A Long December

by Donald Harstad

  “Yeah?”

  “He was contacted, and should be back home around noon or so.”

  “Excellent.”

  “That makes three good things in a row, Houseman. Can you take a fourth one?”

  There was no doubt in my mind. “Go for it.”

  “There’s a young woman from Battenberg on her way up here to the office. Name is Linda Moynihan. She claims her live-in is missing, and she thinks he’s our victim.” Hester paused, and I could hear paper rustling in the background. “She’s accompanied by… the EMT that was at the scene yesterday… nope, the paramedic… a Terri Biederman.”

  “Okay.” That was curious.

  “She said that she and this Terri were old high school friends.” “How soon they going to be there?”

  “Pretty soon. They were leaving about fifteen minutes ago.”

  “Did she give his name? Her boyfriend?”

  “Well, of course, Houseman.” Hester sounded really pleased. “Jesus Ramon Cueva. Aka Rudy.”

  I was in the office in ten minutes. When Lamar saw me, he glanced at his watch and said, “Right on time.” He does sarcasm really well.

  “Hell, Lamar, I’m only an hour early. I’ll just let my tires go another thousand miles before we change ‘em.” I think he liked that idea.

  The black-haired, blue-eyed Linda Moynihan looked very small seated at the other side of my desk, and she seemed worried to the point of distraction. She was wearing blue jeans and a faded pink quilted jacket, and looked as if she’d been up all night.

  According to her, the deceased was one Jesus Ramon Cueva, a thirty-one-year-old male, whom she’d last seen yesterday morning. Her description of the clothing he’d been wearing when he left the house matched the clothes on the body, with one exception. He’d been wearing a blue quilted nylon vest, with snaps up the front.

  “Okay, Linda,” I said, “I can understand your concern, but is there anything specific that makes you think the victim is Ramon? Any reason you have to fear for his safety?”

  She shook her head. “Not really, I guess. No. No, but Terri and I were talking, and the more she told me, and the more we talked, and the more it got to look like… “She started to cry. “Him,” she got out, after two tries. “Ramon.”

  “Okay,” said Hester. “It’s okay.”

  “We waited up all night, hoping that he’d come home,” said Terri. “When he didn’t, we called.”

  Terri was standing a few feet behind Linda’s chair and was jerking her head toward the dispatch center.

  “Hester,” I said, “could you get something started here while I talk to Terri out at Dispatch?”

  While Hester took a written statement, Terri and I went into the short hallway that connected the main office with the dispatch center. It was an area not covered by security cameras, and had very little foot traffic. It was about as private a place as we could muster without slipping the lock on Lamar’s office door, and he really hated it when we did that.

  “So,” I said. “What ya got?”

  “Hey, look, the more I think about it, the more I’m sure it’s him. Really.”

  “Why?”

  “Look, just a quick rundown here. Linda’s always been head-over-heels in love with him, but Rudy was a prick. Okay? I mean, he was screwing around on her, he treated her like crap when there was company around, and he never told her anything about what he did.”

  “What did he do?” I almost hesitated, because Terri was so damned opinionated I hated to open the door.

  “Well, he was working at the packing plant, when he’d decide to go in,” she said. “That was his day job.”

  “Humm. How’d he get the nickname Rudy?”

  She looked at me, surprised. “Who knows? Just what some of his little buds call him. Is it important?”

  I shrugged. “Dunno. I just like to know as much as I can. So, like, what was he into that could get him killed?”

  Turned out that Terri wasn’t absolutely sure. I mean, she had thoughts, but no proof. She and Linda were pretty good friends, but they’d started to grow apart when Linda had started living with Rudy.

  “He treated her like dirt when his shithead little friends were around. When they were alone, he was just fine. But he just had to turn her into his private little serving woman when they showed up. It made me sick.”

  “She didn’t mind?”

