Chasing Justice

by H. Terrell Griffin

  I called my buddy Logan Hamilton, and we loaded a cooler with ice and beer, stowed rods and reels aboard my boat, Recess, a twenty-eight foot Grady-White, and headed for the fishing grounds. I’d once read a t-shirt that said, “Longboat Key is an island of drinkers who have a fishing problem.” I always thought that pretty much captured the essence of our key. As the Bard said, “Truth will out.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Officer Steve Carey looked agitated as he walked across the living room toward J.D. “Robin Hartill is outside.”

  “Crap. What does she want?”

  “What do you think? She wants to talk to you. She’s got her notebook and camera.”

  “Okay. Tell her I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

  Robin and J.D. were friends and often had a beer together at Tiny’s, a small bar on the north end of the key. But Robin was a reporter for the local weekly newspaper, the Longboat Observer, and J.D. had hoped to keep the press at bay for at least a few hours.

  She went to the front door. “Hey, Robin. You sure got here quick. I was hoping to keep this under wraps for a bit. How did you find me out?”

  Robin laughed. “The island telegraph. Gwen Mooney was on her way to work at Doc Klauber’s when she saw your car and a couple of cruisers parked out front. She called and told me something was up. What’s up?”

  “Can we talk off the record for right now?”

  “Will I get anything out of you that I can use today for our Internet edition?”

  “Sure,” J.D. said, “just not now. I need a few hours before this gets out. I’ll call you this afternoon and cut you loose before the local TV stations go on air for their six o’clock news.”

  “Sounds fair. What’s going on?”

  “The woman who lives here, Linda Favereaux, is dead. It looks like murder. Did you know her?”

  “No, but Gwen did. Said she was an asshole, excuse my language.”

  J.D. smiled. If Gwen didn’t like someone, then he or she joined the list of assholes that Gwen maintained in her head. The list was fairly long. “Do you know why Gwen thought that?”

  “No,” Robin said, “but you know it doesn’t take a whole lot to get on that list.”

  “That’s for sure. I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll call you this afternoon.”

  The morning dragged on. The forensic people were going through the large house with great deliberation. The body had been taken to the medical examiner’s morgue. The autopsy would get underway quickly, as it always did when the victim came from the high-dollar precincts. There was no sign of the husband. J.D. searched his bedroom for any indication of where he might have gone. She found nothing. A laptop computer sat on a desk in the corner of the room, but it was password protected. J.D. called the police department geek and asked him to come over and pick it up. See if he could get past the security.

  It was nearing noon when J.D. left the crime scene. She needed to get back and start the paperwork. Her phone rang just as she was turning into the station at mid-key.

  “Detective, this is Dan Murphy at the ME’s office. We ran the fingerprints on Mrs. Favereaux. There’s a problem.”

  “Uh, oh. What?”

  “The prints don’t belong to Mrs. Favereaux. They came back as those of a woman named Darlene Pelletier. She was arrested twenty years ago for shoplifting in New Orleans. That’s the reason she’s in the system.”

  “Maybe Pelletier was Linda Favereaux’s maiden name,” said J.D. “Maybe Darlene is a first name and Linda is her middle name.”

  “Could be. I thought you’d like to know.”

  “I do, Dan. Have y’all finished with the autopsy yet?”

  “Dr. Hawkins is working on that now.”

  “Thanks for the call. I’ll see what I can find on Darlene Pelletier.”

  J.D. parked in front of the station and was getting out of her car when her phone rang again. “Good morning, J.D. This is Harry Robson.”

  “Hello, Harry. How are things on the mainland?” Robson was a detective with the Sarasota Police Department.

  “A little hectic right now. Do you know a man by the name of Nate Bannister?”

  “Never heard of him. Why?”

  “He’s one of your citizens, I think. At least that’s what his driver’s license says. Apparently, he’s been living on the mainland, in a condo in one of those new high rises on Main Street. We found him dead this morning. Or at least his housekeeper found him in the living room of his condo and called us.”

  “Foul play?”

  “Gunshot to the head. Left temple.”

  “Suicide?”

  “Not unless he got rid of the gun between the time he shot himself and the time he died.”

  “Well, as a trained detective, I’d begin to think it was murder. Good luck on the case. I’ll ask around and see if anybody knows him.”

  “He’s pretty well known, I think. The Longboat Key address on his driver’s license is on Gulf of Mexico Drive, but he’d been living in a condo downtown for at least the last couple of months. He just moved into the condo two weeks ago. I’m told he has an estranged wife somewhere, maybe on the key. Do you have time to check out his house and see if it looks lived in?”

  “And notify the wife if she’s still there?”

  “That would be super.” Death notifications were the hardest part of a cop’s job and J.D. hated doing them, but Harry had done her some good turns, and she owed him.

  J.D. made a U-turn in the police parking lot and drove several blocks north to a large bayside home. She rang the bell, waited, and then knocked on the door. No answer. She scrawled a note on the back of a business card asking that Mrs. Bannister call her as soon as possible. She stuck the card between the door and the jamb and left.

