Major Crimes (12 page)

Chapter 15

Chelsey

Wawa’s hoagies were the best. I ordered a turkey and cheese with lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, and mayo on a Shorti Roll through a touch-screen monitor. I paid for a diet soda, a bag of chips, and the hoagie at the register, then waited for my number to be called.

I glanced at an array of newspapers near the front door. Bryce’s picture appeared on the front of each one. He was a wanted man. I felt relieved that my photo wasn’t beside his. Guilt washed over me for thinking that way, but I needed to be selfish for the sake of my daughter. I wondered how she was making out with her father and grandparents in New York.

My order number was called, so I retrieved my hoagie and left. I drove to a nearby park to eat since it was a beautiful day. Not too hot and not cold. Summer was here, even if the calendar said the official arrival of summer wasn’t for a couple more weeks.

I settled into a cozy bench near a small pond. The sunlight glinted off the water. I wished I had my sunglasses, but they were at my house with the rest of my belongings. Oh how I longed to be home.

The phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but since it could’ve been Jennifer or my daughter calling, I didn’t want to risk not answering.

“What on Earth is wrong with you, you nutcase?” The screaming was from Drew. I guessed he heard about my little trip in the trunk of his sister’s car.

“Um, hi Drew.”

“Don’t you ‘hi Drew’ me, you mistake of a human being.”

“That’s not very nice. You should get your anger in check.”

“You know what, Chelsey, you need to keep your distance from me and my family or bad things will happen to you.”

I was alarmed. Perhaps I shouldn’t have taunted Drew. What if he was the killer? “Is that a threat, Drew? Are you going to do to me what you did to Archie?”

“You imbecile! I didn’t touch Archie. If you go around saying I did, I’ll sue you for slander. I’m sick and tired of your charade. Go out and find the real killer and leave us alone!”

“Or what?”

“Or what? Or what? I’ll have you arrested, then I’ll sue you for every dime you have.”

“Sue me for what?”

“Harassment, for starters.”

“I know you’re hiding something Drew. There was no baseball game that night of Archie’s retirement party. Tell me where you were that night.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about and I don’t owe you any explanation. Psychopath!”

“Why, Drew? What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything. You concocted this foolishness in your own head. Leave us alone!”

Drew hung up on me. He must’ve gotten my number from Jennifer. I shrugged. I wasn’t worried about ruffling a few feathers in my search for answers. If you asked me, I thought Drew was as guilty as they come. He was left-handed and he was one of the last people to see Archie alive. Jennifer could’ve been lying about the ring or maybe the ring had nothing to do with the murder. If Drew didn’t do it, then I would’ve bet money that he knew who did. He was definitely hiding something.

My appetite was gone, so I wrapped up my hoagie and drove toward Freddy’s office. Maybe I’d be useful at work while I waited for Savoy’s to open for the dinner crowd.

* * *

The hour drive to Freddy’s office was plenty of time for me to think things through. I needed to figure out what Drew was hiding, but I didn’t know how. I also wanted to check out Archie’s other ex-wife, Martha. And his former mistress, Cynthia. I needed to figure out where they were first. There was no better way to find that out than to be at work, with Freddy’s computers which were equipped with software made for finding people.

The downside about having time to think was that my mind wandered to Mandy. I was sad that she hadn’t been with me all week. I wondered what she was doing, if they were treating her well, and if she was happy.

Then there were the thoughts about my love life. I had nearly forgotten about Kris. He hadn’t called to check in with me. In the past, I would be sad when I hadn’t heard from him. But either I got used to him not being around or stopped caring. I couldn’t fault him—he was a workaholic and a single dad. He didn’t have free time. He didn’t have free time for me.

It was time I ended the relationship, but how was I going to end something that didn’t seem to exist? I felt stupid calling Kris and breaking things off with him when maybe things were already over in his mind. Otherwise he would’ve called, right?

Then there was Bryce. I sort of missed him already. He gave me butterflies. We had chemistry. I liked working with him to figure out who killed Archie. I even liked his sarcasm. Thinking about that last kiss…I sighed. The man made me melt.

