Sage Advice to Cover Up a Murder! (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 2) (4 page)

Tanner contained his excitement for the remainder of the afternoon so as to not alert the widow and her son that he had overheard their private conversation. He couldn’t make heads nor tails of it though. Why would Mrs. Hawkins purposefully go against her husband’s final wishes? The boy didn’t really care, but it sure made for interesting gossip. As soon as he saw his buddy Logan leaving with his aunt, the young man followed them out with the excuse that Logan promised to hang with him that afternoon. Confused, the other boy played along. He would rather spend time with Emily, especially after seeing her so distraught today. However, he realized she would be busy with family and friends and he certainly could use the distraction of riding the waves.

It wasn’t until the sun was setting over the Atlantic Ocean that Tanner remembered he had something to tell his friend. He fished a soda out of the cooler as the boys rested on a splintered picnic table just outside The Surf Shack. “Dude, you are NOT going to believe what I heard today,” Tanner began. He proceeded to tell him about the argument between the widow and her son. Initially, Logan thought it strange but nothing alarming. Then he remembered the other news about the bird being killed by poison. Maybe he was watching too many of his aunt’s favorite television crime dramas but it sounded like a mystery to him. Logan decided to talk to Aunt Mel, and maybe even Jason, later that evening about it.

Over dinner – Chinese food that Jason picked up on the way over – Logan broached the subject of Mr. Hawkins memorial service. Jason had been unable to attend due to work commitments, so he was interested in what transpired at the service. Melissa filled him in on how everyone thought it strange that the memorial service was scheduled so soon after his death. Logan took that opportunity to add what Tanner overheard from Mrs. Hawkins and her son – that Mr. Hawkins had not wanted to be cremated at all and her son had wanted an autopsy performed. The detective concurred that it was odd she went against her husband’s wishes, but not extraordinarily so. He replied that sometimes people just want to move on with their lives as quickly as possible or just can’t deal with the pain. Perhaps Mrs. Hawkins just couldn’t cope with drawing out the funeral process.

Melissa agreed that burying one’s spouse is difficult, but she couldn’t comprehend going against a spouse’s final wishes. The mere thought was mortifying to her. Jason sensed the subject was bringing up memories of when she had to bury her own husband a few years ago after his aircraft accident. Even though they had been together a while now, he knew and understood that Melissa missed Kevin with all her heart each and every day. He accepted that fact about their relationship. At this point he considered it best to change the subject, but Logan was not done.

“Jason,” the young man asked, “is it true that the coroner performed an autopsy on a dead seagull from Oregon Inlet? And that there were a lot of dead seagulls there?” By the look on the older gentleman’s face, Logan had his answer. Melissa looked over at his beau with confusion.

Since the death of Mr. Hawkins had been ruled due to natural causes, he determined he could tell them a little about the case that wasn’t a real case. The detective explained that his partner had bagged the dead birds as evidence on a hunch. He hadn’t agreed with the move, but it was done. Without asking for permission, the younger cop ordered an autopsy on the birds, since he couldn’t get one of Mr. Hawkins. “It’s ridiculous, really,” he commented. He further reported that the chief had not been happy with Cory at all, and had ordered him to cease and desist.

Melissa was still trying to wrap her head around what dead seagulls had to do with the death of Mr. Hawkins. “Poisoned birds?” she asked almost in a whisper. “What poisoned them?” Jason didn’t know and hadn’t even thought to ask since he thought the whole situation was silly. Birds eat stuff they’re not supposed to all the time. They could’ve been poisoned by just about anything. Melissa interjected, “But Cory thinks perhaps the birds ate something that Mr. Hawkins ate. He believes Mr. Hawkins was poisoned, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he answered. Jason was well aware what the expressions on Melissa and Logan’s faces meant. They saw this as a mystery now. He knew enough to be more than a little concerned. The last thing either one of them needed was to get in the middle of an investigation. “Besides,” he thought, “there is no investigation.”

Melissa added, “Did anyone else think it was strange that Mr. Hawkins retired rather abruptly?” Jason rolled his eyes. It was too late. Her brain had kicked into mystery-solving mode. She continued, “Cheryl and Ronnie mentioned it today. Apparently, everyone at work was surprised and Sophie was
very
unhappy about it.” Biting her lower lip as she went deep into thought, “Maybe Mr. Hawkins was too much of a liability for Johnson. He did know all the old man’s dirty little secrets.” After last summer’s ordeal where Johnson’s son tried to frame her for a murder she didn’t commit, Melissa highly distrusted the elder Mr. Johnson. It wouldn’t surprise her if he had illicit business dealings that perhaps Mr. Hawkins knew about. In her mind, Johnson wouldn’t be above eliminating anything, or anyone, that could undermine his business or family. He had even sent that pesky lawyer to harass her and Logan after his son, Eddie, had been arrested.