  * * *

  The police station was busy. Three people in shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops were sitting in the waiting room, looking anxious. A uniformed officer was sitting quietly in another chair. He nodded to J.D. Iva, the civilian receptionist, was on the phone, and waved a finger as the detective came through the door leading from the parking lot. Deputy Chief Martin Sharkey was coming toward her as she walked down the hall toward her office. “What’s that all about in the waiting room?” J.D. asked.

  “Their car was broken into yesterday, and they want to file a report for insurance purposes.”

  “Where was the car?”

  “In the airport in Minneapolis.”

  “You’re kidding. Why didn’t they talk to the police up there?”

  Sharkey laughed. “They said they were running late for their flight and one of them had to go back to the car to retrieve something. The driver’s side window was smashed out, but he had to get back to the gate.”

  J.D. shook her head. “Was anything missing?”

  “The guy didn’t take time to look.”

  “Good luck with that one,” J.D. said, as she moved on.

  As she passed Chief Bill Lester’s office, he called to her. “Got time to bring me up to date on that murder?”

  J.D. went into his office and took a seat. “Not much to report,” she said. “The husband’s in the wind. No one’s seen him since Friday. The back of her head was bashed in. That’s probably the cause of death. She was nude, and there were no other marks on the body. She probably fell face first, but the body was on its back on the floor, so somebody must have turned her over before we got there.”

  “Sexual assault?”

  “No obvious signs, but she’s on Doc Hawkins’ table now. We’ll know more this afternoon.”

  “Any gut feelings?”

  “You mean other than that the husband did it?”

  The chief laughed. “The odds are usually pretty good on that.”

  “We’ll see. Do you know a man named Nate Bannister?”

  The chief’s face clouded a bit. “Yeah. I know him. A real piece of work. Why?”

  “I got a call a few minutes ago from Harry Robson at Sarasota PD, asking about him. It seem
s that somebody found Bannister dead in a condo downtown this morning.”

  “That’s not going to be any great loss,” Lester said.

  “I didn’t know him. What was his problem?”

  “He was just a mean son of a bitch. He was a developer here on the key until we got built out, and then he started developing on the mainland. Condos, mostly. He was rough on his subcontractors. Lots of complaints about shoddy work from the people who bought his places.

  “We had to pull him off his wife a couple of times when he beat the hell out of her. She refused to press charges both times. She finally kicked him out a couple of months ago, filed for divorce, and got a restraining order against him.”

  “Where is she now?” asked J.D.

  “She’s still living in the family home on the bay.”

  “Any children?”

  “No.”

  “How old was he?”

  “Forty-five, maybe. Maggie, the wife, is about ten years younger.”

  “Harry asked me to check the house and see if anybody’s there and to deliver the death notice. Nobody was home. I’ll try later.”

  “I’ll go,” Lester said. “I’ve known Maggie for a long time.”

  “Thanks, Chief. That’s a load off.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The call came at three in the morning, a time when a ringing phone can only mean trouble or tragedy, or maybe both. I fumbled in the dark, finally grabbing the receiver and answering.

  “Matt,” the voice on the other end said, “this is Bill Lester. The FDLE just arrested Abby.”

  “FDLE?”

  “Florida Department of Law Enforcement.”

  “I know what it is.” My head was clearing itself of sleep. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know. Two agents showed up, knocked on the door, and told me they had a warrant for her arrest and a search warrant for our house. They took her computer, gave her time to get dressed, and then put her in cuffs. They just left.”

  “Where are they taking her?” I asked.

  “Sarasota County Jail, they said.”

  “What are the charges?”

  “Murder.”

  “Murder?” No way in hell, I thought. Abby didn’t have it in her. “Bullshit,” I said. “Who is it she was supposed to have killed?”

  “Nate Bannister.”

  “That prick?”

  “Yeah, that prick.”

  “What’s Abby’s connection to him?”

  “None that I’m aware of. I don’t think she knew the man.”

  “What else do you know, Chief?”

  “Nothing about why Abby’s involved in this thing. I knew the man had been murdered.”

  “How did you know that?”

  “Harry Robson called J.D. yesterday asking about Bannister. Apparently, he was shot in his condo in downtown Sarasota. I went to see his wife and told her about his death.”

  “How did she take it?”

  “She wasn’t broken up, that’s for sure. He spent a lot of years beating the hell out of her before she screwed up the courage to throw his worthless ass out.”

  “Harry’s Sarasota PD,” I said. “Why is the FDLE involved?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Anything else?”

  “That’s it. I need you to go play lawyer and find out what you can. I told her not to say anything until you got there.”

  “Okay, Bill. Let me get a shower, and I’ll head downtown. You sit tight until you hear from me. Don’t talk to anyone. Got it?”

  “Got it. Matt, Abby’s not capable of murder. She didn’t know Bannister and she sure as hell didn’t go to his condo and kill him. Something’s terribly wrong about all this.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, Bill. I’ll be in touch as soon as I meet with Abby. I may not get a whole lot of information until the clerk of courts’ office opens and I can see all the paperwork.”

  “Let me know something as soon as you can.”

  “I’ll talk to you as soon as I see Abby.”

  J.D. had stirred when the phone rang, and by the time I hung up, she was sitting on the edge of the bed. “Bill Lester?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “What was that all about?”

