Suspicions with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Four) (18 page)

“A baseball bat would be consistent with the bruise pattern. What makes you think it’s there?” There was a note in his voice that she tried to ignore, but it still made her stomach turn. It was beyond just simple curiosity.

When Rilynne tracked down her husband in a small Colorado town, they had a heated discussion about her visions. She didn’t realize until later that while she was tied to a pipe trying to keep Christopher distracted until her backup arrived, Ben was waiting just outside the window. She was still unsure how much of the conversation he had heard, but since that day she had gotten a strange vibe from him anytime something happened that she couldn’t explain. She didn’t know if it was just her own emotions toying with her, or if he really was probing her to see just how much she would tell him.

“It’s on the way from the front gate to the entrance to the path leading to the lake. They would have wanted to dispose of it somewhere it wouldn’t be found. What better place than a restaurant dumpster?” she said. She held her breath until he responded, hoping he woul
dn’t push. To her relief, he didn’t.

“I’ll head out right now. Are you sure you don’t want me to send someone to pick you up?” he asked.

She thought about it for a minute before replying, “No. I don’t want to risk anyone seeing me being picked up by the police. If the case isn’t able to be completely closed today, I may have to remain undercover for a bit longer.”

The sigh he let out told her he wasn’t entirely thrilled by that prospect. “I’ll text you as soon as I have anything,” he replied.

It took another fifteen minutes before she reached the entrance to the trail and stepped out onto the street. She looked at the businesses surrounding her, trying to figure out exactly where she had emerged. Luckily, she was only about a mile from her house.

She ran as fast as her feet would carry her, and reached her front door in just over ten minutes. After grabbing the spare key to her car from the fake rock Ben had insisted she place in her yard, she climbed into her car and drove the rest of the way to the station.

Her maid uniform drew a lot of attention from the officers when she walked in, especially the men. Ignoring the looks, she rushed through the lobby and climbed into the already open elevator.

The moment the elevator doors closed, she got the text she had been hoping for.

When she walked into the homicide office, silence quickly filled the room as everyone turned toward her.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said when Jerkins and LaShad began snickering. “Where’s Matthews?”

LaShad pointed to the interrogation rooms in the back and she walked toward them without another word. She found Matthews standing with Detective Wilcome in the observation room.

“What are you doing here, Evans?” Wilcome asked with an obvious tone of annoyance. “You were supposed to stay at the manor to maintain your cover until the case is closed.”

“No one saw me leave,” she replied, looking at Cyndi Lewis through the glass. “But it’s important. I need to talk to her.”

“Absolutely not,” Wilcome said firmly. “It’s against protocol and I’m not willing to risk your cover. If you insist on being here, you’ll have to remain behind the glass and out of sight.”

Rilynne felt the frustration building, but didn’t know how to get her point across without raising questions she wasn’t prepared to answer. She thought for several before finally saying, “She didn’t do it.”

They both turned to her with puzzled expressions.

“She just admitted to it,” Matthews said.

“She wasn’t on the stairs when Brittney Price was killed,” she said, hoping they wouldn’t push her to find how she had gotten the information. “She’s covering for someone, and I know who it is. Just give me a few minutes with her and I can close the case.”

Wilcome looked like he wanted to argue with her, but instead he just nodded and motioned toward the room.

“Where’s her attorney?” Rilynne asked.

Matthews shrugged. “She waived her right. As soon as Steele showed her the picture of the earring, she just started talking. She said she wanted to get the entire matter resolved as quickly as possible.”

Steele looked completely baffled when Rilynne walked into the room, but didn’t argue when she asked for a moment alone with Cyndi. It wasn’t until she sat down in the chair that she looked up at Rilynne.

“You?” she asked. Fury flashed again through her eyes. “You’re a police officer?”

“My name’s Detective Rilynne Evans,” she replied calmly. “I’m a homicide detective working with Detectives Steele and Tylers. I understand that you admitted to murdering your maid, Brittney Price.”

