by Kay Wyont
Lloyd stared at the handwritten phone number on the back of the card, and when he spoke again, Randy had to strain to hear his next words. “I’ve been thinking it might be better for everyone if I wasn’t around. But, I’m a coward.” He looked up, the anguish in his eyes undisguisable. “How did you know what I was thinking?”
“Lucky guess. That’s not a solution, Lloyd, it’s never the solution. Promise you’ll get help and that you’ll call me if that help doesn’t do you any good. Promise?”
Lloyd took a deep breath then let it out slowly before giving a jerky nod. “I promise.”
“Take care of yourself, son,” Randy said, patting Lloyd’s hand. “We’ll come back to see you.”
“Thank you.”
Lawson put an arm around Lloyd and spoke quietly to him as the prison guard came to take Carter back to his cell.
Back in the parking lot, Danny patted his stomach. “Mom’s spaghetti sure sounds good. I wonder if there’s a way to sneak some in for him.”
“Lawson is right behind us,” Randy said in a low voice. “Let’s hold our conversation until we get to the car.”
Lawson didn’t tail them back to the police cruiser, but Randy caught the lawyer eyeing them as they drove away. “I hope we didn’t do something stupid and give anything away. Lawson sure is looking at us.”
“I don’t know about stupid. I thought you were pretty brilliant. What made you ask about suicide?” Frank asked.
“I felt like I was talking to Rick. They’re too much alike. Eating themselves alive with guilt. I don’t want a repeat performance.”
Danny nodded. “That was a good catch, Randy. You too, Frank. Why did you ask about the supplements? I hate to admit that went right over my head. Why did you think it would be that?” Danny asked.
“He mentioned his mom’s spaghetti and a supplement. It was a blind guess,” Frank admitted. “I was hoping it was the diet thing.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but Veronica and I were talking about Hank the other night. You know the military has weight standards, and she said he’d been trying to lose weight. He went to some clinic, but she didn’t know the name. I think I could hazard a guess now, though. Like you said, Lloyd’s a lot like Rick, and I remembered Mr. Caldwell told us that Rick had a weight problem. Stupid dumb luck, I guess.”
“It wasn’t luck, Frank. That’s called instinct,” Randy said. “Like Danny said, that was a good catch.”
“Why did you tell him to call you Randy? Don’t you want to maintain some distance with a suspect? It hasn’t come up in my criminal justice courses yet, but it seems to me like you’d want the power position.”
“Normally, yes. But he’s not a suspect for us. It’s not our case. Sometimes, you can get more information by being friendly. Hence the first name. That friendly atmosphere put Lloyd at ease, and he opened up about things that didn’t seem pertinent to the case. If he hadn’t brought up weight loss, we wouldn’t know what we know now.”
Danny laughed. “You even got that grouchy lawyer to lighten up.”
Randy chuckled, too. “Like I said, if you’re interrogating someone for a case you’re working, don’t do it, but in situations like this, go for it. That wasn’t an interrogation, it was a conversation. Normally, you wouldn’t lead the suspect like we did, either. Let them tell you and hopefully they’ll hang themselves. In this case, we could lead Lloyd to get where we wanted. He didn’t seem to hold anything back when he was talking to us, probably because he figured we weren’t a threat. They can’t teach you that in a class. You learn that kind of thing solely through experience.”
“Okay. I’ll remember,” Frank said.
“I have no doubt you will, Frank,” Randy said. “Let’s brief Chief Sanchez and figure out where we go from here. If possible, this just got more interesting. And confusing.”
ELEVEN
Chief Sanchez gazed out his office window, processing Randy’s briefing. When Frank started to fidget, Randy motioned for him to relax. Cool it, Frank! You’ll distract the chief. It may take a while for him to sort stuff out in his head, but once it’s locked in...prepare to be impressed!
Something must have clicked in his head, because Sanchez spun toward his desk, grabbed a notepad, and started looking something up on his computer. “Give me a minute. Feel free to discuss anything you want. I can listen and type at the same time.”
