Tumbled Graves (6 page)

K
ala
finished her Tim Hortons coffee and tossed the cup into the garbage can on her way to the morgue. She wasn't looking forward to spending the next couple of hours with Fiona Gundersund, her partner's on-again, off-again wife. The way Fiona watched her when nobody else was looking made Kala uncomfortable. Behind the direct stare was a barely hidden dislike and Kala had a good idea why. Fiona saw any woman connected to her husband as a threat. She was territorial. An emotional leech. A wife who wasn't going to let go of him even if she was getting it on with other men. Kala had heard the rumours. She thought Gundersund might be a fool for his devotion but she wasn't going to get involved in his pitiful personal life. She'd done the relationship thing with a separated married man once before and never again. Especially not with her work partner.

Even if she found the kindness in the man attractive.

She pushed open the door to Fiona's workshop and crossed over to the slab where Fiona was preparing to cut into Adele Delaney's corpse. Classical music provided a soothing background to the whirring sound of a saw. The air was chilly and the smells disturbing but Kala normally took
autopsies
in stride. She'd shot and dressed deer in a past life. Only the violence of what had been done to Adele made this a difficult viewing. Even in death, Adele's face was strong-boned in perfect symmetry, light reflecting off the golden highlights in her long brown hair. She'd been a good-looking woman and Ivo Delaney was far from a catch. Kala tried to reconcile the idea of the two of them together, but failed.

Fiona turned off the saw and looked at Kala through her protective glasses. Her long blond hair was tucked under a plastic cap. “Nice of you to join me, Detective. Your timing's perfect. Ivo Delaney identified her this morning so everything is in order. The man could barely stand, he was so distraught. I think they took him directly to the hospital. I'm about to start cutting open her chest.”

Kala nodded. “You're not wasting any time on this one.”

“Rouleau's lucky it's been a slow month. I have nothing else pressing at the moment.”

“Do you know what killed her?”

“You weren't at the crime scene this morning with Paul?”

“No.”

Kala watched the expressions flit across Fiona's face as she assessed this information before she spoke. “It was likely the knife wounds in her stomach. She bled out but not where her body was found. Her abdomen is a mess.” She whipped the sheet away from Adele's body to show the jagged gashes that crisscrossed Adele's stomach. It looked as if an operation had been performed without the final suturing to close the openings. “It would have taken a lot of stitches to close these wounds, as you can see. Not that any surgeon would have made a mess like this.”

Kala frowned. Why had the killer carved up Adele's stomach? Was there a message in choosing to brutalize this part of her body? To disfigure a woman so terribly seemed personal. Angry. The door behind Kala opened and she turned. Bennett nodded hello and came over to stand next to her. He took one look before averting his gaze from the table.

“Rouleau sent me to observe.”

“Your first time?”

“Yeah. Does it always smell so bad?”

Kala exchanged a glance with Fiona. Fiona's lips curved up and she turned on the saw. The whirring noise cut off conversation. She lowered her head and began cutting into Adele's ribs.

Kala nudged Bennett with her elbow. She leaned in and spoke loudly into his ear. “If you need to get some air, just step outside. I can fill you in later. The first time is always the hardest.”

“I can handle it.” A muscle twitched in his square jaw.

“Of course.”

Fiona was skillful and methodical, Kala would give her that. She spoke into a microphone and recorded her findings as she went. By the time she'd removed and weighed Adele's heart, Bennett was the colour of a pierogi.

Kala took pity. “Ready to make a coffee run?”

“Sure.”

He didn't need to be asked twice. Kala figured he wouldn't be in any rush to get back. Twenty minutes later she got a text from Bennett that he'd been corralled by Rouleau. He was on his way to the Delaney house to help with the search for Violet. He was sorry about the coffee. Kala smiled to herself before turning her attention back to Fiona and the work at hand.

“I've never seen anything like this before. Someone removed several of her internal organs, including her uterus, appendix, and spleen. I've heard of killers cutting off fingers so the victim can't be identified, but never this. It's … bizarre.” Fiona jumped up to unplug the whistling kettle. The autopsy had finished late in the afternoon. She turned her back on Kala and filled the teapot with water, then placed the pot and two cups on the desk between them. “I have sugar but no milk.”

“Black is fine.”

Fiona mashed the teabags with the back of a spoon before pouring. She handed Kala a mug with the words “Made in Canada” stamped on the side. Kala wondered if the double entendre was intentional. Fiona took a sip and sat back in her leather chair. “Heaven. My arms are aching.” She looked over at Kala and continued their conversation about the autopsy as if no break had occurred. “So what do you make of it?”

