A THIEF OF ANY MAN (Food Truck Mysteries Book 6) (8 page)

She didn’t answer my question though. We ate in silence for several minutes. My meal was delicious, and while I’d never be able to make it as well as the restaurant, I actually debated whether I could make a reasonable facsimile of it for a quiet dinner with Land. I had to wonder what had become of me to make me think about cooking.

I had nearly finished my lunch when Sabine decided to answer. “Lamest question I’ve ever been asked. I could have told you some really good stories about Land.” She punctuated her statement with a sigh.

I realized what I’d given up with my curiosity about the crime taking precedence, but at the same time, I knew that Land would appreciate it. I liked the way that he expressed his appreciation, too. “I’m sure you could, but I was more curious about any phone calls you might have made.”

“You think I’m involved in the murder?” she asked with a shudder. “Our family has tempers, but we’re not killers.”

“Not at all, but you could have called another employee or a friend – and they might be involved.” I explained the situation regarding the fire in the home coming directly after the discovery of the body. I stressed that Land and I had asked ourselves the same question as to whether we had inadvertently informed anyone about the discovery.

“Sorry, but no. I barely have a cellphone, but since I’m gainfully underemployed, it’s a flip phone with limited minutes. I only call people on necessity.” She sighed again as if to accentuate her plight.

I did feel for her. Her circumstances would still have been mine, if I hadn’t received the food truck, but I wasn’t sure that hiring her would be a good idea. It would certainly be one that I ran by Land before deciding.

We finished lunch, and I paid for the meal. After the flip phone comment, I thought it best. Even though I’d enjoyed lunch, I was no further in the investigation. Sabine had not called anyone. That left us back where we’d started. If none of the three of us had informed anyone, the police must have done so. I wondered who they could have called – other police officers, the press, witnesses? The list had to be fairly short. Danvers seemed more interested in taking away my truck, and Sabine, than coming to the logical conclusions here.

Since Carter wasn’t expected to work until at least 2pm, I gave him a quick call. I hadn’t heard anything from the police about the food truck, so I assumed it would be at least another day. I told him that he would be with Land again the following day. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if the police released the truck this evening, but I’d had so much fun today doing nothing that I thought an extra day couldn’t hurt.

However, by 7pm, it was obvious that Detective Danvers was not going to call. Land had called and given me a full report on the day’s earnings and Carter’s help. He was used to working alone, and more than once the younger man had gotten underfoot. I pointed out that this would only be for a few days, and we made plans for dinner the following evening. I told him about the pasta recipe, and he hesitantly agreed to try it, after affirming that I had pizza coupons if something went wrong with the preparations.

I thought about calling Danvers on his cellphone, but then decided to wait and visit the next day. That would give me a chance to sleep in tonight and learn more tomorrow.

I rolled out of bed at almost 9am the next day. I was shocked to see that I’d slept almost five hours more than I normally did. Still, I felt good for it. I took a quick shower and dressed for the occasion, slacks and a nice white blouse. Detective Danvers rarely saw me out of a Dogs on the Roll t-shirt and jeans, so I was out to wow him – more in hopes that shock would get me the answers I needed.

I parked at my usual garage, the one I used on the days when Carter picked up the truck before I did. I hadn’t called to give Detective Danvers a heads up that I was coming, but then, that had been the plan. There existed a small chance that he’d be out somewhere on the case, but I doubted that he would be. He interviewed suspects on site, and mostly he waited for forensic results.

As I suspected, he sat reading a report when I came into view of his office. I walked up to it and took a seat across from his desk.

“Come to confess?” he asked as I shifted in the seat.

“Sorry, no, but it’s pretty bad that you have to ask me that. No clues yet?”

He sighed and looked around the station’s floor. “First, we don’t talk about open police cases with civilians. Everything is on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know anything. Secondly, we have quite the opposite situation. We have too many clues, if anything.”

I nodded. There had been times in crimes I’d investigated when I’d uncovered so much evidence that I felt like I was running in all directions. It was actually easier to have only a few clues, which was why I was leaning towards the question of who had known about the detection of the body. Yet if I was going to get any information from Danvers today, I was going to have to open up to him about what I wanted and why. He was not in a mood to be cordial and share any information with me.

