by H K Christie
What an awful thing to find your parent like that. “That sounds suspicious. Do you know if he had received any strange phone calls or messages? Or have you received anything that would make you think somebody would want to hurt your father?”
“No. Nothing. Everyone loved Dad. What if it’s connected to my mom?”
“I can’t imagine what it could be, but I’ll keep in contact with the detective and make sure that we know what’s going on with the case at all times. If your father’s death is connected to your mom’s past, we’ll find out.”
“I sensed a little tension between you and the detective - not friends?”
Darn it, Martina. Very unprofessional. The sight of him just triggers me. “I’ve only worked with him once before, but it wasn’t a good outcome. In my line of work, we also provide security. I had a case where we were helping a woman leave her abusive husband safely. The morning we were supposed to pick her up, he was supposed to be out of town, but when we arrived, we found her murdered in her bedroom. I suspected the husband must have hired someone to do his dirty work, but the detective - Hirsch - of the SFPD said it was a burglary gone wrong and that she’d simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was ludicrous. There was nothing stolen from the house. Long story short, Hirsch and I got into a bit of a tiff, but that was a while ago. I apologize for being so unprofessional, I won’t let it happen again.”
“It’s okay. I suspect you’re human too. Do you worry he won’t be able to find out what happened to my dad?”
“Maybe, but like I said, I’ll be on him every step of the way. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it all goes smoothly, and he does an adequate job.”
I glanced next door at the Bernard’s house. I still hadn’t stopped by to say hello and wondered if I should wait until I met with Detective Hirsch so we could interview them together. Suddenly, I realized my to-do list was growing by the moment. Top of the list was to uncover Charlotte’s real past, real last name, and who killed Theodore Gilmore and then to find out what happened to Donna. I lifted my wrist and glanced at my Timex. Darn it. I was going to miss another one of Zoey’s Brownie meetings. She was going to be one mad little sprite. I’d have to make it up to her somehow. I eyed Kennedy. “Do you have someone you can stay with tonight?”
“I figured I would just go home to my apartment. I have a cat that I need to take care of.”
“Are you okay to drive?”
Kennedy shrugged, defeated.
I was already going to miss Zoey’s Girl Scout meeting. If Claire could drop her off and stay with her afterwards, I could give Kennedy a ride. “Let me make a quick call. I might be able to drop you off.”
Kennedy protested. “You don’t have to do that, Martina.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “You shouldn’t be driving all that way right now. Give me a sec.”
I stepped away and pulled my phone from my jacket pocket. “Hi, Martina. What’s up?”
“Hi, Claire. Is there anyway you could take Zoey to her Brownie meeting? I’m out on Stone Island and I don’t think I’ll be able to make it back in time.”
“Sure, of course.”
“And could you potentially watch her after the meeting as well? My client has had a rough night and shouldn’t drive. She needs a ride home all the way out to San Francisco.”
There was a pause. Not a great sign. I hated springing things like this on Claire, especially since I think she may be frustrated that I hadn’t picked a new nanny yet. The two I interviewed didn’t seem to have the same dedication that Claire did. She finally responded. “It’s not a problem. I’ll take care of it. Also, Martina, I received a couple new applications today. Tomorrow we can discuss setting up interviews.”
“Thank you, Claire.” I hung up and returned to Kennedy. “All set. I can give you a ride home. You shouldn’t be here right now. Any questions the detective may have, he can call you. Hirsch has your information, right?”
“Yes. I’ll go in the house and grab my things.”
“All right, I’ll wait for you here.” I wrapped my arms around myself as the breeze picked up. I heard the crunch of boots on gravel and turned to see the detective heading my way.
I needed to make nice, and quick, if I was going to get access to information on Theodore Gilmore’s case and now that I knew he was handling Donna’s case, it was doubly important. “Detective.”
“The two of you are close?”
“We’ve been working this case, and I’ve been by her side most of the time. It’s been a hard week and a half, and now with her dad’s death, it’s been rough. I’m going to drive her home. She’s holding up here, in front of everyone, but she’s pretty shook. I don’t want her on the road when she’s alone with her thoughts.”
“That’s good of you.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow. There are a couple things I want to look into that may be related.” The sound of a creaking door stole my attention toward the Bernard house. I watched as Mrs. Bernard let out a black-and-white cat before returning inside the house. My heart sank.
“Okay, I’m ready to go. Detective, is there anything else you need from me?” Kennedy asked.
I turned to Kennedy and Detective Hirsch. He said, “No, we have all we need right now. I’ll be in touch.”
“My car is the gray sedan. I’ll be right down,” I said.
Kennedy nodded and descended the steps. I glanced over at Hirsch. “Kennedy grew up next-door to Donna Bernard - her whole life. She needs to be part of the investigation into Donna’s disappearance, but I want you to give her some space.”
“You and Donna were friends?”
“Best friends.”
“We’ll find out what happened to her and what happened to Theodore Gilmore. I want us to work together on this. If that’s okay with you.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Detective.”
