CHAPTER FOUR
Declan
The autopsy report came in Thursday afternoon.
I read it at my desk with my third cup of coffee.
Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the right temporal region.
The medical examiner noted that the wound was consistent with impact against the port side gunwale of the Pacific Lady, where blood evidence had been collected.
The shape and dimensions of the injury were compatible with the edge of the gunwale.
No foreign material or trace evidence suggested another object was involved.
However, the ME noted several things she couldn’t explain.
The single point of impact was unusually clean for a fall on a moving vessel.
There were no secondary bruises, no scrapes on the hands or forearms, and no indication the victim had tried to brace or catch himself.
In a typical fall on a rocking deck, she would expect to see multiple contact points and defensive injuries.
She found none. Blood alcohol was zero. Eddie Salcedo had been cold-stone sober when he died.
I read it twice. The ME was being careful, stopping short of saying how the injury had happened.
That was her job. But the lack of defensive wounds nagged at me.
Sober, experienced fishermen didn’t usually go down without trying to catch themselves.
It could have happened that way. People fell in freak ways sometimes.
But it sat wrong with me, and I’d learned a long time ago not to ignore that gut feeling.
I called Bree into my office.
“I want Dale Pruitt and his wife, Nicki, brought in today. They can come in at the same time, but we’ll interview them separately.”
“Of course.” Bree nodded. “I’ll see what time they can come in today.”
“Nicki seemed nervous when she gave him his alibi,” I muttered. “I’m hoping she’ll be more honest if he’s not in the room staring at her the whole time.”
“Good call separating them. She’ll definitely clam up if he’s there. With him gone, you might actually get the truth out of her.”
“Exactly.” I smiled at her. “Make it happen, Bree.”
“I’m on it.”
* * *
Nicki and Dale Pruitt arrived at 2:00 p.m. Nicki was a thin woman with sun-damaged skin and the guarded posture of someone who’d spent a long time being careful about what she said and to whom.
She worked at the bait-and-tackle shop on the harbor, which meant she knew the fishing community inside out.
It also meant she’d been hearing the whispers about her husband all week.
Dale was standing beside her, unshaven, looking uptight and resentful. “We already gave you our statements. Why are we here?”
Nicki put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Honey, don’t get all worked up.”
“It’s a fair question,” Dale grumbled.
I smiled pleasantly. “You guys aren’t in trouble or anything like that. I just needed to firm up the timeline.”
“See?” Nicki said nervously. “This is no big deal, Dale.”
“Yeah? Then why are we the only ones here?” Dale demanded. “Plenty of other people were down at the harbor the day Eddie died. I was at home. Why drag me in?”
“Nobody dragged you here.” I frowned. “You came in voluntarily.”
Dale snorted. “Did we, though? We’re not stupid. We know if we refuse to come in, you’ll try and make a big stink about it.”
Nicki looked embarrassed. “We don’t mind coming in to talk to you. Dale’s just stressed out.”
“I understand.” I met her gaze, making sure I sounded reasonable and non-threatening. I met Bree’s gaze over Dale’s shoulder. “Would you mind taking Mr. Pruitt into interview Room C?”
“Of course.” Bree smiled at Dale. “Will you follow me, Mr. Pruitt?”
He scowled. “What about Nicki?”
“She’s going to talk to me in a different room.” I met his gaze. “It’s just easier for me than trying to keep up with two people talking at once.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s why you’re separating us,” Dale jeered, shaking his head. “This is complete bullshit.”
I ignored him and smiled at Nicki. “Do you mind following me, Mrs. Pruitt?”
“Okay,” she said meekly, shooting an uneasy glance at her husband.
Dale scowled and stalked off after Bree.
I got Nicki situated in the interview room. I chatted with her about work and offered her coffee. Once she was settled in her chair and sipping some java, she seemed more relaxed. Maybe it was just the fact she wasn’t around her angry husband that had her calmer.
I clasped my hands on top of the table. “Nicki, when we spoke at the harbor, you told me Dale was home all night the evening Eddie died. Is that accurate?”
She avoided my gaze, staring at a point behind me near the door. “Yes.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Can you refresh my memory? What time did he get home from work again?”
“Um… let’s see.” She swallowed hard. “Oh, yeah. He came home around noon. Then he stayed home the whole night.” She sounded robotic, as if she’d memorized the words.
