The Easter Egg Murder (6 page)

12

Philip Lawrence took his glasses off and sat back in his chair. He vigorously rubbed his face in an attempt to wipe away the fatigue.

In the hour since
Harrie and Ginger had left, he had been thinking about something they told him. He made a phone call and got right to the point. “We spoke a few days ago about you doing more work for me. I’d like to meet with you to discuss that. Could you come by my home this afternoon to go over the details?”

When the man agreed, Philip ended the call by saying, “I’ll leave word at the gate that I’m expecting you.”

He hoped he wasn’t making a big mistake, but at this point, he had to risk stirring things up. There were facts that needed verification. He sighed heavily and went back to the safe room. He closed the door behind him, chuckled to himself and thought,
Philip, old man, you really are getting paranoid.

When he
’d started writing the book, he hadn’t planned to solve the crime or even insinuate who the guilty party was. It was just a story that haunted him, one he thought needed retelling. It wasn’t his intention nor was it a good idea to provoke old animosities. However, somewhere during the writing, his perspective changed. It now seemed almost dishonest to write the book and not even attempt to offer the truth about the crime. But the truth was sure to cause trouble.

He decided to resort to his old standby method to work out the kinks. He h
ad a small tape recorder and liked to speak his thoughts into it unedited, just as they came to him. When he replayed it, he could tell if the rhythm and pacing would work. He had no interest in computers. He still had his old IBM typewriter, but found his thoughts flowed better using a yellow legal pad and his Mont Blanc pen or the tape recorder, which was almost as old as his Selectric. He spoke into the microphone.

“Ginger, today I feel like using the tape instead of typing. I hope you don’t mind too much. Just transcribe it the best you can
, and see what kind of sense you make of it. Okay, here goes. Today is Tuesday, April 11.”

He closed his eyes, and the story came alive again in his mind.

“I’m thinking back to the time I heard about the murder of Chipper Finn. I was in Washington. When I returned to Albuquerque, the story was still on the front pages of the
Albuquerque Morning Sun
, soon to be my new employer. They assigned me to the Metro desk. I ran all over town, trailed by a young kid with a big Speed Graphic camera. The paper wanted background info on the victim, the investigation and any suspects. All I knew about the case was that Chipper had been murdered, her body found in the desert and one of her boyfriends arrested. After talking to many people, I learned that the boyfriend had been beaten and tortured by the sheriff in Ventana County and two other upstanding lawmen. For whatever reason, the sheriff needed a confession, and he needed it sooner rather than later. That intrigued me. So I talked to Chipper’s friends, her mother and the people she worked with. I even tracked down her brother. I began to get a picture that was very different from what we had seen up to that point. Chipper had been portrayed as a ‘party girl’, someone who went out with lots of men and was pretty free with her favors. She was rumored to have had a tumultuous relationship with Manny Salinas, the boyfriend who was arrested and mistreated so badly. But according to her friends, Chipper and Manny never even dated. It seems Manny was a friend of Chipper’s older brother. She had known him since she was a little girl, and she considered him more like a sibling than anything. They occasionally hung out together because Manny sometimes served as a bouncer at the club where Chipper worked at the time of her death. According to everyone I talked with, they were not an item. Not only did she not date Manny, she didn’t really date at all. According to two of her girl friends, Chipper had been involved with an older man. Neither of the girls would admit to knowing who the man was. All they said was he was some big shot with lots of money. Her mother, if she knew any of this, wouldn’t admit it either, and maintained that Chipper never dated anybody. But some other people told me Chipper’s heart had been captured by a young man. But no one had a name. Or if they did, they weren’t giving it to me.

