Secrets, Lies & Alibis

by Patricia H. Rushford

Now the minister was saying much the same thing Kevin had. How God gets blamed for a lot of bad things and how God does not choose pain and suffering—they are part of the human condition.

  “Megan is no longer suffering. There is no pain, for the Lord has brought her home. There will always be evil. There will always be suffering and death. But in the end, good triumphs over evil.

  Even now, detectives are working hard to find Megan’s killer. For that we can be thankful.”

  Mac’s gaze traveled back to Joe Higgins. He’d come to give Cindy the earrings. On the surface it seemed a magnanimous thing to do. Was it just for show?

  He took it all in—the mourners, the curious, the priest with his words of comfort, assuring those present that Megan was indeed in a better place. One older man who said he’d been a friend of the family for twenty years talked about his old friend, Megan’s father, and how proud Father Tyson had been of Megan. “I am grieved at Megan’s passing but also must consider their reunion in heaven.

  How joyous they both must be.”

  Kevin leaned into him and whispered, “Look off to your left.

  Gordon Reed just came in.”

  Looking at Gordon, Mac realized they hadn’t visited him at his home. Maybe they were wrong about Higgins. He wondered what besides drugs the other detectives had found at Gordon’s place. He wondered why the guy wasn’t in jail. Maybe he had been and was out on bail.

  “I think we should take a closer look at Gordon,” Mac told his partner once the service ended and they were on their way to Mac’s car.

  “You have a valid point, Mac. The trouble is we can only go in so many directions at once. It’s easy to get shortsighted. I haven’t ruled out old Gordy, but I’m inclined to wait on him until we exhaust Higgins and DeLong. They have the most violent criminal histories. If the trail runs cold on them, we’ll turn our attention to Reed.”

  “I guess that makes sense.” Impatience had hit Mac alongside the head again.

  Kevin elbowed him. “Let’s run by Higgins’s old place and make sure Dana is okay with staying until Eric gets there. We still want to make another run at Higgins this afternoon, before he lawyers up.”

  They arrived at the Parkview Apartments within twenty minutes. After parking the car in the space reserved for apartment fourteen and waving a greeting to Dana, Mac and Kevin walked to the manager’s office.

  “Back again?” Theresa came to the screen door. “Do you need back in that apartment?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mac said. “We’d like to have your continued permission to have unrestricted access to the apartment, if that’s okay.”

  Theresa opened the screen door and stepped out. “Did you find something in there?” she asked. “Bernie said you were working a murder or something.”

  “We found some trace evidence in the carpet that interested us,” Kevin responded. “We’re having our crime lab do a more thorough investigation.”

  Theresa looked skeptical.

  “I assure you we will pay for any damage we cause.”

  “Sounds fine with me. I’m sure the state is good for it.” She smiled. “The place could use new carpet anyway. Let me call Bernie to make sure it’s all right, though.”

  Theresa disappeared into the apartment.

  “Lab rats are here,” Kevin said as the crime lab’s blue F-250 pickup pulled into the parking lot. “They must have finished up earlier than they thought.”

  Mac watched two figures in white lab coats emerge from the truck. Allison Sprague was one of them. He wondered what she’d think if she knew she was being referred to as a lab rat.

  Kevin looked through the screen door. “Let’s hope we don’t have to take three hours and write a search warrant affidavit.”

  Theresa came back, this time toting a toddler with jelly-coated cheeks and lips. “Bernie says it’s okay, just as long as you pay for anything you break or whatever. He’ll be by later to give you a hand, if you need it. Here are the keys.” Theresa slid open the door and handed Mac two keys on a stainless-steel ring. “I’d go over with you, but I’ve got a house full of little ones.”

  “That’s fine, ma’am; thanks for your help.” Mac took the keys, caught the grin on the toddler’s face, and smiled back.

  They let the lab techs in and told Dana she could go.

  “Um, would you mind if I hung around? I have a lunch and a break coming.” She grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Okay by me, but I could think of more appetizing places to spend my lunch,” Mac said.

