Patience was something that I never had an abundance of. I believed in the power of being proactive. At the same time, I realized there was only so much we could do.
David had already assigned a patrol car to keep tabs on each of the suspects, so that angle was covered. Badgering the suspects wouldn’t help either. If anything, they would probably only become more guarded. Meanwhile, pouring over the case file again would only get us so far. After all, the words on the pages of those reports weren’t going to change just because we were staring at them for a second or third time.
Then there was social media. The internet was good for a lot of things, but it was a longshot to believe that a murder suspect would post anything incriminating in their feed during the middle of an investigation.
Ultimately, that left David and I with only one real option. Whether we liked it or not, we were forced to play the waiting game.
The longer I sat in the police station, the more frustrated I became. After a few hours went by without anything to show for our efforts, I tried to remind myself that we were doing everything we could.
By the time the afternoon rolled around, I began to feel like the investigation had hit a brick wall.
Thankfully, about half an hour later, David ended up getting a call over his police radio that changed the entire direction of the case.
Chapter Fourteen
The call came from Deputy Lance Gilbert, who had been assigned to keep tabs on Wallace Smith. According to the deputy, Wallace was on the move. But Wallace hadn’t just headed out to the gym or the grocery store. Instead, Wallace headed toward the highway.
That was a direct violation of David’s order not to leave town. Thankfully, before Wallace was able to get onto the highway, the deputy pulled his car over. Wallace was currently being detained in the backseat of the deputy’s squad car.
The minute David got off the radio, we bolted toward the highway. A few minutes later, we arrived at the deputy’s location. Once we parked, we got out of the car and approached Wallace.
Usually, when a suspect was confined to the backseat of a cop car, they let their temper get the better of them. Imagine my surprise then when Wallace looked like he was scared for his life.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” David said.
“That’s what you say, but I can’t talk to you,” Wallace replied.
David’s nose scrunched. “Why not?”
“Because he might be watching,” Wallace said.
David’s eyebrows knitted. “Who are you talking about?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Please just let me go.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Don’t you understand?” Wallace asked. “My life is in danger.”
David threw his arms out. “Will you please explain yourself?”
“I can’t. Like I said, he might be watching.”
David groaned. “Look. Either you tell me what’s going on or I haul you back to the police station for violating my orders. It’s your call. So, what’s it going to be?”
Wallace took a deep breath before responding, “I got a threatening call this morning.”
“From who?”
“They didn’t say their name. But it was a male voice on the phone.”
“Did you recognize the voice?”
Wallace shook his head. “No. It sounded distorted, though. Computerized even.”
“Computerized? Are you serious?” David asked.
Wallace nodded.
“What about the number the call came from?”
“I didn’t recognize it at all.”
“How about this threat you received? What did the voice say?”
“To keep my mouth shut,” Wallace replied. “And to not say a word to anyone unless I wanted to become the next victim.”
“Did the voice say anything else?”
Wallace shook his head. “No. After threatening me, the person hung up.”
“What did you do then?”
“I immediately got in my car and started driving. I wanted to get as far away from Treasure Cove as possible. But before I could get onto the highway, that officer pulled me over.”
“It’s an interesting story—”
“It’s more than just a story. It’s the truth.”
“Do you have any way of proving that?”
“Check my phone. Look at the call log. The number I didn’t recognize, it should be right at the top,” Wallace said.
***
David went through Wallace’s phone. Just like Wallace said, the call log listed a mysterious number right at the top. David then went over to his car and looked up the phone number in his database. Surprisingly, the number wasn’t registered to an individual.
Instead, it was registered to a company named Zylgern Wireless. Zylgern sold prepaid phones that were sold at grocery stores and gas stations. Typically, Zylgern products were used as burner phones by drug dealers and other types of criminals. There was a very specific reason they were so popular with seedy people. The numbers couldn’t be traced back to anyone.
That left David and I in a tough spot. We knew that a phone call had been placed, but had no way of tying it to any of the suspects. In addition, since Wallace mentioned that the voice on the other end of the line sounded computerized, we had very little to work with.
Even so, we weren’t completely at a loss. David and I approached Wallace again with a fresh set of questions.
“Let’s say we do believe your story,” David said.
“I already told you, it’s not a story. It’s what happened,” Wallace said.
“In that case, answer this. Why would someone take the time to threaten you? What information do you know that they don’t want getting out?”
Wallace exhaled. “This is where things get complicated.”
“More complicated than they already are?”
Wallace nodded.
“Explain yourself,” David said.
“I was at my sister’s house on the morning that she was murdered.”
David’s eyebrows rose. “Is that so?”
