Death Vetoes The Chairman (Lizzie Crenshaw Mysteries Book 7) (22 page)

Chapter 28

T.J., Owen and I went to see Jake that afternoon. He was sitting up in bed, flirting with a raven-haired nurse. “Gee, I hate to see you suffering so much, Jake,” I said as we walked in.

The nurse smiled at us sheepishly and hurried out of the room. “Good to see you guys,” Jake grinned. “How are you doing?” He shook hands with T.J. and Owen.

“I was going to say better than you,” Owen replied, “but it looks like you are being well-taken care of by the nurses.”

“She just stopped by to say hi.”

“Yeah, right,” Owen laughed.

Jake looked at me. “You look pretty good for someone who was in a car accident.”

“You should see my legs. One humongous bruise, trust me.”

“Have you talked to Greg McDonald about what happened?”

“We just had lunch with him a little while ago. And with Edward Winthrop.”

“Oh really?” Jake said. “And how did that go?”

“He’s a bit of a pompous jerk,” T.J. said.

“That’s putting it nicely,” Owen snorted.

“Actually, he thought we were dead,” I told Jake.

“He what?! Why did he think that?”

“We might have tricked him a bit.”

“Back up and tell me everything.”

Between the three of us, we told Jake about the meeting with Edward, how I stayed in the kitchen before making my presence known, and how Edward had lied about me trying to blackmail him. “You should have seen the look on his face when Lizzie walked in,” Owen laughed. “I thought the guy was going to have a heart attack right there at the table.”

“I’m pretty sure that either Kassandra or Sage told him about the conversation we had with Mrs. Simpkins,” I told Jake. “As soon as he realized his mistake, he lawyered up and left.”

“There was one other glaring thing,” T.J. said. “When Lizzie accused him of causing your accident, he didn’t deny it.”

“Wow, that’s suprising,” Jake whistled.

“She also told him he was going to pay all of your medical bills,” Owen added.

“You did not,” Jake looked at Lizzie in surprise. I shrugged. “I bet that went over well.”

“Like a lead balloon,” I said.

“So what do we do now?” Jake asked. He winced slightly as he tried to reposition his pillows.

I leaned over and helped him. “
We
don’t do anything.
You
are going to do what the doctor says so you can get out of here.”

“You can’t leave me out of this,” Jake groused.

“Face it, man,” Owen said, “you’re definitely on the sidelines for this one.”

“Get me a computer. I can at least do some background checks.”

Garth came into the room at that moment, carrying a manila folder. “I’ve already got my girl working on that.” He walked over and shook hands with Jake. “Good to see you.”

“I don’t want to just lay here,” Jake complained. “There has to be something I can do.”

“We’ve got it covered,” Garth replied. “Your mother would have my head if I involved you in any further activities.”

Jake crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. I reached over and pinched his cheek. “You look so cute when you pout.”

“Knock it off,” he said, swatting my hand away. “Ouch!”

“You shouldn’t do that,” T.J. said. “You might hurt yourself.”

“I came straight here after seeing Micha,” Garth told us. “She dug up a lot of interesting information on young Winthrop.”

“Like what?” Owen said.

“Well, he certainly had more than one girl in every port,” he said, “but no more than four.”

“How many cities are we talking about here?” I said.

Garth opened the folder. “Twelve cities here in the States, and three overseas.”

“Good Lord.” I did the math. “You can’t be serious. That’s fifty women.”

“Those are just the ones we know about,” Garth said.

“How many of those women did Edward pay off?”

“Micha is still working on that.”

I sat down in the chair next to Jake’s bed. “How did he get away with this for so long?”

“Money talks,” Jake replied. I glared at him. “What? Don’t look at me like that. It’s true, and Edward is one of the best at making his money do all the talking for him. Or for Ethan, in this case.”

“No wonder Ethan was so mad at me when I wouldn’t accept his gifts or money.”

“How dare you have morals and scruples!” T.J. said in mock horror.

“At least one of us does.”

“Yes, well,” Garth said, looking at the folder again, “Two women are currently living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Barbara Stephenson lives in North Richland Hills, and Cynthia Davis lives in Allen.”

