“I’m sorry to hear that. I would like to look into Harris’ life a little more and see what enemies he had or if anyone from his past had it out for him.” Kayla watched Mel shake her head.
“Everyone loved Harris growing up. He played ball, and he was very good at it. I do know this: when he received a call from a lawyer right after he turned eighteen, he left and never looked back. Whatever that call was about, it took him far from any of us.” Mel’s eyes were now wet with tears.
“Maybe he found what he was looking for,” Kayla suggested with a hand swiping a lock of hair from her own face.
“I don’t know. Getting away from my father was a high priority for him, and when he had the chance, he took it and ran. I wanted that chance too. Harris was the last reminder of my mother. She died shortly after his quick departure, and I stayed until my father died a month later. It was sad really.”
“Who was this lawyer, do you know?” Kayla asked.
“We’re not sure. Detective Tyler said he would look into it and see what was there. We might not ever find out. I want to know what the big rush was about that call. It could have been his father, but who knows.”
“I would like the detective to see who it could have been and if that communication will lead us to Harris’ murderer.” Kayla thanked Mel for her time.
“By the way, here is a copy of my family tree. He would be a Blackwell if his father was one. I do believe he had that blood running through his veins. Harris had a look about him.”
“What about the Green name?”
“My mother never mentioned anyone named Green ever. There isn’t a name like that in there. If my mother knew of one, she kept it to herself like everything else. I would have liked to sit down with her and talk about the past. It’s too late now.” Mel walked away after standing.
“What do you think, Kayla?” Detective Tyler questioned.
“I think we need to jump into this with both feet and find out who Harris’ father really was.”
Chapter Twelve
Kayla stood next to Tyler before the mill doors that had the word ‘Coroner’ written on it. Hesitation filled her to the top, and she didn’t know how to react to what Detective Tyler suggested they do. When a man with graying hair came to the door and pulled it open to allow them entrance, he then waved them both inside the large room filled with medical instruments, steel drawers, and various monitors on just about every table available.
“Welcome to my workspace. This is my heaven in a bottle.” He bowed with a wide grin running over his face. His chubby cheeks and bright brown eyes never wavered when he took them on a tour of his workspace.
“Thanks, Hank. We’re glad to be here.” Detective Tyler took a step into the room with Kayla by his side.
Kayla moved behind the detective like a scared cat not knowing what to expect from the coroner. Her eyes took everything in all at once, and that was too much to observe. The entire engorged room was absolute, utterly sanitary due to the fact Kayla inhaled cleaning supplies.
“We can take a look at the computer over here if you’d like. This is my favorite workspace. I get to observe whatever I’m doing with my clients.” Hank showed them his state-of-the-art equipment.
“That would be great. You consider these people your clients.” Detective Tyler waited for Hank to flip a switch and show him what he had in store for him. He then looked at Kayla and slowly shook his head.
“This place is so…” Kayla whispered.
“Clean.” Hank murmured. “It has to be. Whenever you have the deceased, every square inch of this space is scrubbed continuously. It’s part of being a coroner. I just love my job.” Hank scrolled through a few films to show them a headshot of one victim found at the river. “This is the male in question. See how the bullet entered through the front of the skull. He could have known his killer.”
“Are you sure, Hank?”
“I’m not a detective, but we are off the record, right?” Hank pointed at the film on the computer.
“Sure, Hank.” The detective dug a hand into his jacket pocket.
“It appears that is exactly what happened, detective. I’ll bet a cold million on that one.” He winked at Kayla.
“I don’t even have near as much green like that. I would have to say you are most likely correct on that one. We are still putting everything together, aren’t we, Kayla?” He looked back at Kayla staring at the head frame.
“Yes, we are Detective Tyler.” She felt out of place in this sterile environment. “How far from the head do you believe the bullet entered?” She questioned this man.
“I’d say at least two feet, maybe less. It’s tough to be sure, but there is a mark on the forehead from the weapon. It appears as if it was placed there after death. Maybe the killer wanted to prove to whoever was there they meant business.” Hank nodded. “I take it you consult for the police on this particular case, Kayla Decker.” Hank was looking over his shoulder at her.
“Absolutely.” Kayla bit her lip and asked. “How can you tell this person was killed by someone they knew? Is it because of the close proximity?”
Hank tilted his head to the side and looked at Detective Tyler.
“Her father’s a cop, right.”
“Yep.” The detective placed a hand on the table nearby, and when Hank gave him a confident stare, he removed it.
“Oh, that makes sense. You are correct, Kayla. That is how I came to that conclusion. It appears as if whoever shot him was able to approach him and pull the trigger. The male victim must have known his killer, but I bet he doesn’t anymore.” Hank frowned and moved to the next shot. “Here, the bullet exited the head.”
Kayla turned from the picture. It upset her stomach, and when he switched to the female, she was glad. “A bullet to the side of the head. Would one assume they were killed by someone holding the gun against the head?”
“You’re correct again, Kayla. I should have her in more often to play this game with me. She’s good, detective.”
“Was it difficult to say who was murdered first, the man or the woman?” Kayla glared at the picture and shook her head. “I guess it would be, right?”
