An Eye for an Eye

by Caroline Fardig

  “You’re right—it didn’t. But unless the coroner knew she was pregnant or that the detectives thought a pregnancy factored into the murder, she wouldn’t have been tested. If it was early on in the pregnancy, the baby wouldn’t have been noticeable during a physical exam. In that situation, presence of a baby would have to be determined by a blood test.”

  “How do you know so much about babies?”

  His cheeks flushed. “I don’t. I’ve been to way too many autopsies.”

  I thought for a moment. “If Samuel Fox had known that his wife was pregnant by another man, wouldn’t his lawyer have tried to use that at trial to introduce the possibility of another killer? That fact alone could have bought him a heap of reasonable doubt.”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t read all the way through the court transcripts yet.”

  “I think that’s our next step. If Leann Fox was in fact pregnant, my money is squarely on her baby daddy.”

  “I have something I need to do first.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Ream Manetti’s ass for showing our hand.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Oh, this I’ve got to see.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  We found Manetti in the conference room with Sterling, both of them staring bleary-eyed at the stacks of files in front of them.

  Baxter walked in and stood over Manetti. “What the hell were you thinking going on the news and blabbing about the specifics of our investigation?”

  Sterling had to hide a smirk, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

  Manetti glared up at Baxter, his jaw set. “I was letting the citizens of this area know that there’s no cause for panic. That we’re throwing every available resource into catching this guy.”

  “Did you see the new video he sent?” Baxter demanded.

  “Yes, I did, and I—”

  “Your damn press conference cost us five hours. Five hours. How do you think Rachel Miller feels about that, huh? Do you think it matters to her that her fellow citizens aren’t in a panic?”

  Manetti stood so he could look Baxter in the eye. He seemed ready to puff his chest out if needed. “Detective Baxter, I understand your frustration, but keep in mind, I’m still the lead on this case.”

  Baxter didn’t back down. “Then act like it. Think before you tip our hand to a deranged serial killer.”

  Manetti turned to me, ignoring Baxter. “Ellie, please know that it wasn’t my intention to anger Justin Fox with what I said at the press conference. It would kill me to think that my actions put your sister’s life in jeopardy.”

  Baxter was about to continue with his rant, but I spoke first. “It’s over and done, and it’s only wasting time to argue about it. Baxter and I discussed it, and from now on, we need to be careful about what information we broadcast and also about who we choose to help us with the investigation.”

  Baxter said, “Ellie and I will put together a list of who we want on this.”

  Manetti nodded. “Do that, and I’ll make it happen.”

  “And no more press conferences without our okay,” Baxter added.

  Flicking his eyes at me, Manetti replied, “Done.”

  ***

  Baxter and I put our heads together and decided that we’d keep the key investigators who had been working on the recent murder cases—Baxter, Sterling, Manetti, Esparza, Amanda, and myself. We also added Jayne and Martinez, but Beck didn’t make the list. Manetti left to pull everyone else off the case and impress on the department how important discretion was in light of the killer’s new demands.

  Feeling like I’d wasted precious time that I could have spent researching the case, I said, “I need the court transcript for Samuel Fox’s trial.”

  Sterling shuffled some files and came up with it, tossing it down the table in my direction. “Here you go. Have fun with that.”

  I sat down and dove into the court transcripts, focusing mainly on Samuel Fox’s attorney’s defense strategy. There wasn’t much to it, which wasn’t terribly surprising out of a public defender and given the fact that Samuel’s actions screamed “guilty.” I assumed since Samuel didn’t get himself a real attorney that money was tight, which made sense considering one of the Foxes’ knock-down-drag-out fights had been over him losing his job and wasting their money on booze. The public defender put Samuel Fox on the stand, which I thought was a horrible idea given his history of violence toward his wife. No surprise, DA McAlister crucified him for it. But Samuel did manage to get across the idea that his wife had at one point had a problem with a stalker. He called him by name—Richard Kendrick—and went into great detail about how he’d stalked Leann for several months during the year before she died. Richard Kendrick was evidently a coworker of hers, and he’d been fired once Samuel went to Leann’s workplace and made a stink about it.

