Resolved Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 3)

by T. E. Killian

  Stan and Grant left her office laughing and she picked up the phone.

  After her conversation with Chief Winters, she was disappointed and more than a little upset. He wouldn’t let anyone talk to the city leaders but himself. He said he would get back to her this afternoon or tomorrow morning with any results. She should have known better. As in most police departments, the chief of police was not just a cop anymore. He had to be part diplomat and very much a politician as well.

  Her only thought was, better him than her. That was one job she would never want.

  * * *

  Wayne slowly hung up the phone after talking to Grant. No one had said so yet, at least to him, but this whole thing sounded to him like someone had planned this murder very well.

  But who? Who would intentionally run Mr. Hogan down with a car, and with one of their cars at that? Why their car?

  The phone interrupted his thoughts. It was Kelly on the intercom.

  “Wayne, Grant is tied up with a big new case. Can you take me to Alison’s house for lunch? I can probably get a ride home with Sonia later.”

  “Sure, sis, I’ll be right there to help you out.”

  When the elevator opened on the ground floor, Wayne turned to Kelly and said, “Can you sit right here for a minute. Grant wants me to get some information and I just need to tell the managers to start gathering it for me.”

  As he helped Kelly into a chair near the elevator, he said, “I’ll be right back.”

  The offices of his three managers were next to each other down the hall from the elevator. He was in and out of all three as quick as he could. He didn’t want to keep Kelly waiting.

  When he was in the used car manager’s office, Wayne grabbed the keys to a used Town Car.

  Once they were in the car leaving the lot, Kelly turned to Wayne and said, “This was so thoughtful of you Wayne. I wasn’t looking forward to getting in and out of your car.”

  Wayne tried to laugh it off. “I knew I’d hear about it all the way there if I didn’t.”

  “You know Wayne, I think I see a difference in you lately. Is it possibly Sonia’s influence or is it merely your attraction to her that’s changing you?”

  Wayne knew there wasn’t a safe answer to that question so he tried to avoid answering it. But he should have known his little sister wouldn’t let the subject drop.

  Kelly giggled. He loved to hear that sound. She never giggled much before she met Grant. Wayne was definitely glad that she had married Grant, even though he hadn’t been so sure at first.

  “I think I can answer that question even if you’re too chicken to do so yourself.” She giggled again. “I think that Sonia already has you tied around her little finger. But I also think that she doesn’t really know it yet.”

  Wayne knew she had trapped him into answering but he felt that he had to now. “Don’t you go telling her that.”

  Kelly laughed again as Wayne pulled into Stan and Alison’s driveway. He rushed around the car to help her out and almost bumped into Sonia who had also rushed from her car to help Kelly. Together, they supported Kelly to the door and into the house to a sofa near the door.

  As Sonia and Wayne were both straightening up from helping Kelly sit down, their eyes met. He knew that all of his feelings for Sonia were right there for her to see, but he couldn’t see anything in her eyes. At least there wasn’t anything negative there. He could go with that . . . for a while.

  He mouthed the words “Thank you.” and Sonia smiled at him. That almost put him on the floor. When she truly smiled like that, her whole face lit up and he was stunned. That smile was for him. Him!

  All the way back to the office, Wayne knew he was grinning like a baboon. He couldn’t help it. Sonia had smiled at him. Yes! He’d come a long way with her. Now, all he had to do was keep going in the right direction without messing things up. With this murder investigation, he was sure they were going to meet more often.

  Wayne had just entered through the back door when he saw all three of his managers standing outside Mike’s office.

  When he walked up to them, Mike spoke first. “Wayne, you saved us a trip up to your office. We all have our lists ready for you. At least this is all we can come up with right now. You said you needed a preliminary list this afternoon.”

  “Thanks for working so fast, I’m sure the police will appreciate it.”

  When the three men handed him their lists, Wayne glanced down each one quickly. Several names jumped out at him at once. He looked up at the others and they all frowned and shook their heads.

  Wayne groaned. “I think I’d better get these over to the police right away. That’s where I’ll be if anyone needs me.”

  He turned to leave but turned back, “Oh, and please don’t tell anyone any of the names on this list.”

  With that, Wayne turned around and left the building. On the way over to the police station, in his car now, Wayne kept thinking about three of those names. He hadn’t figured anything out by the time he was ushered into a conference room off the reception area.

  He had just sat down when a door opposite from the one he had entered through opened and Grant walked in closely followed by Stan. They both sat in chairs across from Wayne.

  Grant spoke first. “You didn’t have to bring these down here yourself, Wayne.”

  Wayne shook his head and said, “I think it was better this way. And I think you’ll both agree when you see some of the names on these lists. Remember, these are preliminary. My people will probably come up with a few more by tomorrow.

  He handed the lists to Grant who placed them on the table between him and Stan so they could begin reading them together.

  When they finished, Stan whistled and they both stared at Wayne.

  Stan said, “Are you serious, man?”

  Wayne groaned and said, “As a heart attack.”

  Grant looked back at the list and said, “This case just got a whole lot more interesting.”

  Stan said, “Yeah, wait until Sonia sees these lists.”

