Murder one in midvale co.., p.16
Murder One in Midvale Corners, page 16
“Will do,” Penny said. She and JD headed out the door.
Later that afternoon, Kyle, Althea and Penny sat at the conference table. Their favorite mugs filled with fresh coffee, newly baked chocolate chip cookies in hand, they were ready to go to work.
“Dan Dunlap called me this morning,” Kyle said starting the meeting. “He faxed over the latest information about the bomb in Penny’s car. They gave me a list of what they found, which included gunpowder and pieces of a trigger drive. I can try to trace where they were bought, but they are pretty common items. He also said they might be able to get a fingerprint off some of the bottom of Penny’s car—the pieces are small—but he thinks they can use some special techniques to get some prints.”
“What about the art teacher AKA sketch artist?” Penny asked, turning to Althea. “Did she have any luck?”
“We’ll know by tomorrow. She and Rose are meeting again tonight after the library closes.”
“I hope we can recognize him,” Kyle said. “We need a break in this case. Dan did say that he’s been trying to convince Mike to adjourn the trial until he finishes the investigation of the bombing, but Mike is resisting. Unless you can get the judge to agree with you, Penny, I’m afraid we’ll just have to go along on what we have so far.”
“And, what do we have?” Penny asked, pushing away from the table. She stood up and began to pace. “I know in my heart that Horace didn’t kill Dick. But, so far, I can’t prove it, and Mike has all the evidence he needs to convict Horace. I know it’s all circumstantial but people have spent a life in prison on circumstantial evidence.
“And I’m worried about Horace. Ryan has him on some pills for depression, but he isn’t eating and doesn’t sleep well, which has Ryan worried.”
Althea and Kyle looked at each other. They were worried too, but they didn’t want Penny to know that.
“We’ll know more when I have the test results from our expert on the ear print and the hair. I’ll bet they don’t match Horace. I’ll interview everyone that had access to Jake’s house—someone took that gun from his gun cabinet—someone who knew where Jake kept the key.”
“Oh, please,” Penny said, “the key was on the top of the cabinet. Anyone could have found it there.”
“I know but I also know it wasn’t Horace.”
“And, Ethel will come up with a sketch of that man,” Althea said. “And I know we will find someone who saw Horace that night when he was walking around the village. I just know it.”
Althea stood and starting clearing the coffee cups and the empty cookie plate. Penny came over to help.
“Thanks,” she said. “I needed to hear that. I am truly grateful for your help. I’ll go back to my motions.”
“And we’ll go back to our investigation,” Kyle said. He and Percy, who had been sitting on the window ledge observing the humans talking, went out the door, closing it carefully behind them.
Around 5 o’clock, Penny came out of her office. “I put my motions in Dropbox,” she said to Althea. “Would you look them over in the morning—I don’t want any spelling or grammar errors—you know all those funny rules.”
Althea laughed, “I guess the fact I loved studying grammar in school is now being put to good use. I don’t know all the legal terminology, but I can check the spelling and grammar.”
“Thanks,” Penny said. “I want to file it in the morning so I can move on to the next step. Not sure what that will be right now, but I know I have to move on.”
Althea and Penny were performing the closing down tasks for the day when suddenly the fax came to life.
“Good grief,” Althea said, reading the document. “You’ve been appointed to represent a woman who was found living in her car with 15 cats. I can’t imagine where they were or what the car smelled like.”
“How could she get herself and 15 cats in a car?” Penny mused. “Where is she now and where are the cats?”
Althea kept reading the police report that was attached to the Notice of Appointment. “The cats are at the animal shelter. It seems they are fine. She is in the jail for the night because the shelter was full. She sounds like one of those ‘hoarder’ people. And, she’s homeless, too.”
Penny looked at the Notice. She had to be in court for the arraignment on Friday. She read that her client had been charged with animal cruelty.
“I need to meet with her. There is more to this than we see here.”
“I agree, but you can’t do anything about it now. Save it for the morning,” Althea said.