  Rubbing my eyes, I asked, “Has anyone run into any information on a Richard Kendrick?”

  Sterling reached behind him and tapped the dry erase board with the pen he had in his hand. “He’s up here somewhere—Leann Fox’s alleged stalker.”

  “Why alleged? Was he never charged or never investigated?”

  He grunted at me. “Why don’t you look for yourself?”

  Manetti had walked in the door in time to hear his gruff comment. “Detective Sterling—” he began, frowning as he sat down and pulled another file from the stack.

  I held up a hand. “No, it’s okay. This is Sterling not giving me special treatment, and I’m fine with it.” I looked at the messy table. “At least point me in the general direction of where you saw the information.”

  Baxter wordlessly pawed through a stack of files to his right and handed me a thin file marked “Richard Kendrick.”

  “Thank you.”

  On paper at least, Richard Kendrick seemed like a stand-up guy. No priors; the only thing marring his pristine record was a couple of old speeding tickets. He’d been with the company for five years—a supervisor at the plastics manufacturing plant where Leann Fox worked—until he was fired for supposedly stalking her. At the time, he’d been married for ten years and had two small children. He was on the governing board of the local youth baseball league. Unless he had some kind of alter ego, this guy didn’t seem a likely candidate for Leann Fox’s killer. However, looks could be deceiving.

  I murmured to Baxter, “Do you have Richard Kendrick on your list of people to speak to?”

  “I would if he were still alive.”

  Mouth open, I turned to him. “What?” I flipped a couple more pages in the file and came up with a police report detailing a fire in which Richard Kendrick and his young son perished. “A house fire? What are the odds?”

  Manetti blew out a disgusted breath. “Pretty good, actually. The Foxes’ neighbors, Earl and Judy Shively, also died in a house fire. Both occurred shortly after Samuel Fox’s death, and arson was suspected in both instances.”

  My eyes widened. “You think Justin Fox was lashing out?”

  “We do.”

  I frowned at Sterling. “You could have just told me that.”

  Sterling rolled his eyes. “The fact that Kendrick is dead doesn’t mean he’s not a good suspect. You needed to be objective and make up your own damn mind about him.”

  “Fair point,” I conceded.

  There was a knock at the door, and Esparza stuck his head inside. “We’re ready if you are.”

  Manetti closed the file he was reading and stood. “Give us a few minutes.” Esparza left, and Manetti said to us, “The leads on the original case are ready to give their rundown. Get some coffee or whatever you need and meet in the conference room in five.”

  What I needed was a drink, because I had felt a hangover-style headache coming on all evening. The drink wasn’t going to happen, so some Advil would have to suffice. I went to the break room to grab some water and found Jayne staring at one of the vending machines.

  “Tough choice?” I asked.

  She turned and gave me a t
ired smile. “Trying to decide what I can stomach. My ulcer decided to flare up this week.”

  I wasn’t surprised, given the week she’d had to endure, and was still enduring. My stomach was a wreck, and I didn’t have an ulcer to contend with on top of it. “I hear that.”

  She put her arm around me. “I know you don’t want to be coddled, but tell me—how are you really doing? Do I need to worry about you, too?”

  “No, you focus your worry solely on Rachel.” My voice broke as I said her name, and Jayne tightened her grip around my shoulders. I heaved out a sigh. “Speaking of worrying…do you think there’s any kind of heat in that barn? Rachel gets so cold. She sleeps under an electric blanket in the winter, even when the house is plenty warm. I bet she’s freezing. She wasn’t even wearing a jacket in the video.”

  Jayne shook her head. “You can drive yourself crazy worrying over the little things. What’s important is that she’s alive, and Justin Fox seems to be serious about wanting you to complete this investigation. I don’t think he’s planning to do her any harm.”

  “Until Sunday at noon, you mean.”