“That’s right,” she stated. Rilynne could see the panic hidden just below the courage on her face. “I already gave my statement. I’d rather not have to do it again.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Lewis. I’m not interested in the statement you made to my colleagues. I’m more interested in what actually happened that night,” Rilynne said with an air of confidence. She folded her arms and leaned back in the chair, watching the expressions change on Cyndi’s face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, stumbling over her words. “I already told you what happened. I told you the truth. I caught the girl stealing, and hit her. I didn’t mean for her to fall down the stairs, it just happened. That’s the truth.”

“Let me tell you a few things I know,” Rilynne said. “First, if someone’s overemphasizing that they’re telling the truth, they’re lying. Second, if the police tell a guilty person they are believed to be innocent, they’re going to take advantage of the situation and agree.” Cyndi looked as if she wanted to step in, but Rilynne stopped her. “The last thing I know is the baseball bat you tossed into a dumpster behind Market Café-the one used to kill Brittney Price-was just recovered by our forensic team.”

She could almost hear the jaws drop in the next room. She had to struggle to keep the satisfactory grin off of her face.

“What?” she stammered. “How did you…?”

“I can continue telling you what I know, or you can finish the story yourself,” she stated.

Tears began rolling down Cyndi’s perfect face as she quickly nodded. “It was just an accident, you have to know that. She was just playing around and never meant to actually hurt her.” She let out a deep, shaky breath before continuing. “I was standing just outside of the room when it happened. I heard her scream and tried to catch her, but I was too late. The sound was awful; I’ve never heard a crack like that. I swear I tried to help her, but she was already dead. I knew what everyone would say. The stigma of killing someone-even accidentally-always hangs around. I couldn’t risk anyone finding out.”

Rilynne just nodded and waited for her to continue.

“I pulled her out the back door and called Rick. He helped me put her into the trunk while I grabbed a bag of cement from the gardening shed. Mr. Hicks left the doors open during a rainstorm a few months back, and the one closest to the door got wet. After scolding him for his mistake, I informed him to keep it in the back of the shed incase it was ever needed,” she explained. “Rick drove us out to the path,
and then helped me get her body out to the lake. We tied her to the cement and carried her in as far as we could. We threw the bat in the dumpster on the way back. Rick was on duty at the gate, so we didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing the car coming and going. All we had to do was turn off the cameras. We then cleaned out her room and he buried her belongings in the woods. When the police started to put pressure on us, I had him take them into town and discard them in dumpsters.”

“Did you tell anyone else in the house?” Rilynne asked. Cyndi quickly shook her head. “Not even your husband?”

“In case you haven’t notice, Jared and I aren’t exactly close. Besides, with as crazy as he is, it would have only been a matter of time before he blurted it out,” she said harshly. “I had to keep her safe.”

Rilynne took in a deep, satisfying breath before asking her next question. “Mrs. Lewis, who hit Brittney Price, causing her to fall down the stairs?”

Cyndi looked both shocked and confused, as she realized Rilynne had not yet put the entire story together. She closed her eyes and let out a resigned sigh.

“Lorraine.”

I
t all made perfect sense now. Cyndi would never have involved herself in anything that could tarnish her name unless for someone she truly loved. That left only her children. Rilynne didn’t know how she hadn’t seen it before.

“Why didn’t you call for help?” Rilynne asked.

The tears rolled down her cheeks. “She was already dead,” she stated again, her expression cold and hard. “There wasn’t anything that could have been done for the girl. The only thing I’m guilty of is protecting my child.”

Rilynne leaned back in the chair. Though her expression was stiff and she showed very little remorse, she seemed to be telling the truth.

“Brittney Price died due to internal injuries she suffered from the fall. When her head struck the steps, she was knocked out. She then regained consciousness after you placed her in the trunk of the car,” she stated, examining Cyndi’s face carefully. It didn’t take long for her statements to register.

