“No,” Paul said. “It really doesn’t.”
She just gave him a blank stare.
“Is he a good husband?” Paul asked.
“No. I hate him.”
“Why?” Paul asked.
“He used to hit me. Now he just ignores me. That’s better, I guess.”
“You want to leave?” Paul asked.
“No. I like my house and, like I said, he doesn’t hit me anymore. I do wish he was still a lawyer, though. He used to spend all his time in Boston. Now he’s here all the time.”
“Does your husband own a gun?”
“Not that I know of,”
“Did you know that a young actress named Claire Spencer was killed a couple of weeks ago?”
“Yes.”
“Was there blood on your husband’s clothing around that time.”
“No. I didn’t see any, but he does his own laundry. Says that I don’t do it right.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Blackett.”
“Will he get bail?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” Paul said.
“James got him a good lawyer.”
“Why didn’t he use somebody from his firm?” Paul asked.
“To know him is to hate him.”
Before they left, Paul had another brief word with the lead tech of the forensics team, and then they headed back to Boston.
Driving back, Ed asked, “Did forensics find anything?”
“No, not so far, but they’re still working on it.”
******
That afternoon, Faith was spending some quality time with her cousin at Finley’s. She watched as he oversaw every aspect of the place from supervising the cleaning crew to inspecting the of food upon delivery. Finally, when he was reasonably pleased with the state of the place, they sat down table number one. It was a place they could talk freely without being overheard which pleased Faith. She hated having to edit her conversation which was often the case when anything relating to being Buidseach came up. Today, however, she had a question of a more personal nature.
“There’s something that I wanted to ask you all last summer,” Faith said.
“You can ask me anything,” Finn said. “What is it?”
“You seem to have everything. You’re handsome, rich, all of us love you to death, but …”
“What about relationships?” Finn asked.
“Except for when you were a teenager, I’ve never seen you with anyone.”
“There’s someone.”
Faith’s eyes twinkled as she asked, “And?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Oh no. You’re not getting away with ‘It’s complicated.’ You said that I could ask you anything, so give it up.”
“If I tell you, I have to tell the rest of them, and that’s just too much for me.”
“We won’t judge. For me, I don’t care if it’s a sheep in Padraig’s pasture. I just want you to be happy.”
“You’re okay with Lambie and me? God, that’s a relief. Well, there you are then,” Finn said.
Laughing, Faith said, “This subject is not closed.”
“That’s fine with me, but it’s closed for now because the dinner rush will be starting in about an hour.”
“All right, I’m heading home,” Faith said and made the short trip to her condo.
The lingering feeling of danger, as well as coming to terms with life as a seer was weighing heavily on her, and Faith decided that a good remedy would be a visit to her mother in South America. The distance of the trip she was about to take did not intimidate her because Faith had finally accepted that this was not a physical act, but an act of magic facilitated by the Divine.
“Hi mom,” Faith said, standing before a very startled parent.
“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Hope Ferguson said. “You are a Fáidh. And I can communicate with people from a distance.”
“Not this far,” Faith said.
“No, only a few miles, really.”
“Yup, I can pop in and out from the other realm, at will. And I can travel anywhere on Earth or just listen in.”
“Well, this is lovely,” Hope said. “Fill me in on what’s going on at home. I can tell that you’re uneasy.”
“I just don’t know what it is. I went to see Maggie, and I got a bad feeling but what could she do?”
Maggie was a sore spot for Hope.
“She nearly killed you … Did you read her?”
“You just can’t run around invading people’s brain,” Faith said.
“She’s not people. She kidnapped and tortured you.”
“Well, she’s in a mental institution so no matter what her intent, I don’t think she’s much of a threat.”
Hope was angry. “You say you’re worried. You feel danger, but you won’t protect yourself. This is déjá vu.”
“Mom. I was cavalier last year, and I wasn’t in control of my powers. I’m taking this seriously now, and as I stand here talking to you from thousands of miles away. I don’t think you can say that I’m continuing to deny my powers.”
“I’m sorry, honey. It’s just that we almost lost you.”
“But I’m fine. Besides, I really didn’t get imminent danger from her. I think something else is up.”
“We should come home,” Hope said.
“I’ve got a demi-God staying with me. Think you can beat that?”
Hope’s mood lightened, and she laughed.
The two spent the afternoon catching up on things both important and trivial.
“Faith,” her mother suddenly asked, “Are you safe while all this is going on?”
“I am. I’ve only done this from my condo, and that place is a fortress. And today, since I wanted to spend some real time with you, I asked Beth to come over. She’s standing guard. Actually, I suspect that she’s dozed off, but …”
“Yes, I pity anyone who would challenge our Elspeth.”
“Give dad my love,” Faith said. “Wish I could hug you.”
“Me too, but this was wonderful. Drop by again soon, dear.”
“I will.”
Faith was immediately back in her body, and as she expected, found her friend, sound asleep next to her on her well-worn couch.
“What kind of protector are you?” Faith asked as she nudged her friend awake.