Randy shrugged. “I don’t think we have anything else to discuss, Chief. You know as much as we do right now.”
Danny eyed his partner. “Well, except you left out the part about how depressed Lloyd is. Maybe we should put him on suicide watch, so he doesn’t try the same thing Rick did.”
“Tell me what Beckman’s talking about, please. Is Carter suicidal?”
“I’m not sure, Chief. I was going to mention it before we left and see what you think. I picked up on the fact that Lloyd was depressed, and we talked about it for a while before we left. I got him to promise he’d talk to someone if he was seriously thinking of harming himself. I probably shouldn’t have, but I gave him my personal cell number and said he could call if he wanted to or felt like he needed to. He said he would. So, I’m not sure. It’s your call.”
“Well, I’m torn. Did he seem sincere when he promised?”
Randy thought for a moment. “Yes, but you know how that can change on a dime. I played the mother card. He’s close with his mom and I told him it would kill her if he did anything stupid, which it would.”
“Good call. Personally, I think we should wait.” The chief was writing on his pad and checking his computer. “It might be a risk to wait, but it’s probably a bigger one to put him under watch. It seems like he trusts you, and if that’s true, he’s probably safe for a while. At least until we get this thing sorted out and get him out of there.”
“Get him out of there?” Frank asked. “Does that mean you think this might not be his fault?”
“I don’t think any of them were at fault, but we won’t know for sure until we investigate. I’m leaving the door open for there being nothing to our suspicions, but I’m pretty sure we’re on the right track. I think Lloyd will be walking out of jail, and I hope Caldwell survives to enjoy his freedom. And, good job on Lloyd, Randy. I’d have given him my phone number too. You were correct. He probably needs to feel like somebody cares.”
“Thanks, Chief.”
“Done!” Chief Sanchez turned away from his computer. “We know for sure that Caldwell and Carter went to the same weight loss clinic. We know Hank was dieting, but we don’t know where he went. And we also don’t know about the pilot, the fireman, or the school bus driver. There’s also a possibility Jesus Alvarado was dieting, but, again...clueless. Tom didn’t mention it in his report, but why would he? That’s not something we’d ever ask or worry about, unless we were looking for some obese guy, and all we had were skinny suspects who recently lost a ton of weight. Other than that, we wouldn’t care. So that’s two definite for the clinic and five possible. Is that right?”
“Sounds right to me,” Randy replied.
“Well, here’s where it gets difficult. Caldwell and Carter told us they went to the clinic, but all the others are dead, so they can’t tell us anything. The fireman is a good possibility, although I don’t think they have weight requirements. They do have to remain fit, so if someone is overweight, that’s not good. Let’s check on him.”
“What about the pilot? Do you have to meet a certain weight?” Danny asked.
“I looked into requirements quite a few years ago. I thought it might be fun to get a private pilot’s license. Of course, that was before the kids started arriving and my money went to them,” Chief Sanchez said. “There were a few schools with weight restrictions, but not all. I’m pretty sure the requirements haven’t changed.”
“So, he’s probably out,” Danny said.
“Not necessarily. Remember me saying he was expecting his first grandchi
ld? That could be motivation to get in shape, even if he wasn’t very heavy. So that’s a possibility,” the chief replied. “Let’s err on the side of caution and add him to the list. That’s another two.”
“It could very easily be any or all of them. Caldwell’s parents made him go, and he was only twenty pounds overweight. That’s not much,” Randy said. “Carter went because he was interested in a girl at his church.”
“Well, we have to start someplace. Let’s start with the fireman and the pilot. Talk to their families and feel them out. Maybe they’ll come up with something. If not, we’ll go through the rest of the list. Be careful, though. We don’t want word getting out that we’re checking up on the clinic. I don’t want to spook Dr. Higgins.”