“You’re right. I’ll look into it tomorrow.”
Penny grabbed her criminal law book. JD came over ready to be on his way home. She snapped on his lead and went out the door. Althea followed, checking the locks to make sure all was safe. The ladies parted at the bottom of the steps, each going their respective ways.
The next evening promptly at 7 o’clock, Althea, Mary, Rose and Arney sat at their table in the back of the bookstore. Althea was filling them in on Penny’s day with the ‘cat lady.’
“She appeared at our door promptly at 9 o’clock this morning demanding that Penny get her cats back. She couldn’t seem to understand why anyone would care where she kept her cats. Penny spent over an hour with her. The strangest thing was JD. He liked her right away and lay by her feet the whole time she was there.”
“Was Penny able to help?” Mary asked.
“A little,” Althea said. “We found her a bed in the shelter and Penny explained that we had to go through the court process before she could even think about getting her cats back. I think she understood.”
“After she left we filed the motions for a change of venue in Horace’s case. Penny’s concerned that Horace will not be able to get a fair trial here. This modern world—we filed them all electronically, even sending copies to Mike through e-mail. No more paper and stamps. It is more efficient.”
“Well, to the business at hand. I hope we have some good news to report—Penny is discouraged and Horace is so depressed Ryan has him on medication.”
Rose reached down in her bag and pulled out an envelope. “I have the sketches that Ethel came up with. Mildred and I met with her last Saturday. Mildred was a big help. She sees so much.”
Rose pulled two sketches of a man’s face out of the envelope. “It really looks like him, I think,” she said, laying the sketches on the table.
“He looks familiar to me,” Mary exclaimed. “I’ve seen him.” She paused. “I seem to remember he was at the city clerk’s office, but it’s not clear. Could I get a copy? I’ll take it to work and see if the others remember.”
“He doesn’t look familiar to me,” Arney said. “But,” he laughed, “I rarely see people. I only see numbers.”
“What are the numbers telling you?” Althea asked. “They usually talk to you in ways I’ll never understand.”
“Well,” said Arney, sitting up straighter looking at each of them in turn, “they told me that Victor Miller withdrew over $30,000 from his bank account a day before Dick Boswick was killed.”
Mary was the first to react. “The rumors around the office were that Victor was going to be awarded that contract,” she exclaimed. “If Dick was taking bribes or kick-backs or whatever you call it, and Victor paid him the money, where did it go?”
“Assuming he was going to pay Dick then I wonder if he paid him that night and the killer got the money.” Arney said. “There was no mention of that much money in the police report, only a few hundred-dollar bills were found on Dick’s desk. And, if I remember correctly, no fingerprints were found on those bills.”
“Victor has been asking a lot of questions about what was found at the crime scene,” Mary said. “But he has to be careful. I’m sure he doesn’t want anyone to know that he was bribing a government official. Isn’t that a crime of some sort?”
“I’m sure so,” Althea said. “I’ll ask Penny. And I think Kyle should talk to Victor. And I’ll see that Kyle gets a copy of this sketch. He might know who this is. Oh, Rose, I have a list of the things they found when they investigated Penny’s car bombing.”
Althea reached down in her tapestry bag, pushing things aside until she found the envelope she was looking for.
“Here it is.” She handed it to Rose.
Rose opened the envelope, took out the list and began reading.
“I don’t know. They don’t look familiar. I was able to go back on the computer that the man in the sketch was using to find the list of the sites he visited that day. My grandson showed me how to do that. Did you know all those sites are stored in the computer? Well, it does make one think. Do we have any privacy left at all?”
Rose shook her head as she looked through the report.
“Sorry, Althea, I don’t see anything that’s familiar. Here is a copy of the list of sites from the computer,” she said, handing it to Althea. “Maybe Kyle can make sense of it. Oh, did I tell you all that I saw Fiona and Sally at Biff’s Barbecue out on Marshall Road? We were out there for a late dinner the other night. They were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn’t see us. I didn’t know they were such good friends.”