Pulling up to Freddy’s office, I parallel parked the rental car in front of the building and jumped out. I ambled up the sidewalk and struggled to open the heavy-duty steel door. Freddy was seated in his office.

“You really need to do something about that door. I’m going to get a hernia trying to open it.”

“Well, well, well. Do I know you? Oh wait, let me think…you worked here once, didn’t you? By golly, I almost didn’t recognize you. What’s your name again? Carrie, Kelly…no wait, let me think…Chelsey. That’s right. Chelsey.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re hilarious.”

“What, may I ask, has brought you to grace me with your presence?”

“I missed your gray hair, mustache, and the way you look at me so…disappointedly.”

“I’m not disappointed, but if you weren’t my niece’s good friend, you might be demoted.”

“I didn’t think I could sink any lower.”

“Oh, it could get lower. So much lower. Instead of sending you to question suspects and spy on people, I could send you dumpster diving for evidence.”

“So things can always get worse.”

“A life lesson for you.”

“So fill me in. What have you found about Archie’s murder?” I presented Freddy with the hoagie I bought from Wawa.

He cringed. “How can you buy this junk?”

Freddy had opened up a hoagie shop in West Trenton decades ago. His wife, Florence, ran it. They did have fantastic hoagies, but it was out of my way to go there. Plus, I always felt like I was taking advantage when I went there, because they insisted on feeding me at no charge.

As disgusted as he was with my choice of lunch, he ate it anyway while he filled me in on the discoveries he and his team had made. The Ford Focus with a potential female suspect, the ring being delivered to the DNA lab, the cabbie confirming the time of pick up, Solar’s stint in prison, and his thoughts on Drew.

I told Freddy about my conversation with Jennifer. I included the details about Archie’s former mistress, Cynthia, and her husband. I excluded the part about my hiding in the trunk of Jennifer’s car. I wasn’t sure if Freddy would laugh, fire me, or worse.

Freddy and his other investigators had discovered more in twenty-four hours than I did. Again, I wondered if this job selection was a good fit for me. “I’m not sure I agree with you about Drew.”

“And why is that?”

“He’s hiding something, I know it.”

“For now, we are concentrating on finding evidence to set your friend free. Whether or not Drew is hiding something is irrelevant.”

I pursed my lips. “You don’t care about finding out what happened the night of Archie’s murder?”

“Not really. That job is for the police. My job is to create reasonable doubt. Evidence that someone else did the crime should make it so Bryce doesn’t have to do the time. If the police don’t believe it, a jury will if I do my job well.”

Freddy had a much different approach than I expected. I had been looking to solve Archie’s murder rather than proving Bryce didn’t do it. It never occurred to me that they weren’t the same thing. “Do you still want me to go to Savoy’s tonight and question the staff?”

“Yes, and I have another task for you. I need DNA samples from suspects. I have all my other investigators tied up on other tasks for this case, plus, they are all working on multiple cases. You’re the only investigator with a light case load.”

“Understood. But I haven’t done that before. Do I have to use a swab or get a clip of their hair? I don’t think anyone is going to consent to that.”

“We don’t need them to consent. Be creative. If they eat at a restaurant, get their glass. If they smoke, get a cigarette butt. Do whatcha gotta do.” Freddy handed me a list of names and addresses.

“Okay, I’ll try.”

“Do better than try.”

“I will. See you later then.”

“Ten-four.”

I left the office, pushing through the hernia-maker door, and drove home to shower.

* * *

Warm water washed over my body, refreshing me and clearing my mind. I washed my hair, used conditioner in an attempt to tame it, and stepped out to dry off. I contemplated my schedule. It was nearing four o’clock.

Since Savoy’s opened at four, I thought I’d go there first. I was too tired to tail Archie’s wife and daughter, or anyone else on Freddy’s list for the evening. I wondered if I should pick up Snickers from my parents.

A loud crash made me jump. Snickers wasn’t home.
Who the heck was in my house now?
Déjà vu described the moment. I wrapped a towel around myself and crept into the hallway to get a look at the invaders.

“Dad!”

“What?”

“What the heck are you doing? You gave me a heart attack!”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I was getting more food for Snickers. I didn’t bring enough to my house. I didn’t think you were home.”

