The Equalizer (29 page)

Chapter 45

DAY SIXTY-FIVE

T
he Howards lived
in a
brown split-level on the southeastern edge of Myrtle. Mrs. Howard was a round, short woman who didn’t look one bit like Tiffany. She said her husband was downtown playing cards.

“You said you had some concerns about Tiffy’s safety?”

“Do you know where she is right now?”

“Sure, she’s moved to Chicago.”

“Alone?”

“With Naomi.”

“Does that concern you at all?”

“Why would it?”

How could I put this delicately? “Don’t you think it’s strange she would live with her dead boyfriend’s wife?” Not so delicate.

“Not really. The part I thought strange in the first place was her involvement with her mother’s husband—and I told her so.”

“Come again?”

“Oh. You must not know Naomi is Tiffy’s birthmother. We got her when she was only three days old. What a blessing—such a good girl, smart as a whip. But like I said, when she started dating Jeremy, I told her I thought it would cause trouble. She said for me not to worry and to trust her.”

For some reason, I felt like puking.

“You know Naomi?”

“Yes, she was only fifteen when she got pregnant. The adoption was handled through a lawyer in town—it was all kind of hush-hush”

“Did Naomi keep in touch with you—Tiffany?”

“Yes. She would only agree to the adoption if we let her have a relationship with Tiffy and keep it a secret from her parents, because they wouldn’t have approved.”

“Jeremy’s not her father, is he?”

“Oh, good lord no. Poor Jeremy, killing himself like that. Tiffy said he’d been depressed.”

“Do you know who Tiffany’s birthfather is?”

“Sure, Sal Newhouse.”

“And where is he?”

“St. Charles near Chicago.”

“Did Tiffany have a relationship with both her birth parents?”

“She knew who her birthfather was but only saw Naomi.” She chuckled. “Sal’s been a big help to them. We’re flying there for Christmas.”

“Would you do me a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t mention I was here. I don’t want them to know I was worried. I feel a little foolish about it.”

“Oh, sure.”

“Naomi is a good friend, and I’d like to send her a Christmas card. Could I get their new address?”

Chapter 46

DAY EIGHTY-SIX

T
his was to be an
in-and-out trip for us, but the traffic was ridiculous, and if Shannon and I didn’t stay on schedule, we would miss our return flight. I drove the rental from O’Hare to St. Charles, Illinois, Police Department. Since we needed their PD’s cooperation, we had two officers accompanying us: one male—one female. With warrants in hand, I knocked on the front door of Sal Newhouse’s historic two-story home along the Fox River. My breathing quickened, my heart thumped.

Tiffany answered. Perfect. Her initial expression of surprise quickly turned to dismay. With a look of resignation, she let us in, and we followed her down a short hallway into a kitchen/family room. The house was quiet except for the sounds of our shoes on the wood flooring. Newhouse had been tastefully decorated his home using both antique and modern touches. The Fox River was visible through the glass patio doors to the backyard.

I gestured for Tiffany to sit at the small round table off the kitchen. She picked up an orange from a bowl on the table and rolled it in her hands. She looked nervous.

“What weapons are in the house?” I asked Tiffany. “What? Like guns?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think there are any.”

We wouldn’t take her word for it. Shannon and the St. Charles officers disappeared down the hall and upstairs.

I pulled out my small recorder, turned it on, and said, “Why don’t you tell me how you and mommy killed her husband?”

“What?” She looked terrified.

“Your DNA was on the suicide note.”

She burst into tears. I handed her a tissue from a box on the counter and read her the Miranda rights. Then hoping she wouldn’t exercise her right to remain silent, I asked how it all began.

Sniffing, she said, “It was his own fault. He hit on me.”

“Are you speaking of Jeremy Moberg?”

“Yes, I’d been working at Estelle’s only a week before he asked me out, and when I told Naomi, she was so devastated. She told me to accept, to see how far he’d actually go.”

“Were Naomi and Jeremy still living together then?”

“Yes.”

“And he didn’t know you were Naomi’s daughter?”

“No one did but my parents . . . and Sal and Naomi.”

“Then what happened?”

“The situation kept progressing . . . and . . . and when Naomi went to stay with her mom when she was dying, he really pushed hard.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said he wanted to leave Naomi to be with me. When I told her she said it would help us get him good, but I guess I didn’t know what she meant.”

“Did you ask?”

Sniff. “No.”

”But did you know she was going to kill Kohler?”

“Not at first, but later she told me her idea how to murder Kohler and pin it on Jeremy.”

“What was your part?”

“She asked me to type the Bible verse on his computer.”

“Why did she kill Kohler?”

She spit the words out. “Because
he
was the
one
who took our
inheritance
away. Big, rich man. He was toxic. We had to equalize things.”

“And how did you pin it on Jeremy’?”

“She used his gun, gloves, and boots.”

“What do you know about Jeremy’s death?”

“She made it look like suicide.”

