People exchanged glances and shrugged. Finally Grace said. "Mostly people's kids. Sometimes the UPS guy follows one of us in, but we know him."
"Okay, so no sense of stranger danger?"
Several muttered, "Stranger danger."
Arthur's tone was emphatic. "Never. Worst thing that happens around here is the trees get toilet-papered for homecoming and high school graduation."
The ninety-five looking man said, "But if you could keep out the Girl Scouts. I really hate paying that much for cookies."
Elizabeth's sensed he wasn't joking. "Okay. I'm glad it's usually safe. I had wondered if Stanley might have previously confronted someone who wanted to come in and he denied them entry. Would you have heard about that?"
"Probably would have seen it," Arthur said. "Usually a few of us in the lobby."
"What about at a side door?"
Arthur shrugged. "Management says the cameras at the doors are monitored."
"But we don't think they are," Genevieve added. "I stick my tongue out at them a lot, and no one says anything.
"Okay. Arthur, you have that list of names and phone numbers for me?"
He handed it to her.
She took it and put it in an inside pocked of her jacket. "As I said, we'll be over every day, starting tomorrow morning. You can call the station anytime. Media will want to talk to you. That's up to you. All I ask is that if you think of something else, you call me before you tell anyone else."
Elizabeth left the building. She shivered and zipped her jacked to her neck as she walked toward Mahan, who stood next to the remaining ambulance talking to Nick Weaver and Skelly. They stopped talking when she got to them.
"Get warm, Skelly?"
"Not really. Wanted to offer advice on which pictures to take." Skelly tilted his head toward the apartment building. "Hear anything about a weapon, or anything else, in there?"
She shook her head. "Once again, it's all on you."
Mahan cleared his throat and she nodded to him. "And my crackerjack force."
Skelly asked. "You knew Mr. Buttons?"
"Met him a couple of days ago. He was in the laundromat just before we think Louella Belle was killed."
Skelly's eyes widened. "That can't be a coincidence."
Elizabeth glanced at Nick Weaver. "You aren't hearing this conversation."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'm not a fan of coincidences in law enforcement," Elizabeth said. "Stanley was a nice guy, from what everyone says."
Skelly stomped his feet. "I couldn't do anything here. Cold temperature is good for preservation, but it may make it harder to determine time of death."
Elizabeth nodded. "We know when he left for the store. We'll check and see when he finished there. Should be able to get pretty close to an exact time. I'll call you."
Skelly almost smiled. "I left the cat with your landlady. Neither one of them is happy about it."
WHEN SHE GOT BACK to the station, Calderone met her at the front door. Cheeks red, he looked as if he had just arrived. Hammer spoke on the phone, apparently to a reporter because he kept refusing to identify the victim.
Calderone said, "We went to dinner, I just…"
Elizabeth waved a hand. "Mostly done at the apartments. Grayson should be back with the camera soon. Mahan heard about it and he came down."
Hammer hung up. "People seem to know it was Stanley Buttons."
"Everyone in the building knew, and they probably called their families. I want to talk to his son before we confirm to media. He's supposedly driving down from Peoria." She pointed toward her office. "Let's talk in there. Jerry Pew should be by, if he hasn't already."
Hammer stood from his desk. "I got back in here about forty minutes ago. Haven't seen him."
"Bowling banquet tonight," Calderone said. "They usually invite him."
"Free food for Jerry." Elizabeth pulled the soggy napkin from her pocket. When they got to her office she picked up the phone as the men sat. "I didn't try the son because he's driving. He hasn't called here, has he?"
Hammer shook his head. "Only messages on the machine were media. Oh, and Dingle and the mayor. You need to call them."
Elizabeth acknowledged with a nod and began to punch buttons.
A man's harsh voice answered. "Who is this?"
"Chief Elizabeth Friedman in Logland."
"Why the hell haven't you called me before now?"
"My assumption was you'd be driving. If you are, please pull over and we'll talk for a minute. I'm sorry about your father." Elizabeth punched the speaker button.
