A Witness in Disguise (Sarah Woods Mystery Book 10) (6 page)

             
Chapter 9

“It looks like she’s home.” Carter pointed to the woman sitting on a rickety lawn chair with prematurely wrinkled, leathery skin.  Her shoulder length hair had obviously been bleached too many times and looked dry and brittle in the late afternoon sun.  She had her head tilted back, eyes closed, probably trying to get even more UV damage, not that she could afford any more.  She was probably in her late twenties, but looked much older.

Carter and I exited the Buick
.  At the sound of the doors opening and closing, the woman opened her eyes and regarded us with mild interest as we approached.

“Ms
. Taylor?” Carter said to her. 

She sat up straight, shielding her eyes from the sun
.  “Who wants to know?”

“We’re here to talk about your brother.”

An anxious look flashed across her face.  “Did you find him?”

“We’re not the police,” Carter said
.  “But we would like to speak to you about him.”

The woman didn’
t move from her chair, hands clenched on the arm rest.  “Jesus, you scared me.  I thought you were gonna tell me you found his body.”

“
No,” he said.  “We’re here to talk about his disappearance.  You reported him missing on April 4th, the day after Meagan Hart was abducted.”

“Yeah, I read about her in the paper
.  Figures the media would care more about a pretty young girl than my low-life brother.”

Carter nodded
.  “I’m really sorry about that.  Maybe we can help.  Can we ask you a few questions?”

She shrugged
.  “I suppose.  Pull up a chair if you like.”

Carter unfolded
two chairs for us.  “Would you mind telling us a little about your brother?”

She
blew out a breath.  “Maybe you should tell me what you know first.”

Carter raised his hands as if to apologize for what he was about to say
.  “We’ve been told he’s a drug addict and a male prostitute.”

She scoffed at his words
.  “Drug addict? That’s a nice way of putting it.  As far as the male prostitute thing, well, that isn’t entirely correct.  He gave a few blowjobs in return for drugs, that’s all.  I swear, I never should have told the police that little tidbit.”

Carter winced
.  “Do you know the names of these men who traded sexual favors for drugs?”

“
Just one guy.  Graham never talked about him.  The only reason I knew what he was doing is because he let me in on his plan.  He said he was holding out for a big payday.”

“Could you explain, please?”

“Blackmail.  Graham had taken a video of himself with this one particular guy and planned to release it on the Internet unless, of course, the guy promised to pay up.  I just laughed.  Graham didn’t have the balls to stand up to anyone like that.  He talked a good game but I couldn’t picture him going through with it.  I love my brother but he is about as sharp as a marble.”

Carter and I e
xchanged a glance.  I said to Karen, “Or maybe he did have the balls and that’s why he’s missing.”

She gave me
an eerie look.  “Are you telling me I don’t know my own brother?”

“No,” I said with genuine empathy
.  “But let’s consider the possibility for a minute.  Did you ever find this video that he supposedly made?”

“No
.  I looked through all his things and I never found anything like that.  I figured he probably shot the video from his cell phone.”

“
Your brother must have said something about this guy who gave him the drugs.  Was he married? Was he wealthy? What did he do for a living? Anything like that?”

She made a grunting sound and shook her head
.  “All Graham ever said about him was that he had access to some great prescription meds.  I assumed the guy had plenty of money or else Graham wouldn’t have tried to blackmail him.”

My back stiffened
.  “Prescription meds? So he could have been in the medical field.”

She shrugged
.  “Maybe.  Probably some hot shot.”

A thought occurred to me
.  “Let’s assume for a minute that Graham got up the nerve to blackmail this guy but the guy didn’t want to play ball.  They have an argument that escalates and he threatens to kill your brother unless he leaves town.”

“If Graham left town, he would have gotten in touch with me somehow to let me know he was okay
.  He knew I worried about him.  I mean, sure, he’s gone missing before but only for a few days at a time.  Not three months.”

“Do you still have your brother’s things?” I asked.

“Yeah, I have a box in the shed.  Mostly music CD’s, clothing and other trinkets he held onto from when he was a kid.”

“Do you mind if we take a look at them?”

“Why,” she asked with a look of incredulity.  “What does this have to do with your missing girl?”