Great. Now I had a line into the Sheriff’s Department and what was going on there. Maybe Hirsch wasn’t as bad as I thought. I recalled him saying that it wasn’t his choice to close the DeSoto murder. Maybe he wasn’t a total idiot.
I jogged down the steps and wondered why Hirsch was now with the CoCo County Sheriff and wasn’t with the SFPD anymore. I’d ask him tomorrow. Right now, I had to take care of Kennedy.
When I was given her case, I had been excited at the prospect of having my old life back. To be working on an active investigation that was something other than cheating spouses or insurance fraud perpetrators, but now I’m remembering the reality. The chaos. The adrenaline spikes and what I knew would be a severe lack of sleep. And a lot of making things up to Zoey.
14
Detective Hirsch
I turned away from the Bernard’s residence, head hung low. They were the last of the neighbors for me to question about last night. I wasn’t a coward, but felt awkward since I hadn’t given them any updates on their daughter’s case yet. The truth was, I’d barely scratched the surface of Donna’s disappearance.
However, seeing as their next-door neighbor was possibly murdered last night, it was important to find out if they’d heard anything or if they had any security cameras installed on their home. I hadn’t seen any, but I would double-check.
I walked back to levee and spotted the medical examiner arriving. I quickened my steps to meet her at the front door of the Gilmore residence. I’d only met her a few times, but I’m sure she remembered me. I was the ‘new guy.’ I called out, “Dr. Scribner.”
I caught up to her, and she smiled. She was a woman of maybe fifty with shoulder length silver hair she had pulled back in a ponytail. “Detective Hirsch, what do we have here? Did you look at the body yet?”
“I did. I’d like to hear your thoughts on time at death as soon as possible, if you can. I have my suspicions.”
“All right then, let’s get to it.”
I followed her into the house. We both stopped at the same box filled with the booties. I slipped a pair on whereas she pulled out coveralls from h
er case and slipped into it before putting a pair of booties on. Gowned up, we headed back to the bedroom where Theodore Gilmore’s body lay.
Dr. Scribner stepped into the room and studied the body. She scanned it, examining every angle, before kneeling down in front of his face and with gloved hands pressed down on the side of his face with her pointer finger, and then his neck. She glanced up at me. “Can you help me lift his body up?”
I nodded before hurrying over.
“I just want to lift him up a few inches if we can. On my count of three. One-two-three.”
I lifted with all of my strength. Dr. Scribner lifted his shirt and the exposed skin was a ghoulish dark purple. Lividity had set in, which meant he had been dead at least eight to twelve hours.
“We can set him down now.”
I slowly lowered him back down.
From her bag, she pulled out what looked like a meat thermometer and plunged into his back. The sound was wet and disturbing. A few moments later, she leaned in and read the temperature. Without looking up at me, she said, “Based on body temp, I’m guessing he died…” She paused and lifted her arm and looked at the digital watch on her wrist. “Between midnight and 2 AM.”
I stood up. I don’t think it was a coincidence that the neighbor’s dog barked at midnight and then again at 1 AM. If Theodore Gilmore was murdered, it was likely that somebody broke in around midnight and left around 1 AM. Why had they been there for a whole hour? “When do you think you’ll be able to do the autopsy?”
She let out a sigh as she examined behind Mr. Gilmore’s ear. “Not sure. We’re pretty backed up.”
“Any way to make an exception and get him to the top of the queue?”
She peered up at me over her glasses.
I pleaded, “He has a daughter, she’s the one who found him. His wife, her mother, died a week and half ago. She’s lost both parents in less than two weeks. If there’s any way we can give her a little closure sooner rather than later, I would appreciate it.”
She returned her focus to Theodore. “I’ll see what I can do. I don’t think this was an accident.”
“Why not?”
“Position of the body and the suspicious tiny mark behind his ear. Between you and me and Mr. Gilmore, my guess is somebody injected him with something and then forced him into this position. Don’t quote me on any of it, I could be wrong. He could have been sleepy and decided the floor looked comfy and fell asleep and then died of natural causes.” She stood up and snapped off her gloves. “I’ll see what I can do to get your autopsy sooner rather than later.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
I left the death-filled room and reentered the front of the house and walked over to Brown. “You guys about finished up here?”
“Just about. You?”
“I need to do a quick follow-up with a neighbor and then I’ll be done. I should be back in five minutes.”
“We should be able to wrap up shortly after.”
“Great.” Now that we had a potential cause and time of death, I headed back to the neighbor’s house two doors down whose dog had barked in the early hours of the morning. I approached, and the dog went off. The owner wasn’t kidding, if there was any activity within ten feet, the dog heard it. I knocked on the door and stepped back. The man opened the door and said, “Detective, you’re back.”
“Yes, Mr. Piratto, can I ask you to confirm a few things?”
He nodded. “Sure, let me grab my jacket.” He disappeared behind the door, returning a few seconds later, wearing a down jacket that went down to his knees. He zipped it up and closed the door behind him. “What is it Detective?”
“Can you confirm what time you heard the dog barking?”
“First one was right at midnight. I have a clock on my nightstand.”
“And the second bark, was at what time?”
“One - one-oh-five, maybe.”
