by Cindi Myers
“Maybe.” Rogers rubbed his jaw, stubble rasping against his palm. Like Ana, he had had only a couple of hours of sleep in the past two days, and his eyes looked sunken in his handsome face. “Probably. He had his mother’s key and pass to get in. She had worked there for years, so he probably knew his way around.”
“But who poisoned the medication?” Ana asked. “Was it really Lydia and Angela?”
“Is that what he’s saying?” Simonson asked. “That he killed those women because they poisoned his mother?”
“We’ll take a closer look at them, but nothing in the backgrounds of any of the Stroud employees points to a motive for the poisonings,” Rogers said. “Both Angela and Lydia had worked for Stroud for years, with good reports. They didn’t have so much as a traffic ticket on their records.”
“He asked us if they put the poison in the Stomach Soothers,” Ana said. “As if he wanted us to confirm what he thought.” She frowned. “Though really, he sounded unsure. And he kept insisting he didn’t kill anyone.”
“The bombs he made killed them,” Rogers said. “That makes him a murderer.”
“You and I know that, but maybe Leo wasn’t clear on that,” she said. “Maybe he made the bombs for someone else to use. Or he thought they would be used for some other purpose.” The more she considered Leo’s words and reactions, the more this idea fit.
Her phone rang. She checked the display. “It’s Maynard,” she said. “I’d better take it.”
She moved down the hall, leaving Rogers with the police chief. “Hey Hendrick,” she answered the call from the team’s technology expert. “What have you got for me?”
“I’ve been through all the video you sent from Stroud Pharmaceuticals’ security cameras. All of it,” he emphasized. “Three weeks’ worth of footage, inside and out.”
“And?” She pressed the phone more tightly to her ear.
“There were hundreds of people going in and out of that place, but all of them were either employees, vendors, or family members of employees. My team was able to identify every single person on those feeds.”
“Great job.” She tried to put more enthusiasm into her voice than she felt. “Anything significant?”
“The only thing significant is who isn’t there,” Hendrick said.
Her stomach churned. “Who isn’t there?”
“Leo Elgin isn’t there. Not inside the buildings. Not outside the buildings. We’ve got good footage of the areas around both bombing sites and Leo was never there.”
Rogers joined her. She met his questioning gaze and shook her head. “Thanks, Hendrick,” she said, and ended the call.
“Leo Elgin isn’t in any of the security footage from Stroud,” she said. “He may have made those two bombs, but he didn’t plant them.”
“So he has an accomplice who works for Stroud?” Rogers asked.
“He must have. But who?”
“There’s only a couple of people we know he’s met with since he got back in town,” Rogers said. “Let’s get Parker Stroud in here and talk to him.”
Chapter Eleven
At work Wednesday, Parker, still sporting a few bruises but otherwise seemingly unhurt, asked Laura for more reports. “Why are you looking at everything from the first quarter?” she asked when she delivered the first batch to his desk.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m working on a new design that will make us even more efficient and productive.”
“I heard there might be another bomb,” she said. “Do you think that’s true?”
His eyes narrowed. “Who told you that?”
She shrugged. “I just heard some people talk.”
“Haven’t you heard talk is cheap?”
“But do you think there could be another bomb?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“But why?”
“Because someone is out to destroy this business and my family.” She heard no anger behind his words, only bleak resignation. “Now get out of here and leave me to work in peace.”
She left and remained at her desk the rest of the morning, having finally hacked into Stroud Pharmaceuticals’ financial records for the past two quarters. On the surface the reports were competent, but the deeper she dug, the messier things got. Was Virginia Elgin that incompetent, or had someone conveniently deleted chunks of data from the files?
Parker wasn’t at his desk when Ramirez and Rogers arrived after lunch and asked to speak to him. “He stepped away half an hour ago,” Laura said. “He didn’t tell me where he was going.”
“Any idea where we should look?” Rogers asked.
“Let me see if I can find him,” she said, and hurried away. Better she should go roaming through the plant than two known federal agents, who would raise alarms and have everyone competing to come up with ever-wilder explanations for their presence.
When the coffee room and his mother’s office showed no signs of Parker, she headed for the factory floor and found him with Jace, of all people, discussing a malfunction with the fill machine. Jace gave her a warm smile. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said.
She ignored him and focused on Parker. “There are two FBI agents here who want to talk to you,” she said.
He masked his alarm so quickly she might not have noticed if she hadn’t been watching for it. “Tell them I’m unavailable,” he said.
“I can’t do that,” she protested. “They’re the FBI.”
“And I don’t have time to talk to them. Tell them you couldn’t find me. You don’t know where I am.” He turned to Jace. “That goes for you, too,” he said.
“Yes, sir.” Jace met Laura’s gaze, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Yes, sir,” she said, and turned away.
Back at the office, she found Ramirez and Rogers still standing. “He’s on the factory floor,” she said. “Packaging. But my guess is he’ll be headed for the parking lot soon. If you hurry, you can catch him.”
