Chapter 35
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Hannah said with glee when we broke the news. She sat at our table while we finished lunch.
“Tell us how you really feel,” Jack muttered over the music.
“That is how I feel. Bitch made up all kinds of shit about me. DCF interviewed me. I almost lost my kids over that shit.”
“Where are your kids now?”
“My ex has them.”
“Sounds like you’re pretty pissed off,” I said.
“Wouldn’t you be? I couldn’t get a job in the industry. You think I want to be whoring myself out like this, having gross men paw all over me all day and night?”
She certainly had a motive for murder.
“Half the girls in here are coked out of their minds or drunk. Every day, I’ve got to psych myself up to come in here. Some of the girls love it, and they’re making it a career. God bless them, but this is only temporary for me.”
“What’s next?”
“I don’t know. Taking it one day at a time right now.”
“Where were you between 9 and 11:00 PM last night?”
Hannah hesitated. “Why? Am I some kind of suspect?”
“Well, Dr. Latham wasn’t exactly your favorite person.”
“I didn’t kill her. I would have liked to, but I didn’t. Sorry. You’re going to have to look somewhere else.”
“I will as soon as I scratch you off the list.”
Hannah stared at me for a long moment. “I was out with a girlfriend last night. We went to Tide Pool, got hammered, then hit Bumper and danced.”
I stared deep into those enticing eyes, looking for signs of deception. She didn’t blink or fidget. She hadn’t changed her blink rate or demeanor while giving her alibi.
“If you were out, why was your phone at your apartment last night?”
Isabella had given me the information.
Hannah gave me a quizzical look. “How do you know where my phone was last night?”
I said nothing.
“How did you get my phone records? Did you get a warrant for that?”
“It was a lucky guess. But thanks for confirming.”
Hannah frowned at me.
“What’s your friend’s name?”
“Sadie.” She pointed her out across the club. The gorgeous brunette gave a lap dance to an enthralled customer. “You can ask her yourself.”
I dug into my pocket and handed her a card.
“How did Laura get it?” Hannah asked with glee.
“I can’t discuss the details.”
She frowned. “Oh, you can give me something to satisfy my curiosity.”
“It wasn’t pleasant, if that makes you feel any better.”
Hannah smiled.
The song ended, and she said, “Well, gentlemen. Unless you want to help pay my rent, I need to get back to work.”
If she hadn’t been a suspect, I might have contributed to the fund, in the spirit of giving, of course.
We finished our burgers, and Jack left a nice tip for the waitress. We found Sadie on the way out, and she verified Hannah's story. What else was she going to say?
The sun squinted my eyes as we stepped out of the dim club onto the sidewalk. Cars rumbled up and down the avenue, and tourists strolled the boulevard.
"What do you make of her story?" JD asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe she killed Dr. Latham with Sadie's help."
Jack looked at his watch. "I called Dr. Tillman's office. They're able to squeeze me in this afternoon. I think we've got time to track down Tucker Conroy.”
We hurried back to the car, hopped in, and drove across the island to Salt Point Harbor. Tucker lived on a 45-foot sportfish named Bite Me.
Salt Point was mostly a commercial harbor, but there were a few liveaboards.
Jack parked by the dock. We hopped out and looked for Tucker's boat.
I banged on the stern when we found it and shouted, "Tucker! Coconut County."
Footsteps shuffled across the salon, and Tucker pulled open the hatch a moment later. He was a skinny guy in his mid-60s with silver hair, narrow eyes, and sun-weathered skin. He looked at us with mild annoyance. "What the hell do you want?”
He had the gravelly voice of a man who smoked a few packs of cigarettes a day and topped it off with a fifth of Jack Daniels.
I flashed my badge.
"You two don't look like cops.”
"It's my understanding you’re a former client of Dr. Latham's.”
His face twisted with disdain. "I can't stand that woman. I heard she met with an untimely demise. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person. I reckon that's what you're here about, ain't it?"
"I heard you had some complaints about the work she did," I said.
"Damn straight. She messed me up real good.
Months of pain. You know what the kicker is?
I don't think I needed a crown in the first place.
Nothing wrong with the tooth. Didn't hurt when I went in.
She sold me a bunch of BS about how I had cracks in the tooth, and how it would be hard to manage, and that we should just go ahead and take care of it.
If you ask me, she just needed a way to pay for all that fancy new equipment she's got.
I bet she had a lot of student debt, too.
I tell you one thing, I'm never doing that again. I'll let them rot and fall out.”
Jack cringed. None of this was encouraging.
“You went to the office and made threats,” I said.
“I was in pain.”
"Can you tell me where you were between 9 and 11:00 PM last night?" I asked.
"I was right here on this boat."
"Can anyone verify that?”
"Nope. I live alone.”
Tucker had as much motivation as anyone else to kill the dentist.
"When was the last time you were at Dr. Latham's office?”
His face scrunched up as he thought about it.
"I suppose that was a few months ago. I went back a couple of times and gave her an opportunity to sort it out. But she just kept blowing me off. Said I needed to see a periodontist. Thought it was some type of gum issue.” He shook his head in frustration.
"I ended up needing a root canal. Let me tell you, that was a lot of fun.
All for what? I'm still trying to figure it out.”
"I guess it's safe to say you're more than a little upset.”
"You're damn right about that.”
"Mad enough to kill?”
"You bet. But I ain’t stupid.”
"Did you go back up to the office last night and take revenge?"
"Nope. I didn't kill her.” Then he said, “But please tell me she met with a painful end. It would make me feel so much better."
"I think you got your wish.”
"I would imagine I'm not the only one she messed up. I bet you can find plenty of people just like me who’d be more than willing to give her a taste of her own medicine.”
"If you were going to kill her, how would you do it?"
Tucker grinned. "I’d tie that bitch to the chair and drill out every one of her teeth. Without anesthesia." He reveled in the thought of it. "Yep. That's exactly what I’d do!"