Mistaken Identity (25 page)

Forty-Seven

“Freddy, this is Lieutenant Pierce. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure. But I’m scared.”

“Are you at home?”

“No. I’m at a Shell gas station.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. It’s near the airport. And it’s near the Marriott.”

“What are you doing there?”

“I was scared. I don’t know what’s going on and I’m scared.”

“Okay, Freddy, hold on a minute. I’m going to get a police officer near there to stay with you until I arrive. Just a minute, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Putting Freddy on hold, Lucinda called the dispatcher with instructions. “No, I don’t have an address – but there can’t be that many Shell stations by a Marriott, next to the airport.”

“Okay, Freddy, I’m back. Keep your eyes out for a marked police car, okay? Do not go to anyone else.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, tell me, how did you get there?”

“I walked from the hotel.”

Be careful of your words, Lucinda, this kid has an exceptional mind but his thinking is very literal and linear.
“When did you get to the hotel? Why are you at a hotel? Who is there with you?”

“After you left the house today, my grandmother made me pack and she said we may never come back again. But she wouldn’t tell me where we were going. Then we came to the Marriott and she still wouldn’t tell me. All she would say was that I needed to get to sleep ’cause we had an early flight the next morning. I don’t know why,” Freddy said, sounding close to tears.

“Okay, Freddy, everything’s going to be okay. Someone will be there soon and then I’ll hang up and come right over, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Does your grandmother know where you are now?”

“No, she’s asleep. When she started to snore, I looked in her purse and saw the papers she printed from the computer in the lobby. It says we’re going to the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport.”

“And your grandmother didn’t tell you why you were leaving town so fast?”

“No. I told her we were safe ’cause Jason was in jail but she said we had more to worry about than Jason. Is that really his name?”

“No, Freddy. His name is John Kidd.”

“So he even lied about that?”

“Afraid so. He was not …”

“Oh, I see a police car,” Freddy said.

“You see the markings? Are you sure it’s a police car?”

“Yes. He’s pulling in right now.”

“Get the officer to come to the phone.”

Lucinda waited, her nerves afire. She couldn’t imagine anyone could move quickly enough to snatch an official vehicle and get to Freddy that fast, but her imagination had disappointed her many times before. Finally, a male voice came down the line. “Lieutenant Pierce? This is Patrol Officer McKenna.”

In her mind’s eye, she saw him, she knew him and she relaxed. “Thank heaven. Please stay with the boy. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Lucinda dashed to the interrogation room and popped open the door. “Jake!”

Jake opened his mouth to ask what she wanted but when he saw the urgency on her face, he jumped up and came out into the hall without a word. She briefed him on the situation.

Jake asked, “Do you have any idea what all of this means?”

“I’ve got a lot of crazy ideas colliding in my head but I don’t know what to think.”

“What about Godfrey?”

“Just leave her in there. If her attorney gets tired of waiting, he’ll come out of the room and throw a fit. Let someone else deal with it. They won’t let her go anywhere without talking to me first. We can continue the interview later.”

“You don’t like that woman, do you?”

“She and her lover-attorney can rot in there for all I care.”

On the drive over, Jake asked, “Do we need any back-up?”

“I don’t think so. Freddy’s out of the hotel room and in safe hands. I think we can handle Victoria Whitehead, whatever’s going on in her head. I want to keep all of this low key and avoid alerting the media. If I’m wrong, we can call for reinforcements later.”

They stopped at the Shell station to touch base with Freddy and Officer McKenna before going to the hotel. “Freddy,” Lucinda asked, “do you have a key to the room?”

“No. Grandmother wouldn’t give me one,” he said with a pout. “I’m responsible – I really am – but she said I was too young to be trusted with one.”

“I’m sorry, Freddy. In my book, you are very responsible and very brave. We’re going up to talk to your grandmother right now. You stay here with Officer McKenna, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lucinda looked into his mournful eyes and ached. She knew firsthand the depth of the wound caused by a sudden and violent loss of parents. And now, she was contributing to the destruction of his last family connection. She knew the DA would want to charge Victoria with something – obstruction of justice, harboring a fugitive or who knows what. She sighed and hopped into the car.

It took a little persuasion at the front desk, but at last they had the room number. They rode up the elevator in silence. Lucinda knocked on the door and got no response. Jake pounded on the door with a fist. A man’s head poked out of the room next door. “Cut that out or I’m calling security!” The man scowled and then retreated back into his shell.

In front of them, Victoria swung the door open. “Freddy, where did you run off to? You … Where’s Freddy? What have you done with Freddy?”

“Freddy is fine, Ms. Whitehead,” Jake said. “But we need to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” she said, pushing the door shut.