  Wayne cleared his throat. “Three of those are my best friends since high school, including Mr. Hogan’s son, Bill.”

  Grant gave Wayne a hard look. “Now, don’t get carried away here Wayne. These are only people who were in the right place at approximately the right time to have access to the keys and log. None of these people are suspects right now. We just have to start somewhere and this is all we have to go on right now.”

  Wayne left the police station more confused than when he’d arrived. He looked at his watch, four o’clock. How did it get to be so late? He might as well go on home and start getting ready for his dinner with Sonia. It would probably take him that long to prepare, especially mentally.

  * * *

  Sonia continued to stand over Kelly as they both watched Wayne walk out the door.

  When the door closed behind him, Kelly said, “Wow!”

  Puzzled, Sonia looked down at her.

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this Sonia, but I think my big brother is starting to get to you.”

  Before Sonia could protest, Kelly added, “The sparks were flying so much just now when you two were looking at each other that I thought my hair was going to catch on fire.”

  Alison, who was holding her baby in her lap on the opposite sofa, laughed with Kelly. Sonia, though, was only frowning as she sat next to Alison so she could see the baby better.

  She looked down at the baby and exclaimed, “His hair is white like mine.”

  Alison and Kelly both laughed and Kelly said, “You must not be around babies very much Sonia. Most babies who will have blond hair like Alison’s will look white for a few months then it will start turning to its natural color.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know.” She laughed. “The only babies I’ve ever been around are my brothers’ babies and they all have hair like mine.”

  Alison looked at Sonia and said, “Would you like to hold him?”

  Sonia was hesitant. She’d nev
er held many babies and wasn’t all that comfortable doing it.”

  Alison sensed this and gently laid the baby in Sonia’s arms where they lay in her lap. Sonia had to shift his head a little to keep it away from her belt badge.

  As if he sensed the change or maybe the hesitancy on Sonia’s part, the baby opened his eyes and stared up at her.

  “Have you decided if you’re going to call him William or Bill?”

  Alison laughed and said, “Stan thinks that William is too big a name for such a little fellow, but that’s what I want.” She giggled. “Stan will come around.”

  Sonia looked back down at William and he was smiling at her. She’d heard somewhere, probably from one of her sisters-in-law that it was usually only gas at this age, but she wanted to think that he was actually smiling at her.

  Suddenly, she felt a strange feeling coming over her. Her mind went blank as she looked down. She was holding a baby! She had held babies before. Why was this time shaking her up so badly? She looked at Alison then Kelly and she knew. She was two years older than Kelly and even three years older than Alison was. Alison had a baby and Kelly would too, very soon. But what did Sonia have? She didn’t even have a pet to go home to.

  She heard a strange sound then realized that she had gasped. Then she became aware of the other two women staring at her.

  Alison spoke with a giggle. “Don’t feel so bad, Sonia, it hit both of us all of a sudden that way too.”

  Now Sonia was more confused than before. She looked at Kelly who was smiling tenderly at her. What was going on here? Did they both know something she didn’t?

  Kelly leaned toward Sonia and said, “What Alison is talking about is the fact that she and I almost simultaneously realized that we wanted a baby. It took us a little longer, but we didn’t have a baby in our arms to help us realize it sooner.”

  Sonia felt like someone had blindsided her. She was so confused that she almost felt dizzy. She couldn’t have spoken if her life depended on it.

  Was that it? Was that what had hit her so hard? Did she want a baby?

  Alison giggled again. “I can tell you what your next thought is going to be. You don’t want to have a baby without getting married first.”

  Sonia spoke before she thought. “How did you . . .”

  Then Sonia felt bad when she realized that Kelly had struggled to get up out of her chair to come over and sit next to her on the sofa. The other two women now flanked her.

  “Sonia, I know my big brother is changing, but I’m still not so sure he’s husband material just yet.”

  “Wayne?” That was intelligent! She didn’t want to hurt Kelly’s feelings, but she had to set her straight. “I would never marry him.” That wasn’t exactly what she had meant to say.

  That was when Alison laughed so hard she almost fell off the sofa.

  “That’s exactly what I said about Stan right up until a few days before we decided to get married.”

  Sonia didn’t know what to say to that. What could she say to it? It was time for a change of subjects.

  “Well, if we don’t eat these burritos I brought, they won’t be any good. As it is, we might need to reheat them a little in the microwave.”

  Alison took William from Sonia and laid him in a bassinet that was on wheels. She gently pushed it into the kitchen as Sonia helped Kelly up from the sofa.

  Sonia giggled at Kelly once she was situated at the table. “Girl, if you don’t have that baby soon, he or she is going to simply explode right out of your stomach.”

  They all laughed as Alison poured iced tea for them all and they began to eat.

  Sonia had just finished the last bite of her burrito when her cell phone rang. It was Grant.

  “Sonia, Wayne brought his lists down to us and you’re going to need to look at it so we can decide where to go from here?”

  She could tell from the tone of his voice that it wasn’t good. She didn’t want to talk about it over the phone.

  “I’ll be there in about fifteen.” She looked at the other two women and said, “I hate to eat and run, but something has come up and I have to go.”

