Terminal 9 (14 page)

“Yeah, I've heard them a time or two.”

Dana was experiencing a new kind of adrenaline rush, different than the kind you get from fights or chases. Mac was taking notes, relieving her of the responsibility so she could establish rapport with the kid. Things had started clicking between her and Mac on this case, and for once Dana felt like they were becoming a real team and not just two people assigned to work together.

Dana moved to a chair at Tyler's left and cleared her throat, trying to remember Mac's style for making suspects feel comfortable. His was good, shifting from smooth and kind to serious and even menacing. She had a few tricks up her sleeve as well.

“Do you need anything,Tyler? Water or coffee?” Dana smiled and lightly touched the young man's hand when she asked the question.

“Um . . .No, no thanks. I'm cool.”Tyler's wary gaze followed her.

His shoulder slumped and softened a little.

“I'm sorry you can't smoke in here,” she said. “The building's rules, not ours.”

His Adam's apple rose up and down when he swallowed. “I can handle it.”

“Good.” Dana tipped her head to one side. “Do you have any questions for me? I know you've been arrested a time or two, but I bet you've never been involved in a death investigation before.”

His head snapped up. “What death investigation?”

“Clay Mullins. The man whose house you were in when we showed up.”

“Oh, him. I heard the old dude got whacked by a train. The guys at the pool hall were talking about it.”

“Did you know Clay Mullins?”

“Everyone knew about him. I didn't know the guy personally.”

“Hmm.” Dana pursed her lips and frowned. “Okay. Help me understand what you were doing at his house.”

“I heard he had a lot of cool things in his house—stuff that might be worth a lot of money. I figured nobody would miss a few things, and he sure didn't need the stuff any more.”

“Where'd you hear that?”

“One of my buds. His mom worked for the old guy. You know, cleaned the place up and bought his groceries and stuff. I needed a little cash and thought I could help myself to some of the things in the house.”

“So you broke in and then we came along and spoiled the party?”

She smiled at him. “Tell me, how did you manage to get by the police officer?”

She said it in a way that made Mac sit up straighter. Had he been the bad guy, he'd have confessed to anything just to please her.

Tyler chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, probably weighing his words.

“Go ahead,Tyler. You're doing fine.”

“I—uh—I came in along the river like he said. Did some fishing and skipped some rocks. I could see the cop pretty clear from where I was. He sat there most of the time, reading and drinking coffee. Every once in a while he'd get out and walk around. I'm not sure he ever did see me. When it started getting dark I went in on the riverside.”

“How did you get into the house?”

“The door was unlocked. I just walked in.”

Dana looked him in the eye. “And it was already getting dark. Must have been hard to see what you were doing.”

“Not really. The lights from the terminal were shining in through the windows. Light enough.”

“How convenient. What did you find in the house?”

“Humph.” Tyler moved forward, resting his arms more fully on the table. “Nothing worth stealing, that's for sure. Just a bunch of junk—some old signs and pictures and stuff lying around.”

“What about the bag you took?”

He shrugged. “It was sitting on the counter in the kitchen. There were some bottles and pills and a bunch of needles. I figured I could sell the stuff.”

“Or use it yourself?” Dana asked.

“Yeah, I know I got a problem. Me and my girlfriend are quitting after the first of the month, going cold turkey.”

“Yeah, right,” Mac mumbled.

“Go on,Tyler,” Dana prodded.

“I was in the back bedroom when you guys pulled in. I got as far as the porch when you came around the corner.”

“So you knew we were cops?” Mac asked.

If the guy had been a turtle his head would have disappeared into his shell. “Yeah, I knew,” he admitted. “I'm sorry, man. I just freaked out and tried to get out of there. I didn't want to hurt anyone, just confuse you so I could get away.”

“Is this the bag you took from Mr. Mullins's house?” Dana inched the bag toward him.

“Yeah. That's it.”

Dana shifted her gaze from Tyler to the bag, then over to Mac with a take-it-from-here look.

“Let me get this straight,” Mac said. “This bag isn't yours.”

