after she died. Before she cleaned out the top floor, she had Molly come over and take anything she wanted.”
“I suppose it will be a while before we know anything about what happened to her.”
“Sophie, would you mind if we didn’t go to the newspaper office today?”
“Oh, Adam...” Sophie turned toward him and touched his shoulder. “I totally understand. With everything going on in your life right now—Angela and now your neighbor—you don’t need to be hauling me around. Looking into a fifty-three-year-old homicide seems pretty foolish when so many things are going on in your real life.”
“No, I want to keep helping you. It isn’t that. Just not today. I’d like to go over to my mother’s house and let her know what happened. She’s known Myrtle for years. Would you mind going with me? Later we can stop at the restaurant and get something to eat then come back here. We can go to the newspaper office in the morning and then maybe head out to that retirement home.”
“Are you sure? You don’t have to do this.”
“I’m sure.”
* * *
“I can’t believe it,” Alex said after Adam told her the news. Adam and Sophie followed her into the living room where Garret was reading a book.
“Myrtle Scarlett had an accident and was killed this weekend,” Alex told Garret as they entered the room. He closed his book and looked up at her.
“What happened?”
“She fell down the stairs at her house. I guess it happened on Sunday. Molly found her this morning,” Adam explained.
“Oh my god, that’s awful. Poor Molly.”
“I saw her at the police station; she was pretty distraught.” Adam walked to the couch.
“Hello, Sophie,” Garret greeted when he noticed the young woman with Adam. “I don’t imagine you counted on all this when you decided to come to Coulson. First Angela’s threat and now this.”
“It’s very sad about Adam’s neighbor.” Sophie took a seat on the couch with Adam.
“You said you went to the police station. Did you talk to Sam about Angela?” Alex sat down on a chair next to her husband.
“We went to ask questions about Sophie’s grandfather. When I called to get an appointment with Sam, he made if very clear he didn’t want to discuss Angela.”
Adam then went into detail, explaining his initial conversation with Sam about Angela and how the chief discounted Adam’s concerns.
“That’s bullshit. I’ll talk to him,” Garret growled.
“I intended to discuss Angela with him after we finished asking him about Anthony Marino. Unfortunately, our meeting was cut short with news about Myrtle. I still can’t believe it.”
“You say she fell down the stairs?” Alex asked.
“Apparently.”
“Why in the world would she go upstairs? I thought she cleaned out the second floor,” Alex asked.
“She did. By the way, where’s Sarah? I wanted to introduce her to Sophie.”
“There was some meeting after school today, and then she was going over to Hannah’s for dinner and finish a project they’re working on for one of their classes,” Alex explained.
“Are you going back up to Clement Falls, or are you still staying at your house tonight?” Garret asked.
“We’re still staying at the house. After we leave here, I’m going to take Sophie over to see the restaurant and get something to eat.”
“Did Sam give you anything useful?” Garret asked Sophie.
“I think so. We found out there was blood on my grandfather’s clothes, and it wasn’t his blood type. Unfortunately, the Coulson Police Department doesn’t have any of the evidence; everything was taken by the FBI. I’d like to see if they still have the evidence and if it would be possible to do a DNA test on the blood. Maybe that would lead us to the killer.”
“A DNA test after all this time? I’d think any of the blood evidence would have been compromised after being buried for so long in the dirt,” Alex suggested.
“I don’t know. But I’m going to ask,” Sophie said with a shrug. “Of course, I just might be watching too much CSI and NCIS.”
“Sam also came across an entry in his grandfather’s diary about placing Anthony Marino under surveillance. The initials JW were by the entry. We think it’s the police officer working on the case,” Adam said.
“JW?” Garret asked with a frown.
“Yes. Sam looked through the records and found a Jerome Walker that worked for the force back then. He lives at a local retirement center now. We’re going to try and see him tomorrow and find out what he remembers about the case.” Adam removed his cell phone from his pocket and glanced at the time. “I think we better take off. You’re welcome to join us for dinner at the restaurant.”
“Thanks, Adam, but Garret and I had a late lunch, and we’re just going to have a salad later.”
“If you don’t mind, Adam, I intend to give Sam a call about Angela. I don’t like his attitude, dismissing your concern,” Garret said.
“Thanks, I’d appreciate it.” Adam stood up with Sophie, and after saying their goodbyes, left for the Lucky Lady Restaurant and Saloon.
After Adam left, Garret got on the phone and dialed Sam Peterson. Alexandra sat quietly and listened to her husband’s side of the conversation.
“Adam told us about Myrtle. Was it an accident?” Garret asked when Sam got on the phone.
“It looks like one to me. Nothing seems to be missing from her house, a
nd when they found her, she was still wearing an expensive diamond necklace. I can’t imagine someone leaving that behind.”
“There is nothing to indicate it might be foul play?”
“Why, do you know someone who’d want to hurt Myrtle Scarlett?”
“Not at all, Sam. I can’t imagine she had any enemies. She was neither controversial nor wealthy. But I find it hard to believe she went up those stairs.”
“That’s what her daughter keeps insisting, and Adam mentioned it, too. Plus, the doorknob.”
“Doorknob?”
“Nothing. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. It’s an ongoing investigation.”
“Out with it, Sam. Don’t start being discrete with me now, considering everything.”
“There were no fingerprints on the doorknob to her kitchen. And by all appearances, it looks like she came in that way to unload her groceries. Apparently, she was in the middle of putting away her groceries when the accident happened.”
“That doesn’t sound right.”
“I know. But at the same time, there is absolutely no reason for someone to hurt her. But I’m waiting on the autopsy report.”
“I have something else to discuss: Angela.”
“Garret, I already explained to Adam, there is nothing I can do unless she violates the terms of the release.”
“I don’t believe she just happened to run into Sophie at Clement Falls. I don’t necessarily believe Joe was with her. No one saw him. And you know as well as I do, he would not hesitate covering for her if necessary.”
“If the parole board believed that, they wouldn’t have released her into his care.”
“I don’t give a crap what the parole board believes. Do you honestly believe it?”
Sam didn’t answer.
“Another thing. Why was she at the cemetery the day before when Adam was there visiting his father’s grave? She was watching him and then ran away. That’s stalking.”
“She has every right to be at the cemetery, and we don’t even know if it happened like that.”
“Well, Fred Garcia was there. Why don’t you go talk to him? See if he remembers seeing her there, lurking around. He may not have known who it was, but ask him if he saw a woman watching Adam.”
Coulson's Reckoning Page 12
