Chapter Nine
Kane
The precinct was busy when I got back, and Tommy was talking with Sal about what I could only assume was some evidence he found. I slunk down the hall that led to the evidence room and closed the door behind me.
Rows and rows of stacks stood before me, but I knew the active cases were in the middle stack. I headed down there and checked for the number that related to our case.
Fueled by Camille’s weakened demeanor, I knew I had to do this. Even if she’d never committed a crime before, I didn’t want her at risk. It was a compulsion to protect her like I’d never known before.
What the fuck had Maurelle done to me?
I located the stack of evidence bags with the number on it, and quickly moved through the bags to find the fingerprints.
I heard voices coming from the front door of the room and instantly panic set in.
I hightailed it down the end of the row and hid at the back of the room, waiting for them to leave.
I knew the voices, and if they heard me in here, they would ask questions.
I removed the finger prints from the bag as quietly as I could and folded up the bag and put it in my back pocket.
I slid the fingerprints into my jacket pocket and moved down the stacks.
I came up to see O’Brien, who looked surprised to see me. “Garrick?”
“Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked me. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do any of the manual labor before.”
He and his buddy, Harry, laughed. I chuckled. “I was looking for Tommy, someone told me he came this way.”
“Just like you, he doesn’t step foot in here. He sends one of his lackeys to come and get the shit for him.”
They both laughed, but I knew it would be true. It was a weak lie at best.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
I headed to the door, thanking my lucky stars that they bought it and headed to my car.
I needed to get rid of the evidence as soon as possible.
I knew the evidence room’s surveillance wasn’t working right, but the garage was.
I kept everything hidden until I got to my car and removed the bag from my back pocket, stuffing it into my glove compartment and starting the car.
I had no idea where I was going to lose the evidence but I’d already committed a dozen felonies if I thought about it so I may as well keep going.
Maurelle was a criminal, and she needed to be stopped, I knew that, but Camille was innocent.
She’d done the world a favor in my books. I drove out of the garage and headed down the highway, calling Tommy from the car.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“I’ve advised the daughter but I don’t have the address of the ex-wife, wanna text it to me?”
“Yeah I can do that,” he said. “How’d it go with the daughter? Any information?”
“No, she was torn up as you can imagine, but she couldn’t tell me who did it or who would have it out for him.”
“I might have an answer to that,” Tommy said. “He’s on the register, and looks like he may have fooled with his oldest daughter.”
“You’re kidding,” I acted surprised. “So the ex-wife probably wouldn’t give two tosses.”
“She’s probably going to be your number one,” Tommy explained. “The oldest daughter, Cambria, killed herself when he was released four years ago.”
Fuck.
Camille didn’t tell me that.
“Text me the address,” I told him. “I’ll see how I go.”
“I’ll meet you out there,” he said. “Wait for me.”
I didn’t see a problem with that as I hung up, tossing my phone on the passenger seat. It’s not like Maurelle would be a topic of conversation.
I hoped.
My phone pinged with the address. I picked it up and sighed.
She was behind a gated community. Another high society family. Just fucking perfect. O’Leary was going to lose his shit if this didn’t go well.
I headed for the address, the evidence burning a hole in my pocket.
Once I was close to the address, I texted Tommy to find out how far he was behind me.
He was stuck in traffic so I stopped for a coffee, removing the fingerprint case from my pocket and throwing it into a bin.
It had no markings on it to explain what it was.
That was what the bag was for and that was safely hidden away in my car until I could burn it.
I grabbed a coffee and headed back to my car to wait.
My phone rang and I picked it up. “I’m two minutes away.”
I pulled out of my car space and headed down the road to get through the gate. I flashed my badge when I got to the gate.
“Who are you here for?” he asked me.
“I’m here to speak to Chastity Delaponte,” I said.
“Oh,” he replied, his eyes giving away that he may know this had to do with Claude. “Sure. Can I call ahead and let her know?”
“I’d rather you didn’t give her a chance to run.”
He nodded. “She wouldn’t do that, it’s more just so she doesn’t freak out.”
Tommy was behind me.
“That’s my partner. We’ll be gentle.”
He nodded and opened the gate for us. I waved at him as I headed through, Tommy on my tail. When we got to the large two floor house, well, mansion would be more accurate, I got out of my car and waited for Tommy.
