False Front (9 page)

‘Seth’s wife, remember?’

Lucinda cast her mind back to the few visits she’d made to her brother’s home over last couple of decades and resurrected a dim memory. ‘Vaguely.’

‘She wants Dylan laid to rest. She doesn’t believe it’s a suicide either but she wants her son buried first and worry about the rest later.’

Kristen walked into Lucinda’s office and laid a piece of paper in front of her, whispering ‘Urgent,’ as she backed out of the room. Lucinda read: ‘Ted Branson at the regional forensic center wants you to know that he has emailed screen shots of deleted emails to you.’

‘Lucinda, are you still there?’ Ricky asked.

‘Yes, sorry, Ricky. I understand. And I get the urgency of the situation. I’m bogged down in a recent murder here. I’m not sure how open local law enforcement will be with me but I’ll make a call today and see what I can find out.’ She clicked the button for her email.

‘Can you come up here? Lily trusts you. She’ll believe you. And if you say it’s suicide, too, she should be able to convince Seth.’

‘As soon as I can, Ricky. I promise. As soon as I can. I’ve got to run now. Sorry,’ Lucinda said as she disconnected from the call and opened the email. Ted, her former partner in homicide and a one-time high school boyfriend, now worked in the computer analysis division at one of the state’s regional forensic labs where Lucinda had routed Candace Eagleton’s computer.

His email read: ‘I couldn’t salvage complete messages but even with the missing pieces, the picture I’m seeing is pretty clear. Look over the screen shots and give me a call. I’d like to see if you come to the same conclusions as I did.’

Lucinda clicked on the attachment and read the choppy string of communication from the most recent email to the earliest one.

Blackmail? Was Candace extorting money from someone? She grabbed the receiver of her desk phone and called Ted. ‘What are you thinking?’

‘You first.’

‘Blackmail?’

‘That’s what I thought,’ Ted said.

‘Who is Winordie?’

‘Don’t know yet. I’ve contacted the Internet service provider but they insist: no information without a court order.’

‘Can you draft the technical part of the warrant request? I’ll finish it up with my side of the equation and put it in front of a judge.’

‘Sure, I imagine you’ll need it two hours ago.’

‘As soon as, at any rate. You’ve just turned my whole investigation upside down. I was thinking the husband did it. This information adds another possible suspect to the list.’

‘I’ll get it to you as quick as I can. And don’t forget.’

‘Don’t forget what?’

‘Tomorrow is the anniversary of our first date.’

‘Oh, good grief, Ted. That was twenty years ago.’

‘Still a fresh memory for me, Lucinda.’

‘Grow up, Ted,’ she said and slammed down the phone. She regretted her little hissy fit the moment it happened. She needed his help and she chose that moment to be snippy. Lucinda sighed. As persistent as Ted is, she thought, I doubt if even that penetrated his skull.

She felt overwhelmed by the clash between the demands of the job and the needs of her family. And between the two, it seemed she never had time for herself. She’d been neglecting Chester, her cat. She’d promised a trip to the zoo for Charley and Ruby, the two little girls who became part of her life when their mother was murdered two years ago. And it had been too damned long since she’d had a relaxing evening with Jake.

‘Enough of the self-pity, Lucinda old girl,’ she said to the empty room. ‘You have work to do.’ And top of that list was another conversation with Frank Eagleton. Even with the new information from Ted, she was not ready to close the book on Candace’s husband. She wanted to get Frank’s reaction to what she’d learned from talking to Mark.

FIFTEEN

L
ucinda called Frank Eagleton at work. As soon as he answered she said, ‘Mr Eagleton, I was calling to see if you could stop by and see me this afternoon at the justice center or if you’d rather that I come there.’

He said, ‘When are you going to release my house?’

‘Soon.’

‘When?’

‘Probably after you talk to me.’

‘I don’t want you here. It will disrupt the office.’

‘Can I expect you here soon, then?’

Frank huffed a loud exhale. ‘I’d have to cancel my four o’clock meeting.’

‘Shouldn’t take you long to do that. I’ll see you soon.’

‘I didn’t say—’

‘You do want to get back in your house, don’t you?’

‘Sounds like blackmail to me.’

Lucinda suppressed a gasp. Does he know? Is he part of it? Injecting calm nonchalance into her voice, she said, ‘Hardly, Mr Eagleton. I am simply trying to determine who murdered your wife. I thought that was a priority for you as well.’

‘Don’t play your cop word games with me, Lieutenant. I’ll see you within the hour.’

‘Thank you, Mr Eagleton,’ she said, glad that he couldn’t see her smirk of satisfaction.

SIXTEEN

E
ven though she was mentally exhausted when she opened her apartment door that night, her spirits lifted at the sight of her gray tabby, Chester. His happy dance to celebrate her arrival was a marvelous performance of thundering feet, chirping meows and a purr that seemed loud enough to shake the building.

She plucked a little gray mouse with pink felt ears and tail off the floor and sent it skittering down the hall. Chester raced after it, skidded as he went past it and slid into a wall. He shook off the stun from the impact, grabbed the mouse and held it between his paws, gnawing on its head.

