Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Matthias unmuted his phone and told Fergusson, “No, Emma wasn’t aware of the familial connection.”
The trooper grunted.
“Isn’t—” Matthias winced and corrected his tense. “Wasn’t Winslow young to be Fran’s uncle?”
“Yes, but he was the youngest of four. His oldest sister, Fran’s mother, had twelve years on him.”
“Are all the siblings dead?”
“Every last one of them.”
“I wonder if Fran was aware of her inheritance,” Matthias mused.
“Lukan and I are going to do some more digging into her past and her financials. If we come up with enough for a warrant, we’ll make an arrest. If not, we’ll go have a chat with her.”
In the background, Matthias heard raised voices. He recognized the tone. He’d heard the same back at Major Crimes in Erie when a new case or news regarding an old case had come in. The call was quickly muted, preventing him from picking up any shouted details.
A few moments later, Fergusson came back on the line. With a harried voice, he said, “I appreciate your help on this one, Honeywell. Have a safe trip back to Erie.”
With that, the call disconnected. Matthias stuffed the phone in his back pocket.
“Well?” Emma asked.
“I’ve been thanked for my assistance and wished a safe journey home.” He wondered about the momentary chaos he’d overheard but realized it could be anything. The State Police had more on their plates than the Jones and Winslow homicides.
“They’re arresting Fran?” Emma asked.
“They’re solidifying their case against her, but yeah. It looks like they’ll be bringing her in sooner rather than later.”
Emma appeared pensive but nodded. “So, as you said, we have no reason to stick around any longer.”
“Except for Nell.”
Emma nodded again without speaking.
Matthias felt a massive knot of doubt boil up in his gut, comprised of unasked questions. He was being a coward, and it needed to stop now. “What are your plans?”
She blinked. “I—I figure I should stick around until Nell checks in at the facility tomorrow. Then I guess we head home.”
He lowered his face. “That’s not what I mean.”
“What do you mean?”
Matthias took a seat on the bed next to Emma and turned to face her.
“I think you know.” The next question stuck in his throat, choking him.
“Do you plan to stay in Erie?” He couldn’t bring himself to add with me.
“The campground closes in less than six weeks. You know you need to be near Nell, and she isn’t gonna want to move to Erie after what happened there. ”
Emma flushed. She turned her head away from him, but not before he caught the sheen of tears gathering in her eyes. Her lips parted then closed again. She swiped a hand across her face and met his gaze. “I don’t know. Do you want me to stay in Erie?”
“Yes.” The answer slipped out without him having to think about it.
Another shimmer of tears flooded her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, but this time she smiled.
“Good.” The smile was short-lived. “As for the campground closing for the winter, I was thinking of putting out feelers. I know Erie has a lot of snowbirds. I’ve heard some rent their houses out when they’re down south for the winter rather than leaving them to sit vacant. ”
“That’s one option.” He battled down another lump in his throat. “Or there’s my place.”
She looked at him, clearly stunned.
He suddenly felt as if he’d made a huge overstep. He stuttered, trying to backpedal. “I—I mean—it’s an option. Rather than sleeping in your car. I—I don’t—you don’t have to—”
Emma bent forward, her shoulders shaking. He thought she was sobbing, but when she sat up again, he saw she was laughing. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh, but you look like you stepped into a trap you can’t get out of.”
He had to admit that was exactly how he felt.
“I appreciate the offer. More than you know. I haven’t been sure…” She looked away. “I know you aren’t…” She made a face, struggling to find the right words. “I know you haven’t been in a long-term relationship for a while. And by ‘long-term’, I mean more than a couple of dates.”
“Mostly one date,” he admitted sheepishly.
“That’s what I mean. You and I… we’ve been together since June. It’s August now. I’ve been bracing for you to get tired of me.”
Matthias stood and held out both hands. She took them, and he gently pulled her to her feet.
“You’re right. I suck at relationships. I haven’t been in a committed one for…
” He thought back to Wendy but didn’t want to go there.
Not right now. “As you said, a long while. But believe me, I am far from growing tired of you.” He cupped her damp face with one hand, leaned in, and pressed a kiss to her smiling lips.
She melted against him, stirring a surge of heat.
Then her phone buzzed.
“Dammit,” he muttered as Emma pressed her face against his neck and burst into giggles.
“Someone has perfect timing,” she said. “I’ll let it go to voicemail.”
“It might be about your sister.”
She sighed and eased away from him. “I’ll check caller ID. If it’s anyone but Eric or Nell, I’m ignoring it.”
