Dead Down East (11 page)

“Gulp,” I thought, as I swallowed hard. “I’ll do all
I can,” I said. “Let’s hope the FBI manages to do that very
quickly.”

“And one final thing,” she said. “I want you to be my
personal bodyguard, for as long as necessary, until I feel it’s
safe for me to be out in public again.”

“Agreed, with one caveat,” I said. “I have been
working on a construction job for several weeks, and I can tell the
foreman that I need to be away from that job indefinitely. That’s
no problem. However, our band has some scheduled gigs. I am
committed to those. So other than gigs and occasional band
practices here, I’m all yours.”

“Thank you. Yes, I would appreciate staying here for
now. In fact, I might want to stay here for quite some time. Will
that be all right?”

“Absolutely.”

And with that, the die was cast.

“Hello?”

“Eric?”

“What time is it?”

“Eight-thirty.”

“What day is it?”

“Monday.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Jesse.”

“Jesse?”

“Yeah.”

“What time is it?”

“Eric,” I said, “I need you to help me on a job.”

There was a long pause at the other end. Then Eric
asked, “What kind of job?”

“I’m on a case.”

“Are you investigating the Lavoilette murder?” he
asked, hopefully.

“Nah, nothing that big. Just your run-of-the-mill
Peeping Tom case.”

“Is she a looker?”

“Oh yeah!” I said. “You can see her for yourself.
She’s in my spare bedroom.”

“I’ll be right over.”

“Not so fast,” I said. “I need to pick you up and
drive you to her house, because I want you to drive her car back
here. She’s afraid to go home.”

“I’m ready, all ready,” Eric said,
enthusiastically.

“See you in ten minutes,” I replied.

Cynthia was having coffee in the kitchen. The night’s
sleep looked good on her. I sensed that anger was just beginning to
work its way onto her emotional calendar, between the sadness and
the fear. I liked that. Anger holds more life and gets the job
done.

“Cynthia,” I said, “I’m off to your house. I’ll have
my friend, Eric, drive your car back here this morning.
Incidentally, Eric is between girlfriends at the moment, so he
might get friendly when he shows up with your car. Don’t encourage
him. He’s like a lost dog; if you give him a bone, he’ll try to
move in. If he asks you to drive him home, tell him I’ll do that
when I get back.

“That reminds me. Do you want to use your actual name
while you are here, or would you prefer an alias?”

“Gee, I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe an alias would
be better. On the other hand, my face appears on real estate signs
all over town. If I used an alias, it might actually draw attention
to me. Let’s just go with Cynthia and not use a last name.”

“OK,” I said. “I’ll set up the cameras at your place.
The system is wireless, and the videos will feed through your
computer to the Internet. We’ll then be able to view them directly
on my computer. I’ll need the password to your computer in order to
set this up.”

“Here, I’ll write it out for you,” she said.

She jotted it down on a note pad and handed it to
me.

“‘C y n h o m e 1’” I recited, “And the ‘C’ is the
only capital.”

“Right.”

“OK. My computer is all set to receive the signal.
When I’m finished setting the system up at your house, I’ll call
you to see if you can view the video. You won’t have to do a thing.
The images on all four cameras should appear on my screen.

“Now, what would you like me to bring back from your
house?” I asked.

Cynthia had already made a list. She handed it to me
and said, “Let me know if you have trouble finding anything.”

“Our cover story about why you are staying with me is
that there’s been someone hanging around your house at night,
looking through your windows. You didn’t feel safe, so you’re
staying here until it’s cleared up. That should work fine for the
guys in our band, and I’m hoping Angele will buy it too. She’s a
sharp cookie though; she might see through the ruse. I have very
little control over that woman, and strangely enough, I like it
that way. When she’s on land, she’s a cyclone. Over water, she’s a
typhoon.”

“Thar she blows!” Cynthia said, and I saw her smile
for the first time since picking her up.

“You said it,” I replied.

“I’ve put in the order for the license plate
information,” I continued. “We should have a name by tomorrow.
Whenever you think it’s a good time, call Richard and ask him to
come over.”

“I already did that,” she said. “He’ll be here as
soon as he can. He has an interview with the FBI this morning at
nine.”

“I should have mentioned this last night, but I
didn’t think of it. Don’t tell anyone about the surveillance
cameras at your house. Not even Richard. We don’t want anyone to
know they are on camera.”

“OK,” she said. “I didn’t mention it to him when we
talked this morning.”

“Good. If Richard gets here before I come back, don’t
let him into my office where he might see the videos. I’m not
suggesting that we can’t trust Richard, but we want to be as
invisible as possible.”

“Sure.”

“I’m glad you mentioned Richard’s interview with the
FBI. It is entirely possible that your name will come up. I don’t
know if the two of you have discussed this yet, but it is important
for you to be prepared ahead of time in the event that the FBI
shows up at my door looking for you. Remember, they have on file
that I picked you up near the crime scene. Once your name surfaces
in the investigation, they will search their database for any
reference to your name, and bingo, you and I will be front and
center. We might even become suspects.”

“Yes, that definitely occurred to me,” Cynthia said.
“I’m still unsettled as to what I should do…what I should say.”

“I’m not a lawyer, but it seems your only viable
option is to tell the truth. I don’t think it would be wise to
dodge their questions. You might have the right to do that, but if
you are evasive, they will consider you an uncooperative
witness.

“At this point, I think that they would understand
that your actions on Saturday night and Sunday morning were at
least somewhat reasonable. You were under duress, and you feared
for your life. But the fact is, you blatantly lied to FBI Officer
Handley. I fudged the truth when I said I didn’t have a client, but
you said that you were staying in the Smith’s house. That was a
clear lie.”

“Yes.”

