Silent Witness (36 page)

''David, can you get on Wilson's computers and tell us which files were deleted?''

''Sure I could but I don't think that's an option.''

Josie looked where he looked. Other men were coming out of the house, hauling out Wilson's computers easier than they had the man himself. Josie's heart sank. The computers were being confiscated, each one of them impounded. It would be a public servant rifling through the drives to search for clues to criminal activity, not Wilson's friend. Josie wouldn't be the first to get the information on those machines, Ruth Alcott would.

Disappointed, Josie faced forward, crooked her elbow on the window ledge and put her head in her hand. So much for grand ideas and interesting strategies. Whatever it was Wilson wanted to talk to Jude and Josie about was now lost. It would take weeks, perhaps months, for Ruth to turn over everything she found. With a click of her tongue, Josie's hand fell to her lap and then went to the door handle. She was about to get out of the car when David's head popped between the seats, that lush mess of blond hair hanging over the console as he turned his head sideways so that he could look her in the face.

''You know I could look on my computer. I mean, Wilson and I, we were networked through two of his computers. I can access all his stuff he gave me from my place. What do you think? Would that help?''

Josie turned her head, narrowed her eyes and gave David a look of chilly regard for not pointing this out in the first place. The look of disdain was wasted on him. She pulled her lips back. Hardly a smile, more an expression of the effort it took to keep from screaming.

''Yes, David. I think you could say that would help.''

CHAPTER 37

Josie was on all fours pushing aside papers and boxes and more paper as she followed the ringing. Finally she found the phone, answered it and listened. A few
uh-huhs
as she sat back on her heels and the call was over.

''Hannah,'' Josie called as she tossed the cordless. Hannah caught it and put it back on its station, listening to Josie talk while she crawled back to where she had been working. ''That was David Gibson. He found another sixty e-mails that our mystery man deleted from Wilson's files. He's forwarding them to my computer. Would you go and get them. Print them out and bring them here.''

Hannah stood up and brushed at her jeans.

''I need a bath,'' she complained as she surveyed the boxes littering Josie's living room. ''Archer needs to clean out his garage more often.''

''Archer needs to get home before he can do that,'' Josie muttered.

''And I'm beginning to believe we're going to have to hire a staff to track down all these leads,'' Jude piped in.

He swung his legs off the sofa where he had been lying for the last two hours reading through hundreds of leads that had poured into Wilson's computers after he asked to hear from anyone who had been at Pacific Park the day of Tim Wren's accident. Someone had killed Wilson and that someone had deleted any recent communication about Pacific Park – or so that someone thought. The website was still up and running, the chat rooms were still functioning and Wilson had shared an avalanche of information with David Gibson.

''Did you find anything?'' Josie settled herself in front of one of Archer's boxes and drummed her fingers on the top.

''Not yet.'' Jude stretched his arms high above his head. ''I'm going to get a drink. Want something?''

''No. Thanks,'' Josie said absentmindedly, thinking for a minute before opening the box and digging inside.

She dropped her glasses onto her nose again as she rifled through a pile of papers. Max the Dog nuzzled her back, got a thoughtless pet for his efforts and moved on For two days Jude had made Josie's place his own. His perfectly pressed shirts and three thousand dollar suits had been discarded for jeans and a sweatshirt. Colin was hibernating, seemingly out of the picture for good. For Jude it was all about Wilson, for Josie it was Archer. For both of them it was even more than personal loyalties. They sensed they were closing in on something important – something important enough to kill for - and Josie was grateful for the help.

''I think I've got something,'' Josie called and held up a report. Jude poked his head out just as Josie put it aside. ''Never mind. Just information on Lexi.''

She picked up more medical reports. Lexi. Lexi and more Lexi. Archer had kept everything having to do with her but Josie couldn't find anything having to do with Tim. Finally, she found the billing records from the Greenwood Home.

''I think Archer just dumped this stuff all together after awhile,'' Josie muttered, as she looked at the stash. ''I don't know why he didn't just get rid of it. Look receipts from Greenwood are stuck in with Lexi's blood work reports. There's a menu in here from El Burrito Junior. I swear, I don't know what I thought I was going to find.''