  “We will not miss that deadline, Ellie. I won’t let it happen.”

  ***

  Our handpicked team had assembled in the larger conference room. At the front of the room stood Manetti, Jayne, Frank, and DA McAlister, all of whom looked more haggard than I’d ever seen them.

  Manetti said, “Since Justin Fox has made it clear that he doesn’t want the entire department working on his mother’s case, we’re paring down our task force to the people seated at this table plus myself and Sheriff Walsh. Again, I want to ask all of you to not disclose anything you hear tonight or anything you discover through your investigation to anyone outside these walls. We want to keep up the appearance that Detective Baxter and Ms. Matthews are working this case on their own, but at the same time continue to work as a team to bring this son of a bitch down. I’ll turn the floor over to the principals from Leann Fox’s murder case so they can give us an overview.”

  He sat, and Jayne took charge of the meeting. “As you know, Frank and I investigated Leann Fox’s murder thirteen years ago. After seven instances of domestic assault issues over the course of the five months leading up to the murder, Frank and I were called out to attend Leann Fox’s death scene.” She pointed to some photos they’d tacked to the white board, copies of the ones lining the walls in the adjacent conference room. “As most of you know, the victim was initially struck with a spade, which was found near her body. Samuel Fox’s prints were found on the handle of the spade, and the victim’s blood was found on the blade end. Ellie, is this in keeping with what you found upon your examination of the evidence?”

  “Yes. I found a print on the handle, and it was a match to Samuel Fox. I also found a substance I assume is blood on the blade, but I’ve yet to send it off for testing since there didn’t seem to be an issue with the original test.”

  Jayne nodded. “The cause of death was asphyxiation, and the coroner’s report confirmed that the victim’s hyoid bone had been broken due to manual strangulation. Samuel Fox claimed to have been in the house while the murder occurred, but insisted he was unconscious at that time. Neighbors confirm his vehicle was in the driveway during the time of death window. The victim was found by her son, Justin Fox, and he ran to a neighbor, Earl Shively, for help. When questioned, Mr. Shively stated that he’d heard raised voices outside. But having been threatened by Samuel Fox a few months earlier about staying out of his family’s business, Mr. Shively made the decision not to call the police this particular time. As I recall, he was quite distraught over the incident, blaming himself for not having put a stop to the argument before it turned violent.”

  DA McAlister said, “Shively was a key witness in Samuel Fox’s trial. His testimony about the abusive nature of the couple’s relationship was the final nail in Fox’s coffin.”

  Sterling added, “Which is why we believe Justin Fox may have had something to do with the Shivelys’ untimely deaths.”

  Jayne pointed to a photo of a young boy that had been tacked to the white board. “Justin Fox was only ten when his mother’s murder occurred. His father was taken immediately into custody and bail was denied. Since Justin had no relatives in the area, he was taken by CPS that night and placed in foster care. Detective Baxter, I believe you and Ellie have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with the social worker who was put on his case.”

  “Yes, Sheriff,” Baxter replied. “We’re hoping she can point us to some foster families who might have kept in touch with our suspect and be able to give us some insight into his current whereabouts.”

  “Good. As for our investigation at the time, it seemed to be an open-and-shut case. Samuel Fox had repeatedly abused Leann Fox, and he’d finally gone too far. We questioned her friends, neighbors, and coworkers, and they all had the same thing to say—her husband finally finished the job. There didn’t seem to be any other people in her life who wished her harm.” She turned to Frank. “Frank, do you have anything to add on the investigation side?”

  Barrel-chested and permanently flushed, Frank Donovan always looked to be one cheeseburger away from a heart attack on a good day. This evening, his skin had a gray cast and he seemed almost frail. Amy had been the light of his life, and it was as if her death had taken the fight out of him.

  He shook his head. “No. I think you’ve covered everything, Jayne.” Mopping his forehead with a handkerchief, he dropped down into the nearest chair.

  “DA McAlister?” she asked.

