Dead on Ice (A Lovers in Crime Mystery)

by Lauren Carr

  “He was Cheryl Smith’s lawyer,” Kyle said. “He let her get away.”

  “Then you left the Ferrari on Brianne’s doorstep to complete the frame,” Cameron said. “Then you just waited for her body to be found. Betcha you never thought it would be twenty-eight years.”

  “I’ll bet that’s why you pushed the envelope in embezzling funds from the Mountaineer,” Joshua said. “You got tired of waiting for Ned and Brianne to get theirs for setting up Angie.”

  “Eventually, the auditors will find the money trail leading to the winery,” Kyle chuckled. “Brianne is so clueless. She actually believes all the money in her accounts is profits from the winery.”

  ”You’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul to frame them both,” Cameron said.

  “Never once has so much as a penny landed in any of my accounts,” Kyle said. “So none of you can prove any of it.”

  “Do you want to bet?” Cameron said. “We can get your DNA. That will prove you were with Cheryl when she came to town. Ned gave us the name of the drug dealer that you bought the heroin from. We’ll get a search warrant for your gardening shed and find that spade you used.”

  “The forensics auditor will prove that your computer was used for the embezzling,” Joshua said. “It may take time, but once we tell them who did it, they will find your trail.”

  “You’re coming with us.” Cameron removed her handcuffs from their case in her utility belt. She gestured for him to turn around.

  Not moving or saying anything, Kyle looked from her to Joshua and back to her again. He turned around to look at the various pictures spread throughout the living room. “I need to call my lawyer,” he said after a long silence.

  “You can do that at the department,” Cameron gestured again. “Put your hands on top of your head and turn around.”

  As she stepped toward him, he shoved her with both hands in the chest. She fell back against Joshua who caught her in his arms. While they both managed to stay on their feet, the split second that they were caught off guard was long enough for Kyle to run down the short hallway to the master bedroom and slam the door. He had already locked it by the time they reached it.

  “Call for backup,” Joshua ordered. “We have a barricade situation.”

  Cameron had her radio to her ear. “What do you think I’m doing?” Into the radio, she said, “Officer needs assistance, we have a—”

  Her call for backup was cut off by the sound of a single gunshot from inside the bedroom.

  Stunned, Cameron stared at Joshua. His eyes were as big as she felt hers were.

  The house screamed with silence.

  The operator on the other end of the radio called out for a response from Cameron. “Detective Gates? Are you able to respond?”

  “We need to go in,” Joshua said.

  “Break the door down.”

  Clutching her gun, Cameron stepped back while Joshua kicked in the bedroom door. The first thing to hit them as the door burst open was the smell of the gunshot residue.

  Inside, they found the bedroom to be as immaculate as the rest of the house. The queen-sized bed was encased in white sheets. Nothing was out of order. In the corner of the bedroom they found a shrine erected out of a vanity filled with lit candles in honor of Angelina Sullivan. Her pictures surrounded the blood-splattered mirror.

  At the foot of Angelina Sullivan’s shrine rested the body of the man who loved her in both life and death: Kyle Bostwick, who took his life with a bullet through his temple.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Two suicides in Chester in one twenty-four hour period,” Sheriff Curt Sawyer plopped down in a chair he had pulled up to the end of Joshua and Cameron’s booth.

  “One suicide,” Joshua corrected him. “Tad says Peggy is going to survive. But it was a close one.”

  “And all over love,” Cameron said. “I’d never kill myself over a man.”

  “Not even me?” Joshua asked.

  “Not even you,” she replied. “I’m still young and reasonably pretty. I’d find someone else.”

  “What makes it a challenge is finding someone who would not only put up with you, but share his ice cream with you.”

  They sat back to allow the server to deliver their special sundae, along with two spoons. She handed them both to Joshua, who gallantly handed one to Cameron. When she reached to take it, he grasped her hand and kissed it.

  “You two can be so sickening,” Curt groaned. “To change the topic to something that is less upsetting to my stomach, who offed Angie Sullivan and then tried to kill her mother? Was it Kyle? He did have this delusional fantasy about their love.”

