Dead on Ice (6 page)

Now finished with his helping, Irving jumped up and stretched his length until his front paws were almost to the edge of the counter. Cameron tore off a crust, dabbed it with the gravy, and handed it to the cat.

“Only someone who was totally evil would have killed a dozen innocent people in order to get one,” Joshua said.

“I’ve come up against perps like that.”

“And I’ve prosecuted a few,” he said. “Could whoever blew up his house have also killed Albert? The bomb could have been to get rid evidence revealing his crime? Maybe your ME missed something.”

“Already thought of that.” Cameron cut a second slice of bread to split between them. “After the explosion I asked her to take a second look at Gordon. Findings were the same. He had a stroke and had fallen down the front stairs, which caused the avalanche of newspapers that smothered him. Cause of death: asphyxiation.”

Joshua shrugged. “Well, if I can be of any help . . .”

“Tell me about Brianne Davenport.” The corner of her lips curled when she saw his hand, clutching a juicy bite of bread dipped in gravy, freeze in mid-air. “Donny did tell you about that pass she made at him?”

Admiral inched forward with expectation in his eyes.

“He’s rather proud of it.” Joshua double dunked the piece of bread. “Whoever would have thought? A real live cougar right here in Chester.” He tossed the bread into his mouth.

Admiral groaned.

“Actually, she lives in Hookstown,” Cameron noted, “my jurisdiction.”

“She’s old enough to be Donny’s mother.”

“I’m glad you noticed that,” she said. “Your son doesn’t strike me as the type to date a cougar.”

“I don’t want him dating a cougar,” he agreed, “especially that cougar. For one, she’s married.”

“To whom?”

“Ned Carter. He’s the manager at the Mountaineer Casino. Real slick guy. I don’t trust him.”

“They sound like a nice couple,” she said with sarcasm. “Maybe you should lock Donny up until this case is closed.”

“As flattered as Donny is by the attention of an older gorgeous woman, he’s still got the cool Thornton head on his shoulders.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t worry. You’d be surprised how fast Donny can run. She’s not going to catch him, especially in those high heels she wears.”

She looked into his blue eyes. “You still haven’t told me about her. What scares you about this particular cougar besides her being married?”

“Brianne Davenport owns Davenport Winery.” With one arm wrapped around her waist, he tore off a bite of the bread with one hand and tossed it into her mouth.

Again, Admiral groaned.

Irving was less pitiful and more demanding. There was a rumble deep in his chest that grew into a loud howl followed by a hiss.

Releasing her, Joshua told Irving, “She’s mine. Get over it.”

“Davenport Winery,” she said, “which is across the street from Albert’s modest farm on Snowden Road. Davenport wines are sold all over.”

“World-wide distribution,” he said. “They have several farms all over Pennsylvania to grow different types of grapes. They’re listed on most restaurants’ wine lists. Brianne inherited all of it when her daddy died of a heart attack several years ago. She was only twenty-two years old and took her family’s little winery world-wide. Business exploded when the Internet came about. They went public a dozen years ago. She is a very savvy business woman.”

“She’s rich, savvy, and likes handsome, young men,” she said. “What else?”

“Mountaineer is currently being investigated by the state prosecutor’s office for embezzlement. My office isn’t involved, but the state attorney general told them to keep me informed about it.”

“Who initiated the investigation?”

“That, I don’t know,” Joshua said. “It’s been in the news. Some leaks to the media have said that the forensics auditors are finding evidence of money being skimmed from accounts going back more than a decade.”

“Sounds like Ned Carter’s got his hands full,” Cameron said. “Maybe that’s why his wife is chasing after teenaged boys. Since the Mountaineer is on your side of the state line, do you mind if I can poke around and ask a few questions Ned Carter and his wife?”

He grinned. “You want to keep an eye on Brianne to keep her away from Donny.”

“Do you mind?”

He kissed her on the cheek. “Does that answer your question?”

Without knocking to announce his arrival, Tad threw open the back door, saw, and smelled the pot on the stove. “Is that chicken gravy and fresh French bread?”

As part of his domestication that came with marriage, Tad had bought the red brick house next door to Joshua’s stone home on Rock Spring Boulevard. The location made for a convenient jog across his driveway to grab a meal when Jan was working late as news editor at The Review, the newspaper that served the tri-state area. Its offices were across the river in East Liverpool, Ohio.

Cameron broke off a helping of bread and offered it to Tad. The doctor fell into line with her squeezed between the two men.

Joshua yelled up the stairs. “Donny, dinner’s ready.” The sound of running feet told them that the growing teenager had been waiting for the call.

Admiral took his spot next to what had become Cameron’s chair at the kitchen table. She was a pushover for hand-outs. Likewise, Irving took his spot on the other side of her chair. It had become their spots during meals.

While Joshua served the food onto the table, Cameron’s cell phone rang. “Rats,” she said while putting it to her ear.

“I am so glad Tracy taught you how to cook,” Tad told Joshua while observing the beautiful golden skin on the roast chicken.

“I am, too,” Donny said. “I’d have starved to death by now if she hadn’t.”

Tad took a seat at what had become to be his place at the Thornton table.

After observing the food that was only moments from making its way to her plate, Cameron announced that she had to leave. “What’s the last thing you would want to find under the rumble of an exploded house?”

“A dead body,” Tad chuckled.

“But that isn’t possible,” Donny said. “No one was in Albert’s house when it blew up. At least, no one has been reported missing.”

Without humor, Cameron nodded her head. “Well, that’s exactly what they found in your cousin Albert’s basement—a dead body.”

Chapter Four

“Unbelievable.” Joshua stepped back from the open freezer to let the Pennsylvania State Police medical examiner get to work.

