by Bill WENHAM
“Sure he is. That’s if car thieves with cute blue eyes turn you on, Rosetta,” Lisa said to her. “In any case, he’s way too young for me. Carl is far more my style, but our newly pardoned fugitive would be fair game for you though, sweetie, wouldn’t he?”
Rosetta didn’t answer. She was busily watching David Gates get into the patrol car.
Lisa put her arm around her sister’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Rosie. He’ll be back, you can bank on it. And when he does, he won’t be able to take his eyes of you for an instant. You won’t find one like him working with a computer, I can tell you”
Chapter Twenty One
Carl sat down at his desk and leaned back in his old wooden swivel chair. Judy put a manila file down on the desk in front of him.
“Thanks, Jude. Would you ask Almost to bring Mr. Gates in now, please?”
David Gates had been waiting in their tiny interview room at the back of the office. Due to their somewhat limited space, it doubled as interview room, coffee making area and because of the old chesterfield in there, as a place for an afternoon nap, if things were really quiet.
As far as policing was concerned, the role of a local Sheriff and his staff had changed considerably over the years. Once the Vermont State Police had been established, the County Sheriffs did very little actual policing. The main highways and Interstates were patrolled by the State troopers and responded to major crimes. The County Sheriffs relied on them to provide any extra services, should they need them. Consequently, although there was a population of over eleven thousand in the County in which Cooper’s Corners was located, much of their area of responsibility was for minor crimes occurring in the small towns and widely scattered villages. The Sheriffs also had the authority to choose and hire their own staff and deputies as and when they needed them
Judy smiled to herself as she went out. Carl was learning fast. Since his rebuke by Lisa, he was adding ‘please’ to almost every request now. Not to all of them yet but at least it was a start. Judy went into their little interview room and returned with David Gates and Almost.
Almost parked himself at his desk beside the jail cells as David stood silently in front of Carl’s desk.
“Pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable,” Carl said pleasantly. “You said at the diner you have a lot to tell me. And, likewise, I’ve got a lot to tell you as well, Mr. Gates.”
“David,” David said as he dragged over a chair in front of Carl’s desk and sat down.
“What?”
“David,” David repeated. “My friends call me David.”
“Friends, eh?” Carl mused. “You want us all to be friends then, do you? Well, since I’m not charging you with anything and Lisa’s already given you your slap on the wrist, I guess there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be. Although I have to tell you, Dave, that most of my friends don’t have me running round the County like a goddamned chicken with its head off.”
“I’m really sorry, Sheriff, but like I said at the diner, I’ve come back here to explain myself to you.”
Carl sat and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, while Almost and Jude looked on expectantly from their desks.
Suddenly, he leaned forward and stuck out his hand.
“Alright, Dave,” he said, as he shook David’s hand. “We may as well start off here with a clean slate.”
David was visibly relieved and Judy and Almost were both smiling until Carl added, “Still, I can always charge you if I don’t like your story though, can’t I?”
David dropped Carl’s hand as though it were on fire and gave him a shocked look.
“Kidding, Dave. Just kidding. We kid around a lot in this office of ours, so if you’re planning to be friendly with us, you’d better get used to it pretty damned quick. Okay, friend?”
David gave him a nervous grin and said, “Thank you, I appreciate that. It’s just these last couple of days have been such an absolute hell for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been so cold in my entire life.”
Carl looked over at Judy.
“Hey, Jude, aren’t you forgetting your official hostess duties. We have a guest, goddamn it. Where’s the coffee and donuts?”
Judy gave him a cool look but didn’t get up from her desk.
“Aren’t you forgetting something too, Chief?” she asked.
“Forgetting something? Like what?”
“How about like a ‘please’ for instance. You learn pretty fast, Carl Berger, but, dammit man, you forget just as quickly.”
“Oh, yeah, right. Sorry, Jude. May we please have some coffee and donuts?”
“That’s better, Carl. We’ll teach you some manners yet. And don’t you go putting your feet up on the desk while I’m out of the room either. We have a guest here, remember?” she said as she went out back, grinning broadly.
“That woman is constantly undermining my authority, you know that?” Carl said.
“Maybe that’s true; Sheriff, but I can sure see you’re all good friends.”
A moment or two later, the door opened again and Judy came back in with the coffee and donuts. She put the tray down on the corner of Carl’s desk and said, “You guys can help yourselves. I may be the official gofer around here, but if I’d wanted to be a goddamned waitress I’d be working for Lisa.”
David Gates was astounded. When he’d made his decision to give himself up, he’d resigned himself to a lengthy trial and a long stretch of jail time. But right now, thanks to these people, he didn’t think he’d ever felt freer in his entire life. But he hadn’t heard yet what Carl had to tell him yet either.
Over coffee and donuts, David related in detail everything that had occurred since he’d awakened beside Maria’s body out on the highway. He then told them about his experience as the awful vision of Maria lying dead on his living room floor had popped suddenly into his head.
Carl, Judy and Almost listened intently to every word he said. David had agreed to the interview being taped and had declined the offer to have a lawyer present. The fact the interview would be on tape made it unnecessary for his listeners to take notes and finally David’s story came to an end.