“But she killed him?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“She shot him with his dad’s gun. He agreed to meet with her because she told him she was moving the kids to Illinois and knew he would fight it. She said it worked like a charm. She told him she had to go to the bathroom so she could get the gun from the closet, then came up along side him and shot him. He didn’t see it coming.”

“Did you type the suicide note as well?”

“Yes, but Naomi composed it.”

“Why did she kill Jeremy? For revenge or the life insurance money?”

“Both, but he owed us the insurance money.”

“So you knew when he left that morning, you’d never see him again?”

“At the time, I hoped it would work out that way, yes.”

“And now?”

“Now I know it was really wrong.”

“So why did you go along with Naomi?”

“I just wanted her to love me.” She started sobbing.

The power of a parent’s love . . . Patrick and Grace.
Don’t go there.

I cuffed Tiffany, hands in front.

I heard footsteps down the stairs and the male officer accompanied a dark-haired man wearing a pair of navy shorts. His hands were cuffed behind his back. He was maybe five-foot-ten, medium build. He asked, “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”

“Are you Sal Newhouse?” I asked.

“Yeah, and who are you?”

We identified ourselves and I explained the situation. He looked shell-shocked. I had Shannon take him to the dining room where she would ask him questions we had prepared.

Soon, the female officer brought Naomi down, also cuffed, wearing only a man’s T-shirt. She had bed-hair, no make up. I hardly recognized her.

“What the hell, Cal?” she said.

“The jigs up,” I said to her.

“You’ve got no right to come in here like this. Get-out-of-my-house!”

“Your house?”

Panic crossed her face as she noticed Tiffany. “Tiffy, do
not
say a word to them.”

“Too late, she already did, mama,” I said. “You have the right to remain silent . . .”

After Naomi’s rights were read,
she was taken back upstairs to the bedroom so she could dress.

Tiffany asked, “Are you taking us back to Minnesota?”

“Yes.”

“What about my parents? They’re flying here tomorrow.”

“Call ’em.” I let her use her cell phone. She cried pretty hard during the call.

As soon as Naomi returned, she asked, “Where’s Troy? Why isn’t he in on this?”

“He’s out of town.”

“With April?”

I shrugged.
That
was her concern
?

“So what about my kids?”

This was the first she’d mentioned them. Mommy of the year.

“Do you want them to be with Jeremy’s parents or the State?”

She glared but eventually said, “His parents. But who’ll take care of them now?”

“Fox County will have them in their care until Jeremy’s parents arrive.”

“Oh, that’s just great,” she said bitterly. “Can I at least say good-bye to them?”

I took her up to the bedroom where they were still sleeping. They barely noticed her kisses on their cheeks.

When she said good-bye to Sal, she said, “You are the love of my life, Sal. We were going to live happily ever after.”

He looked distraught, but my thought was maybe now he won’t be another one of her victims. After questioning him, Shannon concluded he knew nothing about the murders. He thought he was starting life anew with an old heartthrob. A Fox County social worker arrived before we left. They were to release the children into the custody of Jeremy’s parents that afternoon.

The women were transported
to O’Hare in two different PD squads. During the flight, Tiffany was cuffed to my wrist, while Shannon took Naomi. Tamika met us at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport so we would have separate vehicles to transport the women individually.

Because I hoped Naomi would talk during the drive, I switched women with Shannon. After a restroom stop at MSP airport, I placed her in the back seat of the squad Shannon and I had driven down and parked in the short-term parking lot. Tamika had bag lunches for everyone for expediency.

I purposefully made no attempt at conversation. I wanted everything properly recorded. We rode in silence until about an hour into our trip, when Naomi said, “You think you’ve won, don’t you, Sheehan?”

“You think there are any winners here?”

She looked out the window for a while before she asked, “What did Tiffany tell you?”

“If you like, I’ll play the recording for you when we get back to the department.”

“Damn it!” she said. In the rear view mirror, I could see tears streaming down her face.

“You don’t have any evidence,” she said. “It’s my word against hers.”

I smiled recalling the day I spoke to Teresa Gibbons, a maintenance supervisor at the community college and her underling, Jan Hagen. Jan was the woman who found the white garbage bag in a trash bin where they usually find only small items like cups and fast food bags. Jan was curious so she looked in it finding black ballet slippers, socks, black jeans, and a gray sweatshirt. All the items looked in fairly good shape, but there was blood on the back of one of the sweatshirt sleeves. With all that had gone on lately, she thought it could be something and turned it in to the Sheriff’s Department. Even though Ralph never mentioned it, thank God he logged it into evidence.

“We have more than you think,” I said.

And we did. The DNA test results had came back yesterday: the blood on the sleeve was Jeremy’s, the socks and shoes carried Naomi’s DNA.

She looked out the window for a while. “Cal,” she said crinkling her nose. “You could let me go—for my kids’ sake.”

“Ah, for your
kids’
sake. Now that’s ironic—it was the
kids
who cinched it for me—when I knew for sure that you killed Jeremy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The day Jeremy was shot. You didn’t take your kids or the luggage in the lake house—because you
knew
what was in there. And just so you know, I think they’re better off with people who have souls, so, no, there’s not a chance in hell I’d let you go for ‘the kids.’”

