He kept thinking about what Lydia’s roommate had told Liam about Lydia being upset Saturday and muttering that something wasn’t right and someone needed to know something. If he was to go with the assumption held by both Cindy and Christopher that the politician was innocent, then it was a safe bet that he was the person Lydia thought needed to know something. It was possible she even had proof of it on her phone. That would track with someone killing her and taking her phone.
The questions that remained were, what did she know and who else knew she knew it? Jeremiah had gone back to her Facebook page where he had poured over more of the pictures she had posted. Unfortunately, her last update was Thursday morning, two days before her roommate last saw her. Whatever it was she had found out had happened sometime between then and Saturday morning.
He had checked Henry White’s schedule, and the man had been at a rally Friday evening. Presumably Lydia had also been to that one. He was willing to bet whatever it was she had seen or captured had happened around that event. It was even possible that she had confronted her killer on Sunday with her information.
The only thing that made sense to him was that it had to be connected to the campaign or someone who was part of it. Otherwise why would she obsess over it? It was probably something she felt was hurtful or potentially hurtful to the man she idolized.
The more he thought about it the more he was convinced he was on the right track. He finally gave Christopher a call and the man quickly arranged for Jeremiah to meet with Henry White himself in the late afternoon.
As he parked outside the hotel that Henry and his team were staying at he couldn’t help but think about Cindy. She would have wanted to be here, to be part of this. He would have felt so much better if she was because then he’d be watching out for her every moment.
He checked his phone again to see if she had called, but there was nothing. Once he was done speaking with Henry he’d try to get hold of her if he hadn’t heard anything from her yet. The fact that her phone was bugged was weighing heavily on him. He should be there with her, taking care of her.
He headed inside and Christopher met him in the lobby with an outstretched hand. “Thank you again for everything you’re doing,” he said. “Henry’s upstairs with some of the key staff. We’re putting our heads together trying to figure out what to do until he’s proven innocent.”
The team had taken over the top floor of the hotel, and Christopher led Jeremiah into a penthouse with some lovely views of the park he and Captain liked to go jogging in. There were half a dozen men in the room, all sitting in the living room area with papers spread out all over the coffee table.
“Everyone, this is Jeremiah who has agreed to help us,” Christopher said by way of introduction. “Jeremiah, may I present Henry White,” he said.
The politician stood quickly and shook his hand. “We’re very grateful for the help,” he said, staring earnestly into Jeremiah’s eyes.
“Yes, we’ll take all the help we can get,” said the man sitting across from him. He also stood. “I’m Geoffrey Wells, the campaign manager.”
Jeremiah shook his hand, noting that unlike his boss, Geoffrey did not meet his eyes.
A door at the far end of the room opened and Marjorie White entered. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Geoffrey moved quickly over to her. “Jeremiah, the rabbi that has agreed to help clear Henry’s name, has arrived. Come meet him,” he said.
Jeremiah noted that Geoffrey put his hand on the small of Marjorie’s back just above her waist and led her over. It was a rather intimate touch and he suddenly found himself wondering just how close the two of them were. He remembered that they had both already left the church on Sunday when the body had been discovered.
“Please, sit down,” Henry said, waving Jeremiah to a chair.
As soon as he had sat down the politician leaned forward. “I’m so sorry about what happened to Lydia. I hope we can bring her killer to justice.”
“The police are doing their best,” Jeremiah said as he sized up everyone in the room.
“I’ve been told she attended a number of my rallies. I keep being haunted by the thought that if she hadn’t come to the rally Sunday, she’d still be alive.”
“We don’t know that, sir,” Christopher spoke up. “She might have had an enemy who would have killed her regardless of where she was or what she was doing.”
“Maybe, I don’t know,” Henry said, looking doubtful.
Interesting. Henry was concerned that her death did somehow link to his campaign. Jeremiah wondered if there was some reason beyond the time and place of her death that made him think that. He would have liked to have spoken to the man for a few minutes alone without so many prying ears, but he got the distinct impression that even if Henry would go for that the others wouldn’t.
There definitely was a strong feeling of anxiety in the room. Amazingly it was coming from everyone but Henry who instead was radiating sorrow.
“I want to help. I just don’t know what to tell you, or even where to start to try to figure all this out. All I know for sure is, I didn’t kill her,” Henry said.
“I believe you,” Jeremiah answered. “Unfortunately, I have no idea who might have wanted Lydia dead and that presents a problem.”
It was true, but the odds were good it was probably someone in that room. These were the people with the most power to affect the campaign or hurt Henry. If only there was a way to flush out the culprit.
His phone rang. It was Liam.
“I’m sorry. If you’ll excuse me, I have to take this call,” Jeremiah said, standing.
“No problem,” Henry responded.
Jeremiah stepped onto the balcony and closed the sliding door behind him. “Hello?”
“Just wanted to let you know that the only prints they found in Lydia’s car were hers,” Liam said, sounding frustrated.