“That’s it, Sheriff Berger, that’s everything that happened and I’m really sorry about all the trouble I caused you,” he said.
“Carl,” Carl said. “It’s Carl to my friends,” he added.
David smiled around at them all.
“Thank you,” he said, “Thanks to all of you.”
“Whoa, don’t thank us yet, Dave.” Carl said. “Now it’s my turn and I’m sorry but you aren’t going to like what I have to tell you one little bit.”
“Why, what’s happened? What could possibly be worse than Maria being killed, for God’s sake?”
“No, Dave, not worse. Of course it’s not worse. I didn’t mean it to come out like that. I’m sorry.”
“What then? Tell me.”
Carl paused for a moment, looked at Judy and Almost and then said, “I’m afraid someone has burned your house down, Dave. As I said, I’m sorry.”
“What!” David exploded as the realization of what Carl had just said hit him. He jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over backwards.
“But why? Why would anyone do that? Was it vandals or does someone somewhere really hate me that much?” He shook his head angrily from side to side. “Because it’s where that lousy bastard killed Maria. That’s why, isn’t it? To destroy the evidence, right. I told you I remember there being blood all over the carpet,” David said bitterly.
“It would be natural for you to think that, Dave, except for one thing,” Carl said.
“What one thing?”
“The state police had already been into your house and had collected all the evidence that was there, including the murder weapon. They already had everything they needed.”
“Murder weapon? What murder weapon?” David echoed, “What did he kill her with?”
“It was a heavy bronze statuette of the Venus de Milo,” Carl said
.
Almost had put David’s chair upright again and he sagged back down into it.
“Oh, no!” he said in a choked voice, “Not that!”
“Does it have any special significance for you then, David?” Judy asked him gently.
David nodded, biting at his lip to control his emotion.
“It was the first thing Maria ever bought me,” he said finally, his eyes brimming with tears.
“Why the Venus de Milo?” Carl asked curiously.
“It was a joke really, in a way. When she gave it to me, she said if there was going to be another woman anywhere in my house, it had better be one that couldn’t get her hands on me. It seemed like she was joking but in reality it was a veiled threat because Maria had a very jealous nature.”
The four of them lapsed into silence for a moment. Carl leaned forward and switched off the recorder after making a short comment to end the interview. Without asking, Judy got up and refilled all their coffee cups.
As she sat down again, she said, “Where will you go now, David? I mean, now your house is gone.”
David shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t really know, Judy. It was insured but everything I owned was in that place. Except for my car, I suppose. You said it had been found, right?”
“Right,” Carl confirmed.
Judy looked over at Carl and he nodded, guessing what was coming.
“When Maria’s sister came up here, David, she stayed over with me. You are welcome to do the same if you’d like to. I have plenty of room at my place.”
David looked at her in astonishment.
“But you don’t know me, Judy. You don’t know anything about me,” he said.
“Didn’t know anything about Erica either and that worked out just fine. At my age, I know when someone could use a helping hand. And after all these years, I think I’m a pretty good judge of character as well. So what do you say? Have I got myself a lodger or not?”
“Well, Judy, what can I say? I say thank you, of course, but all I have is what I am standing up in.”
Jude looked aghast.
“Oh, David, I’m sorry. Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t want you to pay me, for goodness sake.”
“No, Judy, that’s not what I meant either, although I’ll be quite happy to pay to lodge with you. What I meant was all of my clothes and other belongings were in my house.”
“That’s not a problem either, Dave, I guess we can rustle up something to fit you.” Carl said.
David looked a bit embarrassed.
“That’s very kind of you, Carl, but I was hoping if there are any men’s wear stores around here, I’d like to buy myself some new gear. I have the money.”
“I don’t know how to say this exactly, young man, but without a bath and at least one change of borrowed clothes you shouldn’t be going anywhere.” Judy said.
“What our diplomatic coffee lady is trying to tell you, Dave, is that you smell like a goddamned barnyard,” Carl said.
“If you are going to turn up in our town, David, you have to remember the first impressions are the lasting ones, especially here.” Judy added.
Almost butted in with, “Listen, Chief, it looks like he’s more my size than yours, so how about if I take him back to my place and get him fixed up with something. He can take a bath, have a shave and Jennie can throw all his own stuff in the washer. I can take him shopping while it dries.”
“Bring him back to my place later, then, Almost. You want to drop by and join us for dinner, Carl, pot luck?”
David was absolutely speechless. Being a native Vermonter himself, he was well aware of Vermont’s reputation for hospitality. But this was the first time he’d been on the receiving end of it. He knew he’d lost an enormous amount lately, Maria, his home, all his belongings and almost his freedom. But he’d also gained far more than he’d ever dreamed to be possible.
“Just a sec, before you guys go,” Carl said. “Do you have any friends, Dave?”
David smiled.
“I do now, thanks to you.”
Carl reached into the folder on his desk, pulled out a small red book and handed it to him.
“Are any of the names in there your friends?” He asked.
David flipped through the pages.