Wallace nodded again.
“What were you doing there?”
“I had a hot tip about a race horse, but I was running really low on cash. So I went over to my sister’s house—”
“To ask her for money?” David asked.
Wallace shook his head. “No. She would never give me money.”
“Why did you go over to her house then?”
“I happen to know where she keeps her spare house key. Which meant that if I waited for her to leave for work, I could grab the key from her garden, get into her house undetected, take some money from her drawer, and then leave without being spotted,” Wallace said. “Or so I thought.”
“What happened? Did she catch you in the act?” David asked.
“No. Instead, just as I approached her back door, I saw something disturbing when I looked through her window. Her body was on the floor in her living room. There was this huge bloody gash on her forehead.”
“Why didn’t you immediately call the police?”
“Because she wasn’t alone. Her killer was still inside the house.”
“Wait a minute. You saw the murderer?” David asked.
Wallace nodded.
“Who is it?” David said.
Wallace grimaced. “That’s the problem. I saw them, but I can’t identify them.”
David squinted. “You’re not making any sense.”
“They were wearing all black. And not just that. They also had a ski mask over their face. Besides, the moment I spotted the killer, I started worrying about my own life. I turned around and took off. Thankfully, I was able to get away.”
“If that’s true, I still can’t figure out why you didn’t call the police when you got back to your house.”
“It wasn’t a secret that my sister and I weren’t on the best of term
s. So if I called the police and told them I was at her house shortly after her murder took place, and that some masked figure wearing all black was responsible for the crime, do you really think anyone would believe me?” Wallace said.
“Honestly, I’m having trouble believing you now,” David said.
“That’s exactly my point,” Wallace said.
While David had his doubts about Wallace, I didn’t. Especially when I saw the look in Wallace’s eyes. The man was scared to death.
Fear like that couldn’t be faked. I knew this wasn’t just some act he was putting on. It was completely genuine.
“I believe you,” I said.
“You do?” Wallace asked.
I nodded.
David pulled me aside. “Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely,” I said.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I can just feel it in my gut.”
“All right. Just say you’re right, though. If the killer really is someone else, we have no way of identifying them.”
“Not at the moment. But I have a plan.”
“What sort of plan?” David asked.
I turned to Wallace. “Mr. Smith, we are willing to let you go on one condition.”
Wallace’s eyes widened. “Name it.”
Chapter Fifteen
When we finished speaking with Wallace, David and I drove back to the police station. From there, a press conference was called. Once the local media had assembled, David stood at a podium and addressed the reporters that were seated in front of him.
“I know you are all anxious to receive an update about the Kristie Wakefield homicide investigation,” David said. “Thankfully, I have some good news to share with you. There has been a development in the case. This morning, the department received word about the existence of an eyewitness. Apparently, this witness has information that could break this case wide open. In addition, they have agreed to come into the station tomorrow to make a formal statement. Which means there’s a chance that the killer could be in custody soon.”
***
As David stepped away from the podium, the press room began buzzing with speculation. I knew that by dinnertime, David’s statement would be plastered all across the news. That was fine by me. In fact, I was counting on that happening.
In the meantime, David and I walked back to his desk.
“You did great up there,” I said.
“I’m glad you think so,” David replied.
“Don’t you believe you were convincing?” I asked.
“It doesn’t really matter what I think. The only thing I care about is whether the killer is going to buy that statement,” David said.
I took a deep breath and replied, “We’ll find out soon enough.”
Chapter Sixteen
That evening, when the lights went out at Wallace Smith’s house, he did not sleep tight. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even make it into his bedroom before things went terribly wrong.
The first sign of trouble was a suspicious noise coming from the back of his home. Even though Wallace had locked his back door, the wooden door wasn’t going to stay shut for long. Not when a mysterious figure was standing in the back yard picking the lock.
A few seconds later, the figure successfully picked the lock and crept inside Wallace’s kitchen. But the figure wouldn’t get very far without being detected. The moment they reached the living room, a light unexpectedly turned on.
The figure then looked across the room and spotted Wallace standing beside the light.
Wallace stared the figure down. “Larry. What are you doing here?”
Larry Wakefield reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. He pointed it at Wallace.
“What is necessary,” Larry said. “I warned you to keep your mouth shut, but you didn’t listen to me. And now you’re going to pay.”
Wallace threw out his arms. “Haven’t you already done enough damage? I mean, are you really going to shoot me?”
“You’ve given me no choice.”
Wallace shook his head. “You’re crazy. No one forced you to kill my sister. And no one is forcing you to kill me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You backed me into a corner.” He sneered. “Now, do you have any last words?”