“No sir, it's not mine.”

“So you would have no problem with us looking in the bag?” Mac asked.

Tyler shrugged. “No.”

“Are you willing to give a taped statement, Tyler?” Mac reached for the bag and placed it under his chair without opening it.

“Sure, if that's what you want.”

“I don't have any additional questions. Detective Bennett, why don't you put him on tape and we'll go from there.” Mac pulled a mini cassette recorder from his briefcase and handed it to Dana.

Dana recorded a test message then set the recorder on the table, again advising Tyler of his rights and going through his statement. Once he gave the account, both detectives locked him into his story with some follow-up questions.

“Tell you what, Mr. Cohen.” Mac snapped off the tape recorder and removed the mini cassette tape. “If your story checks out and we find that you had nothing to do with the old man's death, I'll forget about that garbage can incident.” Mac pulled a pocketknife from his pocket and punched the plastic tabs from the cassette, to ensure it wasn't used for recording again. “That sound like a deal to you?”

“Sure. Like I said, I never meant to hurt anybody.”

“We'll book you on the burglary and resisting arrest, and for now we'll put a hold on the assault of a police officer and attempted escape charges. Sound like a winner?”

“I guess.”

Dana asked the uniformed trooper waiting outside the interview room to step back in. Mac instructed the trooper to take Tyler downstairs to the county jail and book him. “Get him an appearance date and release him.” Since Tyler was a juvenile, the jail wouldn't hold him.

“Good job, partner,” Mac said to Dana when Tyler and the trooper were out of earshot.

“Thanks, I guess.” Dana let out a sigh.

“I know I put you on the spot. Kevin did the same thing to me on several of the cases I ran with him. Hope you don't mind. I just wanted you to know I trust you.”

“Thanks, Mac, but I could have throttled you at the time. How about trusting me with a heads-up next time?”

“Sorry, just passing along the tradition.” Mac grinned and held up a hand, which Dana high-fived.

“What do you want to do with the bag Tyler stole?” Dana asked.

“Let's get it introduced into the warrant. We'd better get upstairs and punch this into our affidavit so we can get a judge's signature.”

“Doesn't it need to be dusted for prints?”

“No, not now that the kid has admitted to taking it. The crime lab doesn't like to process evidence we don't need.”

Dana looked at her watch. “It's seven o'clock already.”

“I hope Darren is still here. I'll get the warrant going; you need to call Sergeant Evans and tell him about your use of force.”

“Right.” She frowned and seemed unsure of herself. “Do you think I did the right thing? I hit him pretty hard.”

“You brought him down—he's alive to tell about it. By the way, slugger,” Mac winked, “remind me never to mess with you.”

Dana's dimples deepened into a sly smile as she batted her eyelashes at him. “Why, Mac,” she said in a sweet Southern drawl, “whatever do you mean?”

THIRTEEN

M
AC JOGGED UP THE STAIRS to the District Attorney's office while Dana took the bag to the car and called Frank. He buzzed on the door to the D.A.'s office, but when no one answered, he paged Darren on his cell phone.

Darren called him back a few minutes later. “Hey Mac, I'm across the street having some dinner. I'll be right up.”

“Mind giving me the access code so I can finish my warrant affidavit?”

“Not at all.” Darren gave him the code. Mac let himself in and went to work on Darren's computer.

He typed in the description of the home and the autopsy results, labeling the request to search the home as a suspicious death investigation since he was nowhere near ready to call the death accidental or medical. At the same time, they certainly had no real evidence of a murder—just a feeling that was growing stronger by the minute. Mac also added the mysterious bag they'd retrieved from Tyler to the affidavit.

The plan had been to search the home for evidence of Clay's reason for leaving, more so than the cause of death. As Spalding had indicated, just after Clay's death, a responding uniformed officer would have done a cursory search of the house to make sure there was no one else home. That kind of search fell under a public safety provision that allowed for warrantless searches for community care-taking measures. Once the police were sure there were no additional citizens in the home, they had to leave. That search had been done long before Mac and Dana were called in.

