Nightingale's Nightmare (Cassadaga Book 4 (16 page)

Nightingale could
n’t wait to talk with Bill.

T
wenty-three

“Nothing like confirmation of your suspicions,” Bill said as they sat at the dinner table. “My bet is that Latisha killed that woman
and
her father.”

“I think you’re right. That’s my take on it. She was holding something back, I’m sure of it.”

Nightingale swung the spoon filled with mashed potatoes toward Bill. “More?”

“No, I’m stuffed.
I’m going to get fat if you keep feeding me like this,” he answered.

“You’re skinny. You can afford to eat more, while I could shed a few pounds.”

“You’re perfect. I love your body,” Bill replied. “It’s womanly and soft.”

That’s what she liked about Bill:  unconditional love. He accepted her as she was.
Nightingale knew he was a rare breed.

“Now if we could just get some steam
going in the direction of the other murder,” Nightingale said.

“I’ve been working on it. But so far, nothing,” Bill said.
“No witnesses. I don’t know what to do with it.”

“Back to Latisha. Do you have enough to bring her in for questioning?”

“We already did that.”

“But now you have more information about her past.
It couldn’t hurt. Might shake her up. Rattle her cage and maybe she’ll talk,” Nightingale suggested.

“It doesn’t work that easily
. On TV, yeah, glare at the suspect and harass them and they pop,” he said. “Not in real life.”

“Okay, so that’s
an exaggeration of the facts. But she could crack if pressured. How long has she been carrying around the truth? Years. Maybe it’s weighing heavily on her now.” She lifted away the plate in front of Bill.

“
It could be,” Bill said, looking into Nightingale’s eyes. “That would be my first interrogation.”

“And you’d be great.
Go get h
er, tiger!” Nightingale kissed Bill on the cheek as she collected his glass. “You sexy detective!”

~~

Latisha sat across from Bill, her brown eyes shooting red blades of hate. Her jaw was clenched as she clutched the purse sitting in her lap. Her palms were sweaty.

“What exactly was your relationship with Bradford Perry?” Bill asked the question from a standing position, then sat down to hear the answer. He had already flipped on the digital recorder.

“I was his employee,” she said with an attitude in her tone. “I already told this to another detective. He was my boss.”

“What did you do for Mr. Perry? What services did you perform?”

“I was his personal secretary,” Latisha said as she rolled her eyes in disgust for having to repeat her statement. “Look in that folder, it’s all in there.”

“I know what it says in the folder
, Latisha. I know what you stated previously. I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself by telling the truth, filling in the empty spaces.”

“You saying I lied before? I don’t lie! I’m an honest girl and I work
ed hard at my job, no lazy gal here.” Latisha slapped the top of her bag with one hand. “It’s all in there, what I said before. How I arranged appointments for him, kept his schedule for everything in his life. Even the time he spent with his lady friends.”

“So, you knew everything about Bradford Perry. Where he was at all times, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. I knew everything.”

“Even about his girlfriends…”

“Yes, I just said that.”

“Did he have a lot of girlfriends?”

“Well, not like some of those football players, but, yes, he had a lot of girls. He was a horndog, if you know what I mean. One wasn’t enough.”

Bill looked into Latisha’s eyes. “What did you think about his behavior?”

“I thought it was trashy.”

“Did he know how you felt?”

“No, I kept my mouth shut. I liked my paycheck.”

“Is that why you left his employment, his trashy behavior?”

Latisha swallowed before she answered.

“Yes, that was the reason. I couldn’t stand knowing he was
going to meet another girl when he was already bedding someone else. It was disgusting. He’d be humping two or three regularly at the same time.”

“I can understand your feelings.
Even though I’m a male, I think his behavior was disgusting, too.”

“It
was pitiful, that’s what it was. Just pitiful.” Latisha looked indignant. “I hate cheaters.”

“So, you quit your job with Perry…”

“Yes, I had to… Six months ago. I couldn’t take it anymore. He was engaged to this lovely woman. She was smart, too. Had a great career going for herself, and that slimy bastard was slipping it to someone else!” Latisha’s face was a cloud of gray and her eyes were sparking with anger as she spoke.

“So,
what went through your mind, Latisha? Maybe teach him a lesson, make him pay for his poor behavior? Something like that?”

The pair locked eyes from across the table. Seconds passed as their eyes
remained fixed, bridging their separation, unblinking.

“No.”

“No? Come on, Latisha. You watched all this cheating going on and you did nothing about it? You, the one who hates a cheater? That’s impossible, Latisha. You would have been compelled to react, to get even.”

“The answer is no. I left my job, that’s all. That’s all
I did.”

“I don’t believe you. Not the woman who hates a cheater.
Nope. She’d have done something about it. Like put a knife in his back.”

“I didn’t do that.”

“You’re telling me you didn’t put a knife into Perry’s back. That wasn’t you?”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Who was it then?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know, Latisha? You knew everything about Bradford Perry. You said so yourself.”

“I wasn’t working for him anymore. I had quit my job.”

“But you still would have known about his fiancé, you still would have known the general schedule he kept. You knew everything about Perry, Latisha. You could easily have figured where he’d be and when.” Bill paused for a couple beats. “You could have easily put that knife in his back.”

“But I didn’t
.”

