One Deadly Sister (Sandy Reid Mystery Series #1) (30 page)

Goddard was astonished to hear Moran speak so bluntly in front of them. “This has nothing to do with justice. This isn’t why I became a cop.”

“What about the newspaper disclosures coming out?” the chief asked. “The media will tear us up. The phones will ring, and the TV cameras will be back in town unless we come up with some way to counteract the new speculation.”

Moran said, “That smartass sister is going back to the paper and retract everything. She’ll tell them she made it all up. They won’t dare print anything with that much uncertainty facing them. That will get this case back on track.”

“She’ll tell you to go to hell,” Goddard said, “and if you push her too hard, you’re setting fire to dynamite.”

“We’ll see about that. She’s just one little sister.”

“One deadly sister,” Goddard corrected.

“You don’t mean she’s armed?”

“I don’t know. Is a pit bull armed?”

“I want to see you outside.” The chief started to protest, but Moran motioned him to stay where he was. In the hall Moran demanded, “Go drag that sister out of your bed and bring her to my office at one o’clock.”

“What are you doing? It’s Sunday.”

“Just do it. Go get her. Don’t tell her what for, make it seem mysterious, ominous. Tell her she isn’t technically under arrest, but she had better show up. However you cops do it. Whatever it takes to unnerve her. I want her to sweat. I want to be face to face with the little bitch who’s out there screwing up my prosecution. That’ll be the end of her interference. You’re going to do this, Goddard, understand?”

“That’s blatant harassment. I won’t be a part of it.”

“I was right about you! I know you’ve been meeting with her. Just can’t keep your hands off that cute little body, huh.”

“I haven’t touched her. I’d never jeopardize the investigation.”

“Word is she’s letting you hit it big time.”

“Go to hell.”

“Huress is telling everyone she was bobbing pretty good in the front seat, before they were interrupted.”

Goddard’s hand struck out and grabbed Moran by the knot in his tie. When he twisted his fist, Moran’s mouth gaped open in a soundless choke, his eyes widened and his face turned white. Goddard said, “You idiot, in another minute she would have handed Huress his head.” He let Moran go with a hard push against the wall and walked away.

Moran yelled after him, “Your detective badge is going in the crapper. I hope you saved your uniforms, because your ass is going back in a patrol car.”

Moran’s hands were still shaking, trying to straighten his tie, when the chief came out in the hall. “I just ordered Goddard to bring Sandy Reid to my office, and he refused. That’s insubordination, Chief, and I want him brought up on charges.”

“Okay, but you’ve got to live with him until this thing is over. Call Bobby Huress, he’s off duty but you can reach him.”

“Huress has gone crazy too. Told me he wants nothing to do with Sandy Reid. Is the police force under your command or not? Since she got here, the whole town is upside down. Get her to my office at one o'clock. Even if you must do it yourself.”

The chief phoned Sergeant Lewis at home. “Sergeant, excuse the Sunday call. I’m told you know how to reach Sandy Reid. Just why you’d know how to reach the suspect’s sister, I don’t understand, but that’s what I’m told.”

“Yeah, I can probably reach her. What do you want her for, Chief?”

“What do I want her for? None of your damn business what I want her for. Don’t question my orders, sergeant. Now find her, and tell her Moran wants her in his conference room at the courthouse at one today. Okay?”

“What does Moran want her for?”

After an audible sigh, the chief begged, “Just do it, sergeant.”

Goddard phoned Sandy as soon as he was away from Moran. “Heads up. You’ve got big trouble.”

“You are working on Sunday, huh. What’s happening?”

“Moran wants you brought to his office today. He wants you to retract everything you’ve told the paper. Don’t try to face him alone. Get Kagan to go with you. Watch your step, he’s tricky.”

She folded her phone just as it rang again. It was Linda.”

“Geez, Linda, is everyone working today? Can’t talk now, I have to meet with Moran.”

“Bad news, Sugar. The paper called a special editorial meeting last night and decided not to print any of your stuff. They’re scared to death of Moran. I’m so sorry.”

“Not anything? I already told Kagan it would all be printed. That fired him up and he threatened Moran on Friday. What about the editorial in today’s paper questioning the investigation?”

“That’s as far as they’re willing to go. I know you were counting on me, Sandy.”

“Then Moran holds a winning hand. He has no pressure to explain anything, and Raymond stays in jail.”

“Maybe not, Moran doesn’t
know
the paper backed down. He phoned me a little while ago and sounded worried. I told him the sky was falling, and everything
was
going to be printed.”

“You told him
what
?”

“Yeah I did it. I implied he was in deep shit.”

“You lied to a state attorney investigating a homicide? Are you out of your mind! When he finds out, he’ll charge you with obstruction of justice to begin with. He’ll have you jailed or at least fired. You’ll never work as a reporter in Florida again.”

“Well, there goes my Pulitzer. Guess I’ll move to Tampa and fix cars.”

“Why on earth…?”

“Listen Sandy, you’re in the driver’s seat for a few hours. Moran really believed me. Go make some kind of deal with him, before he finds out that he doesn’t have a lot of new information from the paper to deal with. Unless he checks with the editor right away, you guys have some time.”

“But Linda, in a few days he’ll realize nothing new is coming out in the paper, and he’d simply lock Raymond back up.”

“Wouldn’t he be embarrassed trying to explain why he let him out?”

“That’s true. And this gives Kagan another shot to go before the judge and maintain there was insufficient evidence to deny bail considering the new disclosures. It’s at least a chance to get Raymond out, and it might work. I won’t tell Kagan what we’re doing, so he’ll innocently continue acting as though we do have an advantage. If Moran falls for the bluff, he might negotiate. Linda, you just fell on your sword for me. Do you understand Moran is going to crucify you for lying regardless of how this turns out? Why did you do that?”