Tad peered over the ME’s shoulder to get a closer look at the body. Since Hookstown was out of his jurisdiction, he wasn’t allowed to touch. He could only watch another medical examiner work what was her crime scene.

It was killing him. This wasn’t his case. However, Albert Gordon was family. Professionally and personally, he wanted to dive in to clear his cousin’s name.

Out of professional courtesy, Cameron had permitted them to ride along to the scene. In exchange, they would be expected to allow her the same leeway if she needed help in their jurisdiction.

The dented and charred ice box was one of the few things that had survived the explosion intact. The chief forensics officer told Cameron that it had been found tucked away in a room separate from the one in which the bomb had been placed. Even though the upper floors had collapsed on top of it, the drywall and mounds of junk surrounding it had protected the freezer from the explosion and fire.

Upon its discovery, the investigators pulled it out from the corner and opened it. The smell of death burst forth like evil escaping from Pandora’s box. After regaining their senses, they peered inside to find a body encased in a stark white tomb.

She looked like she had crawled in and curled up to take a nap. Her makeup was still evident on her leathered flesh. They could see the blue of her eye shadow and thick false eyelashes. Her hair was draped over her face and shoulders. Its platinum color created the illusion of a mermaid captured in a fisherman’s icy net.

Her jeans and matching vest were faded and discolored to the point of only holding a hint of their original hue, but intact. To fit into the tight confines of the freezer, she was curled up into the fetal position with her high-heeled sandals still on her feet. Her denim hat rested on her knees.

Cameron was gesturing at the now empty corner of the hole in the ground that had once been Albert’s basement. “Was this thing plugged in when the bomb went off?” She could not see any sign of an electrical outlet where they had found the appliance.

With a shake of his head, the officer said, “There was no outlet near it. We found the cord wrapped up and tucked in behind the freezer. You can see the thing is ancient. I doubt if it works.”

Observing the wrecked condition of the appliance, Cameron said, “Certainly not now.”

The photo recordings of the scene completed, the medical examiner started her physical on-scene examination of the body.

Tad watched her. “Any ID on her?”

“Maybe.” She reached down along the wall of the freezer and removed a blue canvas purse covered with beads. She handed it to the detective. “Let’s hope we get lucky, and she has the name of her killer in there.” The medical examiner continued to search the body.

Having no convenient place in the burnt-out basement to spread out the purse’s contents, Cameron climbed out of the foundation to empty the purse on the hood of her cruiser. With her gloved fingers, she picked through the assortment of what appeared to be the usual feminine fare, except for a few additional surprises. There was a pack of Camel cigarettes, a bag of marijuana with a couple of hand-rolled cigarettes, a wallet, and various cosmetics.

With gloved hands, Joshua picked up the pack of cigarettes. “We can trace the lot number on this pack of cigarettes to find out when they were made to give us an approximate time period of when she was killed.”

“I think you meant me. This isn’t your case, Mr. Thornton. So put that back.” Cameron was already checking out the driver’s license in the wallet.

Joshua placed the cigarettes back in the pile.

“Got a name, Cam?” Tad asked.

“California driver’s license. Expiration date: June 1985. Name: Cherry Pickens,” she answered.

Tad responded to the announcement with a wicked laugh.

“What’s so funny, Doc?” she asked.

Tad regarded the two of them. “We just solved a famous unsolved mystery.”

“Famous unsolved mystery?” Joshua parroted.

Tad gestured to the freezer. “Take a look, ladies and gentlemen. You are looking at Cherry Pickens, a genuine film legend.”

“Cherry Pickens,” Cameron countered. “Never heard of her.”

“You wouldn’t unless you were into porn,” Tad said.

“I didn’t know you were into porn,” Joshua said with a frown.

“I’m not into porn,” Tad replied, “but I am into rock and roll. Back in the early eighties, Cherry Pickens was one of the brightest stars of artistic films.” He held up his fingers in the form of quotation marks when he used the word “artistic”.

“Sex, drugs, and rock and roll,” Joshua said.

Tad nodded his head in agreement. “Drugs are a big part of the scene in pornography, and Cherry Pickens was in it up to her pretty blue eyeballs.” He added, “But she wasn’t just a hooker who did it on film. They have film awards, and she won a couple. In some circles, she was considered a true actress with the talent to break through into legitimate movies.”

Cameron brought them back to the present. “How did she end up in a freezer, in a farmhouse, in Hookstown, Pennsylvania?”

“That’s for you to find out,” Tad told her.

“You said she won acting awards,” Cameron reminded him. “Are you saying she was actually famous?”

“She slept with all the big hard core rock musicians, most of whom are now has-beens, the ones who didn’t OD or kill themselves that is,” Tad said. “Humphrey Phoenix, the owner of Player magazine, discovered her when she was dancing at one of his sex parties—”

“Now I heard of him,” Cameron said.

“Player magazine was about as hard core porn as you can get,” Tad said. “Humphrey Phoenix was twenty years older than Cherry. He spent a lot of money on her. Then he found out that she was also fooling around with a pop singer while Phoenix was paying for her breast implants and nose job. The FBI believed Phoenix made an example of her by making her disappear.”

“Hookstown, Pennsylvania, is a long way from Vegas,” Joshua said. “What would a missing porn star be doing here in Cousin Albert’s basement?”

They stared at Tad who had no answer.

“If what you’re saying is true,” Cameron said, “this could be a mob hit, which would make this the fed’s turf.” She sucked in her breath. She really didn’t want the FBI butting their way into one of her cases.

“Albert had no ties to any of that,” Tad told them. “Until the forensics pathologist gets a go at her, we can’t determine the time of death. She could have played it smart and managed to get away from the mob only to get killed over something else years afterwards.”

“I don’t believe this,” Joshua muttered.