Frank raised a timid hand, and Sanchez laughed. “This isn’t the academy, boy. If you have something to say, speak up!”
“Yes, Chief. Um... Wouldn’t it be easier to get a search warrant and look at the clinic records?”
“Yes, it would, Frank. But what would you tell a judge in order to get said warrant?”
“Well, we have two of seven people... That’s not really very many, is it?”
“No, it’s not. I don’t think there’s a judge around who would grant a warrant based on that. If we can pin down a few more, we’re getting closer,” Chief Sanchez replied.
“Sorry, sir.”
“Don’t apologize, Frank. That’s how you learn. By asking questions,” Randy said.
“Okay, then, I have another one. It almost seems like we’re shooting in the dark a little bit. I mean, we have the possibles, but bus drivers sit all day long, so they’re likely to be a little tubby and want to lose the weight. Wouldn’t it be more practical to look at the coroner’s reports and get their weights? Isn’t it on there? That would give us a starting point. We could start with the ones who were overweight first, which might increase our odds of a connection to the clinic.”
“Good thinking, Frank. As a matter of fact, it would.” Sanchez plunked down the yellow notepad he’d been scribbling on throughout the conversation. “It just so happens, I checked that out already. None of them seemed too heavy for their height, with the possible exception of the fireman, but he was relatively young and muscular, so that explains a higher BMI. You were on the right track, but in this case, it doesn’t tell us much.”
Danny slapped Frank on the back. “Maybe I was wrong about you. You might be able to keep up with Veronica, after all.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“One more,” Danny said. “We need to check on Hank Hancock. His wife will know if he went to the clinic.”
“That’s right,” the chief replied. “Check on him, too. That makes three to start with. If we can get a solid connection to the clinic on those three, or even two of them, we’re off to a good start at proving we’re not all crazy.”
“Will do, Chief,” Randy said. “Anything else?”
“No, that’ll do it. Good job, guys. It looks like we might be getting somewhere. Keep up the good work.”
“Thanks, Chief,” Randy said, standing up. “We’ll keep you posted.”
HANK HANCOCK’S WIDOW lived in an older colonial style house on the east side of the city. After the door opened, Randy introduced his group. “Thank you for agreeing to see us, Mrs. Hancock. We won’t take too much of your time. We just have a few loose ends to tie up.”
“Call me Lydia.” She welcomed them in, but her face held the question Randy knew was coming. “Like I said on the phone, I don’t know how much I can help. Why are you here? I thought the Air Force was doing the investigation.”
Randy gave her a solemn nod. “They are, ma’am. But one of our officers was wounded in the shooting, so we’re running an independent investigation. Any time an officer fires their gun, even if it’s off duty, we investigate the shooting.” Not a complete lie. We do normally investigate.
“Oh, I’ve seen that on TV. I forgot y’all did that.” Lydia led them to the living room and motioned them to sit down. “What can I help you with?”
“We’re trying to figure out why your husband might have done what he did, to rule out that it might have anything to do with our officer. From the people we’ve talked to so far, there doesn’t seem to be any reason. We’re hoping you might have an idea what was going on in his head, since you obviously know Hank better than they do.”
“If you’d have said that a few weeks ago, I’d have agreed with you. But now? I don’t know that man at all. I thought I did. But the man who would something like he did is not the man I fell in love with.”
“How long were you married?”
“Coming up on five years, but we were together for three years before we got married.”
“And in all that time, he never gave you any indication at all that he could do something like this?”
“Not a one. I don’t see how I could have missed the signs if he had. Unless I’m just totally clueless.” Lydia sighed and leaned back in her recliner. She had a faraway look in her eyes, and her hand idly flicked paperwork on the table beside her.
“I apologize for asking, but were you having marital problems?” Danny asked.
“Not that I know of. We were planning a cruise for our anniversary.” Mrs. Hancock stopped fidgeting and flipped through the papers on the table. She handed a well-worn brochure for the Disney Cruise Line to Danny. “That’s where we were going.”
