Josie opened a closet door in the office and called Otto over. Two shotguns were propped in the corner of the closet.
“Let’s get some photos.” Josie used her digital camera to take the photos but neither officer touched the shotguns. The casing that had been found in the pasture near Renata’s body had obviously not come from a shotgun. Also in the closet was a filing cabinet with nothing but paper files.
Josie dragged a desk chair over to the closet and stood on it to examine the one shelf at the top of the closet.
“Otto, check this out.” Josie held up a white box with the company name Ruger imprinted in red. “It’s a Ruger .380. And it was a .380-caliber bullet that killed Renata.”
She shook the box and frowned. She stepped off the chair and opened the box. “No gun.”
Otto sighed. “What do you want to bet the mayor’s gun ends up conveniently stolen?” he said.
Josie laid the box on the desk and opened it, pulling out a lock and extra magazine in a plastic bag that had never been opened. She picked out several pieces of paperwork that came from the gun maker and then stepped away from the box and smiled. “You won’t believe this,” she said, and held up a yellow sealed envelope for Otto to see. “Look what he left behind.”
Otto laughed. “I bet you just solved a murder.”
“I’ll go test your theory on the mayor’s missing gun,” she said. “Can you go check with the other officers and see where they are with the search?”
“You bet.”
Josie walked down the hallway and into the kitchen holding the white Ruger box. The mayor and Caroline were sitting on benches in the breakfast nook, staring at the table and not speaking.
“Mayor Moss, can you tell me where the gun is that belongs with this box?” Josie said. She kept her voice nonconfrontational and hoped her nerves wouldn’t cause the same tremor in her voice that she felt in her stomach.
He stared at her and she wondered if he was going to refuse to answer. She figured what was going through his mind was, It’s none of your damned business where my gun is. But instead, he said, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know where your gun is located?” she said.
“It used to be in my truck in the glove compartment. About a year ago it disappeared.”
“Did you report it missing?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you report the theft of a firearm from your truck?” she said.
He clenched his jaw shut before finally speaking. “Because I didn’t know if I had misplaced it, or how long it had been missing. I figured it would show up and then eventually forgot about it.”
Josie glanced at the trooper standing off to the side of the kitchen, who gave her a look that was as good as an eye roll.
Josie left the room and walked outside.
She found Holder standing in the driveway next to his car, talking on his cell phone. He finished his call and she asked, “How familiar are you with purchasing firearms?”
He smiled. “I have my dad’s shotgun in our safe with a box of shells in the cabinet in the laundry room. I’m not even sure I could load it.”
“Okay,” she said, grinning. “I’ll explain what we have. Several states require ballistic fingerprinting for all new firearms. Texas does not require it. Basically, in those states, every new firearm has to be fired and the casing saved and compiled in a state database. When the casing is ejected there are unique markings left by the barrel or chamber of the gun. The casing can then be used like a fingerprint in a crime using that gun.”
“So why don’t all states require it?” Holder asked.
“Because it’s expensive and controversial,” she said.
He put a hand in the air to stop her. “Okay. I have enough controversy. Let’s not go there. Just tell me how this is going to help us,” he said, pointing to the box.
“Though only a few states compile the casings in a database, some gun makers test-fire their new guns anyway and include the test-fired casings in a sealed envelope with the gun. That’s what this is.” She took the yellow envelope out of the box and held it up. “There was no gun in this box. But this is the next best thing. We have a spent casing from this gun in a sealed envelope from the factory. And we have a casing from the murder site. And we have the bullet that killed Renata.”
Holder gave her a skeptical smile, as if her theory sounded too good to be true. “What makes you think the gun that was used to kill her came from this box?”
“We’ve already searched Josh’s apartment. There were no guns.” She paused when the front door of the house opened and Otto walked outside to join them. “We know that a .380-caliber handgun was used to murder Renata. That’s what this gun is. And the mayor says this gun was either stolen or lost about a year ago. He never filed a report, though, because he forgot about it? Come on.”
Holder nodded. “So we submit for ballistics, and take the mayor in for questioning to try for a confession.”
Josie nodded. “You know that the mayor and I don’t have a great relationship,” she said.
He choked out a laugh. “An understatement.”
“So I’m not sure about the interview. What would get the confession? Me getting him so angry that he blurts out a confession? Or Otto, who could offer sound advice. Man-to-man,” she said. “Maybe Otto could coax it out of him.”
“What’s your opinion?” Holder said.
“I think Otto should start. If he doesn’t get anywhere, then I can go in and mess with him. See if I can get him so angry he cracks.”
Holder nodded and turned to Otto. “I like it. How close are we to finishing up here?”
“They’re finished upstairs, and on the first floor. They haven’t found anything. They’re headed to the basement. We’ll get back in there and should be done within the hour.”
“I’m headed back to the office. Keep me posted.”
* * *
After the search was completed, Josie headed outside with the other officers while Otto asked the mayor to come to the jail to talk about the situation. The mayor asked if he was being charged and Otto assured him that he wasn’t, but that there was important information they needed to discuss. He agreed, no doubt hoping a deal was in the works, probably hoping he could hang Josh Mooney out to dry while he skated free. That would be the mayor’s mentality, thought Josie, and they would use it to their advantage.
