Missing: The Body of Evidence Read online

  ‘What, you want me to put my hands out so you can cuff me?’

  ‘For Christ’s sake, grow up, it’s just a freakin’ watch. And yes, I got the message with the condom… very funny.’ He took hold of her wrist and forced the watch into her hand, turned and marched away grumbling. ‘We need to talk when this is over.’

  Claire snickered.

  ‘Lovers tiff?’

  ‘Oh, it’s more than that. Still, I’ll take the watch to remind me what a jerk he is.’

  Her temple throbbed and her heart pounded. Nancy slipped the watch onto her wrist. Jeff pulled her to one side and whispered.

  ‘Just remember, they’re not charging you with anything, you’re just ‘a person of interest’ as Logan put it to me. And look at me for the nod before answering their questions.’

  ‘‘Person of interest’ I think he meant suspect.’

  Logan approached them through the office door, ignoring Nancy, and held out his hand to Jeff. Curt name changes over, he signalled for them to follow.

  Logan maintained a brisk pace, but the walk through the office was akin to slow motion. Every step pained Nancy as colleagues ignored them, giving her the occasional glance as if looking straight through her, without even a nod of the head in acknowledgement of her presence. It came as a surprise that Logan had passed the interview rooms and entered his office. She wondered if it was part of some ploy, the psychology of which was lost on her. Kyle, over by the Xerox gave her the thumbs up, and she sent him a stony stare before following Jeff into Logan’s office.

  Nancy sat next to Jeff and faced Logan. She had seen that look before. A twitch in Logan’s eyelid gave away the anger welling inside him and behind his stone-faced exterior.

  ‘How can my client help you?’

  ‘Client?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘If you want formal, we can use an interview room.’

  Jeff showed him the palm of his hands.

  ‘You have the stage… your show.’

  Nancy huffed and puffed at them jostling for Alpha-male.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake.’ Nancy glared at Logan. ‘Why the need for the search? Did they find out who was bugging my apartment?’

  ‘What made you think someone was eavesdropping?’

  Jeff took hold of her wrist.

  ‘First things first.’ He took a file from his briefcase and passed it to Logan. ‘Copies of the provenance, for the purchase of her apartment. I’ll be sending a copy to internal affairs.’

  Logan ignored the file. Nancy leaned forward.

  ‘They must have found the bugs. Did they question the operators of the surveillance van?’

  Jeff tapped her shoulder.

  ‘Miss Roberts, let Mr. Logan ask the questions and then we can all go about our business.’

  Nancy ignored Jeff and looked Logan directly in the eyes. ‘Well, I’m waiting.’

  ‘Kyle said you mentioned them, but we found nothing… no bugs… and no surveillance van.’

  ‘What! Jeff, the photos.’

  Jeff took the photos from his case and placed them on the desk.’

  Logan gave them a casual glance and sighed.

  ‘And, your point is?’

  ‘My point is, my dad found a tracker device under the hood of my car. Whoever is carrying out surveillance may be the ones who are framing me for being on the take.’

  Logan scoffed.

  ‘Your dad? Is he still into industrial espionage?’

  ‘Excuse me, counter-industrial espionage.’

  ‘Whatever. Are you sure he didn’t put them there as a red-herring?’

  A red-mist descended at the inference. He obviously knew of her dad.

  ‘Don’t be stupid, maybe you put them there.’

  ‘Now you’re being stupid.’

  ‘Please, can we just stick to why we’re here? The two homicides… remember,’ Jeff pleaded.

  Logan sat back in his chair, clasped his hands and twiddled his thumbs.

  ‘Where were you, between say, nine and twelve in the evening of the twenty-fifth of this month?’

  Nancy searched her memory.

  ‘I slept at my dad’s. I was there all evening. Why?’

  ‘So your dad found the bugs and now he’s your alibi?’

  ‘So what?’

  Jeff interjected. ‘What happened between those hours?’

  ‘That’s the estimated time of the murder of Dean Gibson, the young thug who paid the money into your account. Your dad will vouch for you I take it?’