“I recognize the Davis name, but I knew her as Cindy when we were in high school,” Jake said. “I have no idea who Barbara is.”

Garth flipped a couple of pages. “When she was in high school, she went by the name Marie Erickson.”

“Marie?” I said. “Do you have a picture of her?”

“Not yet, but I’ll check with Micha and see if she’s found one.” He pulled out his phone and started typing a message.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Jake said.

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” I said. “Lots of people out there named Marie.”

“Total coincidence that he was dating someone with that name, right?” he replied.

“Of course.”

“Absolutely.”

I knew neither one of us believed a word we were saying.

Garth walked back to Jake’s bed. “No luck. All the high school yearbooks say is “photo not available.”

“How did she get access to the yearbooks?” Jake said.

“She knows someone at the school, I guess,” Garth replied. “I have learned not to question how she finds things out. Ignorance is bliss.”

“I wonder what she’s been up to since we talked to her?” I muttered.

“When you two talked with her, did she have an alibi for the night Ethan died?” Owen said.

“Yes, she did. She took a friend to urgent care because of an ingrown toenail,” I told him.

“We’ll definitely need to verify that.”

“Look, Owen,” Jake said, “that woman was an airhead. There’s absolutely no way she could have killed Ethan. He was her sugar daddy. No one in their right mind kills the golden goose, pardon the cliché.”

“That woman,” Garth replied, “has a Master’s degree in criminal psychology.”

“Well, that certainly changes things, doesn’t it?” I said.

“We need to know what she’s been up to since Ethan died,” Owen said.

“I can call Hopkins, see what he can dig up if he’s not too busy,” T.J. suggested.

“I’ll get Micha to take a closer look at her,” Garth replied. I handed him back his phone, and he started sending another message.

“I think we better go home,” Owen said.

“I’ll make sure the jet is fueled up and ready,” Garth said.

Jake looked very unhappy. “I need to go back with you,” he said.

“You know that’s not going to happen,” I told him. “I’ll keep you posted.”

“You stay out of this,” he replied, pointing his finger at me. “Let Owen and T.J. handle things from now on.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” I snapped. “How would you like me to break your nose again?”

“I’m just saying…”

“I know what you’re saying, and I’m telling you to back off. I don’t like being told what to do. When are you going to learn that?” I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Stop flirting with the nurses. Hurry up and get out of here.”

Garth’s phone dinged, and he checked the message. He got a serious look on his face. “We need to go back to the house,” he said, shoving his phone in his pocket.

“Anything wrong?” Jake asked.

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know.”

Jake called T.J. over as Owen and I followed Garth out the door. “You take care of her, Roosevelt,” Jake said.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

“You’d better not, because if something does, I’m going to finish what I started a couple of weeks ago.”

“You can try,” T.J. grinned, “but you won’t get far.” He shook Jake’s hand. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”

Jake watched him leave. “Why don’t I believe that?” he said, and pushed a button on the side of his bed. It was time he got out of there.

Chapter 29

Sheriff McDonald was leaning on his car, waiting for us, as we parked at the Mathias house. “How’s Jake doing?” he asked as we got out.

“Flirting with the nurses,” I told him.

McDonald laughed. “Sounds like he’s feeling better.”

“What brings you back here, Sheriff?” Garth said.

“We got a call from a man who was headed to his cabin with his family. They saw a truck on the side of the road, with a man sitting in the driver’s seat. He got out to see if the man needed some help, but the man was dead.”

“I hope his family didn’t see the body,” I said. Seeing a dead body wasn’t something that I had gotten used to seeing yet, and I hoped I never would.

“No, he kept them in the car. He called it in, and waited for us to get there.”

“Did he see anything or pass anyone on the road?” Owen said.

McDonald shook his head. “He said no.”

“Any idea who the dead man is?”

“Yeah,” McDonald said, scratching his chin, “we know who he is. His name’s Dave Becker. He’s not from around here. His license says Richmond.”

“Richmond? What’s he doing here?” Owen said.

