Homecoming (Downeast #1)

Chapter 5

Chapter

Five

Inside the police station, he was greeted by an admin with a nameplate on the desk that identified her as Linda. He asked her if he could see Chief White. He put his business card on the counter. “I’m here for Keith and Kirby Ballard.”

“Detective Cosgrove is the lead investigator on that case.”

“I was told to ask for the chief.”

Linda lowered her voice. “You should know… Cosgrove is the type that’d be put out by you going over his head. It’d get you off on the wrong foot with him.”

“Thank you for that advice. Is the detective available?”

“Let me get him for you.” She started to walk away but turned back. “I want you to know that I greatly admire your work. My brother was falsely accused. It took a long time to exonerate him, but his reputation never recovered. What you do matters greatly.”

“Thank you very much. I’m sorry about your brother.”

“It wasn’t the only trouble in his life, unfortunately, but it about broke him.”

“As these things do.”

Linda nodded and then went to get Cosgrove.

Dan had known his reputation would precede him, but he hadn’t expected to be confronted with it at reception.

She returned a few minutes later with a man who Dan figured was about thirty-five, with close-cropped brown hair, a muscular physique and cool blue eyes. He wore a striped dress shirt with a navy blue tie and a gold badge clipped to his belt.

“Detective James Cosgrove, this is Daniel Torrington, here for the Ballards.”

Cosgrove shook Dan’s outstretched hand. “Good to meet you. Come in.”

He was led into a conference room where Cosgrove had set up shop. “I only caught the case this morning, so I’m still getting up to speed with assistance from the Maine State Police, which responded to the scene and made the arrests over the weekend.”

“What do you know so far?”

“Tanya Sorenson, age twenty-one, was in town for a bachelorette party for her future sister-in-law. They were staying at Tanya’s parents’ home here in Bar Harbor. The women went out for the evening and visited a number of bars. It was an unusually busy September Friday in town as the effects of Hurricane Ethel had passed by us, and people were eager to get out again. The bars were packed. The party Tanya was part of was one of about six or seven bachelorette parties moving through town Friday night.”

Dan took notes on everything Cosgrove told him.

“According to statements taken from her friends by state police, Tanya was seen dancing with Keith Ballard throughout the latter part of the night at the Barnacle Lounge. They said he more or less joined their party around ten and hung out for the rest of the night. The bride-to-be, Jessa Kaul, who’s engaged to Tanya’s older brother, August Sorenson, expressed discomfort with Tanya hanging out with a guy who was clearly quite a bit older than her. We were told they argued about it.

“Tanya told Jessa she wasn’t her sister or even her sister-in-law yet, and she needed to mind her own business. The bride backed off, and Tanya was last seen walking down Main Street, holding hands with Keith. We have video that shows them together. Tanya failed to return to the house where they were staying. The other women notified us yesterday morning that she hadn’t come home or checked in with them, which they said is way out of character. They described the man she’d been last seen with, and from the video, we identified him as Keith Ballard. Tanya’s body was found late Saturday morning on a remote beach by a fisherman who spotted her as he was motoring along the shore. She’d been beaten and strangled.”

“How does Kirby Ballard figure into it?”

“We have an eyewitness that put Kirby on the scene with Keith and Tanya about half a mile from where the body was found.”

“Your witness is credible?”

“He is.”

“What other evidence do you have to tie my clients to this case?”

Cosgrove stared at him, unblinking. “They were the last ones seen with her before she was found dead.”

“Understood. What else?”

“That’s all I have so far. Like I said, I caught the case this morning. I’m waiting on the autopsy and other evidence gathered from the scene where the body was found.”

“I’m not sure how many murder cases you’ve worked on in your career, Detective, but this sounds like a massive rush to judgment to me. You have no forensics tying either of the Ballard brothers to her—and even if you did, witnesses put her with Keith throughout the evening, so there’s bound to be DNA that can be easily explained in court. If all you have is reports that they were seen together, that’s not enough to charge murder.”

“I didn’t file the charges. The state police did. They felt they had enough.”

“The case is circumstantial at best. Even if you get a DNA hit, I can make that go away in two seconds by conceding they were dancing and holding each other in public.”

“That’ll be up to the judge to determine. Like I said, I didn’t make the call to arrest them, and I’ve only been on the case for two hours.”

“Understood.” Dan placed his business card on the desk. “Will you please email copies of the police and autopsy reports when you have them?”

“Okay.”

“Why haven’t they been arraigned yet?” That was supposed to happen within twenty-four hours of being arrested and charged.

“The judge who presides over the Superior Court in our area has the stomach flu, and there wasn’t another judge available over the weekend. He expects to be back to hearing cases tomorrow.”

The delay in arraignment would provide Dan with grounds to appeal if it came to that in the future. “I’d like to see my clients.”

“I’ll have them brought up to a room.”

Ten minutes later, Cosgrove returned and asked Dan to follow him. He pointed to a closed door being guarded by a male Patrol officer.

“Thank you. I’ll find you after I consult with them.”

“I’ll be back in the conference room.”

“Got it.”

Dan entered the room to find his brothers-in-law dressed in orange jumpsuits. Keith was seated at the table, while Kirby paced.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Keith asked in a tone dripping with disdain.

“Your parents asked me to come.”

“Well, you can go back to where you came from because we don’t need you.”

Kirby balked. “ Are you crazy, Keith? Of course we need him!”

“I’d rather rot in prison than have to look at his smug face.”