“Not sure yet.”

“She died somewhere else but not long before she was dumped on the highway. The marks on her face were from being tossed onto the pavement from a moving vehicle.”

“So time of death?”

“I'd say between seven and eleven that evening. She had bruising on her wrists and ankles from being tied up. I found sores on her mouth from been gagged. How was her marriage?”

“Her husband said all was going great.”

“Do you believe him?”

“We're looking into their relationship, but it's tough since they were reclusive for the most part.” Kala wasn't keen to speculate at this point in the investigation. Fiona seemed in tune with her thoughts because she shifted subjects after another sip of tea.

“I guess you've heard that Paul and I aren't together at the moment.”

Kala held up both hands. “None of my business.”

“I know you say that, but the station is a small family. Anyhow, I just want you to know that Paul and I've weathered a lot. I'd like to get back with him but he's tentative, even though we've gotten, well, intimate again. I hope … well I hope that you'll respect that we're trying to make our marriage right.” She opened her blue eyes wider as if she was opening herself to Kala.

Kala's cellphone beeped.
Saved by the bell
, she thought. She lifted the phone from the desk where she'd set it and clicked on Paul Gundersund's text. Meeting at the Merchant in ten. She thumbed in an okay before standing and looking down at Fiona.

“I have a debrief to get to. Sorry to run. I wish you well getting your marriage back on track. Believe me that you have nothing to worry about on my account. I meant it when I said your relationship with your husband is none of my business.”
And you don't need to know that I'm off to meet him now.
“Thanks for the tea.”

Ten minutes later, Kala was in her truck heading down Division Street to Princess. The Merchant Tap House was at the bottom of Princess, not far from the Holiday Inn that looked out over Lake Ontario. She and Gundersund liked to meet at the Merchant when they had notes to compare. She found a parking spot a street over and was only fifteen minutes late when she walked in the front door. She checked out the main room first before crossing the hall to the smaller room to the right of the main entrance. Gundersund looked up from his beer and smiled at her. Rouleau was with him. She slid into the empty seat between them. A waitress arrived immediately afterward with a cranberry soda and lime.

“I took the liberty of ordering for you.” Gundersund grinned. “On me.”

She took a swallow and set the glass down. “Thanks. I think my drinking habits are getting predictable.”

“Not at all.”

She looked at Rouleau. “Any word on the child?”

“Nothing yet. Bennett and Woodhouse are still at the Delaneys. I expect they'll be closing down for the night. Her body could be anywhere with the currents. She might have gotten lodged somewhere but so far, no sign.”

“Has Ivo Delaney confessed to anything?”

“He's in the hospital. He insisted on seeing Adele's body against everyone's advice, so the ambulance made a stop at the morgue before taking him to the General. The psychiatrist he's been seeing has been called in to check him out.”

“He's been having mental problems? Can't say that I'm surprised.”

“I haven't been able to reach the doctor to get any details, but we understand that Ivo has an underlying condition. We'll need to follow up and hopefully get some information that isn't doctor-patient protected. We're in the process of getting a search warrant to go through his house and car. A judge should be signing off within the hour.”

Kala grimaced. “What a mess. From the autopsy, whoever killed Adele Delaney appears to have been either a sadist or mentally ill.” She repeated the results of Fiona's observations. “So what time do you want me to meet you at the Delaney house tonight?” She caught the briefest of eye contact between Rouleau and Gundersund. She fixed her eyes on Rouleau.

“You don't need to come out tonight. Gundersund and I will be there, as will Woodhouse and Bennett.”

“But …”

Rouleau held up a hand. “It's overkill to have all of us there. You're better off spending time with Dawn this evening and getting a good night's sleep.”

“I don't want special treatment because of my personal life. You could have called me in to the crime scene this morning.”

“We're a team and there'll be times when you have to carry more of the load when another member of our squad needs time to deal with their commitments.”

“I didn't ask for any favours.”

“I know, and none are being given. We're just doing some of the grunt work so you can get Dawn settled into your life. That's what well-functioning teams do.”

Gundersund ran his fingers across the scar on his cheek. He'd watched their exchange without comment. Kala was grateful when he broke the silence that descended by turning focus back to the case. It gave her a chance to hide her frustration.

“What would spark Delaney to drown his daughter and then mutilate his wife? What did we miss when we searched his property?”

