Chapter 31
31
E than smacked a breakfast sandwich onto the table next to an engrossed Earl and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Whatever you’re reading must be good.”
Earl reached for the sandwich, took a bite, and started talking with his mouth full. “It’s the report from NYPD about Sergeant Guy Evans.” He glanced at Ethan and stood up. “Holy crap. I can’t believe it. You couldn’t leave it alone and tangled with Tia, didn’t you?”
Ethan joined him at the table, sipping his coffee. “Why would you think that?”
Earl peered at the shiner surrounding Ethan’s eye. “She destroyed one of the recruits the same way. Her nickname at the training gym is the Terminator.”
Ethan barked a laugh and opened his sandwich with his unbandaged hand. “Why is now the first time I’m hearing about this, Earl?”
The older man’s eyes widened. “Not my story to tell, Son.”
Ah, yes, that again. “You know, Earl, the next time you hear a tidbit of information about Tia O’Rourke, would you mind giving the other detective on the case a heads-up? That would be me, in case you’re wondering.”
Earl threw an arm into the air. “I tried to warn you off. Told you to go sniff somewhere else, but you got offended and didn’t listen to me.”
Ethan picked at his egg sandwich, taking very small bites because chewing made his eye hurt. Not only that, but his achy balls throbbed in unison with the bruise on his chest when he swallowed. It was weird how injuries hurt twice as bad the next day. But he’d go through it all again to have another night with Tia.
However, the worst had been running into Chief Carson this morning in the hallway. The usually placid and dignified Carson had broken into a wide grin, shaken his head, and walked away.
His pity party over, Ethan turned his attention to Earl and whatever he was reading. “Good news?”
Earl frowned. “It certainly is enlightening and a whole lot more interesting than the back of a cereal box. I sent it to your email.”
“I’ll be caught up in a minute.” Ethan woke his laptop and opened the document. The room was quiet except for the occasional rustle of their sandwich wrappers.
Earl piped up. “You reading it?”
“Oh yeah. Sergeant Evans visited Margie Plante the day before her murder.”
“Not only that, Son, but he and Margie had an ongoing romance for the past fifteen years. They toyed with the idea of getting hitched for years, but she ended their relationship when he visited her that final time.”
Ethan’s eyebrows drew together. “Why would she do that?”
“Beats me. Maybe their retirement goals didn’t mesh or she liked being single, or he’s a needy dude and she didn’t feel like dealing with him permanently. It’s too late to ask her.”
“Yeah, but it says Evans was inconsolable when he found out she’d passed away.”
Earl tapped his finger on the table. “Maybe he acted like he was devastated. I’ll play devil’s advocate here; he stayed in the area overnight and killed her the next day. Premeditated at that point, not a crime of passion.”
Ethan shook his head. “Doesn’t make sense. He retired last month with a boatload of honors. Why risk his freedom, his reputation, his pension, and his retirement? He’d already done the tough stuff. Why blow it all with a senseless act?”
“Maybe when Margie ended their relationship, it took him off guard and he lost his mind?”
“No way, Earl. I don’t buy it. We don’t have enough evidence to bring a case against Evans although he may have been the last person we know of to see Margie alive.”
“You might have to consider it, because Guy Evans has no alibi for the period of time between when he left Margie’s after they broke up and when she was found dead. He says he drove home, took a sleeping pill, and crashed.”
“Is there any record of his whereabouts on an E-ZPass? There are a lot of tolls between here and the Bronx.”
“He says he left his E-ZPass at home and paid the tolls in cash.”
Ethan shook his head. It wouldn’t be the first time a man took a sleeping pill and went to bed after an emotionally draining day. He remembered doing it twice during his divorce. “I don’t think Guy Evans is our man. If Evans did it, why would he tell people that Margie ended their relationship if that prompted him to murder her? For that matter, why admit he’d visited her the day before her murder, especially if there are no E-ZPass records? There isn’t a hint of excessive force or violent tendencies during his long career. Oh, and I figured out why his fingerprints were found on the white keys of the piano.”
Earl’s head snapped up. “Why?”
Ethan explained the “Heart and Soul” pictures and trophies.
Earl poured another cup of coffee. “Okay. So I agree with you about Evans. I wish we could eliminate him from our suspect list. But you know what else? There are no usable fingerprints on that lock pick set we found under the stove in Margie’s kitchen. Not even a partial, and the engraved initials on the front are VMM. For all we know, that set has been there for years. Maybe we didn’t find what Tia kicked across the floor. Or maybe whatever she kicked had nothing to do with the murder.”
“What about the security footage from the funeral and the repast? Are all the faces accounted for?”
Earl inhaled a slug of coffee while opening another document on his laptop. “Every person had a reason for being there. We identified the caterers and all their staff.” He peered over the rim of his cheaters. “How’s Tia managing after the cop-impersonation incident?”
Ethan kept his eyes focused on the computer screen. “She seems fine. Flynn will take care of her.”
“I wish she’d stay with her mom until this case is solved.”
But then she’d be living with her uncle, too. “I feel the same way, but thirtysomethings don’t relish trading their independent lifestyle for a teenage bedroom in their parent’s house.” And Tia had her own feelings about her mom and Carson living together. No way was he discussing the chief’s living situation with Earl.
“You know, Earl, we need to remain open to the possibility that the police impersonator is also the person who killed Margie. Flynn reacted the way he did during the traffic stop to protect Tia.”
Decisively, Earl planted his palms on the table and rose. “We need the public’s help with this case. It’ll cost some taxpayer money to weed through a tip line, but someone has to have seen something on the day of the murder . We’re missing a chunk of the puzzle.” He paced the room. “We’ll get a sketch artist to make a composite drawing with a description from Arnie and Mabel Hawkins. Their traffic stop lasted for several minutes, and they got a good look at the man who stopped them. I need to talk to the chief. Let’s touch base in an hour, and I’ll let you know what he says.”
With Earl gone, Ethan took a minute and scrolled the security footage from the cameras around Tia’s house. There were several squirrels, a fox, and that damn cat in the bushes again. It was a quiet Monday afternoon, and he’d finally reunited with the beautiful beach girl from his past. But he felt edgy—unsettled.
Why did he feel like this was the calm before the storm?