  “According to Ned and Brianne, Kyle’s story got bigger over time,” Cameron said “Brainne did say that Angie didn’t feel like dealing with ending it that night. I think he became delusional after Angie died.”

  “How about the arson at Doris’s house?” Curt asked.

  “Kyle had an alibi.” Joshua shook his head. “He was on the computer embezzling money from the Mountaineer in Ned’s name, and then transferring it to an offshore account before depositing it into account that has Brianne’s name—”

  “Would you believe all that money he was stealing and moving around, he’d never touch himself?” Cameron smiled. “He was a man of ethics.”

  “A sick man of ethics,” Curt said. “It wasn’t Peggy who tried to kill Ralph and Doris—”

  “That’s one of the things we need to figure out,” she said. “Who was the intended victim? Ralph or Doris?”

  “Or both?” Joshua said while answering his phone.

  “Doris says no one knows about her and Ralph,” Cameron said.

  When Joshua held up his finger to indicate that he was listening to the person on the other end of the phone, she turned to Curt. “The intimate part of their relationship has been off for years.”

  One of Curt’s bushy eyebrows arched. “She says.”

  “Thanks, Tad. That’s a help.” Joshua disconnected the call and placed the phone on top of the table. “Tad finally got a report back from the state medical examiner about her exam of Angie Sullivan’s body.”

  “Did they find anything helpful after all these years of being buried underground?” Curt asked.

  “As a matter of fact, he did,” Joshua said. “It wasn’t just one blow to the back of her skull, like the original report said. It was two. One was right on top of the other, so what was mistaken as cracks from one blow, was actually, with a closer x-ray, two blows that were almost right on top of each other. Plus, there was a fracture to the temple that he thinks was a blow with the same type of weapon.”

  Cameron visualized. “She was hit first, most likely from the front—”

  “Facing her killer,” Joshua said.

  “Knocking her down,” she said. “Then, while she’s down, she’s hit two more times.”

  “The state medical examiner thinks it was a tire iron.” Joshua put down his spoon and rubbed his hands. “Something else, the medical examiner found. Angie had a dislocated shoulder. The cartilage was torn where her arm fit into her shoulder joint.”

  “What does that mean?” she asked.

  “It indicates that she could have been dragged by her arms.”

  “Like to be put back into the car,” Cameron said. “She was knocked out with a tire iron, and then put back into the car, and it was dumped in the river.”

  “Which Cheryl witnessed,” Joshua said.

  Deep in thought, Cameron had stopped eating. She scratched her head. “If Cheryl didn’t do it—”

  “How about Brianne?” Curt asked. “Cheryl was blackmailing the killer. Brianne had the bucks, and Cheryl did go to see her when she came into town.”

  Considering the thought, Cameron looked over at the sheriff.

  Joshua caught her attention. “I can guarantee you, if Brianne did it, we’ll need a trunk load of evidence to get her into court.”

  “According to what Kyle had said—” she mused.
/>   “If you can believe him,” Curt interjected.

  “Let’s say he was telling the truth about everything,” she said. “Granted, Ned and Brianne claim Angie was planning to dump Kyle—”

  “She did have the ring on her finger when we found her body,” Joshua said.

  “I don’t think Kyle killed her.” Cameron held up both of her hands to silence them. “He was convinced Cheryl did it. He even inserted Albert Gordon, Cheryl’s lawyer in his revenge.” She tapped the table top with her finger. “According to Kyle’s statement, it was late at night when she dropped him off at his house. Even in 1978, a girl alone does not get out of the car in the dark and let someone get close enough to hit her with a tire iron.”

  “Unless it was someone she trusted,” Joshua said.

  “Like Brianne,” Curt said.

  Cameron said, “Do you still have Angie’s car in the impound yard?”

  “Angie Sullivan’s murder is still a cold case.” Curt nodded. “It’s in the impound yard at Maple’s Garage up at Crest Ridge Hill.”