“Still, I think they would be sympathetic. But
remember, we are talking about the FBI and the murder of the
Governor of Maine. They will not be messing around. So…you need to
decide right here and right now how you will handle yourself if, or
rather when, they come knocking at the door.”

“OK. If that happens, I’ll tell the whole truth. All
of it.”

Cynthia seemed shaken by this eventuality, but I was
convinced that she would follow through.

I continued, “As far as what happens in the next
couple of days, a lot will hinge on Richard’s interview.
Eventually, however, it is almost a certainty that you will have to
tell your story to the police. You could get very lucky. They might
catch the murderer, or murderers, and be able to convict them on
evidence totally unrelated to you; time will tell. Then again, they
might not be able to locate a suspect at all. In that case, you
will have to decide whether or not you want to come forward
voluntarily.”

“I’ve been wondering about that. Right now, I don’t
know,” she said.

“That’s fine. You’ll have time to think that through
if things drag on indefinitely with no arrests.

“All right,” I said. “I’m leaving now.
Mi casa es
su casa
, Cynthia. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen and
the pantry. Feel free to use my computer in the office, just open a
new tab on the browser. That way the page stays up with the
surveillance videos. I’ll stop by Shaw’s before coming home and
pick up some groceries for the week. Is there anything special you
want?”

“I like fish,” she replied. “Asparagus and arugula
are in season now, too. Please bring over all the perishables from
my refrigerator. I won’t be eating at home for a while. Oh, and
here’s your retainer payment,” and she held out a folded check.

I put my hand up and said, “We’ll take care of that
later. Just keep it in your purse for now. I want to get going, and
I don’t want it lying around here where someone might see it. Fish,
asparagus, and arugula. Got it. I’ll be back in a couple of
hours.”

• • •

I drove straight to Eric Cochrane’s house. He was out
front, standing on the sidewalk with a doughnut in one hand and a
cup of coffee in the other. It’s a new look for Eric. Not the
doughnut and the coffee, but the morning sunshine on his face. Eric
sets his alarm for noon and then oversleeps on a regular basis.

“Should I bring an overnight bag and my toothbrush?”
Eric asked. Then he winked and climbed into my Forester.

“She’s not that kind of woman, Eric. Don’t make any
moves. She’s frightened.”

Eric took a bite of his doughnut. I couldn’t tell if
he was hungry or just needed to console himself. “Let’s roll,” he
said.

Cynthia lives on Ridgewood Drive just east of the
Kennebec River. When we got to her street, I drove all the way to
the cul-de-sac and back again, passing Cynthia’s house twice. I
wanted to see if anyone might be hanging around and possibly
waiting for her. Nothing seemed suspicious, so I turned around,
drove back to her house and parked in the driveway.

Eric and I got out of the car, collected the
surveillance equipment from the back and went inside. The house
looked tidy; there were no signs of trouble. As we walked into the
garage, I gave Eric the keys to Cynthia’s Camry.

“I’ll set up the camera equipment myself, Eric.
Please just drive her car back to my place and wait for me. Here
are my keys; you’ll have to move the Forester. Park it on the
street and leave the keys in it. When you get to my house, just say
hello to Cynthia and give her the keys. She’s nervous about the
stalker that’s been hanging around here, so just let her be. When I
get back to the house, I’ll drive you home.”

“Will do, Jesse.”

“And don’t talk to anyone about the cameras. We don’t
want to blow our cover.”

“Roger that.”

I opened the garage door. Eric moved my car and then
backed Cynthia’s car down the driveway and into the street.

I took a walk around the property to determine the
best locations for the cameras, and got to work. When the cameras
were in place, I turned them on and booted the computer. In about
half an hour, the system was up and running.

I called Cynthia to see if she could view the video
images on my computer. “All four images look good,” she said. “Eric
is here now, and he made himself at home. You were right. He looks
like a lost dog, but he seems harmless.”

“Looks can be deceiving, Cynthia. Remember…no
bones.”

“Right,” she said.

“I’ll pick up your things and swing by the grocery
store on my way home. I should be back in about forty-five minutes.
If Richard calls, have him come over as soon as possible. Just be
sure not to talk about the case in front of Eric.”

“All right,” she said, and we hung up.

I retrieved her personal belongings, cleaned out the
refrigerator and went to Shaw’s for the rest of the groceries. Then
I drove straight home. The only car in the driveway was Cynthia’s
Camry, so apparently Richard was still engaged with the FBI.

I put the groceries away and went to check on the
camera system. It looked fine. I could see a lady walking her dog
along the road in front of Cynthia’s house. Nothing was happening
on the other three screens.

Eric had helped himself to some breakfast cereal and
was watching the latest news about the murder on the TV. “It’s
weird,” he said. “The Governor of Maine gets murdered, and two days
later they don’t even have a suspect.”

“It’s hard to figure,” I said.

“There’s some speculation that the governor had a
mistress,” Eric added.

“Who’s speculating?” I asked.

“Fox News.”

“Really? Then it must be true,” I said.

“Don’t be sarcastic, Jesse. Sometimes they get a
scoop. I don’t watch Fox much either, but I’ve been switching
through the news stations to catch all the perspectives. Fox is the
only station that has offered a possible motive. They don’t have
any names yet, but they are pushing the mistress angle.”

Eric paused a bit and then turned the TV off.

“You know what I think?” he asked, and then
immediately answered his own question, “I think the governor’s wife
hired someone to do it. I never trusted her. She has a cold,
disinterested look. Whenever I’ve seen her standing with her
husband, she always seems distant, like she doesn’t care about him.
It’s a little too convenient that she was out of the country when
it happened. He has probably been fooling around for years, and she
finally decided she’d had enough.”