Justice for Katie

by Linda Crowder

  Emma and Grace looked at each other, affected by Matt's words. Emma noticed Grace looked pale and tired. She needed to take her friend home.

  "Please don't mention to Nancy that we spoke to you Matthew," said Grace.

  "Why does it matter?" asked Matt.

  "Because it might alienate her. What she told us wasn't in confidence, and she did promise to call you but she may not be happy that we didn't give her the opportunity to do so before we came to you. If she keeps her word and calls you, there shouldn't be any need to mention us."

  "If she calls me and if she tells me the same story she tells you, fine. I still don't know why it matters."

  "I think she will be more likely to speak with us again if she doesn't think we're going to repeat whatever she says to the police."

  "I don't want you talking to her again! Haven't you been listening?"

  Grace leaned forward, stabbing the table with her finger. Her voice adopted a tone Emma remembered from her days in clinical supervision. "Carolyn Maxwell shut everything else out of her life and poured herself into her work. She was finally stepping back to make a life for herself when someone stole that from her. I owe it to Carolyn to bring her killer to justice."

  "No, I owe it to her, not you. That's my job. You and Emma need to stay out of this investigation."

  "The murderer has to be someone who works or has worked in the County Attorney's office. Those secretaries know everything that goes on there. You can't tell me it wouldn't be helpful to have access to what they know. They're not going to open up to the police, you know that as well as I do."

  "Has it occurred to you that the murderer could very well be one of those secretaries? Have you stopped to consider that Nancy Keene was not only the last person we know of to be in Carolyn's office but the only other person still in the CA's suite of offices before the cleaning crew arrived? Nancy Keene may have shot Carolyn herself."

  Grace gestured dismissively, but Matt continued, his voice harder than Emma had ever heard it. "Oh I know. She doesn't look like a murderer but do I need to remind you Doctor Russell that killers don't look like killers until they strike? Didn't I read something like that in your own book?"

  Grace lowered her eyes and Matt softened his voice. "I'll let you in on a police secret. We've been looking into Nancy Keene since she told us she thought she was the last one to see Carolyn Maxwell alive. For the moment, we've ruled her out - no motive, no access to a gun like the one that killed Carolyn and no blood on the clothing she wore yesterday."

  "I'm relieved to hear it."

  "You should be. You got lucky this time, but if you keep poking blindly, you could not only derail my investigation. Ask the wrong person the wrong question and both you and Emma could end up just as dead as Carolyn."

  Grace raised her chin. "That doesn't frighten me, Matthew. Cancer has already forced me to face down a killer. For Emma's sake, though, I will heed your advice."

  Matt leaned against the wall and looked closely at Grace. That she was seriously ill was evident by the hollows of her cheeks and the translucence of her skin. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed it last night, but he'd been distracted. Her face was pale but her eyes were lit with determination. Grace was right, support staff always knew whatever there was to be known and they didn't always feel comfortable talking to the police.

  He leaned over the table, resting his weight on his hands until he was at eye level with the her. "Stay out of this investigation. If I need information from the secretaries and I don't think they're being honest with me, I'll call you. Otherwise let me ask the questions."

  Emma and Grace filed out of the interview room and Matt headed back to his office. As promised, Nancy Keene had called and left him a voice mail, telling him much the same story as she'd told Grace and Emma. He'd have her show him where Carolyn had been sitting and see for himself what she would have been able to see.

  He flipped through his case notebook and reviewed what Knoll had told him. She had claimed to have no idea what Carolyn Maxwell wanted to consult her about. There had been a hesitation before she'd answered that question, though, and she hadn't told him about being in the County Attorney's office that morning.

  He got up and put on the lightweight jacket Kristy had bought for him. She told him it made him look dashing. He'd never been one to wear a jacket except when he had to testify in court, but he liked the way she smiled at him whenever he wore it.