“Actually, I do,” Wallace said. He then looked toward the kitchen. “Detective, do you have everything you need?”
At first, Larry’s face contorted with confusion. When he felt David’s police pistol pressing against the back of his head, however, Larry quickly realized that he had fallen into a trap.
While David stood directly behind Larry, I remained off to the side.
David barked out an order. “Put the gun down.”
Instead of following David’s command, Larry scowled at Wallace.
“I can’t believe you set me up,” Larry said.
I spoke up from the kitchen. “Actually, this was all my plan. And it worked perfectly. Now if I were you, I’d follow the detective’s orders.”
“I’m only going to say this one more time, put the gun down,” David remarked.
Larry groaned.
“I’ll shoot you if I have to,” David said.
Larry reluctantly placed the gun on the ground.
David then grabbed a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. As David snapped the cuffs on Larry’s wrists, I let my disdain for Larry come out.
“You’re one sick puppy, you know that?” I said. “Kristie loved you. And how did you repay her devotion to you? By cheating on her. You didn’t stop there, though. Instead, you fought her like crazy in divorce court. But she fought back—hard. That threw you over the edge, didn’t it? You knew she was going to take you to the cleaners and you couldn’t stand it. So you killed her.”
Larry lowered his head and didn’t say a word.
I pressed on. “Aren’t I right?”
Larry remained silent.
When a few more seconds went by without him opening his mouth, I spoke up again.
“Oh, come on,” I said. “Don’t you have any last words before you go to jail for the rest of your life?”
“Kristie made my life a living hell,” Larry said. “As far as I’m concerned, she got what she deserved.”
I shook my head in disgust. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Chapter Seventeen
A week later
The healing process was slow, but with Kristie's killer in custody, Shannon could start to rebuild her life. Of course, it was going to take more than a week to do that. But with each passing day, getting out of bed became less difficult.
By the seventh day, Shannon decided to go back to work. I, personally, would have waited a little longer, but I could understand why my friend was antsy to get out of the house. At some point in the mourning process, cabin fever had a way of setting in. When that occurred, work suddenly looked like a welcome distraction.
So, while Shannon tried to get her bearings back, David and I decided to pay her a visit at her sandwich shop.
“What a welcome surprise,” Shannon said.
“How are you holding up?” I asked.
“I don’t know that things will ever really go back to normal, but I’m feeling better than I was yesterday.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Shannon nodded. “It’s definitely better than the alternative.”
“It sure is.”
“It also has a lot to do with you guys,” Shannon said. “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done.”
“You don’t have to thank us,” I said.
Shannon scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I do.”
“Shannon, friends help each other out—”
“Sabrina, I know you’re humble, but take the credit. You deserve it.” Shannon looked at David. “You both do.”
“I’m just relieved that the case is over,” I said.
David held his hand up. “I second that.”
&n
bsp; “I’m right there with you. Here’s hoping that things finally quiet down here for good,” Shannon said.
“You know I’m going to pray about that,” I said.
“Honestly, I have been praying about a lot lately,” Shannon said.
“I’ll bet,” I said.
“I know God is listening. He’s answered a few of them already,” Shannon said.
“That’s good to hear,” I said.
“Now I’m just waiting for him to get to some of my other ones.”
“I know it’s going to sound funny coming from someone as impatient as me, but you need to give it time.”
Shannon nodded. “That’s true of so many things in life.”
“That said, even though I can’t tell you when God will get to the rest of your prayers, I can say this. He will get to them eventually.”
“I don’t doubt that.”
“Good.”
“I also realize it’s important to appreciate the fact that things are finally peaceful around here.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
A smile came to Shannon’s face. “And what better way to show my appreciation than with some amazing food?”
“I like the sound of that,” I said.
“Then you’re really going to love what I have to say next,” Shannon replied. “How about a free sandwich?”
“That sounds fantastic.”
“It’s settled then. Prepare yourself for a delicious treat,” Shannon said.
I smiled wide. “I’m ready.”
The End.
Did you enjoy this anthology? If so, you can buy more of my books right here:
https://www.amazon.com/Meredith-Potts/e/B01GH44H6A/
Books in the Daley Buzz series
Book 1 – Chocolate with a Side of Murder
Book 2 – Caramels with a Side of Murder
Book 3 – Apple Pie with a Side of Murder
Book 4 – Lemon Bars with a Side of Murder
Book 5 – Cookies with a Side of Murder
Book 6 – Halloween Candy with a Side of Murder
Sabrina Carlson Cozy Mystery Anthology Page 23
