False Front (Lucinda Pierce) Page 10

  Lucinda sighed. ‘What’s the latest from your oncologist, Audrey?’

  ‘Doctor Ringo, if you don’t mind, Lieutenant. Who told you I have an oncologist?’

  ‘Everybody knows, Audrey. Your bout of breast cancer is not a secret.’

  ‘It is, too. If I hear anyone else speak of it, I’ll know they got it from you. And you will regret that,’ the lab director shouted into the phone, then slammed down the receiver.

  Lucinda sighed again. No good deed goes unpunished. Last time I show concern for the health of that red-headed witch. She looked at her watch. Time for her appointment with the district attorney.

  When she walked into Michael Reed’s office, he looked up and said, ‘You just can’t pass up an opportunity to make my job difficult, can you?’

  ‘I imagine that means you’ve heard about the stay.’

  ‘Why didn’t you come to this office first?’

  ‘It seemed so routine, Reed. I didn’t think I needed the big legal guns.’

  ‘Well, obviously you thought wrong. They are so connected. I got a call from the mayor, three councilmen and even an underling at the governor’s mansion. Scott Technologies is a sacred cow. Do you know how much money they bring into this state?’

  ‘I never considered money more important than a person’s life.’

  ‘There you go again – acting all self-righteous on me. Any time a little political maneuvering is in order, you get on your high horse and act like you’re too good to sully your hands with diplomacy. What am I going to do with you, Pierce?’

  ‘I’ve never shied away from diplomacy, Reed, but I will not compromise my principles nor curtail my investigation of a homicide simply because it’s not politically convenient for your office. Is Tess Middleton among your campaign contributors?’

  ‘That is irrelevant.’

  ‘Is it? And is she?’

  Reed pursed his lips. ‘Yes. If you must know, she has given to my campaign in the past. Not this year, though. She’s funneling her money into her own campaign.’

  ‘Are you supporting her?’

  ‘Does that really matter?’

  ‘I think so. Full disclosure and all that.’

  ‘They’ve asked but I haven’t endorsed anyone yet. I need to back the winner, whoever that will be. Right now it’s too close to call.’

  ‘If the odds look better, you might want to think about it a bit. I got the impression from the corporate attorney that there has been quite a bit of law enforcement interest in her company. Might not look good if you endorse her one day and the next someone serves her with an indictment.’

  ‘Do you know something I don’t?’

  ‘I’ve told you all I know.’

  ‘Can you check with that FBI friend of yours?’

  ‘I don’t think that would be appropriate.’

  ‘Oh, c’mon, professional courtesy. A little pillow talk and nobody is the wiser.’

  Lucinda stalked out of his office without another word. She stormed down the three flights of stairs and into her office. She wished she had a door on her cubicle so she could slam it. How dare he bring my personal life into an investigation? How dare he be so presumptuous to assume I am sleeping with Jake? She folded her arms across her chest and stewed for a moment.

  She badly wanted to snap at someone to release her pent-up anger. Unfortunately, Kristen took that moment to step into the doorway of her office. ‘Lieutenant, someone called for you while you were upstairs. He sounded very angry.’

  ‘Who was it?’

  ‘He didn’t leave his name.’

  ‘Then why are you even telling me? What purpose does it serve? Someone else is pissed at me. So what? Can I figure out the reason why without knowing who it is? No. Next time, get the name.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Lieutenant, I—’

  ‘Sorry doesn’t solve the problem, does it, Kristen?’

  The moment Kristen stepped back into the hall Lucinda regretted venting on the poor, underpaid, overworked staffer. She picked up the phone and called the Giant Cookie Company. For a fee, they would take rush orders. She asked them to write Kristen’s name on the cookie and attach a note that read, ‘I’m sorry, Kristen. Lieutenant Pierce.’ They promised to deliver within the hour. Lucinda hid in her office until they did.