“Sugar, you know why.”

B
y the time Sandy reached the courthouse, the town was full of heavy rain. Park Beach is usually calm and quiet after the church traffic clears. That Sunday it was wet and miserable. The thunder and lightning might come later at her first meeting with Moran. Sandy parked in the police parking lot as usual and hurried across the boulevard to the courthouse, dodging puddles and holding her notebook over her head.

The courthouse appeared closed, but as she walked up the wide splendid steps, a sheriff’s deputy opened the huge door for her. She was expected.

“I’m soaked, any paper towels around?” He produced a roll. “Thanks, I didn’t come to Florida to catch cold.”

“Why didn’t you use the covered parking next to this building?”

“Now you tell me. It’s going to be one of those days.”

He scanned her with a handheld detector and directed her to the third floor offices of the state attorney. She crossed the spacious atrium to the elevators. The only break in the cold silence was the echo of the click of her shoes. The building air conditioning must have been set to cool a large weekday crowd. At that moment, she was not only damp but also surrounded by bone-chilling marble.

She found Moran’s office on the third floor next to the conference room and opened the door. She didn’t see him but heard him call out, “Just take a seat in the conference room, Miss Reid.”

She assumed he wanted this meeting to scare her off. That fit Chip’s description of him as a bully. Yet, if he’s at all rational, there should be some room to negotiate for bail. She needed to show him what he was up against. Show him that continuing with Raymond was not going to work. She would ask that he drop all charges and hope they could at least agree on release on bail. She must come away with a compromise, and do it before he learns the newspaper won’t be printing anything unfavorable.

She sat at the side of the long conference table, rubbing her arms for warmth and wishing she had brought a sweater. She waited. After twenty minutes, she assumed he was either playing a power game making her wait, or he had discovered the truth. Maybe he was on the phone being told Linda had lied to him, and the sky wasn’t falling.

At two p.m., one hour after the scheduled time, Moran entered. Without an apology or even looking at her he settled in opposite. Taking his time and not yet acknowledging her, he placed a stack of official-looking papers on his left side, a recorder on the other and a yellow legal pad in front.

“You came all by yourself. I thought Kagan would be with you.” He finally raised his head and took a look at her. “So you’re the clever Sandy Reid. Frankly, I don’t see it.”

“Keep looking.”

He ignored her and pulled the recorder over close in front of him.

She stood and slowly pulled her chair away from the table. She walked over and exchanged her chair for one from the end of the table.

“What are you doing? Sit down. Leave the chairs alone.”

“I noticed your chair is much higher than mine.”

He clicked a button on his recorder. “All right, let’s begin. Good afternoon, Miss Reid.”

She put her handbag on the table beside her, took out her phone and another small device. She moved them around a bit, played with some buttons and then announced, “Okay, I’m ready.”

He was grim. “Now what are you doing?”

“I’m recording our conversation.”

“
This
is the official recorder,” he said, pointing in front of him.

“That’s fine. Yours is the official one. Mine is nothing special.”

“Turn off that recorder. It’s not permitted. You don’t record anything. Do you know to whom you’re speaking? Do you realize I have the full legal and prosecutorial power of the entire state of Florida behind me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s better. Now, do you know why I ordered you here?”

“I’m not certain, Mr. Moran. My hope was we could discuss some compromise regarding bail for my brother.”

He clenched both fists. “Wrong!”

She took his defensive attitude to mean he was still afraid of what the newspaper would print. That was good. If he was just going to play the harassment game, then she saw no point in trying to reason with him. One thing she had learned was you must stand up to a bully. “Then I guess I’m here because your case is falling apart.”

He came up out of his chair, pointed his finger at her and commanded, “Turn off that recorder!” She didn’t move. Her expression was emotionless. He reached down and punched off his recorder. In a sudden movement, he reached across the table, grabbed her small device and threw it hard against the wall. It shattered and fell to the floor. “That’s what you can do with your nothing-special fucking recorder!” He sat back down. “Let me see your phone. Does it record?”

She pushed her phone across the table to him. “Take a look, just a plain-Jane phone, no photos, no tunes, no Internet.”

He inspected the phone carefully and slid it back across the table to her. “Now let me see your handbag.”

“My handbag is personal property. You’ve no right to search it...fourth amendment.”

“Give me your damn purse!”

She handed it across. He crudely turned it upside down and shook it, spilling everything hard out on the table. He shuffled through it. He pushed the mess back across the table, took a deep breath and nodded okay. He clicked his recorder to rewind and then restarted. “Good afternoon, Miss Reid. Thank you for coming. Shall we begin?”

“You just smashed my recorder against the wall!”

He turned his head down to speak into his recorder. “What on earth are you talking about, Miss Reid? You’re certainly welcome to record this, if you’d like, however I’ve never seen your recorder.”

“You just stood up, reached across, grabbed my recorder from the table in front of me and threw it against the wall. That loud noise was the sound of my recorder hitting the wall. You used obscene language. Then you dumped the contents of my handbag harshly out onto the table.”

Moran’s head tilted slightly. He stared at her with narrowed eyes, wondering about what she just said. Then he continued, “We’ve prepared evidence here that details your interference in a homicide investigation. To start with, there’s the matter of your crude attempt to entrap and discredit a fine officer such as Sergeant Huress. Nevertheless, I’m willing to let that go. The more serious violation is that you’re interfering with the police and providing misleading and possibly illegal information to the newspaper.”