“Course, if I had a mother like that, I’d have ODD. Kinney Center’s gonna feel like a vacation.” Taylor chuckled to himself. While Jake agreed with him, he considered it to be in poor taste to criticize his clients in front of the prosecutor, so he changed the subject.
“I hear you’re running for County Attorney.”
“Throwing my hat in the ring. I’m sure there will be a good field of qualified candidates.”
Jake flinched at the dismissive tone of Taylor’s voice. It was clear the man considered the other candidates to be of no concern. “I’m thinking of tossing in my own hat.”
Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “Didn’t think you had any interest in coming over to this side of the table.”
“I’m interested in justice, no matter what side of the table I’m on.”
“You think I don’t care about justice?” Taylor’s voice was hard as flint.
“I’m sure you do.”
Taylor stood for a long moment staring at Jake, his expression openly hostile. “When I’m elected, you can take my place. You could stick with juveniles, but I happen to know Barney wants to go back to white collar, so you could have Carolyn’s old beat in major crimes.”
“Why don’t we table that conversation until after the election?” Taylor snapped his briefcase shut and, without another word, turned and walked out of the courtroom. Jake watched as the carved wooden door swung closed behind him. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and powered it up. Scrolling through his contact list, he chose the name he was looking for and listened to the Sons of the Pioneers sing “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”
“Ron? It’s Jake Rand.”
“What’s the good word?”
“I’m in. I’ll have the paperwork to you this afternoon.”
“Great! Let’s plan on having a little pow-wow to get the ball rolling. How’s your schedule tomorrow?”
“I’m elk hunting for the next couple of days.”
“I like your priorities. Call me when you get back. It’ll give Bea and me time to pull a team together.”
“I’ll be there.” Jake slid the phone back into his pocket. He needed to talk to Roger Hill. He hated to intrude on his grief, but he didn’t have the luxury of time. He just hoped Hill was on board with his ambitions.
9
Steven Hill was laid to rest at Our Lady of Eternal Hope Cemetery on Saturday morning, a week after he’d been shot to death. Matt had been released from the hospital Friday afternoon and had planned to attend, but Captain Danning forbade him to do any work on the case until the doctor signed off on it. Since Jake would be there with Emma, Matt had asked him to observe the mourners and report back to him.
Roger and Della Hill had arrived in Casper late Thursday night. Their daughter, Pam Young, had picked them up at the airport and briefed them on the funeral arrangements. At the church, the family gathered in a small room off the sanctuary and joined the assemblage shortly before the start of Mass.
As they waited for the service to begin, Jake scanned the crowd and Emma read the simple pre-printed program that gave the order of service. None of the trappings of wealth were evident in the timeless funeral Mass. The Hills had amassed a considerable fortune, but it was not in their nature to flaunt their wealth.
Jake recognized many of the faces around him. Casper’s elite had turned out in force to show their respect for the Hills. The fashionable country club set mixed with old moneyed families that had lived in Steven Hill’s neighborhood for generations. Civic leaders and politicians from both parties were well represented.
As the priest performed the Mass, Jake watched the family. The Hills were not Catholic, but Maddie was. When they married, Steven had agreed to raise their children in the church. As a surprise for his wife, Steven had been baptized into the church at his son’s confirmation.
Jake wondered if Steven’s conversion ever caused friction between him and his father. At the time, Roger had been serving as Stake President, a highly respected role in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It had set tongues wagging when Roger quietly stepped down, but with no ongoing fuel to fan the flames, the gossips had moved on to more interesting topics.
Jake had never noticed a rift within the family. Steven had continued to work in the family business, learning it from the ground level. Roger had entrusted more and more of the work to his son before turning over the reins completely. He made a mental note to look into who would be stepping into Steven’s chair at Hill Energy.
Jake and Emma followed the small number of mourners who joined the family for the graveside service. Jake scanned the faces of those who remained. A young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties, stood apart from the others. Her blonde hair was pulled back and she wore a navy blue jacket too heavy for the late October day.
She was a strikingly beautiful woman, but it was the look of resentment that caught Jake’s attention. She was standing opposite the Hills and seemed to be directing her hostility toward them. Jake nudged Emma and pointed out the young woman. As Emma looked up, the woman turned away and walked past the church back to the parking lot.
“Who was that?” whispered Emma.
“I was hoping you might know her.”
“She didn’t look familiar. Was there something wrong?”
“She was looking daggers at the Hill family. I should go after her.”
As Jake left to find the girl, the priest began to speak, performing the short ritual. The peace was shattered by the sound of screeching tires. Heads turned as a white Camaro with black stripes peeled out of the lot, causing two other drivers to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision.
The priest kept praying, but by the restless movements among the mourners, only the family was paying attention. Jake returned, shaking his head. He and Emma stayed after the service, waiting until the crowd had moved away. As Emma spoke with Maddie and Melody, Roger pulled Jake aside.
“Appreciate you coming, Jake.” When they were out of earshot, he continued. “I want you to find my son’s killer.”
Jake was surprised by the intensity in the old man’s voice. “The police are doing everything they can, Roger.”
“The police couldn’t find a monkey at a banana convention.”