She covered the mouthpiece and whispered. "His name's Steven. Someone at the apartment called him more than an hour ago."
Unintelligible muttering came through the phone. Finally, Steven said. "I pulled off I-55."
"Thanks. We don't need two Buttons men dying tonight. I wish a resident had not called you, but when I realized you already knew, I spent some time investigating. Sometimes people wander away and you lose access to them." Elizabeth didn't add that a slow possum could keep up with the seniors she'd spoken to.
"Okay. Well. What the hell happened to my father?"
"It seems he was accosted in the apartment's parking lot. He'd been to the grocery store, and when he didn't return for dinner, someone checked the lot. Once he'd been found, help came quickly, but I'm sorry to say he'd already passed."
"Do you know who did it?"
"No." Elizabeth glanced at Calderone and Hammer. "I have several people questioning folks, but we aren't starting with a suspect list."
Steven Buttons' seething came through the phone. "And why not?"
"Because your father seems to have been well-liked. In fact, I met him just the other day."
"Oh, right. Are you the lady cop who talked to him after the loudmouth woman was killed in the laundry place?"
Hammer put his forehead in his hand and Calderone looked at the ceiling.
"I am she," Elizabeth said. "At that time, he didn't think he'd seen anything that would indicate who the killer of Louella Belle Simpson was. He didn't happen to discuss it with you, did he?"
"He called me the night you talked to him, and again last night. It rattled him."
Calderone and Hammer sat up straighter. Hammer grabbed a piece of paper from a pad on Elizabeth's desk and took a pen from his breast pocket.
"Besides letting you know he was upset, did your father mention anyone who may have bothered him, anything like that?"
"He said he'd decided not to go there anymore because, and these were his words, 'Several lowlifes hang out there.' Do you know who he meant?"
Elizabeth hesitated for two seconds. "I know of one for sure, but we verified his alibi for Louella Belle. A couple of times. Did he mention any names?"
"No, damn it. And I didn't ask."
"Did he mention anyone in his apartment building he didn't get along with?" Elizabeth asked.
"Not that I remember. Couple old biddies he tried to avoid, but not because he was afraid of them. One lady was real deaf and shouted every conversation."
Calderone silently mouthed "old biddies."
Elizabeth grimaced. "Mr. Buttons, the weather isn't good, and you can't do much here tonight. If you're tired, why don't you stop at a motel for the night?"
Steven Buttons' voice cracked. "I should have moved him up to Peoria."
"He seemed happy here. I'm sorry he died as he did."
Buttons agreed and ended the call.
Elizabeth looked at Hammer and Calderone. "Bad things can happen anywhere, but why twice here in three days?"
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THURSDAY MORNING ELIZABETH stopped at a McDonalds and bought eight one-dollar breakfast sandwiches. Better for thinking than donuts. Which she saw Hammer had bought and placed on his desk in the bullpen.
"Morning, Chief."
"Not a very good one." She put the bag of sandwiches next to the donuts.
"Smells good. Mayor called."
"Thanks
." In her office, Elizabeth shrugged out of her coat and picked up the phone on her desk. She dialed city hall and the mayor herself picked up.
"Elizabeth, I mean Chief, thanks for calling before everyone gets in this morning."
"I don't know more than I did when we talked for a minute last night. Skelly has Stanley, and we'll check cameras at the senior apartments. Don't think they'll show much."
"Why not?" she asked.
"They don't encompass much of the parking lot. My officers will check residences near the apartment building. Not a lot of people in town have security cameras, but there’s a chance a nearby one may have caught someone running away."
Mayor Harmon lowered her voice. "You think it relates to Louella Belle's murder?"
"Hard not to think that, but we'll look at any options. His son is coming down from Peoria. You'll talk to him if he wants to, right?"
"Oh, dear. Of course. Please call as soon as you know anything."
Elizabeth assured her she would. "Could you have Mr. Dingle call me?"
"Why?"
"He knows a lot of people who live in the building." A white lie, or maybe he did know a lot of people. Elizabeth wanted to press Dingle again on what he had asked Louella Belle to do. And see if he'd collected money for a replacement bike for Finn Clancy.
