The Accused and the Damned: Book Three, the Eddie McCloskey Series (The Unearthed 3) (15 page)

Detective Ross put his feet up and switched the desk phone to his other ear. “Okay, pal, I’ll dot the i’s and cross the t’s for you because that’s just the kind of guy I am. The title company says no defects. The county assessor values the Ketcher property at three-seventy-five. The tax records don’t tell us anything we don’t already know.”

The fire investigator, a guy named Sims, laughed sardonically. “And the surviving homeowner is currently locked up.”

“What do you have?” Ross asked.

“Origin: Alice’s studio. Cause: we think a box of matches.”

“You fucking with me?”

Sims went on. “Opportunity: the homeowners weren’t around, nobody else was there for eight hours that day. Motive … well, you’re the detective. Glad I’m not in your shoes right now.”

“Talk about a jolly-old clusterfuck. We’ve got both sides pointing fingers and motive everywhere. Who fucking knows. Thanks, Sims.”

“I’ll CC you on my report but you already know everything I’m going to say.”

Ross hung up. He’d spent the last sixteen hours forcing everybody involved in the trial to account for their whereabouts on the day of the fire. So far everybody had airtight alibis. He still had to double-check a few stories, but he was pretty sure nobody on the prosecution or on the defense had set fire to the Ketcher house.

And yet they were the only parties that stood to gain from the arson. Which meant that somebody had hired an unidentified third party to do their dirty work for them.

Ross poked his head out the door and waved at Fred Grimm. He’d landed desk sergeant duties that night. Grimm had a phone to his ear and a glazed look in his eyes, like he’d been on hold a long time.

Ross said, “Thieler in the building right now?”

Grimm put his hand over the phone. “You already checked the ladies’ room?”

Ross gave Grimm the finger and went out to his car to call Becky Thieler. She was a striking young woman and very bright. But not many of the guys in the department had tried to woo her because she gave off the not-interested vibe, which of course made every simplistic dumb-ass in the office think she played for the other team.

“Hello, detective,” Thieler said. In the background, Ross heard Christian rock blasting out of a radio. Sounded like she was in her car.

“Shit, Becky, you at a concert?”

She turned down the music. “What’s up?”

“Have you seen anyone else following McCloskey?”

“ … I don’t understand what you mean.”

Ross smiled. “It’s okay. I know what you’re up to.”

“Crap.” She paused. “I didn’t tell anybody. How’d you find out?”

“You can’t keep anything secret in a police station. So have you seen anybody else? Any faces keep popping up?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been looking.”

“Start looking.”

“Who exactly am I looking for?”

Ross thought about it. “Anybody following him. They’re probably not from around here, but I don’t want you to rule anybody out. You see anybody around him more than once, you make a mental note.”

“Detective, I’m sorry I didn’t—”

“Don’t be. The Chief put you in a bad position. Not your fault. You did the smart thing, I respect that.”

“What’s this about?”

“I’ll tell you but you have to keep it between us.”

“But we work at a police station.”

He laughed. “You and I are the outsiders in this department. I trust you, you trust me. So it’ll stay between us.”

“What if the Chief asks me—”

“Then you tell him the truth. I appreciate the loyalty but don’t jeopardize your career over me. You’ve got a long ways to go. I’ve already got my twenty and my pension is vested with the city. I just do this bullshit now for fun.”

“Okay.”

“The fire at the Ketcher place was arson. Sims knows the cause and can pinpoint the origin. Surprise, surprise, the fire started in Alice’s studio. I think the prosecution had more to gain from the fire than the defense. The evidence in hand is damning. They wanted to keep it that way. Somebody with a vested interest in Anson’s conviction is more likely responsible.”

Ross let his words hang in the air and let Thieler make the connection.

She said, “You think McCloskey would have found something exculpatory if he’d been able to investigate the house further?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so, but then why the fire? It doesn’t follow. The only reason to commit arson to that house is to keep McCloskey from uncovering something. Nobody else cares what McCloskey finds except for the DA, or the vic’s father.”

“And this department.”

“That too.”

“Hold on. Maybe somebody’s worried about something embarrassing getting out. It might have nothing to do with the trial. Maybe something that wouldn’t …”

“Go on.” He wanted to hear her logic.

“It is an election year.” She went quiet.

Ross had already considered that. “I like how you’re thinking, but if there was anything like that I think we would have found it already. You know how many people have been through there?”

“But why do you think McCloskey would have found something if nobody else could have?”

“Becky, I’m not saying I believe in ghosts but the only thing Eddie would have uncovered would have been paranormal in nature. And that’s exactly the type of thing we would have missed.”

“So you think somebody’s trying to rig the game to help the DA get a conviction?”

“This is all pretty thin. But it’s possible. And if they’re willing to burn Ketcher’s house to the ground, what are they willing to do to McCloskey?”

“He’s the only leg the defense has to stand on. If you’re right, they’d be willing to do a lot to him.” She hesitated. “Detective, you sure you want to go down this road?”

“We have to make sure the game is fair, otherwise it’s all meaningless. How about you? You okay doing this?”

“Mine not to reason why, mine but to do or die.”

Ross laughed. “It’s not like that with me. I won’t throw you to the wolves. Just want to know if you’re comfortable.”

“I’ve been a cop for three years and this is the first chance I get to do real police work. So yeah, I’m okay with it.”

“Where has Eddie gone the last few days?”

“A nursing home to see Lee Oliver, previous owner of the house, and also a psychic.”

Interesting. “Lee Oliver was also a psychic?”

