The Easter Egg Murder (12 page)

30

Steve studied DJ with the look of one guy sizing up another. “What do you mean you’ve been wanting to speak to us?”

Harrie stepped up to greet her friends. “Steve, I don’t believe you’ve met Special Agent DJ Scott.” She turned to her companion. “DJ, this is Steve Vaughn. Why don’t we a
ll go into the kitchen and talk?”

When they walked into the kitchen, Harrie saw Ginger look at the
table, note the two coffee cups and lift her eyebrow in a quizzical ‘what’s going on here?’ gesture.

Harrie
smiled. “DJ called this morning and asked to continue our interview so he could make a report this weekend.”

DJ added, “
I had just asked her to call and see if you could come over and talk to me.”

Steve and Ginger sat in the two vacant chairs, and Harrie placed a mug of hot coffee in front of each of them. Steve asked, “What could you possibly have to talk to me about?”

DJ pulled the leather case from his jacket, and opened it to show Steve his badge and ID. He explained about the investigation involving Nick Constantine, and his need to ask Steve some questions. “Would it be okay with you if we did that now?”

Steve seemed to relax a bit. “How long will it take? We have several errands this morning.”

“Not long.” He turned to Harrie. “Would you mind going into the other room with Ginger while Steve and I talk?”

Harrie and Ginger’s eyes met, an unspoken communication transpired between them, and they both shook their heads. “I don’t think so,” Ginger said. “Harrie and I have no secrets, and I think I have a right to know what you think you’re going to learn from my husband. If Steve has no objections, I think it’s time we were all brought up to speed together.” When she leaned back and crossed her arms, the message was obvious.

DJ’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. “Is that all right with you, Steve?”

Steve stifled a grin. “I wouldn’t think of objecting, not when they both gang up on me.”

For the next twenty minutes, DJ asked questions, and Steve answered as best he could. He was able to name some of the other attorneys he and Nick worked with back in 1985. He verified that Nick didn’t seem to have any real friends apart from him. He told DJ what he knew about Nick’s family, how his grandfather had sent him on his way to make it on his own, and how he had been disinherited.

“That brings up another question I need to ask
,” said DJ. “I understand Nick’s will indicates he had quite a bit of money. Where do you think it came from?”

Steve shook his head. “I’ll have to wait until Monday to get that information. I only found out about the contents of the will late Friday. It appears he had financial advisors in New York, but it was after five on the east coast when I learned all this.”

“Do you think he legitimately earned a substantial amount of money in the fourteen years since you’ve seen him, or do you think he got involved in something illegal?”

Steve shrugged. “Nick never struck me as all that industrious. By
that, I mean making an effort to attract good clients, putting in extra time to bring in more billable hours, that sort of thing. So, if I had to guess, I’d say either he managed to sweet talk his grandfather into putting him back in the will, or he was mixed up in something that involved a lot of easy money. Knowing what I did about his grandfather, I’d be more inclined to say it was the latter.”

DJ looked at Ginger. “Do you have anything else to add?”

“Only that when he left town back in 1987, he left a pile of bills and emptied his and Harrie’s joint bank account. I can’t imagine him changing enough to become a hard-working, honest guy. I guess that’s a mean thing to say, considering the guy’s dead, but that’s my gut reaction.”

Harrie said, “Could you possibly share with them some of the things you were telling me earlier at breakfast?” At that statement, Ginger turned and openly stared at Harrie, a little smile playing across her face. She mouthed the word, ‘breakfast?’ at Harrie, and received in return a frown that clearly said, ‘stop that!’ Thankfully, DJ was occupied with his notes and seemed not to notice, although Steve was thoroughly enjoying the exchange between his wife and her best friend.

When he looked up at them, DJ seemed to have made a decision. “I told Harrie earlier today that I have reason to believe that whoever killed Nick might come after her or the two of you. I’m also quite concerned about a confidential informant of mine, who might now be compromised. Ordinarily I wouldn’t share this kind of information, but your safety could depend on it. Can you give me your word that what I tell you will never leave this room?”

The other three looked from one to the other and nodded solemnly.

DJ continued. “Harrie asked me what possible connection there could be with Nick’s death and the attack on Senator Lawrence. We have reason to believe that Nick was trying to find out exactly what the senator was going to say in his book about the murder of Chipper Finn.”

Ginger and Harrie were stunned
. Steve maintained the watchful air of the attorney gathering information and asked, “What would have been Nick’s purpose in having that information?”

“Nick probably couldn’t have cared any less, personally, but he racked up some debts in the late eighties with people who had strong motives for wanting to know. We believe that
those people may have offered to waive those debts if Nick got them that information. Do any of you know if the senator had experienced a break-in to his home recently?”

Harrie looked at Ginger, but Ginger just shook her head. “He never said anything about a
break-in. And I can’t imagine a break-in crook getting into Canyon Estates. In any event, he has a safe place where he keeps all his notes and information.”

Ginger’s cell phone chirped. “Excuse me. I’ll take it in the living room.”