“No,” she exclaimed. “I heard it. I heard her neck break as she fell. I checked for a pulse. She was already dead.”

“Where did you check her?” Rilynne asked.

“What?” Cyndi seemed to have been caught off guard by the question.

“Where did you check for the pulse?”

She looked confused but responded. “Her wrist.”

“On the right side?” she asked. Cyndi thought about it for a moment before nodding. “You see, Mrs. Lewis, it wasn’t Miss Price’s neck that you heard break. It was her right arm. When she sustained the break, the blood flow to the arm was cut off. That prevented you from being able to detect her pulse. The truth is, Mrs. Lewis, Brittney Price might still be alive today if you had just called an ambulance that night.”

“You can’t know that,” she stated, panic now clearly visible on her face. “She was dead. I know she was already dead.”

For an instant, Rilynne almost felt sorry for her. She pulled a picture out of the folder on the table and slid it across to Cyndi. She looked down at it and instantly broke down, apparently knowing exactly what it meant.

“You see, Mrs. Lewis, when Brittney Price woke up in that trunk, she knew her chances of making it out alive were slim,” Rilynne stated. “She somehow had the composure to pull the panel over the tail light open and leave her bloody fingerprint behind so we would know she was there. If I had to guess, I’d say she also tucked the earring you lost down into the well with the spare tire so we would know who had put her there.”

Cyndi seemed to completely shut down. Rilynne considered leaving it at that, but she knew it would be far more difficult to get the rest of the information if she waited until after Mrs. Lewis had regained her composure. She wanted the case closed as quickly as possible.

“Tell me about the items that have been removed from the house,” Rilynne said. “Tell me about the jewelry and other valuables.”

Cyndi’s jaw dropped as she looked at Rilynne in complete disbelief. “How did you…” she trailed off. Rilynne didn’t respond, but instead stared intently at her. Cyndi’s expression was panicked and confused. She shuddered as she drew a breath and she continued. “I came to the realization last year that my only hope of getting out of my marriage with anything was if I took what I could with me when I left.”

“So you started stealing from your own household,” Rilynne stated.

“I was only taking what was rightfully mine,” she said defensively.

“Did you really think that your husband wouldn’t notice if you left with armfuls of valuables? Even he isn’t that oblivious,” Rilynne said.

Cyndi laughed and folded her arms in front of her. “Even if I’d wanted to take such blunt steps in leaving with what was mine, I assure you Jared wouldn’t have taken notice,” she replied. “But as it is, I never took anything he would ever notice was gone.”

“I’m sure he would have noticed that all of the stones in your jewelry had been swapped for fakes.” Cyndi just stared at her, as the last glimmer of hope seemed to leave her eyes. “What about the drugs?” she asked abruptly, remembering the conversation she had seen between Olsen and Cyndi.

Cyndi didn’t seem to know what she was talking about at first, but recognition quickly settled over her face. She appeared to have given up on wondering how Rilynne knew exactly what to ask, because she didn’t hesitate before answering.

“Rick pulled something in his back when he was carrying the girl into the lake,” she explained. “It would have raised suspicions if he went to the doctor, so I gave him some muscle relaxers I had leftover from a ski accident I had last year.”

Rilynne thought over everything again to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. After a few moments she was satisfied all questions had been answered. “In addition to the written statement for the death of Brittney Price, you’ll also need to give Detectives Steele and Tylers the location of the property you stole.”

Cyndi just nodded as Rilynne rose from her seat and walked quietly toward the door. She was just about to reach for the doorknob when she stopped.

“One last thing, Mrs. Lewis,” Rilynne said as she turned back toward her. “How long have you been having an affair with Rick Olsen?”

Tears now flowed freely down Cyndi Lewis’ cheeks. She appeared to have completely broken as she whispered, “Three years.”

A wave of emotions spread over her as she closed the interrogation room behind her. With everything answered, the case could finally be closed and she would be able to get back to her real life. Though she had been undercover for only a week, it somehow felt like a lifetime.

