Dead Broke (Lana Denae Mystery Series Book 1) (6 page)

“I’m with you,” Jamie said.

Damien nodded his agreement.

“Actually, if you recall, I’m with you,” Lana reminded them.

“Guess that explains why you’re asking, instead of barking orders like you usually do,” Jamie said with a snarky grin.

Lana made a face. “At least I’m not the one out of breath, huffing and puffing, from walking
down
the stairs.”

The three of them kept up the verbal jousting all the way to the first floor. Exiting the stairwell, Lana suddenly pulled up short at the sight of Paul Borland. An obviously upset Paul Borland.

“You again?” the building manager growled. “I thought I made it clear–”

“Not now Mr. Borland,” Lana said. “I’m sorry I didn’t notify you we were coming, I must have forgotten. But we’re sort of in a hurry at the moment.”

The man did not like being brushed off. “You can’t just ignore me. I’m the manager of this building.”

Paying him no mind, the detectives walked across the short lobby toward the door.

From behind them, Paul Borland continued his ranting. “This is entirely unacceptable. I will be contacting your boss.”

Opening the door, Lana looked back. “If you wish to file a complaint, you can call or visit the Central Precinct. There’ll be someone there who can help you.”

Letting the door close, she turned her back on the disgruntled man and hurried to join the other two detectives.

“What was that all about?” Jamie asked, as they headed to the car.

Explaining the situation, Lana told them of her conversation with the man the day before. “I don’t think he’s too impressed with me. But that’s okay; I’m not all that impressed with him either. And right now, he’s looking like my best suspect.”

Chapter Six

Surviving another car ride with Jamie at the wheel, the moment they arrived at the precinct, Lana made a beeline through the double doors and walked straight to Ray. Handing him the memory card, she said. “I need to see the video on this as soon as possible.”

“Is yesterday soon enough?” Ray asked with a chuckle, as he slipped the card into the computer.

“The day before would be better but yesterday will work,” a downbeat Lana told him.

“Somebody’s a little moody all of the sudden,” Ray remarked. Then immediately serious again, he studied the open folder. “Which video are you wanting? There’s like a hundred on here.”

“It’s from the fifth of this month,” Lana said.

“Isn’t that the day
before
your victim was murdered?”

“It is. But, the killer may be in the video.”

Damien and Jamie had followed Lana inside and stood silently by, content to stay out of the way but at the same time, deeply interested. The footage on the video could perhaps prove crucial to their case, or cases, as well.

Better understanding the urgency now, instead of pelting the detectives with questions, Ray focused on getting the video on the screen. Waiting a minute or so for the buffer to sync, all eyes fixated on the monitor as the video started to play.

The figures were too small, and the early morning light too dim, to make any kind of identification, but the video did clearly show two men involved in what appeared to be an argument as they strode along. Things escalated quickly as the shoving started back and forth. Then, just as Nellie had described, one of the men literally threw the other over the railing. Watching the scene unfold was rather disturbing, knowing the man was now dead and they had witnessed—on video at least—his murder.

Ray stopped the playback and looked expectantly at his three-detective audience.

Jamie was the first to speak. “Well, the life insurance companies aren’t going to be happy but I think we can officially reclassify these “suicides” as homicides.”

“At least this one anyway,” Lana agreed.

“But we still aren’t any closer to identifying the killer,” Damien pointed out.

Ray said, “Let me make some adjustments. That might help a little. I doubt you’ll be able to ID the guy but we might get something useful out of it.”

He quickly set to work, adjusting the lighting and color, increasing the resolution, and fine-tuning the contrast and sharpness. In less than five minutes, he was ready to play the enhanced version he’d created. Transferring the playback to the large screen on the wall, he started the video.

The four of them again watched the scene play out. Ray’s efforts did help but as he had warned, they were still unable to clearly see the man let alone make a positive identification.

“I may be able to get something out of this yet,” Ray said to the looks of disappointment. “We know the height and weight of the victim. Using this video, I can give you a close approximation of the killer’s build, if that will help.”

“Anything helps,” Lana told him.