“I’m sorry. It looks like that would have been a fun trip.” Danny took a cursory look and handed back the pamphlet.
“Hank said it was my reward for putting up with him for so long,” she replied, tearing up. “He used to call me his ‘and up’.”
“And up?” Frank repeated. “What does that mean?”
“He used to say all the good toys have that tag, ‘for ages three and up.’ He was always bringing me some stupid kid toy or stuffed animal. I was his ‘and up’.” She dissolved into tears.
Randy grabbed a tissue from the end table and handed it to her. “I’m sorry, Lydia. I know this must be hard on you. We only have a few more questions, if you’re up to them.”
Lydia laid the brochure on her lap and wiped her eyes. “It is hard, Detective, but it’s even harder because of the way he died. It would be easier if he died from an illness or in a car accident. At least I could understand that. It wouldn’t make the pain any less, but it would sure make the living with it easier.”
“Was he having any personal problems? Finance, medical, anything?”
“No. I have a good job, and Hank had his. We’re very comfortable.”
“You don’t have any children?”
“No, I can’t have them. We tried. We finally decided to try and adopt a child.”
“How was that going?”
“It was looking pretty favorable.”
“No signs of depression there, then?” Danny asked.
“No. I mean, it’s a stressful process, but it was bringing us closer together, and we were both very positive. Hank was looking forward to becoming a father so much, he even went on a diet, even though I thought his weight was fine. He said he wanted to live a long time for our child. Ironic, isn’t it?”
“I remember hearing something about him dieting when we were all at the unit barbecue,” Frank said.
“That’s right. I knew I’d seen you someplace, but I couldn’t remember where. You were there with Veronica, right?”
Frank nodded solemnly. “Yep. You have a good memory.”
“She was wounded, wasn’t she?” Lydia stared at Frank and took a deep breath. “She’s the one who killed him.”
“Yes, ma’am. I apologize if it’s hard to talk about her, but she asked me to tell you how sorry she is. She hopes that one day you’ll forgive her. She’s carrying around a lot of guilt.”
“It must be awful to have gone through that. I couldn’t believe it when I heard she was hurt. Hank really liked her. Please tell her there’s nothing to forgive. She did what she had to do. I’d ha
ve done the same thing in her place.” Lydia ran her fingers across the brochure and her eyes took on a faraway look, as if trying to imagine how the man she loved could have done what he did. “God only knows how many other lives she saved. Better yet, have her call me when she gets a chance, and I’ll tell her myself, okay?”
“Certainly. She’d appreciate that. By the way, how was that diet of Hank’s going?” Frank asked.
“Not very good. In fact, he finally threw in the towel and went to one of those weight loss clinics. I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea. They’re expensive.”
Smooth, Frank! Randy successfully hid his excitement. “Did he find a good one?”
“We weren’t impressed. In three months he only dropped five pounds. He wanted to lose about ten or fifteen. I think he was going to try and get his money back. They have a guarantee.”
“Guaranteed weight loss?” Danny’s eyebrows shot up in a perfect mask of surprise. “My wife would love to get the name of that place.”
“I think it was Eternal something or other. I don’t remember the name, but they’re on the northwest side of town.”
Good enough, Randy thought, noticing Lydia fidgeting with the brochure again. “Sorry for everyone getting off track, Lydia. You can’t think of any explanation for Hank’s actions?”
“I wish I could. Maybe then I wouldn’t stay up all night trying.”
“Here’s my card,” Randy said, standing up. “Please call if you come across anything that might help.”
“I will, Detective Monroe. And would you do something for me?”
“What’s that?”
“If you find anything that explains why my gentle, loving husband killed his own friends, would you please let me know? This uncertainty is almost unbearable.”
“We’ll keep you informed. I promise. Thank you, Lydia. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, detective. You guys be safe out there.” She held the door open with one hand, and the other clutched the Disney brochure as though it were a lifeline to what she had lost.