  Busy with paperwork, she almost paid no attention to the squeal of delight from the front desk. She stood up and stepped into the hall just in time to collide with an excited Kristen. ‘You’re forgiven, Lieutenant. Nobody has ever done anything so sweet for me before.’ She wrapped her arms around the detective and gave her a hug. Lucinda felt even worse now. No one has ever been that nice to her? And I had to chew her ass out without cause before I was?

  Awkwardly, Lucinda patted the receptionist on the back. Kristen skipped back up the hall, pausing at the corner to wave her fingers back at her and shout, ‘Thank you!’

  Lucinda returned to her paperwork and was just about caught up when her cell phone rang. ‘Pierce.’

  ‘I’ve had it with you, Lieutenant.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘You know what I’m talking about. I called you at your office number earlier and you refused to take my call. It took me a while to find your damned card with your cell phone number on it.’

  Am I supposed to apologize because Frank Eagleton can’t keep his collection of business cards straight? Lucinda wondered. ‘I wasn’t in the office earlier.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you return my call?’

  ‘Because you didn’t leave your name, Mr Eagleton. All I knew was that an angry person called.’

  ‘I guess that means I’m not the only person you’re harassing this week. Gee, and I thought I was special.’

  ‘Mr Eagleton, all I did was call and leave a message with your secretary to inform you that your house had been released and you were free to occupy it again.’

  ‘Oh, yeah, the timing of that was a dead giveaway.’

  ‘Mr Eagleton, you are not making any sense to me.’

  ‘Right. Play dumb. You lured me to my home so you could sic your goon on me. And he can act all innocent while he asks to speak to my wife. My dead wife. That’s sick, Lieutenant.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I know you sent him over here. You are so transparent.’

  ‘Mr Eagleton, I sent no one to your home. Did a police officer come there?’

  ‘As if you don’t know. No, Lieutenant. He was wearing a sheriff’s department uniform. But that didn’t fool me. I know you sent him. I know you guys all stick together. And I’m warning you. When I said if you wanted to talk to me you needed to go through my attorney, I was serious – dead serious. And if you or one of your goons bothers me again, we’re going to file a lawsuit against you and your department.’

  ‘Mr Eagleton, please,’ she said before she heard the dial tone. She stood for a moment, lost in thought. What did it mean? Did someone from one of the sheriff’s departments stop by his house? If so, why? Or did someone connected with Candace’s death visit posing as a deputy? If so, what did they want to know? Is Frank’s life in danger? Or is Frank just full of crap? She brought up the area law enforcement directory on her computer.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Jane Salvadore’s office was a refuge of neat located through a door behind the counter in the chaotic main office of the high school. Neat enough, Jake thought, to be obsessive. The woman herself was just as tidy and picture perfect. Her nails cut close and freshly manicured. Her hair coifed just so with every strand in place, and an understanding smile spread across her face.

  When Jake mentioned Dylan, her expression fell into a frown. ‘That poor boy,’ she said. ‘He was so troubled.’

  ‘What was bothering him?’

  ‘I never could figure that out. I opened doors for him to talk to me but never touched any deeper than the surface. But I know he was struggling. It was in some ways typical adolescent angst but beyond that there was something deeper. I sus
pected it was something for which he had a great deal of shame or anxiety.’

  ‘What about Todd Childress? Do you know what was going on between Todd and Dylan?’

  ‘I do know that Todd tormented him. Todd is a bully. He pushes around a lot of kids but seems to lose interest in them quickly. On the other hand, Dylan was his constant target in the last few months. Why? I don’t know. But Dylan seemed a bit more sensitive than the average boy – at least more demonstrative about it – maybe it was that. It was as if he held a painful secret inside that he was afraid to share but somehow Todd knew what it was.’

  ‘Did something happen to set Todd off?’

  ‘There was a fight in the shower of the boys’ locker room after gym class. They were both naked and wet. The PE teacher broke it up and neither boy would tell us what it was all about. But Todd has been on Dylan’s back ever since.’

  ‘How was Dylan doing in class?’

