by Curry, Edna
Ben’s email chimed and he turned to check it. “Hey, we got the ballistics report on Carl’s gun. It matches the bullets they got from John’s body.”
“Good. But I wish we could be sure he was the one who pulled the trigger.”
“Yeah. What would Carl be doing in the bank’s basement with John? There was no blood upstairs, so he had to have been killed downstairs. And why would no one else know about it if Carl was there?” Ben rubbed his nose as he always seemed to do when he was puzzled or upset.
“I don’t like all these un-answered questions.”
“Neither do I. Trouble is, with Carl dead, we may never know the answers.”
“And maybe that’s the way someone else planned it,” Chance said grimly.
“Could be.”
***
Chance decided to try talking to Melanie one more time, but found no one at her house. Her car was gone, so he assumed she was out somewhere. He decided to try talking to Lou and went to the bank.
Lou rose from behind his desk when he saw Chance. He ushered him inside his office with a hearty, “Detective Martin, have a seat. What can I do for you?” He closed the door to his office and returned to his chair.
Chance thought he looked a little nervous. Why was that? “I went to your house to see if Melanie could remember any more details about Carl, but she wasn’t home, so I thought maybe you could help me.”
“With what?”
“Do you know where your wife is today?”
“Not really. Shopping, maybe. She’s flying to California later today. Her aunt’s sick and wants her to come stay for a while.”
“I see. What’s this aunt’s name and address? Phone number?”
“I don’t remember. Ask Melanie when she gets back from shopping.”
“Why don’t you call her and ask her for me?”
“She doesn’t have her cell phone. She put it on the charger this morning so she’d have it for the trip.”
“Oh really? How convenient. Melanie likes to shop, eh?”
“Don’t most women?” Lou asked with a laugh.
“If they have plenty of money, I suppose. I hear your wife does. Inherited a bundle, people say.”
“People like to talk,” Lou said.
Chance pretended surprise. “It’s not true? She didn’t inherit money?”
Lou turned purple. “Our finances are none of your business, detective.”
“Not at the moment,” Chance agreed. “Back to Carl. Didn’t you have some info about him on file, like a number to call in an emergency?”
“No. I guess we weren’t very formal about his employment. He did his job, we paid him.”
“He had a heart attack about six months ago. You must have had to call someone then.”
“No. I drove him to the hospital, but Carl was awake and took care of the details himself. Wouldn’t let me call an ambulance, didn’t think it was serious. But they put him in the hospital, anyway.”
“How about his medications? Did he talk about those?”
“No. He had his own vehicle and did his own shopping for groceries and whatever. He came and went on his own time. That was fine with us as long as his work got done. I really don’t know any more than we’ve already told you,” he said with a shake of his head. “Carl never told us much about his personal life.”
“He never mentioned a wife or kids?”
“He said he didn’t have any family.”
“We did find a cousin out in Colorado.”
“Oh, yeah? I suppose he meant close family.”
“And a will leaving everything to this cousin.”
Lou gave a derisive barking laugh. “Well, I doubt that’s much. He didn’t have much furniture and lived in our cottage rent-free as part of his salary.”
“I see.” Chance said goodbye and took his leave.
***
When I got back home from opening that car, Chance had already gone. He’d left the coffee on, so I sat at my table drinking another cup and eating an orange.
When I’d gotten up for that early morning call, I’d been only half awake, so had thrown on yesterday’s clothes. Now I showered and dressed in jeans and a blouse. Remembering the temperature outside was already seventy degrees, I threw my jean jacket into the van in case of rain and took off for the cabin on the St. Croix River where I was supposed to meet Melanie.
Following the river up highway sixteen until I found the address, I turned into the narrow graveled driveway. If there hadn’t been a mailbox with a number on it at the end, I’d have missed it. Tall trees with wide branches made a canopy over the dirt lane leading down to the river. The house was a nice white rambler, not at all what I’d expected when Melanie had called it a cabin. A two-car garage stood off to one side and I could see a small fishing boat tied to a dock leading out onto the river.
I didn’t see Melanie’s car. Was I early? No, she’d said ten and it was already ten-fifteen. I sat and waited for a bit, then wondered if Melanie was in the house, and hadn’t seen me arrive, so I got out and rang the bell. No one answered.
I sat on the steps and rang the cell phone number Melanie had given me. It went right to voicemail. I tried her home phone and got no answer there, either. Odd. Maybe she was on her way and didn’t want to answer her phone while she was driving.
I gave her another fifteen minutes, then tried both numbers again with the same results. I sighed and rose, thinking I’d been stood up. No sense in wasting any more time here.
On impulse, I walked over to the garage and looked in the window. A blue Mercedes sat inside. I’d seen that car around town, with Melanie behind the wheel.
The hairs bristled at the back of my neck. Something was wrong here. Should I call 9-1-1? No. If it was a false alarm, the deputies would rib me about forever.
I could ask Chance to check it out, in case I was panicking over nothing. I went back to my van and called Chance’s cell phone. I didn’t mind telling him; he never gave me a bad time if I was wrong about something.
When he answered, I explained the problem.