  Terri rolled her eyes. “Linda was in love. In the worst possible way. Her mom didn’t want her seeing him, always gave her crap about a mixed marriage. Not because Ramon was Mexican, but because he was Catholic and Linda’s Lutheran.”

  “Okay. So, who are these little friends?”

  “I don’t know names, I really don’t. I just know he’s into dope, Houseman. I just know it.”

  “I hate to use the term ‘evidence,’ there, kid, but you wouldn’t happen to have any, would you?”

  That produced a rare silence from Terri. Then she said, “No, but I know it’s true.”

  I didn’t want to argue with her, especially not now, for two reasons. First, it could very well be true. I had no information either way. Second, she was so damned bull-headed that if I were to push her just a bit, she’d do something foolish, like try to obtain the evidence on her own. No way was I about to allow that.

  “All I can say at this point,” I told her, “is that I need evidence.” I held up my hand to forestall any objections. “And, no, I couldn’t tell you if I did.”

  She sighed, mostly from frustration, and said, “Yeah.”

  “But don’t try to find out on your own. I mean it. We’ll know within a couple of days either way.”

  “Oh, sure.”

  “No,” I said. “We’ll know. I’m certain of that.”

  “Oh, right.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. “You concentrate on helping Linda deal with this. I’d like you to come with us when we have her view the body. She’ll need that, and you’ve already seen him.” I thought that was pure inspiration. If that didn’t get her mind off suspected meth involvement for a day or two, I’d be very surprised.

  “You’re kidding? Aren’t you?”

  “Nope. She’s going to really need a friend in there.”

  “Christ,” she said. “Oh, I suppose. Shit.”

  “Have you described the wound to her?”

  “No.”

  “Okay. Well, she’d better be a little prepared, don’t you think?” I shrugged. “I suppose I can tell her…”

  “No, let me.” Terri had gotten sort of grayish in the last few seconds.

  “You want to sit down for a minute first?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Just make sure,” I said, “that there’s no misunderstanding on her part. I know you can’t prepare her for it, but give her a really good idea.”

  Having Linda identify her boyfriend’s remains became more critical about fifteen minutes later, when the AFIS officer from Cedar Rapids PD called. The officer’s name was Larry, and I’d known him for several years. He said there was absolutely no record of the fingerprints anywhere.

  “Nowhere?”

  “Well,” said Larry, “the Pago Pago database is down, and we haven’t got Mars on line yet…”

  “Very funny.”

  “But really, no record nowhere, Carl. Absolutely nothing.”

  “What’s that tell us?”

  “Well,” said Larry, “it probably just means he’s never been fingerprinted. Lots of people have never been printed.”

  “Okay. Sure. Well, then…”

  “Don’t give up. They’re recorded now. If somebody else picks him up, we’ll put a flag on it for them to contact you.”

  “No good. He’s, uh, dead.”

  There was a moment of silence, and then a chuckle. “You’re having a really bad day, aren’t you?”

  “Aw, not really. Hey, I was on TV this morning.”

  “I saw that. Didn’t realize you’d been promoted to sheriff.”
<
br />   “What?”

  It turned out that one of the reporters had identified me as “Sheriff” Houseman. Great. Lamar was going to love that. I said as much to Larry.

  “Tell ya what,” said Larry. “We’ll continue to run this set every week or two for a few months. Just in case there’s a participating venue that’s offline right now, or somebody who’s new coming up online in the next while.”

  “Thanks.” A glimmer of hope, regardless of just how faint, is still a glimmer.

  “Think we’ll have a white Christmas?”

  “Not unless it would cover up a crucial piece of evidence,” I said. “It’s been that kind of week.”

  Since Linda’s identification of the deceased was now critical, Hester, Linda, Terri, and I went to Maitland Hospital, where the remains had been placed in their morgue/autopsy room. It was a new installation, built with regional funds, because we were located in the center of a seven-county region. We didn’t get lucky like that very often.

