The Equalizer (25 page)

Chapter 36

I
held my voice down in
case Naomi was in earshot. “We’ve been trying to get hold of you. Ballistics came back this morning: Jeremy Moberg’s rifle was a match and his computer had the first Bible quote. We went to Estelle’s to make the arrest but he’s out of the office today. Drove by Mobergs. Nobody home.”

“You asswipe! You have to be the big
hero
and arrest him on your own.”

“That’s your concern,
asswipe
? Why weren’t you at work? And why didn’t you answer your phone?”

Got him. He studied his bare feet.

“FYI, I had orders from Ralph to make the arrest. Bring Naomi in ASAP. Don’t tell her about the evidence. I’ll meet you back at the department.”

I started the vehicle and pulled out leaving him standing on the front step. While I drove back to work, I called Ralph to tell him I’d found Troy and where—couldn’t help myself. While we waited for them to show up, we set up an interview room. When Troy walked in he looked a sheepish and hung over.

“Where the
hell
have you been?” Ralph said.

“I was handling personal business,” he said.

“In the future, call in to notify me if you have ‘personal business.’”

Troy nodded. “Sorry.”

“Did this ‘personal business’ have anything to do with our
suspect’s
wife?” Ralph asked.

Troy glared at me. “I’m sure Cal already told you I was at her place. He could have checked
before
he went to arrest Jeremy.”

“You’re
supposed
to answer your phone,” I said.

Ralph stood. “Both of you shut the hell up.” He pointed at Troy. “ First off, you need to break it off with Naomi
immediately.
Oliver is going to have a bloody conniption when he finds out you were
both
involved with Moberg’s wife.”

Naturally, Oliver Baken, the county attorney, chose that
exact
moment to grace us with his presence. He crossed his arms and an evil look glazed over his face. “Tell me you both weren’t screwing our suspect’s wife.” He resembled a rooster—scrawny guy with a loud cock-a-doodle-do.

“We weren’t screwing our suspect’s wife,” I repeated.

“Cal!” Ralph reprimanded.

“I said what he wanted to hear.”

Ralph, obviously flustered, tried to explain the awkward situation: “These two, not at the same time, of course, were socially involved with Naomi Moberg. Neither realized what turn the case would take.”

No proof it wasn’t at the same time,
I thought.

“How could you think it was
remotely
proper to get involved with a potential witness in the case? She’s the fricking boss of one of your victims!” Baken hollered.

I watched a vein in his forehead pulse. Troy and I stood side by side with our thumbs up our asses. Troy stupidly tried to explain, “There was no way we could…”

“Do-not-ever-get-involved-with-a-witnesses-in-a-case!” Oliver screamed, his face bright as a tomato.

“I think we should call medical. I’m worried about your blood pressure,” I said.

“Fuck you!” Baken said. “If this case goes sideways because of your dicks your termination is going to be my main priority.”

It got very quiet in the room and I felt pretty stupid. I figure Troy felt even stupider. Secretly, I was pleased he was in deep shit, even if I was in it with him. Competition brings out the immaturity in me.

“Where’s Mrs. Moberg now?” Oliver asked angrily. His blood pressure hadn’t come down any.

Ralph pointed toward Troy.

“She’s here—waiting to be interviewed,” he said.

“Does she know her husband has a warrant out for his arrest?” Oliver asked.

“No,” Troy said.

“Has she heard from him?” Oliver asked.

“She says not,” Troy said. “They’ve been separated for months, only talk about the kids.”

“So, she says. Find out if she knows anything,” Oliver said pissily.

“We also want to bring in Moberg’s live-in girlfriend, Tiffany Howard. If we can find her,” I said.

“If . . . Oh! That’s just terrific,” Oliver yelled.

With all the blustering, Oliver still wasn’t intimidating me. I said, “She wasn’t at work, so she’s probably with Jeremy wherever he is.”

Oliver let out a sigh. “So . . . you don’t know
where
Moberg or his girlfriend are?”

“That about sizes it up.”

“It was my decision to release him last night,” Ralph said. “I should have held him over until the tests results came back.”

Oliver said, “So why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t think he was guilty.”

“And yet you obtained a warrant?”

“My investigators talked me into it.”

“So, investigators, tell me his motive.”

“Revenge,” I said.

Oliver rolled his eyes and strutted out.

Ralph banished Troy and me
to the observation room while he took the interview. Once we were seated, Troy said under his breath, “I don’t know what she can tell us—she didn’t live with the prick at the time of the murders.”