He lost all interest in his toy when he heard Lucinda pop the top of a can of his new favorite, tuna and cheddar. He galloped back into the kitchen, meowing a loud plaint of impatience as she scooped out the contents of the tin.

Lucinda checked for messages on her landline. One was from Jake: ‘I didn’t want to bother you at work since I know how it is for you right now. Just wanted to let you know that I’m out from under the case that I thought would eat up my life. In fact, I won’t be doing any active investigations for the time being. I’m grounded. Call me when you can.’

Grounded? That doesn’t sound good. She pulled out her cell, hit her favorites list and tapped Jake’s name. He answered on the first ring. ‘What do you mean you’re grounded?’ she asked.

‘The wicked witch of the north paid me a visit today and put me in quarantine. She seems to believe I’m a person of interest in a homicide investigation.’

‘A person of interest? You?’

‘The man who was murdered visited my office the afternoon before he died. When his body was found, there was no identification, no money, nothing but my business card.’

‘And?’

‘I guess good old Sandra thinks I killed him and left my calling card or something. I don’t know.’

‘That’s absurd. What about the local investigators?’

‘The sheriff himself is taking the lead on this one.’

‘He thinks you might be a suspect?’

‘No. He said that it was as much my investigation as it was his. He was not pleased when I turned over my file and told him I was out of it.’

‘So what’s the area director’s problem?’

‘She’s old school. She might just love generating fear and loathing in her underlings. Or she might just think that being under the gun builds our character. I don’t know but she seems to go out of her way to make every Special Agent in Charge under her command uncomfortable, unsettled and insecure.’

‘Your job at jeopardy?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Nah. I don’t think so. This will all blow over. She’ll let me know at some point that my good name is cleared, remind me that it is, however, permanently besmirched and then expect me to express my undying gratitude for her support.’

‘You’re kidding me?’

‘I wish. So how is your case going?’

‘I’m now certain that it is a homicide.’

‘That’s progress.’

‘Yes, but now evidence is turning me away from my chief suspect.’

‘The husband?’ Jake asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Who took his place? The mistress?’

‘I still can’t fathom that possibility. It’s a person of mystery.’

‘Totally unknown?’

‘At least for the moment. Ted’s analyzing the hard drive of her computer. He found some provocative email pointing to the possibility that the victim was engaged in blackmail. He’s trying to identify who is at the other end of those messages and I’m going to have to talk to everyone close to the wife and find out if they knew anything about an extortion conspiracy or if they can think of anyone she might be able to blackmail.’

‘Lucinda, you’ve got a plan. You’re moving forward. It’s never as fast as you want it to be but it sounds as if you’re holding something back. What’s really bothering you?’

‘I got a call from my brother today. His wife’s brother’s son is dead. The local cops are saying that it’s a suicide. My brother thinks they’re right but his wife and brother-in-law are certain it’s murder. And they think they know who did it. They want me to come up and check over the evidence and give them my opinion. But I really can’t afford to walk away from my current investigation right now and I’m worried that the grieving father might decide to take matters into his own hands.’

‘Why don’t I go take a look?’

‘You?’

‘Hey, I’m at a loose end right now. My hands are tied at work and I really want to get out of the office where everyone is giving me pity looks. I could take the pressure off you and get a bit of fresh air at the same time.’

‘If you’re sure . . .’

‘Yes. No problem. I can go up first thing in the morning.’

‘OK. I’ll tell my brother to expect you and I’ll email directions. Thanks, Jake.’

‘Thank you, Lucy. You’ve done me a big favor. Really.’

‘Local law enforcement’s not going to be pleased to have you snooping around.’

‘What? They were going to throw a parade at your arrival?’

‘No. They wouldn’t like me sniffing around either. But you, well, you know . . .’

‘Yeah. I’m a feeb. Automatically suspected of ulterior motives and a superiority complex. I’ll be as humble as I can and tell anyone who’ll listen that I’m not there in an official capacity.’

‘They won’t believe you.’

‘Screw ’em.’

Lucinda laughed. ‘Oh, that attitude will win you friends.’

‘I don’t need friends, Lucy. I have you.’

Silence thrummed through the distance that separated them. ‘Lucy, you still there or did I scare you off?’

‘No, Jake, you didn’t scare me off. You just rendered me speechless.’

‘That is a major feat.’

‘Not for you, Jake.’

‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’

‘You should,’ she said. ‘Now, I really need to get some rest. Tomorrow promises to be a long day.’

‘Sorry – go get some sleep. I don’t want to call you at a bad moment so give me a call and I’ll update you on what I learned up in Albemarle County.’

‘Will do. Night, Jake,’ she said and hit the end button. She sighed, scooped up Chester and scratched him under the chin. ‘Am I ready for a serious relationship, Chester? Or is it getting to be too much too soon? My first husband was a feeb; do I really want to run that risk again? Do I want to make myself vulnerable to any man again? Hmm, Chester?’ Chester blurted out a meow. ‘Yes, you’re right. I am safer when it’s just me and you.’