  Kevin gave her a knowing smile. “Mac told me about your wanting to move into the detective division. Sounds like he gave you some good advice. We can talk later if you want.”

  Dana’s eyes brightened even more. “That would be great, sir. Thanks.”

  Mac took out his camera equipment, and Kevin offered to take the photos so Mac could watch the process. Allison pulled on her gloves and went inside with Mac, Dana, and Kevin following. “Where did you find that blood sample, Mac? We might as well start there.”

  Mac showed her where they’d cut the carpet fibers. Allison opened a window and put on a painter’s mask and goggles, then pulled a spray bottle out of her kit. “Stay back guys. I’m going to spray some luminol.”

  “Is it toxic?” Mac asked.

  “Not really. Just better to use it in a ventilated area.” She sprayed the luminol on the carpet near the place Mac had found the blood spot. Nothing. She continued spraying all around the area where the bed had been, holding a wand-sized blue light in her left hand. On the other side of the bed marks, nearest to the bathroom, she let out a long whistle.

  “Well, would you look at that? We have blood, people—a whole lot more than you’d get from cutting a finger.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Kevin snapped photo after photo of the telltale carpet. Mac could hardly breathe. The illuminated stain covered a three-foot area alongside the indentation where the bed had been. “Wonder how Higgins is going to explain this one?”

  Allison’s partner leaned into the bedroom. “I found traces of blood on the concrete in the storage room. Looks like they used an industrial cleanser.”

  “Right, but cleaners can only go so far. With this much blood there had to be some hand-washing and such. Check out the sinks and pull the drain traps.” Looking at Kevin, she said, “We’ll need to pull up the carpet in this bedroom. I doubt that was done when they cleaned it. There might be some interesting stuff parked under the carpet and pad.”

  Several minutes later, the same lab tech reported traces of blood in the bathtub, as well as in the sink.

  “There’s still blood in the drains?” Mac asked. “How is that possible? Wouldn’t the water rinse it down?”

  “Fortunately, there was a lot of hair and foreign matter in the drain traps, which formed a substantial obstruction in both. I dried a portion of the matter—it tests positive for blood. We’ll get these to the lab and let Allison perform her magic on them.”

  Mac helped the male tech loosen the edges of the carpet from the tack strips. They rolled up the carpet and pad, revealing dark prominent stains on the floor. He and Mac secured the roll with large plastic ties and carried it out to the truck.

  On his way back in, the pager on Mac’s hip vibrated. He checked the number, pulled out his cell phone, and punched in the unfamiliar number.

  Megan’s fiancé answered immediately. “Yes, Detective McAllister, thanks for calling back. I wanted to talk to you before I left town, so I got your pager number from the police station. I plan to fly home tomorrow. Do you need to talk to me before I go?”

  “I’ll have to get back to you on that, Tim—we’re tied up right now, but I’ll check with the boss and give you a call.”

  Mac hung up and went into the house, where Kevin was helping Allison measure a large dark spot on the floor. Mac told him about the call from Tim.

  “Tell him he’s free to go and that we are still following up on several
leads. We have a lot of work to do yet, so don’t say anything about these recent developments. I don’t want him hanging around or getting in our way.”

  Kevin bent down to help Allison again, then changed his mind and stood to face Mac. “Hey, Mac. Make sure you thank him for the cooperation he gave us and say that he is not subject to any further scrutiny. Let’s put the poor guy’s mind at ease. Just tell Tim we’re sorry for his loss and that we are doing everything in our power to bring the killer to justice. Just tell him that.”

  “Killer to justice, got it.” Mac acted like he was writing the quote down.

  “Just tell him something, smarty.” Kevin threw a roll of evidence tape at Mac. “See what I have to work with?” Kevin told Allison.

  She laughed and shook her head. “You guys.”

  Mac returned a few minutes later, meeting up with Kevin in the front room of the apartment. “I told him pretty much what you said.”

  “What did he say?” Kevin asked.

  “Not much; he was real choked up.” Mac swallowed back the sudden lump at the back of his throat. “Said he wanted to thank us for coming to the funeral today.”