“That’s a little harsh. Look, I know the detective who’s heading up the investigation. He’s the best.”
“I don’t care if he’s Sherlock Holmes!” Roger looked to see if anyone was listening to them. When he was satisfied, he lowered his voice and continued. “I want you to light a fire under them. Do your own investigation. Talk to everybody. People will tell you things they won’t tell the police.”
“I’ll help any way I can, Roger, but…”
“No buts! This is my son. No man should have to bury his own child. Whoever did this to him is going to answer to me.” Hill’s face turned an alarming shade of red and his breath came in short bursts. “Find him for me, Jake.”
In all the years he’d known Roger, Jake had never seen him angry, let alone shaking with rage. Then again, he’d never had a provocation like this. He asked himself how he would feel if their positions were reversed. “Let me talk to Emma. I’ll need to do some re-arranging of my cases…”
“Forget your other cases, Jake. I’ll make it up to you financially, just promise me you’ll find my son’s killer.”
“I can only promise I’ll do my best. I can’t promise I’ll succeed.”
“Your best has always been good enough for me.”
***
When Matt was discharged from the hospital, Kristy insisted he say at her place until he was strong enough to go home. “How am I supposed to take care of you at your place? You have nothing. At my place, I’ve got a comfortable sofa to sleep on. At your place, I’d be camped out on the floor.”
Matt had seen the logic in Kristy’s argument and he liked the idea of spending more time with her, so he’d given in without much of a fight. His body was weaker than he wanted to admit, but the doctor h
ad assured him he would be as strong as ever in a few weeks. For now, it was just good to be out of the antiseptic environment of the hospital.
Jake and Emma picked up a pizza after leaving the funeral and headed to Kristy’s. Matt listened intently to the story of the young woman and her splashy exit. He pestered Jake for details and jotted down notes.
He was less pleased with Roger Hill’s proposal to hire Jake to look into his son’s murder. “Have you lost your mind? You’re a lawyer, not a detective. You and Emma had a little success with that cold case, but this is different, Jake. If you get too close, there’s nothing to stop the killer from making you the next victim.”
“I understand the danger, Matt. Ordinarily I’d leave it to the police, but this isn’t an ordinary situation.”
“Because Hill’s rich?”
“Because he’s a good man. I respect him and he asked me to find his son’s killer. Besides, you’re out of commission.”
“I’ll be back at work in a couple of days.”
“Weeks.” Kristy corrected him.
“Be honest, Matt. Is Morty Brugnick ready to lead a murder investigation?” Jake’s point hit home. Casper was a small police force and there was only one other detective on the force. Brugnick was a good man, but he was young and green. “Why don’t you just listen to my proposition? Even Emma thinks it’s a good idea.”
“Emma likes playing detective.”
“That doesn’t mean I want Jake getting hurt in the process,” said Emma. “I think it’s a good plan.”
“Fine. Tell me.”
“We’ll form a partnership, pool resources, and share information. By working together, we’ll be better positioned to track down the killer.”
“What kind of partnership?”
“There are resources the police have that I don’t. With Roger giving me authority to act on his behalf, there will be resources open to me that would take you a court order to get to.”
“And we’ve seen that people will talk to us, who wouldn’t exactly open up to the police,” added Emma.
“I’ll run it by the Captain. I hate the idea, but we have to do something. If we wait until I can get back out there, the killer’s gonna have a big head start on us.”
Captain Danning didn’t like the idea either when Matt spoke with him, but when Jake made it clear he was determined to undertake the investigation with or without the police, Danning eventually agreed that it would be best if they worked together. After some grumbling from the City Attorney, the Chief signed off on it and the partnership lurched into action.
***
“We’ll go over everything we know and see where that leads us.” Jake, Emma and Grace were assembled in Kristy’s spacious living room, listening to Matt outline their plan of attack. “Let’s start with the burglary.”
“Do we know they’re connected?” asked Kristy. She was standing next to a large white dry-erase board Jake had bought with a credit card Roger had given him to cover expenses. Marker poised, she was looking expectantly at Matt.
“I don’t like coincidence. Until we know they’re not, we should assume they are.” He looked around the table where they were assembled and as heads nodded, Kristy wrote Burglary onto the board. “We know they had a code. We don’t know how they got it. We know they only took items of good value that were small and easy to carry.”
“They?” asked Grace. “Do we know there was more than one person?”
“Good point, Grace. We don’t know how many people are involved.”
“Someone at the alarm company would have to be involved,” noted Jake. “Someone had to re-activate that code.”
“Morty’s looking into that.”
“Has anything showed up in pawn shops?” asked Emma.
Matt shook his head. “We sent out the pictures the Hills gave us. We’re also keeping an eye on Internet sales sites, but there are so many places to sell these days it’s hard to keep track of them all.”
“They could sell it on the streets, too,” said Jake. “By the time the item surfaces, it may have changed hands two or three times.”
“Other than coincidence,” said Emma, with a nod to Matt, “I can’t see why anyone would break into Roger’s house then go after Steven. I don’t see the connection.”
“Hill Energy,” said Grace.
