False Front (4 page)

‘Just what, Mr Eagleton?’

‘Just there.’

‘And what is this young woman’s name?’

‘April,’ Eagleton said.

‘April what?’

‘April Flowers.’

‘What’s her real name, Mr Eagleton?’

‘That’s it.’

‘Really?’

‘Call personnel. They’ll tell you. Her parents were idiots. That is not my fault.’

‘Isn’t that supposed to be “April Showers?”’

‘As I said: her parents are idiots. Now what are you doing to find whoever killed my wife?’

‘We’re doing a lot, Mr Eagleton. This is just part of it. We’ve obtained a search warrant and are going through your home looking for any little bit of forensic evidence. We’ve also gotten search warrants for all the home computers. But most importantly, Mr Eagleton, the autopsy being performed on your wife’s body should tell us if this is a homicide or a suicide. I am most interested in what was under your wife’s fingernails. If you did attack your wife, there is a strong possibility we will find your DNA there. We will know then that you did, in fact, attack your wife.’

Eagleton propped his elbows on the table and rested his forehead in his palms as he sighed. Raising his head, he said, ‘What can I do to get you to stop wasting time on me and go find her killer?’

‘For starters, you can give me an address for April Flowers.’

‘I don’t know her mailing address but she lives in Commonwealth Towers, Apartment 712. You don’t seriously think that little twit had anything to do with my wife’s murder, do you?’

‘Mr Eagleton, do you know what the two most likely scenarios are in this situation?’

‘No, Lieutenant.’

‘The first most common result is that the autopsy report will confirm a suicide—’

‘But, I told you . . .’

Lucinda raised her hands. ‘I know, Mr Eagleton. But something else is very common – probably the vast majority of family members of suicides have at least a short period of time when they deny the possibility. You would not be the first.’

‘OK. OK. What is the other scenario?’

‘That would be you, Mr Eagleton.’

‘Back to that again.’

‘Yes, sir. When a person is murdered in their own home, the most frequent perpetrator is the spouse or significant other.’

‘So there’s nothing I can do?’

‘Yes, there is. You can continue to be cooperative. You can call me if you think of anything that might be significant. And you can wait with some degree of patience until we learn how your wife died.’

‘Meanwhile, whoever killed her just sits out there and gloats.’

‘I have no leads to a possible suspect other than you, at this point, Mr Eagleton, and you have not been able to offer any possibilities except perhaps for your love interest . . .’

‘I do not love that girl.’

‘You said. We will see if her view of the relationship matches yours. I’ll be talking to her – so you see, at this point, you are not the only suspect. Hopefully, the forensic analysis will lead us to others if neither of you are guilty.’

‘How about if I take a lie detector test?’

‘That might be appropriate later on. But not now – not while we still don’t know if we have a homicide or not.’

‘Like I said: nothing I can do until you’re done screwing around.’

‘You can call it what you want, but what we are trying to do is to determine what happened to your wife, Mr Eagleton. I would think that’s what you would want.’

Eagleton rose to his feet. ‘I suppose this means I am not under arrest?’

‘No, sir, you are not.’

‘Good. While you’re spinning your wheels, I’m going to get my own investigation going.’

‘I must warn you not to obstruct our investigation, Mr Eagleton. You’d be best served leaving those matters to us. And please do not inform Miss Flowers that I intend to visit.’

Eagleton walked to the door and turned to face her. ‘You ever hear the expression “you get what you pay for?”’

‘Certainly,’ Lucinda said with a nod.

‘I look at you and what do I see – a one-eyed, scarred woman with a chip on her shoulder paid a government employee salary. No offense, but I am able to hire a private investigator with at least as much experience as you, who earns in a month what you make in a year – and he has both eyes. Who do you think I’ll trust?’

‘Whomever you’ve bought and paid for, Mr Eagleton.’

He jerked open the door, spun around and said, ‘Damn you, Lieutenant,’ before he walked out of the room.

Self-consciously, Lucinda brought one hand to her prosthetic eye and ran her fingers down the craters of scar tissue on that side of her face. ‘Damn me, indeed,’ she said to the empty room.

