Trespass (22 page)

Chapter 50

O
ver breakfast, TJ told Richard what she had seen the night before.

“What do you think?” she asked. “Why hide a cemetery like that?”

“It could be a lot of things. The state laws for cemeteries and funeral homes are pretty stringent.”

“Like what?”

“I’m not familiar with them all, but I do know there are requirements to be met before starting a cemetery. There might even be fees attached too. If you need specifics, I can give you a number to call.”

“Good. I’ll do it tomorrow. Today I’m takin’ it easy.” JR’s bowl of cereal clattered to the floor. “After I clean up this mess.”

TJ spent the afternoon at Richard’s apartment playing with her son. The cleaning service had been in her house and cleaned the basement, a replacement sump pump had been installed, and they were working on the new furnace. She was amazed it was getting done so fast; she could move back in the next morning.

An inspection of Richard’s cupboards revealed a scarcity of cooking implements and the situation in the food department even worse, making a celebratory meal at home impossible without a trip to the store. They would have to go out to celebrate. She called Balistreri’s on 68th in Tosa and made a reservation for dinner. Pizza and deep-fried eggplant, the specialty of the house, were two of their favorite things, and JR, unlike most children his age, loved visiting restaurants. Pizza, which he picked apart and ate in its individual components, was one of his favorite treats.

In the restaurant that night, JR happily dissected his slice of pizza while Richard and TJ talked about her case.

“I don’t know, babe. I’m worried about you,” Richard said. “Visiting cemeteries in the middle of the night, all these murders and attempted murders. I thought you didn’t want to get into anything like that.”

She shrugged. “Didn’t. But stuff happens. Gemma came to me, remember?” It wasn’t the moment to admit she loved the drama and the danger.

“I just don’t want you getting in over your head.”

Fighting words, TJ thought, words that really pissed her off. She could take care of herself as well as any cop, male or female. Her relationship with Richard before she met Jeff had been a sporadic one and Richard had never questioned her abilities then. Since he fell in love with her son, his attitude toward TJ’s work had changed. She should find his protectiveness comforting, but instead she felt resentful.

Rather than take him on and ruin their evening, she delved into a stack of delightfully crispy eggplant sticks she dipped in marinara sauce. One thing she knew about Richard: It paid off to not react too quickly when he made her angry. If she ticked him off now, he wouldn’t be as forthcoming with his information. They ate, for a moment, in silence.

“I shared my info with the cops, and I think they’ll work it out pretty quick now. Then I’m out of it,” If these murders are revenge for what happened a long time ago, wouldn’t the people involved be pretty old now?”she lied. There would still be her original problem, solving Teschler’s explosion.

“If these murders are revenge for what happened a long time ago, wouldn’t the people involved be pretty old now?”

“Yeah, the swingers are in their fifties and sixties. Jackson might only be pushin’ it, but Sondra Jackson was younger. She musta been barely twenty at the time of the suicides. I’m thinkin’ it’s more likely one of the kids of the two suicides that’s doin’ the deed. The whole thing with the creeping and having sex in unlocked houses wouldn’t be something an older perp would do. Not to my thinking.”

“I agree,” Richard said. “Have you thought about what precipitated this revenge after sixteen years?”

TJ cleaned tomato sauce from JR’s hands with a wet wipe. “I figure it’s been simmerin’ all along. Then something happened that triggered him, or her, to take action. We might never know what that was. Might only make sense to the one doin’ the killing.”

“This case won’t break until we get the DNA results. That’s my prediction,” Richard said. “I’ll be glad when you’re done with this. So if I find out anything I’m able to pass along to you, I will.”

TJ swallowed another irritated comeback. He was only willing to help her out because he didn’t want her doing anything that could possibly be dangerous. She needed to talk to him about her career intentions.

She assuaged him for the moment with, “I was hired to find out how Teschler fits in. Guessin’ he found out what was happenin’ somehow and had to be eliminated. That’s all I’m workin’ on.” She didn’t share what she heard about Lucian and Drucilla from Gemma and Lisa. He wouldn’t be a believer, that’s for sure. And even if he were, he wouldn’t approve of her next step: she planned on cornering Lucian Krause.

Haymaker and Wade found Donald Braun in his driveway, packing up his car. He looked up from the trunk of his BMW when he heard them approach.

“Leaving town?” Haymaker asked.