  “What’s their names?” Cameron asked about the Rottweiler and white German shepherd standing guard inside the impound yard behind Maple’s Garage. The yard belonged to Mark Maple, a burly looking man in work jeans. A devilish smile crossed his face, and he glanced over at Joshua. “The Rottweiler’s name is Uno. The German shepherd is Dallas.”

  “Do they bite?” she asked.

  “Uno will kill you if he wants to,” Mark said in a low voice.

  Taking her by the arm, Joshua led the detective away from the gate leading into impound yard. “Mark will take Uno inside the garage, and then we can go inside.”

  Once the big dog was locked up, the garage owner threw open the gate to allow them inside. “I think its back in the corner over there.” He pointed with a wrench to the far corner of the yard. “It’s a white Toyota Sedan. By now it’ll be rust colored.” With another devilish smile, he went back inside the garage.

  With Dallas trotting between them, they made their way through yard. Many of the cars were victims of accidents. Others vehicles had taken part in crimes, which made them evidence. Until their cases were solved, they would remain locked up in the impound yard, with Uno and Dallas to guard them.

  As they neared the further corner, the grass became overgrown.

  Joshua spotted the car first. Mark had been correct. It was a pile of rust.

  “If there’s any evidence here, I doubt if it’s still good,” Cameron said while trying to peer through the windows caked with decade’s worth of dirt.

  Joshua shook the keys out of the evidence envelope into his gloved palm. “The car has been locked up all this time. No one has been inside since it was originally examined.”

  “Back in 1984.” Studying each part of it, up and down, she walked around the car. What kind of evidence would still be on this puppy to prove who killed Angie Sullivan in the prime of her life?

  Joshua met her at the rear end of the car to hand her the keys. As he was handing them to her, he stopped. She reached out to touch the keys when she noticed him staring at the rear of the sedan. She turned her head to follow his eyes to the rear bumper, which was smashed into the trunk. “Could that have happened when it was pushed into the river?” she asked him.

  He shook his head. “It was found nose first in the river.”

  She knelt down to study the bumper. “Is it possible? Whoever pushed her in used their own car to do it.” The streaks of royal blue paint appeared to leap out at her.

  She turned to grin up at Joshua. “We’ve got her.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Of course, I was devastated to learn that my husband was cheating on me,” Mildred Hildebrand said to her group of friends sitting around her kitchen table, “but I believe as a Christian woman, and a leader in our church, that it is my duty to set a good example by forgiving him.” She patted her eyes with a lace handkerchief.

  The woman dressed in purple reached over to pat her hand.

  Mildred sucked in a deep breath. “You know, I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if it came out that Doris Sullivan seduced him. She has never stopped chasing him, even after he married me. As soon as she found out that he had come to his senses and ended it with Peggy, she went chasing after him and dragged him back to her place.”

  One of the women was doubtful. “Dragged?” she asked with an arched eyebrow.

  “Everyone knows how weak Ralph is.” Mildred sighed and took a sip of her tea. “It is only because of my strength that our family has turned out so well.”

  “Mother,” Gail’s voice snapped when she came in with Joshua, Cameron, and Sheriff Curt Sawyer behind her. “Some people are here to see you.”

  Seeing the visitors, Mildred’s eyes widened. “What has Ralph done now?”

  Gasps were uttered from around the kitchen table.

  “May we speak to you in the other room?” Joshua asked in a steady voice.

  “Is Ralph okay?” the woman in purple asked.

  “Ralph is fine,” Curt answered. ”He’s waiting for us in the living room.” He gestured at Mildred. “Can you please join us?”

  Gail turned to the ladies. “I think it’s best if you all go home now.”

  With questioning glances to each other, the three ladies got up and slowly made their way out the door. They all stopped in the foyer to peer into the living room where Ralph was waiting on the sofa. After shooting him shameful glances, they left.

  Once they were gone, Mildred marched into the room and up to her husband. “Ralph, what have you done now?”

  “Nothing,” Ralph said. “I swear. I haven’t even gone to the hospital to see Doris.”