“Deal.”
Emma reached for her phone and turned it toward him, revealing Eric’s name and number on the screen.
Matthias stifled the urge to swear.
She answered with a slightly annoyed, “What is it?” Her expression dissolved into a scowl. “No, I haven’t seen the news. Why?” Annoyance returned. “Can’t you just tell me? Okay, fine.” She dropped into the chair, set down the phone, and opened her laptop.
Matthias watched as she typed Washington County PA News into the search bar. She hesitated, then clicked on the first result. He read over her shoulder.
brEAKING NEWS
Local woman found dead. Police report Tina Neidermeyer, assistant to the late Greyson Jones of North Star Developing, has been found dead at her home, allegedly of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This story is still developing. Check back for the latest updates.
That explained the havoc in the background of Fergusson’s phone call.
“Tina killed herself?” Emma said.
Matthias hadn’t realized she’d put the call on speaker until Eric replied, “That’s what the news is reporting, but I can’t believe it. She wasn’t the type.”
“She lost her boss and her job,” Matthias said. “It might’ve been enough to push her over the edge.”
“No way,” Eric said emphatically. “I’ve known her a long time. I’d sooner peg her for murdering Sonny than killing herself.”
Emma shot a look at Matthias before asking Eric, “Where’s Nell?”
Matthias understood her anxiety. Suicide wasn’t a subject Emma would want to discuss in front of her sister.
“She’s down in physical therapy,” Eric said. “You two need to look into this. I know Tina. She would never take her own life.”
“The online report doesn’t give any details,” Matthias said. “What’s the television news saying?”
“Not much. They reported it as a developing story with a reporter headed to the scene.”
Matthias paced toward the hotel room’s window. Two suspects in Jones’s homicide were now dead. That left Fran. He wasn’t sure if that made her a target or the likely killer of one, two, or three other people.
“What’s going on there?” Eric asked over the phone.
Matthias faced Emma but directed his question to Eric. “Do you have Tina’s address?”
* * *
Despite Emma’s insistent pleading that she go with him, Matthias dropped her at the hospital to be with Nell and Eric instead.
Tina Neidermeyer’s address was a single-story brick home on a thickly wooded corner lot.
Both streets were blocked by police vehicles and a couple of news trucks.
Matthias found a parking spot within easy walking distance.
Before he could step out of his Jeep, his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen and answered. “Hey, Cassie. What’ve you got? ”
“I heard from my contact in Ohio. He spoke with one of the Dyson brothers. Not Levi. Apparently the entire family blames Emma’s sister for Zeke’s death, but according to the brother, not enough to, quote, ‘waste their time or energy on the bitch.’”
“Did he mention where Levi was?”
“The brother says Levi hasn’t left Cleveland at all this week and drives a Ford F-150 pickup. He’s currently at work at one of the yacht clubs over there. My contact plans to confirm the work part of the statement. I’ll let you know once he gets back to me.”
“It’s pretty easy to check,” Matthias said. “If it was a lie, you’d think he’d make it harder.”
“I agree.”
He thanked her, ended the call and turned his attention to Neidermeyer’s residence.
Crime scene tape surrounded the perimeter, and a uniformed officer stopped Matthias from crossing it. Unlike some of the people he’d encountered in recent days, this cop wasn’t falling for his Erie Bureau of Police credentials.
“Is Trooper Fergusson around?” Matthias asked.
“He’s heading up the investigation.”
“Let him know I’m here.” Matthias wasn’t sure what the trooper would say about his presence, but it was his best shot at gaining access.
The officer made a call—not on speaker, and his face remained passive—but when he put his phone away, he waved Matthias through.
Lukan stood outside speaking with a uniformed officer. The detective excused the other cop as Matthias approached the front door. “I thought Fergusson told you to go home.”
“That was before I found out about this.” Matthias indicated the brick house. He lowered his voice. “Neidermeyer shot herself?”
Lukan’s expression soured. “Appears that way.” He turned and motioned for Matthias to follow him inside. Lukan led the way down a hall but stopped him at a doorway.
Matthias took in the scene beyond the threshold of a home office. A woman, her back to the door, was slumped over the desk. Her arms hung at her sides, and a handgun rested on a room-sized burgundy rug, as if the weapon had dropped from her fingers. Two men in Tyvek coveralls worked over her.
“I did not expect this.” Fergusson approached Matthias, pinching a sheet of paper between his gloved fingers.
“What do you have?” Lukan asked.
