Curtains for the Condo Casanova, page 6
He raised a brow. “Ah. So you’re pretty much up to speed with where things stand. Good. I won’t have to go through preliminaries.” He leaned forward. “Here’s the thing. Patty has been one of your devoted fans for years. She’s the one who got me watching your show. It offered me something I wasn’t getting in my job, investigating murders.”
She started to remind him that the woman she portrayed was pure fiction but stopped. He knew that. And yet he still wanted to talk to her. Why?
“You’re probably asking yourself why I’ve turned to you instead of asking for help from one or more of the larger police departments in the area or even the state patrol,” he said. “I could and probably should do that, and that remains an option if you turn me down.”
“Turn you down?” she asked.
“I may not have any direct experience investigating murders, but I consider myself a logical man, and my logic tells me there’s a link between this man’s murder and something or someone in your condo building. I need an unbiased pair of eyes and ears on the inside.”
“I presume you mean me?” she asked, attempting to keep her tone devoid of emotion.
“Uh, yes.” He paused. “Now before you remind me you were just an actress reading your lines and that you’re not a real investigator, let me assure you I’m well aware of that. It’s the fact that you’re accustomed to being scripted plus the fact that you’re now an insider in that complex that makes you the ideal person to do this.”
This was incredible. He’d just described almost the same task Scottie had charged her with, except Scottie’s reason was to protect herself. Colman Goodhue’s reason was to protect his job and his department. The difference was that she could tell Scottie at any time that she wanted out because she was getting nowhere. Could she ask Goodhue for the same type of out?
“You’re not saying anything, Ms. Dane. Have I completely lost you or angered you?”
“Call me Marla, and no, you’ve done neither. I’m just surprised to be asked to help. On my show, the police were typically portrayed as scoffers.”
He chuckled. “If I was back on the force in St. Paul, I would probably be singing a different tune. But that’s not the case in this small community. My staffing resources are limited, although I have access to area crime labs, and like I said, the state police and larger area police departments, when necessary. None of my officers are trained investigators, nor have any of them shown any interest in that area. The one who conducted some preliminary interviews on this case came back shaking her head, afraid she’d done more damage than gathered any helpful information. That’s what brings me to you.”
“Option of last resort,” she said kiddingly.
He waved off her comment. “No, no, not at all. There’s one more piece to this I’ve put off mentioning until you showed interest.”
There was a catch. His offer was getting more and more intriguing. “Oh?”
“No cause for alarm. In fact, I think you’ll appreciate the extra assistance.”
Extra assistance? “And that would be?”
“You’re not the only eyes and ears I have in that building, although you’ve got the distinction of being new with a unique background. An old crony from my days on the St. Paul force happens to be one of your neighbors. His name is Rex Alcorn.”
“Rex?”
“Yes. Have you already met him?”
“He came to my aid the day I arrived and my sister wasn’t home to greet me. Did he already agree to help you? And me?”
Goodhue ran a tongue over his lips, then smiled mysteriously. “Not exactly. Let’s just say he’s at our service in repayment of an old debt.”
“I don’t understand,” she replied.
“No need for details at this time. If you say yes, he’s ready to meet with you as soon as possible.”
She wasn’t quite ready to sign on just yet. She took a few sips of water while she delayed. After what she thought was the appropriate amount of time to pause, she framed her response. “I’ll be happy to help you find the killer as long as we can agree on one thing.”
“Right. We haven’t talked compensation yet, have we?”
“Whatever you think is fair. No, what I need from you is your assurance that I can bow out at any time I feel this arrangement isn’t working. The same would go for you, of course.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Already talking about an escape clause? Should I be concerned?”
“Not particularly,” she rushed to say. “It’s just that I’ve never done this kind of thing before. For real anyhow. I don’t want to build up your hopes. But I’ll give it my best shot.”
“That’s all I ask,” he said. “Do we have a deal?”
She hesitated just a beat. This was crazy, but if Scottie and Patty and now the chief thought she could do this, why not give it try? “Deal.”
They shook on it.
“I’ll email you all my case notes and will check in with you soon,” Goodhue said. “And now, ladies, I’ll leave you to finish your meal. On me. And Ms. Dane, Marla, if you could get with Rex as soon as you’re done here, I’d appreciate it.”
Her husband was barely out of the room before Patty spoke. “Thank you. I can tell you think my husband’s proposal is beyond belief, but he’s a smart guy. He doesn’t do things he doesn’t think will work.”
“What do you think?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“Me? I’m just an innocent bystander here,” Patty replied, picking at the green salad she’d ordered.
Marla studied her while she waited for Patty to say more. When the other woman continued to pick at her lettuce and tomatoes, Marla laid it on the line. “Perhaps a bystander during the last few minutes. But innocent? No. I can’t help thinking this extraordinary idea originated in your brain instead of your husband’s.”