My car in the driveway and a rental car sitting behind it should’ve been dead giveaways that I was home. I shook my head. My dad could be so dense.

“Since you’re here, would you want to do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Would you follow me over to the rental car company? I need to return the rental in the driveway and then I’ll need a ride back here.”

My father didn’t ask why I had a rental, which was a relief. I didn’t want to explain anything about Bryce to him. I also didn’t want to fib about anything. My parents would have seen through my lies.

My dad waited patiently for me to dry my hair, dress, put on makeup, and get my shoes on. I grabbed my cell phone, texted Randy to tell him I had my old phone back, and then we left the house. Dad followed me to the rental car company and then chauffeured me back home.

I got out of the car. “Thanks, Dad.”

“Are you coming over to get the dog?”

“Would you mind keeping him for a couple more days? Freddy has me working overtime on this case and it would be a big help.”

“Sure thing. When’s Mandy coming home?”

“Sunday.”

“Alrighty then.”

“I’ll see you later.” I closed the car door and jumped into my own car. It was time for me to get to Savoy’s.

Chapter 16

Bryce

Arriving at Frank’s house, I was anxious to get to his basement and enlarge the video of the woman wearing the ring. But that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

“Where the hell have you two been? You knew I was making lunch! If you weren’t planning on eating, then you should’ve told me so that I didn’t make so much!” Geri was furious.

If there was one thing I had learned, it was that Italians took their food very seriously. The video was going to have to wait.

“I’m starving, Geri. I’d love to eat what you made now. We didn’t stop to get any food.”

“Fine! But I’m not reheating it for you! You two can fend for yourselves if you’re hungry. I’m going out. Food’s in the fridge. Don’t forget that Linda and the kids are coming tonight.” Geri turned on her heels and slammed the door behind her on the way out.

Frank shrugged and placed the bag of rolls on the table. I went to the fridge and removed a meatloaf, mayo, and macaroni salad. Traipsing out to the porch, I grabbed paper plates and cups. Returning to the kitchen, I reached into the paper bag and took out a couple of fresh Italian torpedo rolls. Finding a good knife in the drawer under the stove, I cut the rolls, sliced the meatloaf, slathered the bread with mayo, and made sandwiches for myself and Frank. Frank got water from the fridge for both of us to drink. I spooned a generous portion of macaroni salad onto each of our plates.

I took a bite of my sandwich. Geri made a mean meatloaf. “After we eat, do you think you could blow up that video? I think the woman is wearing that ring around her neck.”

Frank nodded. His cell phone rang and he reached into his pocket to pick it up. “Yeah. Okay. Uh huh. Hmm. Okay. Thanks.” He hung the phone up and looked at me. “DNA came back. No matches in the system. Female.”

It came as no surprise that the DNA found on the ring was from a female suspect, given what I thought I saw on the video. But it came as a huge surprise that the DNA results came back within a few hours. Either Frank or Freddy had great connections, or maybe it was an easy job since we had no one’s DNA to compare it to. I immediately started thinking how I could go about getting DNA from suspects to have it checked against.

With the last bite of my meatloaf sandwich, Frank’s phone rang again.

“Yeah. Uh huh. Uh huh. Uh huh. Yup.” Frank handed the phone to me.

I placed the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

It was Freddy. “Here is the latest. You may or may not know that Archie’s second wife is Drew Pavlica’s sister. Chelsey checked her out. It wasn’t her, she has an alibi. She was out of state at the time of the murder. I confirmed her whereabouts. I also confirmed Tina Liara’s alibi. She was also out of state on her honeymoon. Chelsey is at Savoy’s now, interviewing potential witnesses. I’ve assigned her to collecting DNA from suspects as well.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You assigned DNA collection to Chelsey?”

“Yeah, my other employees are tied up.”

It’s not that I didn’t believe Chelsey could do it, but my life was at stake. And I…well, didn’t believe she could do it. “You want me to help her with that?”

“You want to botch my investigation? Or get caught and stay in jail until I investigate?”

“No.”

“Then stay put. All I need you to do is to stay put.”

“The video Frank found of the female suspect near Archie’s house—I think she was wearing that ring around her neck. Frank and I are going to try to enlarge the video to see for sure.”