“She doesn’t answer her phones?”
“No.” I repeated both numbers to Chance. “And her blue Mercedes is parked in the garage. It seems wrong to me.”
He didn’t question me further, he just said, “Stay put. I’m on my way.”
Thirty minutes later, he drove in. “I tried her phones, too. And I talked to Lou earlier. He claimed he didn’t know where she was. Thought she was most likely shopping because she was heading for California later today.”
“Do we dare check out the house and car?”
Chance nodded. “Melanie’s parents, Paul and Martha Benson, own this house. I called them in Florida where they live in the winters. They thought it sounded suspicious, too, and said to go ahead and check this out.”
“I don’t have a key,” Cassie said. “Melanie was supposed to bring hers. But I can pick the doors, if you think it’s okay.”
“Sure, go ahead,” Chance said. “Let’s try the house, first.”
“Should we call Lou?”
“No,” Chance said, grimly. “It’s her parents’ house, not his.”
I picked the front door and Chance entered the house, saying, “Wait outside.”
In a few minutes he came back out. “Everything looks clean and normal. Let’s check the garage and her car.”
The garage side door was easy to pick and I had it open in a couple minutes.
The Mercedes wasn’t locked. It was empty and everything seemed fine. Then Chance popped open the trunk and I let out a scream.
Melanie was curled into a ball, her knees to her chest. Her long blonde hair spread over her blue pantsuit, red fingernails touching her high-heeled navy sandals. The back of her head was matted with dried blood and more had congealed down her back.
“Damn,” Chance said, pulling out his cell phone and calling the sheriff. “Ben, We’ve got another murder…Melanie Bales. Get the BCA guys out here and the
M E, too.” He gave him the address. “And send someone to help direct traffic and secure the scene.”
I ran outside and vomited into the weeds beside the driveway, then went back to my van and sipped from my water bottle to wash the sour taste from my mouth. I waited for the inevitable questions from Chance and the sheriff.
Chance came over and eyed me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
I raised my chin. “So, I turn green at the sight of lots of blood on a dead body.”
Chance sighed. “I don’t like it, either. But while we’re waiting for the sheriff, why don’t you tell me what you were doing out here?”
“I guess I didn’t mention it to you, but while you were in the shower last night, Melanie called and asked me to meet her out here this morning at ten. She said this house belongs to her parents and she wanted the locks changed.”
“Did she say why?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I didn’t ask. When a client wants their locks changed, I just do it, I don’t ask why. They’d probably get mad and tell me to mind my own business.”
“I suppose. But she said she’d meet you here?”
“Yes. I got here about 10:15, waited around, called her and knocked on the house door without any answer. I finally decided she’d stood me up. Then I thought to look in the garage just out of curiosity and saw her car.”
“How did you know it was hers?”
I laughed. “It’s the only blue Mercedes in our little burg. Naturally, everyone notices who drives it.”
“Yeah,” Chance agreed.
Several sheriff’s cars drove in and Ben, Tom and Roger jumped out and came toward us.
“Where’s the body?” Tom asked, a roll of yellow crime scene tape in his hand.
“In the garage, in the car’s trunk. I opened it and found her,” Chance said, leading Ben toward the garage.
Ben stopped and looked at me suspiciously. “What are you doing out here, Cassie?”
I gave him the short version, then asked, “Can I leave, now?”
He frowned at me and grunted, then mumbled, “I suppose. Chance can get a statement from you later. Damn funny how you are always on the scene when there’s a murder.” He followed Chance to the garage.
I grimaced at his observation, backed my van around and headed home, passing Roger as he hurried back to the road to keep the curious away and watch for the BCA and M. E. and direct them to the correct location.
***
Chance watched Cassie drive off, then told Ben, “I just talked to Lou an hour ago and he said he thought Melanie was shopping for a trip later today to California.”
“Oh, yeah? Do you think she was really going? Or did he think she’d be missing for a while and he needed a reason for that?”
“My thoughts, exactly. And she wasn’t killed out here. Not much blood in the car. I think we should get a warrant to search their house,” Chance said.
“Here’re the BCA guys. Let’s leave them to process this.”
“I’ll see the judge about the warrant. You bring in Lou. He may be more cooperative at our office,” Ben said grimly.
“Good idea. He’s got to know more than he said this morning.”
***
Chance went back to the bank and strode into Lou’s office where Lou sat at his desk, staring at his computer monitor.
Lou jumped to his feet, looking shocked at his intrusion. “Oh, it’s you again. What do you want now?”
“You. Let’s go down to the sheriff’s office.”
“What? In the middle of a workday? I can’t do that.”
“Do you want to walk there peaceably or go in handcuffs? I can arrange that.” He slid back his jacket to reveal handcuffs and his gun.
Lou blanched. “What for? What is wrong with you? I answered all your questions about Carl already. I don’t know anything more.”
“As you probably already know, we found your wife dead.”
“What? Melanie? She’s dead?” He turned even whiter than before and dropped back into his chair, heavily. He put his head in his hands, covering his face. “How? What happened?”