Her phone buzzed as she hung up, and Hammer said, "Jerry Pew for you."
"Jerry. Thought we might see you last night."
"Wish you'da called me," he groused.
"Doesn't work that way. I told the apartment residents you'd probably call."
"What the hell happened to Stanley Buttons? The online police blotter said he was found dead in the parking lot of 'apparent stab wounds.' Who killed him?"
"Did you ever send over that list of suspects you had for could've killed Louella Belle?" Elizabeth asked.
The editor said nothing.
"We have no suspects, Jerry. He'd been to the grocery store and didn't come back to dinner. He was found in the parking lot." She carefully didn't say who'd found him, and made a mental note to ask Mahan what the apartment receptionist had told him.
"I haven't talked to the guy since he retired. Did a story on some class of his sometime. Don't remember what. Didn't seem like an a-hole."
"Nice people get murdered, too, Jerry. I have to go."
"Wait a minute, Chief! I'm at deadline. I had the story about Louella Belle, but now we've got Stanley Buttons. What the hell is going on in Logland?"
She chose her words carefully, knowing he would quote her. "Stanley Buttons' death is a real tragedy, but we don't have a link to Louella Belle's murder. We will be vigorously investigating both."
"Chief, it's almost Christmas and we have two murders."
Elizabeth said nothing.
"Chief?"
"I didn't hear a question, Jerry."
"Damn it, I want to know what the hell's going on. The only time we've had two deaths so close together was if there was a car accident."
"I wish I could tell you more, but as you know, Mr. Buttons was only killed yesterday evening."
"Do you have any suspects?"
"Not as of yet. I really need to get back to the investigation, Jerry. Why don't you touch base with Sergeant Hammer later today?"
"But I gotta get to press in an hour or I can't have the paper ready for tomorrow morning."
"Mr. Pew, I think you know that if I had more information for the citizens of Logland, I would give it to you." She hung up.
Elizabeth grabbed a sandwich from Hammer's desk. "I'll talk to the mayor or any city or county official. Can you handle the public?"
"Sure. Jerry Pew's gonna say you hung up on him."
She grinned. "You’re my witness. I simply ended the call because he wouldn't stop talking." More seriously, she added, "I'll talk to Buttons' son, Steven. So will the mayor. Did that building management company ever get in touch?"
"They're pulling video. I told them not to edit any of it. They'll send a digital file."
Calderone and Mahan came in from the station's back entrance. Elizabeth could hear them putting coats in the locker room. She turned to Hammer. "Have them meet in my office. Join us. You can answer the phone from there."
BY NINE O'CLOCK THURSDAY MORNING, they had divvied up interviews, but Elizabeth didn't expect to learn anything from talking to Stanley's acquaintances. At best maybe they could identify the low lifes he'd mentioned to his son.
"Mahan," Elizabeth said, "you talked to the woman who found him."
He nodded. "Very upset. Kept saying how nice he was. She didn't see anyone else in the parking lot." He consulted his notes. "Before the EMTs got there of course. So he was on his stomach, head turned to the right."
"And no movement of any kind?" Elizabeth asked.
"No. She noticed the blood stains, from where he maybe tried to crawl a couple feet. That upset her the most. You can't really understand her when she talks about that."
"Damn shame," Hammer said.
"I want to talk to Finn Clancy again," Calderone said. "They both went to the laundromat."
"We need a reason besides Clancy's a creep who hung out at the laundromat," Elizabeth said.
"Good enough for me," Mahan muttered.
"I don't want him accusing us of harassment. He'd love for Jerry Pew to do a story on that. But," Elizabeth nodded toward Calderone, "ask him if he noticed anything around town about the time Stanley was killed. Tell him we're asking because he's out and about a lot."
"Where does he sleep?" Hammer asked.
"Sometimes the Mission," Calderone said. "When it's cold. When the campground outside of town is open, he pitches a tent there a lot."
"Where does he get money for that?" Elizabeth asked.