So I laid out the case I had for the killer having advance knowledge of the body’s discovery. He sat and listened and didn’t speak for a long time. I was more used to him yelling at me, and threatening me with incarceration or death.

I had to wonder if the case was getting to him or if he’d ignored the details of it to focus on the Big Tony case.

“So you want to know who I called that night? I’m not going to tell you what police or emergency service people I called. I can’t believe that they have anything to do with that. No, let me rephrase that. I
won’t
believe that they have anything to do with a murder. I will tell you that the only civilian I called was the manager of the secured lot. You should know him. You pay him money every month. Go bug him for a while.”

“So any leads on the Big Tony case?” I asked. I had no plans to get involved, but I wanted to see if they were progressing. I had made a promise to Land to keep my nose out of this one.

Detective Danvers shook his head. “Not a chance. I won’t talk to you about this murder. There’s one case in a dozen that gets dangerous. A killer who isn’t afraid to take down a mob boss is not afraid to bump off a few policeman or a random food truck owner. You’re staying out of this case even if I have to lock you up.”

I nodded. I had to agree with that. The killer in that case had to be brazen and ruthless. I’d mostly bumped into people who had wanted to earn a few dollars or avenge a family wrong. I’d never gone up against the mob.

“So when can I have the truck back?” I asked, getting to the main point of my visit. “Obviously I can’t make money with no truck.”

“Tonight. Come back around 5pm, and the team should be done with it. The scene was multiple days old, so there’s not much to find. Just tell the tech crew that I said it’s okay.”

I smiled broadly. “Thanks. Did you find anything at all there?”

“Nothing you don’t probably know already. Creech’s prints were on the register, as were yours, so that pretty well clenches it that she’s the one who was taking money from you. I’m canvassing the other people in the lot. There are a few other business vehicles, but none of them had cash inside the car.”

“So we don’t have a motive yet?” I asked. The sad thing was that the food truck and its owners, primarily me, were the most likely ones to have a motive. The woman was stealing from us – and apparently no one else.

I decided to leave while we were still on good terms. I got out to Government Square before I dialed the owner of the secured parking lot. The call went to voicemail, and I left a message asking about the lot and the security level. I didn’t want to accuse him of burning down a house on voicemail, so I tried to make it a business matter.

I hung up and decided to go shopping. The day was cold and bleak, but I didn’t care. The time off was doing me a lot of good. While I would be glad to get back to work, I was enjoying every minute of the time away from the food truck.

In just a few hours, I’d bought several new things to wear. Now that I had a social life, I needed to have a few outfits that were not jeans and t-shirts. In the time I’d spent building up the funds to buy the second truck and rent a new apartment, I’d had little extra cash to spend on clothes for myself. It felt almost decadent to buy a dress or two now.

I walked back through Government Square, feeling good about myself. I saw Basque in the Sun in its usual spot, and I decided to head over to the truck to see how Land and Carter were doing.

I didn’t make it to the door. I stopped and looked at the sign out front announcing the menu. Carter had obviously brought his marketing skills here as well, because today’s offerings were plainly written on a board similar to ours. After one of the dishes, Carter had written “Spicy Hot.” The script was similar to the “help” that had been left on the other board.

Land looked grave as I entered the truck. It was crowded with three people in it, so I stood back in the corner as far as I could. “How is it going?” I asked.

“You tell me. How was the visit with Danvers?” Land asked, not looking up. I cursed under my breath. Really, was Detective Danvers’ new strategy to keep me on a leash by telling my boyfriend about my activities?

“Good. I can pick the truck up in a few hours. So Carter, you’ll be back with me tomorrow.”

He nodded as he prepared food. Carter was amazingly quiet, and I wondered if the two men had been arguing. I’d have to ask them separately later.

“Good news. And you asked about who else had been notified of the discovery of Emma Creech while you were there?” Land phrased it as a question, but his tone implied a statement. He knew that I’d been asking questions about the murder.

