Liar

by Campbell, Jamie

  “Not if I have anything to do with it,” Leo said, truly believing what he was saying. His cell phone started ringing, he pulled it out of his pocket and checked his caller ID – it was the medical examiner’s office.

  “Michaels.”

  “Detective, you need to get in here. I’ve got the toxicology reports on Renee White back.” M.E. Johnson sounded like she needed a morning coffee too, it might help her take the edge off her grumpiness. Leo made a mental note to bring her one.

  “We’re on our way,” he replied, already standing as he hung up. “The M.E. has something, we need to get down to the morgue.”

  Amelia stood and followed without another word. They drove downtown and entered the M.E.’s office within ten minutes of receiving the call. Leo was in a hurry, he just wasn’t sure why.

  “Peyton, what have we got?” He asked as he entered her small office, handing her a freshly brewed coffee. At least there were no dead bodies in that particular room, Amelia sighed with relief.

  The M.E. looked up from her desk and held up the report. “Toxicology report for Renee White. You’re going to want to read it.”

  Leo scanned the report, having seen hundreds of them before, he still never fully understood them. It looked like Renee had a lot of different drugs in her body when she died. Considering she passed from an overdose, it was hardly breaking news. He gave the report back. “It’s all Latin to me, what should I have noticed?”

  Peyton rolled her eyes, making sure he knew how much he irritated her. “Renee died from a lethal overdose of insulin. She had a bunch of other drugs in her system but nothing that would kill her, only make her very sick.”

  “So is that a common drug? Would she have had access to it at the hospital?”

  “You’re missing the point.”

  Leo was trying not to get frustrated. “So what is the point?”

  “Don’t get snarky with me, Detective.” Peyton gave him her best disapproving look, all the while sipping on her coffee.

  “I’m sorry. Please explain the point for my feeble mind,” he rephrased, flashing a smile for good measure.

  “Rapid acting insulin has to be injected into the body, you can’t digest it orally. Renee would have had access to it in the hospital but she didn’t inject herself with it.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because, for the amount she had in her system, it’s fast acting and there were no syringes found in her house. I checked the crime scene reports before I called you. Renee could not have given herself the lethal dose.” Peyton crossed her arms over her chest, satisfied with herself. “She would have been dead before she could dispose of the needle.”

  Leo shot a glance at Amelia, her surprised expression mirrored his own. He turned back to the M.E. “So you are officially ruling her death a homicide?”

  “I am. I’m filing my report with the police department as soon as you get out of my office. I thought you’d want a heads up first.”

  Leo grinned. “So you do care about me.”

  “Don’t get all mushy, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “You’re the best, Peyton, thank you.” He wanted to give her a hug but managed to contain himself. “I’m going to speak with her husband, can you give me an hour before you file the report? Maybe finish your coffee, have a cookie?”

  “One hour. And you owe me.”

  “I do, I’ll make good on the IOU.”

  “You better.”

  They left the morgue and headed directly for Kale White’s house. They didn’t call ahead, hoping to catch him before he left for work.

  As they pulled up outside the house, they noticed his car still parked in the driveway, they were in luck. If they didn’t speak to him within the next hour, it would be left to the uniforms to give him the news. Leo wanted to be the one to tell Kale, face to face. He owed him that considering he couldn’t save his wife or child.

  “Are you back again?” Kale sighed as he answered the door. “What do you want now?”

  “Would you mind if we came in? I’ve got some news for you,” Leo said, his voice solemn.

  Kale immediately sensed there was something different about this particular visit. He let them in without another word and invited them to sit on the lounge in the living room.

  “Are you going to put me out of my misery?” Kale asked to break the silence, unable to take it anymore.

  Leo didn’t hesitate. “The medical examiner that performed the autopsy on Renee called us this morning. She had the toxicology reports back from the lab.”

  “And?”

  “Renee couldn’t have committed suicide. The M.E. is officially ruling her death a homicide.”

  The relief on Kale’s face was evident as his gaze turned skyward, silently thanking the heavens. “I knew she wouldn’t have done it to me. Tell me you’re going to find the bastard that did this to her.”

  Leo nodded. “I’ve already started, unofficially. The station will open a formal file and start their investigation in earnest. You have my word we will do everything in our power to catch the person who did this.”

  “Good. Renee didn’t deserve to die, not when she was so young. Do you think it was the same person who took my son?”

  “I don’t know yet. But I will find out.”

  Amelia watched on in silence, happy they could give the man some peace at least. He could live with the knowledge his wife hadn’t ended her own life and left him to face the grief alone. At least it was something.

  At the mention of his son, she desperately wanted to ask Kale if he knew he wasn’t his biological father but dared not to. It would have been extremely inappropriate to ask such a contentious question during an extremely difficult time, even she could tell that. It would have to wait for another time.

  Leo, on the other hand, was used to asking the difficult questions at inappropriate times. It was practically a daily occurrence. You couldn’t wait for a grieving family to recover, you had to pounce while the leads were hot. Unfortunately, that meant while the body was still warm in most cases.

