Mistaken Identity (4 page)

“Most certainly, Lieutenant. After all, my boyfriend is Parker Sterling’s son, too.”

An image of this woman in a passionate embrace with a teenage boy flashed through her thoughts, making her stomach churn. “Your boyfriend Jason is your grandson’s age?”

Victoria
gasped and then tittered. “Oh, Lieutenant. Oh, Lieutenant, I should be appalled but I can’t help but laugh.” She giggled. “Oh, my, my. What a dreadful vision you must’ve formed in your head. Jason and Frederick don’t have the same mother. They’re both Parker’s sons but only
Frederick
is my daughter’s child. Oh, my, that would be absolutely outrageous, wouldn’t it?”

Lucinda squirmed at her reaction. “But with the same father, Jason and Freddy would be close to the same age?”

Victoria
glanced at Lucinda and jerked her eyes away. “I really wish you wouldn’t call him Freddy.”

“Ma’am, please, how old is your boyfriend?” Lucinda asked, pressing down her impatience.

Victoria
chuckled, her eyes twinkled. “Why, he’s old enough to be
Frederick
’s father. Which means, Jason is young enough, I suppose, to be my son, but once you’re out of your thirties, the age difference doesn’t matter quite so much, does it?”

“So, Jason, is …?”

“In his forties.”

“And your grandson is thirteen, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And you think they have the same father?”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure of it. Different names but the same man.”

“Different names?”

“Yes. When Jason was born Parker went by the name Samuel Houston King.”

“Where is Jason right now?”

“He’s in
Texas
. Visiting his mother.”

“How long has he been there?”

“His flight left, I believe,” she looked at her wrist watch, “about three hours ago. He should be in
San Antonio
by now, I think.”

“Today? He left town today?”

“Yes.
Frederick
was so disappointed. He really likes Jason. They love playing together on the Wii. It’s a nice way for the brothers to bond.”

Lucinda was certain she’d slipped into another dimension.
No wonder Freddy was acting so strangely.
“I’ll need to speak with Jason, Ms. Whitehead. Could you give me his cell number – he did take it with him, didn’t he?”

“Well, yes, but I don’t know. I can’t see why Jason needs to be involved. And his mother is sickly.”

“Why don’t you get me his mother’s home address, too? I have to speak with Jason. Like you said, he’s done the research. He knows more than anyone about Parker Sterling, or Samuel King, or whoever he is.” Lucinda plastered what she hoped was a look of sincerity on her face.

“Oh, yes, of course. How silly of me. I’ll go get my address book.”

At that moment, a loud “whoop” echoed up from the basement, followed by footsteps pounding up the stairs. “I beat her,” Freddy crowed as he bounded into the living room. “I beat a police officer.”

Robin followed him, grinning and nodding. “He sure did. The kid gave me a righteous stomping.”

“Yeah,” Freddy said. “Righteous.”

“Congratulations, Freddy,” Lucinda said with a smile. She dreaded bringing him down to earth – away from games and back to reality. She crouched down, resting an elbow on each knee. “Hey, Freddy …”

The joy drained from his face as rapidly as floodwaters from a ruptured dam. “Yes, ma’am?”

“Did you think of anything else I need to know?”

“Not really, ma’am. But I don’t think I explained things too well.”

“That’s okay, Freddy. Your grandmother filled in the blanks. You still have my card?”

He pulled it out of his pocket and held it up as he smiled. “Sure do.”

“Good, you keep it safe and call me anytime. And congratulations again; Officer Colter needed someone to bring her down a peg.” Lucinda pushed down on her knees and rose to her full height.

Victoria
returned with a piece of paper in her hand containing the address and phone number for Karen King, as well as Jason’s cellphone number. “Just remember, when you speak to
Frederick
’s brother, his mother is sickly.”

Lucinda jerked her head over to Freddy. She saw no indication that his grandmother’s mention of his brother surprised or bothered him in any way. It seemed as if the boy believed Jason was his brother.

“Please don’t distress her,”
Victoria
said as she handed the address to Lucinda.

