Heartbreaker Hero: Eddie's Story (Maine Justice Book 4)

by Susan Page Davis

  Heartbreaker Hero:

  Eddie’s Story

  Maine Justice, Book 4

  By Susan Page Davis

  Heartbreaker Hero: Eddie’s Story, Copyright ©2017 by Susan Page Davis

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations and/or events is purely coincidental.

  Published by Tea Tin Press.

  For information about Susan Page Davis, please access the author’s website at the following Internet address: www.susanpagedavis.com

  Published in the United States of America.

  Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Chapter 1

  Saturday, December 25

  Leeanne opened the closet and pulled out her parka. Eddie had hopes that the two of them would actually get out the door ahead of the rest of Leeanne’s family. As she put on her jacket, his friend Harvey, who was Leeanne’s brother-in-law, walked briskly into the kitchen.

  “Ed, hold up,” Harvey called. “We’ve got an urgent case.”

  “Now?” Eddie looked at Leeanne and back at Harvey. “We were leaving.”

  “Sorry. This one’s critical.”

  “On Christmas?” Leeanne asked.

  “Yup.” Harvey paused to kiss his wife, Jennifer.

  “Don’t they have someone on call for this?” she asked.

  “We’re it.”

  Eddie sighed and put down Leeanne’s suitcase. Sisters Leeanne and Jennifer and their entire large family, including Grandpa Wainthrop, had planned on driving from Portland up to the farmhouse in Skowhegan to spend Christmas Day together. That plan seemed to be on hold, at least for Eddie and Harvey.

  Jennifer followed Harvey into the entry. “I’m staying, too,” she said.

  “You can go with your folks,” Harvey told her.

  “Nope. We’re not going that far from you.” Jennifer rubbed her stomach.

  Crestfallen, Leeanne unzipped her jacket.

  “I’m sorry,” Eddie said.

  Leeanne shrugged. “You can’t help it.”

  “Got your gear?” Harvey asked Eddie.

  “In my truck.”

  “Good. You drive.”

  Marilyn Wainthrop came bustling in with an overnight bag and a pillow. She smiled at her daughters. “I think that’s the last of it.”

  Jennifer said, “Mom, Harvey and I can’t go. He and Eddie just got called in on a new case.”

  “Oh, no! How long will it take?”

  Eddie tried to smile. “We never know with these things, Mrs. Wainthrop.” Harvey was his supervisor, and he’d taken the call, but he hadn’t said what kind of case it was. Eddie figured it had to be a homicide, or the department wouldn’t sabotage their Christmas like that.

  “Well, you come up with us, Jennifer. The guys can follow when they’re finished.”

  “Mom, they probably won’t finish today. I’m staying, so I’ll be here when Harvey comes home.”

  “But I wanted so much to get the whole family together for Christmas! We missed it at Thanksgiving.”

  “I’m sorry.” Jennifer sounded determined. “We were together yesterday for Jeff’s wedding, and you got pictures of all six of us kids in the same room at the same time.”

  Her father came in from the garage and looked at them. “What else needs to go in the van?”

  Jennifer broke the news, and her father was noticeably disappointed.

  “Look, why don’t you all just stay here another day?” Jennifer asked. “We can all be together for Christmas that way.”

  “But the ham is in Skowhegan, and the gifts are all up there,” Marilyn wailed.

  While they talked, Harvey prodded Eddie toward the door. Eddie threw Leeanne an apologetic smile. As they went out, Jennifer was saying, “So? What’s really important is that the whole family is here. We can come up with something for dinner, and…”

  As soon as he’d buckled his seatbelt in the truck, Eddie said, “Where to?”

  “Fifteen-oh-seven Bingley Lane.”

  Eddie reached for the ignition and stopped. “We’re going to Mike’s house?”

  “Yeah,” Harvey said grimly. “I didn’t want to discuss it in front of everyone.”

  “Oh, man. What’s going on?” Eddie asked.