  ‘Yes, you can telephone him at work if you like.’

  ‘Okay, I will.’ Nancy scribbled his work number on Logan’s note pad and pushed it to him. ‘Now, think back to when you took the fingerprints from Kelly. Can you remember which hand he used to sign the form?’

  Nancy glanced at Jeff, searching her memory for inspiration.

  ‘Only answer if you’re sure,’ Jeff said.

  A vision of Kelly saluting her with his hip flask came to mind. But try as she did, she could not remember which hand he used to sign the form.

  ‘I can’t remember, but he held his hip flask in his left hand, I’m sure of that.’

  ‘Is there some relevance?’ Jeff asked.

  ‘Forensics show powder burns on his right hand. The gun was in his right hand, but we think he was left handed.’

  ‘But do you have any forensics leading you to think my client was present at either of the deaths?’

  ‘No. In fact, we checked out Detective Roberts movements on the night of Kelly’s death and confirmed her alibi.’

  ‘Then I think we’re done here.’

  ‘Not quite.’

  Logan reached to open his drawer and pulled out a plastic bag. Together with the contents, the bag landed on the desk with a thud.

  ‘Recognize this?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s a .38.’

  ‘Well you should recognize it… we got the results back today from a search of the serial number. It’s the gun that Kelly was shot with and it’s registered to you. Can you explain that?’

  ‘Don’t answer that.’

  Jeff reached into his case, pulled out the copy of the report for the missing gun and handed it to Logan.

  Logan studied the report and grinned.

  ‘How convenient, that you only reported it missing after the event. Who did you use to carry out the hits?’

  His last remark was almost too casual. Nancy felt heat rising in her cheeks. Jeff shook his head as a signal not to rise to the bait, but her rage was past that point.

  ‘Do you think I’d be so stupid as to have them use my own gun?’

  Nancy’s mind froze as she stared at her gun and the inference of his words burned in her mind. It suddenly struck her that Kyle had a spare key.

  ‘That’s enough. My client has nothing further to say. You have no forensics. She has alibis for the times of the deaths. And if you want a theory, then maybe Kelly was part of the team than was bugging her apartment. Maybe he, or whomever, entered her apartment and stole the gun. Someone is clearly setting up my client. Talking about conspiracy theories, why is it that Bill hasn’t come forward with a statement that could possibly clear my client of taking a bribe from the Piru Street gang? You’re obviously aware Bill’s not gone fishing. Answer me that?’

  Logan rose to his full height. His face rouged and his eyes narrowed, but he remained tight-lipped.

  ‘We’re leaving.’

  Dumbfounded, Nancy stood as if in a trance. Jeff placed his hand lightly on her waist and ushered out of the office. Logan followed and tapped her on the shoulder.

  ‘The officers who carried out the search have impounded your car and taken away your computer hard drive.’ Logan handed her a key. ‘You’ll need this, they’ve changed the locks.’

  ‘Come on, the show is over and we don’t want an encore,’ Jeff said.

  Nancy attempted a smile and grabbed the key, but her mind wasn’t playing the connection game with her lips. She held her head high and with tunn
el vision, marched out of the office. Kyle blocked her exit at reception. Nancy sent him a glare.

  ‘You could have given the search team your spare key to my apartment.’

  ‘There wasn’t time.’

  ‘Well you can throw it in the wastebasket, because you won’t need a key now.’

  She brushed Kyle to one side and skipped down the stairway. At the bottom step, Nancy felt sick and she bent over, taking a few deep breaths, until the feeling passed. Jeff joined her.

  ‘Why didn’t you mention the tracker in the Dictaphone?’ she asked.

  ‘We’ll save that for later if we need it. Incidentally, I just phoned the Coroner’s office. Kelly’s body has been released to his family. They have it signed off as a suicide.’

  ‘Then why have they put me through this? What do I do now?’

  ‘Nothing, as far as I can see you are in the clear on the two deaths. That’s it until we hear from internal affairs and negotiate for you to get back to work.’

  Do nothing… no way.