Lucinda and Robin walked out of the house and stopped by Robin’s patrol car. “So what’s running through your head?” Lucinda asked.

“Something’s off. Something’s odd.”

“Yeah, odd’s a good word.”

“Does Freddy really have a brother?” Robin asked.

“The grandmother says so – a half-brother anyway. His name is Jason.” Lucinda looked down at the address in her hand. “Jason King, I believe.”

“Which parent do they share?”

“The father, she said.”

“How old is Freddy’s brother?”

“In his forties, she said.”

“What?”

“Yeah, about thirty years’ difference in their ages. I imagine it is biologically possible but it sure doesn’t sound probable to me.”

“You believe her?” Robin asked.

“No, but Freddy does.”

Seven

Returning to the
Sterling
home, Lucinda donned booties and latex gloves before crossing the threshold. She went up the stairs to the bedroom. The bed was stripped of its linens. Rectangular holes scarred the surface of the mattress.

Marguerite emerged from the bathroom and smiled at Lucinda. “Glad you’re back. I’ve got something to show you.”

Lucinda pointed to the bed. “Blood on the mattress?”

“Nah, but we did find some body fluids and took them for testing.”

“Good. If someone other than Jeanine and Parker Sterling were in that bed, we need to know.”

“My thinking exactly. I found two bullets in the bathroom. Wanna see?”

“Excellent,” Lucinda said, following Marguerite into the adjoining bath.

Marguerite pointed to a spot on the wall and both women leaned toward it, their noses just a hair’s breadth from the surface. “Thirty-eight?” Lucinda asked.

“That’d be my guess. The ballistics labs will let us know for sure.”

“Where’s the other one?”

Marguerite led her into a luxurious, large shower. A broad rain shower head pointed down from the ceiling. Four water jets pointed at each other from opposite walls. “Right here.”

Lucinda looked at the cracked slate tile. “You got a flashlight?”

Marguerite pulled one from her tool belt and handed it to the detective. Lucinda studied the bullet. “Looks like the same caliber.”

“Yeah. But not the same victim.”

“You sure of that?”

“I did a quick blood typing test around each bullet. Type A in the shower, type O on the wall.”

“Nice, Spellman. Very nice. If we could only find the head, we could get trajectory and have a shot at recreating the scene.”

“We haven’t found it in the house.”

“I doubt if it’s anywhere near here. But, I’ve got a cadaver dog coming over to check the grounds, just in case. Any sign of a gun in the house?”

“Not yet. No gun. No ammunition. But we’re still going through the house,” Marguerite said. “They all know to alert me if they find a gun, a head, hands or anything else of interest.”

“Thanks, Spellman.”

“Lieutenant, there’s one thing that’s bothering me.”

“What’s that, Spellman?”

“There are two adults in this house. Two cars in the garage. But we’ve only been able to find one ring of keys. Doesn’t make sense.”

“No, it doesn’t. Any theories?”

“Got me, Lieutenant, it’s just odd. We’ll keep looking. They might still show up somewhere.”

“Let me know if they do.” Lucinda went downstairs and went from room to room observing the techs at work. Pleased with their thoroughness, she was, nonetheless, impatient for them to finish and get out of the house. She wanted to spend some time here alone.

That would have to come later. For now, her priority was the nine-one-one caller, Pamela Godfrey. She climbed into her car for the drive downtown. On the way there, she called Ted. “Did you find a connection between Godfrey and the Sterlings?”

“I sure did. Parker
Sterling
is the founder and former CEO of Dodgebird.”

“Dodgebird?”

“A computer software company. They were bought out by Microsoft last year but in the negotiations,
Sterling
secured the vice-presidency of the Dodgebird division and he still manages the facility. Dodgebird’s legal representation is handled by Drummond-Godfrey.”

“Aah … and?”

“A couple of years before the Microsoft acquisition,
Sterling
and Godfrey spent a lot of time together. Remember that child porn ring the FBI busted up?”

“Yeah. How can I forget a swarm of those vainglorious jerks?”

