“I didn’t think smoking was allowed on the premises,” I said.
“Rules like that aren’t always followed,” she admitted.
“Unless those rules apply to the inmates.”
“Of course. You do know inmates are here for committing crimes, right?”
“I know that. I was only trying to establish what is allowed and what isn’t.”
“I’m not sure I’m buying your story,” Eleanor said. “For all we know, you could have murdered Lopez when we were busy cleaning the offices. We never saw which way you went. You merely disappeared from our viewpoint.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. How wouldn’t you have seen me sneak past you?” Barlow asked.
“Of course you could have murdered Lopez after we left for lunch when Dr. Franks took us back to the pod. Are you in this together?” I asked.
“No. What reason would I have to murder Lopez? She was handy to have around. There’s never been a more trusted trustee. I counted on her.”
“Yes, counted on her to not supervise two new inmates. I hope the warden allows me to take a look at your file.”
Barlow’s face reddened and her voice became louder. “My employee file is none of your business!”
“I don’t understand why you’re being so hostile.”
“It might be because you’re accusing me of killing Lopez, and I don’t need inmates snooping in my file!”
Eleanor shook her head. “Do you have a record of aggression against inmates?”
“No!”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Believe what you’d like. In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t jumped across the table at you yet!”
“Do you have a personal relationship with Dr. Franks?” I finally asked.
“So now we’re in it together?”
“You might be. He takes us back and you move in for the kill. Probably had plenty of time to off Lopez.”
“I’m done with this for real this time. Tell the deputy director anything you like.”
We watched as Officer Barlow stalked from the room and slammed the door.
Chapter Nine
Eleanor and I stood staring at the closed door, exchanging smiles.
“We certainly rattled her,” I said.
“Yes, but I was thinking … the lounge door was locked before Dr. Franks took us back to the pod.”
“That’s a valid point. And Barlow never mentioned anything about the door being relocked. Of course she still could have killed Lopez, I think. She could have hidden in the room or in another office.”
Eleanor nodded. “So Officer Barlow isn’t off our list yet?”
“No, but we need to speak with the warden about what the security camera by the lounge door captured.”
Warden Geyer opened the door, frowning at us. “You’ve certainly riled up Officer Barlow. She’s asked to leave for the day.”
“That’s certainly suspect,” I replied.
“No, I think it has something to do with what she might do to you if she saw you the rest of the day.”
I laughed. “That’s a little overdramatic I think. Is that her M.O.?”
“Barlow is usually cool as iced tea. I’ve never known her to be rattled.”
“Will we be able to speak with Dr. Franks and Officer Yates today?”
“Yes on Yates and no on Franks. He’s out of the office until tomorrow,” the warden said. “I’ll send Yates right in. Fortunately she didn’t witness Barlow’s outburst.”
The warden left, and Officer Yates walked in and sat down, placing her hands palms down on the desk. “The warden said you wanted to speak with me.”
“Yes,” I began, “we were wondering where you were yesterday after we checked out the cleaning supplies and cart?”
“Well, Barlow reminded me that there was a potluck and I thought I’d grab a plate and bring it back.”
“You planned to eat in the storeroom?”
“Yes. I do it whenever there’s an inmate cleaning the offices. I’m supposed to be here in case more supplies are needed.”
“Why didn’t you lock the storeroom?”
“I thought I had.”
Eleanor shook her head. “That’s a negative. The door was open when we put the cart away. We were wondering where you disappeared to.”
“Oh? The lock must have jammed then. It happens sometimes. I told the warden about it, but it hasn’t been fixed obviously.”
“So you went to grab a plate,” I commented. “Did anyone go with you?”
“Yes, I went with Officer Barlow.”
“So you were together in the break room?”
“Yes, for part of the time anyway. She had to use the bathroom once.”
“Is that in the break room or in the hallway?”
“In the hallway. We don’t have a bathroom in the break room. The warden took that out and it’s now a small locker room.”
“I see. Since we didn’t see you come back when we left, and Barlow and Dr. Franks returned before you, that creates a window of opportunity.”
“Officer Barlow and Dr. Franks were talking in the hallway. I slipped back into the supply room before they came back. I wondered why the cleaning cart was in the supply room.”
I glanced over to Eleanor and said, “Are you aware of Officer Barlow’s rapport with the inmates?”
“I really can’t say. The only time I’ve seen her interact with inmates is when she brings them to get the cleaning cart.”
“I see. What do you know about the trustee Lopez?”
“I really haven’t had much contact with her. Sorry.”
“And how do you get along with Barlow?”
“I get along with all my co-workers.”
“To the point where you’d lie for them?”
Yates pushed herself up. “No, that’s not something I’d ever do. I don’t care who murdered Lopez.” She sighed. “What I mean is, I hope you find out who murdered her, but whether it’s an inmate or one of the staff, they need to pay for what they did.”
I eased back in my chair. “Thank you,” I said. “We don’t have any more questions.”
Yates nodded and left.