Before the break-in, Mac had planned to go in and have a cursory look at the place today. Now they'd have to bring in a CSI tech, and that meant they'd probably be waiting until morning— assuming a tech was available then. With all the budget cuts, the Oregon State forensic lab had been hit hard.

Besides, the break-in had eaten up a lot of their time. Better to start fresh in the morning rather than work through the night and risk sloppy work by two very tired detectives. He had no doubt that Kevin would agree. On top of that, he doubted Frank would sign off on more overtime.

Once again Mac grumbled about the necessity of the warrant. He really wanted to get inside Clay's house, but he could lose the evidence in a suppression hearing if he tried to skirt around the paperwork. Unfortunately, without a warrant, they would need consent from all parties, and that hadn't happened. Clay's daughter refused to give consent until she looked into the matter, and Jacob refused to even talk to them. If they did find something in the house indicating foul play, Mac would have to look seriously at the denied consents from both parties.

Mac hit the print key a bit harder than necessary. Paperwork frustrated him to no end. But he intended to do it right.

“Hey, Mac.” Darren poked his head inside the office. “How's that warrant coming?”

Mac looked up from the monitor. “All done. I'm printing it out now.” He scooted his chair back and stood.

“Did you get your burglar squared away?”

“Yeah.”

Volk nodded. “I'm glad you and Dana are okay. We've been dealing with the Cohen family for some time. I'm afraid the fruit didn't fall far from the tree with Tyler. I'm just thankful he didn't have a gun. Do you think he had anything to do with Mullins's death?”

Mac shrugged. “Not at this point. He copped to the burglary. We think he was just looking for an easy score to feed his addictions. But if we find evidence of foul play where Mullins is concerned, I'm certainly not ruling him out. It's possible the kid wanted the old man out of the way and put him on the tracks so his death would look like an accident.”

Darren nodded. “Possible, but unlikely. Tyler's not too bright.”

“He could have had a partner.” Mac sighed and shook his head. “Listen to me. Already making a homicide out of this.”

“I've got Circuit Judge Perkins standing by at home for the warrant. He said we could do a telephonic job if you wanted to call him. You can use my phone recorder if you like; it's all ready to go.”

“Thanks.” Mac grabbed the affidavit off the printer. “You have the number for Perkins?” Even though he now planned to search the house the following morning, Mac wanted everything in place so they could hit it bright and early.

“On my phone, on that yellow sticky note.”

Mac dialed the number, getting Judge Perkins on the second ring. “Yes sir, this is Detective McAllister, OSP. I'm applying for a search warrant.”

“Right. Darren said you'd be calling. I was sorry to hear about Clay's death,” Judge Perkins said. “He was a fixture around here. The community has lost a good man.”

“So I understand. I appreciate your help, sir. Darren said you'd agreed to do this over the phone. I have a recorder ready when you are.”

“That's fine. Go ahead.”

Mac activated the cassette recorder and began reading the affidavit out loud.

Warrant applications made over the phone in Oregon must be recorded so the judge is protected from liability in the event the affiant provides inaccurate information. Usually the judge has the affidavit to read, keeping the original once the warrant is signed. Judge Perkins listened intently on the other end, then agreed to sign the warrant. “Just fax me the paperwork; I'll fax back a signed copy and we're in business. You can bring me the original affidavit tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks.”

“Glad to do it. When are you planning to serve the warrant?”

“We were hoping to go through the house tonight, but I've decided to wait until tomorrow morning—that is, if I can hook up with a CSI technician. With the burglary tonight we'll have to treat it as a crime scene.” Tyler's burglary had complicated matters and they now had a contamination problem. They would have to eliminate and separate his actions or damage from that of a possible murderer.

“Sounds like a wise move. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Will do.” After obtaining his warrant, Mac called the Portland office of the State Police forensics lab, requesting a CSI technician to accompany him and Dana in the morning. He gave directions and set a time of 9:00 a.m. After updating Sergeant Evans he met up with Dana in the car.