by Aiden James
The detectives had already moved to the other side of the hall, satisfied with what they’d seen in Jillian and Christopher’s bedrooms. David caught up with them just as they reached the first guestroom. Since nothing else resembled Tyler’s bedroom, he hoped to get them to return downstairs. He tried to focus on what to say, regretting the beer buzz he still had, when the phone rang. The only active handset upstairs sat on Miriam’s nightstand.
“We can wait for you to get that if you would like,” said Mike, after the phone rang for the third time.
David moved past them to the master bedroom, closing the door behind him after stating he’d be just a moment. By the time he reached the phone, it ceased ringing. The caller ID showed the call came from Miriam’s office, and he intended to call her back as soon as the detectives left. He moved quietly over to the cedar chest at the foot of the bed, where he pulled out a blanket from inside. Three firm knocks resounded from the other side of the bedroom door.
“Mr. Hobbs?”
“I’ll be right there!”
David hoped his voice sounded relaxed enough. Not sure what it would take to make things look less suspicious, he laid the plaid blanket on the floor, careful to cover the circle. Then he closed the lid to the chest and tiptoed toward the doorway, opening it just as Detective Colby prepared to knock again.
“Sorry about that, it was my wife calling me.”
Both Mike and Daniel looked annoyed, and David hoped it hadn’t sounded like he scurried about from outside his door. They stepped into the bedroom. After scanning the room, Mike moved to the bathroom while Daniel checked the closet. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, the detectives prepared to leave. Mike noticed a small curled yellow leaf sticking out from under the blanket on the floor. He quickly moved over to it, while David’s throat constricted on him.
“Check this out, Dan,” he told his partner, lifting the blanket and revealing the circle beneath it. He pulled out a pair of latex gloves from his jacket’s inside pocket.
“Well I’ll be damned,” whispered Daniel, who pulled out a similar latex glove and placed it on his right hand. “Would you mind telling us what happened here, Mr. Hobbs?”
The detective pulled out a compact camera from his front coat pocket and took several pictures of the circle. Then he and Mike stooped down and removed a few leaves and twigs and placed them inside small plastic evidence bags.
“I don’t know for sure,” said David, sighing deeply and shaking his head, angry with himself for not getting rid of the circle earlier.
“But you didn’t want us to find it, did you?” accused Mike. He sealed the first bag and placed it inside the same pocket he withdrew his gloves from. “‘Are you sure you don’t want to tell us anything?”
Both he and Daniel eyed him serious, and David doubted either man would believe what actually happened. But without knowing what else to tell them and realizing any further deception on his part would be ill advised, he told them the truth. A summarized version, anyway, that focused on him and his eldest son hearing or catching glimpses of a mysterious female in the house.
“Tyler told us she pushed him through the window and is also responsible for the damage to his door frame,” he told them. “No one else in my family has seen her, although everyone has experienced some pretty strange stuff since Sunday. My wife will tell you she believes the girl is the one who left that circle on the floor.”
He braced himself for contempt and ridicule, surprised when neither detective so much as snickered. Instead, they nodded to each other and then Daniel spoke.
“Can we talk with Tyler and the rest of the family this evening, say around five o’clock? I’d also like for our techs to come out here to look at this.”
“Sure,” said David, wondering again why there was so much interest here. “Will you at least tell me if this has something to do with Norm?”
“Not until we’ve had time to go over everything,” said Daniel. “This might be connected to Mr. Sowell’s death, but until we know for certain, it would be in everyone’s best interests not to speculate. Just make sure nothing’s disturbed up here.”
“All right,” David agreed. “There’s a crew coming by to fix the window, but other than them, I’ll make sure everyone else steers clear of upstairs.”
“Can you postpone the repair on the window, at least until our guys are through looking around up here?” asked Mike. “Frankly, it would be better if nothing in the house is disturbed at all until the techs are finished. They might not be able to come out here until tomorrow, but will you do that for us?”
“I guess we can do that. Sure,” said David.
He had hoped to move back into the house tonight, but this meant they’d be spending another night with Janice.
Satisfied, the detectives prepared to leave the bedroom. Just before they reached the hallway, Daniel turned toward David. He had one more question.
“How did you get that bruise above your eye, Mr. Hobbs?”
“I don’t know,” he told them.
This time, neither detective masked their growing susp-icion. David felt the blood rush to his face, but fought hard to quell his indignation.
They think I’m involved in Norm’s death? How could they??
Without saying another word the detectives headed downstairs. When he caught up with them in the foyer, Daniel handed David a business card with his contact numbers on it.
“We’ll be back this evening,” he advised. “But if you think of anything else you’d like to share before then, call me.”
***
Once a couple of blocks away, Daniel picked up the radio handset beneath the dash and dialed the dispatcher.
“This is Colby,” he said into the receiver, glancing at Detective Kenyon in the passenger seat. “I’m requesting a background check on one David Hobbs, 1737 LeClair Drive in Littleton.”
The female dispatcher repeated the information in code, chiding him playfully for not using the proper protocol. He laughed and thanked her for the advice before hanging up the handset.
“Do you think he did it?” Mike asked him, for the moment staring straight ahead as they prepared to leave the neighborhood.
