Stolen Innocents (The Shadow Series Book 2) (24 page)

“Who is everyone?”

“Uncle Frank cursed me out around ten of two in the morning because I was on the phone in Tristan’s room arguing with Courtney.”

“What did he say?”

“Get the eff off of the bloody telephone and get yer arse out of your sister’s room so she can sleep. The whole feckin’ house can hear you! Some of us have work in the mornin’!”

“Nice impersonation,” said DiNolfo as she wrote down his comment word for word.

“Thanks.”

“Who else saw you?”

“Tristan. She kicked me off the phone at one point because she had to call Cole to tell him something she forgot. Then I got back on the phone with Courtney. Then Tristan saw me around 7 A.M. at breakfast.  Uhh…” Tommy said trying to think of who else saw him at the house. He continued, “Blake and Shane saw me come into the bedroom last night.”

“Why were you arguing with Courtney?”

“It’s stupid, really… When you look back.”

“I have to know.”

Tommy let out a heavy sigh. In retrospect, he would have handled their relationship much differently if he would have known what was going to happen to her.

“I saw her flirting at the bar with Hunter McCord at her sister’s graduation party. He had his hand on her waist and she was laughing. I told her I wanted to break-up. She didn’t want to hear it.”

“So you were jealous?”

“Of course… What guy wouldn’t be?”

DiNolfo continued to scribble into her notebook as a charged look took over her face.

“So jealous that you’d want her dead?” asked DiNolfo with a bite to her voice.

“No!” Tommy yelled, getting angrier by the second, “And you’re way out of line! I have five people who can account for my whereabouts. You can’t move in that house without running into someone! They can all vouch for me.”

DiNolfo nodded.
Well played, Tommy
. She hated having to do this to him but it was part of her job. While she had doubts all along about the role Tommy played, she had to rule him out completely.

“Did you love her?” asked DiNolfo, hoping to get a reaction from Tommy.

She watched and waited as emotion took over Tommy’s face. He felt horrible for what he was about to say.

“Come on, Tommy… Cat got your tongue? Did you love Courtney O’Mara or not?!” DiNolfo demanded to know.

Tommy sighed as tears pooled in his eyes.

“No. I didn’t love her!” Tommy said as he tried to read DiNolfo’s reaction. When he couldn’t discern her reaction, he continued talking frantically, “But I didn’t hate her either! I liked her a lot. She could be a lot of fun, when she wasn’t complaining or flirting with other guys. But no, it wasn’t love.”

“Fair enough,” DiNolfo said as her demeanor seemed to calm.

“I’ve already confirmed your whereabouts with your family. I was out at Morrow Manor this morning. Your story checks out. What I need to determine is how the hell your clothes wound up in the middle of Mountain Road and how a footprint that matches your boot finds itself at the scene of a murder crime!” explained DiNolfo heatedly.

“First off,” said Tommy, becoming irate, “Those boots are sold over at Quiver’s… It could’ve been anyone.”

DiNolfo raised an eyebrow. Tommy Morrow wasn’t an easy kid to trick. Jack definitely didn’t raise any fools.

“We actually looked into that. We could determine by the print that the shoes were fairly new. Apparently, Quiver’s sold three pairs of size eleven Expedition style hiking boots in the past sixty days. One pair belonged to you; the others belong to Jesse Trafford and Hunter McCord. All three of you are suspected of murder.”

Tommy was outraged. “What?! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

DiNolfo eyed Tommy speculatively, her resolve not waning an ounce. “Then Tommy, how’d your clothes and bootprints end up on Mountain Road just feet from your girlfriend’s dead body?!” DiNolfo demanded to know.

“Those weren’t even the clothes that I was wearing last night! Ask Cole. Mr. Piedmonte saw me, too! I was wearing a blue button down shirt, black slacks, and a pair of nice lace up shoes.”

DiNolfo was scribbling fast and furiously into her notebook.

“The clothes you found… I had taken them off after work at Courtney’s house. Obviously I couldn’t go to her sister’s party wearing dirty work clothes. I got changed at Courtney’s house and set the clothes on her windowsill; the boots were on the floor. Anybody who was in the house that night could have taken them.”

DiNolfo looked utterly perplexed. She knew a liar when she saw one, and while the story was outlandish, she knew right then and there, Tommy Morrow was telling the truth.

“Describe the clothes you left at Courtney’s house.”

“A black Steelers hoodie, a pair of old jeans, a brown belt, a black t-shirt and a pair of boots.”

“What size were those boots?”

“Size eleven.”

“Who could have accessed Courtney’s room?”

“Anyone that lived there, I guess. But they also had a bunch of people going in and out that night, too.”

DiNolfo continued writing in her leather notebook. Finally she stopped and put her pen down. She looked at Tommy and he could tell that her mood was calming.

“Do you have any idea who would have wanted to hurt Courtney?”

Tommy slowed as his eyes burned with tears.

“It sure as hell wasn’t me... I think it was McCord.”

Suddenly, Tommy could hear raised voices from the next room – beyond the two-way mirror. It continued. He could almost swear it was Adam. The commotion was followed by an urgent knock on the interrogation room door. Adam poked his head in, his face was bright red and he looked like he had been running.

“We need you…”

“I’m just about to wrap this up…”

“No, now… On scene at Healer’s Park. There’s been another murder,” said Adam urgently.

