Major Crimes (6 page)

“It has blood stains on it.”

“I’ll Photoshop them out.”

“Okay, but be careful. If Archie’s wife goes to the police about the ring, then they’ll be knocking down your door asking questions.”

“How would they know it’s from the murder scene?”

“Maybe they won’t…so long as you don’t mess up and mention it.”

I glared at him. “I’m not the one who is going to mess anything up.”

“That’s a shame, because I was hoping that we’d at least mess up the bed together.”

I smacked his arm, then cleaned up the mess from breakfast. It’s not that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind a dozen or so times, but under the circumstances, no thanks. I was in a weird situation with another man in my life. No, not Mandy’s father—I couldn’t care less about him. It was a guy named Kris Beck. We had been dating for a while, but he owned a restaurant and well, let’s just say business came first. I rarely saw him. As a result, I was losing interest. I wanted more, and Kris couldn’t give it to me. On the other hand, I liked Kris because he was also a single parent with full custody of his son, so we seemed to be in the same place in our lives. Not to mention, he was gorgeous. I know, that was shallow, and that wasn’t the only reason I liked him. He was intelligent and mature. I met him before I met Bryce. I owed it to Kris to tell him it was over between us before I set my sights on Bryce.

As for my history with Bryce, after becoming friends with him, I started to feel an attraction to him. He let me know the feeling was mutual. We kissed. He knew about Kris, so he backed off. I didn’t think it was fair to Bryce to be “second” to Kris, so to speak. If I had met Bryce first, maybe things would be different. But they weren’t. And I wasn’t sure Bryce had the same feelings for me any longer. Was the comment about the bed a joke or was there truth in jest?

Chapter 6

Bryce

Chelsey must not have liked my joke about messing up the bed. But I could tell she wasn’t totally against it. The smack on the arm was playful enough. I turned my attention back to the ring.

As Chelsey requested, I dumped the ring out of its plastic bag onto a paper towel. Chelsey snapped a close-up of the ring with her cell phone’s camera. I had serious reservations about showing the ring around. If Chelsey showed it to the killer, she could be putting herself in danger.

“I really don’t like this idea. I’m having second thoughts about this.”

“About what?”

“You showing the ring around.”

“Why? It’s our only real lead. We don’t have anything else to go on except our hunches.”

“What if you show it to the killer?”

“If the police can’t find the real killer, what are the chances a novice like me will find him?”

Chelsey was hardheaded. She wasn’t going to be talked out of her little ring investigation. I let it go and hoped for the best.

Chelsey finished taking her photos, so I tilted the paper towel and slid the ring back into the bag. Chelsey gazed into my eyes. “I have something to ask you.”

I instinctively leaned in closer. Chelsey was only about five foot two. I towered over her. I almost thought she was going to kiss me with the way she stared at me.

“Were you or Archie carrying the night Archie was shot?”

“Why would you ask a question like that?”

“I was just wondering why Archie was stabbed instead of shot. If he had his gun or you had your gun, then why wouldn’t the killer take one of your guns? Shooting is easier than stabbing and if both of you were incapacitated…”

“No, I wasn’t carrying. I suspect Archie wasn’t either.”

“Are you allowed to carry a gun when you’re off-duty?”

“The LEOSA law allows me to carry my gun all the time. In theory, I
should
be carrying it at all times. I’m a cop twenty-four seven even if I’m not on duty.”

“Then why weren’t either of you carrying?”

“There are protocols. At the bar, leave the gun in the car.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t want to be caught drinking and shooting someone.”

“Why not? What if you were having a drink at the bar and there was a hostage situation? What if you could shoot them and save the day?”

I sighed. Chelsey didn’t understand. “There’s a mandatory alcohol and drug test when you shoot someone.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

I saw the light go on in Chelsey’s head.

“There are also rules about not firing a government-issued weapon inside a building packed with people. There is too much liability.”

“So where was your gun?”

“Locked in the glove box of my car.”

