The Wife of a Lesser Man (LA Cops Series Book 1) (7 page)

“Something’ll turn up.  It has to.  Clean murders like this are never easy; whoever did this had to make a mistake somewhere, we just have to find it.”

Lisa nodded and yawned simultaneously.  “Why don’t you guys go home and sleep.  Don’t come back until Tuesday morning.  I’ll call if something pops up.” 

Lisa rose, stopped, and snapped her fingers, “Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  Karen’s mom…..um, Martha Masterson, she’s gone away this weekend but is expected back late Monday night.  We can expect her call probably Tuesday some time.”

“Who answered the phone?”  Mark asked.

“She lives with her sister in Peterborough.  Husband lives in a nursing home.  He had a stroke.  Her sister was real nice, her name is Katherine Welland,” Lisa answered, shrugging on her jacket. 

The phone in Mark’s office began to ring.  He picked up his pace until he reached the phone and cleared his throat.  “Chief Tame speaking,” he answered.

“Mornin’ Chief, Bob here,” the coroner said.

“Hey Bob, how are you?” 

“Good.  Um…I tried to get a mold on those wrist markings?”  He cleared his throat and continued, “But I wasn’t able to get anything viable.  They weren’t deep enough to hold the plaster; I wasn’t sure but I tried anyhow.”  He cleared his throat again.

“That’s okay Bob, if my suspicions are correct, I think I have something to go on.  But thanks for trying.”  Mark said, smiling.  Bob and Mark had a strange relationship.  When Bob was working on the bodies with his Metallica cranked up, nothing could phase him.  Mark knew Bob was nervous around him but had always been that way.  It wasn’t just because he was the Chief of Police.  Mark never would have suspected this until one Christmas party about five years ago when Bob got completely plastered and told him.  His slurred, but exact words were “I hang around dead people all day, but
you
scare me.” 

“Um, yeah, no problem….H…Happy Thanksgiving.”  Bob hung up before Mark could return the sentiment.

Mark screwed up his face and said in the chipmunk voice he used to use on his kids when they were little, “You’re the nuttiest.”

When he hung up the phone, he noticed Andy unexpectedly standing in the doorway to his office.  “Bob?”  Andy said with a knowing look.  “Yeah.” Mark laughed.  Andy nodded with a slight grin on his face.

“Feeling better?”  He asked, referring to the hangover Andy had the previous day.

“Yeah.  But in my defence my wife looked worse than me; she couldn’t even make it to work yesterday.  At least I hauled my ass here.”  Andy’s thumbs were pointing to his chest as if to say “Me, this guy.” 

“What’re you doing here anyway?”  Andy asked.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Mark answered.

“I just came from the morgue.”  Andy shuddered a little.

“Oh, well that explains the call I just got from Bob then.”

Andy laughed.  “I tell you whenever I show up at that place the guy never looks at me and barely talks to me.”  Mark tried not to smile.

“You know he got drunk at that Christmas party five years ago and told me
I
scare him?”  Andy pointed at himself and nodded in disbelief.

“I think
all
the living scare Bob,” Mark said matter-of-factly.

Andy finished nodding and said, “You know he couldn’t get a viable mold from the wrist marks then.”

“Yeah, but I think I found something that will help us,” Mark said.

“The picture?”  Andy asked.

“Yep.”  Mark answered as he pulled it out of the file sitting on his desk and showed him.

The picture was of Karen Reed sitting on a bench in an outdoor area, maybe a park.  She was facing right, as if she was looking for something or someone.  She was wearing a short sleeve white shirt and dark navy jeans.  Her legs were crossed in front of her and the picture looked candid, like she didn’t know it was being taken.  There, affixed to her right wrist was an exquisite navy and faux diamond encrusted bracelet.  The links on the bracelet were about an inch in diameter and took the shape of tear drops.  The links were an alternating white and blue pattern. 

Andy studied the picture.  “Pretty.”  He commented.  Karen was young looking for being in her forties.  She had shoulder length reddish/brownish wavy hair and green eyes.  Her features were petite and she was tall and slender.  There was a Julia Roberts-ish look to her.  “But I don’t get it.  Do you think that’s the bracelet the killer took from her?” 

“It’s a hunch, but there were no other bracelets I could see in her bedroom,” Mark answered.