“Yeah, well…that’s where things get a little complicated. The guy has a rap sheet a mile long, although he’s never been convicted of anything.”

“He had friends in high places,” T.J. said.

“Any idea who killed him?” I asked McDonald.

He shook his head. “Too early in the investigation. I left my guys waiting for the crime scene techs. I wanted you to hear the news from me.”

“Why?”

“There was some damage on the front of the truck. It looked like it had been in an accident.”

“You think he’s the one who ran us off the road?”

“I think it’s possible. I’ll have the techs check it out to be sure.”

“We need to go inside,” Garth interrupted. “One of my guys found something on our security tape I think you’re going to want to see.”

He led us to a room near the kitchen. Inside, there were several TV screens that showed various locations of the Mathias property. “Rod, do you have that tape ready for us to see?”

“Yes, sir,” he replied. He punched a few buttons on his keyboard, and he pointed to a screen to his left. We saw Edward Winthrop come through the trees, walk up to a planter on the back patio, drop something inside, and run off.

After watching it two more times, we went out to the kitchen. “Have any of your guys gone out there to check the planter?” McDonald asked Garth.

He shook his head. “I told them not to do anything until you and I got here.” Opening a drawer to his right, he pulled out some latex gloves and a freezer bag. “We probably need these.”

A couple of minutes later, we were standing outside by the planter. McDonald, Owen and Garth both had on gloves; Garth held the freezer bag. “Owen, why don’t you pull the plant up?” he suggested.

Owen lifted the plant, and we all looked down to the bottom of the planter. “There it is.”

McDonald reached down and pulled out the gun by the barrel with two fingers. “Small but deadly,” he commented as he put it in the bag.

“Do you think this gun was used to kill that man?” I asked McDonald.

“Judging by the size of the wounds, I’d say yeah.”

“Then there’s a good chance that Edward killed Becker,” T.J. said as Owen put the plant down.

“He’s not known for doing his own dirty work,” McDonald said.

“Looks like he made an exception in this case,” T.J. replied.

“He probably called Becker as soon as he left here,” I mused, “killed him, then drove back here to plant the gun. But how did he get up here?”

“There’s a dirt road about a half-mile back that way,” Garth said, pointing to his left where the trees were. “He had to have parked out there, since we saw him come through the trees right there.”

“I can get my guys to take some tire track molds so we can compare them to his car,” McDonald said, taking out his phone. It rang before he could make his call. “McDonald. Uh huh…yeah…really? Anything else? Do you know who it was that called? Interesting, very interesting. Tell him we appreciate him calling, and I’ll be in touch with him soon. Thanks, Gertrude.” He turned to look at us. “A concerned citizen called to say that they saw someone who looked like Patricia Mathias sitting in a truck with Dave Becker. He saw a couple of flashes, and then she jumped out of the truck, got in her car and drove away. He carefully followed her back here, where he trailed her through the trees and saw her put a gun in a planter on the back patio.”

“Did this concerned citizen leave a name?” T.J. said.

“No,” he said, shaking his head, “but I’ll bet money it’s Edward Winthrop.”

“What does he hope to gain by framing Patricia?” I said.

“Mind if I take a look at the gun?” Garth asked McDonald. “I still have my gloves on.” McDonald nodded, and Garth opened the bag. Taking the gun out, he looked at it closely. “The serial number has been filed off. It’s probably been wiped clean, too.”

“I can’t picture Patricia carrying or even owning a gun,” I said.

“Oh, Mrs. Mathias knows how to shoot,” Garth replied, putting the gun back in the bag and sealing it shut. “She’s actually quite proficient with a Glock.”

“Do they own a .22?” McDonald said.

“No.”

McDonald took the freezer bag from Garth. “I need to get back to the crime scene. The tech boys will be thrilled to get a hold of the murder weapon, but I have to agree with Garth: I don’t think we’ll get anything from it beyond a ballistics match.”

We shook hands with him. “Thank you for everything you’ve done to help,” I told him. “I’m sorry about the trouble.”