  “I’m not sure. Mike said, Harvey, it’s me. Get yourself over here fast. My granddaughter just found a d.b. in the back yard.”

  Eddie’s jaw dropped. “There’s a dead guy in Mike’s yard?”

  “Just drive, Eddie. Those were his exact words. I don’t know any details.”

  Eddie lowered his snowplow, and they roared out onto the street. Probably Harvey’s neighbors would complain about the ridge of snow he left from the driveway halfway across Van Cleeve, but Eddie wasn’t going to stop and clean it up. And all he’d been worried about was how to escape without having Leeanne’s two younger brothers hitch a ride with them on the drive to George and Marilyn’s house in Skowhegan.

  He put his strobe light on and drove as fast as he safely could to the police chief’s house. Snow had fallen most of the night in southern Maine. Bingley Lane had been plowed sometime in the wee hours, but the pavement now had a couple of inches of snow on it again. The thick cover on the ground muffled sounds, and they glided almost silently toward Mike’s place with blue lights flashing.

  The police chief’s house looked like a greeting card, with snow on the roof and smoke coming out the chimney. Holiday lights strung along the eaves glowed faintly through a layer of powdery snow, and a wreath with a big plaid bow hung on the door.

  Someone was wielding a snow blower in the driveway, so Eddie parked at the curb. He grabbed his kit from behind the seat and walked toward the house with Harvey. The guy blowing snow waved and kept working. He looked thirtyish, but Eddie didn’t recognize him.

  The garage was closed, and a minivan sat outside it, covered with snow about four inches deep. The flakes had stopped falling, but the storm had sure done a job during the night.

  Mike came out of the house and walked toward them as he pulled on a parka. When he reached them, the snow blower was far enough down the driveway to let them hear each other over the engine.

  “Hi. Thanks for getting here so quick.” He nodded at Eddie, showing no surprise that he’d arrived with Harvey. “It’s out back. I checked him to make sure he was dead, but I haven’t let anyone go out there since.”

  “What happened?” Harvey asked.

  “I don’t know.” Mike grimaced. “Why today, of all days? Debbie and her family are here, and the rest of the kids are on their way today to spend Christmas with us.”

  Harvey nodded toward the guy operating the snow blower. “Is that Debbie’s husband?”

  “Yeah. The kids wanted to go out and play in the snow first thing this morning, so she had them rig up and told them to stay in the back yard. I was just getting coffee, and Kelly comes running in the back door screaming her head off. Grandpa! Grandpa! There’s a man lying in the snow, and he looks funny!”

  “What’d you do?” Harvey asked.

  “Ran out there and checked him, of course. No pulse, and he’s got a layer of snow over him. His coat’s red and black. I think she noticed the red first.”

  “Did
you recognize him?”

  Mike shook his head. “Couldn’t see his face, and I didn’t want to disturb the scene.”

  “Did you call it in?”

  He hesitated. “I wanted you as first responder. After I called you, I waited five minutes and then called Com. They’re calling the M.E. and sending out a couple of patrolmen. All of Legere’s detectives are off today. He said he could call Ron in, but I told him not to.”

  “Okay,” Harvey said. “So, nobody’s seen the body but you.”

  “That’s right. Well, me and Kelly and Mickey. I’ll stay in the house and wait for you boys to do your thing. I told Debbie and Sharon to keep everyone inside. Elliott offered to blow the driveway so vehicles could get in and out.” Mike swore. “How can a guy freeze to death right outside my window and I don’t know it?”

  “You think he froze to death?” Eddie asked.

  Mike shrugged. “I guess I’m hoping. I didn’t see any obvious wounds.”

  “We’ll take a look,” Harvey said.

  “Yeah. Go right through that gate.” Mike pointed to the opening in the fence that enclosed his back yard.

  Harvey laid a hand on the chief’s shoulder. “You done good, Mike. Go get another cup of coffee. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  “Right.” Mike’s facial muscles were strained, and he looked every day of his fifty-five years. “I’m so glad you were available, Harv. Thanks.”