FIVE

L
ucinda’s cell vibrated in her pocket. She picked it up and said, ‘What’ve you got, Doc Sam?’

‘C’mon down here and I’ll show you,’ he said and disconnected the call.

Lucinda walked down two flights of stairs and into the morgue.

‘She definitely died from hanging,’ he said as she entered the room.

‘Suicide?’

‘Nah, look at this . . .’ He pointed to Candace’s neck.

‘What am I seeing, Doc?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Abrasions on the skin caused by the rope. Instead of a simple line that pulls up behind the ears, there are multiple fainter lines around the deep indentation that is the apparent one caused by the drop of the body. Almost as if she made a few false attempts before she succeeded. And I don’t think that’s possible.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Lucinda said.

‘If I had to guess, I’d say that someone tortured her before they killed her.’

‘Torture?’

‘Think of it like you would manual strangulation. Remember that guy up in Arlington? He’d choke the women until they passed out. When they revived, he’d do it again. Over and over.’

‘Yes, I read about him.’

‘It looks like someone jerked her up by her neck several times before sending her over that railing to finish it. But then again, it could just be an odd suicide. Not really sure yet.’

Lucinda sighed. ‘Do you think you’ll be able to make a determination?’

‘Don’t know. Maybe when Audrey the lab tyrant gets me an analysis of what was under her fingernails. Maybe when I get the toxicology report. Maybe never.’

‘What about the time of death?’

‘I can give you a range but it overlaps both the time the husband said he was at home and most of the time he said that he was absent from the home.’

Lucinda turned on her heels and walked out without a word. She was churning with frustration. If there was an answer, he would find it. Wouldn’t he? And if he didn’t, where did that leave them? A possible killer who could never be prosecuted? A suicide her husband would not understand or accept? Or was there even a worse possibility that she could not yet begin to imagine?

Lucinda walked under the unnatural glow of mercury lights shining down on the sidewalk. She pulled open a tall glass door and strode up to the desk in the lobby of the high-rise apartment building. She flipped out her badge and said, ‘I am here to speak to April Flowers.’

A bone-thin, male receptionist with pitch-black hair and cold blue eyes gave her an appraising look. He reached forward to a panel of buttons.

‘I’d rather you didn’t do that. Why don’t you just give me access to her floor?’

The young man’s mouth formed an exaggerated O. ‘My, my,’ he said. ‘Sounds serious.’

Lucinda flashed a grim smile and waited.

He fidgeted in silence for a moment and then said, ‘OK. I wouldn’t want to interfere with police business.’ He started around the counter and stopped. ‘Maybe I should call the manager first?’

Lucinda folded her arms across her chest. ‘You are incapable of making a simple decision on your own? How often do you call the manager? Every evening? Do you ever worry about being too much of a nuisance? Has the manager ever expressed displeasure over your inability to think for yourself?’

He flushed red. ‘That was totally uncalled for, Officer. I was just thinking aloud.’

‘Lieutenant,’ Lucinda corrected.

‘Whatever! Follow me,’ he said as he swung around the counter and headed for the elevator. When the doors opened, he scanned the identity card on the lanyard around his neck and hit the button for the tenth floor.

Lucinda stepped inside the lift and asked, ‘Apartment number?’

‘Ten-ten.’

As the doors started to close he stuck his face close to the diminishing gap. ‘If she’s not home, you are not authorized to go inside her unit.’

Reaching the hallway, Lucinda looked up and down its length at the rough concrete walls, shiny concrete floor, industrial hardware – typical new construction for the current hip residential spot in downtown. She turned right and walked half the length in that direction before arriving at the door marked ‘1010.’

She listened for a moment but could hear no sound from the apartment. She pressed the door buzzer and thought she heard the whispery sound of slippers slipping across the concrete floor inside. Metal slid softly and an eye appeared in the peephole. Lucinda held up her badge.

The door opened a crack. ‘Yes, may I help you?’

‘April Flowers?’

‘Yes?’

Lucinda held her badge toward the crack in the door as she tried to get a good look at the woman on the other side. She couldn’t see much but a bowed head with long, shiny blonde hair hanging down straight as a plumb line, obscuring her features. ‘Lieutenant Pierce. Homicide. I need to talk to you about a friend of yours.’