The mood for a little tongue wrestling was killed. I shouldn’t have had relationship stuff on my mind anyway. But I couldn’t help myself. I blamed it on testosterone.

“Are you good now, Chelsey?”

“I had just got to thinking…Archie was stabbed forty-three times with moderate force.”

“How do you know that?”

Chelsey grabbed the newspaper that she had placed on the counter and showed me the front page. “Since the paper says there were no defensive wounds and Archie probably didn’t have his gun on him, he was probably drugged too.”

“I gathered that’s what you thought when you said we were both ‘incapacitated’. You’re talking more and more like a cop, my dear.”

“I worked on a case that Freddy gave me about someone who was stabbed. The man didn’t die because the wound didn’t involve the brainstem, which would’ve caused death instantly. But this person who was stabbed was still able to run away from the assailant, climb a flight of stairs, and dial nine-one-one before he collapsed. Archie didn’t do anything.”

“So yes, maybe Archie was drugged also. I couldn’t tell you for sure. I was the other victim in the debacle.”

“Well, how about the moderate force thing? Could that indicate a man or a woman?”

“No. There are too many factors involved. Type of knife. Sharpness of the knife. Speed and direction of the delivery of the stab. A mild to moderate force is all that’s necessary to cause a fatal wound. Some men are weak, some women are strong. It doesn’t indicate anything.”

“He was stabbed forty-three times. It had to be someone he knew.”

“That’s the presumption I was going on. Something like eighty percent of murderers were friends or family members of the victim.”

“Bryce, I think I can get more info on the stab wounds. Maybe that would help us create a profile of the murderer.”

I chuckled. “Now you’re a profiler?”

Chelsey put her hands on her hips. “If you don’t want my help, there’s the door.” She pointed to it.

Sometimes I didn’t know how to keep my trap shut, and it got me in trouble. I reached for Chelsey’s waist and hugged her. “Sorry, babe.” I brushed my lips against her ear.

Chelsey held the hug longer than what I’d consider innocent. Since she didn’t let go, neither did I. I hugged her tighter.

I moved my head so I could see her eyes. I gazed into those emerald beauties. “I tease a lot, but don’t ever forget how much I appreciate you and all you’re doing to help me.”

I gave her a peck on the lips.

“Okay, fine. I need to learn how to take a joke better.” She gave me a second peck.

“Okay.” I kissed her again.

Chelsey lowered her eyes. “We should get back to work.”

“Okay.” I kissed her once more. She let her lips linger against mine.

Something overcame me and when she released her kiss, I immediately kissed her again, lingering longer. Our lips parted and our tongues met. We held the embrace, kissing for the next five or so minutes.

I didn’t want to stop. It was hot. It was
soooo
hot. But Chelsey backed away and averted her eyes. “Um, we should get back to work.”

“Uh, yeah.” I hoped Chelsey didn’t regret what just happened. I wasn’t sure where I stood in her world. I wasn’t sure about her current “relationship status.”

If nothing else, I discovered the attraction Chelsey and I shared hadn’t faded. A kiss like that…a guy just knows. There was something simmering beneath the surface. Something more than a fleeting thought about each other.

* * *

Chelsey had a contact in the Medical Examiner’s Office—from her job at Freddy’s. She called and was told that they were backlogged and hadn’t done a full autopsy on Archie yet. The cause of death was exsanguination, which we already knew from the newspaper article. Heck, anyone could’ve guessed that someone stabbed forty-three times
would
be dead from losing too much blood. I waited patiently for more information.

Chelsey jotted notes feverishly. Most wounds were on the right side of the body on the chest and neck. His clothing was damaged. Estimated time of death was two a.m. The smooth edges of the wounds could’ve indicated a kitchen knife was used. She asked if Archie had been drugged, but since the autopsy hadn’t been completed, drugs in Archie’s system had yet to be discovered. Chelsey suggested a scan be done for GHB, then she thanked her contact and hung up the phone.

“Well, this is what he gave me.” Chelsey pushed the paper with her notes in my direction. “Is there anything useful?”

