Jason Deas - Cameron Caldwell 01 - Private Eye (18 page)

As the prayer ended, Darren and Alice lifted their heads as if they had been participants in the holy communication. Turner continued to watch the zoomed camera as Darren retrieved an abandoned bulletin from the previous Sunday and a pencil. In the margin of the bulletin he wrote, “$16,000,000.” Upon seeing the figure, Alice’s head snapped toward him. She raised her eyebrows and Darren nodded. They turned their attention back to the minister and feigned attention.

As Alice listened to the minister, Darren scratched over what he’d previously written. He put the bulletin back in the pew and set his eyes on the minister. The service ended without any other observable interactions between the two.

As soon as the last person left, Turner descended from the balcony to find Cam and Blanca. The procession of people was headed to the graveyard for the lowering of the casket. They stayed behind to exchange notes.

“Did you happen to see anything?” Cam asked.

“I think you’re going to be very pleased,” Turner answered.

Turner explained all he had seen and recorded. “I’m afraid they didn’t say anything the mics picked up, but I’d say the physical contact plus the sixteen million dollar figure Darren wrote is very telling.”

“It’s great circumstantial evidence,” Blanca said, “but we’re going to need more in order to move forward with the case. We need something from Darren’s house or Alice’s.”

“How long do you think they’ll be at the burial site?” Cam asked.

“At least an hour,” Blanca answered. “Why?”

“No reason,” Cam said. “Call me when you see Darren leave town.” He turned to Turner. “You left your car here last night, right?” Turner nodded. “Give me the keys. I’ll return it to you this evening.”

Turner reached into his pocket and tossed Cam the keys to his car. Cam took them and headed for the door. When he reached the door he turned around. “Blanca, you and Turner get over to the graveyard and call me as soon as Darren leaves. It’ll give me an idea of how much time I have. You can get your equipment later, Turner.” He left before either of them could ask any more questions.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Cam nearly drove the wheels off the car to Darren’s. He wanted to make sure he had plenty of time to search the place before he returned. As he pulled into Darren’s drive his phone rang.

“Take your time,” Blanca said. “The graveside service just ended and I asked Darren to come to the station for questioning. He’s following behind me right now. I’ll keep him for at least thirty minutes. Good luck.”

“You’re the best.”

Just in case someone happened to drop by, Cam parked the car behind a shed on the side of the property.

Cam opened the car door and thought of the dogs. He hoped they weren’t in the house and wondered what he’d do if they were. He remembered Darren yelling the word “pen” and speculated what would happen if he yelled the word. As the car door slammed his fears were calmed as the dogs started barking from the pen.

Wondering and hoping that all three dogs were in the pen, Cam approached the front door and knocked loudly. He listened carefully for movement inside or noise. Not hearing any, he tried the door. As he expected, it was unlocked. Darren didn’t expect visitors.

Cam entered the dwelling. The mess inside was just as he remembered. He thought it would be easy to shuffle through Darren’s belongings without him detecting anything had been moved. Not exactly sure what he was looking for, Cam started with the drawers. He began with the two end tables and an old coffee table in the living room area. The drawers in the coffee table had a pair of finger nail clippers and a pile of clipped nails, some of which looked to be toe nails. He quickly shut it and tried to get the image out of his head. One of the end tables contained a few issues of
Guns & Ammo
, batteries, a long piece of string, and a black plastic comb. The other end table held an instruction manual to the television, a dog collar, and a copy of the map Claude had given him. Bingo!

The hallway ceiling leading to the bedroom had the opening for the attic. Cam pulled the door down accompanied by the ladder and walked up the creaking stairs. At the top of the ladder he found a hanging light bulb and pulled the metal chain. It looked as though nobody had been in the area for years. A thick layer of dust covered the plywood floor. Cam ran his finger through the dust and was certain nobody had been in the attic in a long time.

In the bedroom, he looked under the bed, which surprised him by being free of clutter. Lifting the mattress to see if Darren had hidden anything between it and the box spring he found some things he could have gone his whole life without seeing. Darren had eclectic tastes in magazines. Rifling through the closet and the rest of the bedroom, Cam didn’t find anything else to raise his suspicions.