I gestured,
who knows?
I turned my attention to Ralph sitting across from Naomi. He has a gentle way with most witnesses: speaks calmly, smiles and always thanks them for speaking with him.

Naomi still seemed anxious. “What time will I be done here, Ralph? I have to pick up my kids.”

I wondered how that was going to work, since Jeremy and Tiffany seem to be missing.

“It shouldn’t be long. This must be quite upsetting for you to have Jeremy being questioned for Mr. Kohler’s and Mr. Peterson’s murders.” He patted her hand. Naomi shoulders lowered.

“Yes, very.”

“Am I correct in saying you are divorced from Jeremy Moberg?”

She hesitated looking down and away. “No, I haven’t mailed the papers in yet.”

Troy leaned forward. “What the?”

“Women,” I said, shaking my head.

“Is it in the works?” Ralph pressed.

“I’m going to hold off now until this whole business is cleared up—and it will be.”

“Why hold off?”

“Because then I don’t have to testify against him. Right?”

“Jesus.” Troy said. He sat back and crossed his arms over his abdomen.

“Might you have something to say that would incriminate him?”

Naomi thought about that for a few seconds. “No, I’m sure not.”

“Then you don’t have to worry. Naomi, we don’t want to prosecute an innocent man.” He let that soak in before he added, “I just have a few questions.”

“Okay.”

“Do you know where Jeremy is?”

“No. Troy said you were looking for him and he wasn’t at work or home.”

“When was the last time you talked to him?”

“Maybe three days ago.”

“Let’s talk about when he found out about your mother’s will. I understand it was a surprise your mother left money to the Church. How did he handle the news?”

“Not well. He was upset—but so was I.”

“How did he show this?”

Naomi hesitated for a few seconds. “He screamed at Adriana Valero, the attorney, then picked up a lovely, crystal paper weight from her desk and threw it across the room. It broke and I was terribly embarrassed.”

“He has a temper then?” Ralph asked.

“Yes, but he gets over things quickly.”

“How did he behave at home after the will was read? Did he get over his anger?”

“No, but this was such a tremendous disappointment to him. He thought mom’s money was going to be the answer to our financial problems.”

“How serious are these financial problems?”

“We have always carried a lot of credit card debt, but with mom’s diagnosis, he made it worse by going on a spending spree.”

“Who did he blame when he found out the money wasn’t coming?”

“Me. He said I should have told my mom about our money situation.”

“But you hadn’t?”

“No, it wasn’t foremost on my mind at the time she was ill, and I assumed I was the primary heir . . .”

“Did Jeremy talk about doing anything about it?”

“He wanted to sue everybody: Kohler, Warner and Associates, St. Stephen’s, but for me, it was over. I refused to discuss it because it was mom’s
choice
to leave the money to her church. Her mind was good. She knew what she was doing.”

“How did you know Kohler had something to do with it?”

“Nancy Martin was Mom’s day nurse. She’s a friend of mine. When she learned about the will she told me Ted Kohler had come to visit mom and overheard him encouraging her to give to the church. After he left, Nancy told my mom to talk to me before she did anything.

“Did she?”

“No. I guess Adriana came over a couple days later.”

“Did you tell Jeremy what you’d found out?”

“Yes.”

“How did he take it?”

“He was very upset—as I was.”

“Do you know if Jeremy talked to Ted about it?”

“I don’t know. We separated shortly after and I try to limit our discussions to the children.”

“Did you see him around the time of the murders?”

“I remember I dropped off the kids the night before, but he wasn’t home yet. Tiffany was there.”

“Tiffany is?”

“Tiffany Howard—his girlfriend. She’s lived with him in the house a few months now.”

“Was it unusual for Jeremy not to be home to receive the children?”

“Yes, I suppose so.

“Was Jeremy a hunter?”

“Yes. Isn’t everybody in this area?”

“Was he a good shot?”

“He always seemed to get his deer.”

“Have you ever witnessed him being violent?”

She hesitated a few seconds. “Not really.”

“But you said he had a temper.”

“Yes, but never violent.”

“He threw objects.”

“Yes, but . . . ”

“Golf clubs,” I whispered to Troy.

“Did he seem different after the will was read?”

“He was different towards me and within a few days said he didn’t want to be married to me anymore. Since then, I’ve avoided unnecessary contact.”

“He told his secretary he had some personal business to take care of. Do you know anything about that?”