  He unlocked the drawer where he kept his service revolver and clipped it to his belt. Grabbing his keys and slipping his notebook into his pocket, he headed out. It was only a few blocks to the County Attorney's office so Matt elected to walk.

  Arriving in the lobby and saying another thanks for air conditioning, Matt stopped at the building security office to ask about the alarm system. "Don't have an alarm," the security manager told him. "Got 24-hour security here in the lobby."

  "That didn't stop one of your tenants from being shot to death last night."

  The manager bristled. "Nobody came in or out through the lobby last night except the cleaning crew until the police got here. I made you a copy of the surveillance tape."

  Matt took the DVD. "Does the guard stay in the lobby or make rounds of the offices?"

  "About an hour after the building closes, he checked all the office suites. Everything was locked."

  Matt made a note of the guard's name and told the manager to have the man go to the police department and make a statement. Tucking the DVD into his pocket, he walked through the lobby to the County Attorney's suite.

  Nancy Keene greeted him cordially and they went into a small meeting room just off the reception area. She repeated the same story she'd told at lunch, and apologized for omitting Amanda Knoll's appearance in her earlier statement. "Always best to be completely honest, Mrs. Keene. Let me sort out what is and isn't relevant," Matt advised her. "If you or any of the other staff notice anything out of the ordinary, please give me a call."

  He handed Nancy his card and asked if she would show him exactly where Carolyn Maxwell had been sitting the morning of her death. Nancy's face paled. "I...I can't go in there, Detective. I just can't."

  "I know it's going to be hard but I wouldn't ask if it weren't important. I need to see exactly what Carolyn could see when you say she seemed to be watching the hallway. If you'll just show me where she was sitting, you can wait for me in the hall."

  Nancy agreed and escorted Matt down the hall to Carolyn's office. There was yellow "Crime Scene - Do Not Enter" tape across the doorway. Matt nodded and Nancy unlocked the door. "Are the offices always locked or is Carolyn's only locked because of what happened?"

  "All of the attorneys lock their offices whenever they leave. It's policy. Mr. Blakely gets very upset whenever anyone forgets. He says it puts confidential information at risk if they aren't locked."

  "Who has keys to the offices?"

  "Mr. Blakely has a passkey but everyone else just has a key to their own office. Each attorney's secretary, of course, has a key to his or her office as well."

  "What about the cleaning crew?"

  "I believe they only have a key to the common areas, but you'd have to check with Mr. Blakely."

  Ducking under the tape and keeping her face carefully turned away from the sight of blood on the chair, wall and window, she pointed out where Carolyn had been sitting. When Matt moved to the chair, Nancy ducked back under the tape and into the hallway.

  Matt sat down and looked out Carolyn's office door. The left side of the door directly opposite her office was visible. That was a storage room, he knew. Looking down the hall, he could see the right side of the door he knew led to Clint Taylor's office. Barney Madison's office was directly across from Taylor, on the same side of the hallway as Carolyn so was not visible from where he sat.

  He stepped to the door and asked Nancy if she would open the door to Clint Taylor's office for him. Taylor was not in, so he waited while Nancy fetched a key from Taylor's secretary. Sitting ag
ain where Carolyn had been, Matt realized why she had been surprised by Amanda's appearance.

  How did Amanda Knoll get into Clint Taylor's locked office in a locked building? Why was she coming out of his office when Taylor wasn't even there?

  9

  Matt's cell phone rang as he walked the five blocks to the Federal building. He flipped it open and answered, "Joyner here."

  "Jeb Cannon, detective. I'm sorry to bother you but I have a bit of an odd situation to report."

  "What is it, Mr. Cannon?" asked Matt, wondering why the author was calling him. He hadn't had time to look up the article they'd discussed or follow up with the junior detective assigned to the storage unit burglary. He doubted they would find the person who'd broken in with so little to go on.

  "I called the County Clerk in Newcastle to get a replacement copy of the police report and coroner's file that were stolen from my storage unit. He told me he couldn't find them."