“They were best friends in high school. Maybe Fiona is helping the grieving widow. Well, we’ve made some progress today,” said Althea. She stood and reached for the sketch. “Mary, you need a copy of this sketch. Belinda has copier in the back. I’ll ask her to make a copy for us. If we find out who he is, that would be a big help. Then maybe we can discover if he had something to do with blowing up Penny’s car and if so, why. Kyle has his work cut out for him.”
Althea returned with copies, which she gave to each of the three sleuths. After clearing up and collecting their belongings, they moved through the bookstore to the door. When Arney opened the door to let the ladies precede him out to the street, a blast of cold wind blew in.
“I think we’re in for some snow. It has held off a long time, but it is November in Michigan,” Rose said, pulling her scarf snuggly around her neck. The others nodded. Waving their good-byes, they each hurried to their cars to get out of the cold, November wind.
Chapter 19
S aturday began with the remnants of a snowstorm that had dumped five inches of snow on Midvale Corners and surrounding areas. Because it was the first snowstorm of the winter and was not predicted to bring so much wet snow, the snowplows were moving slowly, cautiously driving around cars parked on the street in violation of the winter rules, which had caught the good citizens of Midvale Corners off guard.
Penny was driving the old Jag cautiously through the streets, following the snowplow where she could.
“It really is beautiful,” Penny said to JD, strapped in the back seat. “The bare limbs of the trees look pretty covered with the wet snow.”
Penny slowed for a turn onto Ash Street. She felt the back end of the car slide in the slushy street. She held on the steering wheel tightly, trying to remember how to drive a rear-wheel drive car in the snow. Turning into the skid, she straightened the car, and drove around the corner. She turned into the alley behind her building, which was still snow covered, but the car moved through it. She came to the small parking lot in back of her building, which had been plowed. She pulled into her parking space, turned off the engine, and sighed.
“We made it, JD. I’m not sure that I remember why we’re here, but we made it.”
She got out of the car, grabbed her briefcase and JD’s leash. After Penny released his seat belt, JD jumped out of the car. Penny unlocked the rear door. They went into the dimly lit hall heading for the stairs. Up they went to the second floor. JD’s good ear pricked up when he heard a familiar ‘meow.’ Percy came ambling down the hall.
Penny opened the door to her office careful to turn off the new alarm system her father had insisted be installed; she did not want the police coming with guns drawn. Although she objected when the installers arrived, she did feel a little more secure with it in place. Percy and JD followed her into the reception area. Penny went into her office, took off her coat, hanging it on the hall tree in the corner. She walked toward the small kitchen area when suddenly the door opened.
“I brought fresh scones,” Althea said bustling in. “I have fresh cream, too. Ours was starting to turn. After I get my coat off, I’ll start the coffee.”
“What are you doing here?” asked a startled Penny. “You do know its Saturday.”
“Of course, I know that, but I also know that Horace is coming in today and I suspect Kyle will be along and I have some things to report. And you know Kyle doesn’t like your coffee.”
“I know. I don’t like my coffee,” Penny laughed. “Horace should be here shortly.”
No sooner had she said those words than Horace opened the door. Ryan was with him. Kyle followed them into the office.
“Is it okay if Ryan is here?” asked Horace. “He can only stay for a minute or two. He’s been up all night. The emergency room was busy last night with the snow and all.”
“Of course, he can stay.” Penny said.
When the coffee was ready and all had their snack, they assembled around the conference table. Penny thought longingly of Gordon’s huge conference room with its view. Oh, well, some day. They were a bit cramped, but it was okay. It felt cozy.
Penny started, saying, “I wanted to tell you where we are on your case and I thought it would be good to do that when the phones weren’t ringing. I do have to caution you that the aura of lawyer confidentiality covers you, Horace, Althea and, of course, me, but doesn’t extend to Ryan or Kyle so if there is something you want to say that is strictly between you and I, then please wait until they leave.”