The look on DiNolfo’s face morphed from anger to murderous rage. She brought her fist down hard on the table causing Tommy to jump.

“Dammit!” she screamed. “Who is it?”

Adam waited with controlled patience at the door as she regained her composure.

Adam continued, “Liam and I found her in Healer’s Park. The body has been positively ID’d as April Dearing.”

DiNolfo snapped her notebook shut as she rose from her chair.

She eyed Tommy seriously and said, “Tommy, you have what I like to call an iron-clad alibi. Thomas Morrow you are hereby released as a suspect in the murder investigation of Courtney O’Mara. You’re free to go. Stay out of trouble!” she said with urgency and warning laced in her voice.

A moment later, DiNolfo was gone, following Adam out to his patrol car.

***

When Adam returned to the murder scene in Healer’s Park, he felt an awful sense of déjà vu creep over him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was looking at the same crime scene that he encountered outside of Monte’s Café just days prior. The tire tracks. The bullet wound to the head. The tarp. Only this time, instead of random objects being strewn about there were business cards thrown on the victim’s body. The first belonged to Trafford’s Auto Body. The next belonged to Hunter McCord – Public Speaker. The third belonged to Morrow’s Horse Farm.

Someone seemed intent upon framing the suspects. But the question was, who?

***

“Tommy! Tommy! Why’d you do it?!” yelled J.J. Penn, news reporter for the Elkhart Bugle, as Tommy exited the double doors of the Elkhart Police Department. Danville News was at it again, too. They had the pathway blocked with cameras and news vans lined the curb. Frank grabbed Tommy by his shoulder and led him through the crowd.

“Don’t say a word, boy…” warned Frank.

Even though Tommy was released as a witness, the media would use everything he said against him and with someone with as hot of a temper as Tommy, it was better just to stay quiet. Frank opened the passenger-side door to his pick-up truck, ducked Tommy’s head inside and slammed the door behind him. As Frank left his side, reporters drew closer to his window, continuing to ask questions. Frank jumped in and hit the gas, causing smoke to kick up and gag the reporters. As the aggressive reporters coughed and heaved from the dust, Frank barreled up Mountain Road with Tommy in tow.

Chapter              17

June 19, 2000

Lake House

Morrow Manor

Fox Hollow, PA

7:00 P.M.

Liam Morrow stormed into the lake house at Morrow Manor as anger radiated from his pores. It was bad enough that they had one young woman dead, but now they have another who had died in a nearly identical fashion. The lake house, which was once inhabited by Angus and Moira, now served as Adam and Liam’s bachelor pad. In light of recent events, the tiny house that overlooked Croft Lake also acted as home base for all things related to the murders of Courtney O’Mara and April Dearing, and bringing those responsible to justice. Liam dropped Tiffany O’Mara’s case file down on the kitchen table as he hurried to get out of his uniform.  He needed a night off in the worst possible way. They hadn’t had a proper night of sleep since Friday night, but he knew he had to get through the case file to get some answers. Two women had already been brutally murdered. They had to hurry before any more innocent blood was shed. Adam Morrow trudged up the front steps and slammed the door behind them.

“This is a fine, deranged mess we’re in!” yelled Adam across the living room.

Liam nodded in agreement as he pulled a gray t-shirt over his head.

“If you ever say that you’re bored again, I’ll throw you in the lake,” quipped Adam as he gave his brother a heated glare.

It was only four days since Liam had uttered those words, but it felt like an eternity to them. Liam settled onto the couch as he opened the file labeled Tiffany O’Mara. He didn’t know what he would find inside, but DiNolfo was pretty sure that they would find some answers. Liam opened the file with a steady hand as he prepared himself for what he might find. On top of the large file lay a crime scene report that detailed when and where Tiffany was found, how she was suspected to have died, and what objects were present at the scene of the murder. Attached to the report with a rusty paperclip was a graphic photo of the deceased. Tiffany’s strawberry blonde hair was matted and crimson from the gunshot wound to the side of her head. Gory chunks of blood, brain matter, wounded flesh and tissue were exposed and already decomposing due to the warm summer heat. Her green eyes peered out with a lost stare and her neck was savagely bruised and broken.  Liam passed the photograph to Adam, who had just joined him on the couch. A chill coursed through Adam’s veins as he looked at the tragic photograph. The similarities of the two sisters and they way they died did not escape him.

“Now I see why DiNolfo pulled the file. What does the dossier say?”

***

Tiffany O’Mara, age eighteen, was found dead on June 20, 1980 at 7:22 in the morning in the Forest of York. The body was discovered by her sister, Angela O’Mara, who said that the body was laid on a tarp at the base of what locals call, “The Bone Tree.” Upon examination, the victim suffered a gunshot wound to the side of the head which obliterated a portion of the girl’s face. The victim’s neck shows evidence that she was strangled as well. Because the victim was on a tarp, it is not believed that she was killed in the Forest of York, but in a different location. Evidence found at the scene includes a size eleven hiking boot, two daggers with wooden hilts, an assortment of bird feathers and an antique box with the initials BEK inscribed into the metal. Deputies Amos Cope and Earl Buckley surveyed the area, but incidentally, no one heard or saw anything of concern. Officers will follow-up with the family this afternoon.