  "That's odd. It's a capital crime with no statute of limitations so you would think they would hang onto them. There isn't any state law about how long those records should be kept though, so every county sets their own policy."

  "I guess wouldn't be surprised if they had purged it by now but according to the clerk, that's not what happened."

  "Then why didn't they have the records?"

  "According to the clerk, the evidence was boxed up and put into storage 20 years ago, right after I got my copies. When he went down to look for the box, he couldn't find it."

  Matt stopped walking. "Maybe it was misplaced."

  "Weston County's only got 7,000 people and the clerk says they only retain records for 50 years. There couldn't have been so much in storage that he would have missed it. It simply isn't there. He's going to dig into old record books and see if he can trace it."

  "You're not thinking that whoever broke into your unit also broke into the Weston County storage?" Matt sat down on a bench in the park across from the Federal building. This just didn't make sense.

  "I'm crazy, but not that crazy! I just don't like coincidences, detective. I called Sheriff Irwin who's an old friend of my dad. He politely agreed to look into it but I know him too well. Can you could give me a hand with this?"

  "I sympathize, Mr. Cannon. I don't like coincidence either but I'm a bit busy right now."

  "I know you have a more urgent matter on your hands but this can wait until you have more time. Heck, she's waited 30 years already. I'm sure Katie can wait another few weeks."

  "Katie?"

  "She didn't have a name. None that we never knew anyway. I didn't like thinking of her as Jane Doe."

  Matt smiled, "So you named her Katie."

  "Yes I did. I don't know why. Authors like to have names for characters, I guess. She's always been Katie to me."

  "I understand. As soon as I wrap up this case, I'll do what I can to help."

  "Thank you, Detective. Katie deserves justice."

  Matt and flipped his cell phone closed. He sat on the bench thinking of the long dead Katie. He didn't even have to ask the Captain whether he could spend time investigating the Weston County murder. He knew what the answer would be.

  He called the dispatcher and asked her to put him through to the Weston County Sheriff's office. "Yeah, Jeb called me about that missing evidence box," said Sheriff Irwin when Matt explained why he called.

  "Any idea what might have happened to it?"

  "Hell no."

  "Got any plans to have someone look into it?"

  "Hell no, but don't repeat that. People around here are a little crazy where that case is concerned."

  "Any objection to me poking around a bit?"

  "Why would you want to waste your time doing that? That case went cold 30 years ago and it isn't any warmer now. Probably somebody just dumped the box when they were cleaning the storage room and never logged it into the computer."

  "Probably," agreed Matt, "but it's important to Jed Cannon which makes it important to me. I'd like to put his mind at ease about it."

  "If I thought there was any chance of solving that case I'd be leading the charge," said Irwin. "Send whoever you can spare. I'll help if I can."

  "I appreciate it, Sheriff. I'll let you know." Matt hung up his cell phone and placed another call.

  "Jake? Matt Joyner. I need a favor."

  ***

  "Matt!" said Amanda Knoll when the detective knocked on her office door and let himself in. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

  "Seems you left something out of your story." Knoll gestured toward the same visitor chair he had recently occupied.

  A guarded look came over Amanda's face. "What might that be?"

  "Why were you at the County Attorney's office yesterday morning?"

  "I have a case that might have a local tie. I wanted to talk it over with Barney Madison." Her words came slowly, as though she were weighing each one separately.

  "What case is that?"

  More quickly this time. "You know I can't discuss an open case."

  "And did you meet with Barney?"

  A pause, her voice sounded uncertain. "No, he wasn't there. I guess I should have called ahead and made an appointment."

  "You just stopped by on the spur of the moment and that's why you weren't on his appointment calendar?"

  Matt thought he saw a hint of relief in her eyes. "Yes. Silly of me. I hate when people just drop in on me. Except for you, of course," she added quickly.

  "What time did you get to the County Attorney's office?"

  Again, the guarded look. "Early. As I said, I stopped by on my way into the office."

  "How early?"

  "I...I'm not sure."