“Good, stay with that. See if you can get your hands on any other videos with that woman. If we can figure out who she is, then maybe we’ll have a solid lead.”

“I’m on it. Who do you have Chelsey collecting evidence from?”

Freddy explained who Chelsey was going to get evidence from and why. He told me Chelsey uncovered a former mistress of Archie’s—Cynthia. She had a daughter with the possible name of Tina or Tara. His other main suspects were Pamela, Archie’s wife; their daughter, Brittany; Archie’s girlfriend, Lake; and Archie’s first wife, Martha.

“Hang tight Bryce, things are happening. We’re getting there.”

I hung up with Freddy and threw my paper plate and cup in the trash. Frank followed suit and we marched through the garage and into the basement.

“Frank, I have to ask you. Why do you have all those colorful toilet seats in the garage?” Yeah, okay, maybe I was a little obsessed about the toilet seats.

“You know, they don’t make anything like they used to. These here are probably forty years old. Sure, I could go to the store if I need to replace one in the house, but those wouldn’t last half as long as these will. Cost you all that money, then they don’t last.”

“Uh huh.” Not that I understood Frank’s logic, because I didn’t. A decline in the quality of toilet seats manufactured today wasn’t something I’d noticed. But then, I was no commode expert.

Frank sat down at mission control and pulled up the video. “Unfortunately, this looks like it’s from a shoddy camera. Owner of the deli probably didn’t spend much on his security system.”

Frank enlarged it as much as he could. The picture was blurry, the woman unidentifiable, and the ring indiscernible—even with him using forensic enhancement software.

Disappointment, anger, and hopelessness were the emotions I felt, nonetheless, I sensed we were on to something. Even if we were, what we had as evidence wouldn’t hold up in any court of law. I was screwed.

Above my head, the sound of the Pamplona bull run met my ears. Since we weren’t in Spain, I guessed Linda and the kids had arrived.

“Don’t wallow in your own self-pity yet, Bryce. I’ll keep digging.” Frank must’ve noticed the expression on my face. I nodded in agreement.

The basement door creaked open. “Frank! Bryce! Are you down there?” Geri was back.

“Who did you expect to be down here? Patrick Swayze?” Frank laughed at his joke. He sure thought he was a funny guy. I wasn’t sure if he realized his jokes weren’t making any friends where Geri was concerned.

“Linda and the kids just got here.” As if everyone in a twelve-mile radius didn’t hear Linda and the kids arrive.

“Yeah, and?”

“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.” Geri slammed the door. I was certain I heard her mumble an obscenity before slamming it, but Frank hadn’t noticed.

I looked at my watch. We had been enhancing and studying the video for over an hour. I certainly wasn’t hungry after eating the meatloaf and macaroni salad, but I couldn’t risk offending Geri again by not eating dinner. If nothing else, I’d be going to death row with a full belly.

“Frank, how about the video you found from Savoy’s? The woman in the Ford Focus? Can you use your magical software to enhance that video?”

“I can certainly try.”

A few keystrokes later, Frank had the video from the night at Savoy’s up on the screen. I watched as I stumbled into a taxi with Archie. I had absolutely no recollection of that. Once our taxi left, I could see the woman and the Ford Focus.

“There’s the license plate. Can you zoom in on that?” My excitement returned. Maybe this was the break I needed. I could barely hold on to my seat as Frank hit the zoom button. It took a few more seconds for the forensic software the clean up the pixels, but there it was—MMM71C.

“Can you run the plate down here with all your equipment?”

“Bet your behind, I can. I’m surprised I missed that earlier.”

It took less than five minutes for Frank to locate the owner of the vehicle. It was a rental car owned by Meyer’s Car Rentals in Madisen, New Jersey.

“No worries. I appreciate all you’ve done. What are the chances that we can find out who rented the car?”

Frank shrugged. “Depends. It if was Hertz or Enterprise, they’re all computerized. I can take a stab at hacking into their systems. A mom and pop company? It’s a shot in the dark. They may not keep computerized records. We can try to go in person, don’t know if they’d give us any intel.”