“You’re asking me if I think he killed Norman Sowell?”
“The twigs and leaves look like they’re the same ones spread around the fountain,” noted Mike. “That would definitely link him to the crime scene at his office. And the bruise on his forehead looks like it came from a fight.”
“Yeah, I suppose it does,” sighed Daniel. “But the girl he mentioned…that would also be consistent with the evidence we’ve seen so far as well.”
“There’s no frigging way any normal female could subdue a two-hundred and twenty pound man like Norman Sowell and lift his frame above that banister and throw him down to the first floor—much less get him to land on the top of the fountain like what happened,” countered Mike. “But another two-hundred and some-odd pound man like David Hobbs could.”
“Not really.” Daniel glanced at his partner, who turned to meet his gaze. “Granted, he looks like a strong guy, and my thinking could change if it turns out there is trace evidence on Norman Sowell’s hands or anywhere else at the crime scene that’s linked to Mr. Hobbs’s DNA and the injury on his face. But, I’m not sure even a world-class body builder could lift someone that heavy above a four-foot railing and thrust him another fifteen feet to where his torso landed on the fountain’s spire. Remember that the only bruises we found were on the guy’s pecker. Whoever lifted him and threw his body did so with ease. How in the hell could anyone lift a guy his size up and over the banister just holding onto that? It’s just not possible. That’s why my first guess was a suicide leap before we found the bloody fingerprints in his office.”
“Yeah, that changed my thinking too,” Mike agreed. “I couldn’t picture the guy doing a backward lunge to his death with his pants down anyway. Do you think maybe Hobbs has a partner, like the girl he mentioned? There’s evidence to
support that idea.”
They were nearing the business district of Littleton, and Daniel maneuvered the cruiser toward I-25’s entrance to get them on the main thoroughfare back to their office.
“Maybe. What did the window frame look like in the boy’s bedroom?”
“Like a mini-MAC truck slammed into it,” said Mike, chuckling at the absurdity of what he witnessed.
“Well, we both know the likelihood of a girl or David Hobbs doing that kind of damage without a stick or two of dynamite is remote,” reasoned Daniel. “There’s still something important missing in all of this…a piece to the puzzle not yet revealed. Until we figure out what that piece is let’s wait until we speak to the rest of the Hobbs’ family. I’m looking forward to visiting with the oldest boy. Tyler?”
“Yeah, that’s the kid’s name.” Mike pulled out his steno pad again, along with his BlackBerry. “I’ll make a few notes for when we return later today.”
“‘Sounds good,” his partner told him, veering into the turn lane to get onto I-25 heading north. “Let’s get the necessary permissions from the Littleton PD and then call Judy so she and her forensic team can stop by the house later today.”
“I’m on it,” said Mike, who made the calls while the cruiser sped back toward downtown Denver.
Chapter Twenty-two
“Hey, babe, it’s me. Sorry I missed your call.” David called Miriam from the kitchen phone. “I just finished talking to the police. Do you by chance have the number to the guys coming out here to repair the window?”
“Don’t you remember they gave us a four hour window between one and five today to be there?” she told him, sounding a little irritated by his apparent impatience.
“It’s not what you think,” he assured her. “The cops don’t want anything done to the window until their forensic specialists look at it first.”
“Why?” Her tone now worried and surprised at the same time. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Well, the detectives examined the window and the damage to Ty’s door, and they took samples of the leaves and twigs from our bedroom,” he said. “They didn’t come right out and say so, but they indicated what they found upstairs is somehow related to what they found at the office when Norm’s body was discovered. They asked me about the bruise on my forehead and I told them I didn’t know how I got it. They seem to think I’m somehow connected to Norm’s death.”
“Oh, David,” she said gently. “I-I’m sorry I overreacted a moment ago. I had no idea…. I’ll call the window company myself, and try to reschedule for next week. You just try to relax until I get there. I’ll be out of here in about an hour. Okay?”
“Yeah…. I’ll see you then, babe.” He bit his lower lip to keep from crying. He hung up the phone and moved over to the kitchen table, looking out the bay window into the backyard. The leaves covering the ground seemed to have grown tenfold since Sunday night when he walked around the house looking for a prowler. At least he now had a distraction to pull his thoughts away from Norm and what just transpired with the detectives. But he needed to check on something else first.
He walked back into the foyer to where his coat hung on the highest prong of the hall tree. He fished through several pockets until he found the small slip of paper he wanted, and then headed for the den. Once his laptop was warmed up, he logged onto the Internet.
The USPS database confirmed the drop-off transaction in Denver at 12:03 p.m. yesterday afternoon. More important transactions followed, as the package arrived in the Knoxville airport post office at 5:38 a.m. this morning, and then it was delivered in Gatlinburg less than four hours later, at 9:27 a.m.
He smiled and shut down his laptop, and then left the den. Grabbing his jacket from the foyer he went out into the garage, where he put on his work gloves and picked up a rake he hadn’t used in years. He set out for the backyard where the leaves were thickest, hoping to break a sweat and push back the pain and sorrow closing in on him.