  “Anything else?” asked Kevin.

  “That’s it. He wants to be kept up to speed.”

  “We’re done here,” Allison said. “You guys can take off. I’ll lock up and get our evidence to the lab. I’ll be able to tell you tomorrow morning if this is Megan’s blood. We’re looking at a long shot here.

  I’ll tell you one thing, though. If this isn’t Megan’s blood, I’d like to find out whose it is. I really think we have us a murder scene, boys.”

  Kevin chewed on his bottom lip. “For now I’m going to assume the blood is Megan’s. I’m also going to assume that Joe Higgins has been playing games with us. Come on, Mac.” Kevin handed the camera back to its owner. “Time for us to make the next move.”

  “Thanks for letting me observe,” Dana said.

  Mac had almost forgotten she was there. “No problem, Dana.

  Thank you for preserving the scene.”

  “Anytime.” She glanced from Kevin to Mac. “Call me when you need an extra hand. And I mean that.”

  When she’d gone, Kevin put in a call to Eric. “Hey, pal, where did you go?” Kevin told him about their find. “I want to hit Higgins up on this right away,” Kevin said. “Just because we put Wallace into isolation doesn’t mean Higgins can’t get word to him via another convict.” He paused to listen to Eric’s response.

  “No.” Kevin eyed Mac and headed for the car. “I don’t think we need backup at this point. We’re not ready for an arrest yet. I want to hear back from Allison first on the new lab results. If we don’t get any admissions from Higgins, then maybe he’ll cough up some provable lies.”

  Kevin shut the car door and Mac started the car. “Think he’s home yet?” Mac asked.

  “Only one way to find out.”

  KEVIN AND MAC ARRIVED at Higgins’s duplex on Macadam Court in less than thirty minutes. Kevin told Mac to park across the street so they could assess the situation. The driveway was empty.

  “Doesn’t look like he’s home, “ Mac said.

  “He may want us to believe that.” Kevin looked up and down the street. “No sign of his car, but it might be in the garage.”

  “He did say he had a job interview after the funeral.”

  “Right, but I wouldn’t trust anything he says.”

  Mac’s heart pounded like a drum in a rock band as he flattened against the wall outside the door. Kevin stood across from Mac, also standing away from the door in case Higgins tried to pull something. Mac gave a nod of readiness to Kevin, who knocked on the door.

  There was no answer. Kevin glanced at Mac and knocked again, this time announcing himself. “Higgins, you in there? It’s the state police.”

  Again, no response. Mac thought he could hear or feel movement from within the duplex. Or maybe it was simply his own blood pulsing through his veins.

  “I still think he’s in there. I thought I saw a light go off.” He pressed his lips together. “Come on. I got a plan.”

  Mac went back to the car with Kevin, glancing back at the duplex at least twice during the short trek. At Kevin’s instructions, Mac drove around the block, came back, and parked again, farther back but still able to see the duplex.

  “Why do you think he didn’t answer?” Mac asked. “You think someone tipped him off?”

  “I’ll bet he’s worried his friend Wallace hasn’t called like he said he would.” Kevin took out his cell phone. “Maybe Higgins is a little concerned his buddy might rat on him.”

  “Are you sure he didn’t cut and run?”

  “No.” Kevin ran a hand down his face. “I’m not.”

  “We’ll wait here for a few minutes and give him a call.”

  “Call him?” Mac asked, surprised by the suggestion.

  “Yeah. He may not answer his door, but he might answer his phone.”

  About three minutes later, Mac scanned his previous notes for Higgins’s phone number and punched in the digits. It rang six times before Higgins answered.

  “Yeah,” Higgins answered.

  “Mr. Higgins?” Mac asked, knowing full well who it was.

  “Speaking,” Higgins replied.

  “This is Detective McAllister with the state police.”

  “Oh, hey, how’s it going?” Higgins said with an overly friendly voice.

  “Pretty good. How’d the job interview go?”

  “Oh, we’ll see. I think it looks pretty good, though.”