The video had now reached the point where the murder had taken place. All four sets of eyes again watched as the killer swung the victim’s body up over the railing and then toss it away like a bag of garbage. Watching the murder, even for the second time, nearly made them sick to their stomachs.

This time, instead of stopping the video, Ray let it continue to play. They watched with a slight indifference, almost disinterested, not expecting anything of importance.

So, they were a little startled at what came next.

After watching his victim fall to his doom, the killer, as if feeling someone’s eyes on him, quickly turned and looked around, searching for signs anyone was watching.

The guilt complex, it was called. When someone knows they’ve committed a wrong, they sometimes involuntarily check to make sure they weren’t seen. Although still unrecognizable, when the killer made his scan of the area, the video unmistakably showed the man look directly at the camera.

“He knew he’d been seen,” Lana said.

“Yes, but if he is also the murderer in your case, he went after the wrong person,” Damien pointed out.

“Somehow, he must have thought Roselyn Wymer was the one who shot the video,” Lana said. “Or when he went to take care of his ‘problem,’ he got the wrong apartment.”

“Makes sense, almost,” Jamie said.

Lana nodded her head. “Providing Nellie is telling us the truth. And that might be a stretch.”

“I think she is,” Damien said thoughtfully. “609 is the last apartment on that side. But there’s another window at the end of the building. Not sure what it’s to, maybe a janitor closet or something. The point is, the view from the outside would seem to indicate apartment 609 is second from the end. That of course is 607, Roselyn Wymer’s apartment.”

Again, Lana nodded. “So, the killer made a mistake. But we still have no idea who he is.”

Ray spoke up then. “Can’t give you an ID, but I can provide a description; Caucasian male, approximately five-foot eight, around one hundred eighty pounds.”

“That’s a start,” Lana said. “How did you determine the suspect is Caucasian?”

“I didn’t.”

All three detectives shot him a quizzical look.

Ray explained. “I sent the video down to the Medical Examiner’s office and asked Mort to take a look. He said, based on... Well, I’m not sure what he based it on. He rattled off a bunch of medical terms and lost me. But I trust the man knows what he’s doing so I’m going with the killer is Caucasian.”

“Works for me, until we have something better to go on,” Lana said. “Which rules out my number one suspect; my only suspect, Paul Borland, since he is not white.”

“Sorry I couldn’t narrow it down more,” Ray said.

“Actually, the video has helped narrow things down considerably,” Lana told him. “Your description eliminates all women, all non-whites, short people, anyone weighing in over one hundred eighty pounds, and so on.”

“Still like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Jamie lamented.

“Yes, but the haystack just got smaller.”

“So I guess our cases have now become one.” Damien said.

Lana nodded. “Looks that way. Then, glancing at her watch, she said, “I need to fill the Captain in on these new developments before he goes home.”

“All right.” Jamie stood up. I think Damien and I are going to spend the evening looking over the profiles of the jumpers a little more. There’s got to be some sort of connection.”

“You need some help?” Lana offered. “I could come by after I talk to the Captain.”

“No, that’s all right,” Damien told her.

“We got this,” Jamie said. Then, unable to resist getting in another dig, he added, “You go talk to the Captain, that might take a while considering it’s been over two weeks and this is your first real progress.”

Lana rolled her eyes. “I’ll be sure to tell him how it was
my
witness that provided the video.” Then, with a serious look, she added. “Tomorrow, we need to finish questioning the tenants. Maybe someone else witnessed one of the other suicides, or murders.”

“You taking over as lead now?” Jamie said in mock hostility. “That why you want to talk to the Captain? Maybe you should come over and help us go through the files after all. Just to keep you honest.”

Lana smiled and shook her head. “Just pointing out the obvious. If you want to call that taking lead, okay.”

“If anyone is named lead it should be us,” Jamie protested. “Our case has six murders and yours has only one.”

“Yeah,” Damien agreed. “And ours occurred first, making your case secondary.”

Lana didn’t answer, a thoughtful frown on her face. Turning to Ray, she said, “Do you still have that memory card in your computer?”

Ray nodded. “Yeah. You want it back?”