Josie took off her glasses as Jude walked back into the living room.

''You're looking for Tim's medication reports,'' he reminded her. ''I'm looking for something that will tell me what happened in Wilson's apartment. It's all tied together, Josie. All of it.''

He took a drink: scotch and water. He brought his own aged-a-billion-years scotch. She provided the water.

''At least we know it had something to do with Pacific Park since only those files were deleted from the computers. The question is, was it the money I offered for information on Tim or something having to do with Pacific Park's other problems that put Wilson in harm's way? It's possible someone could have just taken exception to something Wilson posted on the general website. Whoever deleted those files didn't exactly do it with a fine hand. Anything in the file with the words Pacific Park in it was dumped. I don't know how we'll cull through it all on our own.''

Josie had her glasses back on again. She listened to Jude because there was nothing really to say. She had listened to him read the messages retrieved from Wilson's deleted files. Josie's favorite was from the woman whose son and grandson had been at Pacific Park the day Tim died. They had come out of the bathroom just in time to see Tim plummet to the ground. For a nominal fee, she would be happy to produce her grandson, now ten, to discuss what he had seen. If no money was forthcoming the woman threatened to sue for the irreparable psychological damage caused by dredging up this horrible incident on the internet where any young, impressionable child could see it.

They had sent that message to the round file.

Josie was half thinking about all the crackpots who had responded to Wilson's plea for information, Jude was musing over the sheer volume of information and Hannah was waiting for the printer to stop printing when something caught Josie's eye.

''Something interesting?'' He knelt beside her, setting aside his drink as he did so.

''Curious more than anything,'' Josie mumbled. ''Look at this.''

''It's a cancelled check made out to The Greenwood Home.'' There was a shrug of disinterest in his voice.

''No, look at the date,'' Josie insisted, glancing over her shoulder, glaring at him with those sharp blue eyes of hers when he didn't get it. ''This check was cancelled ten days before Tim died. It was returned to Lexi three day before the accident, Jude.''

''And Lexi probably issued another one. Who knows why it was cancelled?''

''No,'' Josie persisted, one hand patting a stack of papers the other shaking the cancelled check at him. ''I've put all the receipts in order. They're all here. If a check had been reissued a letter would be generated acknowledging the payment just like all the other payments.''

Josie dropped the hand holding the check. She twisted her neck, eyed the stack of papers, acted out her thoughts.

''Two odd things happened in sequence. The Greenwood Home received a request for medical records from Lexi dated five days before Tim died. The administrator blamed it on a secretary or on Lexi mistaking the date on the letter. Fine,'' her head swiveled back to Jude. ''I would accept that. I would. However, not in conjunction with the deliberate act of canceling a check. You have to call the bank to cancel a check, Jude.''

''And then you write another one. It's a no brainer.'' Jude stood. He picked up his drink. The ice tinkled in the glass.

''I don't think so. What time is it?'' Josie strained to see the clock on the desk.

''Four-thirty,'' Jude announced. Josie sat up, rustling through the papers around her.

''Where's the phone, Jude? I'll call Greenwood. You get on the other line give the bank a call. I want to know if Lexi cancelled this over the phone, in person or online. I also want to know if they still have the records of her other transactions and if they can tell me if this amount was reissued to Greenwood.''

Josie found the phone but hesitated before she dialed. Jude was still lounging in the doorway, sipping his drink, looking like he felt sorry for her.

''Come on,'' she ordered. ''There's still time. Here's the check number, Jude. It's not like your place, you know. I don't have a dozen associates to help.''

''You sure you want me to do this?'' Jude asked.

''Stop with the twenty questions. I'm tired. Hannah's tired. I imagine you're tired, too. Please, just call the bank before they close. Please.''

''Okay, but I could find out that Archer was cleaning house and making plans,'' he warned. ''Archer could have signed her name, sent the letter and cancelled the check.''