“Maybe nothing,” I replied
.  “But since we’re here...”

She pushed herself up and out of the lawn chair, her bare legs sticking to the plastic seat
.  “Follow me.  I’ll show you his things.”

The cardboard box she procured from the tiny shed had water stains and reeked of mildew
.  When I opened the top flaps to look inside, sure enough, the contents were exactly as she described; music CD’s, clothing, some Hot Rod cars and a bong.  “This was all he had?” I asked.

“
Pretty much.  He could not care less about personal possessions.  All he cared about was getting high.  If he needed to use a computer, he used my laptop but he didn’t have much interest in Facebook, or stuff like that.  He hasn’t had a job in years.  Only reason I let him live with me is cuz he’s the only family I have left.”

“After Graham went missing,
” I said.  “Did anyone call you or contact you asking about him?”

She gave it some thought
.  “No, not that I can remember.”

“What about Graham’s friends? Any of them come around asking about him?”

“Friends?” she laughed.  “I was his only friend.  Sometimes he hung around with a group of deadbeats but I wouldn’t call them friends.  One of the guys is named Fishhead.  Don’t ask me why they call him that.”

“
Any idea where Fishhead hangs out?” Carter asked.

“Sorry
.  I have no idea.”

I repacked the box with Graham’s belongings and tucked in the flaps
.  “Thanks for letting us take a look.” I handed her my business card.  “Will you call us if you remember anything else, or if you happen to hear from Graham?”

“
Sure, I guess.”

On the ride back to Bridgeport, I said to Carter, “I can’t imagine what it must be like to have a drug addiction.  I get stressed out just watching the show,
Nurse Jackie.”

Carter looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about
.  “Never heard of that one.  Is it any good?”

“It’s actually quite engrossing, like watching a train wreck
.  This nurse who works in an ER in Manhattan is addicted to pain meds, takes pills several times a day, especially when she’s working.  She tries to keep the secret from her family and friends but it eventually comes out.  She would cheat her own best friend just to get high.”

“Great,” Carter said
.  “Sounds uplifting.”

“Anyway, sounds like Graham might have pissed someone off
.  Blackmail has a way of backfiring.”

“Yeah,” he said
.  “But does it have anything to do with Meagan?”

It was almost six-thirty by the time Carter dropped me off at my apartment.  I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.  I wanted to invite him up but decided I would be poor company so I leaned over and kissed his cheek.  “See you tomorrow okay? I’m gonna hit the hay pretty soon so I’m fresh for tomorrow.”

“Sure,” he said, without a trace of disappointment
.  “I’ll call Mark tonight and give him an update.  I’m sure he’s wondering what we’ve been up to.  Then I’ll keep trying Meagan’s friend, Lizzy Walker.  She hasn’t called me back in almost two days and I’m starting to wonder why.”

“Okay
.  Call me first thing in the morning.”

When I got up to my apartment, I didn’t bother to wash my face or even brush my teeth.  I crawled into bed and conked out.

Chapter 10

The next morning I woke up to a case of bad breath and even worse hair.  I jumped in the shower and stayed there for almost ten minutes.  I brushed my teeth like a madwoman for about the same time.  When I emerged from the bathroom, I felt like a new person.

As I walked into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee, my cell phone rang
.  The caller ID said private but when I answered the call, I knew exactly who the woman was by her southern accent. 

“
You asked me to call you when Maria came to visit Mr. Hart.  Well, she just got here.  She’s in the room with him now.”

“Thank you, Sue
-Ann.  I appreciate the call.  I’m on my way right now.”

I called Carter and
, thankfully, he was already on his way to pick me up.

Since I didn’t have time to blow dry my hair, I made a braid and put on my favorite baseball cap
.  Peeking out the window, I noticed the blazing sun and the temperature.  Only 8:45 and it was already 80 degrees.

I wriggled into a pair of loose fitting jeans, a cotton blouse and rubbed some blush into my cheeks
.  Carter arrived as promised at five minutes to nine.

When I jumped in the car, he grinned at me
.  “You seem chipper.  I guess a good night’s sleep is what you needed.”