“Ryan knows as much as I do about all this. Of course, he can stay and hear whatever is said,” Horace said, placing his hand on Ryan’s arm. “And I suspect Kyle knows more than any of us.”
“Now, can I tell you what happened last night that might have a bearing on all this?”
Penny nodded; leaning in to hear what Horace had to say.
“Around five o’clock last evening, I was at home thinking about dinner. Ryan insists I eat so I’ve become the cook since I can’t go anyplace with this thing on my leg,” Horace paused, his eyes moistened.
Ryan patted Horace’s hand. “It’ll be off soon, dear. We’ll see to it.”
Penny, Althea and Kyle nodded. Althea handed Horace a Kleenex she pulled out of her pocket. “It’s a little dusty, but it will help,” she said.
J.D. padded over. He put his head on Horace’s leg.
After dabbing his eyes, he patted J.D.’s head and looked up.
“I know it will be okay, but it gets hard at times. At any rate,” he said, squaring his shoulders and sitting up in his chair, “the doorbell rang. I went to the door, opened it and there was Victor Miller. He was pacing back and forth on our front porch. I held the door open. He strode into the living room. I invited him to sit down suggesting he might want the chair by the fireplace. It is one of those huge chairs and I thought he might be more comfortable. He’s a big man, you know. Then I asked if he wanted some tea or coffee. He didn’t. He kept pacing.”
Penny began to shift in her chair. She knew Horace had to tell the story in his own way that she couldn’t rush it but that could be the very reason to keep him off the stand at the trial. She knew she might have trouble reining him in and she wasn’t sure how the jury would take Horace’s telling of his story.
Kyle sat with his pen poised over the blank yellow legal pad in front of him. Althea leaned back in her chair, held her coffee cup with both hands and waited.
“I know,” Horace said, looking up at the group, his eyes dry. “Get on with it, Horace. Ryan says I do go on and on sometimes.”
Ryan smiled.
“Okay, Victor accused me of taking his money. I could not figure out what he was talking about. He said I knew Dick Boswick took bribes and that he had given Dick $30,000 that night and it was missing and since I was the one who saw Dick last, I must have it. I don’t, you know.”
“Arney was right,” Althea murmured. She felt the group looking at her. “Oh, we learned at our meeting last night that Victor had taken $30,000 in cash out of one of his savings accounts.”
Penny and Kyle looked at Althea.
“I won’t ask how he found that out,” Kyle said, writing it down on his yellow legal pad.
“What else did Victor say?” Penny asked.
“Well, not much. I did suspect that Dick took bribes, but I don’t do business that way. Victor claimed when he left Dick he was alive and counting the money. He said he didn’t see me or anyone else when he was there so he assumed I killed Dick, which he didn’t much care about, he wanted his money back. He started yelling at me. I yelled right back. I told him, one, I didn’t kill Dick, and, two, there was no money on his desk when I saw him so the real killer must have the money.”
“He finally left after telling me if he found out I had the money, he would kill me himself and the state wouldn’t have the expense of a trial. I think he meant it.”
“Do you want me to call someone for protection?” Kyle asked. “I have some acquaintances that can be very effective.”
“Not necessary.” Ryan said. “We can take care of ourselves. Neither Horace nor I are unfamiliar with violence. We’ve both had our share of bullying. I’ve already called to have an alarm system put in the house. I can’t be there all the time and Horace is gone most of the day. He still has work to do. Not everyone has abandoned him. The men are coming this afternoon to install it. I paid extra to have it done on the weekend.”
With that, Ryan stood, taking the keys to his car out of his pocket. “I need to get some sleep. If this snow continues, the hospital will be busy again tonight.”
“I’ll give Horace a ride home,” Penny said.
Ryan reached the door, turned the knob, holding the door open he said to the group. “I do appreciate what you’re doing for Horace. I know all this will turn out well, but….”