Braun slammed the trunk shut. “I decided to go up to the lake house. I may be able to pick up on something the police couldn’t, something that might help figure out where Vicky is.”

Brian Haymaker believed Braun’s wife was at the bottom of one of Manitowish Waters’ chain of lakes but kept that opinion to himself. “I’ve talked with the county sheriffs up there, Mr. Braun. They’re working with the local police to find your wife. There’s been a BOLO out for her for two days now. It can’t hurt for you to go up there and double-check things, but I wanted you to know they’re doing everything they can.”

“Thank you for that, Detective. I’ll let you know if I find out anything.” He opened the door to his car.

“Before you drive off, we’d like to ask you some questions on a related matter. We can do that right here, or… ”

Braun turned to the house. “Sure. Come on in.”

When they were seated in the small breakfast nook off the kitchen, Haymaker said, “Your buddy Craig Jackson was attacked last night in his home. Can you tell me when you saw him last?”

Braun sat back quickly. “I saw him just last night at his house. He was fine. Is he all right?”

“The doctors think he’ll make it, but he’s still critical. What time did you see him, Mr. Braun?”

Braun’s face had gone gray. “I think it was about nine o’clock. I went over there to tell him about Vicky.”

Tasha asked, “Why would you need to do that? You told Detective Haymaker yesterday that you and Jackson weren’t close.”

Braun swallowed.

“We know all about the swinger’s group, Mr. Braun,” Haymaker added. “No need trying to cover it up. Just tell us what you know.”

“Hang on a minute. I’m going to make some coffee. Anybody else?” Braun left the table and moved to a gleaming Keurig coffeemaker. After taking their orders, he popped cups for all of them, served the drinks, then sat heavily across from them, draping his jacket over an empty chair.

“Vicky and I
were
part of a swinger’s group about sixteen years ago. She never was comfortable with it; none of the wives were as enthusiastic as the men. But Vicky told me they felt it was better than having husbands who snuck around behind their backs. That’s why they participated.”

He rubbed his face with his hands and continued, “You must know about the suicides. After that happened, we stopped getting together. Most of us believed they were a result of the swinging, so it seemed like the thing to do.”

“What were the names of the people in your sex club?” Haymaker asked.

Braun closed his eyes. “There were four couples who were regulars: Vicky and me, Barbara and Arthur Krause, Sondra and Craig Jackson, and Sam and Lilly Diermeyer. Craig was more or less the one who kept things going, and he did try to talk us out of giving it up. Vicky wouldn’t hear of it. Said she would leave me before she’d go back to that kind of life.”

“You said four couples were regulars. Can you give me names of others who weren’t?”

“Sorry, I can’t. It was too long ago, and none of them were people I knew. Craig was the one who was always trolling for new members. He might remember.”

Haymaker hadn’t revealed the seriousness of Jackson’s injuries. “If you think of any names, give us a call. Do you know of someone who might be upset enough about those suicides that they’d be looking for payback after all this time?” Haymaker knew that Braun himself, despite having no alibi for the previous evening, had been out of town when Teschler’s house exploded and when Sondra Jackson was murdered. Considering Braun wasn’t a suspect, Haymaker would expect him to be forthcoming if he knew anything.

“Listen, Detective,” Braun said, “when Vicky tried to tell me she thought this was about payback, I told her she was crazy. I wish I’d listened to her. I never would have let her go up north by herself if I thought there had been anything to it.

“After Frank Krause died in the car crash, I heard that Anna Krause told another neighbor that her husband’s accident had been deliberate. She said Frank was never himself after the suicides. Me, I always did suspect that Frank’s accident might have been another suicide. Everyone knew he had a thing for Lilly, his sister-in-law.

“As far as who could be responsible for the attacks, I have no idea. I really haven’t been in touch with any of them in a lot of years. I’ve been thinking about it a lot now, so if I remember anything else, I’ll let you know.”

Chapter 51

T
he next morning TJ dropped JR off at her sister’s. Then she stuffed everything possible into the Mini and drove home to start moving back into her house. After she finished the last trip from the car, she heard a knock on the front door. Detective Tasha Wade stood there holding two coffees and a manila file folder.

“We need to talk.”

TJ invited her in, excited to hear what the detective had to say. “Somethin’ new to share?”

Tasha followed her to the conference room where they sat across from each other and could see TJ’s notes on the whiteboard.