  “Great, that’s good news,” Mac said. “So are you going to have time to speak with us today?”

  “Couldn’t you just ask me what you need over the phone?”

  Higgins asked.

  “We have quite a few questions, and it’s usually better to interview in person,” Mac replied.

  “What kind of questions?” Higgins wanted to know. “I mean, if it’s that lie detector thing, I talked with a lawyer and he said those things aren’t worth the trouble. I’d rather not take the time— you guys are either going to believe me or you’re not. All I can say is I’ve told the truth.”

  “That’s your right, Joe, so we won’t push it. But it’ll be available if you change your mind.”

  “I won’t.”

  “We really need to hook up on these follow-up questions,”

  Mac pressed. “We’d like your opinion on a few things.” Kevin gave Mac a thumbs-up.

  There were several seconds of dead air before Higgins answered, “I don’t see why you can’t just ask me over the phone. But come on over if you have to do it in person.”

  “Is right now a good time?” Mac asked nonchalantly.

  “I’m working on my car,” Higgins sighed. “But now is as good as any other, I guess.”

  “Great, we’ll be right over,” Mac said.

  “Who’s we?” Higgins sounded nervous.

  “My partner, Detective Bledsoe, and I.”

  “Oh, right.”

  Mac turned the phone off. “He said to come right over.”

  “Well done. You never let him off the hook,” Kevin said. “Higgins has to play ball now; he’s still hoping to deflect the suspicion. This guy is a pretty cool character, Mac, so we have to be careful with this interview. It might be our last. Don’t come right out and hammer him with what we recently learned about the bloodstains. We want to keep him talking, so save that until the end of the interview. Oh, and I’d like you to tape this one.”

  “Okay,” Mac answered with a deep exhale through pursed lips, patting his inside jacket pocket to make sure the mini cassette recorder was where he usually kept it.

  “Mac, I have the utmost confidence in you. This interview will be a snap. Just give me the high sign when you’re ready to turn it over. I don’t care if it’s one minute or one hour. Just do what feels right.”

  Mac nodded, wishing he had the same confidence in himself.

  “Um, I don’
t know if you’re interested, but Eric and I used to say a quick prayer before we tackled what could turn into a volatile situation. Would you mind?”

  What could he say? No? Truth was, Mac wouldn’t mind getting some celestial help.

  “I can use all the help I can get,” he finally said.

  Kevin nodded and bowed his head. Mac instinctively did the same. Kevin’s prayer was simple and to the point, asking for guidance and protection and an end to the search for Megan’s killer.

  “I can see why you pray,” Mac admitted. “It’s hard to explain, but I feel stronger.”

  “I know what you mean. Now let’s go talk to Higgins.”

  “What if he confesses?” Mac turned the key.

  Kevin grinned. “Then you’ll have to take out your handcuffs and place him under arrest for murder, because I’ll be too busy trying to catch one of those flying pigs.”

  “What?”

  He drove the half-block to Higgins’s duplex and was pulling into the driveway when Kevin’s smart remark caught up with him.

  “When pigs fly—I get it.” He rolled his eyes. “Ha, ha.”

  “I’ve got a million of ’em.”

  “Spare me.” The brief banter loosened Mac up a bit, but he was still tighter than an overblown balloon.

  DANA BENNETT SUPPRESSED A YAWN as she headed home to her apartment in Gresham. Her shift had ended and she was bone tired. She’d been working way too much overtime, but for a good cause. She wanted to make detective and intended to do whatever it took. She smiled at the way she’d been able to keep up with this last murder investigation and put herself in the right place at the right time. Of course, it helped to have a boss who knew what she wanted.

  This last assignment had been fascinating, getting to watch the lab techs gather evidence. All that blood in a place that looked virtually spotless. She didn’t know much about the various suspects, or people of interest. The detectives didn’t like to call them suspects until they had solid evidence. They had a lot of interest in this Joe Higgins guy. He sounded like a real sleazeball.

  A scratchy voice came over her radio. “Need the closest unit to respond to Forty-fifth and Beech Street on a twelve-forty-nine Adam.”