“There was one girl I wasn’t able to locate at the time. She and Chipper had become friends when both worked in Los Huevos. People said they were closer than sisters, and this girl, Becky Martinez, was the one who knew all about Chipper’s older man friend. Becky disappeared just before Chipper was murde
red. I talked to many people but couldn’t find out where she’d gone. I decided not to mention her name in the follow-up stories I did. I had a hunch she might turn up someday and would appreciate not being speculated about in the papers. I also discovered, through sources I developed at the Albuquerque Police Department, that she was not on their radar to be interviewed. So I kept quiet. After all, I really didn’t know anything solid, and it seemed she didn’t want to be found. I had a gut feeling that if she had dropped out of sight, perhaps she’d better stay that way.

“Manny was acquitted. It finally came o
ut about the beating and torture, and the sheriff and all his buddies were put on trial in federal court and convicted of violating Salinas’s civil rights. The civil rights case soon became the big story. There was a state police captain, as well as a deputy, who joined old Smiley Hernandez in the federal prison at La Tuna, Texas. By the time all that was over, the young woman’s murder had been all but forgotten. It would have stayed that way, too, except for what happened next.”

Movement on the monitor from the camera overlooking the front porch and driveway caught Philip’s attention. A car had just arrived in his driveway, and
he watched the young private investigator he had called get out of a black SUV.

13

Wednesday Morning, April 12, 2000

Wednesday morning dawned gray and cloudy, but the clouds still seemed reluctant to part with any of their precious contents. Harrie grabbed a sweater and umbrella as she left her house. She felt prepared to handle whatever weather the day would bring.

The drive to the office was so familiar she did it on autopilot
as she thought about the meeting with Senator Lawrence the previous day. She found his friendship with one of the Snow brothers interesting. Maybe Caroline would remember meeting him. She pondered whether he could be right about somebody watching her and Ginger. Harrie’s grandmother always told her that she should ‘trust her gut’.

Her mind
drifted to thoughts of her Nana. As an only child, she spent many summer months with her maternal grandparents. She loved visiting her Nana and Baba and playing with their dogs and cats. They lived in a small town about an hour from Fort Worth. Nana knew all sorts of things that other people’s grandmothers didn’t. She always seemed to know what Harrie was thinking and how she was feeling.

The summer after Harrie’s twelfth birthday, she took one last trip to her
grandparents’ house. She traveled on the bus alone for the first time. The prospect of seeing her grandparents pleased her, but made her melancholy at the same time. Her family was moving to Albuquerque, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to see them as often. She resented her father’s job for sending them to this new place. Who ever heard of Albuquerque, and why would anybody want to live in a place most people couldn’t even spell? She moped around the house the first few days she was there. Even her grandfather’s Golden Retriever couldn’t entice Harrie out of her mood.

After three days, her grandmother suggested taking a walk
. Harrie sensed Nana had something to say to her, so she walked along quietly. They sat on the bench close to the playground where birds gathered, hoping for a handout.

“You know, Harrie,
having a new place to live is like unwrapping a very special present. It’s special because it doesn’t give you just one gift. It gives you a new gift every morning as you wake up to new experiences.”

Harrie looked up at Nana, confused. “But we’re moving away. I won’t get to see my friends anymore. I’ll have to go to a different school. I won’t have my room, and
. . .” her voice broke with a sob, “worst of all, I won’t have you and Baba.”

Nana put her arm around Harrie’s shoulder and hugged her. She patted her head, letting Harrie get out the tears. "I know what you think,
but you are wrong, dear. You’re not unhappy because you won’t get to see you friends or have your old room or any of that. You’re unhappy because you’re scared. You’re afraid you won’t make any friends, afraid you won’t like your school. But you can make new friends and love your new school even better than your old one. All you have to do is let it happen. You’ve been thinking about this with a negative attitude.” Nana laughed. “If you don’t watch out, you’ll make it all come true.”

H
arrie wanted to protest but had the strangest feeling in the middle of her stomach that they had this conversation before. Nana smiled. “Sometimes people experience a thing called ‘
déjà vu
’. It means you’re doing something you think you’ve done before. Are you having that feeling right now?”

Harrie felt a little shiver. “How could you know that?”

“Sometimes people visit us in our dreams. I’ve visited you, your mom, and many others. Last night, you visited me.”

