Major Crimes (20 page)

Chapter 25

Chelsey

Bryce called me early in the morning. I was already on my way to Freddy’s to drop off Cynthia’s DNA when he called. Our conversation was…strange. It was surprising to me that he wanted to talk.
Do guys ever want to talk?
I thought that was a woman thing. Kris hadn’t called me back. I really wanted that closure with Kris before Bryce and I had “a talk.”

Under different circumstances, I would’ve worn my heart on my sleeve, jumped into Bryce’s arms, and told him I wanted to be with him. But, I didn’t think that romance was a good thing to concentrate on until after his case was solved.

And Kris—I didn’t get him. I was starting to wish I hadn’t met him. Maybe Bryce and I would’ve gotten together long ago if I had never dated Kris. Maybe I would’ve been at that retirement party with Bryce. Maybe if I
was
there, Bryce wouldn’t have gone to the after-party. Maybe if we were together, Bryce wouldn’t have been drugged. All the maybes in the world wouldn’t get Bryce out of this mess.

When I hung up with Bryce, Geri was on my mind. Could there be some strange reason Geri was involved? It was a totally crazy idea, right? I shook off the thoughts about Geri. After all, I had a good feeling Cynthia was involved. Stepping down on the pedal, I sped to Freddy’s. He needed to get that DNA analyzed. It was Friday and I didn’t want to wait until Monday to get the lab report back.

Thirty seconds later, I dashed into Freddy’s office with the DNA. He took it from me and left for the lab. He said they offered to do a rush job so long as he could get them the DNA by nine.

My next stop was a pharmacy to buy some rubber gloves. I wasn’t sure how I’d get the DNA from Pamela and Brittany but rubber gloves would’ve made it easier to handle items containing DNA instead of what I had been doing. I needed to be a more professional private investigator if I wanted to prove my worth and keep my job. So, I bought the large box which contained one hundred gloves. If Freddy fired me, they could double as cleaning gloves.

With my new gloves in tow, I took off for Pamela’s house. I parked in the same spot at the deli across the street from her house. The lights were out. I wondered if I was too late. Maybe they had already left the house for the day.

My phone rang. I looked at the Caller-ID and smiled.

“Hi Mommy!”

“Mandy! I miss you so much!”

“I miss you too, Mommy!”

“Are you coming home on Sunday?”

“Yeah. What day is it?”

“Friday.”

“When is Sunday?”

“Two days, sweetie. Two more sleeps and you’ll be coming home!”

“I miss home.”

“I miss you! And Snickers misses you.”

“I miss Snicurs.”

“Where is your…Randy?” I still couldn’t bring myself to call him her dad. Sperm donor was more like it, but I wasn’t going to say that to a three-year-old.

“Here, Mommy.” Mandy handed the phone to Randy.

“Hello, Beautiful.”

I mumbled an obscenity under my breath.

“What was that? Your phone is breaking up.”

“Hi Randy. How is Mandy doing?”

“She’s great, she’s having fun. She’s just fine. No need to worry.”

“If you say so.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring her home Sunday, as planned. And see, I’ve called you every day as promised.”

“Are you trying to feign being a responsible adult?”

“Chelsey, I promise you, I’ve changed. I’ve come to see what an idiot I’ve been.” Randy made me wonder what he was up to. The Randy I remember would’ve never admitted he was an idiot. Did he want something from me?

“I’m at work, Randy, I’ll talk to you again tomorrow.”

“You can count on it.”

After he disconnected, I felt a lump in my throat. I never knew I could miss someone so much. That little girl brought such a light into my life and without her…my world felt dim.

Turning my attention back to Pamela’s house, I studied it for changes. Lights on or off, blinds or windows opened or closed. There was still no sign of life.

After shoving a few gloves in my purse, I got out of the car and walked over to the house. I didn’t think I had anything to lose. It was a shame I didn’t have a condolence basket. Maybe I could’ve gotten in their house under the guise that my parents sent them a basket. Since my parents were friends with Archie and Pamela, I thought Pamela would’ve let me in. On the other hand, my face was plastered all over the news earlier in the week as an accomplice to Bryce, so maybe not. Especially if Pamela wasn’t the killer. She probably thought Bryce was the real killer. Maybe it was a bad idea to knock, but I knocked anyway.

Luckily, no one answered the door. I went around to the side of the house and found a garbage can. I snapped on a pair of gloves, removed the lid, and ripped open the bag inside. I moved aside some wrappers and papers.
Ah ha!
I found something. Fun dip. I hadn’t known they still made the stuff. It was half-eaten with the candy stick that you lick still inside. If I had to take a wild guess, I would’ve guessed Brittany ate the Fun Dip. Could it have been one of her friends? Or Pamela? Sure, but I placed the Fun Dip into a plastic bag and sealed it anyway.

I rummaged through the garbage more and came up with some dental floss. I was sure glad that I had the plastic gloves on. The germs skeeved me. I gagged, but managed not to vomit. Since I wasn’t one to floss my teeth when I was young, I hoped the floss belonged to Pamela. With the floss bagged and sealed, I hustled back to my car.

My next destination was back to the office. Freddy wasn’t there, but I left the new DNA on his desk. I wondered if he was waiting at the lab for Cynthia’s DNA to be processed or if he was off investigating another lead.

I felt bad I wasn’t able to get Pamela’s and Brittany’s DNA sooner, but I didn’t believe either of them were to blame for Archie’s death. I couldn’t be sure I even had the correct DNA for them, but I could try again if no matches were made.

Sitting quietly in the office, I considered my next move. I could go get Snickers from my parents and head home or I could go see Bryce. I decided against both, and chose to visit Bonnie at work instead.