Before it closed, Jake shoved a shoulder into the space and pushed. Victoria ran into the bathroom. They heard the lock click shut. They looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“Ms. Whitehead,” Lucinda spoke through the door, “we are not going away until you come out and talk to us.”

“I’m not coming out.”

“C’mon, you can’t stay in there for ever. And you sure can’t crawl out the bathroom window – you’re on the sixth floor, the fall would kill you.”

“Maybe that would be better,” Victoria whined.

Jake said, “Ma’am, I could be wrong but I have a feeling you really care for your grandson.”

“I certainly do.” Victoria’s voice cracked. “I love that little boy.”

“Yes, ma’am, I thought so. But right now, he’s really scared.”

“He should be. It’s a dangerous world filled with terrible people.”

“I can’t argue that, ma’am. But your grandson needs you. What frightens him the most now is that he doesn’t understand what’s going on with you. You are his rock, Ms. Whitehead, and he is confused.”

Lucinda added, “And you have nothing to fear – John Kidd, the man you knew as Jason King, is in jail. And his accomplice is in an interrogation room at the justice center right now.”

“You have his accomplice?” Victoria asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jake said.

For a moment, Victoria was silent. Jake and Lucinda waited. When she spoke again, she asked, “How did you find that person?”

“Kidd told us who was in the house with him the morning your daughter and her husband were murdered and we picked her up,” Lucinda said.

“He told you?” Victoria asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jake said.

The lock clicked and the door eased open. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I was scared.”

“That’s understandable,” Jake said. “Why don’t you gather your things together and we’ll all go down to the station and you can give us your statement.”

“You understand we need to know everything you know?” Lucinda added.

“Certainly,” Victoria said. “Can I see Frederick?”

“We’ll step out in the hall while you get dressed. Come out when you’re ready and we’ll take you to your grandson.”

Outside the door, Jake asked, “Are you comfortable with her answers? Do you think her reason for running was fear of Godfrey?”

“No, I’m not. Something about her is off but I’m not sure why – maybe she’s just embarrassed. I don’t know. But it struck me as odd that she didn’t ask us the name of the woman we had in custody.”

“I hadn’t thought about that – it is peculiar. I wasn’t comfortable with her when she came out of the bathroom. She never looked either one of us in the eye. She kept her head down, staring at the floor in front of her feet.”

“I wonder what she’s not telling us,” Lucinda said.

“I imagine we’ll find out when we get her in the room. She doesn’t appear as if she’d be tough to crack.”

“She may be tougher than she seems.”

Forty-eight

Back at the justice center, Lucinda and Jake paused outside the door leading to Victoria Whitehead. “Should we stop in and speak to Godfrey and her lawyer before we talk to Whitehead? The attorney’s been raising a fuss,” Jake said.

“Let him. Maybe Whitehead can give us some information about Godfrey we can use. Let’s talk to her first. How do you want to play it?” Lucinda asked. “Whitehead’s not too fond of me; I could be bad cop – trite, but I think with her it would work.”

“All right, we’ll try that. I’ll start things off and you jump in and be surly when you think the time is right.”

“Okay, but Jake, make sure you call her grandson ‘Frederick’. She’ll love you right away for that.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope,” Lucinda said and pushed open the door.

“Good evening, ma’am,” Jason said. “I understand you know Lieutenant Pierce well. I’m Special Agent Jake Lovett with the FBI.”

“Where is my grandson?”

“Don’t you worry about Frederick, ma’am. We found a glass of milk and a granola bar for him and he’s settled in the break room watching the Discovery Channel.”

“Why isn’t he in here with me?”

“We need to talk, ma’am, and we didn’t want to upset Frederick. Could you tell us where you met John Kidd – or Jason King as you knew him?”

“I met him at the library. Everyone I ever met before at the library has been so nice. I had no idea.”

“When did he move in with you?”

Victoria blushed. “I’m embarrassed to say, just two weeks after I met him. He told me that his lease was up and the house he lived in had been sold and he wasn’t sure where he was going to stay. And, well, by that time I thought I loved him.”

“Oh, cut this romantic crap,” Lucinda snapped. “What the hell were you doing sleeping with the man who killed your daughter?”

“I slept with him before that,” Victoria cried. “What do you think I am? A monster? I loved my daughter. I still love my daughter.”

“But you slept with him the day your daughter was murdered, didn’t you?”

“No, I did not. I did not see him after that morning. I … Oh … oh …”

“Lieutenant Pierce, you are upsetting the lady here,” Jake said. “Why don’t you step out of the room, get a drink of water and cool down for a minute. I know it’s been a long day, but Jeez.”