  ‘I’m not sure if I ever want to go back to work.’

  ‘They may not want you back. We may have to go for a lump-sum settlement.’

  I wonder where Kelly’s service will be held.

  ‘Sorry, what did you say?’

  Chapter 60

  There was no throng of relatives and mourners waiting at the crematorium to mark Kelly’s passing. In fact, only the one car parked in the lot was enough to make her think she had the time of the service wrong. Nancy entered and saw a solitary figure standing at the front pew. She considered herself fortunate that her attorney had the foresight to phone the coroner’s office, or she may have missed the service. The man at the front turned to look briefly over his shoulder at her. Nancy walked down the aisle, conscious of her high-heels scraping and clipping the stone-floor, until she reached the front and stepped into the pew behind the only other spectator. A cardboard coffin stood in the raised area in front of red velvet curtains with gold braid trim.

  ‘Do I know you?’ The man asked and turning to face her.

  ‘I doubt it. Are you family?’

  ‘Half-brother. John Kelly.’

  ‘Detective Nancy Roberts.’

  ‘You’re a bit late to bring him to justice now.’

  Justice? There was no family resemblance to Kelly. He was portly with a round face and stood no more than five-foot four. A man in a suit entered and spoke in a hushed tone.

  ‘Ready?’

  Kelly’s brother nodded. There was no priest in the pulpit to speak final words, just a recording of piped music playing over the speakers. The curtains parted and the coffin moved slowly through them and then the curtains closed again.

  ‘That’s it, duty done.’ John said and stepped into the aisle to leave.

  ‘What did you mean… ‘Too late to bring him to justice’?’

  ‘I’m only here to make sure he burns in hell. It’s like I said before, duty done.’

  ‘But what exactly did you mean… ‘Bring him to justice’?’

  ‘Just a family thing.’

  He walked briskly down the aisle and Nancy struggled to keep up with him, wishing she hadn’t decided on a tight-skirt.

  ‘Wait, I need to talk with you.’

  He waited at the door and held it open.

  ‘What is it you want to know? Did you investigate his suicide?’

  ‘No, I met him when I was investigating a fire at an apartment. I’m just trying to find some background information on him.’

  ‘A fire, that figures. Anyone hurt.’

  ‘Yeah, we found the remains of a body. What do you mean ‘that figures’?’

  ‘Better sit down on the bench here.’

  Nancy sat next to him.

  ‘What do you know already?’

  ‘Not much apart from he was a janitor for the condo where he lived at the time of the fire, but he moved and I lost track of him until he turned up dead. That, and a report on file about him having been questioned about some fires at his college. Oh, and I know about his son, David.’

  ‘What about Simon? He had two sons, Simon and David.’

  ‘I don’t know about a Simon, but David is in a mental hospital.’

  ‘Yeah, so is Simon if he’s still alive. Dad told me just before he passed away.’

  ‘What about the kids’ mother?’

  ‘She ran off to Ohio with the children and filed for a divorce. Ann died in a house fire. He got custody of the kids and signed them into the care of a mental hospital. Dad found out from his mom before she passed away.’

  ‘So are you saying he was responsible for Ann’s death?’

  ‘He had a good alibi, but I reckon he was responsible, just like when my mom died.’

  ‘What makes you think he was responsible for your mom’s death?’

  ‘We had the same dad, different moms. He visited from time to time. Some weird kid he was; always playing at lighting fires. Scared the shit outta me he did.’

  Nancy could see his eyes moisten. He took a handkerchief from his pocket, gave his eyes a rub, and continued with a pained expression on his face.

  ‘Mom couldn’t cope and stopped his visits. We all lived in Austin in those days. Mom and Dad took him home during his last visit after a big argument when our tool shed burnt down in the back yard. On the way, they stopped off for gas. According to Dad, she was in the car waiting for Jason and Dad to return from the bathroom when the car burst into flames. Jason stood looking at the car when Dad left the bathroom. The doors jammed and she couldn’t get out. Dad tried to open the doors but they had to pull him back. The car explo…sorry.’ He drew his hand to his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then looked up to the sky. ‘Dad never saw him again when his mom moved with him to LA, but Dad kept in touch with her on the telephone. He said he was haunted by the sight of Jason who just stood there watching the flames and grinning.’