“Oh, did you and your Special Agent have a fight?”

“Don’t start with me, Ted.”

“Well, I thought …”

“Ted, I just pulled up to a meter downtown, so drop it or I’ll throw Ellen in your face.”

‘Okay. Never mind. Anyway, one of the folks arrested was the sales manager at Dodgebird. Pamela Godfrey personally handled the media flak and public relations damage control for that.”

“Anything else before I tackle Godfrey?”

“Just a little scuttlebutt that might prove useful. It seems Ms. Godfrey has a reputation for mixing business with pleasure.”

“An affair with
Sterling
?” Lucinda asked.

“I haven’t heard anything that specific – just a general rumor that she has a tendency to climb into bed with her clients.”

“Lovely,” Lucinda said. “Thanks, Ted. I’ll call back when I finish with Godfrey.”

Lucinda strode into the high-rise, checked the board for an office number, stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. When the doors opened, she saw that there were just two offices on that level – straight ahead of her were the oversized double glass doors leading to the law offices of Drummond-Godfrey. Beyond the doors and past the receptionist, the panorama of the city filled the far glass wall. To her right, an apparently smaller space with a single door was marked “Pamela Godfrey Management.”

She entered and approached the front desk. “Pamela Godfrey, please.”

A cute and perky dark-haired young woman smiled and asked, “Do you have an appointment?”

Lucinda hated that question. It always spoke of a sense of superiority and a spirit of exclusion. She pulled out her badge and held it close to the woman’s face. “This is all the appointment I need. Tell Ms. Godfrey I’m here.”

The receptionist’s face turned beet red and her jaw moved without making a sound. She picked up a receiver and spun around in her chair, turning her back to Lucinda. She whispered into the phone, pivoted back and hung up the receiver. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It just isn’t convenient for Ms. Godfrey to speak with you at this time. Umm …”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry. But she told me to tell you that y’all ate up enough of her time today already.”

“Fine,” Lucinda said and walked toward the hallway that led to the offices.

The flustered receptionist jumped up and blocked her path. “I’m sorry. But I can’t let you go back there.”

Lucinda looked down on her – at five feet eleven inches and wearing three-inch heels, she made the petite woman standing in front of her look like a small child. “Really?” she said. She placed a hand on both of the woman’s upper arms and gently moved her out of the way. She strode down the hall to the door bearing Pamela’s name and threw it open.

Pamela bolted up out of her high-backed office chair. Anger curled her lips into a sneer. In the chairs opposite her desk, two dark-suited men bounced to their feet, with widened eyes.

“How dare you?” Pamela said.

Lucinda smiled at the visitors in the room, pulled out her badge and flashed it first in their direction and then at Pamela.

One of the men said, “We were just leaving.”

“No, you were not,” Pamela snapped.

“Hey, Pamela, we can come back,” the other man said.

“Sit.” When they didn’t respond immediately, she said, “Now!” They slid back down but their bodies remained tensed, ready for flight. She turned to Lucinda. “You’ll need to make an appointment with the receptionist. Right now, as you see, I am occupied.”

“Okay. If that’s your attitude, fine,” Lucinda said pulling a pair of cuffs out of the waistband at the back of her skirt. “We can go over to headquarters, if that’s the way you want to play it.”

The two women stared at each other across Pamela’s desk. Pamela looked away first. Seeing the receptionist standing in the doorway wringing her hands, she said, “Jennifer, would you please escort the officer down to the conference room?” Turning back to Lucinda she plastered a sour smile on her face. “Just give me a minute, please. I’ll be right with you.”

Lucinda continued to stare for a few more seconds before turning and following Jennifer. She understood that power play.
We made Godfrey wait in an empty room. Now she’s going to return the favor. That’s okay. Once she thinks she’s put me in my place, her cockiness will make it easier to catch her off guard and corner her in a contradiction.

Lucinda barely heard the stuttered apologies of Godfrey’s embarrassed employee. Her thoughts had already moved forward, forming a strategy. The challenge of the upcoming interview made Lucinda smile.