An hour later, when the mayor arrived at the jail, Otto led him into the interrogation room. Josie was next door in the observation room, watching on a computer monitor via a camera feed.
The mayor had changed into jeans and a button-down shirt and looked relaxed and in control. Josie was certain that he figured, with no gun, the police had nothing. He was about to get the shock of his life.
Otto patiently explained the phone records, how they connected the mayor and his wife to the key players in the trafficking scheme, and the fact that his phone had pinged off a tower beside Josie’s house when he had said he was going to be in El Paso. The mayor had obviously already heard the same information from his wife, and he’d formulated his explanation like a pro.
Josie watched him smile and tip his head as if he expected Otto to know him better than to assume something as sinister as Otto was implying.
“Look. You know what a mess Josh made of Caroline’s attempt to help those women. She finally came to me asking for help, and I knew I had to step in and take control. She needed help, and she’s my wife. Of course I stepped in. I had to cancel my speaking engagement and go talk to the kid before he did something stupid. I called and tried to talk him down several times. He said the only way out of the mess he’d made was to shoot both of those women and take their bodies to Mexico.” The mayor shook his head and frowned, like, Can you believe that? “I said, Josh. Get a grip, man. That’s no solution. You can’t kill those women because you’ve got yourself in a mess.”
The mayor rambled on and on about the fatherly words he offered Josh, and t
he good counsel he provided, and about the fact that Josh just wouldn’t listen.
“He finally convinced me to drive out there with him to see if I could convince the girls to finish the trip. That was the only way I could talk him out of doing something stupid. So Josh drove and I rode passenger. We drove slowly by the pasture. I rolled the window down and called for them but we couldn’t find them. And we left. Josh drove me back to town and I got in my truck and drove home. End of story. I have no idea how that poor woman ended up dead.”
“Do you think Josh went back and shot Renata after he dropped you off?” Otto asked, playing the part of the patient friend.
“I have no idea what he did.”
“Did he have a gun in his car when you were with him?”
“No idea. If he did, he didn’t show me.”
“Did he ask you for a gun?”
“Hell, no. He knew I wouldn’t give him a gun.”
“Did he ever have access to your house or vehicles? Maybe you invited him over to your house and he could have borrowed a gun or taken one?”
Josie watched on the computer monitor with Sheriff Martinez, who’d stepped in the room to view with her. “Nice job,” Josie whispered. “He’s making sure the mayor can’t later say that Josh was in his truck and stole the gun to shoot Renata.”
“Come on, Otto. You make it sound like Josh and I were drinking buddies. The guy is a freak. He didn’t come to my house or drive my cars. I rode with him one time because I thought I was going to save a woman’s life. It obviously didn’t work.”
Josie noted that he said he went to save one woman’s life. Hadn’t he been going to save two women?
“I appreciate the information,” Otto said. “Can I get you a cup of coffee, Mayor?”
Josie stood and gathered her papers. That was her signal that Otto was ready to turn it over.
Martinez slapped her on the back. “Go get him.”
* * *
Otto grabbed the mayor a cup of coffee and led the way back into the room. Otto sat the coffee on the table and Josie entered after him, all attitude, as if she were enjoying the power trip. The mayor puffed up like a blowfish as soon as she entered the room. She slapped her paperwork down on the table and leaned on her hands toward him.
“Can we just cut all the crap?” Josie said.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Moss scooted his chair back. “I don’t have to put up with this nonsense. I did you a favor by coming in here. You need to learn some respect for your superiors.”
“I don’t think you want to leave just yet. I learned something that I think you’ll want to hear.” Josie smiled, sat down at the table, and opened up the manila folder in front of her.
Moss said nothing, but he remained seated.
“So you and Josh Mooney aren’t friends?” she asked.
Moss looked at Otto, who raised his eyebrows as if wondering the same question.
“You know full well I’m not friends with that moron.”
“You don’t offer him rides?”
“No.”
“He’s never borrowed your truck?”
“Hell, no. What are you getting at? I explained why I talked to him.”
Josie offered a cynical smile. “Here’s what we have. Not only do we have cell phone records that place you near the murder scene, as well as your own words, admitting you were there, but we’ve now connected your gun to the murder scene.”
“What gun?”
“The Ruger .380 that we removed from your home today,” she said.
“You said yourself the gun wasn’t in the box. How the hell could that gun be at the scene?”
Josie smiled again. “We don’t have your gun. We have the casing from the site of the murder, the bullet from Renata’s body, and the test-fired casing from your gun that all match perfectly.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked. His forehead was drawn up into worry lines. She realized he didn’t have any idea. Texas didn’t require registry of the test-fired casings, so why would he know? Most people had no idea what the envelope was for and ignored it as excess paperwork in the box, having no idea there was a spent casing inside it.
“When you bought your gun, did you notice the little yellow envelope in the box?” she said.