  Harvey nodded and headed for the fence, and Eddie followed. The recent tracks were obvious in the snow. The two children had gone out the back door from the Brownings’ kitchen and meandered about, scooping up a little snow here and there. A small scoop shovel and a plastic igloo brick mold lay abandoned ten feet from the door, and a yard to the side, two snow angels completed the Norman Rockwell view.

  Mike’s tracks cut straight through the children’s trail. The smaller footprints stopped a few yards before his, then turned back in a beeline for the house.

  Harvey had zeroed in on the body near the fence at the back of the lot. He stood a yard from it, just looking, when Eddie reached his side.

  “He hasn’t been here all night.”

  Eddie nodded. Only a half inch or so of snow shrouded the man’s form. He had on gloves, the red-and-black jacket Mike had described, dark pants, and pac boots. The hood was flipped up and covered most of his head, which was turned to the side, away from the detectives. From what Eddie could see, he was at least thirty, no older than forty, hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and had fallen in his tracks.

  Eddie looked at the fence. It was a nice, textured wooden one that people like Mike bought for privacy. Along the top, the snow tapered into a ridge at least three inches high, but a short distance away, there was a stretch about a yard long with much less snow.

  “Look at the top of the fence, Harvey. That’s where he climbed over.”

  Harvey looked. “Possibly. Get pictures now.”

  Eddie dug out his phone and moved along the fence, taking photos of the undisturbed part and the place he figured the man had crossed the barrier. He looked down at the ground below it. Depressions in the snow had been layered over with new fluff, but not completely filled.

  Harvey put on sterile gloves and was searching the man’s pockets when Eddie got back to him.

  “No I.D.” Harvey’s phone rang, and he stood to take the call.

  “Yeah? Okay, Brad. Thanks.” He put the phone away and gave Eddie a sour look. “It’s going to be another half hour before the M.E. gets here. Let’s see if there’s anything under him.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, let’s do it.”

  Eddie crouched to help him lift the body partway, and Harvey patted the ground underneath. He froze for an instant then slowly pulled his hand out. In his grasp was a Smith & Wesson pistol.

  “What do you know.” Eddie eased the body back into its original position.

  “I still don’t see any blood,” Harvey noted, examining the gun. Eddie took out an evidence bag, and Harvey dropped the pistol inside. “Careful. It’s loaded.”

  A commotion at the gate drew their attention. Mike was talking to two uniformed officers.

  “Go tell them not to come in here yet,” Harvey said. “I don’t want to mess up the snow.” Though the flakes had stopped falling, evidence could be lurking beneath the white stuff.

  “Do you want them to check with neighbors?”

  “Yeah,” Harvey said, “And see if someone can get us a metal detector.”

  Eddie went over to the gate, following his own tracks back as much as possible.

  “Hi,” he said to patrol officers Elaine Bard and Aaron O’Heir. “The captain says don’t come in yet. We need some canvassing done to see if the neighbors saw or heard anything early this morning, say after four o’clock.” He was reckoning on the snow that still fell when he cranked out of bed at six. He looked to Mike. “And we could use a metal detector.”

  “I can get you one,” Mike said. “Can you tell me anything yet?”

  Eddie nodded. “There was a pistol underneath the body.”

  “GSW?”

  “Not that we can see.” A fatal gunshot wound was usually pretty obvious, but this guy was wearing winter clothes, so they couldn’t be sure. “It’s a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic. And he’s got no I.D. on him. They’ll have to take prints at the morgue.”

  “After he thaws out.” Mike’s eyes narrowed.

  “He might not have been there that long,” Eddie told him. “There’s not much snow on him.”

  “I noticed that.”

  Eddie nodded. “And there’s a spot on the fence where he might have climbed over. What’s behind the fence?”

  “A ravine where a stream runs through when there’s runoff, then more people’s fences.”