“She might have borrowed it,” Andy said half to himself.

“Possibly.  Her mother should be calling next week.  Hopefully she’ll be able to shed some light,” Mark said.  “You still didn’t answer my question.” 

“What question?”  Andy looked up from the picture.

“What the hell are you doing here?”  Mark laughed.

Andy shrunk back behind the picture and answered, growling “I
hate
family functions.” 

Mark laughed and his shoulders bobbed up and down.

“I’d rather eat turkey with Bob,” Andy added.

Mark started to howl, while Andy eventually broke out into laughter.

Chapter 6

Mark arrived home.  Charles, Mark’s dad, greeted him at the door. 

“How’s the ticker, son?”  he asked, embracing Mark but adding a heavy pat on the back.

“Good, yours?” Mark asked, laughing.  “Never better.”  Charles answered levelly, offering to take Mark’s jacket and hat.

“Do you like turkey, son?”  Charles asked.

“I hope so.  It seems that’s all I’ve been allowed to eat in the last couple weeks.  Well, that and tofu….nasty stuff,” Mark said, scrunching his nose as he closed the door.

Charles chuckled.  “You have to work any more this weekend?”  Then, before Mark could answer, his father’s face lit up.  “How’s that Karen Reed murder going?  They haven’t given much coverage on the news.”  His hand went to his chin. 

“Yeah, we’ve placed a media ban on it until we have a suspect,” Mark answered.

“Got anybody in mind yet?” 

“No, not yet.  But we’re interviewing some of Karen’s family next week, so hopefully we’ll have something to go on.”

Charles nodded.  “She was quite a pretty thing, wasn’t she?  Such a shame.” 

Mark also nodded.

“Looked a little like Shelley, didn’t she?”  Charles added.  Mark looked up at the ceiling.  He’d never thought about that.  “Yeah, I guess she does.”  Mark shuddered slightly. 

“Richard should be here soon,” Mark said.

Mark heard the doorbell.  “Ah, speak of the devil.”  

“Richard, how are you today?  My son’s not keeping you too busy is he?”  Charles greeted him as he shook Richard’s hand.

“No, no complaints.”  Richard smiled, returning the handshake.

“Pulled an all nighter last night though,” Richard commented as he let go of Charles’ hand.

“Really?”  Charles said, one eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, he and Lisa decided to get a leg up on the Reed murder and reviewed all the phone records for me.  The two of them this morning looked worse than poor Andy did hung over yesterday morning.”

“Hey, where’s Jessica’s friend?  We haven’t seen her yet.”  Mark said.

Jennifer rolled her eyes.  “Don’t worry, you haven’t missed much.  Louise is about as boring as watching the turkey bake.  All she can ever talk about is school and her stupid dog.  She goes on and on about this dumb mutt that she couldn’t bring with her to school.  I bet the dog is more interesting than she is,” she said, stealing a cracker from Richard’s hand.

“Where is she now?”  Mark asked.

“Upstairs…probably studying or getting a leg up on her finals…which are like two months away.”

“She’s too shy to come downstairs?”  Richard asked.

“Yeah.  I don’t even know why she came.  Except that her parents can’t afford to fly her home until Christmas.  Her dad’s some kind of salesman and her mother doesn’t work.  Bunch of dead beats.  She doesn’t interact with adults much, but she loves Jess….and me.”  She shuddered.

“Did she at least say hello to your mom?”  Mark asked.

“Yeah, but like under her breath, and then she tore upstairs like a scared rabbit.  She has no idea how to interact with humans.”

“Is there any chance she’s related to Bob?”  Richard laughed.

“Good luck asking her.”  Jennifer laughed. 

“Is she making fun of that sweet little Louise again?”  Shelley asked, entering the kitchen with an empty platter. 

Mark intervened, “She just finished,” he said flatly.

“How are you doing good looking?”  Shelley asked while Mark quickly pecked her on the cheek.

“I’m wonderful, but even more so since you entered the room,” he answered with a warm smile.

“Oh…don’t you guys start up with that shit again,” Sarah commented as she entered the kitchen, carrying another empty platter.

“Jealous?”  Richard asked sarcastically as he took the platter from her as he did with Shelley.

“I hope not.  You’ve got some competition now,” Mark intervened, winking.

Richard’s face turned beet red. 