Beth gave her a sleepy grin and closed her eyes.
“Not waking up?”
Her friend offered no response other than to reposition her pillow.
Chapter Fourteen
Handing Paul his morning coffee, Ed said, “I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m sure that Blackett shot Bella. But did we jump the gun with the arrest?”
“We were trying to keep Bella safe.”
“We need to find that car.”
“What are you doing?” Paul asked.
“Looking up cars registered to Ethan Blackett. He only has the blue Honda Civic that we saw.”
“What about his wife?”
“Same. The red hatchback.”
“I’m going to try the partial, but DRA isn’t much.”
“It’s a vanity. That should pare it down.”
“I’ll try it.
It took a while, but a search of the RMV database revealed a troubling outcome. “They found it. A Gray KIA Sedona, DRAMA9, but you’re not going to believe it. It belongs to Ron Gould,” Ed said.
“Ron Gould shot Bella?” With an unusual show of frustration, Paul got up, shoved his chair into his desk and said, “Let’s go have a talk with Mr. Gould.”
“Well,” Ed said, “the play is kaput, so we’ll have to go to Shrewsbury and see if we can find him,” Ed said.
“Let’s go.”
“You want to call him? He might not even be home,” Ed said.
“Let’s take the drive. I don’t want to alert him, and it’ll clear our heads,” Ed said.
Their field trip brought them to an impressive but traditional new England two-story home, and they saw Ron s
itting on his side porch. They also saw a gray minivan in his driveway with the license plate DRAMA9. This was no longer a casual visit. His vehicle had likely been involved in a felony, and they were ready for anything, including armed resistance.
“Detectives,” Ron said, then with a little dark humor, “let’s see, who was left? Oh, yes, did poor Susan Kadavy get shot?”
“We’re here about Bella’s shooting,” Ed said.
They could see that Ron was wearing a tee shirt, jeans, and sneakers with no socks, making it highly unlikely that he could be hiding a weapon.
“Your car was identified as being at the crime scene,” Ed said.
“That’s impossible.”
“Where were you when she was shot?” Ed asked.
“That was on Monday, wasn’t it?”
Ed nodded.
“Well, I was in jail that morning. When I got out, I took a cab to the theatre for a meeting at noon, and then my wife picked me up. We drove to Wellesley for a recital at my daughter’s school.”
“Wellesley?”
“It’s a commuting nightmare, but it’s a good private school, and she loves it.”
“Did you take this car?”
“No, my wife’s. It’s a white Ford Fiesta. I didn’t pick up my car until the next day.”
Ron’s face suddenly froze.
“What?”
“Well he’s an asshole, but – I don’t know. Why would he shoot Bella?”
“Who? Who are you talking about?” Ed asked.
“Ethan Blackett has the other key for my car. I hadn’t had a chance to get it back from him yet. Do you think there’s CCTV on that lot?”
“Possibly,” Paul said. “Why’d he have your key?”
“We had some off-site cast meetings, and his car was too small to load them all into. He took my car, and I drove my wife’s. I let him keep the key in case he needed to pick up costumes and stuff. But why would he do it?”
“There’s a possible motive,” Paul said.
“We’re going to need you to come back with us to make a statement, and forensics will have to go over your car,” Paul said.
“Before we go, I want to have a quick look,” Ed said.
He ran back to their vehicle, grabbed some gloves, opened the unlocked door, and looked around the floor.
“We know he was in there so what are you looking for?” Ron asked.
Ed was just looking to see if there was anything suspicious, like a gun or a knife. He checked the glove compartment as well as around all the seats and tailgate area. There was nothing unusual to be seen. Then he pushed the front seats back, and what he saw stopped him cold. In answer to Ron’s question, holding up a bullet in his hand, Ed said, “This could be useful.”
“You own a gun?” Paul asked Ron.
Ron shook his head.
“We’re going to send forensics out to go through your car and your house.”
“Is it okay if I let my wife know? I don’t want her to come home and think I’ve been killed or something.”
After Ron made his call, they cuffed him, and Ron asked, “Is this necessary?”
“Until we sort this out,” Ed said, “it is.”
******
Ron Gould did not request a lawyer. He didn’t think that he needed one and just wanted to go home. He’d have to wait, however, as the detectives dropped him off, and went back to the theatre to see if there were any cameras on the rear lot. Finding the entrance, they pulled in and didn’t see any that were immediately evident. Walking to the front of the building they found the doors locked.
“I have the manager’s number, I’ll call him,” Ed said. After making the call, Ed said, “No CCTV.”
“But look over there,” Paul said. There’s a camera pointed directly at the driveway.
“They ran into the storefront and asked if they could see the footage from four days ago. The manager was more than willing, telling them that his camera is fixed on that driveway because his people use the lot, as well.
“We need to look at the footage from noon on,” Paul said. They played the tape, and the first thing they saw was Ron exit the theatre through the front door, get into his wife’s car and drive off.
“Okay, that’s a start,” Ed said.