The mayor looked at Otto. “What the hell is she talking about?”
Josie nodded at Otto, to pass the baton back to him.
“Inside that envelope is a spent casing from the manufacturer,” Otto said. “That casing matches the casing we found at the murder site. Your gun was used to murder Renata Carrillo.”
They were bluffing. But Moss was so flustered he’d not thought it through that they had not had time to run ballistics to confirm the match.
The mayor’s face had the chiseled look of stone as he gritted his teeth, mentally recalibrating his story. After a moment he said, “Josh shot her.” Typical Moss: knee-jerk reaction, deflecting the blame before thinking through the consequences. He’d already told the police he’d lost his gun, and then instantly changed his story. He’d just made it easier for the prosecution.
Josie glanced at Otto, who was recalculating his questioning strategy. This was not the way they had imagined or planned for the interview.
“Were you with him?” Josie asked.
“I watched him. I drove the car.”
“Wait a minute,” she said. “Earlier you said Josh was driving.”
Moss began nodding his head, his expression earnest. “I know I did. I was trying to help the kid out. Trying to deflect some attention off of him, but it’s done nothing but cause me trouble. I’m done with that.” Moss’s eyes grew wider with his story. “He did take my gun out of the glove compartment of my truck, now that I think about it. He must have had it with him when he stopped the car. He got out and ran after them, chasing them into the pasture. When he couldn’t catch the first girl, he panicked and shot her. I drove the car down the road and tried to shine the headlights on the pasture to stop things from getting out of control, but it was too late.”
“What did you do after you heard the gunshots?” she asked.
Moss looked at Josie, unblinking. She could imagine him spinning his tale on the fly. She noted that his order of events didn’t exactly match Isabella’s but let it go. “I waited for Josh to get back in the car and we left. He told me he’d shot into the air to scare them, but that they’d escaped and he couldn’t catch them.”
Moss paused and suddenly looked as if he was tearing up. “I didn’t find out the woman had died until I heard about the death on the radio. Obviously it was too late to do anything at that point. I wanted to come forward, but that crazy bastard Josh Mooney said he’d kill me if I went to the police.”
* * *
Josie stood and said, “I need to place a phone call.”
She left Otto with the mayor to stall for time while Josie called Holder and explained the situation. “I don’t want to let him go, but I don’t know what to charge him with. We’re at the jail. We’ll talk to Josh Mooney next, but meantime, we have to do something with him. We can’t hold him indefinitely.”
“Place him under arrest for accessory to commit murder. If it falls apart we’ll let him go. But I’m with you. At this point, I don’t want to cut him loose.”
Josie entered the interrogation room, where she found the mayor smiling at Otto as he told some story. He obviously thought he’d played his part well and was headed for home. Josie wasted no time.
“Mayor Moss, after consulting with Prosecutor Holder, I am placing you under arrest for accessory to commit murder in the death of Renata Carrillo. You have the right to remain silent.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I told you, I didn’t even know that woman died until days later! I didn’t shoot that gun!”
Josie finished reading his Miranda rights over his protests, and then asked him to stand and follow her to the booking room.
&n
bsp; He sat in his chair, unmoving, staring at Otto as if waiting for him to help. “Tell her! Tell her this is ridiculous!”
“I need you to stand. If you refuse to walk with us we’ll have to use handcuffs, and I don’t think you want that right now,” Otto said.
The mayor finally stood and Josie led him down the hallway. He didn’t say another word. She’d never seen anyone look so completely baffled during their booking. A female jailer who was in the booking room when they entered avoided eye contact. Josie figured the sheriff had filled the staff in on the situation, trying to control the drama.
Josie held each of his fingers and rolled them in the ink. She printed each finger on the card and then handed him off to the female jailer, who nodded and placed her hand around his upper arm to lead him toward a cell.
Josie found Otto resetting the recording equipment in the interrogation room. When he was finished they walked down the hall to collect their next suspect, and Otto said, “This is one of the most bizarre days of my career.”
* * *
Josie and Otto sat across the table from Josh Mooney and Oliver Greene. Josh was still wearing his orange jumpsuit but had fortunately showered. They quickly recapped the mayor’s story and got the explosion they expected.
“That frickin’ scumbag! That is exactly the opposite of how it happened. And you know what? I knew that lifelong rat-faced liar would do this. So you know what I did? I outsmarted the mighty mayor!” Josh’s face was bright red and his eyes were bulging with anger.
“How’d you do that?” Otto said. His tone gave the impression that he didn’t believe a word of it.
“When the mayor got back in my car he shoved the gun under the passenger seat and told me to get rid of it. He told me to clean it, wrap it up, to put it in a garbage bag, and to put the garbage bag in a dumpster downtown.”
“What did you do with it?” Otto asked.
Josh leaned into the table and Josie could see the veins in his neck popping. “I left it there! He shot the gun. So his fingerprints are all over it. Not mine! Go look under the passenger seat. And then let me out of this frickin’ jail cell before I go out of my mind!”
Midnight Crossing: A Mystery Page 27
