A Christmas to Die For_Mrs. A 1

by Kristine Frost

  “That fits Connelly’s statement. He said that Smith got his job through political pull.”

  Mrs. A. shook her head. “Alice Van Ostendorf is pure poison. My husband said that she was responsible for a lot of the organized crime in the city. He was working on nailing her when he died. To this day, I’m not sure she wasn’t behind his death in some way, but I could never prove it.”

  The heavy-set man nodded, then continued, “There’s nothing known against Connelly, but he’s not well liked. He has a hair-trigger temper and is a bully.”

  “The man looked at Mrs. Arbuthnot who chuckled. “Can I hear what he’s got on me or do you want me to go powder my noise.”

  The man looked stunned. “You’re Mrs. Arbuthnot?”

  “I sure am. What have you got on me—nothing too juicy I hope,” she said with a soft laugh. She got up and walked down to the opening of the Big Room.

  “She’s quite a character,” Duncan said with a grin.

  “So I’ve noticed. She’s a well-known figure both in politics and business. Husband was a senator. Both were wealthy and generous. He was killed in a car accident—hit and run. He had a lot of enemies because of his anti-crime bills. She helps with a lot of charities, including the police ball and she organized that big dance to help pay for Sergeant Connors hospital bills. He’s the one who had to have plastic surgery because of the burns from rescuing the Wilson girl when her kidnappers left her in that burning building. There was a huge, anonymous donation given when the dance didn’t cover the total amount and the big brass suspected that she was behind it.

  “She’s honest, soft-hearted, but not soft-headed, pro-law and order, and anti-crime. Everyone I talked to thought highly of her. Her activities would take all night to relate.”

  Lepley picked up the paper and quickly read it. “That relieves my mind. She threatened to use her political pull which panicked the assistant chief so I had to bring her. I’m glad she’s clean. It’s been hampering my investigation because if she was involved, then I didn’t want to let her really know what we are doing.

  “Anything else you need me to do?”

  Lepley shook his head. “Not right now but I may need some help later.”

  “I’ll go back to the office. I think the helicopter is leaving in just a few minutes. We have three other murder cases that have just landed in our laps and they all need research.”

  Lepley nodded. “Stay close to the radio. I may need help and fast. A murder victim is just that, but a kidnaping victim can become a murder victim awfully fast.”

  “Got ya. I’ll keep it on my belt and you’ll be my first priority. Chief’s orders.”

  Lepley and Duncan walked toward the Big Room entrance where Connelly and Ruth waited. As soon as they got close, Connelly said, “None of the rangers that I interviewed remembered anything about our people from here on out.

  “Did you want to check with our men in Lower Cave? I know the park rangers are having coronaries because our men are searching down there.” Duncan said.

  “They can have all the heart attacks they want,” Lepley snapped. “Murder takes precedence over stalagmites, not matter what they think.”

  Chapter 13

  Carlsbad Caverns

  A pretty young woman in a ranger’s uniform came toward them. “Hi, I’m Patty Long. Superintendent Connelly said you’d want to talk to me so I cut my break short.” She smiled. “I’m on a double shift. The hours are terrible but the overtime is great.”

  “Thank you,” Lepley said. He took his notebook out of his coat pocket. “Please think back to late this morning. “Do you remember seeing a man wearing a green and black plaid jacket? From the description we’ve received, it was very loud and garish.”

  She said, “I remember that coat. It was more neon green than green or black. He was talking with some girls the last time I saw him.”

  “Can you describe them?” Duncan asked.

  “Both of them were blond, about twenty-three or twenty-four. They might have been a little younger, but not by much. They were dressed in jeans, T-shirts and denim jackets. I did notice that they didn’t look too happy about being around him. They acted mighty bored.”

  Lepley turned to Mrs. A. “They certainly couldn’t be your granddaughter or her friends.”

