The dead of winter, p.20
The Dead of Winter, page 20
“I can’t get a pulse. Call nine-one-one.” He lay Sal flat on his back and began chest compressions.
As I waited for a dispatcher to answer my call, my heart fell. The bottle of xylazine was in one of Sal’s hands. A syringe was on the floor, a few inches away. I took a close look.
They were both empty.
Years of crisis response experience took over. When the dispatcher came on the line, I explained in a calm voice the situation and gave her a detailed description of where we were.
All the while, I watched, helpless, as Gabe worked valiantly to keep Sal alive. I’d witnessed a lot of bad things in my life. I’d never had a front-row seat while someone’s life ebbed away from them, though.
I could only hope that through the grace of God and the incredible efforts of Gabe, I wouldn’t be a witness to Sal’s death.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Gabe kept at the chest compressions, practically willing Sal to stay alive through the sheer force of his oath to serve and protect.
“Come on, come on. You’re not taking the easy way out.” He looked from Sal to me. “Check his pulse. I don’t want to risk anything by stopping too long.”
I searched for Sal’s carotid artery with my index and middle fingers, just as Mom had taught me. Eventually, I felt a slow pulsating against my fingertips.
“Got something. It’s barely there, but it’s steady.” I set back on my haunches and wiped sweat from my brow. “Ambulance will be here soon.”
It looked like Sal would make it.
The man was an embezzler, thief, and above all, a murderer. I didn’t want him to die, though. I wanted him to face the consequences of his actions. And I wanted an explanation for those actions. Because they’d been extreme.
Gabe had stopped the compressions but had his fingers around Sal’s wrist, no doubt making sure the man’s heart kept beating. He gave me a long look, then cracked a half smile.
“Good work. Thanks for having my back.” His radio squawked. Matt had arrived at the park gate. “Why don’t you meet the chief out front? It might help us avoid uncomfortable questions.”
“Roger that.” I snapped off a salute. And left Gabe to tend to Sal.
Each step I took was an exercise in hard labor. My muscles ached, my head pounded, my nerves were shot.
My heart was also filled with gratitude.
Gabe had accepted my help, albeit begrudgingly, and we’d accomplished the mission. He’d listened to me, but also took charge when the circumstances dictated. On top of that, he recognized that my presence at the scene would need explaining.
If Matt found me in the room where it happened, as it were, Gabe and I could find ourselves in a lot of hot water. At least we would be avoiding that issue.
All the hullabaloo had disturbed the horses, so I stopped on my way out of the barn to scratch the muzzles and offer soothing words to Shea and Aidan. By the time I reached the barn door, my head had stopped pounding. And I’d come up with an explanation for Matt.
A minute later, the chief’s headlights came into view. The second his tires came to a stop, I opened the vehicle’s door and filled him in on the situation.
“Gabe’s with him.” I pointed toward the back of the barn. “I’ll stay here for the EMS folks.”
He scowled as he zipped up his coat. “You shouldn’t be here, Allie.”
“I know.” My breath crystallized as I let out a sigh. At the same time, I began to shiver. Now that the immediate crisis was over, my body was clueing me in to how cold it was.
“I didn’t feel safe by myself until I knew you all had caught Sal, so Gabe let me ride along with him. I stayed in his car until I heard a gunshot. I was scared he might be hurt, so I came to see if I could help. When I got here, he was giving Sal CPR.”
“Of course you stayed put. I’ll verify your story with Officer Sandoval. We will talk later.”
The ambulance arrived as Matt entered the barn office. I gave the paramedics an update on Sal’s condition and confirmed an overdose of xylazine while I led them to the scene.
The paramedics got straight to work. In seconds, they had an IV line in one of his arms. While one placed an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, the other called the hospital to alert them to have a dose of tolazoline and sodium nitroprusside ready. The combination would reverse the effects of the xylazine overdose. From my vantage point in the doorway, it was like a choreographed dance. By the time they were ready to get their patient on the gurney, I wanted to applaud their grace under pressure.
Once they were ready to transport Sal, Matt took charge. “Officer Sandoval, please follow the ambulance to the hospital. I’ll join you there after I interview Ms. Cobb.”
When we were alone, Matt fixed me with a stare so icy I would have been warmer outside. I’d been through this routine before, though, so I stared right back at him.
Eventually, he turned away and made a phone call. “The suspect is on his way to the hospital. I need park staff here while Officer Abbott collects evidence. He should reach the gate any time.”
Once the call was complete, he took a seat on a bale of straw. “What am I going to do with you? On second thought, don’t answer that. Instead, tell me why Sal Green showed up at your apartment today.”
“He murdered Newt Arbogast. He wanted to do the same to me.”
Apparently stunned into silence by my answer, Matt took his time unrolling a piece of gum and popping it into his mouth. He chomped down a few times, then pulled a notebook from his breast pocket.
“And how, exactly, do you know that?”
I told him about the two sets of gun club financial records he was keeping and how the bogus ledger was at Newt’s house when he was murdered.
“Sal had been embezzling from the club for years. Newt got wise to what he was doing. That’s why he had the bogus ledger. Newt was looking for proof. Sal killed him before he could blow the whistle.”