“I already knew about the knife—there was a large kitchen knife next to me when I woke up.”

“Anything else?”

“Maybe I can check some leads about the time he died. That would narrow down times of any video footage that I might be able to find. He died around two. Death could’ve been anytime between two minutes and an hour; depending on how many arteries were hit. Maybe there are businesses around Archie’s house that have property cameras I can check out. See if anyone accompanied us home or followed us. Also, Archie was attacked after Carl made it home. I had already ruled him out, but this confirmed that the dumb girl at the cab company gave me decent info.”

“You found the cab company who brought you to Archie’s house?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t tough. There are only two companies that service the area.”

“I guess that’s something.”

“There’s one more thing.”

“What is it?” Chelsey’s eyes grew wide. She was so determined to do something that helped.

“The perp was left-handed.”

“How do you know?”

“Most of the stab wounds were on the right. That means the perp was left-handed.”

Chelsey nodded and grinned. It wasn’t much, but it was something. “So, where do we go from here? Where do you want to start? Should I check around to see if Tina Liara was left-handed? Should I find out if anyone has seen the ring?”

“Forget the ring for now. Let’s check the left-handed thing. Who is on your suspect list? How many of those can you knock out?”

“Archie’s ex-wife, current wife, Tina Liara, Drew Pavlica, and Solar. I could ask Bonnie about some of his other co-workers and Tina.”

“I want to check out Savoy’s too. But I can’t do that until they open later today.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Chelsey smiled again.

The excitement of a lead made me want to fist-pump the air. But in front of Chelsey—no way. I wanted to portray a little maturity to her. She had already called me a baby. I didn’t think fist-pumping would impress her. But I could tell the lead excited her just as much.

Chelsey bounced up, ready to work. “Let me call Bonnie first, then I’m taking a ride to a little place called Garfield, if you’d like to join me.”

“What’s in Garfield?”

“Not what, who. Drew Pavlica.”

“That’s kind of a long drive.”

“Only an hour or so. Besides, no one will be looking for you up there. We can probably eat lunch without having to hide you.”

I scratched my head. “Why not call there first?”

“The element of surprise.”

“What if he’s not in today? Then you’ve wasted a couple of hours in the car.”

“Oh.”

Chelsey picked up the phone and called the Garfield City municipal building. Drew’s secretary confirmed that he was at work and would be taking lunch at noon. That gave us enough time to get there and have a little chat with him.

“Let me make a quick call to Bonnie.” Chelsey picked up the phone to dial her.

I removed the receiver from her hand. “We don’t want to miss Drew. Call Bonnie from the car.” I snatched Chelsey’s keys off the counter. “I’ll drive.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Chelsey to drive, but on the off chance that someone recognized me and we needed to make a quick getaway, I didn’t think Chelsey was the next Mario Andretti.

Chapter 7

Chelsey

Bryce grabbed my keys, which made me happy. I didn’t like driving in Bergen County traffic. Garfield packed thirty thousand residents into only two square miles. At only twelve miles west of New York City, I was sure it housed many commuters.

I locked the door behind us and we slid into my Honda Accord. Bryce made his way through town to the Garden State Parkway. I picked up my phone to dial Bonnie, but the phone rang first. I didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Mommy!”

“Mandy! I love you so much!”

“I miss you, Mommy!”

“
Aww
, I miss you too, sweetie! What are you doing?”

“We are driving to New Ork!”

“New York? Oh, how exciting! Are you going to see all the skyscrapers?”

“No.”

“No? How come?” Mandy probably didn’t know what skyscrapers were.

“We are going to see Grandma. And Grandpop too.”

Way to go, Randy, confuse the girl.
“You know that’s a different grandma and grandpop, right?”

“Gotta go now.”

Before I could say goodbye, I heard Randy’s voice. “See, I kept my promise.”

“Don’t forget to bring her back on Sunday.”

“
Geesh
. I said I would. I’m no kidnapper, you know.”