Taking the causeway over the bridge to Bonnie’s office, I took a deep breath and exhaled. I felt a strange sense of relief. I had a feeling Freddy had enough evidence to make sure Bryce wasn’t put in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Not that Bryce was out of the woods yet. I was sure the court cases would take years, that there could be appeals, and Bryce still needed to hire a good criminal attorney.

* * *

Coral Beach’s municipal building was miniscule, which is typical for a small shore community. It was located mid-block on Main Street. I swung into the parking lot and parked in the visitor’s spot.

The building looked more like a private home than an office building. A ranch on steroids, as I called it, since it was situated atop supports meant to keep the floodwaters out. I climbed up the stairs to the decorative glass doors and then proceeded to the Clerk’s Office.

Dira was seated close to the public window.

“Hi Dira. Is Bonnie in?”

Dira buzzed the door to the office, which I presumed was an invitation to enter. Dira pointed to Bonnie’s office door. A woman of very few words. Yup, that was Dira.

I peered around the corner and saw that the Village Administrator, Vin, was seated inside Bonnie’s office. Bonnie lifted a finger, telling me to wait a minute. I glanced around the familiar office that was once mine. A new Tax Assessor and a new Tax Collector sat in their respective offices. Mostly everything was the same, except for the people.

I recalled the first time I met Bryce. It was in that very office. I remembered his deep voice, his reassuring smile and how nerdy he would dress. I also remembered the first time I saw him dress “normal.” How he would glance at me. How we would laugh. He went out of his way to make me feel comfortable since I was the new clerk in town. I sighed.

Dira was called into the Tax Collector’s office. I had almost forgotten her position worked for the clerk, assessor and collector.

Tired of standing, I plopped myself into the chair next to Dira’s desk. I glanced at her things. A clock telling me it was eleven a.m. An array of papers. The same old computer that had been there before. A framed photo of her and an older woman that looked a little like her.

I turned my attention away for a moment, but something struck me as funny. I glanced back at the picture.
Could it be?
I grabbed the picture off Dira’s desk and studied it closely.
No freaking way!
I grabbed my cell phone and scrolled through the gallery.
Son of a…

I heard Dira returning. I dumped the photograph back onto her desk.

“I hope you don’t mind, my feet are killing me.” I looked curiously at her.

Dira shook her head and sat back down. With Dira’s attention toward her computer, I texted Bryce. I asked him to call the Coral Beach municipal building and ask Dira to take a message for Bonnie. I told him not to let her put him into Bonnie’s voicemail.

His reply was simply,
Why?

I texted back.
Just do it!

Dira’s phone rang moments later. Dira picked it up. I heard her tell the caller Bonnie was in a meeting. Dira said that she could put him into voice mail.
No! No! No!
I cringed. The call had to be from Bryce, like I requested, unless someone else called in first.

The caller must’ve protested the idea of voice mail. I stared at Dira’s hands. Holding my breath the whole time. Her left hand picked up a pen and she wrote down the message.

I jumped up from my seat. “I can’t wait, gotta go.”

I dashed out of the office and blew through the front doors, sprinting to my car. I fumbled while dialing Bryce. My hands shook.

“It’s Dira. It’s Dira.”

“What?” Bryce was understandably confused.

“Dira. She’s the killer.”

“How? What? No. No Way. Why? What’s her motive?”

“I don’t know. He mocked her a lot.”

“That’s no reason to kill someone. I don’t even know why you would think that.”

“She’s left-handed.”

“So are hundreds of other people. You were also convinced it was Cynthia Sterling.”

“The ring. That awful, ugly, sickening ring. There was a picture on her desk. The ring was on a necklace she was wearing.”

Bryce paused.

“Bryce? Are you still there? She was also standing next to Cynthia Sterling in the picture.”

“It’s not enough evidence to get the charges dropped against me.”

“Hang tight, I know what to do.”

I hung up with Bryce and called Freddy.

“It’s funny you called. I was just about to call you. The DNA from Cynthia Sterling came back as a hit. Not for Cynthia though.”

“Huh? What? What does that mean? If the blood on the ring didn’t match Cynthia’s DNA, how could there be a hit?”

“Cynthia Sterling’s DNA matched half of the DNA found on the ring.”

“Explain that in English.”

“Given the fact that Cynthia’s mother is deceased, we are looking for Cynthia’s daughter. The lab came back with a ninety-nine point nine percent probability that the two DNA profiles were from a mother-child relationship. I have my investigators searching for her daughter—but we aren’t having luck with any Tina or Tara Sterling.”

“That’s because it’s not Tina or Tara. It’s Dira. Dira Napoli. I’ve told you about her before. She works at Coral Beach. She worked for Archie, but he didn’t like her, so he transferred her. She’s left-handed and there is a picture of her in her office with Cynthia Sterling.”

“So? They knew each other. I can check it out. It doesn’t mean they are related. Is Dira married? Is Napoli her married name?”

“Dira is wearing that awful ring around her neck. I don’t think Dira’s married, I don’t know much about her.”

“Did you get a copy of the picture for confirmation?”

I slapped myself in the forehead.

“I’m so dumb.”

“Not dumb. Inexperienced. But getting better. Good work. Let me look into her background. See if you can get a copy of that picture.”

“I will. I will get a copy. No problem.”

I contemplated my options. I could go back inside the municipal building. But after I ran out like a dope, I didn’t want to do that. Plus, I wasn’t sure how casual I could act around Dira. Bonnie would no doubt say, “What bug crawled up your butt?” Then how would I answer that?

I wondered if Vin was still in Bonnie’s office. I stared at my cell phone and decided on the chicken’s way out. I dialed Bonnie’s office. Dira answered.

“Hi Dira. It’s Chelsey. I just wanted to apologize to Bonnie for having to run out. Is Vin still in her office?”