Rouleau looked away from Kala and clicked on his cellphone. “You sent a message that Delaney was out in his car this morning when you arrived. Did he say where?”

“On a drive to clear his head in Bath, and home on Highways 33 and 2, although it could as easily have been the 401. I wonder if he would have been as forthcoming if we hadn't caught him returning home at six a.m.”

“The man just keeps looking more and more suspicious. If I had to guess, I'd say that he had her in the woods tied up and decided to get rid of her before the police stumbled across her body. We just didn't look in the right spot. How can we prove he didn't dump her on the 401 without a witness?”

The waitress returned with menus. Gundersund and Rouleau accepted but Kala declined. “It's getting late and I have to get home to my commitment.” She smiled at Rouleau to soften her words. “Thanks.”

“No thanks needed.”

“Do we have a plan of attack for tomorrow?”

Rouleau looked up at the waitress. “We need a few minutes. I'll motion you over when we're ready.” When she'd gone, he answered. “We'll give the search for Violet another day and will expand the search to take in more of the woods around the Delaney property. If we're lucky, we'll find where she was being held. I'd like you both to interview Ivo when we get the go ahead from the doctor. It might not be tomorrow though. I'd like you both to return and interview Adele's sister in Gananoque.”

Kala had forgotten about her. “Has she been informed?”

“Yeah. She decided not to view the body today. She wants to remember Adele alive. She's expecting you tomorrow around nine.”

Gundersund looked at Kala. “I'll pick you up at eight.”

Kala thought about turning him down but that made no sense. She was crazy to even think about how it would look to Fiona. “I'll be ready.” She stood. “Well, I'll leave you to it. If you find anything tonight, give me a call. I'm up until midnight.”

“You got it,” Rouleau said. “If you don't hear from me before then, Gundersund will fill you in tomorrow when he picks you up.”

T
aiku
met her at the door and led her into the living room where Dawn was huddled under a Hudson's Bay blanket on the couch. She lowered the novel she'd been reading to her lap when Kala sat down next to her.

Kala tried to get a bead on Dawn's mood but failed. “Sorry I'm so late again.”

“The missing woman and her daughter?”

“Yes. It's turned into a murder investigation.”

“That's horrible.”

“It is.” She paused. “I hate leaving you alone so much. How about I find someone to be here to meet you after school?”

“You mean like a babysitter?”

“More like a housekeeper. They could get supper going and clean up. They'd be company until I get home.”

Dawn frowned. “Taiku's all the company I need. I could get supper going if you tell me what you want to eat. I can tidy up too.”

Kala patted her leg through the blanket. “Have I told you what a great kid you are?” She paused. “I know how hard this has been for you and I'm sorry. I've never … I'm not used to looking after anyone but myself and you'll have to be patient with me.”

“It's okay.”

“I want you to know that I'm happy to have you with me for however long. You're family. I also need to talk to you about your mom and Gil.”

“I know about their sentences.”

Kala tried to keep the surprise from her face. “Did somebody contact you?”

Dawn shook her head. “I searched their names in the news on Google. I've known for a few days. Are you sure that you want me to stay so long? They won't be getting out for a long time. Neither will my real dad.”

Nothing about wanting to contact her mom. Kala wondered at the toughness of this child. The wounds must lie deep. She chose her words with care. “I want you here as long as you need me. We can help each other.”

Dawn looked at Kala. “Then we won't be alone.”

“No, because we'll have each other.”

Dawn was silent for several seconds. The flash of vulnerability disappeared from her face replaced by an empty stare. “Okay.” She picked up the book from her lap. “I want to finish this chapter before supper.” She lowered her head, effectively ending the conversation. Kala watched her for a moment. The timing never was going to be right. She asked, “Do you want to visit your parents? I can make arrangements.”

Dawn kept her head down. “No.”

“Well, if you ever change your mind, promise you'll let me know.”

“I won't change my mind.”

“Well, if you ever do.”

Kala went into the kitchen and checked the cupboards. Grilled cheese sandwiches seemed like the right comfort food. She'd heat up some frozen chicken and rice soup to go with them. She was thankful for those marathon weekends of cooking she'd done the month before. The fully stocked freezer had turned into a godsend.

While the soup thawed in a pot on the stove, Kala leaned against the counter and looked through the window over the sink at the night sky. Until now, Dawn hadn't responded to any overtures to discuss the situation with her parents. It must mean something if she'd been searching out information on the Internet. She hadn't shut off her feelings altogether. Dr. Lyman would tell her not to read too much into this, to be patient and let Dawn reach out in her own time. Easier said.