  Matt sat silently, watching Amanda fiddle nervously with her pen. In his experience, silence often was more unnerving to a suspect and therefore more effective than even the best question. Amanda stayed silent though. so he spoke first. "Let's stop this tap dance. I know, and Carolyn knew, that you were in the CA's office before the building opened so someone had to let you in. I know, and Carolyn knew, that you were in Clint Taylor's office and Taylor was in court first thing yesterday morning. I want to know, and I suspect Carolyn asked you, what were you doing there?"

  Amanda rose and walked to the door of her office, which Matt had left standing open. She looked up and down in the hallway, then closed the door and returned to sit behind her desk. "I don't know what you're talking about Matt."

  "I think that you do."

  Matt sat back in his chair and waited. Amanda clasped her hands in front of her and examined her manicured nails. When Matt remained silent, she looked up at him, uncertainty and perhaps, Matt thought, a hint of fear in her eyes. "It has nothing to do with Carolyn's murder."

  "Why don't you let me be the judge of that? Is that what Carolyn wanted to speak with you about?"

  Amanda slapped the arms of her chair, "I told you before, Matt! Carolyn told me nothing. She only said she wanted to speak with me about something and that she couldn't speak of it in public."

  "What were you doing in Clint Taylor's office?"

  Amanda was thoughtful for a long time. Finally, she spoke softly but firmly. "If I tell you it goes no further than this room."

  "You know I can't promise that."

  "I'm telling you, this has nothing to do with Carolyn Maxwell's murder. If, once I tell you, you agree with me, will you agree to keep what I say confidential?"

  "I can't promise, Amanda, but if your story checks out and I don't feel it has any bearing on the case, I will do my best. That's as far as I can go."

  Amanda sighed. "Clint is acting in the play I'm directing. It's the first one I've ever done but he minored in theater so I've been leaning on his expertise. Rehearsal last night was horrible. It's only three weeks before opening and it's just not coming together. I was so discouraged."

  "Clint offered to help?"

  "Yes. I didn't want to stay at the theater. The neighborhood's a little dicey after midnight. I cert
ainly didn't want to invite a man to my house at that time of night. With my husband and the kids in Denver visiting his parents, what would my neighbors say?"

  "So you went to his office?"

  "It was perfectly innocent. I just wanted his help getting the play to work."

  "And?"

  She averted her eyes, a flush creeping over her cheeks. "And one thing led to another." She put her head in her hands. "I don't know what I was thinking, Matt. I've never done anything like that in my life. I'm just disgusted with myself. I don't know what I'm going to say to my husband. I'll have to tell him. I'm a terrible liar."

  "Carolyn Maxwell saw you come out of Clint Taylor's office that morning."

  "We fell asleep. Just like a couple of idiot teenagers getting caught by their parents. I panicked when she knocked on the door. Carolyn was a terrible prude. She would not have just laughed it off."

  "And did she catch you?"

  "No! I hid under the desk, I'm ashamed to say. Clint told her he'd been working on a case and fell asleep. He had to be in court early so he left and shut the door behind them. I heard them go down the hall. I waited until there were enough people in the office that when they saw me, they would just think I'd stopped by to see Barney. We really do have a case we're working on, even though I didn't have anything to see him about. I would have thought of something to ask him if he'd been in his office but when I knocked, no one answered."

  "Then you left."

  "Yes. And you say Carolyn saw me?" She put her head in her hands. "I swear, Matt. She never said anything about it."

  Matt looked at Amanda, thinking over what she had told him. She seemed earnest, but she lied convincingly the last time. She could be lying again.

  "Why didn't you tell me this when I was here before?" he asked at last.

  "I told you. I didn't think it had anything to do with Carolyn's death. I didn't know she'd seen me so it never occurred to me that might be what she wanted to talk to me about. I assumed it was a case, or maybe something in the CA's office. I'm the contact person for whistle-blowers, so people do seek me out now and then when they have a grievance of some kind."