Scratchgravel Road: A Mystery

by Tricia Fields

  Otto paused. “But he was here legally.”

  “I tell him that! But he was always afraid.”

  “How did you receive the money?”

  “Once each month he came home. He most of the time came home on the middle of the month.”

  “So, you saw him the weekend after the first of July?”

  “No.” Her voice was distant and he could hear her speaking Spanish with her mother in the background. She finally came back on the line. “He last came home June sixteen.”

  “Was he paid every two weeks?” Otto asked.

  “No. On the first and the fifteenth of each month. He brings two checks with him.”

  “He hadn’t been back since June to see you?”

  “No.”

  “Why didn’t he visit you over the July fifteenth weekend? He had two checks for you, right?”

  She began crying softly. “He never said why. He just could not come yet. My brother is angry, asking when we can get his money to pay bills. I told him it’s disrespectful to talk about money just now. We have to be patient.”

  “Do you know where your father kept the money in the apartment?”

  “In a box. In a closet.”

  Otto thanked her for the information and hung the phone up. His body felt heavy with the knowledge. He knew there would be no box. He’d checked the closet and found nothing but shoes.

  He called Josie on her cell and she answered immediately.

  “Are you still at Santiago’s?” he asked.

  “I’m on my way back.”

  “You check the closet?”

  She paused. “The missing box?”

  “Damn it. His daughter said he kept the box in his closet.”

  “I found the spot. The carpet was pressed down. Someone has Santiago’s keys and his money,” she said.

  NINETEEN

  Josie parked her jeep outside the department, intent on going back to the evidence room. Something had occurred to her at Santiago’s house and she was anxious to check the information. She retrieved the key from Lou and logged in on the clipboard.

  Inside, once the fluorescent lights had flickered on and warmed enough to light up the dark room, Josie found the smaller of the two evidence boxes for the Santiago case and carried it to the examination table. She turned on the table lamp and lifted the box lid. Inside, she found the plastic bag labeled LIBRARY RECEIPT. She opened it and lifted out the receipt that Leo Monaco had provided her for his visit to the library during the time that Cassidy Harper was finding the dead body.

  It had occurred to her that she couldn’t remember Leo’s purpose for driving all the way to Presidio to check out library books. Granted, the Arroyo County Library was nothing to brag about, but most people didn’t drive out of county, especially with an interlibrary loan program.

  She unfolded the small white slip of paper and read the light purple ink. He had checked out four items: Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry; Physics and Chemistry of Fission; Concepts and Trends in Radiation Dosimetry; and the one Josie could have kicked herself for not seeing before: Dirty Bombs.

  She carried the library slip to the photocopier in the main office and made a copy, then tucked the receipt back into the plastic bag and replaced it in the box. She put the evidence box back on the shelf, signed out on the clipboard, and handed the key back to Lou, who was talking on the phone.

  Josie took the stairs to the second floor two at a time and found Otto sitting in front of his computer looking glum.

  She pulled her rolling chair over to his desk and sat down, facing him.

  “Not only do we know someone stole Santiago’s keys and stole his money either before or after his death, we also finally have a lucrative connection to Cassidy Harper.”

  Otto raised his eyebrows.

  “I just went back to the library receipt that Leo gave me. He used it to prove he had nothing to do with Cassidy being in the desert.”

  Otto nodded. “Yeah?”

  “Guess what books he checked out?” she asked. Grinning, she handed him the copy of the receipt.

  Otto read the list. “Son of a buck.” He looked up at Josie, his expression incredulous. “You suppose he’s plotting something?”

  “Dirty bombs?”

  “What if he was working with Santiago? Maybe they were selling uranium on the black market.” Otto slapped his knee. “When I interviewed Colt, she mentioned seeing Santiago talking to men in suits. She even thought it was odd.”

  Josie shrugged. “I say we pay Mr. Paiva a visit.”

  “What about Leo? Any chance we can get a warrant? Check for the missing box, the missing keys? We’ve already found Santaigo’s wallet in his car.”

  Josie shook her head. “Not his car. Cassidy’s. I don’t think a judge would see a close enough connection to Leo at this point. So he has some library books on radiation. He was a science instructor.”

  “Cassidy’s dad told me he doesn’t have a job. Didn’t you say he’s got something part time?”

  “He said he’s doing research part time. He made it sound like the books he checked out were used for his research. Let’s find out if he’s telling the truth,” she said.

  Otto stood and walked to the back of the office where his gunbelt hung on a hook. As he buckled it around his waist, he glanced out the back window in the office and stopped. “We may have bigger issues to deal with. I talked to Smokey. He said if this rain keeps up today, we’ll probably have to start evacuations by tomorrow.”

  Josie rubbed at the muscles in her neck and felt her energy drain. “Have you thought about how this flooding may affect the Feed Plant?”

  Otto gave her a look that said he had not.

  “I keep thinking about those metal barrels at the back of the plant. If the foothills north of the plant start washing we could have a mess,” she said.

  Josie pulled her cell phone out of her shirt pocket and dialed the sheriff.

  “Martínez.”