''Then he did, Jude, and I'll work around it. Defense attorneys do it all the time.'' Josie's fingers hovered over the dial pad. ''I'm not kidding myself, Jude. I won't be okay if it comes down to Archer, but right now I don't care what we find. I just want to know who cancelled this check and when they did it. Now, please, go call.''

''All right,'' Jude said softly. ''All right.''

When she didn't change her mind, Jude took the check and folded it but before he could do as she asked, Hannah appeared. She held up the printouts and said:

''Hey, you guys, I think this is something important.''

CHAPTER 38

Josie was awash in a wave of peace. It had come over her the minute she looked at the 'something important' Hannah had found in David Gibson's transferred files. Though she did not know the true importance of the e-mail, she understood that it was significant. She made the contact that night, responding to the e-mail, waiting for a response in return and, finally, the next morning Josie actually spoke to the woman who knew what had happened to Timothy Wren. The answer to what happened to Wilson Page would take a bit longer, but it would come.

In the last week Josie and Jude traveled to a small town seventy miles outside the city limits of Los Angeles. They had met the woman, watched her children run in and out of the house, sipped the tea she had offered and listened to her story about Pacific Park. Hers was not the last piece of the puzzle; it was the first. All the little bits and pieces of motive, opportunity and means that had passed through Josie's hands, entered her mind, created questions in her heart and soul and fell into place. Until that moment, the information they had was like so many pieces of blue cardboard puzzle pieces, meaningless until put together properly to create a glorious and detailed sky.

For five long nights, Josie and Jude put their heads together and laid out the evidence, followed the trail and kept their own counsel. Archer was kept in the dark; Colin was not contacted. Hannah walked on eggshells. Max watched as the two worked feverishly. When they finished, when they had the forensics report, when they had confirmed who had cancelled the check and who had requested the medical records and who had been in Wilson's apartment, Josie called Ruth Alcott and requested a meeting.

She was put on the calendar the next day. Josie had hoped for the next hour but she took what was offered. The night before the meeting, Josie pretended to sleep. She kept her eyes closed and her breathing steady to fool Hannah. In recent days the girl had taken to looking in on her not once or twice, but six or seven times before she was convinced Josie was okay. When Hannah's door remained closed, Josie left the house and walked to the Strand. The Mermaid Restaurant was locked up tight in the wee hours. Burt was long gone home. The town slept, sheltered from the wet cold of the Hermosa night. Only Josie was out.

She put up the hood on her sweatshirt and walked north toward no particular destination. She looked at nothing and, yet, was aware of everything: The halo of mist surrounding the street lights, the silence that was broken by the sound of waves up close and sirens in the distance in another city. The ocean smelled of salt and creatures. It rolled in and touched the sand as it always had then rolled away again as it always had. She passed the pier and kept her eyes forward. Her sweatshirt hood blinded her to the long desolate stretch of concrete. If she looked, Josie would think seriously of going to the end and walking right off. It would be better than facing Archer with what she knew; it would be better than staying silent and living with what she knew.

And yet. . .and yet. . .

There was this peace when she stood in front of Archer's old pink building that once belonged to Lexi and before that to Colin. It was November now; full blown winter by the beach and Josie let thoughts drift through her mind like the wispy morning fog.

Josie thought about mothers: her own, Hannah's, Lexi. Josie couldn't help but think of Lexi and the way she loved her son and how Archer never could. He just never could and that failing, in the end, was at the very core of what had gone wrong.

Josie thought of Jude Getts. He had been so kind when all was said and done. Josie appreciated that. She appreciated him. There were moments when she wondered what they could have been together if things had been different. Then those moments were gone. Soon Jude would be gone, too.

And there was Hannah, wise beyond her years. She wasn't surprised by the truth. She understood that underlying passions led to unspeakable acts. She had put her arms around Josie and Josie had let her. It embarrassed her to think of it now. She wished she could have told Hannah how much she appreciated the effort. Instead, Josie stayed in that girl's arms for no more than a minute but it was a moment unlike one she had ever experienced. She would have liked to share it with her own mother. But Hannah had been there, Emily wasn't, and Josie had stood in Hannah's embrace, unable to say . . .