Chapter 18
Noelle stared at Max, Mercy, and Chief Daly, trying to understand.
“This is your informant?” she asked Mercy, gesturing at the body on the motel floor, where two crime scene techs were working.
“No, her sister is,” said Mercy. “But Rachel always inserts herself into whatever is going on.”
“Clearly.” Noelle looked down at the dead woman. “Did you notify the sister?”
“Not yet.” Mercy looked uncomfortable. “I want to have some answers for her first.”
Noelle turned her attention to the police chief. “This is the second body in as many days in your area. Both shot in the head. And that doesn’t include the body from this afternoon in the judge’s trunk because that was in Bend.”
“I’m well aware,” said Truman, frustration on his face. “I appreciate county stepping up to help when you have so much going on.”
“Not a problem,” said Noelle with a sigh. Truman’s tiny police force didn’t have the manpower or resources to investigate murders. Especially multiple murders.
Are the murders related?
Max caught her eye, and she suspected he was wondering the same thing. “You saw both sisters yesterday,” she said to the FBI agents. “What was the reason?”
“The domestic terrorism chatter,” said Mercy. “Both Cory and Rachel rub shoulders with people who dabble in that area.”
“And?”
“They’d seen some new faces in town but didn’t have anything concrete.”
“Rachel called me because she spent time with one of them today,” Max said. “I’ve already told Mercy about this, but Rachel said he claimed the car bombing was just a taste of what was to come.”
Noelle stared at him. “This murder is tied to the judge’s car bombing? Did he mention the body in the trunk to her?” Connections were appearing among the three deaths, starting a spirograph pattern.
“I didn’t want to lead her there by asking about the body,” said Max. “So I didn’t bring it up. I think she would have told me if he had.”
“Then maybe it’s not related,” said Noelle. “Maybe he was just an asshole commenting on a car bomb and trying to sound important.”
But which is it?
“Could be. I’m sure everyone was talking about it today.” Max glowered around the hotel room. “Rachel told me she had beer cans the man had handled, and I was coming to collect that evidence when I found her like this. And as you can see, there isn’t a can in sight. Her phone is missing too.”
“Maybe she lied to you about the cans,” suggested Truman.
“I don’t think so.” Max looked positive. “I think he cleaned house. Including Rachel,” he added in a quiet voice.
“Could he have known you were coming?” Noelle asked.
“I guess it’s possible, but honestly I don’t think she would’ve told him. I suspect he already had a goal in mind when he came back.”
“You’re assuming it was the same man who returned,” Noelle said.
“Good point,” said Max. “But if he wasn’t related to the earlier man, why would he take the beer cans?”
“You’re also assuming it’s a he,” added Truman.
“That too,” agreed Noelle. It was easy to get tunnel vision on a case and miss things. “What about the other sister? Could she be involved?”
Mercy grimaced. “I hate to think she’d do this, but I can’t say it’s impossible.”
“I think it’s time for a notification and a discussion with the sister,” said Noelle.
“Ben’s talking with the other motel guests to see if they heard or saw someone,” said Truman.
“I’ll check in with him,” said Noelle, and she stepped out of the room and spotted the older cop at a motel room door several rooms down.
She headed his way, needing to get away from the sight of the dead woman on the floor.
Her brain needed some air. She’d seen three dead bodies in two days, and it was three bodies too many.
Ben touched the brim of his hat and stepped away from the door as it closed. He was about to write something on his notepad when he saw Noelle coming toward him. “Busy day, Detective,” he said. He looked as strained as she felt.
“Too busy. What have you found, Ben?”
He pointed at the door that had just closed. “Family of six in there. None of them heard a gunshot or saw anything unusual today.”
“Six?” asked Noelle. “How big is that room?”
“Two queen beds,” he said. “Saw two of those playpen cribs in there too. Not much room to move around. I don’t think any of the kids were older than five. Nice young couple. Horrified to hear what happened. Said they’re packing up. Not going to stay here another night.”
“Can’t blame them,” Noelle said. “What else?”
“Most of the rooms are empty,” said Ben.
“There’s a young couple two more doors down.
They said the only thing they heard today was one or two of the babies crying from this room.
And that was when they were checking in to their room.
Haven’t heard anything since. I took identification from everyone except for the guy in that room.
Tom Mumford.” He pointed at the room next to Rachel’s.
“Gave me a name and address, but he said his wallet was stolen.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Also said he spoke with Rachel a few hours ago.” Ben stared at the closed room door. “Something about the guy bugged me.”
“On it,” said Noelle. “Thanks, Ben.” She strode back toward the scene and rapped on the man’s door. After a long moment it opened a few inches, the chain clearly latched, and a brown eye came into sight.
Stupidest security device ever. I could bust that with one kick. Even in heels.
“Mr. Mumford?” Noelle showed him her ID. “Can I speak with you for a few minutes?”
“I already answered the cop’s questions,” he said.
“I know,” said Noelle. “And now I have a few more.” She gave her most winning smile.
