Missing: The Body of Evidence (28 page)

There was no throng of relatives and
mourners waiting at the crematorium to mark Kelly’s passing. In fact, only the
one car parked in the lot was enough to make her think she had the time of the
service wrong. Nancy entered and saw a solitary figure standing at the front
pew. She considered herself fortunate that her attorney had the foresight to
phone the coroner’s office, or she may have missed the service. The man at the
front turned to look briefly over his shoulder at her. Nancy walked down the
aisle, conscious of her high-heels scraping and clipping the stone-floor, until
she reached the front and stepped into the pew behind the only other spectator.
A cardboard coffin stood in the raised area in front of red velvet curtains with
gold braid trim.

‘Do I know you?’ The man asked and turning
to face her.

‘I doubt it. Are you family?’

‘Half-brother. John Kelly.’

‘Detective Nancy Roberts.’

‘You’re a bit late to bring him to justice
now.’

Justice?
There was no family resemblance to Kelly. He was portly with a round face and
stood no more than five-foot four. A man in a suit entered and spoke in a
hushed tone.

‘Ready?’

Kelly’s brother nodded. There was no priest
in the pulpit to speak final words, just a recording of piped music playing
over the speakers. The curtains parted and the coffin moved slowly through them
and then the curtains closed again.

‘That’s it, duty done.’ John said and
stepped into the aisle to leave.

‘What did you mean… ‘Too late to bring him
to justice’?’

‘I’m only here to make sure he burns in
hell. It’s like I said before, duty done.’

‘But what exactly did you mean… ‘Bring him
to justice’?’

‘Just a family thing.’

He walked briskly down the aisle and Nancy
struggled to keep up with him, wishing she hadn’t decided on a tight-skirt.

‘Wait, I need to talk with you.’

He waited at the door and held it open.

‘What is it you want to know? Did you
investigate his suicide?’

‘No, I met him when I was investigating a
fire at an apartment. I’m just trying to find some background information on
him.’

‘A fire, that figures. Anyone hurt.’

‘Yeah, we found the remains of a body. What
do you mean ‘that figures’?’

‘Better sit down on the bench here.’

Nancy sat next to him.

‘What do you know already?’

‘Not much apart from he was a janitor for
the condo where he lived at the time of the fire, but he moved and I lost track
of him until he turned up dead. That, and a report on file about him having
been questioned about some fires at his college. Oh, and I know about his son,
David.’

‘What about Simon? He had two sons, Simon
and David.’

‘I don’t know about a Simon, but David is
in a mental hospital.’

‘Yeah, so is Simon if he’s still alive. Dad
told me just before he passed away.’

‘What about the kids’ mother?’

‘She ran off to Ohio with the children and
filed for a divorce. Ann died in a house fire. He got custody of the kids and
signed them into the care of a mental hospital. Dad found out from his mom
before she passed away.’

‘So are you saying he was responsible for
Ann’s death?’

‘He had a good alibi, but I reckon he was
responsible, just like when my mom died.’

‘What makes you think he was responsible
for your mom’s death?’

‘We had the same dad, different moms. He
visited from time to time. Some weird kid he was; always playing at lighting
fires. Scared the shit outta me he did.’

Nancy could see his eyes moisten. He took a
handkerchief from his pocket, gave his eyes a rub, and continued with a pained
expression on his face.

‘Mom couldn’t cope and stopped his visits.
We all lived in Austin in those days. Mom and Dad took him home during his last
visit after a big argument when our tool shed burnt down in the back yard. On
the way, they stopped off for gas. According to Dad, she was in the car waiting
for Jason and Dad to return from the bathroom when the car burst into flames.
Jason stood looking at the car when Dad left the bathroom. The doors jammed and
she couldn’t get out. Dad tried to open the doors but they had to pull him
back. The car explo…sorry.’ He drew his hand to his eyes, took a few deep
breaths, and then looked up to the sky. ‘Dad never saw him again when his mom
moved with him to LA, but Dad kept in touch with her on the telephone. He said
he was haunted by the sight of Jason who just stood there watching the flames
and grinning.’

A vision of Kelly grinning when Logan’s
coat caught fire passed through her mind.

‘How did you find out about his suicide?’

‘Saw it in the paper. I called the
Coroner’s office and made sure he wasn’t buried. I wanted to make sure the
grinning bastard burnt rather than rotted in hell.’

‘Have you any idea to which hospital the
children were taken?’

‘No, Dad never visited them. Sorry, I can’t
be of any help, that’s all I know about him and the children.’

Nancy shook his hand. The look of pain he
still displayed at recalling his mom’s death told her his act of seeing to
Kelly’s cremation had done little to make up for his grief.