Calderone shrugged. "How much is it?"
"I think it's at least $15 for a tent spot," Hammer said. "For $450 a month he could get a room in one of those old motels that pretend they're apartments now."
"Is he on some kind of disability?" Elizabeth asked.
"For what?" Mahan asked. "They don't give disability income for being lazy."
"Maybe depression," Elizabeth said. "Seems someone who chooses his lifestyle might be. I don't suppose you can just call social services without a warrant."
"I'll ask around," Calderone said. "He has to have money from somewhere. He doesn’t beg on the corners."
"He plays a lot of pool," Hammer said. "Those guys all bet with each other. Maybe he wins."
Mahan said, "Hard to imagine. I stopped at the grocery store. Employees who saw Stanley last night aren't there this morning. Manager wouldn't give me phone numbers, but he's giving them my cell number."
"Jeez," Elizabeth said. "Why the hell not?"
"Some company policy about employee privacy. I told him to have them to call me soon. He also said Louella Belle was in there a few weeks ago, wanting him to put up signs on the bulletin board about food allergies. He feels bad he ignored her."
Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't feel good about solving this. Unless Stanley did have someone's skin under his nails and there's a DNA match. We know how long that'll take."
"Poor old guy," Hammer said. The phone rang and he answered it, then nodded at Elizabeth. "Yes, sir. Just a moment." He put the call on hold. "Dingle."
Calderone and Mahan stood, Hammer handed Elizabeth the phone and the three men walked out.
"Thanks for calling, Mr. Dingle."
In a more cordial tone than he usually had for her, Dingle said, "Mayor mentioned you thought I might know a lot of the residents in the senior apartments."
"If you do and hear any talk that seems relevant, I'd like to know that. Mostly I need to know two other things. One, any luck on collecting funds for a bike for Finn Clancy, and two, any more thoughts on what Louella Belle may have discovered for you at the laundromat?"
Dingle cleared this throat. "One hundred nine dollars."
"Maybe the hardware store will have a used one. How about Louella Belle? Did
you think of anything?"
"Honest to God, no, Chief. She only went in there a couple of times. Mostly only said Squeaky didn't sweep well, because a lot of lint collected in the corners, and some little kids left small plastic baggies near the trash cans."
Elizabeth sat up straighter. "Why did she think they were kids' baggies?"
"Tiny. Louella Belle said like you could get from a hobby shop, for coins or beads. They had cartoon drawings stamped on them."
"Do you have any of them?" Elizabeth asked.
"No, why? I had the impression she tossed them and was going to chew out Squeaky."
"Thanks, Mr. Dingle. I'll stop by for the contributions, or one of the officers will. Appreciate it."
Before a sputtering Dingle could ask more, Elizabeth hung up. She called, "Hey, Hammer. You out there?"
He pushed back his chair in the bullpen and quickly rounded the corner from that room into the hallway. "What's up, Chief?"
"Dingle said Louella Belle told him she found some," Elizabeth made air quotes, "tiny baggies that must have belonged to children because they had pictures on them."
"Damn. Dime bags. Did Dingle know what drugs had been in them?"
"The moron really thought they were kids' bags." She stood.
Hammer stared at her.
"Okay," Elizabeth said. "I shouldn't call the city clerk a moron."
"Fine by me. I'm thinking about who else we could ask about that. Everyone keeps saying they didn't see anything unusual in the laundromat."
Elizabeth came from behind her desk. "I'm going to talk to Squeaky again."
TEN MINUTES LATER, SQUEAKY was all shrugs. "Chief, I saw one on the back stoop of the laundromat, one time. Figured it blew there."
"What marking was on it?"
"I'm sorry, Chief. I didn't pick it up. Pink blob all's it looked like to me. Or maybe red."
Squeaky unlocked his cash drawer. "Got a bunch of people picking up dry cleaning today. You know, for Christmas."
"Mr. Miller," Elizabeth said.
He looked up, startled. "Chief, if people were selling drugs while they did their laundry, I never heard about it. I woulda told you."
Final Cycle Page 10