Harrie couldn’t have been more surprised if the birds at their feet
had begun to recite Shakespeare. “How could I have done that? I don’t remember it.”

“My guess is that you were asking for my help. People do that sometimes. If they’re troubled and searching for answers, they can go looking for them after they are asleep at night. Sometimes they remember a dream or part of one, and they seem to think of a solution.
A lot of problem solving goes on in a person’s dreams.”

“But why wouldn’t I remember something like that. It’s so spooky!”

Nana laughed. “It’s only spooky because you just heard about it for the first time. When you think about it, it’s an efficient use of time. What else does your brain have to do while you’re lying there in your bed?” Nana looked over at Harrie. “Does this make any sense to you?”

“Um, I guess so.”

“Do you have any questions you want to ask me?”

“Yes.
Can you get inside my brain anytime you want to?”

Nana laughed gently. “Not really. I only go where you invite me. It’s just the stuff you’re trying to figure out that I pick up on. Then I pay you a dream visit.” Nana stood up, and Harrie realized it was time to start back.

“Last night I explained you’re heading into what can be the best thing that ever happened to you. Everything from this point on will be the true beginning of your life. You aren’t a little child anymore. You’ll make the best friends you’ve ever had, starting now. You’ll experience a new place with all its differences. You’re beginning the process of leaving the nest, just like those birds back there we were feeding. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Harrie looked into her grandmother’s eyes and felt a sense of peace she hadn’t felt since she found out about the move. She grinned and
took Nana’s hand. “I think so.”

“Good. I don’t want this to sound complicated. Just remember. From now on, you can make a big difference in how your life turns out. Listen to your feelings. Trust your instincts. There are angels all around us, and they will help us if we open our minds and our hearts to hear them. There’s one more thing that you have to promise me, and it’s really important, so listen carefully.”

Harrie struggled to take in everything her grandmother told her. This was all so new, and she felt the truth of what she heard. “I promise, Nana, I promise. What is it?”

“
It’s easy to let negative thoughts and attitudes take over your mind. You must learn to protect yourself from the negativity you might generate and from the negative energy of people around you. There are no guarantees for happiness, Harrie, and you’ll have your share of sorrow. Everybody does. But you can rise above the negative stuff.”

Harrie’s mind returned to her driving as she entered the busy area around her office. She felt calme
r than she had all week and sent a mental thanks to her grandmother for the wisdom she’d always tried to impart.

Caroline Johnson
was already there, and Harrie wished her good morning and welcomed her to their little team.

After stashing her
briefcase in her office, Harrie turned to see a man talking and laughing with Caroline and Ginger. Harrie tried to understand why the scene startled her. Then the man turned. That little stray curl was loose on his forehead again, and he flashed his white-toothed smile.

Sunglasses was back.

14

“This is Philip Lawrence,”
the senator said when the investigator answered his cell phone. “Would it be possible for you to drop by again this morning? I need to speak with you about something else, and I’d prefer it be in person.”

The PI said he’d be there within the next half hour. Philip
felt relieved. By taking a step toward a course of action, an enormous weight was lifted.

Almost exactly half an hour later, Philip was seated at his desk in the library when Ramona escorted the young man in. Philip explained what he needed, and the PI said he would call him when the task was completed. They agreed to meet again later in the afternoon.

He still had a few minutes before lunch. He decided to make another call. He didn’t need to look up the number.

When she answered, he smiled at the sound of her voice. She had a way of cheering him up when he most needed it. They had become good friends in the last few years. They were both alone and sometimes lonely, but neither was interested in a romantic relationship. They rarely saw each other face to face, preferring the immediacy of telephone conversations.

He explained the reason for his call and was relieved she was willing to do what he asked. He wished her a good day, and promised her, in return, to take care of himself. It was an honest and uncomplicated relationship. He couldn’t ask for a better friend.

Philip selected a volume from the bookcase, and went down the hall for lunch. A smile softened his face as he sat down to eat.

Maybe it would be a good day after all.