The Easter Egg Murder (23 page)

56

Harrie had shoved her into the safe room so quickly that it took Ginger several seconds to recover her wits. One moment the man was pointing a gun at them. The next, Harrie was swinging the flashlight, the gun went off and they were plunged into darkness. Another moment found her in the safe room, the steel door firmly in place, and the envelope still in her hand.

Her first reaction
was to rescue Harrie. But how? She had no idea what was happening in the room beyond. She turned on the lights and looked at the security system. If she could just remember how to activate it, maybe she could see what was going on.
Damn! Why didn't I pay closer attention to how Harrie did this?

She fiddled w
ith first one switch then another. She finally tripped the master switch and was rewarded by a hum and flashing lights. The monitor showed a view of the library. She was stunned to see the overhead light was on, and the man in black was systematically pulling books from the shelves. How long would it be before he found the hidden switch that would reveal the steel door of her hiding place? Could he possibly enter the correct code into the keypad by trial and error?

She had to assume Harrie managed to escape, because the alternative was unacceptable. She reasoned the man wouldn't be back in the library if Harrie
were still in the house and able to move. Ginger looked around the room, her heart pounding and her nerves pushed to the edge. Her gaze stopped at the telephone mounted on the wall beside the door, and relief flooded her. She grabbed the receiver.

57

Harrie opened her eyes, struggling to remember if she had been having one of her dreams. A faint light came in through a high window. Her neck hurt, and she was curled up on a cold, hard floor. She slowly pulled herself upright. She was in a small bathroom. This was definitely not a dream. She reached for the door. The knob turned but the door wouldn’t budge. Something must have been wedged against it.

In the dim
light, she surveyed her cell. The room consisted of a toilet and a pedestal sink. Under a small frosted window, she saw a waist-high cabinet. She took off her high heels—amazed they had somehow remained on her feet—and climbed up on the cabinet. She opened the window and looked down on the side yard. This must be the powder room off the kitchen. She’d been in this room just yesterday morning. She remembered Ginger telling her that Mrs. Sanchez kept a few personal grooming items in here for her convenience.

Harrie jumped down from the cabinet and opened the drawer. Did she dare turn on a light?
Not knowing where ‘ski mask’ might be, she decided not to risk it. She reached in the drawer and rummaged around, identifying items by touch. She felt a comb, toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. Then she found the one item she prayed she’d find — a metal nail file.

She hopped back up on the cabinet and went to work on the window screen. She loosened its screws and let it drop to the ground. It made a small clanking sound and she froze, listening for someone to approach her prison. After a few agonizing seconds of silence, she stuck her head out the small opening and looked
down. It was a long drop.

J
ust to the left of the window, Harrie could see the outlines of one of the large rubber garbage cans the City of Albuquerque so thoughtfully provides to homeowners. If she could squeeze out the opening, maybe she could hang on to the window frame and ease the garbage can over with her foot.
Great plan, Harrie! If you don’t break your leg or knock the damn garbage can over!
She knew it was crazy, but her choices were limited. She had to escape and get help.

She hitched up her skirt and put one leg over the
windowsill. She pulled her other leg out and clung to the window ledge. She reached for the garbage can with her foot and almost cried when it started moving toward her. When she judged it was close enough, she swung her body in that direction and let go. She landed on the lid, teetered, and half slid, half fell to the ground.

She picked herself up, took a step and collapse
d on the ground again, rubbing her painfully twisted ankle.

In the next moment a blaze of light
cracked, open the darkness. Brilliant spotlights bathed the house, and someone spoke through a bullhorn.

The loud noise made Harrie’s ears ring again. Her heart slammed against her ribs. What was happening? People in dark clothing rushed toward her, rifles raised. The light was so bright and the noise so loud she couldn’t tell who they w
ere or what they were saying.

In the confusion, a face moved into her line of vision. It seemed familiar
, especially that lock of black hair that caressed the forehead.

DJ’s voice sounded strained but tinged with relief. The ringing had subsided enough she could now hear what he said.

“Am I destined to always be picking you up off the ground?”

5
8

Harrie
leaned against DJ’s black SUV, her neck showing signs of the bruises to come, her throat sore and her ankle throbbing.

Philip Lawrence’s home in Canyon Estates was lit up like a movie set. APD and unmarked FBI cars were in the driveway
and street. Deputies from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department added more muscle to the scene. Harrie saw Ginger and hobbled to meet her.

“Are you all
right?” They spoke in unison and both laughed. Harrie felt some of the evening’s tension leave her.

“I was so worried about you,” Harrie said, hugging Ginger hard enough to make
her squeal.

“You were the one in trouble. I was safely ensconced in the panic room. I didn’t know if you got out or if that maniac found you. Tell me what happened.”

