Chapter Fourteen
“What is so important that you interfered with my lunch?” Chad Remington asked Audrey Packer when she stopped her unmarked car in front of the food cart where Remington had been eating.
“We are returning to the scene of the crime.”
“Which crime scene?”
“The Dunthorpe estate.”
“And why are we doing that?”
“To get you ice cream for dessert to make up for interfering with your lunch.”
“Sounds good. Want to tell me why you’re being so good to me?”
“The medical examiner found ice cream laced with sedatives in Cogen’s stomach, and I want to check out something.”
“Okay.”
“And I have another surprise for you. Want to guess whose fingerprints were found in Cogen’s house?”
“Do I get to ask twenty questions?”
“You do not.”
“Can you give me a hint?”
“The person works in Washington, DC, and recently took a ride in a flying saucer.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“I am not.”
Remington had only been inside the kitchen in the Dunthorpe house briefly on his first visit to the crime scene.
He thought it was only a little bit smaller than his condo.
There were two sinks. One was filled with dirty dishes.
Cabinets lined up above the two sinks, a stove with several burners, a large microwave, and two dishwashers.
A granite-topped island stretched across the room under a long rack from which various types of shiny pots and pans dangled.
The island divided the stove and other utilities from a large refrigerator and a separate freezer.
“What are we looking for?” Remington asked as he followed Audrey into the kitchen. His partner walked to the freezer without answering and opened it. When she saw the many tubs of ice cream, she smiled.
“I was lying about dessert. If you eat any of this ice cream, I’ll have to arrest you for tampering with evidence.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Now let’s find the blender.”
It took several minutes searching the cabinets to find a blender. Audrey set it on the island.
“Did you see the dirty dishes in the sink?”
“Yeah.”
“There isn’t a glass with traces of ice cream, and this blender has been washed. What do you deduce from these facts, Watson?”
“Cogen was really fat. From all of the ice cream in the freezer, I deduce that he drank a lot of milkshakes. Our killer put sedatives in a milkshake, bashed in Cogen’s head when he passed out, and washed the glass and blender to disguise the fact that Cogen had been drugged.”
“Very good. You have the makings of an excellent sidekick.”
Chad smiled. Then he got serious. “Now what?”
“Now, we have a heart-to-heart with Congressman Horan.”
“He’s in the den,” Francine Horan said. “He’s been holed up in there since he got out of the hospital.”
“How is he doing?” Remington asked.
“Honestly, he…” Francine looked frustrated. “I can’t get him to go out. He seems scared to death, and he’s having horrible nightmares. He wakes up in a sweat, screaming. It’s really scaring me.”
“Why don’t we talk to him. It might help clear up some of the things that are frightening him,” Remington said.
Francine led the way to the den, then closed the door and left the detectives with her husband. Horan looked startled when the detectives walked in. He hadn’t shaved in days, and he was wearing pajamas.
“Why are you here?” Horan demanded.
“Audrey and I wanted to see how you’re doing.”
Horan calmed down. “Thanks for asking. I’m still not over what happened.”
“The space flight or seeing Terrance Cogen’s dead body?” Audrey jumped in.
Horan’s eyes grew wide, and he looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack.
“What … what…?” he managed.
“Mr. Cogen was murdered around the same time the ETs snatched you. A bit of a coincidence, no?” Audrey said.
“I … What are you suggesting?”
“I am suggesting that you made up that cock-and-bull story about an alien abduction to cover up your involvement in Terrance Cogen’s murder.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Not as ridiculous as your abduction story. We found your fingerprints in the living room in Dunthorpe near where his body was lying. How do you explain that?”
“I don’t have to explain anything. I told you what happened. If this man was murdered when I was abducted, I have an alibi.”
“You might have a problem producing witnesses to back it up,” Audrey said.
“This conversation is over. I want you out of my house.”
“Did you know Terrance Cogen?” Audrey asked.
“If you’re not out of here immediately, I’m going to call Frank Curtin and your superiors.”
“Do that. And while you’re at it, tell them about your alibi.”
Horan was sweating, and he was short of breath.
“Let’s go, Audrey,” Remington said. Then he turned to Horan. “Why don’t you think about coming clean, Congressman. If you have a real alibi, we might be able to keep your involvement out of the papers.”
Francine was waiting near the front door. “Did you get Tom to tell you what’s bothering him?”
“No, but something has him terrified,” Chad said. “If you can get him to open up, it might help him.”
“Mrs. Horan, do you know Terrance Cogen?” Audrey asked.
“Of course. Tom and Terrance have known each other since high school, and he was one of Tom’s closest friends. When I was working for Tom in DC, Terrance was a major campaign contributor. We were shocked when we learned that he was murdered. Why do you want to know?”
“He might have something to do with the people who kidnapped your husband.”
“Why would Terrance do something like that?”
“We’re not saying that he was involved, but the people who killed him may also have done something to your husband.”
“Was Cogen helping your husband win his current campaign?” Chad asked.
“I think he was. I haven’t been involved in the day-to-day running of the campaign since Tom and I married. You should talk to Eric Gilmore or Julie Sunderland. They’re handling Tom’s reelection campaign.”
“Thanks for the information,” Chad said. He started to walk out of the house.
Audrey started to follow him. Then she stopped and turned to Francine.
“I don’t think your husband has been entirely honest with us.
I think he’s hiding something that is terrifying him.
Talk to him and see if you can get him to open up.
We only want to help him, but we can’t if he’s not honest with us. ”
Audrey caught up to Chad as they walked to their car.
“Horan’s fingerprints put him in the room where Cogen was killed, but he won’t admit he was at Cogen’s estate. There are two explanations for Horan’s behavior. Horan killed Cogen, or he went to Cogen’s house and found the body. If he found the body, why wouldn’t he call 911?”
“If he killed Cogen, it would explain why he’s terrified,” Chad said.
“If he’s innocent, he might not have called 911 to avoid bad publicity.
But there’s a problem you haven’t confronted.
You can’t date fingerprints, so we know Horan was in Cogen’s living room, but we can’t prove it was the day Cogen was murdered. ”
Remington shook his head. “There’s something else going on here. I just don’t have any idea what it is.”