By His Own Hand

by Neal Griffin

  “I appreciate that, Mr. Mayor,” the Chief said. “I would have appreciated it even more if you had told me in advance of your press conference.”

  Ben shot a quick look at Tia, then turned back to the mayor. “I really believe that was premature.”

  Tia immediately deduced two things. Number one, Ben had been caught flatfooted by the press conference, and second, he knew that Tia had doubted him. Her thoughts of self-recrimination were interrupted.

  “Well, I’ll take the blame for that, Chief.” Reverend Mills threw an insincere smile Tia’s way, before looking back to Ben. In contrast to the mayor’s attire and somewhat stuffy presentation, Mills appeared completely at ease. Leaning back in his chair, his legs comfortably crossed at the knees, he was dressed in his typical denim jeans ironed with a crease and deck shoes with no socks. He wore a well-fitting light-salmon-colored polo shirt and Tia had to give him credit for that. Not just any man could pull off pink. Before continuing, he took a sip from a can of organic beet juice. Tia assumed he’d brought it with him since the vending machines at the PD offered nothing so exotic. She listened as he went on.

  “The press conference was my idea. After I met with the mayor and Dr. Kowalski, I just felt it was important for the entire community to come together. As tragic as it is, it’s time for us to wrap our arms around the Hayes family. The last thing we want to do is complicate the issue by having the good people of Newberg out there thinking there’s a killer on the loose.”

  “But there may well be, Reverend,” Ben said, giving no ground.

  “Now, now, Ben.” The mayor spoke as if he were scolding a child, while at the same time wanting to impress the other parent in the room. “The Reverend is absolutely right. You heard Dr. Kowalski’s statement. This is a suicide, plain and simple.”

  Ben turned to Travis. “Sergeant Jackson, where are we with our investigation?”

  Travis sat up straight on the couch and Tia watched as he turned his attention to the Reverend and the mayor. “We believe the physical evidence from the scene conclusively proves that the wound could not have been self-inflicted. We’re in the process of attempting to identify witnesses. Other persons that may have been in the woods that night. The obvious place for us to begin is with those who were attending the youth retreat.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to stop you right there, Sergeant,” Reverend Mills said, putting up a hand. “We will not be providing any information to the police department about our attendees. In good conscious, we just can’t.”

  “We already have it, sir,” Travis said. “Your son provided us a list of all the adult staff members. He was understandably reluctant to provide any information about minors. We all agreed that would be something to discuss in the future, if it becomes necessary. But for now, we’ll be contacting adult staff members only.”

  Reverend Mills, who had just taken another drink of juice, was clearly caught off guard. He swallowed hard, nearly choking, and his face flushed with anger. He sat forward in his chair, and both feet went flat against the floor. “Sam gave you that? When?”

  Travis nodded to Tia and she spoke up. Based on their recent history, she took care to be exceptionally respectful. “Yesterday, sir. We’re currently in the process of evaluating the list for witness potential.”

  Reverend Mills initially looked to Ben but then appeared to think better of it. His voice lost the smooth, almost hypnotic tone he was famous for. Instead, he was practically sputtering. “Dietrich, what is going on here? How can the police department justify harassing the people who volunteered their time, only to find out they’ll now be questioned by the police? This is outrageous.”

  The mayor turned to Ben, only slightly calmer than the Reverend. In his excitement his accent became more pronounced. “Chief Sawyer, I have to agree with Reverend Mills. I don’t think it was appropriate for your officers to—”

  “Detectives,” Tia said.

  The mayor turned toward Tia, annoyed. “Excuse me?”

  “Sergeant Jackson and I are both detectives.” Tia smiled and held eye contact. Mayor Andreasen stared at Tia a moment longer then turned back to Ben.

  “I don’t think it is appropriate for your people to … to … pressure Sam Mills into handing over information about … who was it again? Staff members? I must say, this does sound a bit heavy-handed.”