Frank fumbled around with his computer trying to gain access to Meyer’s Car Rentals’ network system. Another hour had passed. My pacing didn’t help matters. Frank wasn’t having luck.

The basement door creaked open again. “Frank! Bryce! Damn it! I told you dinner would be ready!”

I knew better than to ignore Geri a second time, though Frank didn’t seem to mind. I wasn’t going to piss off this Italian grandmother any more than she already was. I told Frank I’d meet him upstairs.

I used the washroom to clean up. My appetite hadn’t returned until I smelled the aroma of barbeque. I sat at the table with Linda and the little ones. Geri had made some fine looking ribs.

“Bryce, be a dear and get the corn out of the microwave,” Geri said.

I did as I was told, using a pot holder to remove corn on the cob from the microwave. I placed one ear on each plate. Geri removed a bowl of coleslaw from the fridge, placing it on the table. She removed a pot of baked beans from the stove and placed it on a trivet within my reach.

“You might as well dig in. That old man of mine might be in the basement all night.” Geri smiled warmly.

“Smells good.” I dipped a tablespoon into the baked beans and loaded some onto my plate. I grabbed a rack of ribs from the platter and added them. They were fall-off-the-bone tender.

“Let me get you a second plate for your coleslaw. I have buttered rolls too.” Geri handed me a salad-sized dish. I added coleslaw to it. I grabbed a roll from the bread basket and took a bite.

“How is your research coming along?” I guessed Geri was making polite conversation instead of being genuinely interested in the case.

“We’re making progress.”

“And where is your friend? Chelsey.”

“She’s out collecting evidence.”

“Will she be joining us again?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Shame. I think you two are perfect together.”

I blushed. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, sometimes I get feelings. I think it’s a motherly thing.”

“What kind of feelings?”

“Just that there was an attraction between you two. That you seem good together. Content with each other—I don’t know. I might just be a crazy old lady.”

“You’re not crazy. I am attracted to Chelsey, but I’m not sure she feels the same about me.”

“She does.”

“Did she say that?”

“She didn’t have to. She looks at you like she does.”

I nodded, although I wasn’t sure I agreed with her assessment. I never saw Chelsey look at me that way.

“Eat up. It’s getting cold.”

I finished my plate and Geri offered me more.

“No, really, I’m stuffed.”

“Surely you have room for dessert? I have key lime pie. And I made those cookies I promised you.”

I wasn’t one to turn down a good piece of key lime pie, so I agreed. She cut me a quarter of a pie and divided the rest for Linda and the kids. I didn’t complain. It was decadent. Geri went back to the fridge and retrieved another pie. She sliced a piece for herself and sat back down at the table.

Frank emerged from the basement as I took a second bite of pie. I perked up. “Any luck?”

“Not yet. I’ll try again in the morning.”

Geri scolded Frank. “Uh, your dinner is cold!”

“I’ll heat it up.”

“Don’t think I’m going to do it.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“Good!”

Frank piled his plate with ribs and stuck it in the microwave.

Geri made a face. “You didn’t cover that! So you get to clean up the microwave when it splashes everywhere. And you get clean up the dishes when you’re through too.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I covered my mouth with my hand to smother a laugh. There was a sticky note on the microwave that read
Cover your food, THIS MEANS YOU!
The ironic part was that it was in Frank’s handwriting. As much as they seemed annoyed with one another, I felt like underneath it all there was a lot of love.

Linda got up from the table. “We have to go.”

Frank and Geri saw to it that the grandkids had their treats to go home with and followed them to the front door to say their goodbyes. When they returned to the kitchen, Frank removed his ribs from the microwave and sat down to eat. Geri made herself a cup of coffee and sat with us.

“It’s certainly a lot quieter now that they went home.” Frank shoveled a forkful of beans into his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in a week.

Geri rolled her eyes.

“How long have you two been married?” I asked.

Frank was quick to answer. “Too long.”

Geri punched his arm. “Forty-eight years.”

“Wow.” They got married well before I was born. It occurred to me that I hadn’t asked Geri and Frank much about themselves. Here they were, selflessly helping out a stranger, and I had only been thinking of myself. “I’m sorry I’m imposing on the two of you. I truly appreciate your generosity.”