As he was about to make his way back to the car he heard a noise from outside. Peeking through the blinds he spied Claude’s truck. Cam ran to the back door. He opened it not realizing that the dog pen wrapped around the house and filled the entire back yard. A dog showed his teeth and began walking toward Cam as he quickly shut the door. Running back into the living room, his head spun as he looked for a place to hide.
What in the world is he doing here?

Cam peeked out the blinds again as Claude dug something out of his truck—he knew he only had about thirty more seconds to find a hiding place. Cam turned his head to the hallway, remembered the attic and the piece of string in one of the drawers and had an idea. First, he hurried to the front door and locked it. It was a simple lock, but he knew it would buy him at least another minute. Grabbing the piece of string, he ran to the hallway and the attic opening. Cam pulled the ladder down and quickly tied one end of the string to the bottom step of the folding stairs. He sprinted up the wooden stairs hoping his idea would work. Inside the attic, he grabbed the string and pulled. Nothing happened. He needed a different angle. Repositioning himself on the other side of the attic’s opening, Cam leaned down with the string in his hand and pulled on it again. This time the spring loaded ladder shot up. Luckily, he was ready and stopped it before it banged on the ceiling. With his other hand he was able to fold the ladder stairs and gently close the door.

Cam could hear Claude fumbling with the lock. While he did, Cam took the opportunity to push the attic door back down as a test to see if he could see what Claude was doing once he was in the house and to hear if the door creaked. He discovered that he could see a sliver of the living room and the door only made a noise if pushed past a certain point. He tried to slow his breathing as he waited for Claude to find success with the lock. It didn’t take long for him to conquer it and Cam took one more deep breath as Claude pushed the door open and entered the room.

“Darren,” Claude said to the room, “Soo-ee! Soo-ee! Here Piggy Piggy!” Claude twirled around. “A little piggy lives here.” He made some oinking sounds. From his pocket, he pulled a man’s wallet. Getting down on all fours, he lifted the fabric from the bottom of the couch and peered under. Claude slid the wallet under the couch. Looking around the room, Claude said once again to the air, “How should I play this, Piggy? Watch out, Piggy?” Claude opened the same drawers Cam had. He didn’t see anything he deemed worthy. Lined on a shelf in the den were Darren’s tobacco pipes. Claude eyed them. With a handkerchief, he pocketed the one carved with an Indian head. “Oink, oink,” he said, leaving the house and closing the door behind him.

Cam listened for the truck to leave. When it did he pushed the attic door down, and shook it until the ladder unfolded. He hadn’t expected the delay and hoped he wouldn’t cross paths with Darren on his return home. Opening the front door, Cam took one last look at the room and wondered how long it would take for Darren to notice his Indian head pipe missing. He also wondered what Claude’s plan was with the hidden wallet and the stolen pipe.

As soon as he was sure Claude was at least a mile down the road, Cam headed out. He stopped at the first gas station in town and bought a six-pack and a Georgia map. Not wanting to cross paths with Darren or Claude, who might have stopped for gas or a snack, Cam studied the map for a different route home.

Instead of the one hour it should have taken, it took him two hours to get home. When he arrived back in Miner’s Bluff, Cam drove straight to the police station, hoping Blanca would be there. As he parked the car he unwrapped two pieces of cinnamon gum and popped them into his mouth. He chewed furiously as he approached the front door of the station.

The inside of the station was quiet. Cam called out to announce his presence. Blanca called back. “In here,” she yelled.

Cam walked into her office and asked, “Did I miss anything?”

“No. Not unless you were hoping to see Alice making a scene. It was embarrassing, really. You would have thought they were newlyweds. I have a feeling she was crying for another reason, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why. From what I know, she hated Billy. She was worried and suspected he was abusing their daughter verbally, and possibly physically. She gets most of his money. She gets some of the land. What has her upset?”

“I have a theory,” Cam said, sitting down in the chair across from Blanca’s desk.

“Let’s hear it.” Blanca scooted forward in her chair. “And for the record, the gum doesn’t really cover the beer smell.”