  “Not at all, sir.” Tia turned to Reverend Mills. “I just left a meeting with Sam and we had no issues. In fact, I appreciate his cooperation. You’ll be happy to know we left on very good terms. He actually showed me around his church and the urban renewal project he’s working on. It’s really something.”

  “Oh yes.” Reverend Mills rolled his eyes. “My son. Out to save the downtrodden of the world.”

  Regaining his composure, Reverend Mills once again turned his attention to the mayor. “I’m very disappointed that our police department is insisting on pursuing a case that is clearly nothing more than a personal tragedy. It seems to me that the church is in a much stronger position to help heal this community, not to mention the Hayes family, than the police force.”

  The mayor was quick to respond. “I agree. Chief, I think it’s time to put an end to this waste of time and taxpayer money.”

  “Thank you, Mayor,” Ben said. “Your concerns are duly noted.”

  “What does that mean?” Tia could hear the offense in the mayor’s response. “‘Duly noted’?”

  “That means we will continue our investigation and I can assure you when we have gathered all the facts we will document our findings,” Ben replied, his tone professional. “And the concerns you’ve expressed here today, along with Reverend Mills, will be documented and … duly noted.”

  The room went silent for several seconds. Tia was surprised when it was Reverend Mills who spoke up and not the mayor. “That is very disappointing, Chief Sawyer. I had hoped you would be reasonable about this delicate situation.”

  Ben pursed his lips and nodded. “Well, Reverend, I don’t ever like to disappoint any of the residents of Newberg, but in police work that pretty much comes with the territory.”

  “If I were you, Chief,” Reverend Mills said, “I would be most concerned with disappointing certain residents. Residents who have the ear of all five members of the city council. Not to mention their home addresses and cell phone numbers.”

  Ben stared at the Reverend long enough for everyone in the room to become uncomfortable. When he spoke his words were slow and measured. “Since you barely tried to conceal your threat, Reverend, let me put it to you another way. I’m not the least bit concerned about your ability to rattle the cage of local politicians. You’re right. There are five members of the council and if you get three of them to agree that I need to go, then that’s that. But in the meantime this is my department. These people work for me and we will pursue investigations as we deem appropriate.”

  Reverend Mills and Ben stared at each other for several seconds and it was Mills who blinked first. He took a last swallow of juice, then lightly tossed the can across the room where it landed neatly in the trash. “I think we’re done here, Dietrich.”

  “Yes, Reverend Mills. I believe we are.” The mayor stood, pushed back his shoulders and stared at Ben, still sitting calmly behind his desk. “I completely agree with the Reverend. Perhaps it is time for the council to reevaluate your performance.”

  “You know where to find me, sir.”

  Ben stood, while Tia and Travis remained seated. Tia couldn’t resist giving Ezekiel Mills a hard look as he left the office. He’d made it clear he was gunning for her boss. It was official. He’d drawn a line in the sand. Both men left the office and Tia leaned over and kicked the door shut with her boot.

  “Sorry, Chief,” Travis said, looking at his phone. “I didn’t want to interrupt, but I got a phone call from California. You mind if I take a few minutes?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Ben looked at Tia. “Can you stick around?”

  Travis hightailed it
out of the office, already dialing his phone. Tia stayed in her seat.

  Ben didn’t waste any time. “Where were you all morning?”

  “Working, Chief. I thought it was important to reconnect with Carla as soon as possible. I also met with Livy. Discussed some ideas that, candidly, I think you’d rather not know about. And I really did drive to Milwaukee and spent some time with Sam Mills. I wouldn’t say he’s exactly in our camp but I think he’ll stay out of our way. Can’t speak for his dad.”

  “Well then, I guess you have been busy.” The disappointment was still there.

  “Yeah. But I should have checked in. And to be honest, I was a little peeved.”

  “About what?”

  “The press conference. The meeting you and Travis had with Kowalski yesterday. I thought you might be ready to shut this down. Sorry if it seems like I doubted you.”