“Sorry to tell you like that. I was sure you already knew,” Chance said, doubt curling in his gut. He hadn’t been very sympathetic. Was the guy acting? Or could they be wrong?
“Oh, my God. I…I….of course, I’ll come with you. I…I can’t work now. Would you tell that guy over there?” He pointed at the man in another office who was watching them curiously. He picked his suit coat from the coat rack and headed for the front door, walking as if he were numb.
Chance told the other guy Lou had a family emergency and followed Lou outside. Lou stood on the sidewalk waiting for him as though in a daze.
Chance took his arm and led him to his car and put him in the back seat, then got in and drove to the sheriff’s office.
They didn’t have a special interrogation room like a big city police station, so Chance took him to Ben’s office where he sat waiting for them.
Chance told Lou, “We’ll be taping this.” He stated the date, time, place and named the three who were present.
Lou nodded and sank into the chair across from Ben. “What happened?” He raised his eyes to the sheriff. “Everything seemed fine at breakfast. How can she be dead? Did she have a car accident or what?”
“She was murdered,” Ben said, eyeing Lou with distaste.
“Murdered? Melanie? Impossible. Everyone liked Melanie. Why, women would beg to be invited to her parties and to go places with her.”
“Someone hit her with a blunt instrument and stuffed her into the trunk of her own car,” Ben said grimly.
Lou stared at him, openmouthed. “In her car? Who would do that? Why?”
“Suppose you tell us that, Lou,” Chance said.
“Me? I was at work. How could I know what happened?”
“We don’t know what time she died yet. The M. E. will give us that soon. Suppose you tell us what happened this morning? When did you last see your wife?”
“I…I guess it was at breakfast. She said she was going to California for a while to help out her aunt and had to buy some stuff before she left.”
“What time was that?”
He rubbed his face. “I…I guess about seven thirty or so. I got to work at eight as usual.”
“We’ll need to search your house.”
“What? You can’t do that. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I’ve already asked the judge for a search warrant. We’ve reason to believe she may have been killed there this morning and then put in her trunk. Did you do that, Lou? Drive her out to her parents’ house to hide her body?”
“Huh? You think I killed Melanie? My own wife?”
“It’s been known to happen.”
“I…I want to call my lawyer. I’m supposed to get a phone call, aren’t I?”
“Fine. There’s the phone.”
Lou called his lawyer and talked for a while, explaining the situation. Then he hung up. “He said not to talk to you without him here, too. So, I have nothing more to say.”
“Okay. You can sit in the cell for now.”
Ben took him to the cell area and returned to talk to Chance. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know. He’s the most likely suspect, not only because he’s the spouse, but because he’s tied to all three deaths.”
“Yeah. But he seems pretty shook up,” Ben mused.
“If he thought she wouldn’t be found for weeks and he’d have time to disappear, having his plans ruined would shake up a man pretty much, don’t you think?” Chance asked.
“That’s true.”
“I think I’ll check out whether she actually scheduled a flight to California. Find out who the aunt was and if she knew Melanie was coming to visit her. I have her parents’ number. I called them this morning for permission to check out their house. So they’ll expect me to call them back with what I fou
nd.”
“Yeah. I don’t envy you that call. I’ve heard Melanie say she has a sister. I’ll tell her and let her tell the rest of her family. I can ask her for the aunt’s number, too,” Ben said.
“Okay. Provided there really is an aunt in California or a sister. I hate to ask her parents after having to tell them Melanie’s dead.”
***
An hour later, Chance and Ben had their warrant. Ben asked Lou, “We have a warrant to search your house, garage and car. Do you want to give me your keys or shall I break in?”
Lou scowled at him and handed him the keys. “My car is parked in the back of the bank parking lot.”
“Thanks.” Ben took the keys.
“You’re wasting your time, Sheriff. I didn’t have nothing to do with it, so you ain’t gonna find anything.”
“We’ll look, anyway,” Ben said.
He ordered Lou’s car towed to the police station.
They headed for Lou’s house where the BCA crew was to meet them.
Hours later, they’d found Melanie’s cell phone and computer, so while the BCA crew searched the house and garage, Chance used her contacts list to phone Melanie’s sister, Anne. She was shocked to hear Melanie was dead and said she’d come immediately to take care of any arrangements.
“I need to see that she has a proper Christian burial,” she said. “I don’t know if I can count on Lou to give her one. He’d led her astray with all that free sex stuff, you know.”
“I’m sure the M. E. will release the body in a couple of days. I have no idea what Lou is planning.”
“Never mind, I’ll talk to him. I’m sure my parents will fly up, too. Has someone called them?”
“Yes, I did. They said they’d come up.”
“You said Lou was in jail? Have you arrested him?” Anne asked.
“Not yet. We’re just questioning him. We’re looking for evidence. We don’t know where she was killed yet.”
“I see. So, if you don’t find any evidence, Lou may be out soon?”
“I don’t know. When was the last time you heard from Melanie?”
“I haven’t talked to her for a couple of weeks.”
“Lou said she was flying to California to help out a sick aunt. Can you give me the aunt’s name and phone number?”