“Great,” Dan said. “My wife and I will be thrilled to head home today.”

“ This is her home,” Keith said with a snarl.

Dan smiled. “Not anymore. Best of luck to you, gentlemen. From what I’ve seen of the case so far, you’re going to need it.”

“Don’t go,” Kirby said. “I want you to represent me.”

“I don’t,” Keith said.

“I assume you have the resources to hire your own attorney?” Dan asked Keith.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Great, I won’t.” Dan went to the door and signaled to the officer who was standing in the hallway. “Keith Ballard has declined my representation. I’d like to confer alone with Kirby Ballard.”

“Let’s go,” the officer said to Keith.

“Be careful who you trust, little brother,” Keith said to Kirby. “The slicker the lawyer, the deeper the bullshit.”

“You ought to know,” Kirby said.

Keith didn’t like that, but he didn’t say anything more as he was escorted from the room.

“Thank you for coming.” Kirby fell into a seat across from Dan. He was tall and muscular like Keith, but as Walter had said, he lacked Keith’s sharp edges. He had a baby face and the same golden-brown eyes and reddish-gold hair as Kara. “I know this is the last place Kara wants to be.”

“She’d do anything for you. She said to tell you she loves you and knows you weren’t involved with this.”

“I wasn’t.” He leaned across the table. “I had nothing to do with her. Keith called me for a ride. I met him by the wharf where the cruise ships offload passengers and waited for him while he said good night to her. I asked him if she needed a ride, too, but he said she was all set. I didn’t like leaving her there, but Keith said she was a grown woman who could get herself home.”

Dan wrote down everything Kirby said. “How far was she from home?”

“I have no idea. I never spoke to her. I just saw her talking to Keith outside my truck. When he got in, I asked if he was sure we shouldn’t take her somewhere, and he said he was sure. What was I supposed to do?”

“Nothing you could do, but a witness saw you two with her, and now you’re caught up in this.”

“I had zero contact with her. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”

“It will, for sure.”

“In the meantime, this will be forever attached to my name.”

“We’ll see what we can do about that. Try not to worry too much. There’ll be no forensic evidence tying you to her murder. I’ll file a motion to dismiss the charges against you.”

“How long will that take? I need to get back to work.”

“The judge is out sick and supposed to be back to work tomorrow. I’m on it. I’ll do everything I can for you.”

“Thank you, Dan. I really appreciate it. I know how difficult it must be for Kara to be back here. Tell her I said thanks for coming.”

“I will. Sit tight and don’t talk to anyone unless I’m with you. You got me?”

“Yeah, I won’t.”

“That’s really important, Kirby. They’re looking to make a case against you. Don’t make it easy on them.”

He nodded. “I hear you, man. I gotta get out of here.”

“I’ll file the motion to dismiss today and will be back tomorrow to update you.”

“Thanks again.”

“You got it.” Dan stood to leave. “Are you being held with Keith?”

“No, they have us separated.”

“That’s for the best. Don’t talk to him either.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to him on a good day. The only reason I went to get him when he texted me for a ride is I didn’t want him getting another DUI. He’s already got three, and it makes us all look like shit when he gets in trouble.”

Jeez , Dan thought. Three DUIs . That wouldn’t go over well with the judge, but Keith was no longer his problem. “I’m on it. Hang in there.”

“I’m hanging by a thread.”

Dan knocked on the door, which was opened by another officer. Dan was glad he could go home to Kara and tell her the case against Kirby was all but nonexistent. Hopefully, he would have it resolved within a day or two and get him out of lockup.

He returned to the conference room, where Cosgrove pored over a stack of pages. “You should know that Kirby had no contact with her at all. After Keith texted for a ride, Kirby asked if they should give her a ride home, Keith said she was all set, and that was the extent of Kirby’s involvement with her. He can also attest that she was alive when he and Keith left her on the sidewalk.”

“Yes, I have his statement.”

“How can you hold him when you have nothing to tie him to her murder?”

“I have an eyewitness who saw them with her.”

“Kirby was never with her.”

“So he says.”

“You can check his phone records to confirm that what he told you is true.”

“We’re working on that now.”

“I’m filing an emergency motion to dismiss the charges against him.”

“Knock yourself out.”

Dan had nothing to say to that, so he left, determined to get the motion to dismiss filed immediately. He sent a text to Walter, letting him know he was ready for a ride.

Be there in five, boss .

While he waited outside the station, Dan texted Judith. Keith declined representation. Met with Kirby and will file an emergency motion for dismissal today. He had no contact with the victim and was only there to pick up Keith. His case should be easily resolved—I hope. More to come.

Keith DECLINED representation? Is he serious?

Yes, he was quite serious that he didn’t want me anywhere near the case.

I’ll talk to him.

Dan was happy to let Judith deal with her son—and he’d be happy if he didn’t have to. Either way, he’d do whatever the family wanted. His goal was to get both brothers out of jail and see the charges dropped as soon as possible so he and Kara could go home to await the arrival of their baby.

Walter pulled up to the station’s main door a few minutes later. “Where we headed, bossman?”

“How do you feel about a walk downtown? And you can call me Dan.”

“I like bossman. It suits you.”

“All right, then,” Dan said, amused.

“I’m up for a walk. Where’re we headed?”

“I want to see the bar, the sidewalk where Keith was seen with the murder victim after the bar closed and the beach where the body was found.”

Walter pulled into a guest parking spot and said, “Right this way.”