  She swallowed, fighting the panic the mention of her granddaughter caused. “No, they couldn’t. The girls that she described are older than my granddaughters and they were differently dressed.” She looked at Patty. “You said the ‘last time you saw him’. Did you see him more than once?”

  “Yes, it was very strange. I was down here as soon as the Caverns opened. Like I said, I’ve been working double shifts because of all the flu cases lately. It hasn’t been busy, but I like to be at my station so that I’m mentally ready to get to work. He came down, oh, about an hour later. I saw him talking to several people. There was an older woman, I’d say she was about fifty-five or so. Then I saw him talk to a young married couple with a baby and then I saw him with the two girls. About eleven or so, I saw him again and then again in the afternoon.”

  “Was he alone the last time you saw him?’

  “I’m not sure. I was talking to some people from France and I just caught a glimpse of his coat.”

  “Then you’re not sure you saw the same man?”

  “No, but it was the same coat. I’ll never forget that coat.”

  Mrs. A asked, “How did the other people react to him? I mean were they glad to see him?”

  “Definitely not. I took him to be one of those hangers-on that bore the socks off every person he meets.”

  “The bright coat would tend to bear out your opinion.” It was a statement, not a question.

  Patsy nodded.

  Lepley said, “But you didn’t ever see him with our victim?”

  “No, but he was around here all day and I did have a number of groups that had questions. But,” Patti said rubbing her temples, “I remember seeing him a couple of days earlier. At least, I saw the coat and the hat. I’m assuming it was the same man.”

  Lepley said, “Are you talking the day of the murder or before that?

  She thought about it for a minute. “I believe it was yesterday.” She smiled, “Sorry, the days tend to merge together toward the end of the week.”

  “Could you swear in court, if needed, that the man in the green plaid coat was here the day of the murder?”

  “I--”

  “We need you to be sure,” Duncan pressed.

  “Are you talking the coat or the man?”

  “The man,” Duncan said starting to get angry.

  She put up a finger as Lepley started to say something, then put her other hand to her mouth, closed her eyes. After several minutes, she said, “I can swear that the man with the wild grey hair who was wearing the neon plaid coat was here both days.”

  Both detectives relaxed and smiled. “Thank you. That’s what we needed to hear.”

  “Do you have any other questions?” Connelly asked looking at his watch.

  “I don’t think so right now.” Lepley responded. “I want to work with my men, and then we’ll head up to the surface.”

  Inspector Duncan and Mrs. Arbuthnot turned and started down the asphalt path toward a bench a few feet from the Lower Cave overlook.

  Inspector Lepley turned to Connelly. “I will need a list of the names and addresses of the rangers I’ve interviewed and anyone else who was here on duty that I didn’t talk to. I’d also like a list of any visitors to the Caverns that happened to sign the guest register.”

  “I’ll have them for you by the time you’re ready to leave.

  Lepley walked briskly down to the overlook. He took a minute to look down at the crime scene and the surrounding area that were brightly lit. He put his leg over the side and felt for the ladder. “Have you found anything more since I talked to you?” He asked Inspector Miller.

  “We found where he went over. From the marks, I would say that he w
ent over with some force, enough so that he cracked the one stalagmite that he landed against.”

  “You’re sure the crack wasn’t there before?”

  “It was fresh. I had one of the rangers bring down the park geologist.” Miller looked at his notebook. “His name is William Keogh. He said that it was fresh and he showed me why. Under a magnifying glass with a good light, it was obvious. I took a lot of pictures, just in case.”

  “Good. He can be our expert witness. That always looks good to a judge and jury.”

  “Right,” Miller said. “Of course we don’t have the coroner’s report so we don’t know for sure if he was dead before he went over. The way things look though, it’s my opinion that he was dead or unconscious when he went over. There are no signs of any movement after he stopped rolling.”

  “You examined the body. Did it look like a broken neck could have been the cause of death?”

  “Could have been. The neck was at a funny angle but I’m not sure that angle was acute enough to show a broken neck.” There was a lot of old contusions plus some fresh scrapes. However, there was also a knife wound in the left half of the chest. I don’t know whether he died of the knife wound or the fall.”