“No. Maybe it’s something for his folks.”

“Do you have any idea where he might go if he wanted to get away?”

“Maybe out to the lake. He goes there to think sometimes.”

“To his folks’ cabin on Rodgers Lake?”

“Yes.”

Ralph looked through his notes. “Anything else you want to say?”

“Just that I don’t think he is capable of killing anyone.”

“Would you write down Jeremy and Tiffany’s cell phone numbers please?”

“Sure.”

Ralph pushed his notebook in front of her and she wrote the numbers.

“We appreciate your cooperation.”

Chapter 37

A
fter a short meeting, Troy
suggested we drive over to Moberg’s to make sure Jeremy wasn’t hiding there. Naomi’s car was in the driveway and one car was in the garage. Tiffany answered the door. Where had she been earlier?

“May we come in?” Troy asked.

She seemed reticent, but let us in. Naomi was holding her little girl in her lap on the couch in the great room. Her son sat next to her wrapped in a blanket.

“I’m not supposed to talk to you,” she said.

“We need to speak to Jeremy,” I said.

“He’s not here and Naomi just told me he wasn’t at work.”

“He told his secretary he had some personal business to take care of. Do you know anything about that?” I said.

She stared blankly at me. “No, and frankly I’m a little worried.”

“May we check out your house to make sure he’s not home?” Troy asked.

She extended a hand. “Be my guest.”

With weapons drawn, Troy and I searched from the attic to the basement in vain. After, I spoke to Tiffany.

“When did you see him last?”

“Last night. He left this morning before I got up. I tried calling him but he’s not answering his cell phone.”

“So, you’re not sure what time he left?”

“No, I’m not sure he even came to bed.” She clenched her jaw.

“Okay. And you have no idea where he might be?”

“Last night he said he had an important meeting he couldn’t miss today, and because the kids are still sick, he asked me to stay home and take care of them.”

“I came by earlier. No one answered the door,” I said.

“I took the kids to Urgent Care. They both have ear infections.”

While Naomi was packing up the kids, Troy whispered to Naomi, “The press is going to be all over this. You might want to get the kids out of town. And you should know I am under orders to stop our relationship.”

“Oh, well, we wouldn’t want you to disobey orders,” she said curtly.

Lots of unhappy people today.

“Tiffany, we want you to come into the department to answer a few questions.”

“Why?” Tiffany asked.

“Jeremy may be in danger,” Troy said.

She bought that.

Tiffany willingly went with us,
most likely because she didn’t know what was going on. Troy placed her in an interview room then found Ralph. When Ralph said I was to take the interview, Troy swore and threw a pencil. No wonder Naomi likes him, he reminds her of Jeremy.

I asked Tiffany for her personal information. She’s twenty-five years old and originally from Myrtle, a small community northwest of Prairie Falls, where her parents still live. She’s worked in sales for Estelle’s Candies for one year and has lived with Jeremy Moberg the past six months—they didn’t waste any time after his separation.

“I have a BA in business administration from the University of Minnesota—lest you think I’m stupid,” she added.

“I’ve never thought that,” I said. But I sorta did—maybe because she dresses more like a hooker than a smart businesswoman.

“What’s your relationship with Jeremy Moberg?”

“He’s my fiancé,” she said.

“You’re engaged?” I asked, not hiding my surprise. Call me old fashioned but I think you should be divorced before you become engaged again.

“Yes, we’re being married in December,” she said.

“Even though he’s not legally divorced yet,” I said, trying to stir up a little mistrust.

She blushed.

“You didn’t know?”

“No, I saw him sign the papers. Naomi didn’t?”

“Nope.”

She ran her hand across her hair. “Well, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not sure she wants the divorce.”

Maybe not.

“Did he mention to you anything about a family problem?”

“No, nothing.”

“No one seems to know where he is. We’re concerned. Where might he go to get away?”

“Um . . . I can’t think clearly right now. I’m too nervous . . . worried.”

“Does he have a passport?”

“Yes.”

“Where does he keep it?”

“In a lock box in our closet.”

“We’ll have you check it when we take you back.”

“Do you think he left town?”

I shrugged. “We’re just gathering information, Tiffany. Has he acted any differently the past few days?”

“He was upset. Wouldn’t you be if someone suspected you of murder and took your computer and gun?”

“I want you to think back about his behavior the days before the murders?”

“I have thought about that and I really can’t say he acted any different.”

“Not agitated, grumpy, or distracted?”