By Sunday, I was sure Randy would be tired of being a father figure and disappear from our lives for another three years. Or at least I hoped.

“Thanks for calling like you promised.”

“No problem. We’ll check in again tomorrow.”

“Alright. Bye.”

“Toodles.”

Staring at the phone after Randy hung up, a tear escaped from my eye. Bryce was the one to eventually break the silence. “Was that your ex?”

“Uh huh.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Um, yeah. I just miss her—Mandy.”

“I know.” Bryce reached over the console and grasped my hand.

Bryce was oddly comforting. I say oddly because the situation we were in—or should I say he was in—was…well, complicated, to say the least. After fifteen minutes or so, Bryce slid his hand away. I reached for my phone and dialed Bonnie at work.

“Coral Beach Village. Dira speaking.”

“Hi Dira, it’s Chelsey.”

Dira didn’t respond.

“Is Bonnie available?”

“No, she’s not. Would you like her voicemail?”

“No, I’ll try her cell. Thanks.”

I hung up and sent Bonnie a text message. I asked her to find out if Tina Liara was left-handed or if anyone else she knew who attended the retirement party was.

Bonnie texted me back and told me to cross Tina off my list. She got married the week prior and was still on her honeymoon in Grand Turk, so it couldn’t have been her.

I told Bryce the news about Tina.

“I didn’t think it was her.” Bryce only diverted his attention from the road to wink at me.

“I did. She was my best lead.”

“I had a feeling.”

“What’s your feeling about Drew?”

“I don’t think he did it.”

“So this is a wasted trip?”

“Not necessarily. I want to ask him if he saw anything or knew any of Archie’s enemies.”

“Why not do that over the phone?”

“I can read people better in person. Check out his body language. Tell if he’s lying to me.”

“He’s not off my list yet. What ball game did he leave to go to? I think that in itself is strange.”

“It’s strange that a guy likes baseball?” Bryce smirked.

“It’s strange that he drove an hour or so to the retirement party, then left to go to a baseball game. I mean, Yankee Stadium would be…how far away?”

“An hour and a half without traffic.”

“And Citi Field is farther.”

“Maybe he went to a minor league game. Lakewood is only thirty-five minutes away.”

I used my smartphone to search for the Lakewood BlueClaws. “They were away on the thirtieth.”

I also researched the Yankees, Mets, Trenton Thunder, and Somerset Patriots. None of them played home games.

“What about the New Jersey Jackals?”

“Who?” I had never heard of them.

“The Jackals. You know, in Little Falls.”

“Where is that?”

“About fifteen minutes from Garfield.”

I found their schedule on my phone. “They were at home, but the game started at six thirty-five. Could he have actually made it to the game? He had an hour drive to get there. What time did he leave Savoy’s?”

“I didn’t check my watch when Drew left, but since we didn’t get to Savoy’s until nearly nine, I’d say the chances of him making it to the game were nil.”

“So he’s lying. He no longer has an alibi.”

“I don’t think he did it, Chelsey. There’s probably another explanation.”

“Why else would he lie? He probably pretended to leave, then went to Archie’s house, waited for Archie to get home, then
whack
!”

“Your imagination is very active.”

Bryce was cute, but he and I were not going to agree on the “who done it” part of this mystery. I shot him an evil eye. “I’m telling you, it’s always the people you least expect.”

* * *

Garfield City Hall announced its presence with a grand triangular overhang atop four imposing white columns. A product of the Greek Revival architectural movement. The remainder of the building was red brick with white accents.

We parked in the lot and went through the front doors. The hallways were bustling with residents getting permits and complaining about their taxes being too high. With thirty thousand residents, their municipal building was busier than the two I’d worked in. Shore towns near me had fewer permanent residents than summer tourists. Typically, the summer tourists didn’t have a reason to visit town hall. Garfield was no shore town.

We located the municipal clerk’s office and stood in line. When our turn came, we asked the secretary at the window to see Drew.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No. Did we need one?” I didn’t think to make an appointment. At my former jobs, I always had an open door policy. Basically anyone could walk in and see me, so long as I was in the office that day.

