One Deadly Sister (Sandy Reid Mystery Series #1) (14 page)

“He was okay.”

“Maybe you came back for the funeral to be sure he was dead and couldn’t talk. When did you last see him?”

“That day, the day I left, I did his apartment. Did it and left about three. Now you’re going to be cute and ask if he was alive when I left. Yes, I think he was alive...at least he was talking on the phone.”

“How did you get into the building?”

“He buzzed me in. I’m in and out of that building all the time.”

"Where were you between three and seven, before you left town?"

"That when he was killed? Got to catch up on the papers. I had a couple other Saturday jobs and then left for the airport."

“I need the names of those jobs. How many customers do you have in Towson's building?”

“Let’s see, four regulars, others are call-in’s.”

“So, any of those people could have buzzed you in.”

“Yeah, sure could have but didn’t. Towson did.”

“No, I mean later.” He moved his chair closer. “When you came back later, someone else buzzed you in.”

“There was no 'came back later', detective.”

“You must see some valuable stuff lying around in some of those homes. Do customers follow you around while you’re spraying their place, going through their bedrooms and all?”

“No, they don’t and that’s why I can’t have employees. Can’t trust them alone in people’s houses. Like I told you, Towson was on the phone while I was spraying.”

“Didn’t you have to wait for him when he had to go find some cash to pay you?”

“No, I bill him.”

“I thought you said he paid you in cash."

"Nice try."

"Where did you get all the money for Vegas?”

“Some I have to bill, damn it. Some pay cash. You gonna turn me in to the IRS?”

“What about Tammy?”

Barner folded his arms across his chest and crossed his legs. For the first time he turned his look away from Goddard. He didn’t speak.

“Look at me, Sonny. What about Tammy?”

Barner cleared his throat. “Miss Jerrold is a good customer.”

“You ever do her?”

Barner
stared sharply at him. His face flushed red.

“Her apartment...you do her apartment?”

Barner’s jaw was clenched. He nodded. “Miss Jerrold and me are closer than people think. We’re friends, in a way, she likes me.”

“Towson was a real lucky bastard to have a young piece like that around whenever he wanted it. You can’t blame her. A girl has to do what a girl has to do. Know what I mean? She didn’t have any choice. That’s what money will do for you. You can take advantage of people, of girls. God knows he was loaded, had more than any one man needed. Well, he won’t be putting his hands on her again.”

Barner was slowly opening and closing his bony fists. His voice was now noticeably shaky, “She wouldn’t be like that with him. She had to put up with Towson. She’s better off now.”

“Yes, I understand, Sonny, too good for him. He probably didn’t even appreciate her, like some guys would. Someone did her a big favor. She’s free now. She can spend time with who she really wants. Look at me, Sonny, did you think you’d get lucky?”

Barner was rubbing his hands over his knees and didn’t say anything. The detective kept staring at him. He didn’t answer at first, just sat there frowning as though he was lost.”

“In Vegas...get lucky? How did you pay for the plane ticket? How did you pay for your room in Vegas? Where’d you get the gambling money? We’re going to find out everything.”

“You’re trying to confuse me. I didn’t rip him off and I didn’t kill him.”

“You spotted some money he had around. You knew a rich guy must have plenty more around the place. You left as you said, went home and got your gun. Someone else buzzed you back in. You shot him and beat it out of town at seven. We’re going to put it all together, Sonny. Now’s the time to tell us about it.”

Barner put his hands in his lap and stared down at the floor. “You twisted it all around. I wasn’t thinking all that and I didn’t shoot him. Can I go?”

Goddard thought that was enough. He still had some control and didn’t want to force Barner into asking for a lawyer.

“I want the job tickets on the two jobs you said you did after Towson.”

“They’re outside in my truck.”

Goddard walked out with him and stood while Barner searched around and found the job tickets for Saturday.

Goddard examined the copies. “Here’s the copy for Towson, the next job is around three and the last four-thirty. None are signed by your customers. You could have made these up. Anyway, you’d plenty of time to go back and shoot Towson.”

“I left after four-thirty, had to drive to Orlando airport, you know. I don’t have no siren.”

“I need to look through this truck now, Sonny, to be sure you’re in the clear. Then you can go. Okay with you?”

“Don’t you need a search warrant to do that?”

“Okay.” Goddard held up the job tickets. “I need to make copies of these. Can I give them back to you later?”

Barner nodded and locked the van door.

“I’ll see you around, Sonny. Don’t start traveling around the country again.”

The detective went back inside and joined up with Moran and the chief in the hall.

“Chief, I want a tail on him right now. He’s scared enough now to get rid of the gun. If the gun’s not in his house, it could be in his van, assuming he’s guilty, of course.”

“We’re shorthanded, Chip. We have to escort all the funeral’s V.I.P.’s out of town.”

“One man, give me one man. Moran, I need a search warrant for his house and for his van. We’ll keep a tail on him right up to the minute we go in. We can’t let him ditch that gun.”

Moran smirked. “Dumb bastard.”

“You’re wrong, he’s not dumb. Didn’t you hear his answers? He was sailing right along until I mentioned Tammy Jerrold, then he fell apart.”

“He’s dumb enough to commit murder.”

“Is he smart enough to get away with it? That’s the question. I’ve no doubt he could plan it and do it. Not smart for him to run away and call attention to himself though. Remember that Moran, if you ever murder someone, don’t run, it’s a dead giveaway.”

“You sure hit a nerve talking about Tammy. How did you know to push his sex button?”