  “Mr. White, I know I asked you this a few days ago, but I need you to think really hard. Did Renee have any enemies?” He took his notepad out, just in case he had a breakthrough.

  Kale thought about the question, long and hard. Finally, he shrugged. “I can’t think of one. She wouldn’t have hurt a fly, I can’t imagine why anyone would do this to her. Who does that? Who takes another person’s life? Why destroy a family?”

  “We think she had information on a crime that was committed,” he continued, ignoring the emotions like he had been taught during his entire career. “But we can’t find evidence of the information she had. Do you know where she would most likely hide anything she wanted to keep safe?”

  “You went through her things, you didn’t find anything?”

  “No. We checked the computer too. Does she have a safety deposit box at the bank or anything?”

  Kale stood and went to the bureau. From the ornate bowl next to the door, he fished out a set of keys and threw them at Leo. “These are her set, I have no idea what all the keys open. You’re welcome to take them and work it out. I can’t think of anywhere she might hide something.”

  Leo glanced at Amelia and handed her the keys. No doubt in case she might have a psychic flash from holding them. She was more interested in listening carefully. Everything so far had been the truth but it only took one question to elicit a lie.

  “Thank you, Mr. White. I appreciate your help,” Leo said.

  Before they left, the detective walked Kale through the procedures the police station would take to proceed with the homicide investigation. It would take a similar course to the one undertaken for Jordan, but more in depth because adults were far more complex.

  He also warned him they would be calling him to advise on the M.E.’s findings. Kale assured him he wouldn’t let them know that Leo was the one to tell him first.

  The moment they returned to the
car, Leo thumbed through all the keys on the ring. There were eight in total of various sizes and thicknesses.

  “Do you have a secret detective way of working out where the keys fit? Like some super database or something?” Amelia asked hopefully.

  “Well, I’d say this one is for the front door.” Leo held up the bigger keys in turn. “This one is for the back door and this one is her car key.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  He grinned, flashing his charming smile. “These two are labeled and this one has the car logo on it. We don’t have a database, just good luck.”

  Amelia sighed and settled back into the passenger side seat, staring out the window. “If people knew how hard police work was, they would never want to be one. You should keep it a secret.”

  “I’ll let Commissioner Pace know,” Leo laughed. “I think I know what this key opens.” He held up a small, perfectly formed key. It looked new, barely showing any signs of wear.

  “Let me guess, it opens something that requires us to do a lot of walking?”

  “Not quite. I’ve seen it before in another case. It belongs to a storage locker.”

  “A storage locker? Like a place to store all the crap you can’t fit anywhere else?” Amelia asked, wondering how on earth anyone needed space to store things. Clearly it wasn’t stuff they used or needed, otherwise they would keep it at home.

  “Yeah and maybe Renee White was hiding all her evidence in one,” Leo said as he started the car.

  CHAPTER 17

  The county had a total of two storage facilities, both on opposite ends of town. They tried the one in Monasty first, considering it had the cheaper rates of the two. From everything they had learned about Renee White, they doubted she would waste cash on expensive storage when she was complaining to her family that they had no money.

  The problem with storage lockers was that each owner could supply their own padlock or pay the facility for one. It ensured complete privacy and security for the unit. It also resulted in the manager not having a duplicate key. The only people able to access the lockers were the ones holding the magic key.

  But to even get to that problem, they had to determine if Renee did actually rent a storage locker at the facility.

  Leo flashed his badge at the manager, hoping his natural charm would see him through. “Detective Michaels. I was hoping you could help me with an investigation.”

  The woman with short cropped hair and more tattoos than the leader of a bikie gang, didn’t even move from her chair. “I need a warrant.”

  He was going to need to work extra hard on this one. “Oh, I don’t think we need anything so formal. How about we just have a friendly chat? How’s your day going so far?”

  “Just peachy,” she replied. Amelia chuckled to herself when she heard horrible and getting worse. Not that the woman’s sarcasm was lost on her.

  “I promise I won’t take much of your time.” He flashed his smile, it didn’t seem to work. “I need to know if a woman by the name of Renee White rented a locker from you.”

  “Get me a warrant and I’ll tell you.”

  “Warrants take so much hassle. You couldn’t just tell me? It sure would save a lot of time.”

  “And effort too, I’m sure.” She stared at the computer screen, typing away while managing to hold the conversation too. “Go away or I’ll call security on you.”

  Amelia gave Leo a look, trying to get him to leave. He was only making it worse the longer he stood there, like his mere presence irritated the woman.

  “Wait in the car,” she whispered when he didn’t take the hint. He lingered a moment longer and left the ladies alone.

  “Oh my God, he is so annoying,” Amelia said the moment he was gone. She leaned on the counter separating them, putting on an act for the woman. “I just need a few minutes away from him.”

  “I’ve seen guys like that before, they’re so full of themselves,” she replied. Amelia smiled, she had a bite on her hook and now she had to reel her in without losing her.