  Dr. Steven Peters, our favorite forensic pathologist, had just arrived. I made the introductions and told him why so many of us were there. He unlocked the door to the morgue, and he and Hester went in so he could do a “preliminary examination” of the body. That had never happened before. I was curious. He reemerged about fifteen minutes later, and motioned Linda, Terri, and me in.

  The room was about forty degrees, all tile and stainless steel, and very clean. Dr. Peters’s large instrument and evidence case was open, and his camera was on a counter near the remains. The body was lying on a stainless steel table with an indented drain trough that ran around its perimeter and led into a large sink near the dead man’s feet. I could tell from the silvery puddles of water that the body had just been hosed off. It was apparent, at least to me, that Dr. Peters had photographed the dead man, then washed the body so that Linda would have an easier time of it. That explained the “preliminary exam.” The body had been covered with a simple white sheet. It looked really weird, because my eyes went automatically to where you’d expect to see the large lump made by the head, and there was no lump there. Just a sharpish rise, where some fragmented feature had remained attached to the body. Spooky.

  “We won’t be looking at the face,” said Dr. Peters. “Just the chest and lower down. Before you look, can you think of any identifying feature you can name?”

  Linda drew herself together and said, “He’s got a mole on his stomach, just above his navel. And a tattoo that says ‘Nortino’ on his right arm.”

  “‘Nortino’? North?” My Spanish is horrible.

  “More like ‘Northern,’ I think.” She was beginning to shake, almost imperceptibly.

  “What’s that for?” I asked. “The ‘Nortino’?”

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  Dr. Peters moved the sheet aside. He’d placed a towel over the pubic area, and another was draped at the top of the shoulders. I saw the mole above the navel. Linda sort of squeaked, and just sat down on the floor and started to cry. Terri helped her up and sat her in a folding chair that faced away from the corpse. I looked across the body to where Dr. Peters stood. He pointed to the upper right arm. I could see —TINO tattooed on the flesh.

  I looked back at Linda, who was shaking uncontrollably and making hiccuping sounds. That kind of gut-wrenching sobbing is almost impossible to fake. I hate to be cynical, but it pays to notice things like that. So. I thought the identity pretty much confirmed.

  CHAPTER 06

  WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2001 10:51

  I TOOK A MENTAL INVENTORY OF OUR EVIDENCE. Determining how somebody was killed is usually pretty easy. Most killers are in a heightened state and are frequently in a hurry. That often means the method is pretty obvious. It sure as hell was here. Check number one.

  Determining just where somebody was killed is sometimes more difficult, but at least a general idea can be gotten very quickly. As in, “not where we found him.” Here, again, that was absolutely no problem. Eyewitnesses coupled with debris are about as good as it gets. Check number two.

  The identity of the victim is very important, because that can lead to just why he was killed. Check number three.

  Knowing when the victim is killed is critical in being able to place the suspect at the scene. When was a piece of cake in this one, with an eyewitness, and an uninvolved one at that. Check number four.

  We were ahead of the game already. At that point, I was willing to bet that we’d have our suspect nailed down within twenty-four hours, and an arrest warrant issued soon after. I was in a pretty good mood.

  The next step was for the autopsy to be conducted. Hester stayed for that, and I went back to our office with Terri and the grieving Linda, to obtain some background information on the now positively identified Jesus Ramon Cueva. We just needed some confirmatory stuff, like date and place of birth, relatives, that sort of thing. And, incidentally, are you sure you don’t know of any reason somebody would want to kill him?

  At the office, Linda said Jesus Ramon Cueva, aka Rudy, was from Los Angeles. His family was there, and she knew of no relatives any closer than that, but had his mother’s address at home. She said he ‘d been born on July 22,1970. She wasn’t certain where, but she assumed it was in the Los Angeles area somewhere.

  “I’ve got his birth certificate at home, and some of his employment papers and stuff.” She was retreating into that dull state that comes after a big shock. I was glad to see that, since I always suspect everybody until I can rule them out. Grief might be faked, but the dullness afterward seldom occurs to the actors. She was genuine, as far as I could tell.