“I figured I had to make a suggestion to Danvers if I was going to find the information I needed.” I told Land what I’d learned and how I’d made a call to the secured lot owner without success.

“There’s a reason why he hasn’t called back,” Land said. “If you’d checked your messages, you’d find that Jax Danvers has been trying to call you this afternoon.”

I pulled out my phone and checked. Sure enough. There were two missed calls from the police and two associated voicemails. “Do I need to check this, or are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“The lot owner was killed this afternoon, shortly after you left the police station. Your phone call and message were the last known contacts with him. So the police want to verify what you were going to say to him.”

I took in the information. Danvers had to know that I was going to make contact with the lot owner after he gave me that information. So I wasn’t sure why my statement would be required.

“So why is there a need for a statement? He gave me that information while I was there.”

Land looked up at me. At first glance, it appeared that he’d been crying. His eyes were red, bloodshot. Yet the man I knew would never cry over anything. He was brave and fearless and would do anything to solve a problem.

“Okay, now you’re freaking me out,” I said. “What happened?”

He said softly, “The police have detained Sabine for the murders of the lot owner and Emma Creech. She was arrested an hour ago.”

My mouth fell open. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I had actually thought that Jax had a crush on Land’s sister, not a warrant. Now I wasn’t sure what to think. I knew that Land believed that his sister was innocent, so I did as well. Land was one of the most objective people I knew, even about those closest to him. He was also loyal, so I knew that we would have to prove someone else was behind the murders.

Beyond the fact that my heart was breaking for the man, I wanted to do something to prove Detective Danvers wrong. If I’d been willing to stop to ruminate on my reaction, I would have had to admit that I had it bad for Land. I was willing to take on more murderers to see him unemotional again.

Granted, Sabine was the logical suspect, the woman with a grudge against Emma Creech and someone who could have witnessed Emma’s petty crimes. It was on Sabine’s shift that Emma had snuck into the food truck and stolen from the register.

Yet it didn’t make much sense. Emma either had something much more on Sabine than she was letting on, or this was not the right scenario. Sabine could easily have reported the thefts and been down with it. Any small-time infractions, such as doing crossword puzzles, would be forgiven for catching a thief during working hours.

Given the murder of the secured lot owner and the arson at Creech’s house, it seemed much more likely that Creech had something on someone, information big enough that it was worth killing again and again for.

Without access to either Sabine or Creech or the secured lot’s owner, I knew I’d have to go back to the lot and speak to the day security guard. I’d known Jack for a while, so I hoped I could perhaps have his trust and get some details from him.

However, before I could go, Carter decided to speak up. “I don’t want to be a ghoul, but if you’re looking to expand in other directions, I would be betting that the parking lot will be looking for a new owner soon.”

I looked at him for a second. I was both surprised at his answer and impressed that he’d thought of it. I was a long way from thinking about an acquisition, but at the same time, I saw that I could use the ploy to get an opening with the owner’s family and other lot employees. I said as much to him.

He smiled and nodded, going back to work.

I spent about ten minutes with Land, telling him what I was planning on doing before I left. I kept the discussion focused on actions and how we were going to clear Sabine. He held me close, and for once, I was the one with the strength and resolution.

I called Carter outside to talk to me a minute. “What did you have written on the board at the other food truck?” I asked quietly.

Carter screwed his eyes up into his head, trying to think. “We had the BBQ Beer topping. I wrote something about using small helpings because it’s very spicy. Why?”

I nodded my head. The board had not been a cry for help. It had been a smeared message where the partial word of help was all that was visible. The plea for assistance was just another piece of misdirection in this case.

I left, heading to the secured lot. Bryson was still there, because it was only 3:15pm. I informed him that Sabine wouldn’t be coming in tonight, and that someone would have to cover for her because the owner had been murdered as well.

He took the news about as well as could be expected. He had a cousin who was out of work, and after assuring his relative that he would be paid for the work, he made arrangements for the coverage of the second shift. “Do you think she did it?” he asked, watching me closely now.

I shook my head. “Not really. Whoever did this had a real thing against Emma Creech. Sabine didn’t like her, but nothing that would indicate that she hated her enough to kill her and then bump off the manager as well.”