“Oh, leave him alone, you bully.  It figures you would have to embarrass the poor guy when he hasn’t been here ten minutes.”  Shelley said, smacking Mark gently on the back of his head.

“It’s the least I could do, seeing as he didn’t even bring you a present,” Mark said.

“Alright, alright.  Speaking of presents.  Let’s break up this banter with some gifts, shall we?”  Shelley said.

“Hey girls!  You wanna come down and join us?  Mom’s about to open up gifts!”  Mark yelled as he walked past the stairway. 

A moment later Jessica came down, followed by Louise, a tall, dark haired girl. 

“Okay, whoever gave the worst gift, hand it to me first….so the bar is lowered.”  Shelley said, sipping her coffee.  Shelley’s mom was sitting beside her, where she had been since she arrived.  She looked over at her daughter and said, “What about the year your father bought you the multi-tool?  You remember that?” 

Shelley laughed, “I use it when Mark’s not home and I have to unscrew the caps off our water bottles.” 

Richard looked at Shelley, “Sure, you have a” and he air quoted ‘multi-tool’ “that you use when your husband’s not home.” and laughed.

Shelley’s face turned beet red.  “Just for that, I’ll open
your
gift first!  Smartass!” 

Richard handed her an envelope.  Her face lit up when she opened it and saw a handful of tickets for the musical ‘Rock of Ages’. 

“So who are you taking?” Her mother asked, having snuck a peek.  “That depends on what you got me.” Shelley joked. 

“I tell you what. I’ll take you and whoever you invite out for dinner before or after the show.  Fair?”

“Okay, you’re invited then,” She said, giving a high five to her mom.

“Well, there are ten tickets in there.  We could all go with that many,” Richard added.

Shelley’s chin dropped as she opened the envelope, removed the tickets and fanned them out in disbelief.  “Oh my goodness!  Richard!  How the hell can you afford this?” 

Richard waved.   “As much as I would love to take all credit, I should let you know that everyone else pitched in and I also got a discount because….well, I’m a cop.”  He said, pointing his thumb at his chest and raising his eyebrows. 

Shelley exhaled and looked around the room, “Aw, thanks everyone.” 

Jessica rose from her chair and handed Shelley a small pink box with a white bow on top.  The bow was bigger than the box. 

Shelley said, looking at the box. “Oh thank you, honey, you didn’t have to get me anything.” 

“It’s nothing major, so don’t get too excited,” Jessica said, casually walking away. 

Shelley opened the box there was a small costume jewellery necklace inside.  It was imitation silver and the pendant a small medallion with a rose carved into the background.  The lettering said ‘kiss me’, and the ‘I’ was dotted with a pink rose. 

“Oh, Jess, it’s so pretty! Thank you!”  she said, gently pulling it out of the box and getting a closer look.  “I love it.” 

“Hey, I’ve decided that I’m
not
going to a spa day with you.”   Sarah raised her finger and continued “
but
, I
will
come to yoga with you.”  Shelley smiled.  “How’s that grab you?”  “I think that would be so much fun!”  Shelley grasped her hands together and clapped with glee. 

“On one condition,” Shelley said.  Sarah shifted her weight onto her other leg and furrowed her brows.  “You have to wear yoga pants,” she said, looking down at Sarah like a school teacher.  Sarah paused and pursed her lips.  She relented, “Fine, but I’m not doing any freak ass chants or anything.”  She said, pointing her finger in Shelley’s face.  Shelley grabbed Sarah’s finger and forced it to one side in a thumb wrestle.

Chapter 7

Richard bent sideways for the third time in ten minutes and winced.  Mark entered his office and scrunched up his face. 

“Sorry man….turkey farts,” Richard said.

“You too?”  Mark asked, fanning the air with a file.  Richard nodded “All night.  Thanks to Shelley’s leftovers I had to fly solo last night.   Lisa wouldn’t stay.” 

“If it makes you feel any better, it probably wasn’t
all
because of the smell.” Mark laughed.

Lisa stood at the doorway sideways, with one foot overlapping the other.  “Sorry to interrupt, but Karen Reed’s mom, Martha Masterson is holding.”  Mark jumped up and ran to his office.  Lisa followed.

“Any more leads?”  he asked.