  A vision of Kelly grinning when Logan’s coat caught fire passed through her mind.

  ‘How did you find out about his suicide?’

  ‘Saw it in the paper. I called the Coroner’s office and made sure he wasn’t buried. I wanted to make sure the grinning bastard burnt rather than rotted in hell.’

  ‘Have you any idea to which hospital the children were taken?’

  ‘No, Dad never visited them. Sorry, I can’t be of any help, that’s all I know about him and the children.’

  Nancy shook his hand. The look of pain he still displayed at recalling his mom’s death told her his act of seeing to Kelly’s cremation had done little to make up for his grief.

  ‘One last thing, I don’t suppose you can recall if he was left or right handed?’

  ‘Sure I can recall. He was ambidextrous, same as me. Dad always said it was the only gene he’d passed on to us both. Sorry, I’m not much help.’

  Nancy smiled.

  ‘On the contrary, John, you’ve been a big help. Could you give me your contact details in case I need to speak to you again?’

  ‘Sure.’

  Nancy had no sooner dotted the last letter in her notebook, than a car with tinted windows that she recognized pulled up alongside the bench. The driver’s window whirred open.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Logan asked.

  ‘I could ask you the same question. It’s a free country, just talking to Kelly’s brother. Any objection?’

  ‘Well, yeah, as a matter of fact. You’re not supposed to contact material witnesses.’

  He opened the car door and climbed out. She stood to greet him and strained to look around him at the sound of the passenger door opening. Kyle stood sheepishly, trying to blend into the background like a chameleon.

  ‘How is going to Kelly’s funeral talking to a material witness in the alleged case against me? Besides, Kelly’s hardly going to talk to me now is he?’

  ‘You’re pushing it.’

  ‘I thought shit for brains was off the case?’

  ‘Hey, come on, that’s no
t called for,’ Kyle responded.

  Kelly’s brother started to shuffle away.

  ‘LAPD, where are you going?’ Logan said. His voice booming.

  John stopped in his tracks and turned.

  ‘John, tell these apes what you told me about Jason’s use of his hands.’

  ‘Whoa there, keep me out of your arguments.’

  Logan pulled out his badge. ‘Answer the question.’

  ‘He was ambidextrous.’

  ‘That’s it, I’m going,’ said Nancy.

  ‘Listen, I can understand you’re pissed, but call me an ape one more time and you’re finished in my department.’

  Nancy could feel the heat in her cheeks rising. She was torn between telling him to dig a hole and bury himself, and apologizing in the faint hope she may still have a future in the department.

  ‘What do you expect?’

  ‘In the circumstances, I’ll let it pass this time, but remember, and remember well this time. Keep your nose out and leave the men to sort this out.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ Ya chauvinist bastard.

  Nancy pushed past him to make her way to her car. Kyle grabbed her by the arm.

  ‘Nancy, listen to me, you’ve got this all wrong. You’re jumping to conclusions.’

  She took hold of his wrist and wrenched his hand from her shoulder. She couldn’t look him in the face. He lowered his tone.

  ‘I’ve been talking to Logan and there’s a way out of all this.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Look, surely you can see there’s no way back for you. They’ve got nothing on you, only conjecture. Negotiate a payout and we can start from where we left off at the cabin. We just need to wait for Logan to tie up all the loose ends. Bill’s stepped forward and he makes his statement to Brogan at internal affairs in a few days.’

  ‘Arghh, I get it, you mean as soon as Logan and Brogan have proven me innocent, but still leaving some doubt. You’re incredible, do you know that?’

  Hope replaced the pleading look in his eyes.

  ‘Well, what do you think?’

  ‘Like I said, you’re incredible. Incredibly freakin’ stupid. I haven’t got it wrong which side of the fence you’re on, have I? Now leave me alone.’