“I’m not really sure what you’re talking about,” Cam slid his chair back a bit. “Tell me if this makes sense. Claude and Alice are having a physical affair. During their time together, Alice tells Claude all the terrible things Billy has done to her and their daughter, Kaye. Wanting to be the knight in shining armor, Claude formulates a plan to get rid of Billy. Originally, Alice agrees and thinks it’s a great idea, but when the idea is real—she freaks. She can’t handle the thought that she is part of a murder. And that is why she is so upset.”

“Interesting. How do we go about proving it?”

Cam told her what he’d witnessed at Darren’s.

“It’s a start, but we sure can’t say what you witnessed since you basically were breaking and entering.”

“I have a feeling the pipe will show up somewhere soon, and then we may be able to get a warrant to search Darren’s house. We’ll find the wallet, and then we’ll go from there.”

“How does this lead us back to Claude?”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I didn’t take the wallet out to look at it, but I’m assuming it’s Billy’s. I’m guessing Billy’s wallet wasn’t in his pocket?”

“No. The only things he had on him were his clothes and the radio dial in his mouth.”

“What about the map? Didn’t he have the map in his pocket?”

“No. I already told you that. You really should slow your drinking. Maybe he had it in his hand when he was attacked and it blew away.”

“We need to go back to the murder site and walk a larger perimeter to see if we can find anything else.” Cam ignored the comment about his drinking.

Blanca’s phone rang. She shook her head up and down as she said, “Uh huh, uh huh. I’m on my way.” She hung up the phone. “That didn’t take him long. Somebody just spotted a bunch of black smoke coming from the direction of the murder site.”

Chapter Twenty-eight

Rowdy processed the evidence they’d collected and faked the dates on the paperwork. He picked up the phone and dialed the state crime lab. A young woman’s voice answered and asked how she could direct the call.

“I sent some evidence with a courier a few days ago and I need to make sure it made it, please.”

“If you don’t mind holding for a moment, I’ll transfer you to someone who will be able to help you.” Rowdy thanked her.

The next voice was another woman. An older one. And jaded.

“Good afternoon,” Rowdy said. “This is Chief Rowde with the Hayes Police Department. How are you this afternoon?”

“Busy.”

“Then I’ll get straight to the point. I sent a courier over there to deliver some evidence a few days ago. I wanted to make sure you received it.”

“Your courier should have the paperwork with the proper signatures.”

“I can’t seem to get a hold of him.”

“So, you want me to do his job and mine, too?”

“I’m just trying to solve a murder case, ma’am. I’ll dance at your wedding if you’ll check for me.” After he said it, Rowdy knew he should’ve picked a different saying.

“I got married thirty years ago, just recently kicked his butt to the curb, and don’t plan on doing it again.” Before Rowdy could backtrack she said, “Hold.”

As he held, Rowdy looked at the package on his desk. He went over the lines he’d practiced in his head.

“Chief Rowde, I can’t find anything from your department.”

“What?” Rowdy said. “I can’t believe this. I just found the package under the front desk. I’m so embarrassed.”

“You should be,” she said, deadpan.

“I’m just going to deliver this myself. Will you please make a note that there was some sort of misunderstanding and my evidence from a few days ago never made it there?”

“As soon as we get off the phone I’ll write up a full report,” she lied. Deadpan.

“When I get there I hope I can shake your hand.”

“Don’t forget your dancing shoes,” the woman said, hanging up the phone.

Rowdy grabbed the package, told Dell he would be gone for a few hours, and headed out. He didn’t see Kyle’s car sitting in the parking lot as he left. As soon as Rowdy’s car was out of sight, the newspaperman exited his car and headed into the station.

Dell greeted him with his usual friendliness. “Well, hey Kyle. Are you working on a big story?”

“No,” Kyle lied. “I just needed to pay a parking fine. I was parked downtown the other day by one of the meters and lost track of time. I got a ticket and just wanted to take care of it.”

“We don’t do that here. You have to pay that at the courthouse.”

“That’s right,” Kyle said, slapping his forehead. “I knew that.” He laughed, trying to put Dell at ease. Dell laughed with him. “Hey, let me ask you a question. Before Cam left town I let him borrow a little money. I never got it back and I really need it. You don’t happen to know where he is, do you?”