Kala took the block of cheddar from the fridge. Ivo Delaney's face passed through her mind as she straightened and walked over to the counter. Had she been fooled by his mental illness? Her gut instinct had told her that he wasn't a killer. Now … well now the evidence was all pointing at him. Something had to account for the way he'd butchered his wife's stomach. Everything a killer did was driven by a reason, no matter how bizarre or twisted. Delaney would be no different. The work was to figure out the logic behind his behaviour. Hopefully, tomorrow Adele's sister, Leanne Scott, would give them the key.

Kala thought about Adele Delaney as she stirred the soup, a familiar uneasiness keeping her from closing off the case in her mind. What were they missing? Why had she married a man with mental issues? She'd walked into the bank and picked him out of all the men in the world. An attractive, self-possessed woman had chosen to live with a mouse of a man in the middle of nowhere. He'd hacked up her stomach and thrown their daughter into the river. If she were looking at this from Delaney's point of view, he was venting his rage on the part of her body that he hated most and the child they'd created. But why? Kala stood silently, holding the wooden spoon motionless in the air while she tried to make sense of the facts.

As if controlled by ESP, her cellphone buzzed from her handbag tossed onto the counter. She turned the heat down on the soup and grabbed the phone from the side pocket.

“Hello?”

“Kala, it's Fiona Gundersund. Sorry to bother you so late.”

“I wasn't doing anything much. How can I help you?”

“I think I'm the one who can help you. I was replaying the tape with my observations and something struck me as odd. I went back and had another look at Adele Delaney's body and think you might be very interested in what I found.”

Kala listened closely and stood for a long time looking out the window after Fiona signed off from the call, running over the facts of the case through her mind. This new piece of the puzzle didn't square with what they knew about the Delaney family. What they'd been led to believe about the marriage and the child.

They hadn't been asking the right questions.

As usual, Gundersund was right on time picking her up the following morning. The rain had stopped, although the clouds hung low and grey. Kala grabbed her windbreaker from the hook behind the back door and left Taiku with a promise to be home early. She jumped off the back deck and made her way to his Mustang idling in the driveway. She slid into the passenger seat and grunted a hello. Gundersund grunted one back. They didn't speak again until Gundersund pulled into the Tim Hortons drive-through on their way out of Kingston and yelled their order into the two-way speaker. Two coffees with cream, no sugar. Kala nodded at his questioning look and he added a couple of multigrain bagels with cream cheese.
We're becoming an old married couple,
Kala thought.

They ate in the parking lot with the radio tuned to a rock station. The sun was trying to break out from a bank of clouds but it was a tossup as to whether it would succeed. Gundersund took a look at the sky through the front windshield. “Calling for more showers after lunch. At least the search team will catch a break for a few hours at the Delaneys.” He crumpled up the wrapper from his bagel and tossed it over his shoulder before putting the car into drive. He looked over at Kala. “I guess we'll take the 401.”

“No point taking the scenic route.”

They hadn't gone far before they reached the place where Adele's body had lain on the side of the highway. All lanes were now open, the murder scene cleared away. Kala took a drink of coffee and scanned the road on both sides.

“It's a long, straight stretch of road before it starts climbing up the hill.” Gundersund glanced over at her. “Whoever did this would have waited until nobody was behind them and pulled over to push her out. They would have watched for approaching headlights, which would have been visible only for a short distance in the rainstorm.”

“So this exact location was likely opportunistic.”

“That would be my guess.”

“There should be traces of her blood in Ivo's car.”

“Unless he had her wrapped in plastic.”

“That strikes me as something he would do. Being an accountant, he'll have the anal gene.” She was quiet while she drank her coffee. A few kilometres farther on she said, “I read the report from your first interview with Leanne Scott. She said that she and Adele weren't all that close.”

“Yeah. According to Leanne, Adele moved to Montreal as soon as she could and lived a rougher life. There's a fifteen-year age difference.” Gundersund glanced over at her. “You appear to be pondering something.”

“I have a few questions for the sister.”

“Want to go over a strategy?”

“No, that's okay.”

They didn't speak again until they reached Gananoque. Kala had been past the town on the highway but never driven into it. She liked how the road wound along the lakeshore. “Pretty spot. Have you taken the boat tour of the Thousand Islands, Gundersund?” She watched a pained expression cross his face.

“Yeah. It's worth an afternoon if you have one to spare.”