“No, you don’t need one. Whom should I tell him is here?”

“Chelsey Alton and Bryson Kelly.”

“Please have a seat and I’ll let him know you’re here.” The secretary motioned toward a padded bench opposite the window. We sat on the bench as directed and the secretary waited on the next person in line.

By the time Drew appeared from his office, it was five of twelve.

“Oh, hi, Chelsey, Bryce.” He shook our hands. “I only have about five minutes. I have a lunch appointment that I can’t miss. What brings you all the way here to Garfield?”

I was about to speak, but Bryce beat me to it. “The night we went out for Archie’s retirement party—at Savoy’s, did you see anything peculiar?”

“No, why? What happened?”

Drew was at Savoy’s, was a friend of Archie’s, and he didn’t know what happened to him? “Have you heard that Archie died?”

“Of course I heard he died. I have to send something to his wife. I’ve been so swamped here at work. I really didn’t pay much attention to what happened.”

“Don’t you watch the news?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, Chelsey, I watch the news when I have time. It’s a little crazy here.”

Bryce jumped back into the conversation. “Long story short, Archie was murdered and probably drugged. Did you see anyone strange near our drinks?”

“No.”

“What time did you leave?”

“I don’t recall, exactly.”

“Where did you go after you left?”

“To a base…wait, are you accusing me of something?”

“No, I just…”

“I don’t have time for this. Good day to you both.” Drew stormed off.

I turned and looked at Bryce. “That went well.”

Bryce frowned. “Something’s up with him.”

“That’s for sure. How could he not know about Archie? Was he playing dumb? Do you think he was lying?”

“He was defensive, so he’s hiding something.”

“Maybe he
did
hear the news, knows you’re a wanted man, and got nervous?”

“If that’s the case, we’d better get out of here. The Garfield police could be here in seconds.”

Bryce and I made our way out of Garfield City Hall and hopped back into my car. He drove off in search of a place to grab lunch. We found a diner a few towns away.

Bryce parked in their had-seen-better-days parking lot, and we trekked up the starting-to-crumble staircase. I hoped the food was fresh because the establishment was not.

“Are you sure you don’t want to find a better place to eat?” I feared walking away with Salmonella or worse.

“This will do. We’ll eat fast and get back.”

Inside, a sign told us to seat ourselves. We picked a booth in a far corner, so Bryce was less noticeable. His usually cool and calm demeanor was noticeably changing. Anxiety was beginning to take a toll on Bryce.

I reached over the table and put my hand on top of his. My gaze met his. “We’ll find who killed Archie.”

Bryce nodded and squeezed my hand. He didn’t seem reassured by my words. I wished I could magically make his problems vanish, but I didn’t know how. I wished I was able to provide the comfort to him that he provided me earlier.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call Freddy?”

The waitress came over to take our order. Bryce asked for a cheeseburger and I ordered a salad. When the waitress left, I asked my question again.

“No. He was a former cop. I’m not sure I trust him.”

“If you hire him, I’m sure he won’t turn down the work. He’s an honest guy. He is very hardheaded, but in good way. I mean, he isn’t going to just believe what everyone else says. He forms his own opinions.”

Bryce didn’t answer, which led me to believe he was thinking about it. I didn’t see how we could investigate the myriad of suspects ourselves. We needed help. I had a few in mind that were the most likely candidates—Drew, Solar, and Tina, but what if it wasn’t one of them? How would we narrow down the ever-growing list? I know Bonnie told me to cross Tina off my list, but a real investigator would confirm Tina’s whereabouts the night Archie was killed, just to be sure.

Then there was the wives’ club. Archie’s first, second, and third wives: Martha, Jennifer, and Pamela. They were also high on my list of suspects. And there was also Archie’s new job to explore. Maybe someone else wanted that job enough to kill for it. There was too much to do and no time to do it. We needed to call in the big guns and I didn’t know how to convince Bryce to let an expert help us.