They continued watching, and not long afterward they saw Ethan’s car pull into the lot, and Ron’s car leave. “There, there it is,” Paul said. “But we’re on the passenger side, so we can’t see the driver. They fast forwarded as much as they could, finally spotting the car’s return.
“The windows are so damn dark,” Ed said.
“Maybe the techs can get us something.”
“Maybe, but, look, there’s Ethan’s car leaving,” Ed said.
They kept watching the footage looking to see if Ron returned. He did not, and upon their request, the agreeable shop owner gave them the footage, and they made a hasty return to District Four.
The detectives joined Ron in an interrogation room choosing for at least a moment, not to share the exculpatory news.
“Do I need to get my lawyer over here?”
“No,” Ed said. “We’re going to let you go, for now. Don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
******
They were just about to leave for the day when Paul watched as his partner took a call. Ed mouthed the words ‘crime lab unit’ to Paul and then put the tech on speaker.
“We found a print on your casing.”
“Really,” Ed said. “Is it in the system?”
“It’s Ronald Gould.”
“Was it a match for the Moore case?” Ed asked.
“Yes. It’s a ballistics match for Creighton and Moore.”
Ed ended the call, looked at his partner and said, “Could it have been Gould?”
“He didn’t shoot Creighton,” Paul said. “And we just watched him leave in his wife’s car and not come back.”
“Maybe they’re in it together.”
“Why would they work together? They hate each other. Ethan has a motive to shoot Bella. She saw him with Creighton’s body, and he’s been to visit Maggie.”
“I don’t know, but Gould could also have had a motive for Maggie’s niece,” Ed said.
“What about Maggie’s motive?
“I know. Could Bella have been lying?” Ed asked.
“I doubt it. It’s possible that she could be mistaken, but Bella definitely thinks that Blackett killed Creighton.
“She didn’t see him kill her,” Ed said.
“But she said that Blackett had been harassing her about the gun. Ron Gould has no motive to shoot Bella. And why would a spent bullet be under the seat of Gould’s car?”
As Ed’s cell phone rang, he said, “Oh, it’s my friend over at the court.” After a brief conversation, Ed said, “Christ, Blackett got bail.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“It’s a murder case,” Ed said.
“Upstanding attorney, single witness, and don’t forget his ...”
“Brother’s the president Myles University, the largest employer in the city,” Ed said finishing his sentence.
Paul leaned over to Ed’s desk and whispered, “Sure about not using your…?”
“Yes, I’m sure, and don’t be talking about that,” Ed said.
“Okay. We need to talk to Bella again. Let’s do that now.”
******
When they arrived at the hospital, they found Bella’s roommate, the ever-cheery Susan Kadavy, taking care of Bella, who was, propped up with pillows, watching TV.
“She looks good, doesn’t she,” Susan said.
“You do look much better,” Paul said.
“I feel better. I’m still on pain medication but not the scary stuff. Sit down, please.”
“Are you going to be okay if I go get dinner?” Susan asked.
“I am. My parents are on the way over.”
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Susan said, grabbed her backpack, and
headed out the door.
“What’s up?” Bella asked.
“What’s your relationship with Ron Gould?” Ed asked.
“I think I told you that nobody liked him, including me, but other than his telling me I got the job, and some stage direction, I don’t think we had a single conversation, why?”
“His prints came back on the bullet casing that we found.”
Bella looked at Ed and for the first time sounded angry.
“That’s not true. Why would Ron Gould shoot me? It’s Blackett. He’s a rapist and a murderer. You have to be wrong about the prints. Someone must have mixed up the cases or something.”
“I know you’re upset,” Paul said.
Before he could continue, Bella said, “Wasn’t Ron Gould in jail when I was shot?”
“He got bail and was released around noon. You were shot at around five.”
“I just don’t want to see that pig get off again. You don’t know how many kids he hurt.”
“We’ve seen the file,” Ed said.
“Oh, then you get it.”
“We do. On the bright side,” Paul said, “the DA isn’t going to charge you with failing to report. So, you’re in the clear.”
“Oh,” Bella said, tearing up and quickly grabbing a tissue to wipe her nose. “That’s really good news. I’d be heartbroken if I couldn’t be a nurse. And I really don’t think they take people with a criminal record.”
“You were a minor, so you might have been all right, anyway,” Paul said.
“But am I safe?”
“That’s a good point,” Ed said. “Blackett’s out on bail and without the forensic evidence, you’re the whole case.”
“We’ll put an officer back on your door,” Paul said. “But you’re positive that Ron wouldn’t have any reason to hurt you.”
“I am. And I’d have to ask my lawyer, but if she said it was okay, I’d take a lie detector test.”
“We’ll think about that if we need to. For now, we’ll see what we can do to figure this out,” Paul said.
As they waited in the hallway for Bella’s protection to arrive, Paul said, “I hate to sound old, but those are two cute kids.”
The Power of Faith: Science Fiction Faith Ferguson Series Book 3 Page 21