“Yup
, nature’s cure to most things evil in the world, like getting drunk from tequila.”

“Well, I’m glad you’ve recovered
.  While you were snoozing away like a baby last night, I stopped at Lizzy Walker’s house.  I know for a fact she was home but she refused to answer the door.  I think it is official; Meagan’s best friend is trying very hard to blow us off.”

“Hm
.  I wonder why.”

We arrived at Holbrook Medical Facility half an hour later. I quickly made my way to George Hart’s room while Carter stayed behind to make more calls. 

When I got to the third floor, I saw Sue-Ann
lingering near a nurse’s station eating a muffin and flipping through a magazine.  I waved to get her attention and she looked up.

“Is Maria still with George?” I asked her, practically out of breath from my power walk from the parking lot.

“No,” she said, pointing to the elevators from where I had just come.  “She just left a few minutes ago.  You probably passed her downstairs in the lobby.”

“Oh shit, thanks,” I waved as I ran back to the elevators
. 

Back in the lobby, I looked around frantically
.  I saw a woman heading toward the exit.  I moved my legs as fast as I could without drawing too much attention to myself.  I called out, “Maria Lopez?”

The woman with dark
hair turned around and saw me coming towards her.  She seemed rather curious at the stranger charging in her direction.  She wore a pair of dark-tinted sunglasses, which made it more difficult to tell her age but I guessed she was in her early thirties.  Her clothing suggested she didn’t like to flaunt the slim figure she had underneath the baggy jeans and shirt.

By the time I caught up to her, I was catching my breath
.  “Maria, I’m sorry to bother you.  My name is Sarah Woods and I’m a private detective.  May I talk to you about George?”

“
What’s this all about?”

I gestured to a sitting area to the left
.  “If you have a moment, shall we sit?”

She didn’t respond right away
but she finally nodded.  “Okay.”

We sat
at one of the couches and I explained to her that I was hired to look into Meagan’s case.  “First of all,” I said.  “What is your relationship to George? Were you his girlfriend?”

Her deadpan expression didn’t change
.  “No.  I used to clean his house.”

She spoke with a slight accent that I couldn’t quite place
.  Spanish, perhaps? “Why do you still go to his house to clean when nobody is living there? The neighbor said that you go there about once a week.  So, why would you do that unless you and George had been very close?”

She paused, and turned away
.  “Because George is a good man.  I pray that one day he will return home.”

I knew there was more to the story but she didn’t seem to trust me
.  “Ms. Lopez, is there anything you can tell me about Meagan’s disappearance?”

She pursed her lips in quiet contemplation, until finally she shook her head
.  “No, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know Meagan that well.”

I wanted to ask her to remove the sunglasses, as it was unnerving having to stare at my own reflection in the mirrored lenses
.  “So, back to George, why do you feel compelled to visit him every week?”

“Because he has no family
.  Now that his daughter is gone, who will take care of his things? I am the only one.”

“I think it’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong, I’m just trying to understand.”

She lifted her chin slightly.  “George helped me out a few times, when I was having money problems.  He is a generous man and now I feel like it’s my turn to stand by him.”

“You are very kind,” I said, “I’m sorry if I sound a little dubious.” I handed her my card.  “I’d really appreciate if you could call me if you think of anything.”

“Sure, I can do that.”

When I got back into the Buick, Carter
had just spoken to the fourth friend of Heather Madison’s.  “She also confirms that Heather was with them all night.  I have no idea if she was lying or not but it doesn’t matter.  Heather has her alibi.”

“Maria Lopez wasn’t much help either
.  Apparently, she was George’s housekeeper, or at least until he injured himself.  I wonder if Meagan let her go once she moved in and took over the bills.”

“Then why is she still going to his house to keep things tidy?” he asked.

“She alluded to the fact that George had helped her out financially in the past.  She feels like she owes him some kind of debt.  She seems to think his condition will improve and he’ll be able to go home, even though I think there’s little chance of that happening.”

Carter wiped some sweat from his neck and let out a sigh
.  “Damn, it’s hot out.  I need to go somewhere and cool off.”

“How about we stop and get some coffee frappes for lunch? My treat.”

“Sounds good to me.”