So whoever may have broken into the Gilmore’s house and killed Mr. Gilmore had been there for an hour. What would the killer be doing for an hour? The house wasn’t ransacked, and there were no signs of forced entry. Was he questioning Theodore? Was he searching for something? “Do you know if any of your surrounding neighbors have security cameras on the outside of their houses?”
“Actually, you know, I think the guy three doors down installed a camera on his dock. This last summer someone had stolen his boat and took it for a ride. He was furious. I’m pretty sure he put cameras up the same day. In the end, it had been a couple of stupid kids, but he still didn’t want anybody taking his boat, understandably.”
“Thank you, Mr. Piratto. You’ve been really helpful.”
“Anything to help. Take care.”
We had ears on a potential suspect, now if only we can get some eyes too. I pounded down the gravel until I reached the house three doors down. I reached the house and glanced down at the dock. It was dark and I couldn’t see much. I turned around and knocked on the front door. From the other side of the door, someone said, “Who is it?”
“Detective Hirsch with the CoCo County Sheriff’s Department.”
The lock disengaged, and the door opened. A man in a thick bathrobe with a receding hairline stood there. “What can I help you with, Detective?”
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but your neighbor, Mr. Gilmore, was found dead this afternoon.”
“No. That old guy whose wife died?”
Not a great way to talk about someone who has just died. Not a friendly neighbor, I’m guessing, or at the very least, not a sensitive soul. “Yes, there is a possibility that it may be a homicide. Did you hear or see anything out of the ordinary last night?”
“No.”
“Your neighbor says you might have cameras on your dock.”
“I do, but I’m not sure if it captured anything on the levee. I positioned them mostly for the dock, but I can look and see if there’s anything on them.”
Maybe he’s not so bad after all. “I would appreciate it.”
“Any specific times?”
“Between eleven forty-five and maybe two in the morning.”
He said, “Let me check.” And went back into the house without a word.
I surveyed the area. It was dark and visibility was low. Only a few front porch lights had turned on.
A few minutes later, the man reemerged, clutching a silver flashlight. “I have no footage from last night. I think someone may have disabled my cameras.” He stepped out of the house and said, “I’m going to look,” before he stormed down to the dock. He reached the gate and muttered, “Son of a bitch.” He turned around. “Someone cut the wires.”
There was definitely somebody out here last night that didn’t want to be seen or heard. Somebody who knew what they were doing and had scoped out the place ahead of time. What were the odds that Theodore Gilmore had a heart attack or died of natural causes on the same night the dog barked at midnight, right around his time of death, and the nearest surveillance cameras were tampered with? Not likely. If Theodore Gilmore was killed, why was he killed? Who had motive?
15
Alonso
He stepped onto the jetway and peered out the window. Under his breath, he mumbled, “Goodbye, California. I’ll miss you until next time.” He turned back toward the line of passengers in front of him, waiting to board the plane. He would definitely miss sunny California and would certainly trade the frigid Pennsylvania winters for it, but unfortunately he had to cut this trip short.
The boss was not pleased when he had explained what he had found out. The boss didn’t elaborate why he wasn’t happy. He had simply told him they needed to quiet down the source in order to stop the flow of information about the family. He found it strange that Charlotte had told her husband she was married before him, but as far as he knew, she hadn’t been. Why had Charlotte told her husband that she had been married before and had a baby? He would’ve known if that were true unless she’d been married and fallen pregnant after she had left Pennsylvania
all those years ago.
As the line advanced, he moved ahead, with his duffle bag over his shoulder.
He was tight with the boss, but usually the information flowed in one direction and it was never appreciated when he asked too many questions. His phone buzzed, and he knew who it was.
He glanced at the screen. Yep. “Hey, boss.”
“Are you on the plane yet?”
“I’m boarding right now.”
“Good. We’ll discuss our next move when you arrive home. This matter isn’t finished. We need to contain this, and fast, but I don’t want to talk over the phone. When you land, I’ll have a driver waiting to pick you up from the airport.”
“Thanks, Boss.”
From behind, he heard a high-pitched voice say, “Sir.”
He looked up ahead and saw that he’d failed to move the obligatory three steps to fill the gap between the passengers in front of him while he was on the phone. He twisted around and said, “Sorry, ma’am,” before he stuffed the phone in his pocket and stepped forward.
The boss was talking about containment, which meant Kennedy and the private investigator may need to be dealt with. He didn’t like the idea of silencing them the way he had to silence Theodore. He decided against jumping to conclusions. He wasn’t sure what the boss was asking him to do. Maybe the boss was being overly dramatic. He had to have faith. If the boss wanted him to take care of Kennedy and Martina, he must have a good reason, right?
16
Martina
I pulled into the parking lot of the CoCo County Sheriff’s Department. I shoved down my personal feelings about Detective Hirsch and his inability to solve Julie DeSoto’s murder because I needed to be professional, rational, and in control. I parked the car and turned it off before climbing out and slamming the door behind me harder than I had intended to. I needed to breathe and center myself and thank God that I was alive and healthy and here today. I couldn’t let my anger get the better of me. I could do this.