  She flipped open a file folder on her desk and scanned the contents. She pulled out three report cards, opened them and spun them to face Jake. ‘As you can see, he had excellent grades until the last two reporting periods. A lot of A’s and a few B’s in his sophomore year. More A’s and fewer B’s in his junior year. Not a C in sight. His senior year started out fairly well – more B’s than A’s, but still . . . Now D’s and F’s are more common. He stopped turning in homework even though it seemed as if he completed his assignments.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Two of his teachers saw him drop papers into the trash can as he walked out of the room. Each one pulled it out when he left and realized that it was the completed homework assignment that he claimed he hadn’t done. It really made no sense. But then teenagers often don’t.’

  ‘Have you talked to his teachers?’

  ‘Oh, have I. Dylan was well liked by the faculty. He seemed to have better social skills with adults than he did with his peers. He was polite to his teachers. He did his work. He studied. When it all fell apart they were perplexed. I was asked if his parents had divorced, if he’d lost someone close to him, all the usual torments. Or if he’d started using drugs or drinking alcohol. We had some sessions with his parents trying to get to the bottom of what was going on in Dylan’s life but they were as clueless as we were. That’s when I began to suspect he was depressed or had some other serious mental health issue. I told Seth and Martha that they needed to get help for Dylan.’

  ‘It sounds as if you have no doubts about the conclusion that Dylan committed suicide?’

  She shook her head. ‘If you try to be suspicious that it’s something more, you come up with Todd Childress. Have you met him?’ she asked.

  Jake nodded.

  ‘He’s been a rather obnoxious boy of late. He acts all tough but, believe me, he’s one of the biggest babies in the school and he’s a coward. Are you going to be talking to any of Dylan’s friends?’

  ‘Does he have any close relationships besides Becky Carpenter?’

  ‘Other than her I can’t think of anyone he’s close to. In fact, he seemed to have pushed everyone away this year except for her. But there were other friends before that. I called them into my office to see if they were having grief issues after Dylan’s death. A couple of them were angry that he took his life. The rest appeared indifferent. But I think that was an act. The whole student body was rocked by his suicide – even kids who didn’t know him. Most of them want to attend his memorial service but no one seems to know when that will be. Do you?’

  Jake shook his head, unwilling to share that Dylan’s father was the reason for the delay.

  ‘Ready for the nickel tour? Get an idea of the lay of the land?’ she asked.

  ‘Lead the way.’

  Walking out into the hallway, she said, ‘If I see any students that knew Dylan well at any time, I’ll point them out.’

  ‘I don’t want to question any of the kids without their parents present.’

  ‘Of course not. But who knows what one of them might volunteer,’ she said and flashed him a smile.

  She pointed out the library and named the teachers behind each closed door and whether or not Dylan had been in one of their classes. Jake wondered if she knew all of her students that well.

  At the door to the boys’ locker room, Jane stopped. ‘I don’t like going in there unless it’s a genuine emergency. Tends to make everyone uneasy – including me. But I thought you might want to go in and see where the fight took place.’

  Jake pushed open the swinging door and the smell hit him – the odor of mildew, percolating hormones, stinky feet and sweaty adolescent bodies. Memories of his high school days rushed back. This place was one of the cruelest on earth. Ridicule for any perceived defect – the boy with big feet, the one with a prominent birth mark on his back, the one with the pimply butt. And God help any boy with a smaller than average penis. Jake never instigated any of the harassment over that deficiency but he was always willing to join in the laughter at the other boy’s expense. At the time, it seemed the right thing to do. Now, it left him with a sense of shame. How would he have reacted if one of the boys he’d ridiculed had committed suicide? Was that Dylan’s problem – a small penis?

  He knew that if he had any problem with an emotional component when he was in high school he wouldn’t dare talk to his friends; he would talk to his mom or one of the girls. But would he even have considered that if the problem was penis size? That afternoon’s interview with Becky Carpenter took on a new importance. Does she know his secret?