Harrie told her as much as she could. Then she said, “I made my big escape from the bathroom and dropped into the set of the remake of
Die Hard
. I’m still not sure what happened and what’s going on.”

A very relieved Steve
walked up and pulled his wife into his arms. “You scared me to death. Please, don’t ever do anything like this again.”

Ginger broke free from the bear hug
. “Don’t worry. No more detective work for this girl. From now on, we leave it to the experts, right Harrie?”

“No problem. I think I’ve had enough excitement for
a lifetime.”

DJ joined them
and Harrie asked, “Who was that man? And how did you happen to show up just as I thought I was done for?”

“I showed up because Ginger called me.”

Harrie looked at her friend. “How did you manage that? The phone lines were cut.”

Ginger shook her head. “I don’t know about the rest of them, but the one in the safe room worked just fine. I called 911, and then I called DJ and told him how to get
me out.” She grinned at Harrie.

“Great,” Harrie blew out a big breath. “I’m trying to rescue you, and you were
sitting cozy with help on the way. I, on the other hand, was being shot at and strangled. Not to mention twisting my ankle and ruining a perfectly good pair of pantyhose!” Harrie joined in the laughter of the others.

DJ
said, “Safe rooms usually have a dedicated phone line independent of the main line. That’s essential for the room to withstand a home invasion. As for your other question, the man who locked you up is none other than
El Jefe
himself. He wanted something from the senator’s house, and he came by to get it before meeting up with his employees later tonight.”

“
Rotten timing for us. But why tonight?” Harrie asked.

“Remember Swannie told you about undercover guys
imbedded in
El Jefe’s
operation? They tipped us that a major shipment of drugs would arrive tonight from a Mexican cartel. All of
El Jefe’s
lieutenants fanned out around the city to take possession of the shipment from various drop sites.
El Jefe
had arranged to meet them all later tonight.”

Harrie wrinkled her nose. “Why not just one big
drop site?”

“Because by spreading out, there’s less chance of calling attention to any one transaction. This way, it’s just a couple of guys meeting and talking. One guy buys a TV o
r some other piece of equipment and inside is a portion of the drugs. They didn’t realize the task force knew all the drop points. As soon as the drugs changed hands, we rounded up
El Jefe’s
gang.”

“Okay,” Harrie said. “What I really want to know is what does this thing with Philip have to do with
El Jefe
?”

“Philip hired Nick
to find the identity of Chipper Finn’s baby. Nick tracked that down and turned it over to Philip, but not before
El Jefe
found out he had it.”

Ginger pulled out the brown envelope, now a bit bedraggled, and handed it to DJ. “We found this tonight in Philip’s library. This guy,
El Jefe
, wanted it. He knew who we were, and he called us by name.”

“Did you get a chance to look at this?” DJ asked.

“We saw a birth certificate for baby Angelina.
El Jefe
interrupted us before we got a chance to examine the second document.”

“It was the other document he really wanted. He needed it to find out the current identity of baby Angelina.”

Harrie didn’t know if her shiver was from the night air or her sudden apprehension. “Why did
El Jefe
want to know that? Did you catch him?”

“They caught him, but stick with me. I’ll get to that.
El Jefe
suspected the identity of Angelina’s father, but he wanted to make certain. Philip told Nick about Becky Martinez and the baby being left at St. Anne’s. Starting with that info, Nick found out the current identity of the baby.
El Jefe
wanted to eliminate anybody who knew and then eliminate the woman herself as well as Nick and Philip.”

Harrie interrupted. “Only Daniel or Jonathan
would want to know about the baby. Are you saying that
El Jefe
is connected to them?”

DJ said, “Oh, it’s more than
a connection.
El Jefe
and Jonathan Templeton are one in the same.”

They were stunned into temporary silence. Ginger recovered first and posed a question.
“Do you also know the identity of Angelina’s father?”

“Yes,” he said.

“How long have you known?” Harrie asked.

“Elizabeth Snow told me yesterday when I went to see her.”

“Elizabeth knew Jacob fathered Chipper’s child?” asked Ginger. “Why didn’t she say something earlier?”

“Because,” DJ said, “she’s been trying to protect the woman that child grew into. She found out about Jacob being the father shortly after his death. It was in the journal taken from his office.”

Harrie said, “So she must have read the journal before she turned it over to Philip. And Philip has known for the past year and a half who the child’s father was.” She had another idea. “If Elizabeth knew that Jacob was the father of Chipper’s daughter, did she also realize that same child was turned over to the orphanage where she volunteered?”

“She did after she gave the journal to Philip. He told Elizabeth all about Becky Martinez and the things she’d done to protect the baby.”

Ginger asked, “Did she try to find out who had adopted the baby?”