“Yates must have come back to the supply room while we were looking for Lopez,” Eleanor said. “That’s probably why we didn’t see her.”
“That sounds plausible. Also, according to Yates, Franks and Barlow came back after her, so I’m not certain that Barlow had enough time to murder Lopez.”
“Not if Barlow and Yates went to the break room together,” Eleanor said.
We left the room and knocked on the warden’s door. “Come in,” she called out.
I followed Eleanor inside. “We appreciate all your help, Warden Geyer, but I have a few questions.”
“Certainly, but I hope you’re not planning to interrogate me.”
That gave me pause, but I asked. “How good a view does the camera have of your lounge door?”
“I’m not certain. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
“How did Barlow and Lopez get along?”
“Great. We all loved Lopez. I’m still shocked about her death.”
Not too shocked that she’d shed a tear, though. “Are you positive that Lopez got along with all the staff?”
“I never heard Lopez complain about anything other than how we’ve been progressing on the investigation into Trudy’s death. Solving that case was very important to her.”
“And why was that?”
“Ah, of course you wouldn’t know. Lopez and Trudy Taylor shared the same cell.”
My eyes widened. Why hadn’t someone mentioned that before? “That’s certainly a detail we missed.”
“Lopez told us about Trudy, but not that they shared a cell,” Eleanor muttered.
The warden’s brow shot up. “Oh, and what did Lopez tell you exactly?”
“Just that the beautician was found dead in the shower room,” I said. I shot Eleanor a look to silence
her before she added to what I said.
The warden glanced at her watch. “Is that all? I have an appointment.”
“We have one last question for you. Are there any problems with the lock on the storeroom door?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“It’s just that the door wasn’t locked when it should have been.”
“I’ll have to speak with maintenance about it.”
“Are you saying you weren’t aware of the lock not functioning or that you don’t recall writing a work order to fix it?”
“I don’t recall anyone telling me it wasn’t working. I consider keeping a storeroom door unlocked a serious violation of the rules. I’ll have to check on that before I leave.”
“We’d like to question Officer Schulze and Dr. Franks tomorrow, perhaps after our work assignment.”
“I’d appreciate that. It will look better to the inmates if you continue to work among them. If you ladies appear to stand out from the other inmates, it might spell trouble for you.”
The warden grabbed her jacket and clear plastic bag. “I’ll take you back. The deputy director had to leave unexpectedly.”
Geyer walked us back to the pod.
We had taken no more than a few steps before inmates surrounded us.
“What happened?” Char asked.
“Why did the warden call you to her office?” Yolanda asked.
“If you remember, we made an offer the warden couldn’t refuse yesterday.”
Her eyes bulged. “Do you mean the warden actually gave you the permission to investigate Trudy’s death?”
“Yes; I couldn’t believe it myself.”
“Let me guess,” Mary began, “They want you to say an inmate killed her.”
“She never said anything like that. Eleanor and I will be questioning staff and inmates alike.”
“Are you saying the warden is actually going to allow you to question the officers?” Velma asked. “For real?”
“We already questioned a few, although we’re not at liberty to tell you who. It’s proven very interesting, to say the least. The warden doesn’t want us to say too much on the matter, of course.”
“I bet,” Mary grumbled. “And what about Lopez?”
“My feeling is that the deaths are related,” Eleanor said.
I sighed. I just knew this was going down the drain in record speed.
“All I can say is that two inmates have been murdered and I think we all need to watch ourselves.”
“I’d like to see them try to mess with me,” Mary boasted.
“Of course, you have your girls with you all the time,” Yolanda pointed out.
“You know it. Let’s go Frankie and Midge. We have business to attend to.”
“You don’t plan on interfering with our investigation?” I had to ask.
“Nope, but don’t think for a minute that I’ll help either of you. I have more important things to do.”
I was relieved when Mary left. I knew all about her important business, but I wasn’t in the position to rat her out. Inmates don’t tolerate snitches — but we won’t always be in here.
Eleanor and I excused ourselves to relax in our cell before dinner.
“I think we told the other inmates too much,” Eleanor said. “I hope the warden doesn’t find out about it.”
“It can’t be helped now. She’ll never hear it from us, and I can’t imagine any of the inmates will tell her.”
“We could have a snitch in our midst,” Eleanor suggested.
“Let’s hope not. Everything so far points to a member of the staff. There weren’t any inmates in the offices when Lopez was murdered.”
“True.” Eleanor nodded in agreement.
“We’ll have to check the door of the storeroom. I’m not sure I believe the warden had no knowledge that the lock is broken.”
Crusher cruised slowly past our cell, rubbing her fist suggestively. I gulped hard and Eleanor asked, “What’s the matter, Agnes?”
“My throat is getting sore is all.”
“It looks like there’s a line at the chow hall. We better get a move on before all the hot food is gone.”
* * *
We sat down with our trays. Char sat at another table, but Yolanda and Velma joined us.
I glanced over at Char, who was speaking with Mary, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether she was upset with us about our role as investigators.