  Back in the hall, he asked, ‘Do you know if there was anything unusual about Dylan’s body? A scar, a mark, or—’

  ‘Or a small penis? You guys are so obsessed with that. I wouldn’t know. Neither he nor his parents ever said anything about that. One of his PE teachers might have known – but maybe not. They’re so careful in the locker room – they don’t want to be accused of staring at the boys’ bodies. I don’t think they really see them.’

  The possibility of more conversation temporarily came to an end with the ringing of the class bell. Students erupted from classrooms with their thundering feet and babbling voices.

  Jane nodded and smiled as one student after another acknowledged her presence with a simpering sing-song, ‘Hello, Mrs Salvadore.’ Then her expression changed without warning and Jake followed her gaze. ‘Eli! Eli!’

  A small young man turned towards her and walked in her direction. Unlike most of the teenagers, he didn’t slouch. He stood as rigidly upright as he could as if he believed it made him look taller. ‘Hello, Mrs Salvadore.’

  ‘Eli, this is Agent Lovett from the FBI.’

  Eli’s eyes widened. ‘FBI? Is somebody getting busted?’

  ‘No,’ Jane said with a laugh. ‘Agent Lovett is not here on an investigation. He’s just trying to help Dylan’s parents come to grips with what happened.’

  Eli’s head dropped and he stared at the floor. ‘Oh.’

  ‘You and Dylan were pretty good friends, weren’t you?’

  ‘We were. I mean, like last year – even the beginning of school this year. But then, like, he freaked out. He didn’t want anybody near him. You got too close and he’d back away.’

  ‘Do you know what was bothering Dylan?’

  Eli shrugged. ‘I really need to get to class, Mrs Salvadore.’

  ‘Go ahead, Eli,’ she said. ‘Well, that wasn’t much help. Let’s swing by the cafeteria. It’s time for the third and final lunch period of the day.’

  The noise level in the cafeteria was even higher than it had been in the hallways during class change. In there, hundreds of simultaneous conversations mingled with the ring of dropped silverware, the slam of trays slapped on tables, the clatter of serving spoons against stainless steel bins as workers scooped food onto students’ plates.

  ‘Not an environment conducive to good digestion, is it?’ Jane said with a laugh.

  ‘I won’t be bringing a date here.’

  ‘Oh, look,’ she
said, pointing across the room. ‘There’s Becky Carpenter.’

  ‘The blonde?’

  ‘Yes. The one in the black T-shirt and black jeans.’

  She was a petite girl with a pretty face but her expression was so solemn and sad, Jake had a hard time imagining it with a smile.

  ‘She’s so quiet, it’s painful,’ Jane said. ‘She’s not one of my students but her counselor told me that it takes a major effort to get her to say anything but “yes,” “no” or “I don’t know.”’

  ‘Great. Her mother’s supposed to bring her in to talk to me this afternoon. That’ll be a fun conversation.’

  ‘Good luck with that.’

  They made their way back to the front of the school. As they stood in front of the doors to the outside, Jane said, ‘I am nearly certain that Dylan committed suicide but if I’m wrong, I want you to find whoever hurt that boy and hold him accountable.’

  ‘Any idea who that might be?’

  ‘I know I mentioned the Childress boy but I’m sure he couldn’t have done it. He doesn’t have it in him. I guess if I were theorizing about possible culprits, I’d look closer to home. I’d look at Seth O’Hara.’

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Lucinda called the sheriffs of Powatan and Goochland Counties without any luck. Her fortunes changed when she placed a called to Hanover County. ‘Yes, I paid a visit to 2210 Churchill Lane. I called your chief and gave him a heads-up first. Is there a problem?’

  Lucinda rolled her eyes at the knowledge that the chief was aware of his visit. It boggled her mind to think that he didn’t recognize the address where a leading citizen was recently murdered. ‘No problem with your call on the house but I got a blistering phone call from Frank Eagleton. He thought I put you up to it.’

  ‘He’s an ass. He went nuts before I even talked. What’s his problem? I mean, I know his wife just died but there was no need to talk to me like that.’

  ‘Sheriff, do you know how his wife died?’

  ‘Nah. Eagleton didn’t say.’