“Not just yet,” Lana said. “Could you look at the dates on the rest of the videos?”

Ray shrugged. “Sure. Just a second.”

“Something bothering you?” Damien asked.

“A crazy idea occurred to me. Do you guys have the dates for the other five jumpers?”

“Yeah, right here,” Jamie said, holding up the folder in his hand. Why?”

“Because, we didn’t specifically ask Nellie Langstrom if she had
videoed
any of the other jumpers.”

“We asked if she’d witnessed any of the others,” Damien said.

Lana nodded. “And to you and I that’s the same thing. Are you willing to bet this case that it’s the same thing to Nellie?”

Damien’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No. Definitely not.”

“Me neither.”

“I have the dates,” Jamie announced, reading them off to Ray. “Any matches?”

Ray shook his head. “None.”

Lana said, “Well, at least she didn’t record any other murders. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know anything. If we hadn’t asked exactly the right questions before, she might have withheld more information.”

Jamie grinned wryly, “That wouldn’t surprise me given our experience with the lady.”

“She is a strange one,” Damien agreed.

“I think we need to talk to her again, question her more thoroughly,” Lana said.

“I don’t think
we
need to do any such thing,” Jamie said. “
We
,” he pointed to himself and Damien, “need to get busy studying these profiles. Got to find that connection.”

Damien was nodding. “My partner’s right. Time is wasting.” Glancing to Jamie, he said, “My place?”

The two were already headed to the door. “We’re confident you can handle the lady,
The Nellie
,” Jamie called back.

“I don’t think so,” Lana said. “I’m late for a meeting with the Captain.”

“Does he know you’re coming?”

“Not yet.”

“Then it’s not a meeting.”

“I’ve already been to see her twice in two days,” Lana protested.

“Is there some new rule about a limit on how many times a detective can question a witness?” Jamie said to his partner. “You remember that rule?”

Damien shook his head. “I don’t remember that rule.”

Lana waited until they were done with their little game. “I seem to recall you promised Nellie a replacement memory card,” she said to Jamie.

“Oh, yeah. Could you stop and pick up one for her on the way? I’ll pay you back.” Jamie paused, holding the door. “And you don’t have to worry about coming over to help with the profiles. We’ll manage.”

Lana sighed loudly. “Fine, I’ll go.”

Damien and Jamie pretended not to hear as the door closed and then they were gone.

“You shouldn’t let them treat you that way,” Ray told her.

Lana smiled. “You think I
wanted
to spend my evening pouring over those profiles, looking for something to connect six strangers? Not a chance. I plan on relaxing, having a nice dinner, and getting a full night’s sleep. Just as soon as I go visit Nellie, that is.”

“What about your meeting with the Captain?” Ray asked.

The Captain’s gone for the day,” Lana told him. “Funny thing is, those two yahoos that just left are the ones who told me that not more than six hours ago.”

Ray was outright laughing now. “Think they know you played them?”

“Doubt it,” Lana said as she headed for the door. “You didn’t.”

Chapter Seven

A well-rested Lana was sitting at her desk enjoying a cup of coffee when Damien and Jamie showed up to work looking slightly disheveled and very tired. She glanced pointedly at the clock. “You guys get lost on the way in?”

Pulling up a chair, Damien sank wearily into the cushioned seat and laid his head in his hands. “We were up until four o’clock, going through those files.”

Jamie, eyes swollen and red, leaned against Lana’s desk. “Yeah, and I don’t think Damien’s wife likes me anymore.”

“You’re wrong about that,” Damien mumbled without looking up. “She never liked you in the first place.”

Jamie, who had mercifully found the comfort of a chair, cocked his head sideways, shooting a frown at his partner. He didn’t have the energy to respond with anything that required putting words together.

Feeling sorry for the overworked and somewhat fatigued pair of detectives, Ray hurried off to the break room, returning in moments with two large cups of coffee. Jamie and Damien nodded their appreciation as he set the coffee on the desk.

Lana sat by amused, enjoying watching them suffer through the waking up process. “So, I take it you spent all night going through files, kept Damien’s wife up, and didn’t find anything?”