“And he didn’t leave the house after that?”
A pause. Just a beat too long. “No.”
“Not at all?” I made sure to sound conversational. “Not even for a little while?”
Her face tensed. “I told you he was home all night, but you keep asking me the same question over and over.”
“No need to get upset, Nicki.” I sighed. “A man died, and I’m just trying to figure out what happened.”
She winced. “God, poor Eddie. It’s just so awful.”
I nodded. “It is. That’s why I have to keep asking the difficult questions. I’m sure you want Rosa to get the answers she needs, right?”
She blinked at me and then nodded. “Of course.”
I leaned forward, keeping my voice gentle.
“I thought I’d make sure everything was accurate about your statement.
The night Eddie died was traumatic. Sometimes when people give statements right after something that stressful, they’re upset and they misremember details.
It happens all the time, and nobody would hold it against you if that happened to you too that night.
So I wanted to double-check and see if there was anything you wanted to correct about your statement.
Now would be the perfect time for that.”
She twisted her wedding ring around her finger, a deep line between her brows.
“Was there anything like that in your statement, Nicki?” I asked. “Maybe something you’ve remembered that you got wrong the night Eddie died?”
“No.” She bit her bottom lip, looking uncertain.
“Are you sure?” I coaxed. “You won’t be in trouble. We can easily amend your statement. Like I said, it happens all the time.”
“I don’t think I made any m… mistakes.”
“Did I mention we have security video of the harbor for the night Eddie died?” She flicked her eyes to me nervously.
“If Dale shows up on that video, it’ll make me wonder why you didn’t tell me he’d gone out that night.
If you did make a mistake remembering, it would be good to fix your statement now.
Even if Dale did go out, that doesn’t mean anything bad.
There’s no need to hide something like that. ”
She made a little whining sound deep in her throat, and she hung her head. “Okay, yeah, he… he went out.” She looked up quickly. “But not for very long.”
I struggled to keep my relief from showing. “Okay. That’s great, Nicki. I’m glad you were able to remember that for me. We need accurate statements to piece together where everyone was at any given time that night, so thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she mumbled, cheeks pink.
“Do you by any chance remember what time he went out?” I gave her an encouraging smile. “And when he came home?”
“He… he left around nine, maybe nine-thirty.” She tucked a piece of stringy blonde hair behind her ear.
“He had trouble with the boat earlier in the day. That’s why he came home early.
After dinner, he remembered he had a part in the garage he could use to fix the boat.
So he got it and went down to the harbor to work on the float switch.
But he was back by midnight. I’m positive about that. ”
I nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because I knew how it would look.” She met my gaze guiltily, and her exhaustion was obvious.
She’d probably been lying for Dale about a lot of things for a lot of years.
I could see the strain of it etched into her face.
“I… I panicked. Not because I think Dale did anything wrong, but because I know the whole damn town already thinks the worst of him.”
“I understand. You were trying to protect him,” I said. “But I need the truth, not what looks good. Not because I want to railroad Dale or anything, but simply so I can piece together the night that Eddie died. I have to know where everyone was, not just Dale.”
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, looking a little like a sad mouse.
“It’s okay. You told me the truth now, so we’re good.” I smiled at her. “Did Dale say anything when he got home? Was he upset, agitated?”
“No more than usual,” she muttered. “He was grumpy and tired, like he always is. He had a beer and came to bed.”
“Did he mention seeing Eddie’s boat? Seeing anyone at the harbor?”
“No. He didn’t say anything about anything.” She gave a weary smile. “But that’s Dale. He doesn’t talk much. I never know what’s going on inside that head of his.”
I was relieved she’d finally told me the truth.
It was an important detail I’d need if I had to build any kind of case against Dale.
He no longer had an alibi for the time Eddie had died.
That didn’t make him guilty, but it proved he’d had the opportunity.
At the moment, Dale was my number one suspect, if Eddie’s death was a homicide.
I was dying to hear what he’d have to say when I told him his alibi had been cracked.
I had Bree take Nicki to the waiting room, and I went to see Dale in interview Room C. His energy was completely different from his wife’s. His arms were crossed, jaw working like he was chewing on something. He was already angry when I walked through the door.