A TWISTED MIND (Clean Suspense) (Detective Jason Strong Book 21)

by John C. Dalglish

  “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  Ellard stared at him, and Jason sensed the man closing down. Ellard got up and retrieved another beer, but did not return to the table. Instead, he leaned against the refrigerator. “I don’t remember the medicine.”

  Jason’s adrenaline spiked. “Do you still have any of it here at the house?”

  “You searched the house. You tell me.”

  “Can you check with your doctor for the name of the prescription?”

  “Not now. She’s not in.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Emily Lawson.”

  “Can you check with her tomorrow then?”

  “I’m planning my wife’s funeral tomorrow.”

  Jason wouldn’t push a man who was facing such a task, but the fact that Ellard was dodging the issue of what drug he took just catapulted him from a necessary interview to a suspect. Time to go.

  “I understand. I won’t trouble you for a day or so then.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jason stood and started down the hall.

  Ellard didn’t follow. “Go ahead and let yourself out.”

  “I will. Goodnight.”

  Back outside, Jason considered calling Vanessa, but decided against it. After all, he never was a Scout.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, Vanessa was waiting for Jason when he got to the precinct. While he wouldn’t say she was ‘bright eyed and bushy tailed’, she looked considerably better than she had the evening before.

  “Feeling better?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Get some rest?”

  “That’s enough of that.” She glared at him with a mixture of exasperation and irritation. “I don’t want to discuss how I feel or have you checking on me every ten minutes. Copy?”

  He held up his hands in surrender, a grin on his face. “Copy. Ten-four. Hear you loud and clear.”

  She laughed. “Good. Now, you didn’t call me last night. Ellard interview prove a dud?”

  “No. I did learn something of interest. Dale Ellard was treated for gout recently.”

  “And you didn’t call to tell me?”

  “Savage sent you home to rest,”

  “I was fine.”

  He waved a finger at her. “Oh, no. No discussing how you are or were feeling, remember?”

  She sighed, caught in her own trap. “Ugh. What medicine did he take?”

  “That’s the interesting part. He wouldn’t say.”

  “Why not?”

  “Just dodged the question. Never gave a reason. Then said he had to plan his wife’s funeral and probably couldn’t get around to finding out today.”

  “That is highly suspicious.”

  “I agree, but he’d been drinking. So rather than press, I ended the interview.”

  “So how do we find out what he took?”

  Jason shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to get a search warrant.”

  “We already searched the house.”

  “Right, but we haven’t seen—”

  “His medical records.”

  “Bingo. His doctor won’t identify the drug without Ellard’s permission, so we need a court order.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Jason, Vanessa.”

  They both swiveled to look at Lieutenant Savage’s door, but it was closed.

  “Behind you.”

  Jason looked back over his shoulder to see his boss coming from the elevator. Savage was waving a piece of paper. “We got another one!”

  “Another one?”

  “Crime Stoppers call.” He laid the piece of paper on Jason’s desk. “It names your killer.”

  “Not funny, sir.”

  “Not kidding, Detective.”

  Jason spun in his chair and scooped up the paper, read it, then stared at Vanessa. “It says Colt Ellard confessed and showed the caller the medicine bottle.”

  Vanessa’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “No way!”

  He read it aloud. “Colt Ellard blurted it out and showed the bottle to me. Check his glove box.”

  Vanessa looked up at Savage. “Did they identify themselves this time?”

  He shook his head. “Made sure the operator had the message and hung up. The operator couldn’t even say for sure whether the caller was male or female.”

  Vanessa’s voice went up an octave. “Well, if it’s the same person, they were dead on the last time.”

  Jason looked up at his boss. “And guess who’s due in here this morning?”

  Savage raised an eyebrow. “Colt Ellard.”

  “The one and only.”

  “Excellent. If he gives us permission to search his vehicle, get it on tape. I don’t want a lawyer claiming it was an illegal search.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jason’s phone rang. “Homicide. Detective Strong.”

  “Detective, this is Natasha Ellard.”

  “Hi, Natasha.”

  “I spoke with Robert. He said his grandmother had gout, but it was many years ago.”

  “How many years ago?”

  “In the nineties.”

  “Okay. Thank you for getting that info for us.”

  “Sure. Bye.”

  “Oh, Natasha?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Your dad was treated for gout, wasn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you remember what medicine he took?”

  She hesitated. “Why don’t you ask him?”

  He ventured a half-truth. “He’s busy planning your mother’s funeral. I didn’t want to bother him today.”

  “I don’t know if I ever knew what he took. I just remember him mentioning the pain he was in.”

  “Okay. Thanks anyway.”

  “Bye.”

  “Goodbye.”

  Vanessa had gotten up during the call and gone into Savage’s office. She came back just as Jason hung up the phone. “The lieutenant is processing our search warrant.”

  “Good.”

  “Who was that?”

  “Natasha Ellard. She said Robert Davis recalled his grandmother having gout back in the nineties, which we know was way before Uloric was even developed. I also asked her if she knew what medicine her father’s gout was treated with.”

  “And?”

  “Claims she didn’t know.”