Patty attempted to glance away, but she couldn’t avoid Marla’s stare for long.
“Okay, okay. Guilty. Just between us, I’ll deny saying anything if you ever tell Colman or anyone else, including Rex Alcorn. Colman has found himself in over his head. After all the years he tried to get assigned to a homicide case without success, suddenly when he’s least prepared and not staffed to handle one, here it is. He rejected the idea of asking for your help initially until I remembered something he’d told me about his old pal Rex. I don’t know the details, but Rex seems to owe Colman a favor. A big one. I suggested he combine that with bringing you on board.”
“I thought it was something like that.”
“How did you figure it out?” Patty asked.
“Body language. I observed how you were almost mouthing the words for him, but you let him have center stage.”
Patty pushed a chili pepper to the side of her salad plate. “You’re good, Marla Dane. And notice I called you by that name and not Letitia Carruthers.”
“Nothing special about it at all. Just close observation.”
“Which is one part of what Colman wants you to do. The other part is to ask the right questions in the first place. Rex will be on board to help you analyze the responses.”
The woman should be in sales. Better yet, she should consider puppetry. She’d already demonstrated how well she pulled the strings.
seven
Marla didn’t have time to plan her first meeting with Rex Alcorn after Patty dropped her off at the condo complex because he called her as she was walking into the building. “We need to meet as soon as possible,” he said without preamble. “Come to my place. I’m in 502.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes,” she replied tersely. She needed time to get her mind around this new assignment. Five minutes wouldn’t be enough, but it was as long as she felt she could stall.
Fortunately, Kitty was still out. Marla wouldn’t have to tell her about her dinner with the wife of the chief of police until later. Kitty wouldn’t relax until she coaxed some kind of story from her. Bringing her up to speed about working for the police would be saved for another day.
She took a few minutes to wash her face and hands and sip a little water. After a quick glance in the hall mirror and a pat down of her hair, which had somehow survived the rainstorm the day she arrived, she took a deep breath and headed for the lair of Rex Alcorn.
She had no idea what to expect from this first meeting. She didn’t know him well enough to predict his mood or behavior, although from the brief encounter she’d had with him three days earlier, she wasn’t enthusiastic.
She only had a moment to take in his condo. The living room anyhow. The walls appeared to be a medium shade of gray under the numerous nature pictures hung throughout. A dark tweed sectional facing the TV took up most of the room.
“What’ve you got so far?” he said before she even sat down in a wine-colored easy chair.
Her hand automatically felt for the necklace beneath her top as she took in his attire. Tonight he wore a dove gray knit pullover and dark charcoal pants. The color combination set off his dark sapphire eyes and graying hair. Stop it, Marla. He’d asked a question. Time to focus.
She could bottom-line things just like him. “Drake Elliot was supposedly single. He dated, and I use the term advisedly, at least one female resident and probably more, maybe even my sister, who claims she rebuffed his advances.”
Rex nodded his head throughout her report but didn’t comment.
Marla continued. “He attempted to get the first woman to invest in some kind of event. No more information on that. His MO was to wine and dine her over several dates that turned into overnights at local motels. When she refused to invest, he dumped her at the restaurant, leaving her to pay the bill.”
She stopped.
“That it?” he asked.
“I just started this morning with time out for dinner, where I was propositioned by the local police chief to become one of his spies in the building.”
“I couldn’t find any criminal records on him. Not that he’s never been arrested, but I suspect the name Drake Elliot is an alias.”
“You have access to police files?” she asked, impressed even though she didn’t want to be.
“Limited, now that I’m no longer active. So we already have a suspect?”
She held up a hand. “Wait! She claims she’s innocent. She came to me before Chief Goodhue asked for my help. I started out doing this to help her prove she’s not guilty by hopefully finding the real killer. I’m not so sure I’m ready to share any more that I know about her with you at this point.”
He sat back, his two long arms straddling the arms of his own easy chair. “Then what good are you to this case?”
“I beg your pardon? I don’t recall the term ‘snitch’ being used when I was asked to help the Maple Knolls police with this case.”
He cocked his head. “Neither of us gets to pick and choose who is guilty of this murder. That’s Rule Number One. No, actually Rule Number One is that only one of us can be in charge, and that’s me.”
She came out of her seat. “According to who? You? Not Chief Goodhue. At least he didn’t mention anything like that when he asked for my help.”
“Surely you don’t think your creds as a fake PI qualify you to be in charge?”
“I never said that. But I don’t plan to report to you, either.”
He slammed both hands against his seated thighs. “What do you suggest then?”
She had to think fast. She had no idea how this should work, other than she didn’t want to take orders from the man. “That we approach this assignment as a team. Surely you’re familiar with that term from your police days?”
“Of course, but how do you see it working? We take turns being in charge? You get even days and I get the uneven ones?”