‘One last thing, I don’t suppose you can
recall if he was left or right handed?’

‘Sure I can recall. He was ambidextrous,
same as me. Dad always said it was the only gene he’d passed on to us both.
Sorry, I’m not much help.’

Nancy smiled.

‘On the contrary, John, you’ve been a big
help. Could you give me your contact details in case I need to speak to you
again?’

‘Sure.’

Nancy had no sooner dotted the last letter
in her notebook, than a car with tinted windows that she recognized pulled up
alongside the bench. The driver’s window whirred open.

‘What are you doing here?’ Logan asked.

‘I could ask you the same question. It’s a
free country, just talking to Kelly’s brother. Any objection?’

‘Well, yeah, as a matter of fact. You’re
not supposed to contact material witnesses.’

He opened the car door and climbed out. She
stood to greet him and strained to look around him at the sound of the
passenger door opening. Kyle stood sheepishly, trying to blend into the
background like a chameleon.

‘How is going to Kelly’s funeral talking to
a material witness in the alleged case against me? Besides, Kelly’s hardly going
to talk to me now is he?’

‘You’re pushing it.’

‘I thought shit for brains was off the
case?’

‘Hey, come on, that’s not called for,’ Kyle
responded.

Kelly’s brother started to shuffle away.

‘LAPD, where are you going?’ Logan said.
His voice booming.

John stopped in his tracks and turned.

‘John, tell these apes what you told me
about Jason’s use of his hands.’

‘Whoa there, keep me out of your arguments.’

Logan pulled out his badge. ‘Answer the
question.’

‘He was ambidextrous.’

‘That’s it, I’m going,’ said Nancy.

‘Listen, I can understand you’re pissed,
but call me an ape one more time and you’re finished in my department.’

Nancy could feel the heat in her cheeks
rising. She was torn between telling him to dig a hole and bury himself, and
apologizing in the faint hope she may still have a future in the department.

‘What do you expect?’

‘In the circumstances, I’ll let it pass
this time, but remember, and remember well this time. Keep your nose out and
leave the men to sort this out.’

‘Yeah, right.’
Ya chauvinist bastard.

Nancy pushed past him to make her way to
her car. Kyle grabbed her by the arm.

‘Nancy, listen to me, you’ve got this all
wrong. You’re jumping to conclusions.’

She took hold of his wrist and wrenched his
hand from her shoulder. She couldn’t look him in the face. He lowered his tone.

‘I’ve been talking to Logan and there’s a
way out of all this.’

‘Like what?’

‘Look, surely you can see there’s no way
back for you. They’ve got nothing on you, only conjecture. Negotiate a payout
and we can start from where we left off at the cabin. We just need to wait for
Logan to tie up all the loose ends. Bill’s stepped forward and he makes his
statement to Brogan at internal affairs in a few days.’

‘Arghh, I get it, you mean as soon as Logan
and Brogan have proven me innocent, but still leaving some doubt. You’re
incredible, do you know that?’

Hope replaced the pleading look in his
eyes.

‘Well, what do you think?’

‘Like I said, you’re incredible. Incredibly
freakin’ stupid. I haven’t got it wrong which side of the fence you’re on, have
I? Now leave me alone.’

Nancy hurried to her car, her temper vying
with thoughts he could be right and all it would take would be for her to snap
out of her mood, but her stubbornness won the day. Tyres crunched the gravel as
she sped away. In the rear-view mirror, she saw Logan questioning John, but
Kyle stood watching her all the way to the exit.

‘If I want to wallow in the trough, then I
damn well will. Stuff Logan and the job... and stuff you, Kyle.’

Nancy knew exactly where she was going; she
just wished she could be sure that where her life was heading was as clear. She
wondered if a man would be shedding the tear that rolled down her cheek at the
indignity of what she had just heard.

Her foot eased off the gas as she approached
the address of Kelly’s attorney.

With the receptionist busy, her eyes
scanned the list of office numbers and name plaques on the wall. Room 201 was
there, but with no name alongside. The line was ten deep at reception and she
sat in the rest area of the foyer. Nancy picked up one of a neat fanned-out
pile of advertising brochures from a low table display and flipped the pages.
These were furnished-managed offices with no lease, just an easy in and easy
out rental agreement, with an answering service thrown in.

She made her way to reception and stood in
line. A young girl with headphones had her back to reception and was busy
answering the phone. Nancy thought it was quite clever how different names
would pop up on the young woman’s screen for her to change hats answering the
calls.

‘Yes, how can I help?’ A tall skinny blond
asked.

‘Kurt Gerritson, room two-zero one.’

