Chapter Five
“I have to go notify the family,” said Garrett, “and ask them to make a formal identification. I’d invite you to observe but these aren’t pleasant occasions and their grief will be enough without wondering why a PI is with me.”
“Understood,” I said.
“Before I go, why don’t you tell me what Jessica Casey consulted you for? You said she came to you around a week ago.”
We were leaning against Garrett’s sedan, partially shielded from a breeze that arose, ruffling the grasses on the side of the road. Now the body was loaded into the ME’s van, the tow truck driver was carefully picking his way down the slope, accompanied by a police officer.
“Jessica was a walk-in to the agency,” I started. “She seemed quite agitated when she arrived but that’s not unusual. People only want to hire us when they’re desperately worried. I asked her what was troubling her and she said she thought someone was trying to kill her.”
Garrett raised his eyebrows but waited patiently.
“No,” I corrected myself, remembering now, “that wasn’t exactly what she said. What she said was she needed me to solve her murder.”
“I don’t mean to be facetious given the circumstances, but did you point out you can’t solve the murder of a living person?”
“I didn’t say anything. I was trying to compute what she said.”
“What happened next?”
“She wanted to know if I thought she was crazy or lying.”
“Did you think she was?”
“No. She wasn’t exhibiting any obvious signs of a mental breakdown or psychosis. I’ve met plenty of convincing liars but my gut says she wasn’t lying either. I think she genuinely believed someone was trying to harm her.” I glanced across the road, where Jessica’s vehicle had barreled off the edge.
“Murder is still quite the conclusion to jump to.”
“Usually, I’d agree but she’d experienced some scary incidents where she could have been killed.
Something to do with her horse’s saddle when she was riding and she said someone had tampered with her car’s brakes.
” We both glanced across the road where the car Jessica had been driving was winched into view.
The rear tires scraped and stuck against the edge of the slope; then, with a grinding from the winch, bumped over the top, the whole vehicle coming to rest on the road.
“In what way?”
“Her brakes failed. The incident was written off as a pest problem. She said she took it to a mechanic who said a rat chewed through the brake lines, but you said this one belongs to someone else?”
“That’s right. I’m not sure who this Yvette Lyndsey is, but she’s obviously close enough to borrow a vehicle from.
” Garrett twisted his lip thoughtfully. “I’ll make a note to get the brake lines carefully looked over at the impound yard.
If there’s any tampering, we’ll find it. What was the riding incident?”
“Aside from the saddle not being attached properly, she said her back protector was tampered with. Something to do with a canister that was empty. I think if she’d taken a fall from her horse, the back protector wouldn’t activate.
I don’t understand how that works, but Jessica was worried enough about it to feel it was significant. ”
“Could she have forgotten to do up the saddle?”
“Maybe, but she’s worked with horses for a long time. It would be odd to make an error like that, never mind, two.”
“If she was worried about other things, she might have overlooked it. What else?”
“Something about finding something unexpected in her cereal. Citrus, I think? And an icy path that caused a fall. Things that I think anyone could write off alone, but all together? Jessica felt under threat.”
“Had she told anyone about these incidents?”
“Her husband and an aunt. I’m not sure who else. Oh! Her sister is called Yvette. This must be her car.”
“Noted. And did Mrs. Casey come up with any motive?”
I shook my head. “She said her husband stood to gain the most, but I don’t think he’d given her any inclination that he wanted her gone. They had life insurance policies but she said she didn’t have any enemies.”
“That she knows of,” said Garrett.
“Yeah, I guess. She seemed warm and nice, even though she was stressed. She said she had business rivals and challenging competitors but I don’t recall her saying anything about there being a strong enough reason to bump her off.
” I paused, thinking. “You’re right. Someone could have had a reason that Jessica overlooked or didn’t think was a strong enough to harm her.
She did say something strange…” I frowned, trying to remember.
“What?”
“It was when she was talking about her husband. She said something like, did you really ever know another person? I mean, she’s right, I guess, but it struck me as a strange thing to say.”
“What else did she tell you?”
“That was it, I think. She thought I wasn’t taking her seriously and she got a touch panicky.
She thought I thought she was crazy, which I didn’t, and then she got upset and flew out.
Not storming out, angry, but like she was hurt and upset and desperate for someone to agree with her and help her and was about to burst into tears. She insisted on paying a deposit but…”
“But…”
“I forgot about it. In the meeting, I mentioned getting her a bodyguard and I could have taken a cursory look, but I had an appointment afterwards and it just slipped my mind. I called her once but didn’t follow up.
I was going to call her today, then I did and you answered, which sounds like a stupid excuse but it wasn’t.
I feel terrible about not calling earlier. ”
“You couldn’t have foreseen this,” Garrett said gently. “You heard her out, like you would any prospective client.”
“But I forgot to call her.”
“I have a stack of open cases on my desk. Every detective on my squad has open case files, and cold cases. Cases that bug them, where the leads have gone dead, but they can’t quite forget them. We try not to drop balls, but we do. It happens. We’re not perfect. You’re not perfect.”
“I know…”
Garrett draped his arm around me and squished me against his side, warm and brotherly. “What I’m trying to say is, this isn’t your fault. Don’t start believing it is. If someone did this, we’ll find them, but it’s looking accidental so try not to worry unduly.”
“I wish I felt better about that, but wishing won’t give Jessica her life back.”
“No, it won’t. What’s done is done. We can only move forwards now, and the information you’ve given me is very helpful.
It really does look like an accident to me, but I’ll make sure a few extra tests are run and suggest an autopsy.
I won’t just close the case before we’ve checked under all the stones. ”
“Thanks.”
Garrett got to his feet and stretched. “I’m getting old,” he said, “I sit hunched in one position too long and then I have to walk with my hand on my back like an old man. Mom is trying to get me to go to her pensioners’ yoga class.”
“Don’t do it,” I said.
“That bad?”
“No, it’s just you agree to one class, one time, and then she signs you up for every class she ever wants to do and none of them have any bearing on how we live or our interests. Save yourself.”
“Terrible back ache it is,” said Garrett with a resigned sigh. “Lily seems to have no problem taking Mom’s classes.”
“Lily is a law unto herself,” I said. “Actually, she’s worse than Mom. She enables Mom.”
Garrett snorted and stretched his arms. “Shoot,” he said, wincing. “I think my elbow popped. Well, there’s a real excuse. It might be broken! At the very least, a sprain.”
“Can you sprain an elbow?” I asked, regarding him with skepticism.
“I have no idea and hopefully, neither will Mom. Anyway, I’m gonna take off for Ashgrove Farms now and probably devastate someone, which sucks. I’ll give you a call later and see how you’re doing.”
“I’m sorry you have to do that, and I appreciate the check-in.”
“It’s part of the job. It sucks but I’d rather deliver the news with kindness and as much information as I can give. I’m not sure anyone really remembers what I say after the news hits them.”
“Even if they don’t remember the words, they’ll remember whether the delivery was kind or not.”
“True. Wise words. Who knew that my nutcase little sister would grow up to be so full of wisdom?”
“Hey!” But the protest was fruitless; Garrett was already jogging away.