“Nothing in the phone records. No luck with a cell phone so far.  All that’s left is the bracelet.  Maybe mom knows something about that.”  Mark nodded as he straightened his tie and cleared his throat into his clenched fist.  He lifted up the receiver and pushed the lit button on the cradle.  Lisa winked and closed the door, heading back to her office.

“Good morning, Mrs. Masterson.  This is police Chief Mark Tame.” 

Mrs. Masterson’s voice was strong and clear.  She sounded alert.  “Good morning Sir. Please, call me Martha.”

“Oh, well in that case, please call me Mark,” he replied warmly.

“Absolutely.  I have to tell you, I’m a little surprised it’s taken so long for someone to get in touch with me.”

“I understand your frustration, cases like this where it’s clean and not much evidence take time.  We had to gather as much information as we could before contacting you.  Otherwise the process would be very repetitive for you and might compromise any details you might be able to share.”

“I see.  Well, anything I can do to help, please ask.”  Martha said firmly as if she was scolding him.  Mark furrowed his brows.

“Er..thank you.  Um, tell me, when was the last time you saw your daughter?”  Mark cleared his throat.

“Well, Karen was up to see me in the summertime.  I think it was in July.”  She waited.

“And how was the visit?  Did she seem normal with you or were things off at all?” 

“No, things were fine then. It was afterward that she began to become distant.”  Martha’s words were slightly condescending. 

“Were you close with Karen?”  Mark ventured.

“What kind of a question is that?”  Martha’s tone went flat. 

“Mrs. Masterson-“

Martha cut in “Please call me Martha!” 

“Er, sorry, yes, Martha.  Um, no question implies anything; I’m just trying to establish what Karen’s relationships were like.  I ask everyone I interview this question.” 

“Fine.  Yes, I was close to my only daughter.  I tried for many years to convince her to get out of that town and live up here where it is safe.  But she wouldn’t listen.  Even after that riff raff husband of hers died she still stayed.  I’m not impressed at all with the way things work there.  It’s taken weeks for someone to finally contact me and investigate my daughter’s death and I think it’s just disgusting.” 

She paused.  “I’m not sure what happened to Karen.  She just stopped calling.  We didn’t have a fight or anything, she just…well, it’s almost like she disappeared.  Her calls went from once a week to once every two weeks and then I didn’t hear anything from her for the whole month of September.  The last time I heard from her she said she’d met someone but didn’t share anything else.  She wouldn’t even tell me his name.”

“I’m sorry for your loss Martha,” Mark said.

Martha didn’t respond.  “Are you still there?”  Mark asked.

“Yes,” Martha sniffed.

“Can you tell me anything about a bracelet Karen had?” 

“What kind of bracelet?”  Martha’s voice became clear again.

He described the blue tear dropped bracelet to her.  “No, I don’t recall her having anything like that.  She did wear a lot of costume jewellery though. She bought a new piece regularly.”

“Do you know if she owned a cell phone?” 

“No, she had one through work but she didn’t use it for anything personal.  She shut it off when she wasn’t on call.”

“Did she ever give you the number?” 

“No, like I said, it wasn’t for personal use.  She was a Child and Youth Worker…but I’m sure you already knew
that
.”  Mark could hear the condescending tone again. 

“That’s fine.  We can contact her employer for it.  We need to get her call records is all.” 

“I don’t see how that would be any help.  She only spoke to her clients with it.  I’m sure this wasn’t a job a child could have done.  Although in
that
neck of the woods, who knows….”

“Thank you for your time Martha.  We’ll be in touch.”

“You’re welcome.”

…

“Any luck?”  Lisa asked, opening the door.  Mark saw her rise from her chair the moment he hung up the phone.  She must have been watching the line the whole time.

Mark sighed, “Now there’s a piece of work.”  Lisa crossed her arms, waiting for the details.

“It’s no wonder Karen moved far away from her mother.  She’s more upset that nobody has followed up with her than she is that her daughter is dead.”  Mark stared at the ink blotter on his desk, he shook his head in disbelief.

“Maybe the friend will have more insight,” Lisa suggested.

Mark lifted his hand and scratched his head.  “Maybe.”  He lowered his hand and looked directly at Lisa. “Do we have that picture of her with the bracelet around?  I’ve got another idea.”

“Yeah, sure.  I’ll have someone from evidence bring it up,” Lisa said, closing the door.