  “And you have better not.” Mildred wagged a finger at him. “I have friends at that hospital. If I so much as—”

  “Mrs. Hildebrand, sit down,” Cameron ordered.

  “Mom, do what she says.”

  Mildred turned to the detective. “You can’t come into my home and tell me—”

  “Sit down!” Joshua snapped.

  Mildred plopped down onto the sofa next to Ralph.

  “Your reputation is very important to you, isn’t it, Mrs. Hildebrand?” Joshua strolled around the living room, which contained a wide assortment of family pictures and a trophy case filled with certificates and awards.

  “You are your reputation,” she said. “Isn’t your reputation important to you, Joshua?”

  “Yes, I admit it is,” he said. “But I also believe that who I am inside, who I see myself as being is more important than what others think of me.”

  Mildred cocked her head at him. “What are you trying to tell me, Joshua?” She gasped. “You’re not giving me the elder position.” She jumped up and whirled around at Ralph. “This is all your fault, you bastard! Because of your sneaking around!” She slapped him. “Look at what you’ve done to me!” She slapped him repeatedly until Curt and Joshua pulled her off him. “I’ll kill you for this, Ralph! I’ll kill you! You’ve ruined this family for the last time with your whoring around!”

  The sheriff was surprised to discover that the older, heavyset woman was rather strong. Intent on finishing off her husband, she fought against them with everything she had, which included a knee to Curt’s groin with such force that he buckled down to his knees.

  “Are you okay?” Gail knelt to ask him.

  Curt sucked in a breath. Unable to speak, he only nodded his head.

  With his arms around her waist, Joshua dragged Mildred, still kicking and screaming, across the room and shoved her down into the recliner. “This is not about the elder position at the church!” he yelled at her. “Hell! I haven’t even thought about it in over a week!” Catching himself swearing, he covered his mouth while Cameron smiled. “I’m talking about Angie Sullivan.”

  Mildred’s face grew pale. She cleared her throat. “Doris’s sister?”

  “Mom, you know damn well that she was Doris’s daughter and Dad was her father.” Tears in he
r eyes, Gail shook her head. “What’s wrong with you?”

  With a groan, Curt slowly stood up.

  “Even I felt that,” Cameron whispered.

  “Mildred, what did you do?” Ralph hissed at his wife from across the room.

  “Shut up, Ralph,” Mildred ordered. “Just shut your mouth.”

  “I think Ralph has plenty of right to speak,” Joshua said, “considering that you tried to kill him and Doris Sullivan the other night.”

  “Ralph, I remember you telling me that you felt like you were being followed that day,” Cameron said. “You thought it was Peggy. Actually, it was your wife following you. She must have heard that Peggy was back, but you weren’t. Suspecting you had gone running back to Doris, she went looking for you—and when she found you with Doris, she decided she had enough.”

  “Mom,” Gail wailed, “how could you?” Tears spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks.

  “The first lesson in attempted murder is to wear gloves. Don’t you ever watch television, Mrs. Hildebrand?” Cameron asked.

  Mildred’s face turned red. “I did wear gloves.”

  “When you drove Peggy Lawson’s car,” the detective said. “Not when you filled up the gas cans. Your fingerprints are all over them.”

  “You tried to kill me?” Ralph yelled. “Mildred, why? Why did you try to kill me?”

  “Because you’re a cheating son of a bitch, that’s why?”

  “But I always come back,” he said.

  “Maybe that’s why she wanted you dead,” Cameron said. “Did you ever think of that, Ralph?”

  The old man looked confused.

  “Appearances are very important to you, aren’t they, Mildred?” Joshua asked. “Your status as an older church lady? A leader among your friends? That’s why you killed Angie Sullivan. You were afraid that if Ralph left you for the mother of his child, that you would lose your status as a bigwig in this little town.” He cocked his head at her. “Even worse, become an object of pity.”

  “I never knew Angie was Ralph’s daughter,” Mildred said. “I’d heard rumors. Hurtful rumors, most of them started by Doris.”