  “Not surprising, I guess.”

  “No, but it was worth a shot.”

  Vanessa sat down in her chair and checked the clock. 8:45. “Colt Ellard is due here in fifteen minutes. Do we have a plan?”

  “I don’t. What do you think?”

  “Well, let’s see. We have two pieces of information from our caller. One is that Colton confessed, the other is where the drug can be found.”

  “Right.”

  “Why don’t we confront him with the confession tip, and check his reaction. Assuming he denies it, then we ask to search his vehicle.”

  Jason rubbed his chin. “Sounds good. He doesn’t need to know about the tip on the drug, and if the drug is in there, he should balk. Then we can seize his vehicle and get a search warrant.”

  “Works for me.”

  Jason opened his desk drawer and extracted his digital recorder. He checked the status of the batteries. The last thing they needed was a dead device at a critical juncture.

  Vanessa’s phone rang. “Homicide. Detective Layne.”

  She looked up at Jason. “Okay, thank you. We’ll be right down.” She hung up. “Colt Ellard is here.”

  Jason smiled. “You’re oh-for-two in the prediction department.”

  “Hey, I said fifty-fifty.”

  He stood. “Whatever. Let’s go.”

  They rode in silence down the elevator to the ground floor. Vanessa went to start the cameras in the interview room while Jason went to the lobby. Colt Ellard sat with his back to the window, and stood when Jason approached.

  Jason shook hands with Colt. “Thanks for coming down.”

&
nbsp; “Sure.”

  “I know this is a difficult time.”

  Colt nodded, his face understandably weary.

  “Follow me, Colt.”

  Jason led him over to a set of double doors where the desk guard buzzed them through, then down a hallway with interview rooms along one side. At the third door, Jason directed Colt inside. “This is the one.”

  Colt went in and pulled out the chair closest to the door.

  Jason pointed to the other side of the small table. “How about you sit over there.”

  Colt shrugged. “Okay.” He sat where instructed.

  Jason left the door open and sat down opposite the young man. Moments later, Vanessa joined them. “Good morning, Colt.”

  “Morning.”

  Vanessa closed the door and leaned against it.

  Jason took out the recorder and set it in the middle of the table. “I’m going to record our talk, okay Colt?”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you want anything? A soda or some coffee?”

  “No.”

  Jason hit record. “This is Detective Strong in interview room three. With me are Detective Layne and…” Jason pointed at Colt. “State your name please.”

  “Colton Ellard.”

  “Mr. Ellard is not under arrest and he has not been read his Miranda rights. He has come in voluntarily, correct?”

  “Correct.”

  “The time is nine-ten a.m.” Jason laid his notepad on the table. “Colt, I’d like to start with some background. Your relationship with your mother. Was it good?”

  “Yes.”

  “You were close?”

  “Yes.”

  “And with your father?”

  “We had our moments.”

  “Good or bad?”

  “Both.”

  “What about lately?”

  Colt crossed his arms. “Bad.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  Jason ventured a half-smile. Colt was a man of few words this morning. “Uncomplicate it for me.”

  Colt sucked in a deep breath. “Mom had been helping me out financially since I left college. Dad didn’t approve.”

  “So that strained the relationship between you and your father?”

  “Yes, as well as between my mother and father.”

  “Where did things stand when your mom died?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Had things been worked out between you all?”

  “Sort of.”

  Jason furrowed his brow. “Describe sort of.”

  “Mom decided not to help me any longer.”

  “She cut you off.”

  “Yes, except for a pittance she gave me when I did some computer work at the office.”

  Vanessa grunted. “I bet that pissed you off.”

  Colt regarded her coldly. “I wasn’t happy about it—no.”

  “Angry enough to kill her?”

  “No!” The young man recoiled in his chair. “I loved my mother.”

  Jason extracted the Crime Stoppers report from his pocket and slid it face down onto the table. “Well, we have a problem here, Colt.”

  “What sort of problem?”

  “You see that sheet of paper.”

  “What about it?”

  “That is a tip we received to our Crime Stoppers line,”

  “So?”

  “The caller said you confessed to killing your mother.”

  The color drained from Colt’s face. “You’re lying!”

  “Nope. Got the call this morning.”

  “Then they’re lying! Let me see it.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Someone’s trying to set me up. I didn’t kill my mom.”

  Jason sensed real fear and indignation in the boy’s tone. Still, if they could be trusted, the caller had been right the first time. “We know you had access to her on the morning she got sick, that you had been cut off financially, and that you were bitter about it. Maybe your anger got the better of you.”

  “No, no, no.”

  Vanessa came off the door and leaned on the table. “Believing you are innocent is getting harder by the minute. Things keep coming back to you.”

  “I’m telling the truth.”

  “Then you won’t mind if we search your car.”

  Colt let his gaze go from Vanessa to Jason. If he was wary of a trap, Jason didn’t see it.

  “Fine. Go ahead.”

  Jason concealed his surprise. He reached over and shut off the recorder. “Come with us, Colt.”