DJ sighed. “Yes, but not until recently. She said at first she wondered if the little girl had grown up to be a healthy adult. Then she wondered if perhaps she owed something to the person that child had become. She made inquiries through her contacts and pieced together enough information to discover the current identity of Angelina.”

Harrie said, “So why didn’t Elizabeth tell Philip who Angelina is today? Why did he have to hire Nick to find out?”

DJ
hesitated a moment. “Well, frankly it was a bit awkward for her.” He handed the envelope back to Ginger. “If you look in here, you’ll notice the other document contains the adoption record of Baby Angelina. I think you’ll see what I mean.”

Ginger
looked at the second document, the one they hadn’t yet seen.

“What does it say, for goodness sake?” said Harrie.

Ginger wordlessly handed the document to her. “It says ‘Caroline Ann Hanover’. Do we know who that is?”

DJ said, “Hanover is my mother’s maiden name. Caroline Ann Hanover Scott Johnson was originally Angelina Carol Finn.
”

59

DJ went to confer with the task force commander and make sure it was okay for Harrie and Ginger to leave

Harrie
turned to Ginger. “I forgot to ask DJ if Caroline knows.”

Ginger shook her head. “I’ll bet she doesn’t.”

Ginger’s phone rang, and she checked the caller ID. “Oh, Lord. It’s my parents. Steve, you didn’t say anything to them about all this, did you?”

Steve shook his head. “I did
n’t have a chance. DJ called right after the boys and I got home. I dropped everything and raced over here.”

Ginger flipped open the phone
. “Hi, Dad.” She brightened, a big smile spreading across her face. “Really? When? Is he talking?” She put her hand over the microphone. “It’s Philip. He’s awake and demanding to see us.”

“Let’s go!” Harrie said.

“Hold it just a minute,” Steve said. “We have to wait until they release you officially. I’ll go find DJ.”

Ginger ended the call with her father by assuring him they would be at the hospital as soon as they could get there. He said he would tell Philip.

Steve returned with DJ. “We’re cleared to leave.”

Steve followed Ginger home so they could go in one car to the hospital, and DJ did the same with Harrie. When she joined DJ in his car, she broached the subject that had occupied her mind for the past half hour.

“Does your mother know who she really is?”

DJ shook his head. “Not yet. She’s always known about being adopted, and it was only recently she started actively searching for her birth parents. She asked me to help her find them, and I’ve been working on that for a few months on my own time. I thought about telling her yesterday after I spoke to Elizabeth, but I decided it would be better if we waited until Jonathan was no longer a threat. I’ll tell her first thing tomorrow.”

Light traffic enabled a quick trip to the hospital. They met Ginger and Steve at the door of the private room Philip had been moved to.

Philip sat almost straight up in the elevated hospital bed. He looked a little pale and sported a bandage on his head
but looked good for someone who had been through such an ordeal. When he saw Harrie and Ginger, he gave them a big smile.

“Thank you for coming
. I hope it’s not too late. Hello, Steve. Who’s your friend?” He looked at DJ.

Steve
introduced DJ. “Glad to meet you, my boy. So you’re with the FBI? These ladies been giving you trouble?”

“Yes sir, quite a bit. But I think we have things under control now.”

DJ explained what had happened since the senator’s attack. When he got to the part about Nick Constantine being shot, Philip frowned.

“I’m very sorry to hear that.” He reached for Harrie’s hand. “What I said to you at Ginger’s wedding was based on
the way Nick was at that point in his life. But he turned his life around. He’s been trying to make amends for his past mistakes. He impressed me as a sincere young man.”

Philip turned to DJ, “How did it happen?”

DJ explained that Jonathan found out about Nick’s investigation and panicked. Then he described the situation with Pablito and about Harrie and Ginger being overtaken by Jonathan at Philip’s home just a few hours ago. Philip raised his eyebrows and looked at Ginger.

“It didn’t occur to me you would go off sleuthing on your own. I expected you would bring the police in. I hope your parents don’t know what you’ve been doing.”

“No,” Ginger assured him. “We were able to keep them from knowing anything about this.”

Harrie said, “Sir, do you know why Jonathan Templeton was so desperate to know the identity
of Chipper Finn’s baby?”

Philip took a deep breath. “I believe he found out the terms of his uncle’s will. You see, Daniel told me he made provisions that in case a direct heir of one of the Snow
s turned up, his entire estate would go to that heir. Everybody was quick to assume that Eric was the father of Chipper’s baby, but Daniel began to doubt that after the murder. When Jacob went to him and threatened to expose him and Peter, Daniel suspected Jacob might have had a more personal interest in Chipper. I think Daniel felt guilty about the child, and did something that would ease his conscience. At least that’s what Jacob said in his journal.