“Assuming you’re correct about the embezzling issue, why didn’t you turn the ledger over to the appropriate parties, how’d he get the xylazine, and how does the safe come into the picture?”
He tapped his pen on a page in the notebook. With each question, the force of the tap increased. By the time he asked the last question, the pen was functioning more as a drill rather than a writing instrument.
I got that he was upset. It was late in the day. He’d been working nonstop for over a week. It wasn’t that he was trying to intimidate me. He’d tried that in the past. And failed.
Now, he was simply tired.
I licked my lips before answering. He wasn’t going to like my first response. Not one little bit.
“The ledger was in Newt’s safe. I visited Shelly the other day. When she let me look in the safe, I found the ledger. Your guy Ollie missed it when he conducted the search after the guns were reported missing.”
The chomping down on the gum came to an immediate halt as Matt’s jaw practically hit the floor. Then he dropped a combination of swear words that made me glad the twins were nowhere close by to hear their daddy talk in such a way.
It was an impressive display. One I hadn’t heard since my days living in New York.
“That still doesn’t tell my why you didn’t hand it over when you came across it.”
“Don’t make this about me. This is about one of your officers who was too lazy to conduct a thorough search. At that point, I wasn’t certain how the department would respond to me showing up one of its officers.” The words were out before I could rein them back in. Well, I was tired, too. And I’d been attacked.
“That was a cheap shot.” He flipped to a new page in his notebook and wrote something down. “I promise you I’ll have a private word with Ollie.”
For now, that was the closest I was going to get in terms of an apology. It was time to move on.
“I didn’t want to bug you about the ledger until I had all my ducks in a row.”
“And when was that going to be?” He lowered his head and rubbed his temples, like one of my elementary teachers who wasn’t buying a story I was telling her.
“Tonight, actually. I was finishing my analysis when Sal showed up at the apartment.”
Just then, a green truck with an Indiana State Parks logo on the side rolled to a stop by the barn entrance. Matt put his index finger up to let me know our conversation wasn’t over. When I nodded, he marched over to the truck.
Since I had some time to myself, I visited the horse named Lucy. She was the smallest of the group. Her relatively diminutive stature made her less intimidating than the others. I spoke to her in gentle tones, telling her how good of a horse she was. She was magnificent. So large and muscular, yet capable of the most graceful of movements. The staff took good care of the horses.
At that moment, I would have been happy to trade places with Lucy. A straightforward, uncomplicated life sounded like the way to go.
Matt joined us a few minutes later. While the horse and I were visiting, Tommy had arrived. He was lugging an evidence collection kit to the barn office.
“I’m going to take you home. We can finish our conversation on the way.” He turned on his heel and headed for his cruiser, expecting me to follow without objection.
I wanted to tell him I’d call someone for a ride. Then I imagined how that conversation would go depending on who I called. Mom would be upset at me for putting myself in danger. Brent would be disappointed I didn’t ask him to come and stay at the apartment with me. Luke would be here right away. It was past his bedtime, though.
No, the correct answer was to take my medicine and hitch a ride with Matt.
He didn’t speak until the attendant had waved us through the park’s gate.
“How’d the safe come into play?” He wasn’t interested in small talk, apparently.
“I think Sal was envious of Newt’s and wanted one just like it. He created a dummy corporation called Vert, LLC. Vert’s French for green. He cut checks from the gun club’s account to Vert. Then he cashed the checks and used the money to pay cash for the safe. At some point, Newt busted him. I think he moved the safe to the gun club Friday evening. He lured Newt there by offering to let the club use the safe until he could pay it back. Then he killed him.”
“Huh.” Matt scratched his chin. “If you’re right—and I’m not saying you are—that’s good detective work. How’d you piece that together?”
I told him about my conversations with Junior. “To be honest, I considered Junior a suspect for a while. That’s why I talked to him in the first place. The final clue was a crack in the clubhouse floor. It’s circular. The same shape as the foot of a heavy piece of furniture. My guess is it’s from the weight of the safe.”
The lights of Rushing Creek became visible in the distance, like a beacon guiding sailors into port on a dark night. I was relieved this dark night was almost over.
“And the xylazine? How’d he get his hands on it? I mean, it’s a prescription drug, after all.”
“He paid someone at Dr. Flanagan’s office. I think if you lean on the staff, you’ll get a confession.”
“What? Someone stole it for him?” Matt made a turn onto the Boulevard. I was almost home and couldn’t wait to hug Ursi. My feline hero.
“No. He was craftier than that. He told one of the staff members there was an emergency with one of the horses at the park and convinced them to sell him the contents of a vial. I’m sure he promised to replace it later.”
“Okay, say you’re right. How’d he pay for it without raising any suspicions?”
“He used the state park’s petty cash account. Then he replaced the funds by writing a check for forty dollars from the gun club, so everything balanced out.”
We came to a stop in front of my building. Matt massaged the muscles at the base of his neck. No doubt, he was looking for holes to punch in my theory.
“I’m gonna need you to hand over that ledger. Now.”