That brought up another thought – that same pesky lawyer had been at the memorial service today. She remembered noting that he spoke with Mrs. Hawkins for an extended period of time. Melissa mentioned it to Jason and Logan. Something must have sparked a memory because Jason’s eyes grew large at the news. He was reluctant to do so, but knew Melissa wouldn’t let it go. She saw that look on his face. He knew something that he wasn’t telling. “Actually,” he began, “Mr. Andrews was at the precinct the other day just before the chief called Cory and me into his office for a lashing about the unapproved bird autopsy.” He tried to explain that there could be any number of reasons that the attorney was meeting with the chief, but even those reasons sounded paltry to him. Jason had to admit, maybe his partner had been right. Maybe there was something more to Mr. Hawkins death than an old man having a heart attack while fishing alone. Regardless of what he thought was best, Melissa and Logan were now on the case.

Life in Kill Devil Hills appeared to return to normal that week. Jason and Cory went back to working petty crime cases as the amount of pickpocketing had increased along the boardwalk since the arrival of tourists for the summer. Melissa’s bakery business was bustling, so she had less time to focus on the mystery of Mr. Hawkins and the dead seagulls. Logan spent a great deal of time at the beach with Emily. He wanted so badly to help alleviate her sadness about her grandfather’s death. The poor girl was taking it hard. The rest of the Hawkins family had returned back to Fairfax, VA. Yes, life in the small seaside town was back to its usual summertime routine.

Jason’s partner still stewed over the chief closing the case on Mr. Hawkins so quickly. Personally, Jason wanted to forget the whole thing. The young detective just could not let it go and it was making life at the precinct more difficult. Since the case was ruled death by natural causes, all the ‘evidence’ should have been thrown out or returned to the Hawkins family. Being stubborn, Cory had been lax in this particular duty. The dead birds still sat in the morgue freezer, along with the food and beverages Mr. Hawkins had taken with him to the beach that fateful day.

Early the following week, Mrs. Hawkins stopped by the police station unexpectedly. She sashayed in dressed to the nines in a designer sundress, sandals, and Coach handbag. For someone in mourning, she appeared bright and downright cheerful. Humming softly, she headed straight for the Chief of Police’s office where she was immediately invited in. Jason considered this a slightly unusual since the chief always made people wait, regardless of who it was. One time he left the mayor waiting for thirty minutes as he talked on the phone with his cable provider.

Within a few minutes, the chief hollered for Jason and Cory. Both detectives shot each other a questioning look before heading over. Mrs. Hawkins smiled sweetly at them both and thanked them profusely for all their hard work on her husband’s case. “The department has been so helpful and kind during this sad time that I wanted to come here in person to show my family’s appreciation,” she said. The two detectives thanked her for the nice comments, but Jason thought she certainly didn’t give off the impression of being ‘sad’. He always considered himself a good reader of persons. He could tell that was not sadness behind her smile. She was genuinely in a good mood.

The chief informed the two detectives that Mrs. Hawkins had come by to retrieve her husband’s personal belongings that had been taken by the department from Oregon Inlet. Thankfully, for Cory’s sake, he didn’t know about the continued presence of items tucked away in the morgue. He also didn’t know that the young officer had taken fingerprints off most of the items brought in from the scene. Those were hidden away in his desk for a later time. Cory planned to access the fingerprint database when he was least likely to get caught. The chief would have his head if he found out.

Jason volunteered to fetch the items for her, but Cory insisted on accompanying him. As they headed out of the office and down to the storage room. “Ok, Cory, what’s up?” Jason asked. He sensed his partner’s unease.

“Man, didn’t it seem odd to you that the widow is all smiles and sunshine?” Cory inquired. Actually, Jason had caught that vibe and agreed with his partner. “I’ve never seen a woman so recently widowed appear as if she’s ready for a day of partying at the yacht club. It’s just weird.” No doubt, Mrs. Hawkins did not give off the impression of the grieving widow. Jason tried to reason that perhaps this was just how she dealt with the pain. Not everyone experienced grief in the same way. Cory wasn’t buying it. Honestly, even Jason didn’t believe it.

Discussing the strange behavior of Mrs. Hawkins, the two detectives returned shortly with a couple boxes of items for the widow. Included in the boxes were Mr. Hawkins’ fishing rod and reel, tackle box, cooler, beach chair, cell phone, clothes, and keys to the truck that was still in the department’s impound lot. She perused through the boxes, then looked up with a perplexed look. “Detectives, where are the other items my husband took that day? There appears to be some things missing.”

Confused, neither man understood what could be missing and said so. “Well, here’s the cooler but where are the food and beverages that were in the cooler? I helped him pack it myself. It was loaded with all sorts of scrumptious items to keep him from growing hungry or thirsty.”