Ten minutes later, Ramirez and Rogers followed Parker back into the office. He headed for his private sanctum without a glance in Laura’s direction. Ramirez nodded at her and followed Parker and Rogers, but she left the door open a scant half inch.
Laura moved to the door. “Why were you running away from us?” Rogers asked.
“I wasn’t running,” Parker said. “I had an appointment to meet our regional sales manager. If you want to speak with me, you can schedule a meeting with my secretary.”
“This can’t wait,” Rogers said. “We want to talk to you about your relationship with Leo Elgin.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Parker’s voice was forceful and sure. He was a good bluffer. But not good enough.
“You know Leo Elgin,” Ramirez said.
“Yes.” Parker’s chair creaked. “His mother worked for us before her tragic death. And Leo and I went to the same high school.”
“The two of you are friends,” Ramirez said.
“We’re acquaintances. And what difference does that make, anyway? I know a lot of people.”
“Leo Elgin was arrested early this morning, and charged with manufacturing the explosive devices that killed Lydia Green and Angela Dupree,” Rogers said.
Silence, then Ramirez’s voice. “Mr. Stroud? Are you all right?”
When Parker finally spoke, his voice had lost all its energy and defiance. “Leo planted those bombs here? But why?”
“Why don’t you take a moment to pull yourself together,” Ramirez said. She moved to the doorway. “Mr. Stroud needs some water,” she said.
Laura filled a paper cup from a dispenser across the room and brought it to her. “What happened?” she asked, her voice low.
“The news of Leo’s arrest clearly shocked him,” Ramirez said. “I thought he was going to pass out.”
She
moved into Parker’s office once more, still leaving the door ajar. “Mr. Stroud, how well did you know Ms. Green and Ms. Dupree?” Rogers asked.
“They were family friends as well as employees, but my mother knows—knew—both of them better than I did.” Parker paused, perhaps to sip water, then added, “I’m still upset about their deaths. Such a waste.”
“Do you know of any reason either woman might have wanted to sabotage the Stomach Soothers?” Rogers asked. “Could they have put the poison in the tablets?”
“Angela and Lydia?”
“One or both of them,” Ramirez said.
“No! Why would they? They were good women. Lydia taught Sunday school. Angela and my mother were best friends. Besides all that, neither of them came near the factory operations. I don’t see when or how they could have introduced the poison into the tablets.” Another pause. “Are you suggesting Leo planted the bombs to kill those women because he believed they were responsible for Gini’s death?”
“We’re exploring a number of possible motives,” Rogers said. “Right now, we want to know more about your dealings with Leo Elgin.”
“I didn’t have any dealings with Leo.”
“We have witnesses who have seen you together on at least two occasions recently,” Rogers said.
Parker’s voice remained calm. Reasonable. “We’ve run into each other a couple of times since he returned to town and I’ve offered my condolences, that’s all.”
“What about the money you gave him?” Rogers asked.
“What money?” Parker’s voice was sharp, with a hint of outrage.
“The money you had your girlfriend, Merry Winger, deliver to Leo last Saturday,” Rogers said. “The day of Gini Elgin’s memorial service. Ms. Winger says you asked her to leave the service, drive to the Elgin home, and give an envelope of money to Leo Elgin.”
“My family wanted to contribute to the funeral costs. Leo was too proud to take the money when I originally offered it, but I thought if Merry delivered it he would accept it, and I was right.”
“You were already paying for the catering for the reception after the service,” Ramirez said.
“Yes, but we wanted to do more,” Parker said. “Gini was a beloved, long-time employee of Stroud Pharmaceuticals and while we didn’t cause her death, we feel terrible that one of our products was the instrument of her demise.”
The instrument of her demise? Really? Laura wondered if he had practiced delivering that line.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
She turned to find Merry in the doorway. “Two FBI agents are in there questioning Parker,” Laura said, keeping her voice low.
Merry’s eyes widened and she hurried to join Laura by Parker’s door. “What does the FBI want with Parker?” she whispered.
Laura led her back to the desk. “They asked about the money you delivered to Leo Elgin the day of the funeral,” she said.
Merry scowled. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Why did you leave Gini’s funeral to deliver that money to Leo?” Laura asked.
“Parker asked me to do it.” She dropped into the chair in front of the desk. “He begged me to do it, really. Finally, he agreed to buy me a pair of diamond earrings if I would do it for him.” She fingered the glittering earrings at her lobes.
Laura leaned back against the front of the desk. “But why did he want you to go to Leo’s during the funeral?” she asked.
“He said he didn’t want to embarrass Leo.” She looked toward the office door. “What did Parker say when the feds asked him about the envelope?”
“He said the money was to help pay for Gini’s funeral.”
Merry raised her hands, clearly exasperated. “Why couldn’t Parker tell me that? He just said to give the envelope to Leo and not to ask more questions. He didn’t even tell me it was full of money—to find that out, I had to peek.”
“What did you think when you saw the money?” Laura asked.
