Debra Burroughs - Paradise Valley 06 - The Harbor of Lies (12 page)

Colin had been an aggressive homicide detective, in one of the largest cities in the world, and had successfully closed most of his cases. This pipsqueak had never even worked one single murder investigation.

The chief waved a dismissive hand. “Now, don’t get all riled up. I was just taken aback a might. I appreciate your help. I was just thinking you were this hard-boiled detective, is all.”

“I am. I was. I saw a lot of horrific crimes in my time on the force there. Eventually, I just needed a change of scenery.” Colin didn’t see the need to go into the story about why he really left, that his previous fiancée had been brutally killed in the line of duty in San Francisco.

“Now that we got that out of the way, what’s our next step, Detective—besides getting a search warrant for the bed and breakfast?” Chief Taylor pushed back from his desk and went to the coat rack.

Colin followed him toward the door. “With the new information we have, we should go and pay another call on Madam Mayor and see what we can shake out of her,” he said, making a motion with his hands as if he was actually shaking her.

Chief Taylor’s eyes widened. “Hey, you can’t be putting your hands on the mayor.”

Colin chuckled. “Figure of speech, Alvin.”

“Oh.” He blushed a little then grabbed his coat off the rack. “I just, well, you know.” He cleared his throat. “We ought to head on over there if we’re going to.”

~*~

After Chief Taylor called his cousin at the courthouse, and put the paperwork in motion to get the search warrant, he and Colin drove to the bed and breakfast again.

“Back so soon?” Mrs. McCormack asked, standing in the doorway. “I hope this means you have a suspect under arrest for Ben’s murder.”

“We have some leads we’re following, Ella. Mind if we come in?” the chief asked.

“Oh, sure, sure.” She stepped back to let them in. “I see you still have your friend helping you.”

The word
friend
was a stretch, but Colin didn’t argue.

The men stepped past her into the grand entry then paused, waiting for her to lead them into the living room.

Ella gestured toward the overstuffed chairs and the men took a seat. “So what’s this about?” She sat on the sofa facing them.

“Just some further questions as we’re digging into this case. You told us that you knew Ben Kinney for quite a few years,” Chief Taylor said.

“That’s right, but I hadn’t seen him for, I don’t know how long. Why do you ask?”

Colin leaned toward her, perching on the edge of his chair. “We find it odd that you pushed so hard to get him hired at the church, if you hadn’t seen him for a long time. How exactly did you know him?”

Her eyes flashed panic, then she regained her composure.

“Well, I had known him since he was a boy. You know how it is, Alvin. They grow up and go off to have their own lives and you hardly hear from them again.” There was something sad in her voice and her gaze fell to the hands folded in her lap. “Then one day, out of the blue…”

Years of interrogations gave Colin a sense about these things—there was something more to the story—so he pushed. “Mrs. McCormack, what are you not telling us?”

“What do you mean? I answered your question.”

“There’s more to it than that. I can tell.”

“Where are my manners?” She rose to her feet and went to the sideboard. “Can I get anyone else a cup of tea?”

“Now, Ella,” Chief Taylor said, “you know we didn’t come
heyah
for tea. If you know something that could help us solve this murder, now’s the time to tell us. We’re going to find out sooner or later. Ben Kinney is dead, Ella. Whatever you tell us can’t hurt him now.”

She spun away from the tea service, tears welling in her eyes. “Of course I know he’s dead,” she cried, almost shouting. “No need to remind me of that, Alvin.” She returned to the sofa, without her cup of tea, and sank down onto the cushions.

“We need to search Ben’s room again,” the chief said.

“Why?” Her eyes were brimming and a tiny line formed between her brows.

Colin glanced around the living room, seeing stacks of CDs lined up on one shelf of a cherry-wood bookcase. “And if we don’t find what we’re looking for there, we’ll need to search the whole house.” Maybe Ben had hidden his incriminating CD in one of those cases.

She drew a deep breath before replying. “I don’t mind you searching Ben’s room again, but you’ll need a warrant before I let you search everywhere else. You’ll shoo my guests away for sure, tearing up my whole house.”

“Last time we were here we found Ben’s driver’s license and passport,” Chief Taylor paused and looked Ella in the eye, “so we know his name wasn’t really Ben Kinney. If you knew him since he was a boy, we’re pretty sure you also knew that wasn’t his real name. Am I right?”