“It was found in her printer.” Fergusson held the page out to his partner.
Lukan donned a pair of nitrile gloves and accepted the document. Matthias leaned in to read it with him.
To whom it may concern,
I can’t live with what I’ve done. I was in love with Sonny, but he jilted me after I’d given him my heart.
It was more than I could stand. To top it off, he went and gave what was to be my company to Patrick Winslow, who flaunted it in my face.
So I killed him, too. I realize I’ve been a vindictive bitch, and I can’t stand the idea of being locked up for the rest of my life.
I’d rather be free of jail and of this earth.
Tina Neidermeyer
Matthias looked at Fergusson and repeated his words back to him. “You didn’t expect this? The news is already reporting that she took her own life.”
“I mean the letter. Wraps everything up with a nice tidy bow, doesn’t it?”
Lukan returned the letter to him. “Removes any question of it being a suicide.”
“Does it?” Fergusson’s mouth pursed.
Matthias was thinking the same thing.
“You aren’t buying it?” Lukan asked flatly.
“I don’t like any crime scene that feels too perfect.” Fergusson reread the letter before handing Matthias a pair of gloves. “You’ve spoken with the woman a few times. Look at this again and tell me. Does this sound like her?”
Matthias worked his fingers into the gloves and accepted the printed document. After studying it, he said, “Parts of it sound like a bad romance novel.”
Fergusson chortled. “How many of those have you read?”
He ignored the trooper. “This one sentence trips me up.” Matthias pointed.
I realize I’ve been a vindictive bitch…
“I’m not saying she wasn’t one,” Matthias said, “but would she think of herself like that?”
“Why wouldn’t she?” Lukan crossed his arms. “She’s coming clean. Admitting what she’s done; who she is.”
“Maybe.” Fergusson took the letter back from Matthias.
“But that sentence waves red flags in my mind, too. From my interaction with her, she seemed like a fighter. With Winslow dead, she might’ve hired a lawyer to void the change in the business agreement.
Not saying it would’ve worked, but I’d think it was worth a shot. ”
The forensic techs in Tyvek shifted their positions, offering Matthias a better view.
“Forget the letter.” He pointed into the room. “Where’s the blood evidence?”
Fergusson gave him the slightest of smiles. “Exactly. I noticed that before we discovered the letter. There’s no blood on the desk or beneath the chair.”
Lukan scowled. “I have to admit, that definitely doesn’t fit the suicide scenario.”
Matthias longed to get closer but knew better than to ask. He wasn’t on the case. This wasn’t his jurisdiction. The last thing they—or he—wanted was to contaminate evidence. There were already more than enough people trampling the crime scene. He needed to be satisfied with his current perspective.
He couldn’t see Neidermeyer’s face, only that it was turned to the right. “Tell me about the GSW.”
“We’re waiting for the coroner to move the body,” Fergusson said, “but from what I’ve seen, there are two.”
“Two gunshot wounds?” Matthias asked, stunned. “She shot herself twice?”
Fergusson smirked. “If we were to keep believing the suicide story, yes. One to the gut. Another in the face, which was definitely the fatal shot. I don’t have to wait for the coroner to confirm that.”
Matthias shook his head. “We’re supposed to believe she accidentally shot herself in the abdomen first?”
“Then blew a hole in her face. You know as well as I do… women don’t generally do that.”
Matthias surveyed the room, finally seeing what he was looking for. “There.” He pointed to a pool of crimson, difficult to see on the similarly colored rug.
“Yep. That’s where she was shot. My guess?
” Fergusson gestured in the same direction.
“The gunman shot Neidermeyer there. She went down but wasn’t mortally wounded.
Or was, but either way, she was still alive.
The assailant approached her, put the gun to her head, right between her eyes, and…
” Fergusson mimed pulling the trigger. “He moved her to the chair. You can’t really see from here, but there are drag marks.
Then he staged the suicide and typed and printed the note. ”
“Not the brightest criminal,” Matthias said. “The blood evidence supports your story. No way was this a self-inflicted GSW.”
“Two GSWs,” Lukan added.
Matthias turned away from the room and mused, “Which leaves the big question. Who wanted Jones, Winslow, and now Tina Neidermeyer dead?”
“I know who my money’s on,” Fergusson said. “What about you?”
Matthias met his gaze. “Fran Goodwin.”
“We’re in agreement.” Fergusson studied Matthias for several long moments. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’ve had several encounters with the woman and have seen how she acts. Do you care to join us as we pay her a visit?”