The woman typed on her keyboard.

‘Sorry, he left on Friday.’

‘Do you have a forwarding address?’

‘Sorry, nothing listed. There’s just a
contact number for messages.’

Nancy flashed her badge.

‘Can you give me the number?’

‘Sure.’

Nancy took down the number and thought it
looked familiar.

‘How long did he rent the room?’

‘He took out the rental for the minimum one
month. Still has two weeks to go, but he’s handed back the keys.’

‘Did he have many visitors?’

She typed on her keyboard and looked at her
computer screen.

‘Sorry, no visitors. We have only one phone
call listed and a few off hours voice mail messages for him to return a call.’

‘And who was the call from?’

‘Detective Logan.’

Her body tingled at the revelations.

‘How long do you save the information
before deleting?’

‘We save it to archive and clear it out
every three months, but we save the paper contracts.’

‘Well, just make sure you don’t delete
early. We may need the information. Do you mind if I make a phone call.’

‘Anything to help the police.’

Her answer caused Nancy to give a silent
prayer that Logan and Kyle wouldn’t show up as they had done at the crematorium.
Flashing a badge when suspended was bound to be illegal. The woman pushed a
handset over to her and she dialled her attorney. Nancy gave him Kelly’s
attorney’s name and asked him to check it out for her against the bar list.

‘Sorry, not listed in this state and I’ve
never heard of him. Have you got the name right?’

‘Oh, I’ve got the name right. Talk to you
later.’

Nancy replaced the handset, thanked the
woman and trudged out of the foyer deep in thought. Nancy stopped for a cup of
water next to the exit and noticed that a guy stood at a machine.

The guy reached his hand to take something
from the machine.

‘Mind if I take a look’ Nancy asked.

‘Sure, here take this one, you never know
when you may need our services.’

She looked at the calling card and scoffed.
‘Good Times. Wedding Reception Planners.’

‘Damn, it’s that simple.’

The card was not much different from
Kelly’s attorney’s card, but with different wording. Cursing that she was on
the wrong side of the demarcation line as far as colleagues were concerned, the
idea that as a team they could be on the home run weighed heavily in her
deliberations as she made her way to her car. Cast adrift and left alone, she
knew she would struggle to make that last mile, as if she was running out of
energy in a marathon. All it would take, she thought, was a stupid phone call
to Logan, and with the resources of the department behind her, the truth
surrounding the professor’s mysterious death could be in reach.

If it sounds too good to be true, it’s
usually false.
The saying kept rolling around in
her mind. The clairvoyant turning up before Kelly’s attorney and making her
statement had thrown the wrench in the works as far as continuing the
investigation was concerned. What with that, Mary having a similar description
to the woman on the stairway sitting with David when Kelly moved out, and a
tenuous connection to Astral, Nancy was sure Mary had to hold the key to open
up the case. The witness hadn’t been able to recall an exact description of
her, but Nancy was carrying a strong hunch that somehow the clairvoyant was
complicit in the whole affair.

Thoughts played inside her head as if to
the accompaniment of someone tapping on a snare drum, clouding the issues. She
despaired at not knowing if she could trust anyone with her suspicions. Logan,
Kyle, Brogan; they would probably think she was just a
neurotic-female-conspiracy theorist, clutching at anything and prepared to
throw in red herrings to try to clear her name. As for Bill, she wasn’t even
sure if he also was complicit in engineering her situation. Nancy thought back
to the sun-grained photo hanging on her dad’s wall. Much as she didn’t like to
accept it, her dad was the only wall she could bounce her thoughts against and
hopefully come up with some answers, in spite of the malaise gumming up her
thought process.

The lack of a good sleep was starting to
kick at her. With heavy eyelids, she knew she needed her wits about her to
follow Mary. The journey to the crematorium and to Kelly’s office had been
unforeseen, though useful, diversions. Mary would have to wait. With Logan
reporting that the surveillance van had packed their tent and bugs and done a
disappearing act, she couldn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t go and rest
awhile at her apartment. Nancy stared at the business card, tore it into little
pieces and, making sure no one was watching, tossed the fragments over her
shoulder, only for the wind to blow them over her like confetti. Nancy shrugged
her shoulders and wiped some of the fragments of the card from her shoulder,
not sure if it was a good omen, or if it signified being showered with crap
from a great height. She looked up toward the sky, half expecting a pigeon to
finish off the way she felt.

Nancy opened her car door and eased onto
her seat. Taking out her notebook from her purse, she flicked from the days
notes through to the telephone number taken from the professor’s business card
and back to the off-hours number given her by the receptionist for the
attorney’s messages. Her eyes rolled. The number was the same.