She nodded reluctantly, not saying a word.

“We know he wasn’t really a minister either,” Colin said, “but yet you somehow wrangled him a job at the church. Why?”

She pinched her lips tightly together.

“Come on, Miss Ella. Spill.”

Ella set her gaze on Chief Taylor. A few tears trickled down her cheeks and she wiped them away with her hands. “I can’t.”

Why was she holding back? Did she have something to do with his murder?

“Or won’t.” Colin shot out of his chair. “Mayor or not, you can’t withhold information. Did you have something to do with his death?”

Why else would she be so cagey with her answers?

“Come on, Detective.” The chief motioned for him to sit down.

Colin did as he was asked. “Answer the question.”

“Now, calm down,” the chief continued. “I’m sure Ella wants us to find Ben’s killer. Don’t you?”

“Of course, I do. He was the son of a very dear old friend.”

“Holy cow, Ella. Why didn’t you say so?” the chief asked.

Her old friend’s son? Now it made sense. She had known him since he was a boy. He had grown up and gone off to find his own life. But why wouldn’t she want to help them find his killer?

“I know this looks bad, but he was like a son to me. You have to understand, I didn’t want to say anything because I’m the mayor and I was…harboring a fugitive from the FBI.” She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders quaking as she cried. “He was in trouble—bad trouble—how could I not help him?”

“We understand, Ella,” the chief said sympathetically, “but still…”

“Oh, Alvin, I had to help him.” She turned her attention to Colin. “Wouldn’t you do just about anything to protect someone you love?”

Thinking of Emily and his folks, Colin could relate. He nodded as he sat back down in the chair. “I’m curious though, how did Ben pull off being a minister all these months?”

Ella gave him a weak smile. “He was raised in church. He had years of Sunday school, memorizing scripture verses and hearing Bible stories when he was a kid. He was such a sweet boy. Too bad he changed when he went out on his own, when he moved to the big city. But he’s always been good with people, so it wasn’t hard for him to fake it.”

“Didn’t Pastor Jansen ask for references or anything?” Colin asked.

“He did,” Ella answered with a small nod. “But I insisted he hire Ben, give him a chance at least, and if it didn’t work out after a few of months, he could look for someone else.”

“He hired him on your word alone?” Chief Taylor asked.

“Well, that and…” she bit her bottom lip, “the fact that I told him I would block his request for a building permit to add on to the church if he didn’t do it. I know that was wrong, but I had to do whatever I could. You understand, don’t you, Alvin?”

Chapter 12

Had Miss Ella, and her dear friend, known what crimes Ben had been involved in? That the FBI had offered him witness protection in exchange for his testimony? Had Ben shared with her that he was hiding out from people who wanted him dead?

“What exactly did Ben tell you?” Colin asked.

“That he had gotten himself into a bit of trouble down in New York and he needed to lay low for a while. He didn’t want anyone from his past life knowing where he was or they might put him in jail.”

“Not that someone would kill him if they knew where he was?” Chief Taylor asked.

“Oh, dear God, no,” Ella gasped. “Nothing like that. Why? How much trouble was he in?”

“A lot,” the chief replied. “It’s hard to believe he didn’t tell you all about it.”

“I guess he didn’t want to worry me.” Sadness filled her eyes as she lifted her gaze to the chief. “Do you think that’s what happened, that they found him and killed him?”

“Maybe.”

Colin took another look at the CDs on the bookshelf. “We really need to search your place for any evidence that could help us find whoever might have killed him.” The CD had to be here or at Ben’s office. If someone from New York tracked him to this town, it wouldn’t be long before they figured out where Ben had been living and came looking for it, which could put Ella and her guests in danger too.

“Like I said before,” Ella went on, “I can’t afford to have you scaring away my guests, but if you’re careful and quiet, I guess it couldn’t hurt. Are you looking for something in particular? Maybe I could help.”

“Well, there is a—” the chief began.

Colin cut the chief a sideways glance, interrupting him before he gave everything away. “Yes, there is a chance he might have made some notes. You know, something that could give us some clues.”