Harrie looked at DJ. “What else do you know that you’re not telling us?”

“Only something my informant told me. Perhaps it was the fear of a break-in, rather than an actual one. Senator Lawrence seemed to be concerned about his notes and papers getting into the wrong hands.”

“How, exactly, would your informant know anything about Senator Lawrence?”

“We call them confidential informants for a reason. We don’t tell people how they get their information.”

“Then how can you be sure it’s reliable?” Harrie persisted. Ginger returned to the kitchen.

“That was Caroline. She took some work home with her last night, and while she was going through it, she discovered some mail that was delivered Friday afternoon.”

“Is it something important?”

“It’s a brown 9 x 12 envelope, addressed to me,
marked ‘Personal and Confidential’ in the bottom corner. She wants to bring it to me, so I gave her directions and told her to come on over.”

“Great,” said Harrie. “The more, the merrier.”

“Not so great,” said DJ.

Harrie frowned.
“What’s wrong now? Do you have a problem with Caroline Johnson?”

“No,” he admitted. “I don’t have a problem with Caroline Johnson
. I just want to make sure everyone stays safe until we get to the bottom of this.”

Harrie threw up her hands in exasperation. “Then what’s wrong with our assistant coming over to my house?”

“Because,” DJ sighed, “your assistant is my confidential informant.”

31

“Why do I get the feeling that isn’t something you intended to tell us?” Harrie’s defiance had been replaced with amazement.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Ginger said under her breath
. Steve raised his eyebrows. Ginger returned his look. “Well, he obviously had no intention of telling us. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Okay, okay,” DJ said. “Let me explain. I planned to tell you if it became absolutely necessary. I just hoped it wouldn’t, that’s all.”

Harrie said, “That’s why you were hanging around our office on Tuesday, wasn’t it? And I’ll bet that’s why you came back on Wednesday. You wanted to check with your spy.”

“An informant is not a spy
,” DJ said rather more forcefully than he intended to. “She had information that came into her possession, and she thought it was important to bring it to the attention of the FBI. She’s not spying on you, or your business. Now, before she gets here, let me explain what happened. You know that Caroline was Jacob Snow’s administrative assistant, and that Daniel Snow is his older brother. For many years, Caroline worked with Jacob very closely, keeping his calendar, handling all his correspondence and attending meetings with him. She had access to all his files and personal correspondence and even maintained a cabinet in her office for some of it. In the old days, Daniel had been the managing partner, but he decided to run for District Attorney in the late forties, so Peter, their brother-in-law, who was also with the firm, took over. However, he didn’t have the head or the temperament for administrative functions, and in late 1949, Jacob became head of the firm.

“Caroline worked there almost thirty years
. Then Jacob suffered a stroke. He died six months later having never regained consciousness. During that period, Caroline kept the office together. She knew everything there was to know about the practice, and the other attorneys depended on her knowledge and management skills.

“
A few weeks before Jacob died, Caroline took some files home to work on. Since they were personal files, she didn’t see any problem about violating confidentiality. After all, she had been Jacob’s personal assistant all those years.

“Later that evening
as she sorted through files, she noticed a large folder that was taped shut unlike all the rest of the folders. She didn’t remember ever seeing it before. There was nothing written on the outside and nothing indicating what it contained. It occurred to her it might be something Jacob put together as final instructions in the event of his death. She decided to unseal it and look inside.

“What she found was a collection of old newspaper clippings,
some letters, a few photographs and a sealed brown envelope. The clippings were all related to the murder of Chipper Finn in 1950. There were many references to Daniel Snow as the prosecutor in the trial that followed. After the trial, the news stories were all about Daniel’s campaign for New Mexico Attorney General and eventually about his career in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“
The letters were not in envelopes, and there weren’t any signatures. Several appeared to be from the same person. The tone became more threatening in each letter. There was no salutation so she couldn’t be sure they were meant for Jacob. Maybe he had obtained them some someone else.”

Steve interrupted. “What do you mean by ‘threatening’?”

“The writer of the letter indicated he would turn over certain information about the death of a cocktail waitress to some other business associates that both the letter writer and the letter receiver had in common.”

“That sounds ominous,” Harrie said.

“Right,” DJ replied. “The person writing the letter obviously knew, or thought he knew, who was responsible for Chipper Finn’s death. And Mr. Letter Writer was telling Mr. Letter Receiver that he knew.”

“Did it ever mention who the killer was?” Ginger
asked.

“
No, but it was clear that Mr. Letter Receiver also knew who the murderer was and did not want it to become known.”

Harrie spoke up. “Could Caroline tell who had written the letters?”

DJ shook his head. “They were typewritten.”

Ginger said, “Well that has to be a clue. How many people, especially guys, knew how to type before the computer came along?”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “I took typing in high school, I’ll have you know.”

“What about the photographs?” Harrie asked, focusing again on DJ. “Did she recognize any people in the pictures?”