“This is quite an old book, Carl. It goes back to our University days. Where did you get it?”
“Erica Caspar gave it to me. I think it had been Maria’s. It had your phone number in it. Do you recognize any of the names?”
“Sure. Pretty well all of them. In those days we had ourselves a pretty exclusive fraternity. A group of ten of us. Maria and I were a part of it. Why?”
“Would any of them have borne a grudge against either of you?”
David gave a short laugh.
“Sure, all of the guys at least, I would think. I was dating the most beautiful girl in our year. Probably in the whole of UVM.”
“Maria?” Carl asked.
“Of course Maria, who else?” David answered, “And, yes, Carl, there was a whole lot of jealousy as well as resentment.”
Doc’s words about jealousy being a prime motive rang in Carl’s ears. Was resentment another prime motive?
“Any one guy in particular, Dave?” Carl asked.
“Not really.” David answered. “Maria could actually be a pretty heartless bitch when she felt like it. Not to me, thank God, but she put a couple of the other guys down pretty badly. Ridiculed them in front of the rest of us. A couple of them weren’t even in our group. She wouldn’t let them in. As I said, it was a pretty exclusive group and Maria was our gorgeous queen bee.”
“Do me a big favor then, Dave,” Carl said handing him a pen and some paper. “Just jot down the names of those guys you say she treated badly. And also the names of those who were especially jealous of you.”
David laughed again.
“I’ll need a whole lot more paper than this in order to do that, Carl. All the guys were jealous of me and with damned good reason. As I said, Maria was absolutely gorgeous.”
“Jealous or angry enough to kill her then, Dave?”
“Oh, God, do you think one of those guys killed her?” David blurted out.
“Not necessarily, no. But it’s as good a place as any for us to start again, now we’ve taken you out of the equation,” Carl said.
“Well, you know I’ll help you in any way I can,” David told him.
“We’re counting on it, Dave,” Carl said, with a grin, “Otherwise you might as well be in jail, right?”
“Right,” David said weakly, hoping he was still ‘just kidding’.
Chapter Twenty Two
David Gates had come up with a list of eight guys in total, the other four in his group, plus four others. Carl was going through the list methodically, trying to eliminate each name as a suspect.
Bobo LaRosa was the first one to be bumped off the list. Carl was able to confirm that he was definitely in California. In Hollywood to be precise. He was there, along with thousands of other hopefuls, trying to pit his looks and physique against all the others seeking fame and fortune in Tinseltown. It wouldn’t be long before he dropped his nickname of Bobo.
He figured if Arnold Schwarzenegger could do it, and with a name like his, then so could he. No one would be laughing at him or rejecting him when he became Governor Roberto LaRosa, California’s popular choice for the White House.
Ronald Reagan had done it, hadn’t he, so it wasn’t an impossible goal at all, was it? And he knew he had them both beaten hands down in the looks department.
Carl’s sources also confirmed that Bobo hadn’t been back to Vermont since he’d left U.V.M. But in spite of his high movie and political ambitions, he was still currently working as a bouncer in a bar in Los Angeles.
Biff Baker had been another name Carl had found very easy to cross off of David’s list. Whilst at the University of Vermont, he’d been scouted by several A.F.L. franchises and had built himself a very successf
ul career in professional football. After a devastating shoulder injury, though, his playing career had ended abruptly. Carl discovered he was currently on the coaching staff of the Green Bay Packers.
With those two out of the picture, Carl was left with six possibilities, provided, of course, one of them was the man he was searching for.
Under normal circumstances, with today’s technology, it would have been a simple matter to arrange DNA tests for every name on the list. But there were problems with using that approach at this stage of the investigation.
The first being, if the sample was obtained illegally by the police, the case would be thrown out of court before the first witness was even sworn in. The second and more important reason, as far as Carl was concerned, was they didn’t have an actual DNA sample on any of their pieces of evidence to compare anything to.
All they had was somebody’s thumb print, and a partial one at that. They had one from the watch and one from the statuette. They were both partials and both matched the same thumb. But the print files had come up dry. Whoever this guy was, his prints certainly weren’t on file.
Carl suddenly sat stock still as a thought hit him like a thunderbolt.
These thumb prints were the same! But the problem was, if he was right in what he was thinking, they shouldn’t be!
Because, as Jude, bless her, had pointed out, a person setting a watch would pick it up by its shoulder using one hand. And he’d use his other one to set it. But, and this was a big ‘but’, in all normal watches, such as the one that had been found, the winding bezel was on the right side of the watch. And Jude believed their print was of a left thumb.
Regardless of whether a person was left or right handed normally, they would still probably hold a watch, in order to wind it, with their left hand. But they would set it with their right. Carl knew he did. It would be too damned awkward to do it any other way. This then would account for a left thumb print on the crystal of the watch. Perfectly normal.
But, and here was another big ‘but’, Carl thought, in order to strike someone a fatal blow, a killer would automatically use the hand he favored. The statuette that had been Maria Caspar’s murder weapon had yielded a partial thumb print. A partial thumb print of the same left thumb!