“It’s a simple notification,” I said to him. “We ask questions and only if she’s suspicious do we proceed, yes?”
“Got it.”
I already knew he had an idea of what he wanted to say to her. I’d let him take the lead, and watch her reactions.
I knocked on the door and waited. When it opened, I didn’t expect to see a woman in her early fifties, her graying hair up in a clip and the lululemon outfits that most expensive women wore.
“Can I help you?” she asked, looking out at the street. She must be used to being warned by the gatekeeper.
“Ma’am, my name is Detective Kane Garrick and this is my partner, Detective Tomasz Woljart. We need to speak with you in relation to Claude Delaponte.”
Immediately, I saw darkness take hold of her expression and a steel barrier went up.
“He’s my ex-husband,” she said, stonily. “I don’t know where he is.”
“Ma’am, perhaps we can come in and talk to you.”
She hesitated but finally moved aside and allowed us to walk inside. Her house was light and airy, and showed her wealth.
“This way,” she ushered us toward an entertaining area with a large fireplace and beautiful chaise lounges facing each other. She sat down on one, as Tommy and I sat on the other. “What is this about?”
“It is my duty to advise you that Claude Delaponte was found this morning in Fairview Cemetery, deceased.”
She was understandably startled by the news, but she quickly replaced her surprise with a cool expression.
“I see. As I said, he and I are divorced.”
Tommy edged closer to her in his chair. “We understand he was a bad man, but I’m a little surprised by your cool response. Were you aware that he would pass?”
Her eyes went to him, and I saw the icy demeanor I knew was common in the higher society women, come out. “Are you accusing me of murdering my ex-husband?”
“Did you?” he asked, without missing a beat.
“Trust me, Detective, I wanted to, but sadly, not all of us are made for murder.”
Tommy’s phone rang and he excused himself, heading outside.
“I’m sorry for bringing you news that you weren’t ready to hear,” I told her.
“He’s been dead to me for years, Detective.”
“I understand,” I told her. “Any man who can touch his own daughter deserves something more horrific. How did he get out of prison so soon?”
She ran her hands down her pants, as if she were keeping her palms from being sweaty. “He knew people,” she sighed. “And Cambria was too traumatized to recount what he did without crying on the stand so the defense tore her a new one.”
I wanted to go and stab the dead body a few more times, and maybe add in the defense attorney, too. I’d seen far too many cases where the witnesses backed out because of the brutal way their life was destroyed on the stand.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Do you know of anyone who would want him dead, aside from you?”
“Plenty of people, but I’ll never tell you their names,” she told me defiantly. “He should be put in the ground with as little fanfare as possible.”
I nodded, standing with her.
“He made me feel inadequate for not being able to have children. He made me feel like a horrible, useless woman for years, and then we adopted Cambria. We were over the moon. He was still cruel, but never to her. I could handle it, but I had no idea what he was. Absolutely no idea what he could have possibly been doing. I never would have adopted my daughters if I’d known. ”
“Please don’t feel bad for not knowing,” I told her. “Men like that prey on those they can control. They know how to hide it, and they are damn good at it. He’s not worth the tears.”
She wiped at the tears that had started to fall down her cheeks.
“I’m very sorry for the loss of your daughter.”
She looked at me as she was surprised by the complete shift in personality compared to Tommy. “You don’t think it was me, do you?”
“I know it wasn’t you,” I told her. “I’ve been doing this a lot longer than my partner. I could tell the moment I told you.”
“Thank you for coming by,” she said. “I will let my other daughter know.”
“No need, I’ve already been to see Camille.”
Surprise flashed on her face. “Of course, she’s closer to your precinct I suppose.”
“Actually, I know her,” I told her. “My partner doesn’t need to know the truth about her parentage, though.”
“You know about her biological mother?” she asked me, surprised.
“Yes, again, not something I want my partner to know. He’s a little inexperienced and tends to blow things up. Camille doesn’t need to be dragged down into that.”
“I appreciate your discretion,” she said. “Thank you, again.”
She opened the door and let me out, closing it behind me. Tommy hung up the phone just as I joined him on the footpath.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Sal can’t find some evidence from the scene and is blowing up everyone’s phones,” he said, pocketing his phone. “Are you done with her already?”
“It wasn’t her, Tommy,” I said. “He’s on the register, I think we both know it could literally be anyone.”