  “We’ll need to see that,” I said. “Also his Social Security number.”

  “Sure.”

  “And a photo, if you have one you can let us take for a while and get it photocopied.” It was going to be a lot easier to ask possible witnesses if they’d seen the deceased if we had a photograph. I cleared my throat. “Fairly recent, if you can.”

  “Sure. Okay.”

  “Now, Linda, we have to talk about who killed him, and why.”

  “I don’t know. I can’t think of anybody. Really,” she said, beseechingly. “I don’t know…”

  “Okay,” I said. I hated to ask the next question. “You two have any kids?”

  “No.”

  “I’m asking, because you may be in as much danger as he was.” I leaned forward, toward her side of the desk. “I’m very serious. You, or people related to you, or friends of yours, may be at risk.”

  “Oh, come on, Houseman,” said Terri.

  “It’s true,” I said. “Until we know for sure why he was killed and who killed him, we have to assume relatives and associates might also be targets. It’s the only safe way to go about this.”

  Terri didn’t seem to buy it.

  Linda looked up at Terri and said, “He wasn’t into dope. I know you think he was, but he wasn’t.” That squelched Terri more effectively that I ever could. Then she turned to me. “You want to search our apartment? You can if you want to. I don’t care.”

  “How about we just go back with you and get a copy of his birth certificate and the photograph? Maybe look around at some of his stuff, but that’s not really too necessary.” I hate to turn down an offer to search, but we really didn’t have any grounds to even do a consent search of her premises.

  “Fine.”

  “Now, we didn’t find any ID of any sort on him. None. No billfold. Did he carry a billfold?”

  “Yes. Always.”

  “Do you know if he had it with him yesterday?”

  “I didn’t see, you know? I mean, I didn’t watch him put it in his pocket. It’s not around the house, or I would have seen it.” She looked at Terri. “We have to call the funeral people. I know there’s lots of stuff to do.”

  “We have to call his mother first,” said Terri. That was certainly true. The mother was the only true next of kin we had. One of the problems with living together. You may be the person in the world wh
o is closest to them, but you have damned little legal standing.

  Linda’s attention was going to hell. I sure didn’t blame her. “Just a couple more questions for now, Linda. Did he have any credit cards? A driver’s license? Things like that?”

  “Yes. He did.” She was trying.

  “We’ll need the numbers from his credit cards,” I said. “Since we can’t rule out a robbery motive, we need to check if there’s any activity on them in the next couple of weeks.”

  “Sure.”

  “Then…”

  “You’ll have to have her permission to do that,” said Terri, interrupting.

  “All you have to do, Linda,” I said, “is look over your statements and make sure there aren’t any charges you haven’t put there yourself.” I looked up at Terri. She seemed satisfied. I really didn’t need her getting all overprotective on us. I looked back to Linda. “What state was his driver’s license in? Do you know?”

  “Iowa.”

  That caught me by surprise. “You sure?” I was assuming he still had a California license, since our record search indicated that all the Cuevas in Iowa who had a DL were female. “When did he get it?”

  “After we moved in together. About five months ago.”

  “So, he had, like, a California one before that?”

  “No,” said Linda. “No, he never had one before, as far as I know.”

  Interesting. “Did he drive, though? Before he got his license?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where did you two meet?” I needed to establish more background on Cueva, if possible.

  “The plant. I used to work there.”

  “Okay, so, when was that? About how long ago?”

  “About six months ago… early August, this year.”

  I’m always surprised at just how fast some people dive into a relationship. “So you’ve known him for a good six months, then?”

  “Yeah,” she said, and started to cry again.

  Linda, who’d started in a bad state for an interview, was losing ground fast. I felt sorry for her, but… well, I really needed her in a frame of mind where she’d be able to focus, so I asked Terri to take her home to Battenberg and I’d be there after lunch.