Lucinda saw the hint of a smile cross Victoria’s face before she spun on her heels and walked out. She went into the observation room to watch and wait for the right moment to return.

“I’m so sorry,” Jake comforted Victoria. “Lieutenant Pierce is a little excitable.”

Victoria said, “Thank you, Agent Lovett. But I guess if I was damaged goods, it wouldn’t take much to set me off either.”

Jake clenched his jaws at that remark but moved on without commenting on it. “Could you tell me about early that morning, before John Kidd left your house?”

“John? Oh dear, yes, it’s so hard to think of him as ‘John’. Well, we had breakfast, as usual. I imagine I fixed some sausages, a couple of fried eggs and toast – that’s what he usually wanted. He left about seven that morning to run errands.”

“Wasn’t it a little early for that?”

Victoria fidgeted with her fingers before answering. She renewed eye contact and said, “Yes, I asked him about that. I can’t remember what he said or where he was going. I’m sorry, I just can’t remember.”

“That’s okay. When did you talk to him next?”

Victoria’s face flushed, her eyes darted, and settled on the table in front of her. “Um, he called me from the airport. He said his mother had taken a turn for the worse and he had to rush to her side.”

Lucinda took that as her cue. It was obvious that Victoria was lying. It was time to kick the chair out from under her.
Not literally
, she reminded herself. She walked into the room and rested both palms on the table.

“Do you know Pamela Godfrey, Ms. Whitehead?”

“Who?”

“Pamela Godfrey,” she said, slapping a photograph in front of her.

“No, who is she?”

“That’s who Kidd said was with him in your daughter’s house.”

“I’ve never heard of or seen her before. He said she helped him?”

“Ms. Whitehead, take a good look at that woman. According to your boyfriend, she’s the one who pulled the trigger. She’s the one who killed your daughter.”

“No. She did not! Jason did!”

Lucinda eased into the chair. “Jason? John Kidd? He shot your daughter?”

Bowing her head,
Victoria
mumbled, “Yes.”

“How do you know that, Ms. Whitehead?”

The only sound filling the room was the strained noise of
Victoria
’s rapid breathing.

“Ma’am,” Jake said, “do you have something you need to tell us about?”

Victoria
hung her head, her shoulders shook but she did not respond.

“Ma’am, how do you know he shot your daughter?”

“Were you there, Ms. Whitehead?” Lucinda added.

Victoria
gasped and jerked her head up. “Oh, no, I wasn’t there – not when he shot her.”

“Afterwards, then?” Jake asked.

Victoria
collapsed over the table, her head on her arms, sobbing. Jake and Lucinda sat back in their chairs letting her outburst run its course. When she raised her head, Jake placed a box of tissues in front of her. She wiped her nose and patted her eyes.

“Ma’am, I know this isn’t easy, but why don’t we start with the moment you got out of bed that morning.”

“When he told me, I believed him. Oh, dear Lord, I believed him.”

“When he told you what, ma’am?”

“He told me that Parker was ready to kill again. He said that he was about to kill my daughter and my grandson and fake his death so he could assume a new identity. Jason – uh, John – said he had to kill Parker before it was too late.”

“And you didn’t try to stop him from killing your son-in-law?” Lucinda asked.

“I believed him. I thought it was the only way to save my daughter’s life, my grandson’s life. I thought Parker was evil. I thought he was centuries old and the devil owned his soul. I don’t know what to think now but it must all be lies. Oh, God help me, it must all be lies.”

“Then what happened, ma’am?” Jake urged.

“He promised me he wouldn’t hurt Jeanine before he left the house. And then the phone rang. He said it was an accident. He didn’t mean to shoot her. She surprised him. Do you think that’s true? Do you think it was an accident?”

Lucinda and Jake looked at each other. Jake turned back to
Victoria
and said, “No, ma’am. I’m sorry but that doesn’t seem likely.”

“Oh, my God, I can’t believe I was so gullible!”

“Ma’am, let’s just get it all out in the open now, okay?” Jake said. “What happened then?”

“He told me I had to come over and help him clean up the mess. I told him I couldn’t do that. Dead bodies, blood. I just couldn’t. And he said, ‘Your daughter is lying naked on the floor with blood all over her face. Is that how you want your grandson to find his mother?’”

“So you went over?” Jake said.

“Yes, I did. I was so upset, I didn’t think I could do anything. It was so awful to see my baby all bloody … but he yelled at me, he told me to think of my grandson. I had to take care of things for
Frederick
.”