“Yeah, I had a couple of run-ins with her as well. She was a real piece of work. She wanted access to a few of the cars on the lot because they had parked slightly inside her spot. The old bat wanted to move those cars herself.” He started to laugh at the story, but then stopped as he remembered the circumstances.

“What did you do about that?” I asked, wondering about her rationale for wanting inside the cars.

“I had to call these people and have them move their vehicles, if you can believe it. A couple of the cars I moved myself. What a pain. We have wide spots here so people can store RVs and trailers. The cars were only a few inches into her space. And she still wasn’t happy.” He sighed deeply, as if the universe were conspiring against him for a few phone calls and a visit from some customers.

“What did she want?” I asked, thinking that clues might be in the details of her story.

“She wanted to get inside the cars. She said that she thought she smelled something funny in her car. She thought the odor was coming from the cars around hers.” He didn’t seem to mind that the request seemed odd. Perhaps he heard much worse than this on a daily basis. I had to wonder. Emma’s request seemed odd and intrusive. She had seemed insistent on getting into the other cars. Had she seen something in one of them that was a clue to the case, or had she just wanted to loot them as she had my truck?

When I thought to add the fact that she’d been in my truck, I wondered if she had been looking for something else in particular. I could understand, though I didn’t approve of, the fact that she came into my truck and took cash. Yet cars would not have a cash register and would not have a continual source of cash in the vehicle. If she was after something of monetary value, what could she have wanted to find?

So I had to start rethinking my perspective. The desire to look in other people’s vehicles went far beyond the food truck. Apparently the world isn’t all about me! Who knew?

I knew Land didn’t want to come over tonight. After the day he’d had with Sabine being arrested, he’d need his own time and space. I was fine with that. I’d picked up the food truck at 5pm with no problems. I’d had to spend some time cleaning the fingerprint powder off the counters and appliances, and I’d been tired when I finally made it home.

I wasn’t expecting any visitors, so I nearly jumped when the buzzer announced someone at my outer door.

I hit the button to admit the person. The security cameras had showed me that it was Detective Jax Danvers at the door, and I wasn’t afraid of him or whatever news he’d be bringing to me.

I opened the door to him, and Danvers looked around the entrance to my apartment before coming in. He’d been here plenty of times during a previous investigation at my place, so I wasn’t sure why he was
trepidatious
suddenly.

“Is Land here?” he asked, looking around some more, like I might keep him the closet when I didn’t have a use for him.

“No, he’s pretty upset, so he’s staying home. Somebody arrested his sister today, and he’s taking it hard.” I didn’t bother to mask my sarcasm tonight. Danvers, who had been avoiding me like week-old hot dog buns, wanted something from me, and I wanted this discussion over with.

“Yeah, about that…” he started.

“I don’t want to hear it. You’ll be the upset one when I solve this case.”

“You’re already too involved in matters you can’t handle,” Danvers said. “You need to back off.”

“Did you come here to warn me?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what he could want from me. I felt like I’d gotten nowhere in this case. Emma Creech had been killed by someone who didn’t want her snooping around. I wasn’t sure why her manager had been killed, or why Emma had been taking money from the food truck. None of this was making much sense.

However, I had weeded out many of the false clues, so that I had a clear story. Emma had been pestering the guards for access to the other vehicles in the lot, which we now knew included Big Tony Borelli’s corpse. Had she been looking for his body, or had she found clues that something was going on at the lot? Bryson had indicated that she’d mentioned a smell. Maybe she’d realized that something dead was in the area. A killer might have killed again to keep her away.

Danvers interrupted my train of thought. “No, I need your friend’s name. The one with the bloodhound.” He pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. He looked at me expectantly.

“What’s up? You’re asking me to give you her number so you can go out with her or something?” I was perplexed. Did Danvers really think that I would give him a dating recommendation to a friend? That wasn’t likely to happen. He’d arrested the last woman he’d flirted with, so I didn’t think he was a good risk for Gina.