She crossed a leg. “Maybe a little distracted. I thought it was work related.”

“How about the day of the murders?”

“He gets up really early to run so I don’t usually see him. But when I got to work he was sitting at his desk. We met for lunch. A guy who’s just murdered someone doesn’t act normal like he did.”

“We have evidence, Tiffany. The ballistics match his rifle and your home computer contains documents that are linked to the crime.”

She cocked her head and scrunched her face. “What?”

I nodded my head.

“That’s just crazy. There must be some mistake.”

“Did he ever talk to you about Ted Kohler?”

“Um, only once when we first started dating.”

“What did he say?”

”He said he thought Ted was a snake for what he did to Naomi’s mother, but that’s it. Never mentioned him again.”

I let a few moments of silence pass before I said, “I think you need to be honest with yourself, Tiffany. Your first reaction is to protect Jeremy, but now you’re not really sure he’s innocent, are you?”

Instantly her demeanor changed. She covered her mouth with her hand.

I continued, “Maybe little things bother you—things you ignored. And now you’re asking yourself if you’re wrong about Jeremy. The evidence doesn’t lie. You’re a smart woman. Put it together.”

“Jeremy has two beautiful children and a good job. Explain to me
why he would risk all that.”

“He was obsessed with revenge.”

She shook her head. “If that had been the case, I would have known. He’s very transparent. He can’t hide his emotions whatsoever. You must know that too, he told me you were friends.”

I didn’t skip a beat. “How did you learn about the murders?”

She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Um, it was late Friday afternoon and we were still at work. Someone, I don’t remember whom, said there had been a double murder in Prairie Falls. Everyone stood around the TV in the executive cafeteria and watched the news coverage. Jeremy seemed as shocked as everybody as I did. Things like this don’t happen here.”

“But it did, didn’t it?” I kept eye contact a few seconds before I said, “Tiffany, Jeremy was counting on his mother-in-law’s inheritance. He’s in heavy debt.”

Her face reddened. She shook her head in disagreement. “He makes good money.”

“Maybe so, but he’s tapped out.”

“Even if you’re right, how does killing Ted Kohler help his financial situation?”

“It doesn’t.”

“Well then?”

“He was enraged with Kohler because he interfered with his wife’s inheritance—an inheritance that would have solve his financial problems. Think about it.”

I remained quiet to let that absorb. When she started to fidget, I told her I’d be right back. I joined Troy and Ralph in the observation room. We all three watched her cover her face with her hands.

Ralph rubbed his chin. “Let her sit for a bit, then wrap it up. I don’t think she knows anything about the murders, but she may know where he is now.”

Tiffany cried for a short while, then fidgeted with her clothing while she looked around the room. She got up and tried to look out the small window in the door.

“She now knows Jeremy’s not divorced and he doesn’t have the money she thought he did. Maybe that will jar her memory.”

“Something’s going through her mind. How about if I give it a try?” Troy said.

“Go for it,” Ralph said.

Troy went in and sat across from her.

“So, suppose you tell me everything in detail what happened with Jeremy the day and night before the murders.”

“Seriously? I just told the other deputy.”

Troy nodded.

Big sigh. She looked agitated as she began to speak. “When I got home from work, Naomi called and asked if the kids could come over a day early because she had a date. I said it was all right, so she dropped them off. When Jeremy got home, he was mad I let her change plans. He says she gets mad when we do it, but thinks nothing of it if it suits her. He sent her a text and told her from then on to arrange things with him, not me. Okay by me.

“Anyway, we fed the kids, gave them baths, read stories, then put them to bed. That morning, Jeremy went for his run, came home, showered, then went to work at the
same
time he does every morning. Is
that
enough detail for you?”

“What time did he go for that run?”

“I don’t know. He usually gets up by five fifteen.”

“So you really didn’t see whether he was going for a run or not. Did you see him return?”

“No. But he’s always at work by seven or seven-thirty, no one else shows until eight. There was absolutely nothing different about him that day. After I took the kids to daycare, I stopped in to say hi. We had lunch together in the cafeteria.”

“Okay. Let’s go see if his passport is in the lockbox.”

We watched Troy and Tiffany exit the room.

Ralph stopped the recording and said, “I’m afraid he may be on the run.”

Fifteen minutes passed before Troy called. “Jeremy’s passport and luggage are at home. Nothing else seems to be missing. Also, Naomi left a note on the table. She said she was going to take the children to the Mobergs’ cabin on Rodgers Lake.”