Tasha sipped her coffee with the folder clutched tightly against her chest. “Okay, I’m going to be upfront about this, TJ. I shouldn’t be sharing this with you, but I’ve seen how much you’ve done with this case and I think you’re on the right track.

I need to know I can trust you.”

TJ adopted her best poker face. She had shown Wade her charts because she hoped to get something in exchange, and she had. The detective obviously had something new she wanted to share, something big.

“Gave you everything I had, Detective, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did then, but it’s been a while.”

“What about your partner?”

“I’m going to meet him later. I’m not sure what’s going on with him; he’s been a little off lately. We did some interviews yesterday. We talked to Lilly Diermeyer’s husband, and his alibi for the nights of the attacks holds up. He isn’t worried about himself since he lives in Peoria now. Donald Braun’s wife is missing from their lake house in Manitowish Waters. It’s been a few days now since he heard from her, and the police up there haven’t found her yet.”

That was news to TJ. Braun must have left right after she spoke to her husband at their home in Tosa. It could mean there was another victim. She added it to the whiteboard.

Tasha looked over the chart, studying what TJ had added since their last meeting. She grinned. “So you’re with me on the mastermind thing? Who are you leaning toward?”

“Not sure if there is anyone like that yet, but always thought it made sense. Seems like it would be one of the kids of the suicides.”

“Crap, it could be anybody. Why just the kids? You need a bigger list. It could be a member of the original group, a wannabe member, or even a religious fanatic who just found out about it. That list could be a lot longer.”

TJ knew she shouldn’t resent Tasha’s suggestion, but it meant a bigger list of possible group leaders and a lot more work. Of course, if Tasha remained in touch, her help would be invaluable. “Right, but I gotta start somewhere and I’m likin’ Martin Krause or Kane Diermeyer right now. They’re both in positions that draw young kids, and they’d both have motive.”

“I’ll check again, but I think they both had alibis.”

“Alibis don’t mean squat. If one of them is a choreographer, he ain’t the one doin’ the dancin’.”

“I guess.” Tasha stepped closer to the board and pointed to a note under Gemma’s name. “What the heck is this, ‘Gemma’s dream’?”

TJ sighed. “Could be nothin’. Long story, kinda woo woo.”

Tasha sat down again, eyes wide. “I
love
that stuff!”

After warning Tasha it had to be in confidence, TJ told her about Gemma’s sleep paralysis and her claim to have out-of-body experiences. She explained about Lucian and Drucilla’s twisted relationship and the therapist’s explanation that what Gemma saw may just have been something Gemma sensed, not something she had experienced through her night travels.

“Wow.” Tasha leaned back, her mouth agape. “You’re not going to believe this.” Any hesitancy gone, Tasha opened the file folder and shoved it over to TJ.

The folder held the DNA results from the assailants that were in the house during Sondra Jackson’s murder. TJ skipped to the bottom line on the report; she felt her neck tingle and the hair on her arms stiffen.

The DNA from the Chapman house and the Sondra Jackson murder matched.

The perps were related. Two of them, closely related.

Before TJ could comment, Tasha said, “I know you’re thinking it has to be the Krause kids. But just because we know the doers are related, it doesn’t prove it was them.”

TJ frowned. “Don’t forget Lucian was the last one to see Teschler the night his house blew up. And he was real shifty when I talked to him. His sister too. How about when you guys interviewed them?”

“I was off on maternity leave then. Brian talked to them, and I don’t remember him saying much about it.” TJ remembered Haymaker said that the interview with the Krauses hadn’t raised any red flags for him.

TJ stood facing her charts. “It would all fit, wouldn’t it? Those two are hinky enough to be doin’ the earlier sex trespasses too. They escalated for some reason, startin’ with that teenager, Madison Chapman. Maybe she made fun of Lucian at school or something like that. Then when they were in that house and recognized her, he pushed her down the stairs. He could be the guy you’ve been looking for, the one who was hangin’ around the Chapman girl.”

Tasha stood and poked TJ on the shoulder. “If you’re right about that, then they picked the Chapman house on purpose. The Chapman’s weren’t swingers. Maybe Lucian went there hoping to either scare or hurt Madison.”

“Or rape her. That was the break-in that changed things. After they killed the girl, just goin’ in and havin’ sex wasn’t enough anymore.”

“Or—after they did that, the ringleader saw the blood in the water and took advantage—had them do his dirty work for him.”