Mark retrieved his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and navigated through his address book.  When he found the number he needed, he picked up the phone and dialled.

“Good morning Sarah’s.”  She answered cordially.

“How’s your morning so far, Trouble?  Have you scared away your customers with all the turkey farts?” 

Sarah laughed.  “No, but I’ve had to send Vera out to run errands more than usual.” 

“How sweet she is I don’t have the heart to fart!” 

They both laughed and Sarah said “Whoops!  There’s another one!” 

Mark added, “We could do this all day!”  They kept laughing until they were short of breath. 

“Okay, okay…I know the Chief of Police isn’t calling me to ask how my
ass
smells today, so what can I do for you?”  Sarah asked, wiping her eyes from the tears of laughter.

Mark sniffled and wiped his eyes as well.  “Well, I was wondering if you could help me with a bracelet.” 

“What for Shelley?  You want to buy her another gift?” 

“No, no.  It’s actually a piece of evidence from a murder we’re investigating.”  There was a pause.

“Oookay.  There’s a request I wasn’t ready for.”

“Sorry to catch you off guard.  I’m kind of in a bind with this one.  Do you mind if we meet up and I can show it to you?  It’s not actually a bracelet.  It’s just a picture of the victim wearing it when she was alive.” 

“That’s okay, it’s cool.  Um.  It’s probably better if you can bring it to me.  I have my equipment and reference material here.”  Sarah coughed at the end of her sentence.

“Sure.  Will you be around all day?”  Mark asked after she cleared her throat.

“Yup.  Vera and I will both be here.  It’s pretty busy today since we were closed yesterday.  Everyone’s getting a leg up on Christmas shopping.”

“Great.  I’ll be in touch.” 

…

Mark checked his watch and went into his lunch pouch to retrieve his medication.  His coffee was cold but he gulped down the last sip to wash down his pill.  As he swallowed he saw Lisa come around the corner with a clear plastic evidence bag in her hand.  She opened it up and retrieved the picture.

“I don’t suppose they were able to get any prints off it were they?”  Mark asked, hopeful.

Lisa shook her head with a smirk.  “Whoever did this was good.”  She handed him the bracelet.  “What’s your plan with this?” 

“I’m going to head out to Sarah’s and see if she can help.”  He answered, shrugging on his jacket.  Lisa smiled “Oh, I’d completely forgotten about Shelley’s friend.   That’s a great idea.”  she said, high fiving him.

Mark put his index finger up to his temple.  “I’m not just good lookin’ ya know.”  He winked and placed the bracelet back in the bag.  “I’ll be on cell for the next few hours.” 

“Drive safe.” 

…

As Mark arrived at Sarah’s place, his cell phone rang.  He pulled the emergency brake, turned off the ignition and grunted in irritation.  His bladder was about to burst.  The screen said it was Shelley.

“Hey babe, I’m in a bit of a rush here.  What’s up?”  he said, gathering the evidence bag.

“Oh not much, I just wanted to let you know the girls are safe back at their dorms.  They called late last night when you went to bed and I didn’t get a chance to tell you this morning.”

“Oh good.  I wondered.  I hadn’t heard anything.  But you know, no news is good news.”  he said, trying to hurry the conversation along.

“Did you remember to take your medicine this morning?”  she asked.

Mark sighed.  “Yes, I took it right before I left.  Listen, I’m about to burst here.  I finished a coffee before I left and I’m dying here,” he said, trying to make light.

“Oh.  Okay.  Call me later then.  Love you.”

“Sure will.  Love you too.”

Mark walked briskly to the entrance and opened the door.  The bell went off and both Sarah and Vera greeted him.  He pointed toward the washroom door and headed there.  They both nodded.

When he finished and found Sarah again, she was waiting for him with some small instruments and a duo tang folder.  Vera was off to the opposite side serving a customer.

Sarah’s jewellery store was rather small but held a wide assortment of both costume and traditional items.  Most were custom made by local artisans.  One of a kind pieces that men or women of all ages would purchase.  She sold everything from earrings and necklaces to bracelets and watches. 

Glass display cases were arranged in a U-shape and they held more expensive items.  In the middle of the cases were about ten floor mounted swivel displays.  Some were open and others were locked.  Towards the cash registers Sarah kept a few small displays for children’s jewellery.