“As far as she could tell, the photographs had nothing to do with the letters or the clippings. They were just pictures showing Jacob’s brother, his sister and her husband. There was one photo of a young man and woman, but Caroline couldn’t tell who they were. The photo was old and creased, like someone had carried it in a billfold for a long time.”

Steve said, “You mentioned a sealed envelope. What about that?”

DJ nodded. “That piece turned out to be a real mystery. It was one of those big 9 x 12 brown envelops, and it had a typed label on the front. The back was sealed with old-fashioned sealing wax—the kind they used back in the 1800s. The label said, ‘Upon my death, deliver this envelope, unopened, to Senator Philip Lawrence.’ Caroline was surprised at this. She thought the senator was a friend of
Daniel
not Jacob
.
Of course Jacob knew Philip, but Caroline didn’t think they were that close, so she didn’t understand why such an important document would be addressed to Philip Lawrence.”

Harrie felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension. “What did she do with it?”

“She set it aside and put the rest of the items in a box. She decided she would wait a while to see if Jacob’s condition improved. On Monday, she took the sealed envelope back to the office and put it in Jacob’s drawer, behind all the other file folders. She hid the box of clippings, photographs, and letters in her guest room.

“
Jacob died two weeks later. The office closed the day of the funeral, and after the burial, there was a reception at the family home. After the reception, Caroline decided to go to the office and retrieve the envelope. But when she opened the bottom file drawer where she’d left it, everything was gone.”

“You mean the envelope was gone?
” Harrie asked.

“No, I mean everything
—the envelope, all the files that had been in the drawer, everything. It had been completely cleaned out. She looked in the other drawers. They were all empty. There was nothing there anymore that belonged to Jacob.”

“What did she do then?” Steve asked.

“She was scared. She didn’t know what to think. There was no sign of anything else being disturbed. Obviously, whoever cleaned out the desk had a key and knew his way around. The only conclusion she could make was that somebody who worked there went in and took everything. She immediately went into her own office and found her file cabinet open. Her own files, pertaining to other staff members or things not involving Jacob were still there. But anything she’d done for Jacob was gone.”

“What about the box of stuff she had at her house?” Harrie asked.

“That was exactly her next thought. She rushed home, opened the door, and found her house had been ransacked. She backed out and immediately called the police. After they’d checked to make sure no one was in the house, they let her go in to see what was missing. Without calling attention to what she was doing, she went through each room and opened closet doors. Nothing had been taken, just pulled out and dumped all over the place. When she got to the guest room, she checked her hiding place and was relieved to see the box was still there.”

“Did she tell the police about the box?” Steve looked worried now.

“No,” DJ said. “After they left, she called me.”

In the silence that followed, Harrie, Ginger, and Steve looked at each other, then back again at DJ.

Ginger broke the silence. “When did all this take place?”

“About eighteen months ago,” DJ replied.

“Okay people,” Harrie said. “Are we going to ignore the big elephant in the corner?”

Steve looked at her with a puzzled stare, “What elephant?”

Harrie laughed mirthlessly, “The one our friend just planted over there. The one concerning why Caroline Johnson called him about that box of goodies rather than turn them over to the police.”

Ginger spoke up. “Don’t you remember,
Harrie? I told you. Caroline and DJ’s mother are friends. She probably called him because she figured he’d know what to do, being an FBI agent and all. Isn’t that right, DJ?”

The doorbell interrupted, and Ginger went to open the front door.

Caroline Johnson greeted Ginger and said, “I’m so sorry to disturb you on the weekend. I hope I didn’t overreact about this silly envelope.” She handed her the envelope in question.

“Not a problem,” Ginger said. “Come on in. We were just talking about you.”

They walked into the kitchen, and Ginger stashed the envelope beside her purse. Caroline stopped when she saw the group around the table. “I seem to be interrupting something,” she said. “My goodness, DJ, what are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to Harrie, Ginger and Steve. I was just telling them about your experience at the firm after Jacob died.”

“Oh, my,” Caroline said. “Why did you feel it necessary to tell them about that, dear?”

Harrie’s ears perked up. Why is she calling him Dear?

DJ stood up, and came around the table to stand beside Caroline. “I’m going to need their help, that’s why. They needed some background on this situation.”

Harrie tilted her head and studied the pair standing before her. “It seem
s there’s some background we’re still missing. You want to tell us what else we don’t know?”

DJ smiled at her, the lock of hair once again in the middle of his forehead. “You’re very astute you know.” He looked around at the group, “Somehow, you’ve all been under the impression that Caroline a
nd my mother are good friends.”

Ginger said, “That’s what I thought you told me that first morning we met.”

“Ah,” he said, holding up his forefinger to make a point. “That’s not actually what I said. I believe I said Caroline has known me since I was a baby.”

Ginger looked confused. “Well, okay, what’s the difference?”

DJ put his arm around Caroline’s shoulder while she looked at him with an adoring smile. “The difference is that Caroline is not my mother’s friend. Caroline is my mother.”