“It can be difficult to tell. Without the weapon and without actual footage of the murder, we don’t know for sure. We have no idea. I do know that a gun was located in the water no far from the crime scene and it’s being brought in as we speak.” Hank was thinking positive that it was the same gun used to kill these two individuals.
“We can hope beyond all hope, right. If it turns out to be the same, how will that factor into this case?” Kayla was thinking about what to say next when Hank cleared his throat.
“I have seen this thing before, by the way. We had two people come in with similar wounds, and it was discovered to be a homicide. I’m not saying this is the case with this particular case, but a plausible possibility. We cannot rule that out, folks.” He clicked off the computer and went to the rolling drawers against the wall. “Are either of you two, squeamish? If you are, we could bypass this entirely.”
“I’m good. Unfortunately, I see this all the time.” Detective Tyler looked at Kayla who nodded.
“It’s okay with me.” She held her breath.
“We can take a peek at them in these pull-out drawers.” Hank slowly moved to the wall of drawers and pulled out one containing one of the bodies. When it opened, it sounded as if worn rollers scraped along the metal.
Kayla cringed at the sound.
“You get a better idea of how the bullet entered the skull by observing it first-hand. He has no other injuries on his knees, or anywhere else on his body. Not even a bruise, which is strange. If this is a killing by another person, they are forced to their knees and killed that way.” Hank pointed at the bullet hole in the center of his head.
“Nothing, he had no other marks on his body whatsoever.” Kayla leaned over Tyler to see the body better.
“Not a thing. I have to admit, he was in good shape too. This man worked
out like daily.” Hank pointed at Harris’ muscles. “Whoever did this wasn’t a stranger. Nobody would have gotten this close without this man knowing him or her.”
“He was in decent shape and allowed someone he knew to possibly take his life. It doesn’t make any sense to me. What about you, Kayla?” Detective Tyler nudged her with his shoulder.
She was concentrating on what was before her. “It’s odd, isn’t it? I mean who would want to take out a handsome man with a fiancé by his side? He obviously knew them too. What does that tell us?” She looked at the two of them.
“A family member perhaps or a family friend.” Hank tossed out. “Someone he came into contact with near that river. Who knows!” He shrugged.
“I was going to say the same thing. If someone like Mel came up and pulled the trigger, he would have allowed her to get close to him. We should be looking into her a little deeper, I’d say.” Detective Tyler lifted his hand to his chin where he rubbed it.
“If this Mel knew him and they were family, I’d say shuffle the sand to find the pearl.” Hank closed the drawer and stared at Tyler when he opened the other one nearby. It was Mary this time. “The side of her head has a through and through.”
Kayla looked closer at Mary’s head. “It doesn’t look like suicide but who knows.”
“Suicide?” Hank ran a hand along his face. “I didn’t see that either. Whoever fired this shot, it was at point blank range. It never crossed my mind that it could have been a suicide.”
“This appears to be murder to me and nothing else. Take a look at the angle, Kayla. It’s sloping downward like someone held the gun held higher than someone who had suicide on their mind.”
“True.” Kayla acknowledged.
“Keep digging, folks.” Hank closed the drawer and moved back to his steel table.
“Yeah, that’s what we need to do, Kayla. What else did you gain from the autopsy?”
“You said the woman was his fiancé, correct?” Hank queried. They both accepted that it was the truth. “Where’s her ring? It wasn’t around her finger when she came in. What happened to it?”
Kayla looked at Detective Tyler. “That’s a good question. I’ve been too busy attempting to locate his family members that I didn’t even ask whether she had a ring on or not.”
“I never saw anything on her finger, and we go over the bodies with a fine-tooth comb. That is an excellent question, and it needs to be answered.” Detective Tyler thanked Hank for his time.
They turned around to leave when Hank asked, “How did you know to come here to help Detective Tyler investigate this case?”
“I called her, Hank.” He lied when they hurried from the room and into the hallway where they pushed the door open to escape that overly clean room. “I’m sorry I lied to Hank. I cannot tell him what you do. He wouldn’t believe you or me, and it might cause a ruckus throughout the station.”
“I get it, detective. He was right about one thing, we need to search for that ring. If someone does have it, we have found our killer.”
Tyler and Kayla bumped into Cheryl who came in alone carrying a weapon sitting inside a clear baggie. She stopped short when she spotted Kayla. “What is she doing here, Detective Tyler?”
“Kayla is consulting for us, Cheryl. I cleared it past Simpson first.” He flashed a smile.
“Are you sure Simpson okayed this?” She watched him give her one shake of his head. “I thought not. Come on, and I’ll show you how we perform a ballistics test on fired weapons.”
“Great, I’ve never seen one of these before.” Kayla trotted behind Cheryl with her full attention on her.
“Your father never took you down to the station with him so you could watch one.”
“Nope, he never thought I’d need to be involved in one before.” Kayla waltzed behind the two officers down a long hall and into a small room not far from the hustle and bustle of the police station itself.
“Here we are, Kayla. It’s not much to look at, and it’s tiny, but it’s all we have.” Cheryl set the gun down and went to set up what she liked to call her a water gun machine.