‘I have a dead friend?’

‘I think not. Please may I come in?’ Lucinda asked.

April shut the door, disconnected the chain and reopened the door, inviting Lucinda inside. She was shorter than Lucinda but average in stature for a woman. Her thinness, though, made her appear tiny – small enough to be blown away by a baby’s breath.

She led Lucinda past the kitchen and into the living room. The end wall was all glass with a view over the downtown area including the lush Robert E. Lee Gardens in Stonewall Jackson Park. Ironically, the street renamed in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr bordered one side of the open green space. Only in Virginia, Lucinda thought.

As they sat down across from one another, Lucinda asked, ‘Do you know Frank Eagleton?’

‘Yes, he’s my boss.’

‘Is that all? Just your boss?’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, tilting her head to the side and widening her dark brown eyes.

‘Are you or have you ever been romantically involved with Mr Eagleton?’

‘Romantically? No. He’s old enough to be my father.’

‘OK. Are you sexually involved with Mr Eagleton?’

‘Involved? What do you mean, involved?’ April asked.

Lucinda leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. ‘Have you ever engaged in sexual intercourse with Mr Eagleton or performed any other act that could be construed to be sexual in nature?’

‘Me? Mr Eagleton?’

‘Miss Flowers, please stop playing coy.’

April straightened her posture and folded her hands in a demure bundle on her lap. ‘Whatever do you mean, ma’am?’

‘I mean, miss, that Mr Eagleton already admitted to screwing around with you. Your avoidance of the question is annoying.’

‘Mr Eagleton . . .’ April pursed her lips and ran her tongue across them. ‘I can’t imagine what would have made Mr Eagleton say that.’

‘Do you know Candace Eagleton?’

‘Of course. She’s come into the office on several occasions. I haven’t seen her recently, though.’

‘Really? Are you sure you didn’t pay her a visit this morning?’

‘Why would I do that? Did something happen to Mrs Eagleton?’

‘Please answer the question, Miss Flowers. Did you go to the Eagleton home this morning?’

‘I was at work this morning,’ April said.

‘Have you ever been in the Eagleton home? Think before you answer, Miss Flowers. If we find your fingerprints in that house after you’ve denied being there, you will regret it.’

April rose to her feet and walked over to the exterior wall, leaning her forehead against the glass. She spun around and said, ‘You can’t tell Candace.’

‘Tell Candace what?’

‘You have to promise,’ April said and bit lightly on her lower lip.

‘I promise I will not say a word to Candace Eagleton.’

April sighed, walked back to her chair and flopped into it. ‘I did go there a couple of times. Once we made love in Candace’s bed. I know that was wrong – on so many levels. I just hate that woman for making it difficult for Frank and me to be together.’

‘You two had plans?’

‘Of course. We wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.’

‘But Candace was in the way?’

‘She knew about our affair but she still didn’t let him go.’

‘Did Candace tell you that?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Oh, no. I didn’t talk to Candace about that.’

‘Is that what Frank told you, then?’

‘He didn’t have to tell me. I knew he loved me. We were soulmates. I knew his heart’s desires without asking.’

‘Interesting, Miss Flowers. Mr Eagleton seems totally unaware that your relationship was anything but recreational.’

April furrowed her brow. ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Mr Eagleton made it clear to me that he had no intention of leaving his wife. He said he loved her. He said you were simply a convenience. A sexual outlet.’

‘How dare you!’

Lucinda threw up her hands. ‘These are not my words, Miss Flowers. They came from the mouth of your sexual partner.’

‘You are lying. The moment Candace is out of the picture, we’ll be flying off to Reno to get married.’

‘Did Frank tell you that?’

‘Not in so many words.’

‘So when you found out your little fantasies about Frank Eagleton would never come true, because he would not leave his wife, you did the only other thing you could do, didn’t you?’

‘What?’

‘You killed Candace Eagleton, didn’t you?’

‘Killed? What are you talking about? She’s dead?’

‘Did Frank help you kill her?’

‘No. What are you saying?’

‘So you did it on your own?’

‘I didn’t say that. I didn’t do that. Whatever Frank did, he did it on his own. I had nothing to do with it.’