  Kelly said, “That’s okay, but could you tell Grant that I’m still here. He can pick me up when he leaves the station.”

  With that, Sonia said good-bye, paused to look down at William one last time, and left with the laughter of the others ringing in her ears. What were they laughing at? Was she that obvious?

  All the way back to the station, she kept seeing the baby’s face smiling up at her. She needed to snap out of this. She needed to get control. She had a case of major significance to deal with right now. And she had a feeling that it had just taken a turn for the worse if Grant’s phone call was any indication.

  Chapter Four

  Stan and Grant were waiting for her when Sonia made it back to her office. They both came out of their offices to join her at her conference table.

  She looked at Stan and said, “Congratulations again, Stan. I sure hope William got his looks from his mother though.”

  They all laughed and sat down. As soon as they were situated, Grant handed her the three lists that Wayne had given them.”

  She glanced over them quickly then went back to look at each name individually.

  She looked up at them and said, “This is a Who’s Who list for this entire valley.”

  Stan groaned, “That’s why we thought you would want to see it right away.

  Grant pointed to the lists. “Almost everyone the chief said he’d talk to is on those lists. Did he get back to you on that yet?”

  “No, he hasn’t. And I’m not sure I want to remind him just yet. I think I’ll give him until tomorrow morning.”

  Stan snorted. “So what do we do until then?

  “We need to interview every person who works at Newcomb Motors and Wayne said he would set it up for us. If the cabinet with the keys and logs in it is open during the day, then almost anyone there could have access to them.” She looked down at the folders on her desk. “Why don’t you two go on over there and get started. I’ve got a couple of things I need to catch up on then I’ll come over and help you.”

  Just as Stan and Grant started to leave, Sonia’s phone rang. She looked at the screen. “That’s the chief right now. Maybe he’ll have something for us.”

  When she answered, the chief only said, “Sonia, could you come over here for a few minutes?”

  After she hung the phone back up, she turned to the two detectives, “I’m not so sure he has anything. It sounded like he’s going to either push me or give me a pep talk.”

  She headed out the door behind them. “Go get started at Newcomb’s. I’ll get over there as soon as I can.”

  Sonia made the now longer walk over to the chief’s office, deep in thought. What did he want? She didn’t think he was going to give her any information. More than likely, he was going to want an update from her, at the least. He was probably getting pressure from the mayor and the council.

  She thought of several more scenarios before she knocked on the chief’s closed door. That didn’t bode well. He seldom closed his door.

  One scenario she hadn’t thought of greeted Sonia with a glare from one of the chairs in front of the chief’s desk. Sonia didn’t like the feel of this. Commander Nancy Pennington continued to glare at Sonia as she approached the desk. The chief motioned to the other chair in front of his desk so Sonia sat in it.

  Chief Darrel Winters looked at Sonia, and then motioned toward Pennington. “Sonia, Commander Pennington and I need to know everything you have right now on the hit and run last night. She needs to put together a press release.”

  Sonia had been gathering her thoughts as to what she would say to the chief should he ask that very question. But, now with Pennington in the room, for some reason, she felt that she needed to be more careful of what she said.

  “First of all, Sergeants Thompson and Becker are working with me on the case. I’d rather not bring anyone else in unless I
have to. Everyone else is either new or training one of the new detectives.”

  “Good, I agree. Now tell us what you have on the event itself.”

  “Well, apparently Mr. Hogan was crossing in the crosswalk at Main and 16th last night at about 2100 and was hit by a new Lincoln Continental which turned out to be taken off the lot at Newcomb Motors. It was abandoned two blocks away with the keys in it.”

  When she paused for breath, Pennington interrupted. “We know that much. What else have you found out?”

  Sonia controlled her temper with effort. “The lab said that the car had been wiped clean and vacuumed so thoroughly that they didn’t find anything but a little lint from the carpet.”

  “Doesn’t that strike you as odd, Sonia?” The chief ran his fingers through his hair and picked up a pen from his desk.

  “Yes, sir, it does. This morning we talked to the general manager at Newcomb Motors, Wayne Newcomb. He said that they keep a log on each vehicle, which has entries for every time the keys are taken, no matter what is done to the vehicle. The keys and the log are stored in a cabinet in the sales manager’s assistant’s office. The log for this vehicle is missing too.”

  She let that sink in for a moment. “The cabinet is left open during business hours. Virtually anyone who works there could have access to it. For that matter, anyone who would be there to test drive a vehicle could have taken the keys when the assistant wasn’t in her office.”

  Winters groaned. “So you’re saying that anyone who worked there plus anyone there on business could have taken the keys?”

  “Yes sir, that’s what Mr. Newcomb said.”

  Pennington glared at her again. “Why aren’t you out there interviewing those people?”

  Sonia gritted her teeth. She wanted to say she would be if she hadn’t been called into the chief’s office.

  She looked straight at the chief, thus ignoring the commander. “Grant and Stan are over there right now and I plan to join them as soon as we’re finished here.”

  She had thought about not mentioning the lists from Wayne, but the chief needed to know. She just wasn’t sure what Pennington would do with that information.