  The DA said, “In my mind, the only other possible suspect who made sense was Richard Kendrick, the alleged stalker. He had an alibi, though. He was at a little league board meeting that night with three other parents.” He let out a disgusted breath. “I don’t know how you all are going to manage to find anyone else who looks as guilty as Samuel Fox.”

  Baxter glanced at me. “I guess now is as good a time as any to tell everyone your theory.”

  Clearing my throat, I said, “Our theory is that Leann Fox had a lover.” I explained my thoughts on finding the semen stain in her underwear. “In fact, it’s a possibility that she was pregnant at the time of her murder. Again, just a theory, but we thought maybe the news of the pregnancy caused either the boyfriend or the husband to become enraged.”

  The three old-timers stared at me, their expressions blank.

  Jayne finally found her voice. “There was no mention of a pregnancy by anyone we spoke to…”

  Baxter said, “We’re wondering if only Leann and her lover knew about it. And her son.” He quickly explained his reasoning, based on the context of the Bible verses he and I had discussed earlier. He ended with, “Whether Leann Fox was pregnant or not isn’t going to make or break our investigation. But if she was, it could point to one hell of a motive, either for a boyfriend or her husband.”

  Manetti said, “I think it’s a good theory, and may be one we can work with. I’ve already sent off the cutting of the semen stain, and we should have the DNA results by Sunday.”

  Amanda’s eyebrows shot up, and she glanced over at me and mouthed, “What the hell?”

  I shrugged. All I had to cling to right now was hope, and if Manetti could deliver, all the better.

  He continued, “Looking forward, what’s on everyone’s agenda?”

  Baxter said, “Tomorrow morning, Ellie and I will begin our interviews of people associated with the case. As soon as this meeting is over, we’ll be compiling that list.”

  Looking at his watch, Manetti shook his head. “It’s past two. The only thing you two will be doing right now is going home and getting some sleep. We need you sharp.”

  Sterling said to Baxter, “I’ve already started a list from the research I’ve been doing. I’ll finish it and have it waiting for you when you get here tomorrow.”

  “Whoa, wait,” I said. “You people actually think I’m going to go home and waste time sleeping while my sister’s being held captive?”


  To my surprise, I received stern looks from all around the table.

  Jayne said, “Yes, you are. There are plenty of capable people in this room who will be working on the case while you’re gone.”

  “But—”

  “Keep talking and I’ll cuff you to the couch in my office. Don’t think I’m above any tactic that will force you to get some rest.”

  I sighed, realizing I was bested. “Okay.”

  While the rest of the team was watching our exchange, no one noticed that Frank had begun to shake. But when he uttered a strangled noise, everyone whipped their heads in his direction. Frank’s eyes fluttered shut, and he slumped over in his chair. If it hadn’t been for Manetti jumping out of his seat and catching him, Frank would have keeled over headfirst onto the floor.

  As Jayne and Baxter hurried over to Frank and loosened the buttons of his collar, Martinez shot out the door, yelling for medical help. DA McAlister had his phone out calling 911. Shocked by Frank’s sudden collapse, the rest of us quickly vacated the room to give medical responders some space.

  Within seconds, the staff medic arrived. We watched through the window as he cleared Jayne and Baxter away from Frank to kneel over him. Only minutes later, two EMTs came rushing down the hallway with a gurney and barreled into the conference room. At that point, Jayne and Baxter joined us in the hallway. Jayne beckoned us down a couple of doors to the break room.

  She said, “Frank is conscious, barely. He mumbled something about low blood sugar, so I’m hoping that’s all this is. He’s diabetic, and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t had a proper meal since Amy passed. Looks like they’re going to take him to the hospital for some tests and will probably keep him for observation.”

  Manetti’s face was pained, and he trained a worried gaze on me as he addressed the group. “Please let this be a reminder to all of you to take care of yourselves. Rest, hydration, and food are a must. Do not run yourselves into the ground, and if you see someone else doing it, put a stop to it. Now go do what you need to do.”