  “‘Seems like’?” Ben smiled. “Well, if we’re making true confessions, you weren’t the only one who was a little worried.”

  “How’s that?” Tia asked but she already knew.

  “It’s been a rough couple of days. Just figured you might’ve slipped. Couldn’t blame you if you had. Spent the better part of the morning worried you might be in rough shape somewhere. Afraid to reach out.”

  “I get it. It was close. But no … I’m good.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. You know I’d be there for you, right?” Ben said. “And not as the Chief. As your friend.”

  “No worries, Ben. I’m good.” She saw that her answer didn’t satisfy him. “But yeah. I know.”

  “Thing is, Suarez, you and I are in the same boat. Based on our histories, we got no place else to go. So for the time being, at least, Newberg is stuck with us and we are stuck with each other.”

  “I could do worse, Chief.”

  “Likewise, Tia. Likewise.”

  She stood and headed for the door. “Hold tight, boss. This case is going to turn soon. We’ll get through it.”

  “Yeah,” Ben said. “One way or another, we definitely will.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  “Robert Horatio Gosforth.”

  “Hey to you, too, Rich.” Tia walked into the bullpen, where Rich Puller sat at a computer. Tia wasn’t used to working with a partner and she sure wasn’t used to having a trainee. Probably not what the Chief had had in mind, but she’d left Rich on his own for the day. She hoped he’d made good use of the time. “So who’s Robert Horatio Goforth?”

  “Not Goforth. Gosforth.” Rich leaned back from the desk and held up several sheets of computer printouts. “The list you gave me yesterday? He’s one of the staff members.”

  “Okay. What about him?”

  “Well, it so happens he was the only person on the list with a Rock County address, like our victim. So I figured that might be a good place to start.”

  Tia nodded in approval. “Did he pan out?”

  “Sort of.” Rich referred to one of the printouts. “I did like you told me and entered his name into CHRIS. I got a hit out of Grant County for a disorderly conduct conviction three years ago.”

  Tia took a seat at her desk and turned to face him. “Go on.”

  “I dug a little deeper. Turns out the conviction is related to an arrest out of Platteville.” Rich’s expression was all too familiar to Tia. When cops started to run down leads, it never took long for it to turn into a game of cat and mouse. When it was a homicide case, it was more like a big game hunt. Now Rich had the look of the hunter. “He pled out to disorderly conduct, but the actual arrest was for 944.2.”

  “Really? How did you get that?”

  Rich shrugged, nonchalant. “Called Platteville PD. Had a records clerk scan the report and email me a PDF.”

  Tia was impressed. “Nice job.” Rich smiled at the praise. She mused, “An indecent exposure charge means one of two things. Either he was having sex in a public place or he was letting his crank hang out for some fresh air.”

  “The first one and get this. Turns out, Gosforth wasn’t alone when he got hooked.” Rich handed Tia a printed copy of the police report.

  Scanning the printout, Tia looked at the arrestee block, where Gosforth was listed along with … “Charles Stevenson? Gosforth got arrested with another dude?”

  Rich smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Read the narrative.”

  Tia read on and laughed. “Damn. Sounds like they were having a time.” Tia turned to the next page and kept reading. “Holy shit. Get a room, fellas.”

  “I figured you’d want to know a little bit more about him, so I did some social media excavation. With a name like Robert Horatio Gosforth, I knew he’d be pretty easy to mine.”

  She had definitely underestimated Rich Puller, Tia thought. Leaning back in her chair, she put her boots up on the corner of her desk. “I can’t wait to hear it.”

  “Pretty basic stuff. Public record site shows he’s been paying a mortgage in Evansville for the last eleven years.”

  “Evansville? That’s Rock County, right? Like our victim?”

  “Yep. His Facebook is wide open. He lists his employer as the local public school district. Looks like he’s a teacher. Wife. Twin daughters, probably nine or ten years old.”