“No. Forget that approach, and not just because in some months there are more uneven days than even,” she replied, feeling like a kid smarting off to a parent. “I suggest we lay out an investigation plan now, break it down into its major parts and each of us take responsibility for those different areas.”
Rex scraped his hands up and down the chair arms. “You might as well know, I’m not keen on doing this. I haven’t spoken to Goodhue in ages. It’s not like we’re bosom buddies. We never were back in the old days, either. But I owe him, and I only agreed to help track down the killer to get me out from under that obligation.”
She was aware of Goodhue’s hold over him but until now didn’t know how much that bugged him. “So much for explaining why you signed on, but what about my suggestion regarding the division of work?” she asked.
“Fine,” he said dismissively. “If it gets us moving.”
“I didn’t bring my laptop. Do you have one?”
“No. I do everything on my phone. Why?”
“I thought we could lay out our plan on a computer,” she said.
“I’ll put it in the Notes app on my phone. What do you want to include?”
She wrinkled up her forehead. “I, uh, thought that’s why you were along for the ride?”
He scratched his head. “You’re saying I can’t be in charge but it’s up to me to come up with a plan?”
She considered. It did sound a bit presumptuous on her part. “Not the whole thing. Just get us started. How did you find killers back in St. Paul?”
He didn’t reply immediately. “Start at the beginning, I guess,” he said finally.
“The beginning? You mean when the body was found?”
“No. The beginning means breaking down our action steps. Maybe not in order; we can fix that later.”
“Okay. What’s the first step?”
“Let’s start with the overall goal, identifying who wanted him dead and who could’ve done it,” he said.
“And we do that how?”
“By talking to people, starting with those in the building,” he said.
“Do you think we might have to go beyond the building?”
“Depends on what we learn from people here or if no one in this building fits the bill.”
“I’ve already spoken to Tom Casey and got his take from whatever his coffee group said about Elliot.”
“Good.”
“And I’m planning to attend a wine and cheese party tomorrow night put on by the singles’ social group.”
“Even better. They ask me every time they get together. Seems they’re perpetually short of single men. I turn them down most of the time. Will it look suspicious if I go also?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Will it? What kind of reputation do you have in the building?”
He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You’ll have to ask the others about that. I try to stay blissfully unaware of everyone else.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Good one, Alcorn. From what little I’ve been told, you seem to know everything that happens in this building. A plus for Goodhue besides your law enforcement training.”
Now he laughed. “You give me too much credit, but I’ll take it.”
“Back to this plan. How do we talk to people? So far, my wits have gotten me by, but I need more to back me up. The next item needs to be coming up with questions.”
“I suppose you think that’s my job,” he said.
“That’s one task I think we can both handle,” she replied. “I’ll try to recall some of the questions my alter ego, Letitia Carruthers, would ask.”
“Okay, as long as whatever we ask gets us closer to the truth. To do that, we must analyze and filter everything we learn. That’s another step.”
“You should probably add information-gathering. We’ve already done some of that, but we’ll need to keep researching to verify what we learn along the way.”
Their dialogue continued for several more minutes. “This is a pretty good plan,” Marla said at length, having gotten up to read over his shoulder.
“As much as it pains me to say it, we’ll have to continue to check in with each other frequently,” Rex said.
“Don’t sound so aggrieved, Alcorn. We’re gonna make a great team, as long as we treat each other as equals.”
He rolled his eyes but didn’t object. “Let’s meet tomorrow morning and go over things again.”
By the time they met at ten the next morning, she’d received the case notes from Goodhue. The case notes included a more specific description of the cause of death, including the fact that the victim had been drugged. The medical examiner estimated time of death between two and four in the morning. The package also held printouts of his Social Security and tax information, his credit card charges, telephone log, texts and emails. The first officer on the scene and investigating officer reports were also there, including Scottie’s responses when questioned, word for word. No need to continue to hide the fact that Scottie was a suspect or at least a person of interest. Rex had probably known her identity the night before and just put Marla through the wringer to see what she’d do.
Devouring the sum of Elliot’s life, what little the police had been able to find on the man, kept her reading until midnight. Hopefully this morning she could stay awake as she and Rex planned their day.
“What did you pick up from Goodhue’s case notes?” Rex asked before she had a chance to sit down.
“Good morning to you, too, partner,” she replied, seating herself on one end of the sectional without invitation. “My main takeaway is that we know more about him dead than we do alive.”
“Yeah, that was my impression as well. Not a good start. We have a lot more to discover about the man. Where do you suggest we start?”
“We reinterview Scottie Richards. You should’ve told me last night you already knew she was the person the police had questioned instead of letting me refuse to give up her name. Not the best start of our partnership.”
Her comment didn’t appear to throw him. “I wanted to see how loyal you’d be to her,” he replied. “Loyalty can work against you sometimes when you let it count more than the truth.”
He had a point, but she still didn’t like having been put on the spot the night before. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said.