“That’s my theory too,” agreed Matt. “Jake suggested maybe a disgruntled employee. With oil prices tanking, a lotta guys who were making six figure incomes are hitting the bricks with nothing but unemployment to live on.”
“We were just talking about that at Greeters,” said Kristy. “Businesses don’t want to hire them because they know the minute oil and gas comes back, they can’t compete with those salaries.” She wrote Hill Energy on the board with a question mark.
“What did the ballistics’ report say, Matt?” asked Jake, once they’d agreed they had exhausted what they knew about the burglary.
“There were three shots fired. One hit the wall above the bookcase that was standing beside the door.” Matt sketched a rough outline of the murder scene for them. “The next two hit Hill in the back. One went clean through his left lung and lodged in the closet door, which means it would have been open at the time. The third shot was fatal. They removed it from his heart during the autopsy.”
“Could they guess the height of the shooter by the angle of the shots?” asked Jake.
“Not enough distance between Hill and the shooter to say with any accuracy. They think the shooter was standing just inside the door. The odd man out is the shot into the wall.”
“Could Steven have fired it? Maybe in self-defense?” asked Emma.
“And then turned his back on the shooter? Not likely.”
“But the shots were all from the same gun?”
“That’s what they tell me.”
“That makes no sense at all,” said Emma.
“Unless they weren’t fired at the same time,” observed Grace. “Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that everything that happened at a scene, happened at the same time.”
“But that would mean that the gun…” Emma began.
“Belonged to Steven Hill,” Grace finished.
Matt looked at Jake and smiled. “She’s good. I hope she doesn’t ever want my job or I’m in trouble.” He turned to Grace. “You are absolutely right. Remember, Steven Hill was in Cheyenne on business and came home to discover the breakin at his parents’ house. While he was down south, he bought a Glock 19 and a box of 9 mm ammunition.”
“Was he afraid of someone?” asked Grace.
“That’s something we need to find out.” Kristy wrote the question on the board.
“If he bought the gun in Cheyenne, it wouldn’t have left much time for him to shoot a hole in the wall, then be shot with his own gun.” Grace frowned. “Didn’t anyone hear the shots?”
“Not according to the police report. Officer Altrez had a team canvass the neighborhood that afternoon.”
“Wouldn’t you expect people to have heard them? How much noise would the shots have made?”
“It’s not a quiet gun,” mused Jake, “but it was a cold morning. People would have been inside with the windows closed, listening to the ‘Pokes game or watching TV. The nearest neighbors, maybe, but a few houses down, probably wouldn’t have carried that far.”
“Where’s the gun?” asked Kristy, writing her question on the board as she said it.
“If the killer used Steven’s gun,” said Jake, “it wasn’t premeditated.”
“Spoken like a defense attorney,” teased Emma. “If you’re going to be County Attorney, you’d better start thinking like a prosecutor.”
“He’s thinking like a detective, Emma,” said Matt. “I agree with Jake. We’re not looking for someone who went there to kill Steven Hill. That’s another reason why it could be the same person who broke into Roger Hill’s house. He may have watched Maddie leave and assumed the house was empty. When Hill surprised him, he gra
bbed the gun and shot him.”
“Who leaves a gun just laying around?” asked Emma. “Jake keeps his in a gun safe.”
“Hill just bought the gun,” said Jake. “Maybe he didn’t have a gun safe.”
“No, he had one. It was in the closet,” said Matt. “Which was standing open, as was the door to the gun safe.”
“Look, see if this makes sense,” said Jake. “Maddie leaves so Steve goes into his office. He takes out his new gun and is checking it out, loading it…”
“Drooling over it,” added Emma.
“If he’s anything like me, yes. He’s fooling around with it and the gun discharges into the wall. He puts it down, goes to look at the damage and…I don’t know what exactly, but that gets us the first shot and the gun laying out.”
“Were any of his other guns missing?” asked Grace. “I assume if he had a safe, he had other guns.”
“He did, and according to Maddie and the insurance company, they were all in the safe.”
“If your burglar theory is correct, Matthew, and the burglar is looking for small items, easily sold, why leave an open safe full of guns behind?” Grace asked the question but no one had any answers. “Was anything else in the house missing? Did they have a safe that was broken into, as in the first burglary?”
“Not according to Maddie Hill,” said Matt, after consulting the police reports in front of him. “It’s possible Hill caught the burglar before he could take anything and the guy ran, expecting that someone would have heard the shots and called the police.”
“How long had Steven been dead when his wife came home and found the body?”
Matt reached for the coroner’s report and flipped it open. “Less than an hour, probably considerably less. The body was still warm, blood was still pooling beneath it.”
“So he may even have heard Maddie pull up.”
“Oh my gosh, Grace,” exclaimed Emma. “He may have been in the house and left when Maddie ran out screaming.”
“Let’s not get carried away, ladies,” Matt warned. “Police work is based on facts and what can be deduced from those facts. There’s a three-hour window from the time Maddie Hill left until she came home. The killer may have been there at any time during that window. The coroner says it’s likely Hill died no more than an hour before his body was found, so let’s focus our attention on that hour and see if we can reconstruct what happened.”
Death Changes Everything Page 8