  “You can say that again. Any longer with him in that car today and I’m going to shoot him with his own gun.”

  “Justifiable, right?” The woman grinned. “You’d just need an all female jury and you’d walk.”

  Amelia nodded. “Don’t tempt me.” She stood there for a few moments, staring out the door. “And now he’s hurrying me. God help me, I want to smack him.”

  “Be my guest.”

  “Hey, you couldn’t help me out by just checking on that name, could you? It would save my sanity not having to go all the way downtown and wait at the courthouse. He always gets a stick of gum and chews it the entire time. And I’m talking the entire time. I’ll end up on the news if I have to do that.”

  The woman smiled – just. “What was the name again?”

  “Renee White.”

  “Isn’t that the woman who killed herself?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  She typed fast, looking at the screen the entire time. “Nope. Sorry, she’s not listed on any of the lockers.”

  Amelia knew she was telling the truth. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much time you’ve saved me.”

  “No problem. Just don’t tell him I helped you, make him go downtown and you go get a coffee.”

  “Will do, thanks.”

  Amelia left the woman to her own chuckling. She climbed into the car with a satisfied grin on her face.

  “If Renee rented a locker here, it was under a different name,” she said as she sat.

  “Did you get a psychic flash about it?” Leo asked curiously. He was certain she couldn’t have got the information from the hostile woman. Not when he had failed so dismally.

  “No, I didn’t need to. I asked her and she told me.”

  “Seriously?”

  “It wasn’t hard.” Amelia smirked, knowing he wanted to thump her right now for succeeding and being so smug about it.

  Without another word as Leo bit his tongue, he fired up the car engine and headed across town. At least they had ruled out one of the two storage facilities.

  * * *

  “Oh, go on,” the woman giggled as Leo finished complimenting her for the umpteenth time. Amelia rolled her eyes, watching the scene play out.

  They had only been at the storage facility for two minutes before the detective had the receptionist eating out of his hand. Clearly the middle aged woman was more susceptible to his charm than the previous manager had been.

  “I really mean it, you have the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Don’t you think, Amelia? Have you ever seen eyes that blue before?” Both Leo and the giggling woman looked at her expectantly. It didn’t help that she knew he was lying to the woman.

  She went along with the rouse – just. “They’re lovely, very blue.”

  The compliment sent the woman into another round of giggles, her ample cleavage bouncing with the effort.

  “You almost made me forget why we’re here,” Leo started, making sure to keep his tone light so he didn’t undo all the goodwill he had just built. “You couldn’t tell me if someone named Renee White rents a locker from you, could you? For me?”

  “Oh, I guess I could look that up for you.” She crinkled her nose as she set to typing on the computer. Leo gave Amelia a satisfied grin, silently gloating that she wasn’t the only one who could get the information that day.

  “What’s the machine telling you?” He asked, tapping the top of the computer.

  “We have a locker rented to Renee White. That name sounds so familiar, where have I heard it before?” They let her think it over, not helping her to make the connection. “Oh well, maybe I’m thinking of someone else.”

  “What number is the locker?”

  “Thirteen. It’s in the first row. Would you like me to show you where it is?” She started standing, until Leo held his hand up to stop her.

  “That’s okay, you’ve already helped us out so much.”

  “Oh, okay then. Well,
call out if you get lost. I’d be more than happy to help you with anything you need.”

  Amelia followed Leo as he left, feeling completely invisible. They didn’t have far to walk before they reached the first row of lockers. The facility was all outdoors, aisles of garage doors holding unknown treasures – or trash.

  “What do you think Renee is hiding in her locker?” Amelia asked, letting her imagination get carried away for a moment. She imagined a complete hide-out set up, somewhere she could get away from the world.

  “Could be anything,” Leo replied, his whimsy long beaten out of him by reality. He had searched dozens of storage lockers in his career with mixed results. Sometimes they found a stash of stolen goods, sometimes the tools of the drug trade, one time he found two illegal immigrants living in a locker. It could literally be anything behind the sturdy doors.

  They found locker thirteen and held their breath as Leo inserted the key into the padlock. Renee had purchased a lock from the facility, their logo on the orange sides.

  The key turned. They immediately looked at each other in excitement. It only grew when Leo pulled and the padlock came apart. He quickly took it off the door and rolled it upwards.

  They stood, staring inside the locker with anticipation until it revealed its contents.

  Nothing. The entire locker was empty.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Leo said, cursing under his breath. Never before had he searched an empty locker, this one was definitely a first.

  “Why would she rent an empty locker?”

  “She wouldn’t. There must have been something here.”

  “So what did she do with it?” Amelia asked, having a million questions on the tip of her tongue.

  “How am I supposed to know?” Leo snapped. He didn’t mean to, instantly regretting it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t intend for it to sound like that.”

  “It’s okay,” Amelia replied, sensing his frustration. Even if they didn’t have the time ticking away over them like a live bomb, their dead ends were seriously getting old.