  “So, a greenway in between residential streets?”

  Mike shook his head. “Nothing that fancy. Just a gap between the lots, where they preserved the stream. I think it was an inconvenience back when this neighborhood was built.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you want us to check the other side of the fence?” Elaine asked.

  “I’ll probably do that while you chat up the neighbors,” Eddie said. He wanted to know for certain they hadn’t missed anything, and if someone else took the responsibility, he’d wonder. He was getting as meticulous as Harvey.

  He pointed to the fence at the back of the yard. “That’s where we speculate he may have entered the yard.”

  Elaine and Aaron craned their necks, looking through the gate and toward the far fence line.

  “Oh, yeah, I see the part with less snow,” Aaron said.

  “It’s about all we’ve got to start with.” Eddie looked at Mike. “Chief, the M.E. won’t be here for a while.”

  “Great. That’s what you get on a holiday.” Mike sighed. “I’ll see if Sharon and Debbie can get the kids out of here for a couple of hours. Is the Maine Mall open today?”

  “I don’t think so,” Elaine said.

  “Okay, maybe they can go to the park,” Mike said. “But Tommy and Mike Junior and their families will be pulling in soon.”

  “Just keep them out of the back yard,” Eddie said. “I don’t see why you can’t go ahead with your family dinner.”

  He walked carefully across the yard, back to where Harvey was standing, staring down at the body. Sometimes he worked that way, just looking and thinking. Harvey’s attention span for thinking was a lot longer than Eddie’s. He could sit perfectly still for fifteen or twenty minutes, until Eddie wanted to poke him to make sure he was still breathing. Then all of a sudden, he would stand up and go into high gear with a fully formed plan. It didn’t seem natural.

  “Find anything else?” Eddie asked.

  “Not much in his pockets. Who’d we get?”

  Eddie knew he meant the support officers. “O’Heir and Bard.”

  Harvey grunted. “I’m glad Elaine’s okay.” She’d been shot a few months earlier and ha
d taken some time off.

  “She looks fine,” Eddie said. “I sent them out to canvass, and Mike’s trying to get a metal detector. What else can we do now?”

  “Look at the snow.”

  Eddie looked. All of it was white.

  They stood there, and after a while Eddie looked back at the low spot under the fence, beneath the place where he thought the dead guy had crossed it. The sun was shining now, and that would make the snowpack settle and compact by afternoon. He squinted against the glare.

  “Okay, so we’re pretty sure he climbed into the yard there.” He nodded toward the spot with less snow on top of the boards and the depressions beneath it that could be where the man landed and took a few steps.

  “Yeah, that’s pretty certain,” Harvey said. “I haven’t been able to spot any other footprints in the snow except the kids’ and ours.”

  “You think he was alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “So how did he die?” Eddie asked.

  “The M.E. can help us out with that.” Harvey looked at him. “Why would a man with a gun come into the police chief’s back yard alone on a snowy night?”

  Eddie shook his head. “That’s assuming he knew it was the chief’s house. Maybe it was a shortcut, and he was just passing through.”

  “Chasing someone? Or running away?”

  “Maybe.” Eddie glanced at the fence. “Guess I need to get around to the other side.”

  “That’s right. And don’t climb over.”

  Mike told Eddie where he could get into the strip between the houses, and he walked down the street half a block to access it. The sidewalk hadn’t been cleared, but several people had waded through the snow there. Eddie sighed and plunged off the walkway into virgin snow.

  There was no stream at the moment, but a crease in the land showed where it would have been. He tried to be careful, but that was hard in four inches of loose snow. He took his time searching the ravine and the thin woods on each side. A half hour later he was satisfied, but his toes were going numb.

  He walked halfway up Mike’s block behind the houses and out between two of them where the fences didn’t touch. A squad car, a hearse, and two other vehicles were parked at the curb in front of Mike’s house, besides Eddie’s truck. He went past them and into the back yard.