The sky overcast, the latest forecast called for snow before evening. The leaves in the middle of the backyard rose above David’s ankles. He glanced back at the house. Most of the drapes and plantation blinds were closed in the windows on both floors. The splintered wood around Tyler’s window and the bent post that held the security flood lamp on the gabled roof below the window caught his eye before he turned away. He shivered, considering again the entity’s violent tendencies.
He set out in earnest to clear as much of the yard as possible. Before long he filled up nearly a dozen bags he brought with him and raked one last pile before calling it quits. As he finished, he heard an unusual noise emanating from the treetops in the yard of a large residence several acres away, to the north of his home.
He stopped and turned toward the sound. The treetops swayed noticeably, like an invisible massive hand pushed through them. To his amazement, the phenomenon moved into the next neighbor’s yard, as the tall pines and maples began to sway back and forth. All the while, the noise grew from a heavy rustling to where it resembled a massive swarm of angry hornets. By the time it entered his next-door neighbor’s backyard, he had no doubt the invisible force moved toward him.
David held out his rake in front of him, scarcely believing his eyes and ears. The treetops at the edge of his property began to shake as the rumble from the unseen swarm approached. A female’s hand tapped his shoulder from behind.
“David, it’s just me!” Miriam shielded her face as she stepped back from him. She held his prized camera, falling to the ground as he barely missed hitting her.
“Damn it, you scared the holy shit out of me! I could’ve really hurt you just now!” he scolded her, dropping the rake and helping her back to her feet. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she told him, snickering. She reached up and kissed him, which softened the scowl on his face. “I didn’t mean to scare you, hon’....really, I didn’t.”
She looked toward the far end of their backyard. Thankfully, the menace had disappeared, and only a light breeze moved through the trees.
“What’s with the camera?” he asked, anxious to think about something else.
“I’m just following up on an idea that Jan and Sara gave me,” she said, returning her attention to him. “Since there were almost a dozen exposures left from our trip last weekend, I decided to finish the roll with a few pictures taken around the house.”
“As in the bedrooms upstairs?” he asked, pausing to close the last bag and slap his gloves on top of it. No more raking today. “You were careful not to mess with anything, right?”
“Yes. I was careful not to disturb anything and won’t start cleaning things up until after the detectives and the lab techs are done.”
“Have you finished the roll?”
“Not yet,” she said. “After I took a few shots from both upstairs and downstairs, I saw how hard you were working out here and decided to save the last one for you.”
“It probably won’t be so great. Maybe you should aim the camera at something else.” He started stacking the bags together in a row.
“Not so fast, hon’!” She gently pulled his arm to make him face her. “Why don’t you stand over there?”
She directed him over to the largest maple in the yard, coaxing him to lean against it like Paul Bunyan, holding the rake out proudly to one side. She backed up and kneeled on the grass, aiming the camera’s lens toward him.
“Now…smile for me, David,” she said. “Smile for me like I’m the naked dessert you might get tonight if you play your cards right!”
He gave her a smile, brighter than he presumed possible, enticed by her offer and grateful for her presence.
“Gotcha!” she announced after she snapped the photograph. “I want to get these developed tonight, after the police finish their work. Jan’s picking the kids up and will bring them here.”
“I guess we’ll be having pizza again, huh? The detectives asked me to leave everything untouched, including downstai
rs too. How are we going to keep the kids occupied until they get here?”
“It might be good if they can hang out with you, unless you’d rather be alone right now.”
“They can be with me,” he said. The sorrow lifted slightly at the mere prospect of being around his kids. “I’d like to be with them and you.”
“Are you sure?” She looked up in his face again, her sad eyes hopeful.
“Yeah. Yes, I do!” he assured her. “Now go on back inside and I’ll join you as soon as I’m done taking these bags over to the side of the garage.”
“Yes, sir!” She saluted him, her smile seductive before moving back to the porch. “The yard looks great, by the way!”
He looked around him. He’d accomplished quite a bit in a short amount of time while pushing the heaviness in his heart as far away as he could manage.
“It’s a start, babe!” he called to her as she stepped inside the house. “Hopefully, anyway,” he mumbled, after she shut the back door. He glanced again toward the corner of his yard. Everything now seemed peaceful. He grabbed the rake and a pair of full bags in each hand and headed toward the garage.
***
The detectives returned just after five o’clock as promised. The temperature outside had dropped into the low-thirties. David and the kids joined Miriam and Janice in the living room around four-thirty, where they awaited the detective’s arrival. As he had with his parents, Tyler offered very little information to Daniel Colby and Mike Kenyon, and only confirmed what David told them earlier. Unable to mask their growing frustration, the only thing that kept them from pushing Tyler harder for more information was Jillian’s antics, who desperately wanted to tell them about her experience on Monday.
Before long, Judith Krantz and her team of three forensic specialists arrived. The team spent twenty minutes on the main floor before moving upstairs. Meanwhile, Daniel and Mike interviewed Miriam and Janice, focusing on their relationship to Norman Sowell and what they knew about the girl Tyler had sketchily described. For the most part, they ignored David after their cordial greeting to him. But several times during their interviews with Janice and the family they glanced at him.