  Tia shook her head. Ten years ago, everything Rich had just told her would have required dozens of phone calls, hundreds of miles of travel and probably more than a few hours of surveillance. He’d done it in less than a day without leaving the office. On top of that, the employment history might have even required a search warrant, but since it had been left in plain view on the internet, any person on the planet with access to a computer could have at it. All reasons that Tia would never involve herself in online social media.

  Rich wasn’t done.

  “He looks to be pretty heavily involved in his church. Place called New Hope. It’s nondenominational.”

  Tia nodded. “Just like Church of the Rock.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Well damn, son. Anything else?”

  Rich smiled, clearly pleased with himself. He leaned back in the swivel chair. “He fancies himself a fly fisherman.”

  “Nice work, man.” Tia was impressed. “Really well done.”

  “Thanks. So what now?”

  Tia thought back on her conversation with Livy. Someone in Henry’s last hours had been willing to part with a good bit of money. Someone who had enough of a life to be able to walk into a bank and walk back out with ten brand-new hundred-dollar bills. Not that public schoolteachers were rolling in it, but it’s possible, she thought. Especially if that schoolteacher was married, with kids … even though he had once been arrested for orally copulating another man in a public park. Tia didn’t want to get too far ahead of herself, but yeah. This could pan out.

  “Get your coat.” She brought her feet down off the desk and stood. “We’re taking a drive.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  “Damn, Tia. Your squad car is a real piece of shit.”

  “And you’re telling me that because I didn’t already know?”

  Having tossed the phone book in the trunk, Rich adjusted himself in the lumpy driver’s seat, his foot mashing the gas pedal against the floorboard. Tia craned her neck to get a look at the odometer and saw the needle was creeping just past sixty miles per hour.

  “Go easy on her. If we have to call a tow in another jurisdiction, that’s going to be damn humiliating.”

  Rich shot her a smile. “More humiliating than the phone book?”

  Tia cocked her head, speechless. The boy was starting to show some spunk.

  It was just an hour to Evansville; Rich was driving so Tia could continue to work up the intel on Robert Gosforth. Via her smart phone, she got the address for the one and only elementary school. Searching a few more social media sites told her that his online presence showed regular involvement with the New Hope Church, also located in Evansville.

  It seemed likely that Gosforth’s attendance at the Copper Lake retreat was associated with his
church. If that was the case, it stood to reason that perhaps other church members, including some teenagers, might have attended as well. Tia couldn’t figure at this point if the man represented a real lead or not, but it definitely needed to be fleshed out.

  They pulled to the front of the one-story brick school building that was on a tree-lined street of single-family homes. The school was set in a deep expanse of green grass. Getting out of the car, Tia could see the playground was surrounded by tall trees that provided thick shade from the sun. She imagined most of the kids who attended the school walked in from the surrounding neighborhoods.

  Just inside the main entrance Tia spotted a directory listing all the teachers and their assigned classrooms—and right beside it, a notice politely asking visitors to check in at the office. Tia knew in today’s world that just didn’t cut it. The door to the school should have been locked and the list of classrooms was a major security breach. She checked the ceiling and saw no sign of security cameras monitoring the entrance. Chief Sawyer had long since buttoned down the school safety issues in Newberg. For now, Tia thought, she’d take advantage of the school’s lapse in security, but at some point she might stop back by and tell them they needed to get their act together.

  “Come on,” Tia said, lightly tapping Rich’s arm to get his attention, having found the number of Gosforth’s classroom.

  “Aren’t we going to check in?” the rookie asked.

  “Not yet and hopefully not at all,” she replied.

  She led the way to the classroom, happy to find that it was near the end of the building, far from the office. Looking through the slender pane of glass, she saw a white man standing in front of a classroom filled with twenty-five white children. Tia thought back on all her years of public school in Newberg, where she was the only brown face in a pale sea. Shaking off the memory, she tapped on the door, then poked her head inside.

  “Mr. Gosforth?”

  “Yes?” His voice was guarded and he glanced quickly at the push-button phone on his desk. She pulled her badge out just far enough for him to see.