Her eyes grew watery. The ice princess just felt sorry for herself because she was caught. “I want to call my attorney.”

“When we get to Prairie Falls.”

She stared out the window. “You don’t have a shred of evidence.”

“Don’t we? We found the bag of clothes.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But I had caught the flicker in her eyes.

“Was he surprised?”

“Who?”

“Kohler.”

She held my glance for a couple seconds then looked away.

I chuckled. “Kohler totally underestimated you, didn’t he?”

She looked at me and smiled. At that moment I saw the cold, calculating woman she was. “Fucker.”

I don’t know if she was referring to Kohler or me.

The next day,
Ralph told me Naomi retained an attorney from St. Cloud, and that Tiffany was cooperating with Oliver for a deal. He convinced her Naomi’s intention all along was for the evidence to point to her if and when the suicide was discovered to be staged.

I watched Oliver’s interview with her. Tiffany told him if Kohler had been cool when Naomi went to see him about the will, he wouldn’t have had to die. If he’d apologized or told her he’d see what he could do to reverse it. But he was dismissive. Naomi asked him if he was going to leave all his money to the church instead of his family. He said he had young children . . . they weren’t adults like her. He suggested she pray for forgiveness for being greedy. And poor Ronny? He just got in the way. Tiffany said Naomi felt bad about that.

I just couldn’t get over how Naomi duped her own daughter into shacking up with her husband just to plant evidence. It would have worked too—if she’d disposed of the clothing in a different place. One simply mistake is all it took for that last puzzle piece to slip into place.

Chapter 47

May 19

L
ate Sunday morning I took
Bullet along for a run in Birch Park South. It was a beautiful day. The sun’s warming rays felt good on the skin. I felt strong and happier than I had in a long while. As I neared the playground, about to cut north out of the park, I saw a female jogger approach. Bullet started whining before I recognized who it was—Adriana. What was she doing up here?

“Hey,” I said, stopping.

“Hey! I thought I’d find you out here,” she said.

She looked fantastic and like she’d lost a little weight, not that she needed to. She got down on one knee, and gave Bullet a good scratch behind the ears, then kissed him gently on the nose. He swiped his tongue across her face, hitting her lips square.

Smiling, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. “I miss you,” she said.

“Obviously, he misses you, too.”

She stood and faced me with her hands in her pockets. “Not Bullet, dummy,
you
.”

“Oh.”

“So how are you?”

“Great, great.”

“Do you like having a woman sheriff for your new boss?”

“It’s all good.”

“I was surprised to hear Troy ran for the job. How did he take the loss?”

“Not well. I think he’s looking for a different position.”

“But you—you’re quite the hero these days.”

“Ah, shucks, lady, I was just doing my job.”

“So Tiffany is Naomi’s kid?”

“Yeah. Who would figure that one?”

“Pretty awful she actually encouraged her own daughter to live with her husband. That’s just wrong on so many levels.”

“I’ll say.”

“And Tiffany cooperated for a lesser sentence?”

“Thanks to her we have a solid case on Naomi, and Tiffany will only serve six years.”

“When does Naomi’s trial start?”

“Not until September. The judge wouldn’t grant bail. Flight risk.”

“She really thinks she can be acquitted?”

“Guess so.”

She titled her head and looked at me with those big brown eyes. “So, what would you say if I moved back to Prairie Falls?”

I eyed her suspiciously. “Why would you do that?”

“Back to you.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Why?”

“Because I’ve been miserable ever since I saw you at my wedding—I knew I shouldn’t have gone through with the ceremony—I was too stupid to even listen to myself.”

“Does Adam know you’re thinking about this?”

“Yes, he suggested it. He said he wanted me to look at
him
like I looked at
you
.”

“What does that mean?”

“That I love you.”

She moved closer but I put my hand up stopping her.

“But you love him too, right? Maybe you’ll find that when you’re with someone else, you’ll want to be with him.”

“We both agree our marriage was a mistake.”

“What about your career? Your wonderful, exciting life in Minneapolis?”

“Phillip says I can come back to my position anytime. He’s says you’ve been giving him a lot of work.”

I took a deep breath. “You know, I saw my father recently. He told me not to settle for anyone that didn’t knock my socks off.” I pulled up my pant leg and pointed to my feet. “See? My socks are still on.”

She looked confused.

“I just can’t take the chance on you, Adriana,” I said.

Her face dropped. “You don’t love me anymore?”

“Of course . . . and I always will, but I don’t trust you. Some day you’d look up at me with those big brown eyes and tell me you’ve made a mistake about us. Deep down, you know that’s true.”

Tears began to form in her eyes. “That’s it then?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

The tears rolled down her cheeks and I pulled her into my arms. I kissed her on the cheek, and said good-bye. Six months ago, I would have welcomed her with open arms. Looking at my watch, I realized I needed to hustle to get ready to go to Shannon’s parents’ house for lunch. Our families were meeting today to discuss our August wedding plans. I think I’ll wear loafers with no socks.