“I’m here talking with Henry and some of his staff. I can fill you in later, but I’m pretty sure one of them is responsible.”
“Oh, can you prove it?”
“Not yet.”
A sudden idea occurred to him. “But I think I know a way to do it.”
“How?”
“I’ll tell you later. First, I’ve got to go back inside.”
Jeremiah hung up and opened the sliding glass door and walked back into the room. “Well, I have some good news,” he said.
“Yes?” Henry said, eyes hopeful.
“It turns out the police are going to be able to figure out in the morning who really killed Lydia.”
“How, how are they going to be able to do that?” Marjorie asked.
“It turns out that the janitor had installed a hidden security camera that covers the wall of the church where the bathroom door is located. They were having some trouble with kids leaving graffiti and he set up the camera so they could catch the culprits. He’s been on vacation and he’ll be back tomorrow morning. He’s got a padlock on his office where the monitors are and he’s the only one with a key. The recording will show Lydia and whoever went into that bathroom with her.”
He forced himself to smile broadly. “Don’t worry. It looks like we’ll have this entire thing cleared up tomorrow morning. Then it’s back on the campaign trail for you, Mr. White.”
“Please, call me Henry,” the man said. “I sure hope you’re right. I want to see that girl’s killer brought to justice. I want to be able to look someone in the eye and ask them why they did that to her.”
It was clear that the murder was haunting him. People reacted in different ways to witnessing violent crime or its aftermath. Clearly his experiences had deeply affected him. If they didn’t ultimately destroy him they would probably make him a better leader.
Jeremiah stood. “I should go. I’ll call you tomorrow as soon as I hear anything.”
“Thank you,” Henry said, standing to shake his hand again.
Jeremiah nodded at the others in the room and let Christopher see him
to the door. As soon as he made it to the car he’d have to call Liam and tell him the plan.
“You know, the next time you’re going to set a trap, you might want to consult with people ahead of time,” Liam said sarcastically.
“I had to improvise,” Jeremiah said. “If it works you’ll thank me because did you really need this case to be unresolved for another day?”
“Absolutely not,” Liam said with a sigh.
“This way it’s better for everyone, except, of course, the killer.”
They were sitting huddled on the floor of the janitor’s office at the church. The room was very dark with dim moonlight coming in from one window. There were no video cameras or recording equipment. Jeremiah had made all of that up hoping to lure out the real killer by making them think they had only a few hours to destroy evidence of their crime.
It was nearly midnight and they had been locked away in the office since before the church had closed up for the evening. Their cars were parked well down the street and not that far away other officers waited to close in on whoever showed up.
A few minutes later Jeremiah heard something. He turned and looked at Liam who nodded slightly. He’d heard it, too. Several seconds later there was the sound of metal against metal. Whoever was outside was using bolt cutters on the padlock, just like he had anticipated.
There was a clanging sound as the padlock fell off. Then the door swung open.
“Freeze, police!” Liam barked as he clicked on his intense high-powered flashlight. Caught in its beam Geoffrey struggled to cover his eyes.
Jeremiah heard the sound of running steps and moments later an officer was handcuffing Geoffrey. He had in his possession the bolt cutters, spray paint, a can of gasoline and some matches.
“Planning a little graffiti and arson to cover up your murder?” Liam asked.
“I didn’t want to kill her, she made me!” Geoffrey babbled.
“Marjorie, your lover?” Jeremiah guessed.
“Yes,” Geoffrey sputtered. “That girl had a picture of us kissing. She was going to tell Henry. It would have ruined all of us.”
“No, not all of you, just you and Marjorie,” Liam said.
“Marjorie said we had to stop her from talking, but she didn’t want money! She wanted us to come clean with Henry.”
“What did you do with her phone and the murder weapon?” Jeremiah asked.
“I threw them in the dumpster behind the hotel as soon as I got there. I - I didn’t want to kill her,” he broke down and began to sob.
“Take him to the station,” Liam told two of the officers. He pointed to the two others present, “Go find that phone.”
Liam took a deep breath and turned to Jeremiah after the others had left. “Thank you for your help, truly.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Get some sleep. In the morning I’ll need you to come in and make a statement,” Liam said.
“Of course,” Jeremiah said with a nod.
“Better make that late morning so that we both have a chance to get some sleep.”
“Whatever you say.”
“I’m off to go arrest Marjorie White for accessory to murder.”
Jeremiah wanted to go home. He wanted to get some sleep. He thought about Henry White’s face, though, and his promise to give him information when he had it.
“I’ll go with you,” he said.
Liam looked at him in surprise.
“Henry’s been betrayed by the two people closest to him. He’s going to need some triage counseling tonight.”
“That’s nice of you,” Liam said.
“Don’t mention it. Please.”
They drove over separately, but went up to the top floor together. Liam knocked on the door and a minute later Henry opened it, eyes groggy.
“May we come in?” Liam asked.
Henry nodded and stepped back. He tied his robe tighter around his waist and closed the door behind them. He looked at Jeremiah and hope flared for a moment in his eyes.