“Don’t worry about, Char,” Yolanda said. “She’s had a bug up her butt all day.”
“About what?”
“Barlow cited her for insubordination. She has to talk to the warden about it tomorrow.”
Velma laughed. “Yes, she told Barlow to go … .”
“No sense in finishing that sentence, Velma. We all would love to tell Barlow that,” Yolanda commented.
“You could include me on that list,” I said. “What did Barlow do?”
“Gave her extra duty for tonight. After lockup, if you can believe that.”
“That doesn’t sound safe. That should be against policy,” I said. “Besides, I think Barlow left for the day after we questioned her.” I grinned. “I don’t think she much cares for inmates grilling her.”
“That’s what she deserves for giving us a crap job today,” Eleanor said. “I don’t feel bad for Barlow.”
“Let’s not get too hasty. We didn’t turn up anything on Barlow.”
“Barlow used to be tolerable, at least until Felicia Geyer was appointed warden,” Velma said.
“Was she promoted?” I asked.
“No. She’s from the Ohio prison system. None of the officers took to her right away, but Barlow got along well with the last warden. Some say a little too well,” Yolanda hinted.
“Did she have an affair with the last warden?” Eleanor asked with a grin.
“Allegedly,” Velma put in. “Warden Jimmy Blair wasn’t hard on the eyes.” She winked.
Yolanda’s eyes twinkled. “No, but he was married — with children,”
“I can see that Barlow might be upset about that revelation if she wasn’t aware he was married. He might have given her privileges the sitting warden doesn’t give her,” Eleanor suggested.
“I love to gossip,” I said. “But this doesn’t have anything to do with our investigation.”
“The warden sticks up for her officers, from what we’ve seen,” Eleanor added. “It’s too bad we didn’t get the chance to meet the nice Barlow.”
“Or the tolerable one,” I added. “But we’ll just have to deal with her. Of course, she’s not the only one we’re considering.”
We walked into the recreation room and Velma pulled out a board game. I sighed at the familiar Monopoly box.
“I’m not sure I’m up for Monopoly,” I said.
Yolanda flashed a deck of cards and put them away. “We’ll start the real game after Officer Miller does her check.”
“I haven’t seen her since we arrived.”
“Probably not, but it’s her shift tonight,” Char said as she approached us.
“If you haven’t spoken with Officer Miller yet, now is your chance.” Yolanda said.
“I’m not sure the warden would approve of that. I have the feeling that she’d rather set up the interviews with the staff,” I said.
Laura Keelie walked into the room accompanied by a few other inmates I’d seen around Mary.
“Laura seems to have broken out of her shell,” I observed.
“Yes, a little too fast if you ask me,” Char said.
“Meaning what?”
“She might be a plant.”
“You always think that,” Velma said. “Or you did the last time you were in here.”
“A plant for what?” I asked.
“A cop for starters. She might be in here to bust up Mary’s operation.”
“Would that be a bad thing?” I asked.
“Of course it would be,” Eleanor exclaimed. “Can you imagine how some inmat
es might react if they can’t get their fix?”
“Eleanor is right. Bad enough some of them will have to wait it out until next week when the next shipment is due,” Char said. “Unless they can get an officer to bring something in.”
Chapter Ten
An officer would smuggle in drugs for the inmates? Why would any of them risk their freedom over that?
“Aren’t they checked when they come into work?” I asked.
Eleanor gave me a kick under the table. “Has a cop ever been sent here undercover?” she asked.
“Actually, yes,” Yolanda said.
“And she left in a body bag when the inmates found out about it,” Velma said.
I willed myself to not swallow the lump that was forming.
I forced a smile. “It would be premature to assume Laura is anyone other than another inmate trying to fit in. She might even know one of the inmates. I saw her in the shower room our first night and she was sharing a cigarette with an inmate.”
“Which one?” Char asked.
“I really couldn’t say. I didn’t look too closely and an officer was looking for me so I had to hightail it out of there.”
“Good thinking on your part,” Char said. “Enjoy your card game. I’m going to take it easy. I have late-night duty. I’m buffing the floors tonight.”
“After lockup?” I asked.
“Yes, but don’t worry about me. I’m tough as nails.”
I sighed when Char left. “I wish I didn’t have to worry about Char, but I have a sick feeling in my gut that won’t quit,” I acknowledged.
“I agree,” Eleanor said. “Is that normal — to be given late-night duty?”
“They buff the floors once a month after lockup,” Yolanda explained. “I don’t think there’s anything unusual with that.”
“But since Trudy and Lopez’s murder I’m just not sure of anything,” Velma admitted.
Officer Miller nodded as she entered the room, looked around, and left. Yolanda then pulled out the cards and shuffled. “We’re playing Texas Hold ’em.”
“How do you play that?” I asked.
“You’re dealt two cards and five are placed down face up on the table. You can use three of the cards on the table that go with the two cards you’re dealt.”
“I’ve played this online before,” Eleanor said. “You know the basics of how to play poker, Agnes.”
Undercover Inmates Page 7