Kayla observed the entire startup procedure. After ensuring Cheryl had everything set up correctly, she snapped gloves on after encouraging them to do the same thing, and she placed eye protection on too.
“Everyone needs to be protected in here. Nobody goes without.” She pulled the gun out and ensured it was loaded before she fired a shot into the water. It landed in something Cheryl called Jello, but it was clear and hard, really hard. “Now, we get to pull it out and take a look at it under the scope.”
Tyler led the way to another machine in a different room where Cheryl spent a lot of time observing if that was the gun used in the murder. Detective Tyler started a trace on the serial number, and it popped up stolen right away. “That doesn’t help us at all, Tyler.”
“What about other identifying markings on the gun. What does that number mean?” Kayla’s finger pointed to a four-digit number hand engraved in the barrel.
“That could help us find out who assembled this weapon. Great eye, Kayla.” Detective Tyler went into another screen and typed it in, and it was slow to manipulate through millions of other numbers, and when one zoomed in after ten minutes, it came back to a local illegal gunsmith in town. “I know who that is too. We need to pay him a visit.” Tyler exhaled out loud.
“Who was it?” Cheryl questioned.
“Look who put this together.” Detective Tyler showed her.
“Doesn’t surprise me. Bet you can’t guess if this is the murder weapon.” She looked from Kayla to Tyler, then back to Kayla again.
“It is the weapon used on Harris and Mary.” Kayla stared at the bullets held in Cheryl’s gloved hand.
“Give the girl a ten, and she is definitely on fire with this today.” Cheryl applauded. “This gun was used to kill both of our victims.”
“Now, we have the weapon used, where was the gun purchased, and what is the motive for this killing.”
Cheryl looked at Kayla and cocked her head to the side. “What’s the motive?”
“Money!” She raised her voice a little louder than she should have.
“Whose money?” Chery kicked her hip to the side and stomped her foot on the ground. “There’s money involved in this. Why wasn’t I informed of this, detective?”
“We’re not sure.” Detective Tyler scolded Kayla.
“I am proof positive it’s all about the money. Harris’ father, possibly his biological father left him millions when he died. His name was Henry Blackwell.”
“It’s always about love or money, isn’t it?” Cheryl shook her head and marched off to the ballistics testing area to shoot again.
“It is always about love or money or the love of money.” Kayla looked down at the ground and shook her head. When she looked up at Detective Tyler, he was staring at her. “What?”
“We are not supposed to postulate on our hunches to superiors, Kayla.” He reached back and held onto the counter behind him. “It’s unprofessional.”
“I did not know she was your boss, Detective Tyler.”
“She’s not, Simpson is. Cheryl has a lot of pull around here.”
“Do I know. I was not aware of how much pull I actually had, detective. Do enlighten me, sir.” Cheryl waited for him to respond.
“I…” The detective stumbled over his words.
“I thought so, detective. Let’s stick to the facts, and money is one option. Love is the other option. Let’s see where this case takes us, shall we.” She motioned for them to follow her.
“What do you have for us?” Kayla asked thinking she should have not said anything.
Cheryl laughed, “I have a lot for Tyler. You should go back to the hotel, Kayla.” She went to the computer and finished writing down an address. “Here is Buddy’s address. Go on out and check on him. Think of it as a welfare check, Tyler.”
~~~
Kayla sat on her hotel room bed after shower
ing and watching the crazy weather heading their way over the next few days. “It never ends.” She said out loud to the empty room.
After thinking about which direction to race toward next, Kayla pulled out all her notes and began to organize them in a timeline of events. At the top was Harris and Mary’s murders, and right below that was the police discovering the bodies in the Mississippi River near the bridge. From there, she added who Harris’ relatives were, not necessarily in order.
Kayla added Mel, Liz, and Melinda’s names to the list. After pulling out her laptop, she was determined to find where Melinda was and how she fit into this whole circle. As she scrolled down and found numerous Melinda’s, she remembered her married name was Morris, and her sister’s name was Blackwell. Calling each Melinda on the list wasn’t easy. Some were too young to come to the phone, and others didn’t have any idea who Kayla was looking for.
With an exhale, Kayla kept calling until she reached the end of the list. When someone answered and after she asked, “Is this Melinda Blackwell or Melinda Morris?” Kayla was hung up on. She tried dialing the number back several times, but after the first hang up, an electronic voicemail was heard. Kayla typed the phone number into the computer and came up with an address she wrote down on a slip of notepad paper.
When her phone rang, she pressed the button to talk, Detective Tyler came through loud and clear. “Hey, Kayla.”
“Yeah, I’m here. What did you find at the house with that illegal gun guy?” She waved a hand near her ear. “I’m not sure what you would call him or what he does.”
“He’s illegally making firearms without a license. That is what he’s been doing for years here in New Orleans. Nobody is willing to lock him up because he rats out his buyers. What a guy, right?”
“That sounds like a dilemma and a charmer, detective. What now?” Kayla stopped what she was doing and stood on both feet as they took her across the floor of the hotel room, and back again. Pacing helped her think.
Kayla's Chronicles- Will Travel For Murder Page 14