“No, I just need her contact information. Something has come up, and I need to be able to reach her.” His face was impassive, but I could tell that something strange was going on. This was an official visit, not a personal one. I tried to run through the possible scenarios in which they would need to talk to Gina again. She’d merely provided the dog for the discovery of the two bodies in the secured parking lot. Her role had been limited. Her story had been nearly identical to mine, and the police had let her go.

“What this about then” I asked. I could be just as intransigent as he could. If I was providing information, he could give a little in return.

He sighed deeply. “I really don’t want to go into detail with you about this yet,” Danvers replied, but I could see signs of him weakening. His use of the word “yet” meant that I’d be hearing about it at some point.

I just waited. Land wasn’t coming over this evening. Tonight was just going to be me and the television, so I had all the time in the world.

By the clock in the kitchen, it only took three minutes to break Danvers. “Fine. There was a reward for the recovery of Big Tony or his body. You and your bloodhound friend will split the reward money equally.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious? Just for finding his body?” I thought that the reward seemed like overkill. Who would want to keep a corpse around once they found it? Anyone would turn it in.

“It’s being administered through the police department, but a lawyer set up the fund. Of course, the money is mob-donated, though I’m sure a team of forensic accountants couldn’t prove it. They’re pretty upset about the killing,” Danvers replied. “At least now, they can have an autopsy and learn what happened to Borelli.”

I nodded. I could understand wanting to be able to put closure to a death, especially a violent death that cut a life short. I’d done that as well for my aunt, though I hadn’t offered any money to people who helped me.

“Well, it was an accident.,” I pointed out. “We were looking for Emma Creech, remember? Does intent count for anything?” While the money would be nice, I was leery of getting any more involved with that case.

“That was explained to the lawyer who made the contribution to the reward fund, but he read the police report and agreed that you two should share equally in the funds.” Danvers shoved his hands in his pockets, as if the statement pained him.

“That’s nice. I can take Land out for dinner,” I replied, thinking of a few nice treats I could provide for myself with some extra cash. I’d seen a few things on my shopping trip that I wouldn’t mind going back for.

“In Navarre,” Danvers replied. “We’re not talking a $50 tip here. We’re talking a reward from the mob for information leading to the discovery of the remains of a mob boss, Anthony Borelli. They paid well.”

“How much are we talking?” I asked. I had assumed it would be change, but now that Danvers was talking, my curiosity was piqued.

“Thirty thousand. Fifteen for you, and fifteen for Gina. Just for taking a dog for a walk.” Danvers practically spat the words.

I wasn’t sure if Danvers was more annoyed that he hadn’t earned the reward, or that I had. His petulance was palatable.

On the other hand, my mind was racing. I had fifteen thousand extra dollars to spend. My mind went back to the comment from Carter, when he’d suggested purchasing the secured parking lot, which might be up for sale now. The money would be a great down payment on it. The parking would pay the monthly fees and then some, though I knew it was uncharitable to think of the business after the death of the owner.

“So you didn’t know?” Danvers said. “You had no idea that finding that body would net you a good few weeks’ worth of pay? I’m expected to believe that?”

“I told you before,” I said again with emphasis, “that we were looking for Emma Creech. I wanted to find out who was strangled in the food truck. If you’d believed me, there wouldn’t have been a need to look around the lot. I have no idea about the mob in Capital City – and I don’t want to.”

Danvers raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you don’t want the cash?” he taunted.

I laughed. “Don’t be stupid. Of course I want the cash. You don’t think they want something in return for the money, do you?”

Danvers rolled his eyes. “You’re amazing, you know that? If you mean, do you have to become a hit man just because you took their reward? No, mainly because you’d be a crappy hitman. The lawyer was pretty certain that you were not involved in the killing. He did get a chuckle about you solving so many crimes though. He made more than a few comments about that to me.”

“So when do I get it? I don’t suppose you have it tonight?” I asked. I doubted that he did, but I was anxious to get moving on the next expansion to the business.

“It’ll be a few weeks, but here’s a statement from the lawyer and the police committee on rewards.” Danvers passed across a packet of letters to me, which I scanned. It stated the same thing that he’d said earlier, just in nicer, fancier words. The police committee letter talked about taxes on rewards, and frequently asked questions.