“I was worried Parker was buying drugs off Leo or something.”
“How much money was it?”
“A lot. There was a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills.”
Laura crossed her arms over her chest. “Would a funeral cost that much?”
“I don’t know. I never had to pay for one. But I’ve always heard how expensive they are.”
“Do you think Parker is doing drugs?” Laura asked.
“Well, no,” Merry said. “I mean, when we go out he hardly ever has more than one beer. He doesn’t smoke, either.” She smiled. “It’s one of the things I like about him. He doesn’t really have any bad habits. If you ask him, he’ll say his only vice is that he works too hard.”
Laura hadn’t seen much evidence of that, considering how often her boss came in late or left early. “Why would Parker give Leo money for his mother’s funeral?” she asked.
“Because he felt terrible about Gini’s death. He really did. I was with him when he got the news that she died. He went paper white and I thought he might pass out. He kept saying ‘no, no, no.’ I didn’t know he was that close to Gini, but she had worked here a long time, so I guess he thought of her like an aunt.”
Or maybe Parker had paid Leo to keep quiet about something. Or to stop publicly blaming Stroud Pharmaceuticals for his mother’s death. The bad publicity surrounding the poisonings had hurt the business and though there were signs of things improving, it would take a long time to fully recover from this. Paying for the funeral might be an acceptable way to buy Leo’s silence and cooperation.
The door to Parker’s office opened and Parker, Ramirez and Rogers emerged. “If you think of anything else that might help us in our investigation, please call,” Ramirez said.
Parker said nothing, and when Rogers and Ramirez were gone, Merry rushed to his side. “What did they want?” she asked.
“They’ve arrested Leo in connection with the two bombings here at the plant,” Parker said. He looked older, the lines around his eyes and mouth deeper, his skin tinged with an unhealthy pallor.
“Leo planted those bombs!” Merry’s voice rose. “Leo, who wouldn’t say boo to a fly?”
“They think he was working with someone here at the plant,” Parker said. “Someone who helped him gain access.”
“But why?” Merry asked. “I mean, his mother dies, so he’s going to take out two more random people? That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Grief can do strange things to people.” Parker fixed Merry with a chilly gaze. “Can you think of anyone here who might be helping Leo?”
“No! Why are you looking at me that way?” She put a hand to her chest. “I certainly didn’t help him. I think he’s creepy.”
“You just said he was harmless,” Laura said.
“Well, yeah. Harmless, but creepy. As far as I know, he doesn’t even have friends. At least, not here.”
“They asked a lot of questions about the money I gave Leo.” Parker’s expression grew more frigid. “What were you doing, talking to the FBI about me?”
Merry took a step back. “They questioned me. I couldn’t not answer their questions, could I? I mean, they’re the FBI!”
“You should have kept your mouth shut.”
“Parker, I—”
He put a hand on her shoulder and steered her to the door. “You need to go now.” He opened the door, pushed her into the hallway, then shut the door in her face.
She left and Laura moved back to her desk. “I know you were listening at the door,” Parker said.
“I was curious what they wanted with you.”
“Are those the two who interviewed you and your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Did they ask you if you knew Leo?”
“No.”
“Don’t worry, they probably will. They’re n
ot making any progress in the case, so they’re grasping at straws.” He started out of the office.
“Where are you going?” she asked. When he glared at her, she added, “In case anyone is looking for you.”
“I’m going back to work. You should do the same.”
He had been gone less than a minute when the phone on Laura’s desk rang. “Hello?” she answered.
“I just saw Ramirez and Rogers leave,” Jace said. “What happened up there?”
“They questioned Parker.”
“And?”
She glanced toward the open door and lowered her voice. “Apparently, the envelope Merry delivered to Leo the day of his mother’s funeral was full of hundred-dollar bills, from Parker.”
Jace whistled. “What was the money for?”
“Parker says it was to pay for Gini’s funeral. He had Merry deliver it during the service to avoid embarrassing Leo.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t know. What does Leo say about what happened?”
“Leo isn’t talking.”
“Maybe we should make a deal with him—the name of his partner for a lighter sentence or reduction of charges.”
“He’s responsible for the deaths of two people.” Jace sounded outraged. “And we caught him red-handed with the bomb-making materials. We’re not going to make any deals with him.”
“Maybe we should. In case there’s another bomb.”
“He’s not going to be making any more bombs in prison,” Jace said.
“There was a lot of material in that root cellar,” Laura said. “Enough for a dozen more bombs. What if he made more than two to begin with? What if there’s another one out there, ready to go off any minute now?”
Chapter Twelve
“We’re not getting anywhere with Elgin.” Rogers’s frustration threaded his voice. “He’s scared, and we’re trying to use that to get him to cooperate, but so far he hasn’t given us anything.”
Jace tucked the phone under his chin and began turning the burgers that sizzled on the grill in the shade of the catalpa tree behind the trailer. “Did you get anything out of Parker Stroud this morning?”