“In 1972, when Jacob asked me to run for the senate, he told me there were secrets in his family that, if they came out, would ruin them. I assumed it had something to do with Daniel’s son, Eric. I knew from the days Daniel and I were friends that the boy had caused a great deal of trouble. He was wild, headstrong and spoiled. Jacob told me he and Daniel would throw their full support behind me, but that I was free to be my own person. With those assurances, I decided to run.”

Philip stopped speaking as the nurse walked into the room. She made a big show of checking his IV, taking his pulse, and generally showing her disapproval of all the people crowded around the bed. “Ten more minutes, and then I want you all out of here.”

With that, she stomped out of the room and shut the door.

The chastised visitors looked at each other and turned back to Philip. He chuckled. “Don’t mind her. She’s just very protective. Now where was I? Oh, yes. In 1972, after I won the election, Jacob told me all about Daniel’s past with illegal gambling. He explained about the deal he made with Daniel that if he agreed not to run for the senate, Jacob wouldn’t expose him for his past activities. After hearing all that I understood why they were so eager to have me run. At first I was angry they hadn’t told me all this before I agreed to run, but in a way, it’s just as much my fault. The fact is that the idea of becoming a senator had begun to appeal to me. I didn’t press too hard about any deeper reasons Jacob might have had for asking me. After that, Daniel and I drifted apart.”

Harrie asked, “How did you reconnect with the Snows?”

“Just before Jacob had his stroke, he asked me to come see him. He was agitated, and I sensed there was something he wanted to tell me, but he seemed reluctant. Before I left, he told me that someday he would provide me with all the information needed to see that Daniel could never hurt anyone again. By this time, Peter was already dead, and I could only speculate what Jacob meant.

“I was out of town when Jacob died. Elizabeth contacted me a
few weeks later and told me about the sealed envelope Jacob left for me. When I went to meet her, she explained about the burglary in Jacob’s office and how she managed to get the envelope before that happened.”

“Did she tell you she’d hired Ni
ck Constantine to retrieve it?”

Philip looked at Harrie. “No, my dear, not then. It was only recently she told me who she’d hired.”

Ginger interrupted. “What was in the envelope?”

“It was bad
—worse than I’d imagined. I knew Peter Templeton had a drinking problem. Everyone knew that was why Daniel sent him home from Washington. Peter worked as Daniel’s personal aide, and he resented being sent home. He got drunk one night and admitted to Jacob that he and Sheriff Hernandez had murdered Chipper Finn. He described how they staged a couple of episodes where they got Eric drunk and took him to the club where Chipper worked. They made sure Eric was seen fighting with her several times. The night of her death, he shoved her against a wall before Manny Salinas threw him out of the club.

“Later, Manny walked Chipper to her car. As soon as he left, Peter and the sheriff approached her. The sheriff knocked on her window and made her get out. Peter came up behind her and hit her over the head. They threw her in the trunk of the sheriff’s squad car and drove out to the desert. When they took her out of the trunk, she moaned and they realized she was still alive. So Peter strangled her with her own scarf. They laid her body out on the desert floor and drove back to town.”

Philip stopped talking and reached for his water glass. He took a few sips, shifted his position in the bed and continued.

“Peter went back and got Eric, who had passed out behind the club, and drove him back to Albuquerque. They told Eric he killed the girl, and he believed them. That’s why he went to Europe and stayed away so long.”

Harrie spoke up. “So you’ve known for at least a year who killed Chipper Finn? Were you going to reveal that in your book?”

“I hadn’t made up my mind. I knew if I went too far, Daniel might find a way to take revenge on Elizabeth and
on Chipper’s daughter.”

Philip
looked at DJ. “What will happen to Jonathan?”

“
There’s a slam-dunk case against him for drug trafficking. We also executed a search warrant tonight on an apartment he maintained. APD found the weapon they believe was used in Nick’s murder. Jonathan will go away for a very long time.”

Philip had a faraway look. “So now Daniel is alone. What will happen to him?”

DJ shrugged. “We don’t have anything on him. Even if we could prove the allegations of corruption and bribes in the 40s and 50s, too much time has passed. If we can connect him to Jonathan’s activities, then that’s another story. I’ll have to get back to you.”

Philip waved his hand. “I doubt it will come to that, but keep me posted anyway.”

Ginger had one more question. “We found the birth certificate and adoption papers behind the photo of you and President Reagan. Did you figure out who Caroline Hanover is?”

He smiled. “Yes, my dear, and I almost choked the day you told me about your new office manager. I had verified her identity earlier that day, and I took it as a sign that something would happen soon. That’s why I made the elaborate plan to have you find the documents. I hoped you wouldn’t have too much trouble figuring it out.”

Harrie grinned at Ginger before she responded. “Oh, no sir. We didn’t have a bit of trouble. Did we, Ginger?”