‘And so I did. He helped me carry Jeanine to the bed and then he got the chainsaw. I lost it then. I screamed at him. I asked him why he was doing that. He just turned off the chainsaw, put down the toilet seat and pushed me on my shoulders until I sat down on it. He said, “
Victoria
, are you forgetting who he is? He’s evil. And he’s immortal. If we leave him here with a whole body, he will rise up again and destroy more families. This has to be done,
Victoria
.” And, God help me, I believed him. I tried to block out the sound as I washed blood off of my daughter’s face and cleaned her fingernails. I looked away when I had to go into the bath to get her hairbrush and make-up. But still I got a glimpse and it was hideous, so bloody, so awful.”
Victoria
collapsed forwarded, dropping her forehead onto her arms again.

“What happened then, Ms. Whitehead?” Lucinda prodded.

Victoria
raised her haggard face. “I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to abandon my daughter. I didn’t want
Frederick
to find the bodies.”

“But, you did leave, didn’t you?” Jake said, encouraging her to continue.

“Yes,” she sighed. “He said he had a plan. We’d get someone else there before
Frederick
got home from school. It just couldn’t be us because no one would believe the whole truth—no one would understand how many lives we saved by killing and mutilating that monster. He said I had to be brave for
Frederick
’s sake.

“So, I did what he told me. I drove my car, following him all the way downtown. When he pulled to the curb, so did I. He put a few coins in the meter by my car and we drove off in his. As we travelled a couple of blocks, I put on a pair of gloves and he gave me a note. It had my daughter’s address on it and it said, “Call 9-1-1.” We entered a parking garage and went around a few times and then he stopped and pointed to the windshield where he wanted me to leave the note. And I did it.”

“Did you know who’s car it was, Ms. Whitehead?” Lucinda asked.

Victoria
’s brow furrowed. “No. Should I have?”

“It doesn’t matter, Ma’am,” Lucinda said as she rose and walked to the door. She waved in a uniformed officer who cuffed
Victoria
’s hands behind her back and escorted her away.

Watching Victoria Whitehead disappear down the hall, Lucinda turned to Jake, “I’m glad this is over and we know what happened but I wish it hadn’t ended this way. I’ve got to get someone here to take care of Freddy. I should call his aunt. I don’t think he’s ever met her but she’s family and she loved his mother.”

“Shouldn’t we go see Godfrey first?”

“Godfrey can wait,” Lucinda said as she punched the number into her cell.

A sleepy Susan Livingston muttered, “Hello?”

“Ms. Livingston, this is Detective Pierce, the lead investigator in your sister’s homicide investigation. I’m sorry to bother you so late at night.”

Susan was instantly alert. “Yes, I remember you, Lieutenant. What do you need?”

Lucinda explained the situation with the woman’s mother and her nephew. Susan asked a few questions and said, “I’ll go online and book a flight now. I’ll be there to take care of Freddy just as soon as I can.”

Relieved, Lucinda prepared herself to be excessively deferential when she spoke to Godfrey and her attorney. It galled her but she knew Captain Holland would have her head if she made the situation worse. After apologizing repeatedly, Jake and Lucinda escorted Pamela and her attorney out of the interrogation room. In the hallway, Pamela came to an abrupt stop. “Lieutenant, I am certain the department does not want me to file a law suit.”

Lucinda jaw throbbed. “Ms. Godfrey, I don’t think that the revelatory nature of a civil law suit would be in your best interests either.”

Pamela laughed. “Please, you are forgetting my profession. I can spin anything to my advantage with a limitless budget.”

“We’ve apologized, Godfrey, what more do you want?”

“I want the original chips and any copies of the photos and video of Jeanine and I that you confiscated as evidence.”

“I’ll talk to the D.A.”

Pamela stepped up to Lucinda’s face. “You do that, Lieutenant, and you make sure he knows that my father’s friends will take a great interest in his decision come re-election time next year.”

“Is that a threat, Godfrey?”

“Hell, Pierce, don’t be shy—it’s blackmail, pure and simple. You know how the game is played. It’s a boy’s world out there, we only get what we need if we are not afraid to swing the low blows. And I’ll be damned if I’ll have a horny bunch of A.D.A.’s passing images of me and my lover from one sweaty palm to the next for who knows how many years. You get those image cards, make sure any copies are destroyed and I won’t cause any problems. Deal?” Pamela took a step back and stuck out her hand.

Lucinda ignored her extended arm and planted her hands on her hips. “One more question, Godfrey. Do you have any idea how Parker’s hand got in the back of your toilet?”

“I’d guess the bastard stole Jeanine’s key to my place the morning he killed her.”

“She had a key to your apartment?”

“Of course. Parker did too, for that matter.” Pamela turned, strutted down the hall and out of the building.

“I guess that’s the key he used to get into her apartment to leave the hand. I wonder if he’ll ever tell us what he did with it?”Jake asked.

Lucinda shrugged. “She so creeps me out.”