“No, I meant—”

“I know. I’m just having a little fun.”

Thieler laughed. “I asked the chief if I should question the psychic but he said no. I didn’t push.”

“Smart move on your part. You don’t want to get on his bad side for at least another five years.”

“All the years on the job and that’s the best advice you got for me?”

“Where’s the psychic located?”

Ross and Thieler talked particulars for a few minutes, and Thieler summarized Eddie’s whereabouts since she’d been tailing him. Ross jotted notes, got addresses and phone numbers. He thanked her and hung up, his anger at the chief already rising.

Towson had purposely kept this information from him, even though it was arguably part of Ross’s investigation. And if any of it was exculpatory, it was an automatic due process violation that could lead to Anson’s acquittal and release.

Ross shook his head in disgust then went back inside to speak to Grimm. The desk sergeant was still on hold and gave Ross a shit-eating grin.

“Grimm, is Billy Towson on right now?”

“Are you trying to set up a date?”

“No, I already have plans with your wife later.”

Ross checked the watch board in the hallway and saw that the Chief’s son was on patrol. Ross used the radio to get a hold of the kid then drove out to meet him.

* * * *

“It wasn’t our guys,” Alan said, hoping he sounded confident.

“I told you to keep it subtle. Jesus, Alan, what the fuck were your guys thinking?” Councilman Towson screamed at him through the phone.

“I’m telling you, the house fire wasn’t us. I made it clear what we wanted.”

“Fuck. Fuck.” The councilman went silent for a moment, spoke away from the phone to give instructions to somebody. “If this dicks things up for us, Alan …”

“Bennett, I swear it wasn’t us.”

The councilman sighed. “Then prove it.”

“How?”

A long silence. Alan could almost hear Towson thinking.

Finally the councilman spoke. “I want to meet your contact.”

“Bennett, that’s not a good idea.”

“Arrange a phone call.”

“Okay. But these guys have standing orders,” Alan said. “Do you want me to call them off McCloskey? If somebody goes after him right now, after the house …”

“Tell them not to move. I want to talk to your guy first.”

“Okay.”

Towson hung up without saying goodbye, and Alan just about broke the phone in his palm. Instead, he cursed and kicked his trash can across the trailer. It clanged against the side of an end table and landed top-down.

Alan got on the phone a minute later after he’d calmed down. It took him three calls to reach Goatee.

“Somebody wants to talk to you.”

“I’m not a big talker.”

“If you want to get paid the rest, you’d better take this call.”

* * * *

Because Anson Ketcher hadn’t pressed any charges, the fallout over Billy Towson’s beating of the suspect at the scene of the crime had been minimal. His dad, the Chief, had put him on administrative leave for a week, made him hump a desk for another week, then had released him back into the wilds of patrol. Ross had been happy about that, despite any misgivings he had about Billy’s dad.

But now Billy had to be treated like a suspect.

Ross pulled into the parking lot of the gigantic supermarket and parked next to Billy so the driver windows were next to each other.

“What’s going on?” Billy asked.

Ross studied the young man. There had been nothing in his tone approaching nervousness, just a natural curiosity.

Ross smiled to put the kid at ease. “Interesting turn of events this trial has taken, isn’t it?”

“A good turn. Now the defense can’t stall anymore by asking to see the house another dozen times.”

“Your pop has you back full-time on patrol, right?”

Billy nodded. “I told him it could wait. I didn’t want to screw anything up for the DA or the department, but dad insisted it was okay.”

“I hope you took it easy on your week off at least.”

“Exercised every day. Hit the weight room and got my ass on the treadmill. It was great.”

Ross pictured Billy running and it reminded him of Anson. They’d caught the man sprinting down the middle of the street the night of the murder. That had been bothering him for awhile.

Ross put that thought on hold for a second and frowned like he was trying to remember something. “When’s the last time I saw you, yesterday or the day before?”

Billy shook his head. “I was off-duty yesterday. Had to be a couple days ago. Why do you ask?”

The first tripwire went off in Ross’s head. Billy had the day off yesterday, and as a cop with insider information could have easily found out when the Ketcher house was under watch or unguarded. That gave him opportunity, and he already had motive.

Ross kept his smile friendly. “My memory’s going, just didn’t remember the last time I saw you. How’s it going with the DA?”

Billy rolled his eyes. “Nothing’s ever good enough for a lawyer, I’ll tell you what. The guy doesn’t like any answer I give him—” Billy’s eyes went wide. “—I mean, he’s not coaching me, he’s—”

“Relax, Billy. I know how the game is played.” As a witness, the DA had no business coaching Billy Towson and shaping his testimony. At least, that was what all the law books said. In reality, though, Ross knew things worked differently. The prosecution worked very closely with its witnesses to make sure their testimony was polished.

“The reason I came out here,” Ross said, “was I wanted to ask you if you’ve remembered anything else about that night.”

Billy frowned. “No. I remember it perfectly. I’ll never forget charging into that house and finding Alice like that. For as long as I live.”

Ross broke their eye contact and stared through the windshield like he was deep in thought. Ross knew he wasn’t a great actor, so he didn’t stretch the moment too long.

He faced the kid again. “Don’t mind me. The older I get, the more anal I am. I’m just wondering why Anson ran.”

Billy laughed but it was forced. “He was trying to get away.”

Anson shook his head. “I mean literally. Why would he pull a Usain Bolt? If it were me, I’d be Steve Fucking McQueen.”

“Who?”

“He was—”

“I’m kidding, Mark. I know who Steve McQueen was.”

Ross laughed but waited for the kid to answer the question.