“Ms. Crenshaw, you are one very brave woman,” McDonald said. “Not many women could have gone through what you have, and come out on the other side with her head held high.”

“I’m not as brave as you think I am, Sheriff. On the inside, I’m a quivering bowl of gelatin.”

“You’d never know it to look or talk to you. I’ll keep in touch with Sheriff Greene, and I’ll let him know if we find anything here.”

We watched him drive away. “The jet is fueled and ready to go,” Garth said.

I looked at T.J. and Owen. “What do you say, guys? Ready to go home?”

“Are you?” T.J. replied.

Glancing around at the grounds, then back at the house, I nodded. “I’m ready for the simple things in life again.”

“Are you sure you can fly with your injuries?” Owen said.

“I took the liberty of talking to the doctor who treated Ms. Crenshaw the other night. He believes she should be just fine for flying. Considering what you’ve been through in the last three days, my guess is you’ll sleep the whole way home.”

“Then let’s go.”

It took a half an hour to get our things together, and thirty minutes later, we were standing in the hanger, watching our things being loaded onto the jet. Garth came over to us. “Micha said to tell you goodbye. She’s busy trying to find more information out about the two women who moved to Dallas, especially Barbara Stephenson.”

“I find it unbelieveable that Barbara would be involved with Ethan after what he did to her in high school,” I said. “After what he did to me, I didn’t want to be anywhere near him.”

“Maybe he didn’t recognize Barbara,” T.J. said.

“What do you mean?”

“Garth said that she went by Marie Stevens in high school. We don’t have any idea what she looked like back then. Maybe she changed her looks.”

“And then what? Stalked Ethan until she could get catch his attention? The woman Jake and I met doesn’t seem smart enough to find her car keys without a GPS.”

“I’ll go over anything Micha finds with Jake. If we think it’s something you should know, we’ll call.”

T.J. and Owen shook hands with Garth and headed for the jet. “Garth, I really appreciate everything, and I mean everything, that you’ve done for me. You’re a very kind, understanding man.” I started to shake his hand, but quickly gave him a hug instead.

“Stay strong, Ms. Crenshaw, and don’t be afraid to lean on those who care about you,” he said. “Your young man cares about you a great deal, I can tell. He’ll help you through this.”

“I…” I looked over my shoulder at T.J., who was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. “Take care of Jake, and don’t let him do anything stupid.”

“I’ll do my best, but you know what he’s like when he puts his mind to something. I put a couple of things for you in a box on the jet. And here,” he said, handing me a small black box, “is a phone. It’s for emergencies only.”

“A direct line to the Garth cave?” I laughed.

He smiled. “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. My number as well as Micha’s number is listed in the directory. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Come on, Lizzie!” T.J. said.

I gave Garth another hug and hurried over to the jet. When I turned to wave to Garth, he was gone. Shaking my head, I climbed inside the jet and sat down. One day, I was really going to have to find out more about him.

An hour later, Garth walked into Jake’s hospital room. “Are they gone?”

Garth nodded. “About an hour.”

“Did you give her the phone?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think she’ll use it?”

“It’s hard to say, Jake. I get the feeling she’s not the type of person who likes to ask for help, very much like someone else I know.” Jake looked out the window and didn’t reply. “Micha found an old yearbook with a picture of Marie Stevens. I thought you might want to take a look at it.”

“I thought she said there weren’t any pictures of her?” Jake said, taking the yearbook from him.

“Micha decided to go down to the high school and look for herself. She found a couple of pictures of her in the drama club section.”

Jake flipped it open to the bookmark. His eyes widened when he found Marie’s picture. “Oh my God, this can’t be right,” he said as he looked at a picture of a girl with stringy brown hair, big glasses, and braces.

“What?”

“I know who Marie is.”

“According to the yearbook, her full name is Barbara Marie Stevens.”

“I can see that, but that’s not what I mean.”

“What then?”

“She was a freshman when I was a junior. I saw her every time I went over to the house, but I only said hello to her. She was just there, in the background, not really registering in my mind.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The woman who introduced herself to me as Barbara is Jessica’s half-sister.”