  “It’s Josie. You doing okay?”

  “Been better. Figure out how to keep people from driving down flooded roads I’d be a hell of a lot better,” he said.

  “What’s the flooding status?”

  “We’ve shut down four county roads. Pulled out three cars from flooded roadways. All three drivers were people who should’ve known better.”

  “Anybody hurt?” she asked.

  “No injuries. South Branch Road is the worst. We’ve got two houses we’ll need to evacuate by tomorrow.”

  “What do you know about the Feed Plant?” she asked.

  “What about it?”

  “I need to catch you up on the body that was found off Scratchgravel. The deceased worked at the Feed Plant so we’ve spent some time out there. I’m just wondering if they have any kind of evacuation or emergency plan.”

  “They have an emergency plan. I’ve got a copy in the office. I don’t imagine there’s a big contingency for flooding. That area has a decent slope to it.”

  “As long as it doesn’t wash out.”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Have you seen the number of old rusty barrels they have stacked behind the plant?”

  He made a noise but didn’t respond.

  “I’m wondering about runoff from the mountains surrounding the plant.”

  “I can’t take any more men off the road right now.”

  “I’ll check it out and keep you posted,” she said.

  Josie hung up and faced Otto, who stood ready to walk out the door.

  Josie pulled her chair back over to her desk. “Let me call Paiva’s office and make sure he’s in.” She checked her phone list on her computer and found his number. She reached Sylvia Moore first.

  “Mr. Paiva has a full schedule today. The first I can squeeze you in is Monday morning at nine thirty.”

  “Please tell him this is urgent. We need to speak with him this morning.”

  “One moment.”

  Josie covered the receiver with the pal
m of her hand. “I don’t imagine he’ll be very happy to have to see me today.”

  After several minutes she came back on the line. “He’ll see you in thirty minutes.”

  “We’ll be there.”

  * * *

  Otto drove and Josie sat in the passenger seat making a list of questions they wanted to address. The sky was overcast, but the rain had stopped for the moment. The streets in downtown Artemis were passable, but once Otto and Josie hit the county, mud and streams of water crossed the roads making it almost impossible in some places to determine where the road began and ended. Some of the arroyos were overflowing, and the sheriff’s department had already prohibited travel to certain areas of the county. The maintenance crews had been putting in mandatory twelve-hour days and were still barely keeping up with the workload.

  Otto pulled onto Plant Road and they saw a large dump truck blocking the road a half mile ahead. As they drove forward, the truck advanced slowly, dumping a layer of gravel behind it. They could see that sections of the road had washed out completely and were now being built up again. It looked like a losing battle, but at least they were fighting.

  As was the case with their first visit, by the time they stepped out of Otto’s jeep, Sylvia was walking briskly across the lot toward them. After a sour “good morning,” they walked into the building and were taken to Diego Paiva’s office where he met them at the door and showed them to the conference table.

  “We appreciate you changing your schedule for us today,” Josie said.

  “Absolutely. I hope you’ve come with news about Juan.”

  Josie noticed his demeanor was a bit cooler than their first meeting, but it appeared he did not intend to bring up the previous night.

  “We’ve come for two different reasons. We have follow-up questions regarding the Santiago case.”

  He nodded once.

  “I also talked with Sheriff Martínez this morning. He asked that I check to see if you need support in regard to the flooding situation.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “If the rain continues we’re concerned how the flooding may affect the plant.”

  “I have an engineering team handling the preparedness plan.”

  “I’m most worried about the wash from the foothills to the north of the plant,” Josie said.

  “As are we. This is not being taken lightly. The team is to have recommendations to me by this afternoon. You are welcome to attend the meeting.”

  Josie nodded. “Good. What about someone from county maintenance? I think we need to keep them in the loop.”

  “Absolutely. I’ll have Sylvia make the call.”

  “Okay. Switching topics. We’re making progress on the Santiago murder,” Josie said.

  Diego’s expression was focused and attentive but unemotional. She figured he played a great hand of poker.

  “What can I do to help?” he asked.

  “Is the name Leo Monaco familiar to you?”

  His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Yes. He’s working as a consultant for us. He’s actually conducting scholarly research.”

  “Which means?” Otto asked.

  “Beacon performs laboratory research, but there is a lot of information that must be culled through in order for us to stay current. You can imagine, any company conducting scientific research has to stay up to date in the field. Just as important, we need to stay abreast of past research that may inform current projects. We often don’t have the time or manpower to conduct the scholarly research, so we’ll hire out to grad students.”

  “How did you connect with Leo?” Josie asked.

  “He applied for a job here last year for a lab position, but he had no direct experience. He was, however, bright and well versed in physics and chemistry. I called him and offered him a job collecting research on a current project we’re working on.”

  “What kind of project?” she asked.

  He considered her for a moment before responding. “We’re conducting a dose reconstruction process for the area.”

  Josie frowned. “Which means?”

  “We’re looking at the amount of various chemicals in the environment versus the amount of various diseases typically associated with those chemicals.”

  Surprised, Josie let her reaction show.