Goddard couldn’t mention finding the sexy photo purporting to be Tammy in Barner’s house, since he had no warrant to be in there. “He obviously has the hots for Tammy. He turned red when I mentioned her name. That might be enough motive for him to kill Towson. I wanted him to know we’re aware of that motive. That should make him extremely nervous. When the guilty get nervous they make mistakes, such as leaving town and trying to dispose of the weapon. The guy’s emotional. Maybe he’d kill for love. Maybe he shot Towson, and the found money was an unexpected bonus. He’s just committed a crime, gets scared, finds himself with lots of money and runs off to hide in Vegas.”

“What about his alibi?”

“Right now we don’t know if he actually flew anyplace. We’re going to check on his trip details. Otherwise, his alibi’s not bad. He didn’t have much time to go back to Towson’s. And he needed a couple of hours to get to the Orlando airport.”

“I’ll get you the warrant. It’ll take a little time, but you’ll have it today.

Goddard collected his papers and headed outside to his vehicle. His phone beeped. The chief said, “Thought you’d like this. We’re tailing Barner. He’s not headed home He’s headed for the bridge.”

“Stay close. If he stops on the bridge, move in immediately. Don’t let him toss the weapon.”

After a few minutes, the chief came back on. “He didn’t stop. He drove directly to Loraine Dellin’s house.”

“You’re kidding. How about that, is he still there?”

“Just got there. I’ll tell you when he leaves.”

Goddard swung his unmarked vehicle into traffic and hit the siren. “I’ll try and catch him there, catch them together, see how they explain it. Interesting, he’s going to see Loraine. He ran straight to her. He had on a suit when he left here, so it's not a service call.”

A minute later the chief was on the phone again, “Well, you missed him. He just pulled away from her house.”

“Okay, keep on him.” Goddard switched off the siren and slowed. Loraine, Loraine, what are you up to? What’s the connection between an upscale woman who lives on the barrier island and a scraping-to-get-along bug killer? Has to be money.

Word came from the unit tailing Barner that he was now at his house. Goddard drove there. The officer who had tailed Barner said he’d been inside about ten minutes. Goddard radioed for two blue and whites and went to the door. “Where you been, Sonny?”

“Don’t have to talk to you anymore.”

“Is that what Mrs. Dellin told you? Did she also tell you I need a search warrant to come inside?”

“I knew that.”

“Why did you just run to Mrs. Dellin? Are you tight with her like you are with Tammy? Why were you over there?”

“Came back from Vegas broke. She owes me for my services, hasn’t paid in a while. Thought maybe I could collect something.”

“Did she pay you?”

“Cried that she didn’t have it. Told me to bill her. Jesus, what’s she think I’ve been doing for the last three months? Like I don’t need the money and the rich bitch does.”

“We’re going to search your house and your van, Sonny. A search warrant is on the way and you’ll get a copy. You can give us permission to start the search right now and get these police vehicles away from your house sooner, or we can sit here waiting until more police vehicles with lights flashing bring us the warrant.”

Barner nodded to go ahead. For the next hour, Goddard and the uniformed officers searched the house and the van. The only weapons found in the house were two hunting knives and the two old shotguns resting in plain sight in an unlocked closet. In the van, hidden on a tool rack, they found a sawed-off 20-gauge with the standard wooden stock replaced by a custom pistol grip. Ominous. They measured the barrel and it was legal. Goddard told them to bag it anyway; he wanted Barner’s prints.

He noticed the old newspaper clipping with Senator Towson crossed out was no longer stuck on the refrigerator. In the bedroom, the erotic photo purporting to be Tammy Jerrold wasn’t in sight. He’d have loved to shuffle through stacks of paper and boot up the computer. However, the search warrant covered only weapons. Goddard called off the search and left with no evidence.

He wondered if Barner was sexually involved with Tammy Jerrold. Sexual selection is full of surprises. The Barner-in-love-with-Tammy part wasn’t surprising. In any case, Goddard couldn’t visualize her reciprocating or extending the triangle to include Towson. However, there’s no accounting for love. Just consider the men some women end up with, and vice versa.

Perhaps Tammy saw something in Barner that escaped the eye. Perhaps she did indeed pose for him. She definitely turns him on. How far would he go to get her out of Towson’s clutches? Would that be enough for him to murder? Oh, yes, absolutely. Sex is a magic word. Just say the word and men will turn red and start stammering—some will reach for a gun.

“H
ow’s a dull looking dude like you attract way cool babes like that?” It was just after noon on Thursday, five days after the murder. Beau Cobb, the bail bondsman, was talking to Ray through the bars, “My cop buddy told me you had two wicked girls in the visiting room at the same time. Said they weren’t total mad ten hotties, but he wouldn’t kick either one of them out of bed.”

“Kicks a lot of them out, does he? One is my sister, just so you know before you carry on with your fantasies.”

“Which, the one with the rockin’ body or the stylin’ one? The stylin’ one came back today. Hey, guess you know they’re going to transfer you out to county jail today.”

“County jail? I thought they’d keep me here until the trial.”

“No, this city jail is like the holding tank. You got locked up last Saturday; you’re long overdue for transfer to CJ. I don’t like to go out there, that’s a serious place, you know. Bunch of stinking cave men in crowded rooms with not much supervision.”

Going from this place to some place worse had never occurred to Ray. This terrible place suddenly felt good. The liberal visiting hours here at city jail let his spirit escape. It had made all the difference. All that was ending?

“Here you’re sitting around drinking coffee and socializing with city police. Out there you’re facing what they call Correctional Officers, who never loosen the grip on their billy clubs.”

“Do you have attorney Jerry Kagan in your directory, Beau? Call him for me, please. I’ll pay you.”

Beau smiled, punched up the number and after a quick look down the hall at the officer reading a newspaper, passed his phone to Ray.

Kagan got on line and explained the city jail was temporary to be near the courthouse for proceedings. Transfer out to the county was routine after a couple of days. He would talk to the judge about a delay.