“Did you find out what happened to her?” he asked.
“We did,” Jeremiah said.
“Who is it?” Marjorie asked, entering the room. She, too, was wearing a bathrobe.
“It’s the detective and Jeremiah,” Henry said.
Marjorie stopped short and Jeremiah saw terror flash across her face. Liam stepped forward, handcuffs out.
“Marjorie White, I’m placing you under arrest for aiding in the murder of Lydia-”
The rest of his words were drowned out by her scream of rage.
“It was Geoffrey; he killed her. Not me!”
“We know. He also told us of your involvement,” Liam said as he handcuffed her. He began to read Marjorie her rights as Henry turned bewildered eyes on Jeremiah.
“What’s going on?”
Jeremiah put a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Geoffrey and your wife were having an affair,” he said quietly. “Lydia took a picture of them kissing. She wanted them to come clean, tell you everything. They refused.”
Henry stared at him, mouth gaping. At last he turned toward his wife. “That’s why she died? You killed her because you were cheating on me and you were afraid I’d find out?”
“Henry, please, think about what it would have done to your campaign, your entire career. We couldn’t let one little groupie ruin everything.”
He held up a shaking hand. “She didn’t ruin anything. That was all you, Marjorie.”
Five minutes later Liam was walking Marjorie outside. Jeremiah watched from the balcony until he had put her in the back of his car and driven away. Then he turned to Henry who had sat down on the couch.
He went and sat in the chair near him and leaned forward. “I’m terribly sorry, Henry. I know this has to be hard for you.”
“You can’t even begin to imagine,” Henry said, face ashen. “She really helped kill that poor girl?”
“Geoffrey said she was the one that pushed him to do it.”
“You think you know somebody... It turns out, I didn’t know her at all.”
“People make mistakes. They do stupid things to cover up those mistakes just making the problem that much worse.”
“Don’t try to excuse what she did.”
“I’m not,” Jeremiah said. “I’m just saying that I’m sure the woman you married wasn’t capable of doing this. Somewhere along the way, though, she changed.”
“I don’t believe people change. Not really, not their core personality. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but the truth is this really is all my fault. I chose a wife who was capable of murder. I chose her and then I gave her a taste of power. As soon as something threatened to take it away, she did as her nature dictated. Had I made better choices Lydia might still be alive.”
“Maybe, but you can’t know that for certain. All you can do is live such that her sacrifice means something.”
Henry nodded. “You’re right, of course, thank you.”
Jeremiah nodded. The man was in pain and deep, deep shock. He was more lucid than many would have been, but he suspected that trying to reason his way through it and shoulder blame were part of Henry’s coping mechanism.
Jeremiah called Christopher who came over. He was grief-stricken, but he struggled to keep himself together to try and take care of his boss. Jeremiah finally left as the dawn was breaking and drove home to get some sleep.
He slept very fitfully and rose a couple of hours later and headed straight for the police station.
“You look terrible,” Liam noted.
“Thanks,” Jeremiah grunted as he sat down at Liam’s desk. “Let’s get this over with so I can put this all behind me.”
An hour later he was leaving the police station. In the parking lot he ran into Christopher.
“How’s Henry doing?” he asked.
Christopher shook his head. “Not good, but a heck of a lot better than I would be if I were in his shoes. He’s decided to continue his bid for governor, though,
which I consider a victory. The state needs him.”
“He seems like a good man,” Jeremiah said.
“He is. And now he’s taking this whole idea of walking through the valley even more personally. The state’s in trouble and trouble is something he understands intimately, especially now. He’s going to pour his own pain and anguish into his efforts to help save the state.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“No. I think it will be the salvation of him. Maybe even of the state.” Christopher shook his head. “I’ve got to go in and talk to the detective then I can go home and get some rest. When the story breaks later today we’re going to all need to be on our game.”
“Good luck,” Jeremiah said.
“Thank you, really,” Christopher answered as he shook Jeremiah’s hand. “I owe you. The state owes you.”
“Don’t mention it,” Jeremiah said.
“I’m sorry I’m not going to get a chance to say goodbye to Cindy, but we have to get back on the campaign trail.” Christopher hesitated then continued. “About her, is she seeing someone?”
“Cindy is spoken for,” Jeremiah growled.
Christopher took a quick step back and raised his hands. “Sorry, I didn’t know,” he said hastily.
“Now you do,” Jeremiah said.
Cindy tossed and turned all night. It had been nice to catch up with Hank over their early dinner, but the man was as much of an enigma as he had been months earlier. At least she could finally put to rest her nagging doubts about Bunni, though. He had been with her filming when Kyle and Lisa were attacked. They had heard the news together and her shock and horror had been one of the driving forces that got them in the car and driving to Vegas.
After dinner Cindy had tried to visit Lisa only to find that the other woman was asleep. She had returned to keep watch with her parents before finally turning in for the night.
Walk Through the Valley Page 14