  Paiva smiled. “Contrary to popular sentiment, we’re the watchdogs. We’re here to keep you safe. Leo has access to several thousand documents and historical records that were collected during the lawsuit. He’s compiling data. Our internal researchers will then assess the data.”

  “Is he a good employee?” Josie asked.

  “He’s done an excellent job analyzing and synthesizing data for us.”

  “What kind of pay does he make?”

  “Just above minimum wage.”

  “And he’s working part time?” Otto asked.

  Diego nodded. “I’m sure he deserves more for the work he’s doing, but that’s the pay structure. That type of research is considered data entry on the pay scale.”

  “Can you imagine any reason he would want Juan Santiago dead?” Josie asked.

  He gave her a look as if she’d said something ridiculous. “Why would you ask that?”

  “Would he stand to gain anything by killing Santiago? Or disposing of his body for someone else?” she asked.

  He smiled slightly, obviously put off by her questions. “I cannot imagine any reason why Mr. Monaco would gain something by killing a coworker.”

  Josie frowned. She didn’t like to share details of the case without good cause, but sometimes one detail was sufficient to bring out additional information. She had reservations about Paiva, but she was also willing to bargain.

  She said, “Leo Monaco’s girlfriend discovered Santiago’s body. She’s been evasive, hasn’t been able to provide any reason why she was walking in the desert on a hundred-and-four-degree day. Or how she happened to find a body a quarter mile off the roadside.” She paused. “Then we discover today that her boyfriend is a consultant for the same company that Santiago worked for.”

  Diego’s eyes narrowed. He crossed his legs and laced his hands over his knee. “I don’t know if it’s typical police procedure, or whether the vibe is genuine, but I have gotten the feeling from the beginning that you find either me, or my company, culpable in my employee’s death. I’m not sure what you expect from me. Perhaps it’s time our company lawyers became involved.”

  Otto stepped in, ready to take the focus off Josie. “It isn’t that we think any one person or company is innocent or guilty. The murder investigation is open. Someone murdered your employee. So far, every credible lead we’ve had has been linked to the Feed Plant. That doesn’t make anyone guilty or innocent.”

  “But we’d be incompetent if we didn’t pursue those leads,” Josie said.

  “Fair enough.” Paiva stood from his chair. “Please understand, I’ve been with this company from its early years. Beacon Pathways is highly respected in the industry. And regardless of your own personal beliefs about the plant, our safety record is unbeatable. I find it highly unlikely that an employee was irradiated and left for dead.”

  Josie nodded, but she was fully aware that every guilty man she’d ever interviewed made similar pleas of innocence. “One more question on Leo. One of the books he was reading was about making dirty bombs. Does that concern you given his connection with the plant?”

  He sighed. “This plant used to aid in the production of nuclear weapons. It does not surprise me that people who work here, or even people who live in this community, would have a curiosity about such things. I would hope the police wouldn’t judge a man based on his reading list.”

  Josie smiled slightly. “One more question. Would you ask Mr. Bradford to provide me a detailed list of job duties that Juan performed his last two days at work?”

  “Certainly.”

  Josie glanced at Otto to see if he had further questions, and he stood from the table.

  “We apprecia
te your time this morning. I know you have a busy schedule.” She and Paiva stood and he extended his hand toward her.

  “I want justice for the Santiago family. Whatever it takes.”

  TWENTY

  Josie followed Otto outside the building and into the rain.

  “I thought we were supposed to get a reprieve today. Didn’t you tell me that?” Josie asked as they jogged to the car.

  “I was thinking positive. Isn’t that what you’re always harping on me to do?”

  Once inside the jeep Otto turned on the local weather station. He drove down Plant Road grousing about Paiva’s arrogance. Josie had found his demeanor more down to earth at this meeting, but she let it go. She could tell Otto’s mood had turned dark. She had worked with him long enough to know the missing money box in Santiago’s apartment would be eating at him. He would feel responsible for not making the connection earlier.

  “So where are we with Leo? What would give us enough for a search warrant?” he asked.

  Josie rubbed her temples and sighed. “I think he stole the money. The judge may allow it since we’ve got the wallet and Santiago’s fingerprints on it. But I doubt it.”

  “Hell, he’s not going to have that box. Making minimum at a part-time job? He’ll have that money long gone or squirreled away somewhere,” he said, dismissing his own idea. “Out of Cassidy’s reach.”

  Josie considered Otto’s comment. “Or, we catch a break, and Cassidy knows Leo took the money. I’ll pay her a visit. Ask her if she’s found an extra set of keys.”

  “I know you don’t want to hear this,” Otto said, “but maybe we discounted Cassidy too soon. Maybe she factors in.”

  Josie frowned. “It’s crossed my mind. I hope I didn’t misjudge her.”

  “She and Leo could both be tied to the murder. The evidence supports it,” he said.

  The cell phone in her pocket vibrated, and she slipped it out.

  “Chief Gray.”

  “This is Diego. We have a problem. Can you come back? Now?”

  “We’re on our way.” Josie twirled her finger in the air to signal Otto to turn around. He gestured to either side of the road to show her it was too washed out.