  “Whoever killed him was thorough. Why not just throw him over with a broken neck? There would be a good chance that we would have ruled it an accident or suicide. The knife wound makes it murder.” Duncan said.

  Miller said, “What if the person who stabbed him wasn’t the same one that threw him over the parapet? That would account for both the wound and the fall.”

  Lepley smiled, “That could be an answer and a very good chain of reasoning.”

  Miller smiled, “Thanks, sir.”

  “Any word on your promotion?”

  “No sir, but then I didn’t expect to hear anything until next week at the earliest.”

  “Well, good luck. I need to get back to the surface. Connelly just remembered to tell me that he has a key witness in his office and has had her there all morning.”

  “Cripes.” Miller said, shaking his head. “I guess I’d better tell you that Connelly has been up and down the ladder several times. The first time, he almost walked over the impression of the body. I ordered him out of the cave and he got real nasty. He told me that he was the boss and that we were only here by his invitation and so on.”

  “He pulled that on me, too. But he’s mistaken. We were called in by the head of the Park Service in Washington and Superintendent Connelly can just lump it.”

  “One of the other rangers kept coming over and watching us, but I send him off with a flea in this ear. After that he came several times, but he’d duck out of sight when I’d look up. Seems that a lot of people are interested in our investigation.”

  “Yes, so I’ve noticed. Describe him.”

  “Tall, skinny, blond, dirty uniform, belligerent expression.”

  “I know him. He’s one of the rangers that saw nothing, heard nothing, and most of all knows nothing even though all five people passed within two feet of him.”

  .Lepley looked at his watch again. “If you don’t have anything else to tell me, I’ll go talk to this Mrs. Thornton.”

  Miller opened his case and handed Lepley a small, shiny metal tube in a plastic evidence bag. “I found this about three feet from the body. It was finger printed so it’s okay to handle it. It was clean by the way, no prints at all so that makes me suspect that it was in the dead man’s pocket and it rolled clear when he hit.”

  Lepley nodded. “If you think you have everything, go ahead and pack up. The helicopter should be here in a few minutes.”

  Lepley climbed up the ladder and then over the parapet. He walked quickly up the path, motioning for his assistants to follow him.

  Duncan plucked his phone from his belt. “Duncan,” he said.

  ‘Hey, boss, we have Mrs. Thornton in Connelly’s office. The doctor released her today. She insisted that she wanted to talk to ‘whoever was in charge’.”

  “I’ll tell Lepley.” He touched the screen and then stuck it back in its holder.

  “That was Bishop. Mrs. Thornton is out of the hospital. She’s in Connelly’s office wanting to talk to you.”

  Lepley looked at Duncan. “That makes life easier unless she dies on us.”

  ‘Who’s Mrs. Thornton?” Ruth asked.

  “She’s the woman who discovered the body. She collapsed just as my men got here. We need to talk to her immediately. Evidently, she’s the witness Connelly forgot about.”

  Mrs. A. had to run to keep up with Lepley as he hurried toward the elevators. He was holding the elevator doors open when she and Duncan got to him. As soon as they were inside, he pushed the button for the surface. As soon as they exited the elevator, he stopped a ranger and asked for directions to Connelly’s office.

  The ranger led them down a long hall and then opened the door. “This is his office, sir.”

  “Thanks,” Lepley said. He paused and looked at the occupants of the outer office. They consisted of an anemic looking man and a pale washed out woman. There was a dark haired toddler who was quite literally climbing the walls. A young woman, obviously Connelly’s secretary, was trying to get him down from the book shelves that lined the walls behind her desk.

  He kicked out at her and she blew up. “You awful little monster. You get down from there immediately or I’ll call security and have them remove you.”

  “Now just a minute. You don’t have any right to do that.” The anemic looking man whined.