“Oh yes.” Chief Taylor cleared his throat. “Notes and stuff. We’ll comb through the main living areas on this floor, and then Ben’s bedroom again, before we disturb any of the guest rooms.”

Ella stood. “I’ll stick around to make sure you don’t drive away any of my folks.”

Colin eyed the stack of CDs again. “I’ll start with this bookcase, if that’s okay with you, Chief.”

He nodded his approval. “If you’ll stand outside of the room, Ella, that’d be a big help.”

She planted herself back on the sofa and crossed her arms. “How about I just wait right here? Then I’ll follow you up to Ben’s bedroom.”

Chief Taylor glared at her as he considered it. “All right, but you stay put.” He moved to the sideboard and went through it, then rummaged through drawers in the side tables, and anywhere else that made sense to look, while Colin opened every one of the CD cases, which could easily have been fifty or sixty.

Colin glanced over his shoulder, finding Ella watching with interest as they rifled through her things.

The whistle of a teakettle sounded from the kitchen. “I almost forgot,” she said, “I put a fresh pot on the stove to boil right before you arrived. Anyone else like a cup of tea?”

Both men shook their heads.

She rose and hurried to the kitchen.

As soon as she was away from the sofa, Colin pulled up the cushions and poked around in the crevices, hoping to find that Ben had hidden the missing CD there and she was covering for him, but there was nothing but crumbs. “Why don’t we search his bedroom?”

Chief Taylor pushed a cabinet drawer shut. “We’ll need to get the key from Ella.”

She appeared in the doorway to the dining room, a steaming cup of tea with matching saucer in her hands. “Someone call my name?”

“We’re headed up to Ben’s room. Can you let us in, please?” Chief Taylor offered a polite smile.

She crossed the room with her tea and headed for the foyer. The men followed her up the stairs and down the hall, anxiously waiting as she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

After they had entered, Ella settled on the edge of the bed, her cup nervously rattling against the saucer. She took a sip and watched as they searched through all of Ben’s belongings again.

“Ella, we need you to stand outside the doorway, please.” Chief Taylor motioned with his hand toward the door. “We have to tear this bed apart.”

“Oh, Alvin, why on earth?” She slowly ran her free hand over the quilted bedspread that looked like a family heirloom.

“Sorry, Ella.”

She stood and set her cup and saucer on the nightstand. “At least let me fold the quilt. I made it myself years ago, and I don’t want to find it in a heap on the floor.”

After she removed it, the men pulled the rest of the bedding off, shook the pillow out of its case, raised the mattress off the box spring and checked between them. Colin got down on the floor and checked under the bed with a small flashlight. Something glinted off the underside of the box spring.

“Help me lift this off, Chief.” Colin pushed the mattress to the side and they raised the box spring again.

Once it was upright, it was clear that there was a slit in the bottom of it. Colin reached inside and felt around, but nothing except a copy of a men’s magazine was in there. If Ben had previously hidden the CD there, it was gone now.

“Are we done
heyah
, Detective?” the chief asked.

Colin nodded, disappointed they hadn’t found what they’d come for. Then, his gaze moved to Ella as she stood in the doorway. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“Let’s put this bed back together,” Chief Taylor ordered.

Colin raised his eyebrows at the chief. “What about the other rooms?”

The chief glanced over at Ella with questioning eyes, as if hoping for her approval without the search warrant.

“Oh, I guess it would be all right, once you’re finished putting that bed back together. My guests are all out of their rooms at the moment, so make it quick before they return. And you can’t leave anything disturbed, or I swear they’ll check out in a New York minute and it’ll be your fault, Alvin.”

Colin and the chief restacked the mattress and box spring, then moved through the other guest rooms quickly but thoroughly, doing as the mayor had asked. They saved her room for last, but their search turned up nothing.

Then Colin had an idea. “Are there any computers in the house?” Maybe Ben left it hidden in the D drive.

“Yes, down in my little office off the kitchen, but what on earth would you want—”

Colin skidded past her and down the stairs, with Chief Taylor not far behind. When he reached the desktop computer, he popped the drive open expectantly. It was empty.

He slammed a fist on the desk. “Damn!” He was so sure he was right.

“Watch your language, young man,” Ella chastised as she stood in the doorway. “If I knew what you were looking for, maybe I could help.”