Now they were really confused. Did the widow truly want the food and drinks that were in her husband’s cooler? It had been well over a week. The food would’ve turned rotten by now anyway. There had only been a couple of empty water bottles and a half-empty can of Coors. Jason guessed everything had been tossed already. Cory even stated as much. What his partner didn’t know was that he had stored the food and drinks away, along with the birds, in the morgue freezer. For whatever reason, he felt he should hang on to those things for now. He would never have suspected the widow would want them back. The chief reassured Mrs. Hawkins that the food and drinks would have been tossed out by now. He apologized that the department no longer had the items and even offered to reimburse her for the cost. After a moment’s hesitation, Mrs. Hawkins smiled back at the chief with what seemed to be a look of relief to Jason. “Oh, never mind,” she said, “It wasn’t that important anyway.” Back to her cheerful self, she asked Detective Bronson to help her carry the items to her car. In a cloud of expensive-smelling perfume, she strolled out of the precinct humming a Beatles tune.

Cory came back to his desk more perplexed than usual. “Jason, did anything about that encounter seem ‘off’ to you?” he asked his partner. Actually, a lot had seemed ‘off’, but he worried the younger cop would take that as a reason to pursue his unauthorized investigation of Mr. Hawkins’ demise, so he kept his mouth shut. Cory continued though. “Did you know Mrs. Hawkins now drives a brand new Mercedes Benz convertible? I guess the old man had quite a life insurance policy.” Jason shrugged, but thought it peculiar that an insurance policy would’ve paid out so quickly.

Later that day, Jason prepared to leave for a long lunch with Melissa when he was called back into the chief’s office, along with Cory. On speakerphone was an irate Joey Hawkins, the son of the deceased. Apparently, he had a long time to think over the events since his father’s death on his return trip to Virginia. He stated his disappointment that the department had so quickly closed the case and ruled it a natural death. He was especially incensed that there had not been an autopsy performed on his father’s body, even if his mother had requested that one not be done. “What kind of hillbilly organization are you running where you allow the grieved widow to make that kind of call?” he asked angrily. The chief did his best to explain, but Joey was not in the mood to listen to excuses. Being a high-up bureaucrat at the State Department in Washington, D.C. gave him a sense of superiority and he was not above using his position to order others around, even little old hillbilly police departments.

Whereas, the chief and Jason were both visibly annoyed at the attitude being directed their way, Cory saw an opening. His eyes fairly gleamed as he listened to Joey’s tirade. Perhaps he would get the investigation he wanted after all. The chief attempted to diffuse the situation, but failed miserably. “Mr. Hawkins, at the time there was no indication of foul play. The department considered it best for everyone to not overturn your mother’s request, so an autopsy was never ordered. Even if we reopened the case, an autopsy could not be performed since your father was cremated.”

This was another sore point with Joey Hawkins. “I don’t care what my mother requested, officers! Did you numskulls even verify that my father wished to be cremated?” he asked. Without waiting for a response, he answered his own question, “No, of course you didn’t.” He continued, “Because if you had you would have read in his will that his final request was to be buried in the family plot beside his parents. I have the will right in front of me and it states that, in very clear, unambiguous language.” All three police officers were dumbfounded. The chief tried to explain that the department was not responsible for what happened to the bodies of the deceased once the family claimed the body from the morgue. Jason offered that perhaps he should consult with his mother who ordered the cremation. Unfortunately, the grieved son needed someone to blame for this travesty and had chosen the police department as the scapegoat.

Detective Bronson saw his chance. Even though he knew the backlash he would get from his partner and the chief, he trudged along anyway. “Mr. Hawkins,” he began, “we may not have your father’s body anymore in order to perform an autopsy, but…,” Jason tried to interrupt because he knew where this was going. It was too late though.  “We do have the bodies of several dead seagulls that were found in the same area as your father’s body.” Both Jason and the chief groaned. Cory continued quickly before the other two officers could stop him, “And I’m sure, with your influence, we could get the FBI to analyze your father’s ashes, if needed.”

Joey Hawkins jumped on those statements. “So there was reason to believe my father’s death was not from natural causes? Why did your department close the case then? Obviously, there was something amiss if you bagged dead seagulls from the scene.” He ranted for a long time. The chief placed the speakerphone on mute and let into the young detective. Jason cringed as he knew he would be blamed for not curtailing his partner’s enthusiasm for an investigation that the department did not deem worthy of pursuing.

The chief cut his verbal throttling of the younger man off as he heard Joey ask them a question in harsh tones. Apparently, they had missed the question earlier as he raised his voice on the other end to get their attention. By the end of the phone call, they all felt like they had been through the proverbial ringer. The chief had no choice but to agree with Joey to
quietly
reopen the case. The only one smiling in the room was Cory, who felt vindicated in his ‘hunch’.