  She turned to glare at him, but before she could say anything else, Lepley pulled his ID out of his inside breast pocket. “I’m Inspector Lepley. I apologize for keeping you waiting so long.”

  He walked over to the bookshelves and plucked the boy from the second to the top shelf and set him down hard on a wooden chair. “Stay there until I’m through questioning your parents.”

  The little boy looked like he was going to cry, but he looked up at Lepley’s face, sniffed a couple of times and then stuck his thumb in his mouth.

  Lepley looked at his notebook. “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Thornton.

  They nodded and Mrs. Thornton said, “I don’t think it’s right to keep us waiting around all day and then come in here and bang our son around.”

  She looked at her husband. “Your mother must be crazy to put us in this position.”

  “Now, Tiffany, mother is just trying to do what’s right.”

  “That doesn’t prove she’s sane.” She glared at Lepley. “I still don’t think you should bang our son around.”

  “You don’t? Then you should have controlled him.” He looked over at the secretary whose badge said Blake. “Ms. Blake is right about his destroying government property. I could run you in on that charge and I will if she wants me to. As far as me keeping you waiting—in a murder investigation, a witness must wait until the officer in charge of the case is ready to interview them. Things must be done according to police procedure.”

  He looked at Connelly’s report. “I understand that you didn’t see anything at all?”

  “That’s right.” Mr. Thornton moaned. “I can’t imagine why my mother has to make such a fuss and cause all these problems.”

  Lepley frowned at her. “I’d say that your mother was a good citizen. If you can’t add anything to what you told Superintendent Connelly, I’ll go interview your mother and then you can go.”

  “Thank heavens for that.” Mrs. Thornton said with relief.

  Inspector Lepley opened the door into Superintendent Connelly’s private office and walked in. An elderly woman with fuzzy hair was glancing through a Park Service publication and nervously fiddling with her purse strap.

  “Mrs. Thornton,” Lepley said gently.

  She jumped and then smiled anxiously. “Yes, I’m Mrs. Edith Thornton.”

  “I’m sorry that I startled you. Are you sure you’re feeling up to answering my questions?”

  “I am. I feel stupid that I fainted like th
at. That young doctor at the hospital told me that I have some condition or other. I’m not supposed to get upset. I may be eighty-three, but I’m not old.”

  Lepley smiled. “I wouldn’t think there was any reason to put you in an old folk’s home. Your mind seems really sharp.”

  He pulled out a digital recorder. “If it’s alright, we’ll record this interview because I don’t want to keep you or your family waiting any longer than necessary. I’ll ask my questions and Inspector Duncan will verify the answers and then we’ll have you sign a statement that the recording is correct to the best of your knowledge. Once that’s out of the way, you can leave.”

  “Thank you.”

  Inspector Lepley said, “Would you tell me exactly what happened from the time you left the lunchroom until your discovery at Lower Cave?”

  She closed her eyes, “We had brunch about eleven o’clock or so. I rested and watched the people while my family bought some souvenirs and postcards.”

  “Did you notice a man in a loud green plaid jacket?”

  “No. Why?”

  “It’s not important.”

  “And you wouldn’t tell me if it were, I suppose. But that reminds me, I did see some gangster types hurrying down the corridor toward the Big Room. They were casually dressed, but they still looked like the Mafia muscle you see on TV.”

  “Can you describe them to me?”

  “There were three of them. One man was quite tall, about 6’2” as far as I could tell. He had black hair and was wearing jeans and a blue plaid shirt. One had lighter hair, not blond but not really dark either. He was wearing a light-colored raincoat. I think it was a pale gray, but with the lighting in the cave, it’s hard to be sure. The third man wore a hat and a dark leather jacket and dark jeans. I can’t really tell you more about them. They were too far away.

  The door opened and Mr. Thornton stuck his head in. “Mother, aren’t you through yet?”

  Angrily, she threw her purse at him. He ducked and shut the door quickly behind him. Duncan walked over and picked up her purse and handed it back to her.