Kala thought about taking Dawn one summer afternoon. A day trip might get her mind off the tragedies that were her parents. She might even open up about the robbery and the cross-country run with her mom and Gil Valiquette. The police believed Dawn had been in the car for all of it. So far, she wasn't talking.

Gundersund followed a few of the residential streets until he reached Elm. He drove halfway down and pointed to the black Ford truck in the middle of a driveway. “Must be the husband's. Name's Randy and he works at the Home Hardware on the highway. He wasn't home last time I was here.”

They parked on the street in front of the house and Gundersund led the way up the driveway to the front door. They stood silently while they waited for someone to answer the chiming doorbell. The door was yanked open by a bear of a man with a full grey beard, wearing a red checked hunting jacket and ball cap pushed back on his head. The rim of the cap was bent in the middle and reminded Kala of a duck's beak. He held out a hand. “Randy Scott. Good of you to come to us. The wife isn't up to leaving the house.”

Kala and Gundersund each shook his hand as they stepped inside. Kala immediately felt the chill in the hallway but it turned out to be warm compared to the living room where Leanne Scott, dressed in a pink nylon housecoat and bare feet, sat in a rocking chair, her fingers rhythmically clicking away on knitting needles. She was making what looked to be a pint-sized yellow sweater. As soon as she saw them in the doorway, she set aside the balls of wool and stood to also shake their hands. Her eyes were red from crying but her handshake was dry and firm. They took seats, forming a circle around the coffee table.

Leanne looked at her husband. “Offer the folks some coffee, why don't you, Randy.”

Kala opened her mouth to refuse but Gundersund beat her to a reply. “That would be great, thank you. We both take it with milk, no sugar.”

Randy exited and they heard the sound of his footsteps recede down the hallway. Leanne rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. “Won't take Randy long. I had him make a pot not ten minutes ago. I'd prefer to wait for him before we start discussing my sister.”

“Of course.” Gundersund leaned back as if they had all the time in the world.

Kala studied the needlepoint artwork of kittens and puppies on the wall next to the woodstove, which was unfortunately not in use. She shivered under her light jacket. Leanne met her eyes.

“Sorry about the lack of heat. I can't seem to take it much warmer than frigid anymore. Menopause is not all it's cracked up to be.”

“No problem.”

Randy clumped into the room and set a tray down on the coffee table. He handed out cups of coffee and sat back down in his leather chair. His eyes were pale blue and bulged like marbles from under a heavy forehead. “What can you tell us about Adele's death? Leanne and I are just starting to get our heads around the fact she was murdered.”

Leanne looked straight ahead. Her bottom lip trembled but she didn't cry.

Gundersund took the lead. “All we know is that somebody killed her in a different location and moved her body to the side of the 401 just this side of Kingston. A truck driver found her and called us. We're very sorry for your loss.”

Leanne's hands tapped up and down in her lap. “Did she … did she suffer?”

“No. We believe she died instantly.”

“Well, at least there's that.”

Kala knew this wasn't true but she didn't blame Gundersund for sparing them. She would have done the same.

Randy looked at Leanne then back at Kala and Gundersund. “And what about our niece? Is there any word on Violet?”

“Some of her clothes were found on a trail in the woods leading to the river. We've been searching for her, but nothing yet. However, I must tell you that the river is high with spring runoff and we might not find her body for a long time if she's in the river. Sometimes drowning victims are never found.”

Randy nodded slowly. “You're saying that somebody threw her in the river.” Leanne glanced over at him. They exchanged grim nods before Leanne looked down at her hands.

“It appears that way.” Gundersund waited a few beats. “Is there anything more you can tell me about who might want to hurt Adele and Violet?”

“No. I have no idea. We barely kept in touch, I have to say. Leanne must have told you that she and Adele took different paths in life. Leanne works at the family healthcare clinic in town part-time. She never left Gan but Adele went off to live in Montreal first chance she got.”

“You never had any kids?”

“No. Not for lack of trying.” Randy smiled, man to man.

Gundersund nodded as if in commiseration. “Did Adele ever speak about those years in Montreal?”

“Not really. Just said she was glad to settle down with Ivo in the country. She told us her wild days were over.”

Kala broke into the conversation. “How long have Ivo and Adele been married?”

“Not sure. Do you know, Leanne?” Randy turned toward her.

“Nearly three years, I guess.”

Kala also looked at Leanne. “So Violet is not Ivo's child?”

Leanne's jaw tightened. “We think of her as his child. Violet was just a few months old when they married, so he's the only father she's known.”