“With pleasure.” After a quick search of the apartment that confirmed Ursi was okay, I gave Matt the book. “You might want that wrapper by the door, too. The syringe Sal tried to use on me came in it.”
He donned a pair of latex gloves and deposited the piece of plastic in an evidence collection bag.
“We’ll check it for prints. Anything else that can confirm he was here?”
“My laptop. It’ll have his fingerprints on it.” The flash drive was still in the USB port. That was probably going to elicit a few questions.
“Do I want to know what’s on this drive?” Matt raised his eyebrows. Questions, indeed.
I debated a plausible cover story but decided against it. Taking chances with the truth seemed like the better path.
“The club’s financial records. And the source materials for the info I sent you earlier about the threats against Cammy.”
“And how in the world did you obtain that?”
“I copied them from the computer at the clubhouse.”
“So, am I to believe that you walked right in, got into the computer without hacking it, and walked right out?”
“That about covers it.” After all, Matt was the one who suggested I walked into the building. His assessment was about right.
Holy cats, I loved molding the English language like a piece of clay.
“Uh-huh.” He shook his head, but let it pass. “I have to get to the hospital to check in on Sal.”
He moved toward the door, then stopped, just like the legendary detective Columbo.
“Just one more thing. What about that voicemail message Newt left Shelly about having too much to drink and staying all night?”
“Faked. Sal met with Newt Friday afternoon. I figure he tried to strike some kind of bargain as plan A. When Newt wouldn’t play ball, he went to plan B. The phone call was made to throw the investigation off.”
Matt shook his head. “What a waste. And all because of money.”
“Indeed. The root of all evil.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
After Matt took his leave, I tracked Ursi down. She deserved never-ending snuggles and as many kitty treats as she wanted. I found the poor thing hiding in a dark corner under my bed. The insane events of the evening had really unnerved her. I couldn’t blame her for getting out of sight.
“Hey, girl.” I flicked a treat in her direction. “It’s all safe now. The bad guy’s gone and isn’t coming back.”
She sniffed at the morsel, then gobbled it up. It wasn’t until I gave her a third treat that she was finally willing to emerge from her spot.
I ran my fingertips down her spine. She stayed low against the floor, which indicated she was stressed. At least her tail wasn’t all puffed out like a feather duster anymore.
“That’s my hero.” I scooped her up and carried her to the couch, kissing her on her head the whole way.
When the two of us were nestled under a blanket, I gave her a close going over. On the surface, she didn’t appear to be any worse off from her tangle with Sal. Then, when I scratched along one side, she yelped. Evidently, the situation was different under her orange and black fur coat. I made a phone call.
Cammy picked up on the first ring. There was urgency in her voice when she answered. Probably due to the time. It was almost eleven.
My, how time flies when one is pursuing a murderer.
“I’ve got good news. The police have Newt’s murderer in custody. I wanted you to know.”
The line was silent for a few seconds. Then Cammy let out a long, loud sigh.
“Thank goodness. And thank you, Allie. I can’t tell you how much of a relief this is. I mean, I knew I didn’t do it, but until now, I felt like a black cloud was hanging over me.”
“Like there would always be some doubt in the community about your innocence until the real culprit was caught.” I gave Ursi another treat. “Believe me, I know the feeling. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
We chatted for a bit, then I asked if I could bring Ursi to see her the following day. “Her side’s a little tender, like her ribs are hurt.”
“For you two, I’d make a house call.” We laughed. “Come by anytime. I’ll fit you in.”
By the time we ended the call, Ursi was curled up in my lap. Normally, she liked to sit right beside me. The events of the evening must have really shaken her up. Understandable, since they’d shaken me up, too.
I spent the rest of the evening doing something that had become all too common in my life, calling Brent and my family members to let them know I was okay. Word got around at the speed of light in Rushing Creek. It wasn’t a stretch to assume someone at the hospital or on the police force had already let my involvement in Sal’s apprehension slip.
It was always better to give those close to me my version of events as quickly as possible. It was a way to present a version that minimized any danger I may have been in. It was the least I could do for my dear mother’s heart.
Then, unwilling to part with Ursi, the Ferocious Fighter, as Sloane dubbed her during our conversation, I carried her to the bedroom. Exhaustion took over and, in minutes, we were both asleep.
• • •
I reported to the police station at eleven o’clock sharp the next morning to give my statement.
Jeanette got up to greet me before the door had closed behind me.
“Heard you had quite the adventure yesterday.” She gestured for me to take a seat by her desk. “The chief’s on the phone with a forensic accountant so he asked me to interview you.”
Jeanette was one of my closest friends. I’d do anything for her. I needed to know something first, though.
“Sal. Is he going to make it?” I’d had a good night’s sleep. My head was clear. I could close my eyes and replay our encounter in the apartment like I was at a movie theater.
He tried to kill me. He injured Ursi. Still, I didn’t want him to die.
I wanted him to face a jury of his peers and answer for his crimes.
“It was touch and go for a while, but yeah, he’ll live to see his day in court.” She smiled. “Since you told the paramedics what he OD’d from, the ER had the antidote ready as soon as he came through the door. He’d be in the morgue right now if not for you.”