  Chapter 12

  Doctor Jocelyn Carter used a gloved hand to push her black wire-framed glasses up on her nose. Jason had recruited the head of the forensic lab to do the search of Colt Ellard’s car, wanting to make sure they got it right if the medicine bottle was in fact found. She stood by the passenger door of the red Ford Mustang, preparing to open the glove box.

  Jason stood behind her holding a digital camera, ready to photograph whatever she found.

  Ellard was with Vanessa, and she was keeping him away from the car, and if the young man was nervous, he wasn’t letting on. In fact, he appeared bored.

  Everyone perspired in the late morning heat as Doc Josie reached for the passenger door handle. She looked back at Jason. “We ready?”

  He rechecked the camera for the fifth time to make sure it was working, then looked over at Vanessa. She nodded.

  Jason lifted the camera and took two shots of the closed passenger door. “Yes.”

  Doc Josie opened the door and swung it wide. Jason snapped a photo of the interior. The car was clean inside, and the black leather interior appeared to have been wiped down with some sort of glossy protectant. Doc Josie reached in, popped the glove box latch, and let it drop open. She stared at the contents for a moment, then stepped back.

  “Get a picture.”

  Through the camera lens, Jason spied the prescription bottle. His adrenaline spiked as he quickly took several photos. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Doc Josie nodded. She picked up the bottle and held it out for Jason to get a close-up, then showed it to Vanessa. “Uloric.”

  Next to Vanessa, Colt Ellard stood frozen in place, his face drained of all color and his eyes wide with fear. “It can’t be.”

  Jason studied the label. It was prescribed by Doctor Dale Ellard to Colt Ellard.

  Doc Josie produced an evidence bag and dropped the vial inside. After sealing it, she continued to search the vehicle. For nearly ten minutes, she checked every door pocket, seatback, and floorboard. It wasn’t until she reached under the driver’s seat that she came up with something. She straightened up and read it, then held it for Jason to photograph.

  He raised the camera. “What is it?”

  “It appears to be a printed copy of a receipt.”

  Jason snapped the picture, then peered over the camera. “For the Uloric?”

  “Yes.”

  While Josie bagged the note, Jason looked at the reviewer on the camera. He read it aloud for Vanessa to hear. “The receipt is from Express Scripts, and it was sent to a Gmail address—bigcolt24.”

  Vanessa took Ellard by the arm. “Come on, Colt. We need to go back inside and talk.”

  The young man didn’t resist. Almost zombie-like, he followed Vanessa’s directions.

  Jason handed the camera to Josie. “Let us know what you find on the pill bottle and note?”

  “I’ll do fingerprints right away. After that, I’ll swab for DNA, but you know that result takes longer.”

  “We’ll see if we can get Ellard’s finger prints and have them sent to you. If he’ll give us a DNA swab, we’ll get that too.”

  “Good.”

  Jason hustled to catch up with his partner. He found her back in room three with Colt, who sat mute, his eyes on the floor.

  Jason sat down and started the recorder. “Okay Colt, we now know where the drug that killed your mother came from—and who gave it to her
—you.”

  He glanced up quickly. “She was killed with a drug?”

  “She was poisoned, but you already knew that already, didn’t you?”

  “No! I swear.”

  “Oh, come on! We just found the pills in your car. You can quit with the act.”

  “I don’t know how they got there!” Both his voice and eyes were pleading. “I don’t even know what that Ulor…whatever it’s called is.”

  “What about the email. You’re going to deny that bigcolt24 is you?”

  “I’ve never seen that email address. It’s not mine.” He reached into his pocket and produced his phone. After a moment or two, he held it out to Jason. “Look! That’s my email address.”

  Jason took the phone and looked over the inbox. Multiple emails to colt24, but it was a yahoo address and didn’t include the word big. Jason handed the phone back. “You’ve never seen the email address on the receipt?”

  “Never.”

  The kid’s fear was so palpable, Jason was beginning to believe him. Maybe someone is setting him up to take the fall.

  “Who has access to your car?”

  Colt shrugged. “Everyone. I rarely lock it.”

  “That’s a nice car, Colt. You mean to tell me you leave it unlocked for someone to steal?”

  “I mean that I rarely go somewhere that I need to lock it.”

  Vanessa took the chair next to Jason. “Will you give us your finger prints?” Her decidedly non-confrontational tone suggested to Jason she was beginning to believe Colt as well.

  “Sure.”

  “What about a DNA swab?”

  “Anything that helps. I didn’t kill my mother. You have to believe me!”

  “Even a polygraph?”

  “I’m not lying. If it will clear me, I’ll take it.”

  Vanessa and Jason exchanged looks. Jason reached over and shut off the recorder. “Colt, sit tight for a few minutes. We’ll be back.”

  His gaze returned to the floor. “Okay.”

  Jason led the way out of the room. Vanessa followed and closed the door. “You believe him?”

  Jason shrugged. “Maybe. At least, right now, I’m wondering if he ordered the drug or if someone is setting him up.”

  “The polygraph or something off the evidence could tell us.”

  Jason took out his phone. “I’m going to see if I can reach Tony Moreno.”

  “Okay, I’ll take Colt for prints, then get the swab.”