  “His wife was arrested by FDLE a few minutes ago.”

  “Abby? For what?”

  “Murder.”

  “You’re kidding. Who’s the victim?”

  “Nate Bannister.”

  “This is nuts. Abby didn’t do this. She’s not a killer.”

  “I agree, but they must have some pretty good evidence to arrest the wife of a police chief.”

  “Harry Robson’s working that case,” she said. “He called me about it yesterday afternoon.”

  “I’m going downtown to see what’s going on. I’ll call you when I know something.”

  “Want some company?”

  “No. Go back to sleep. I think I need to do this by myself. Maybe we can meet for breakfast. I’ll call you.”

  * * *

  Gulf of Mexico Drive, known to the locals as GMD, is the only road that runs the ten-mile length of the island between the Longboat Pass Bridge on the northern end and the New Pass Bridge on the southern. The night was moonless, dark, and a bit foreboding. A gentle fog lay on the island, the humidity of the early spring air conflating with the cooler water that surrounded us. Lights on the outside of the few commercial buildings were shrouded in the humid air, giving off a mystical glow that somehow matched my morose mood. There was no other traffic. My headlights danced in the gloom as I drove through the darkness, feeling a bit out of place, like a space traveler flung unexpectedly into a strange galaxy.

  I sipped from a cup of coffee I’d made before leaving my cottage. I was concerned about Abby Lester and confused about the FDLE’s involvement. Abby and Bill had been married for about fifteen years, but had never had children. She was a high school history teacher in the Sarasota County School system. I had come to know Abby well over the years and I liked her. I’d gone to dinner with her and Bill on a number of occasions, and we ran into each other at the social functions that were part of our island life. Although Bill had never mentioned it, I’d heard through the island grapevine that there had been some rocky patches in the marriage. I’d never heard any details and wasn’t inclined to listen to the gossip about two good people.

  The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was a police agency that reported to the Florida cabinet. It had statewide jurisdiction and was usually called in when a case involved multiple counties. Sometimes, the agency investigated crimes that were tied to the police agency that would normally have jurisdiction.

  Florida’s Suncoast was small enough that there was always good cooperation among the police and sheriff’s departments that made up the law enforcement community. This was particularly true with the Sarasota and Longboat Key Police Departments. I suspected that the Sarasota police chief had called in the FDLE as soon as he realized that the Longboat Key police chief’s wife was a suspect.

  I had known the victim, Nate Bannister, and didn’t like him. He was one of those guys always looking for a fight. He’d been a successful builder, and as his wealth grew, so did his power in the community. But he wore on everybody he dealt with, from employees to subcontractors to buyers of his condos to the people on the key. I hadn’t seen him around for several months and hadn’t thought a lot about it. I guess his departure from the island had gone without much notice. He just faded from the islander’s consciousness, like a bad dream.

  The Sarasota streets were empty, and I parked right in front of the six-story jail that sat on a corner on the edge of downtown. I showed my Florida Bar card and my driver’s license to the deputy at the control desk in the lobby and told him I was representing Abigail Lester and would like to see her. He picked up his phone, told somebody that Mrs. Lester’s lawyer was in the lobby, listened for a moment, and hung up. “Somebody will be right down,” he said. “You can make yourself comforta
ble over there.” He pointed to the plastic chairs grouped around a silent television set.

  I had barely sat down when the door opened and Detective Harry Robson appeared. I stood and we shook hands. I’d known Harry for a while. He was a straight shooter who worked his cases with a methodical determination and no preconceived notions about the guilt or innocence of any suspect. He was a good cop.

  “What’s going on, Harry?” I asked.

  “Let’s sit for a minute. Can I get you some coffee?”

  “No, thanks. I had a cup on the way here. Why was Abby arrested?”

  “This is a touchy one, Matt. I’ve known Bill Lester for years. But evidence at the scene pointed to Abby, and I didn’t have any choice. I took what I had to my chief, and he called in the FDLE. He did the right thing, but the investigation is now out of my hands.”

  “But you’re here,” I said.

  “I knew they were going to arrest Abby. I tried to get the FDLE agent to wait until a reasonable hour and let me bring her in. I’ve met her a number of times, and I wanted her to see a familiar face.”

  “Why the rush? Why go roust her and Bill out of bed at three in the morning?”

  “No reason other than that Wes Lucas is an asshole.”

  “The FDLE agent?”

  “Yeah. He’s out of their Tampa office. He’s got one of the highest conviction rates in the agency, but he’s also had an inordinate number of cases thrown out by judges because the evidence was too thin, or there was some impropriety in the investigation. I think he’s been on the hot seat with the director several times, but he seems to have some pull with somebody high up in state government.”

  “Sounds like a fun guy to work with.”

  “Are you going to represent Abby?”

  “Probably not. Bill called me and asked me to come down and see what’s going on. I’ll talk to him this morning, and we’ll see about getting somebody to take the case. Can you tell me what you found that pointed to Abby?”

  Harry hesitated for a moment, mulling it over. “I think I’d better let Lucas fill you in.”

  “Okay. What are they charging her with?”

  “Second-degree murder.”