She looked Bill square in the eye when she made her statement. Most people couldn’t have done that and been telling the truth. But that didn’t mean Bill believed she was innocent. His gut was telling a different tale.

“Do you own any knives, Latisha? Fancy knives with stars in the handle?”

“No.”

“You sure about that, Latisha? You want to think again about that?”

“I don’t own any knives, except what’s in the kitchen drawer. Steak knives, like anyone else would have in their kitchen.”

Bill leaned forward and spoke slowly in a soft voice as he rested his elbows on the table.

“Latisha, I’m giving you a chance here. Be honest with me and we can lessen the ramifications of your actions. Reduce the charge because you cooperated. Come on. Latisha, I’m trying to help you.”

“I didn’t do nothing. I didn’t kill Bradford. Somebody else did it.”

He knew he didn’t have
the evidence to arrest Latisha. All he had was suspicion and a gut telling him Latisha murdered Bradford Perry. He would have to let her go.

“Latisha, I’m going to let you go home. But I want you to think about our conversation today, okay? Think about how you can help yourself by telling the truth, because I know you murdered Perry.
And I will come after you. You can count on that.”

Latisha stood up from the table despite her wobbly legs, clutching her purse
. Her face was frozen into an expressionless form as she silently left the room.

As soon as Latisha
was gone, Bill had a thought enter his head:  what if there were two knives with a black handle and white stars? That would explain why Nightingale had seen that knife hidden in a black purse. He immediately called Detective Martinez.

“I
just finished interviewing Latisha Johnson. I want a warrant to search her apartment.”

“What are you looking for?”

“A matching knife to the one used to murder Bradford Perry.”

“What makes you think there’s a mate?”

“Well, Nightingale had a vision or something, I’m not sure what to call it, but she saw a knife identical to the one used in the murder. It was hidden in a black purse. I want to see if such a knife exists besides the murder weapon and if it’s hidden in that woman’s apartment.” Bill paused. “I believe she’s the killer.”

Silence followed.

“I know, this is unorthodox,” Bill admitted, continuing to convince his superior, “but it’s worth a shot. Nightingale could be right.”

“I’ll call it in.”

Twenty-four

Alex was walking by just outside of Zach’s house when she saw Jorie and Zach leaving. Surprised to see the pair, she made a feeble attempt to be social.

“Uh, well, hi there,” she said.

“Hello, Alex. You look lovely today,” Jorie said with a glow on her face. “But then, you always do.”

Alex observed how Jorie leaned into Zach just before she began to walk back to her own house. She quickly surmised the two were fresh from a hot and heavy
nooner. Would wonders never cease?

“Alex, how’s the board position going?”
Zach could read all over her face what she was thinking.

“Just fine. How’s things with you—and Jorie.” Alex couldn’t help but slide in a naughty insinuation.

Zach blushed over the remark, but did not have to respond because two Sheriff’s vehicles rolled down the street, stopping outside Brigham Hall. Several men exited their vehicles and walked up the stairs to the entrance way. They proceeded to climb the long staircase inside to the second floor.

“I wonder what’s going on there?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know. I guess we’re about to find out.”

Detective France and three deputies forcibly entered the apartment rented by Latisha Johnson, warrant in hand, after she did not answer their knock and demand for entry.

The apartment was practically empty. Tables sat bare of any decoration and personal items were not visible. Latisha Johnson had left town.

“What the f…” one deputy mumbled.

“Look around for anything she left, any indication of where she might have gone,” France ordered.

The men tore through the closet, finding nothing of interest. All the clothes, purses and shoes had been removed. Dishes were still stacked on shelves in the kitchen and the silverware drawer was full.
Pots and pans remained in place.

Detective France immediately called Martinez
to report what he’d found.

“I’ll put a BOLO out on her. Ask around if anyone saw anything, then get back to the office.”

This was confirmation of his suspicions.
No one skips town overnight when they’re innocent
, Bill thought. Latisha murdered Bradford Perry. It didn’t get any simpler than that.

France approached Alex and Zach standing across the street.

“Afternoon, folks,” he said. “Have you seen Latisha Johnson today or last evening?”

“
No, Bill, I haven’t,” Alex said.

“I saw her drive off this morning. I thought she was going to work,” Zach relayed.

“Did she have anything in her car?” Bill asked.

“I
couldn’t see anything. It was early, barely light.”

“Do you know if she has any friends or family she might go to if she needed a place to stay?”

Zach looked curiously at France. “I’m not aware of any. What’s happened?”

“It appears she left town
suddenly. She’s a suspect in the murder of Bradford Perry.”

Alex drew her breath in sharply, her hand flying up to her face.

“I wish I could help you, Bill. All I know is she left town around 6 a.m.”

France held out his business card. “If she comes back or calls you, please give me a call
at that number.”

“Certainly.” Zach took the card from the detective.

France gave a card to Alex as well with the same instruction, then returned to his vehicle. While rounding the corner of Stevens and Cassadaga Road, he received a call from Martinez.

“Johnson
’s vehicle was seen on Route 44, presumably heading for I-95 and likely onto Georgia. The State Police are watching for her now. Don’t see how she can get past them.”

“That’s good.”

“You got her, France. Just a matter of clamping on the cuffs.”

France enjoyed his ride back to the office, feeling satisfied with himself.
His first murder case and he was a millimeter away from closing it.