“How?” Matthews asked simply when she walked back into the observation room. The men were all staring at her in complete disbelief.

“Her behavior wasn’t consistent with a murderer,” she replied as she sat on the corner of the table. “And the staff made a good point. If Cyndi Lewis wanted to get rid of her, she would have just fired her. Her refusal to cooperate with the police topped it off. If she had been guilty, she would have tried to shift the investigation away from her. Instead, she refused to let anyone close to her at all. The only reason she would be so worried about letting someone in the manor, is if she was more concerned with protecting someone else. Especially someone who couldn’t protect themselves, like a child.”

They all seemed satisfied with the response she gave, because they didn’t push further.

“As for the valuables,” she continued, “the staff was having a conversation about it the other night. It turns out that when Mrs. Lewis took her jewelry in to be cleaned, the cleaners discovered that all of the stones were fake. They of course would have informed Mrs. Lewis when she went back to pick them up. If Jared Lewis had been buying her fake jewelry, there would have been an explosive scene when she arrived back to the manor. The fact that there wasn’t meant that she already knew the stones weren’t real. That could have only happened if she’d replaced them herself.”

“How on earth did you know she was having an affair with the security guard?” Steele asked.

Rilynne shrugged. “She called him Rick. She doesn’t call anyone by their first name. Not to mention, if someone’s willing to help you hide a body, you generally have a relationship more than just that of an employee and employer. If I had to guess, I’d say he was also assisting her in hording the valuables from the manor.”

“How’d you find the bat?” Steele asked.

“When I realized Mrs. Lewis was covering for one of her children, I knew it would have likely been a toy that was used to strike her,” she stated. “A baseball bat best fit the parameters. I figured they would have tossed it on the way to dispose of the body. A dumpster would be the best place to put it where there would be almost no chance of it being discovered, so I looked at the restaurants along the way. They’re usually the fullest, and have a lesser chance that someone’s going to go snooping around in them unless they’re looking for something to eat. Addison Valley doesn’t really have a high homeless population. Market Café was the only one they would have passed. Instead of being buried like they hoped, it appears that someone at the café pulled it out, more than likely to used it to push down the bags and make more room. Ben found it leaning against the wall next to the dumpster,” she explained. She impressed herself at just how quickly she had pulled a reasonable story together. Usually she would prepare something in advance, but she had been so concerned with getting to the station that she forgot.

No one seemed to know what to say, so she continued.

“Well, I’m going to head back to the manor before dinner. I’ll maintain my cover until you have Rick Olsen in custody, and are sure no one else is involved. Let me know as soon as everything is closed.” She walked toward the door, leaving them staring wide-eyed at her in disbelief.

After dropping her car back off, Rilynne jogged the rest of the way back to the manor, sneaking back through the hole in the wall so no one would realize she had left.

She stepped into the kitchen just as Lisa placed a large meatloaf in the middle of the table.

“Hey Naomi,” Casey said. “So what did you think about that scene earlier. Can you believe Mrs. Lewis was the killer?”

“No,” she replied honestly, trying not to let her face give away the fact that she knew more. “Do you really think she could have pulled it off by herself?”

“She must have,” Lisa said. “No one here would have helped her. It doesn’t matter what she said or what threats she made, no one would have gotten involved in such a hideous act. I wonder why she did it.”

“Maybe Brittney really was having an affair with Mr. Lewis,” Cole offered. “Though I honestly don’t think she would have cared. Maybe she just had enough and snapped. We’ve all seen her come close to losing it before.”

Rilynne finished her meal in silence, entertained by the speculations being thrown back and forth amongst the staff. She was also amused by the fact that Nancy sat at the end of the table in silence, not saying a single word to anyone at the table. When everyone was done, Rilynne retreated to her room. Though there was still the entire days worth of chores she was supposed to complete, she decided just to climb into bed early.