He blinked several times and then closed the door. The chain quietly clanked as he removed it. When it reopened, she saw he’d put on a beige cowboy hat. She estimated that he was in his early forties.
“Officer Cooley said you saw the woman from next door not too long ago. What was she doing at that time?”
“She was getting ice.” He pointed down the building. “Headed that way with her ice bucket.”
“When did you speak with her?”
“At the ice machine. I needed ice too.”
You mean you grabbed your bucket and followed.
“What did you two talk about?”
“Well, not much. I was trying to be nice, but she didn’t have much to say.”
Noelle spotted the small alcove holding the ice machine. If Rachel was getting ice and Mr. Mumford was waiting his turn, he’d essentially pinned her in the area.
“All I asked was how long she was staying at the motel,” he said. “A simple question, but she didn’t answer. Just nodded and finished filling her bucket. I told her polite people replied when someone talked to them.” He crossed his arms and nodded emphatically.
“Did you tell her to smile?” Noelle asked with her own wide smile.
“What?” Confusion flashed on his face. “No, she had a split lip.”
“Maybe she didn’t feel like talking since she had a split lip. Probably why she needed ice.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you see her with anyone today?”
“Nope. Just heard the two of them,” he said with a faint leer.
Noelle tapped the hotel’s wall. “You heard them through cinder block walls?”
“Yep. What’s that tell you?” His smile was smug.
“Officer Cooley said you didn’t have your wallet.”
“Pretty sure my wallet was stolen,” he said. “Left it on my dashboard when I was at a rest stop. Didn’t notice it was gone until later.”
“Good thing you had cash for the hotel.”
“I’m a big believer in carrying cash,” he said. “Credit cards are just a way for businesses to make money and track you.”
“What’s your address?” Noelle asked, her pen ready at her notepad.
“I told the other guy.”
“Well, now you can tell me.”
He rattled off an Idaho address, which she planned to compare to the one he had given Ben.
She looked at the vehicles in the lot. “Which vehicle’s yours?” Her gaze locked on a big Dodge truck nearby with Idaho plates and a yellow bumper sticker of a snake.
He pointed at it, and she squinted in the dim light as she wrote down his plate number, noticing the registration stickers were old. “You know your tags are expired? They expired almost a year ago.”
He gave a shocked expression. “Damn state didn’t inform me. They’re always screwing up.”
“Wait here a moment,” Noelle told him. “Officer Cooley has one more thing for you.” She heard the motel room door close as she went back to Ben. “Can you give him a citation for expired tags?”
Ben peered at the truck she pointed at. “Gladly. Frankly, I’m surprised he even has plates.”
Noelle nodded as Ben confirmed what she’d suspected during the interview. “You think Mr. Mumford is a sovereign citizen?”
“Yep. Although some of them are calling themselves something else . . . American States Assembly or American States Nationals or something like that. Mumford probably has a wallet with one of those made-up licenses in it. Didn’t want to show it to me.”
Many sovereign citizens believed they were not under the jurisdiction of many levels of government and therefore that they were exempt from the laws.
“So a citation for expired tags will probably be pointless. The plates probably aren’t even his to begin with.”
“That’d be correct,” said Ben. “I could run the plates and see if they’re reported stolen.”
Frustrated, Noelle glared at Tom Mumford’s motel room door.
Probably not his real name either.
“You’ve got other things to deal with,” Ben said kindly. “I’ll keep an eye on him as long as he’s at the motel. See if I can figure out where he actually lives. Maybe he’s just passing through the state. Let him be someone else’s problem. He’s not your priority today.”
“Thank you, Ben.” He was right. Bigger things were going on.
Noelle went back to where Max and Mercy were speaking, a few yards from Rachel Johnson’s room, giving the crime scene team space to do their job.
“What did you get out of the front desk clerk?” she asked Max.
“She said that Rachel paid in cash, and she didn’t see a man with her or near her room today. Rachel gave her name as Lana Turner.”
“That’s an old one,” said Noelle.
“Yeah. It didn’t raise a flag with Oakleigh.
Not that she cares what name a guest gives.
And I asked her about motel cameras,” said Max.
“She laughed as if it was the funniest joke she’d ever heard.
There aren’t any cameras on the property.
Never have been. From what I’ve seen, I can’t say I’m surprised that the owner of this old place didn’t invest in cameras. ”
“Did she say anything about the man in the next room?”
“Not this time,” said Max. “But right before she opened Rachel’s door for me, she yelled at him to get back in his room. Told me she should get a restraining order against him. I didn’t have time to ask her why.”
Apparently Mr. Mumford likes to harass women.
“Ben is going to dig into his background a bit,” said Noelle. “Can you ask the desk clerk what he did that made her comment about the restraining order?”
“On it.”
“Thanks, Max,” said Noelle. “Ready to go see Rachel’s sister?” she asked Mercy.
“Yes, but no.”
Noelle understood that answer; it perfectly summed up family notifications.
She and Mercy started to head across the parking lot. A crime scene tech had set up several bright spotlights on Rachel’s little pickup and was taking photos in the cab.
Multiple shootings.
I need to compare the bullets.