Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Duke pressed the key he’d gotten from Bailey’s landlord boss into the knob and turned. It took three tries and a wiggle, but the lock finally released. Inside, the room smelled stale and musty, even after only a week without occupancy.
Duke handed her gloves and booties to put on to preserve evidence in case they found anything the earlier team had not.
Ferd headed for the kitchen first. That’s where the men she knew spent a lot of time, when they weren’t working or in front of the television.
On the fridge, five little yellow notes hung with magnets.
Leave check for Kelly when she comes Thursday
Dock the boat. Windy next few days. Coordinate with H and K
Mom’s grave needs attention
Bank
Every reminder belonged to a man who would never get the chance to finish his to-do list. “Coordinate with H and K. Do you think he meant Kevin and Heath?” She heard the squeak of a drawer opening down the hall, then silence.
Duke leaned out of a room attached to the living room so she could see him. “Did you say something?”
“Yeah, there are these notes on the fridge that Bailey left for himself. Dude’s own personal planner.” She pointed at them.
Duke came around. “Hmm, I wonder what he meant by ‘bank’ and who H and K are?”
“My thought was Kevin and Heath, but why not just put their names? He used Kelly’s on this note, so he’s not opposed to writing them. Maybe it was to conserve space on the tiny slip, or maybe it’s important?”
“Good point. I hadn’t thought of that.” Duke frowned. “And why even write that note if the boat was missing? And if your boat was missing, wouldn’t you take down the note? You don’t have to remember that anymore.” Duke ticked off his questions on his fingers.
“The notes look fresh. They aren’t even curled.
Maybe he found his boat later that same night?
Or his boat wasn’t really missing. Is it possible Bailey was a part of something he never wanted to be but couldn’t get out of?
We keep getting mixed signals about this guy, but it could be that he’s actually acting differently with people on purpose.
It’s pretty hard to profile someone who never acts like themselves. ” Ferd had firsthand experience.
“Possible. I’m not ready to say Bailey’s death was his own fault for getting into things he shouldn’t have, or to rule out that he wasn’t part of the crime.
My reason for feeling that way is that someone got that stash of drugs into the hull of his boat without cutting a hole, meaning they knew him and the boat better than any of the investigators who looked at it.
Seems like the owner would know about a hidden access point. ”
Duke knew boats way better. She hadn’t considered a hatch. “I didn’t see an opening when I looked around, before I fell through the floor anyway.” At least those cuts had scabbed over and weren’t likely to get infected now.
“Exactly. I think George, the California guy, is a false flag. Maybe peripherally connected to whatever this is, but not the one who bashed Bailey’s head in.
He’s the one who appears to have enough money for Bailey’s navigation system.
Where else would he get it, and why? We’ll need to take a picture of this note and ask Kevin and Heath what they know.
They seem to have a connection to Bailey’s boat that they didn’t hint at when we met them. ”
Making their weird encounter even weirder.
“Just so I'm clear, Kelly isn't a suspect, even though she spread lies about him.
Jonie isn't a suspect because she didn't know him all that well. We still need to find Samantha, the mystery girlfriend. Paul is a solid no. Heath and Kevin are weird but have no motive. Did I miss anyone?”
Duke frowned as he stared at the notes. “Honestly, I think we need to keep the ex-wife on our radar. She was angry about losing support and fighting to get it back. That’s motive.”
“Got it. Did you find anything?”
He turned to look behind him at the room he’d left.
“It’s more what I didn’t find. Kelly said she wasn’t going to come back here, but the place is clean.
For all the beer cans she claimed to clean up, there’s none here.
None in the fridge. There are no dirty clothes in this apartment.
Either he did laundry right before he left on that fateful trip, or someone cleaned up in here.
I have to wonder if they didn’t come even before the forensics team did, because there was no mention of anything in their notes either. ”
That was odd. Had it been Kelly, or someone else? “But why would the forensic team leave those notes? And that begs the question: did he actually write them, or were they left behind by someone who figured we’d be back here?”
Duke took out his phone and grabbed a picture of them, then bagged them for evidence.
Ferd headed to the living room. The couch cushions weren’t indented from use.
There was no clutter from living. No receipts.
No blankets for grabbing to take a nap. Even though there was a television on the wall, she couldn’t find a remote anywhere.
“We’ll need to find out if he had a cell phone,” she said as she picked up a coffee table book.
Under it was a short note written on a pretty, blank greeting card. Monica, I’m so sorry you’re mad at me all the time. I’m not the man you thought I was.