Intrusions (Carpenter/Harding Book 4) Read online

  “All of this will be cleared up, I promise.”

  Hopefully today.

  Chapter Four

  Ms. Santos greeted them at the door, dressed in black, her expression somber. She cast un uncertain look at the two uniformed officers Jordan and Derek had brought with them.

  “I assumed you’d be back,” she said. “How can I help you?”

  “This won’t talk long,” Jordan told her. “We’ll just take a look around.”

  “I’ll be in the kitchen. Let me know if you need me.”

  Jordan and Derek walked into the foyer where the blood had been cleaned away, and up the mahogany stairs.

  “I wonder if you weren’t making premature promises,” he said. “This could take a while.”

  “That’s why we brought reinforcements. We have to check the entire staircase…though I don’t think whoever did this put what tripped Ashcroft on the bottom half. The fall had to be severe enough.”

  Jordan went up to the top of the stairs and crouched down, studying the first spindle on the left side. There was nothing she could detect, so she ran her fingers over the smooth wood. Nothing. She tried the second, then the third, until she found it: a tiny indentation in the varnish that went all around. She moved to the other side of the stair. The spindle on the right had the same indentation, as if something thin and sharp had been wound around it, leaving a barely visible mark in the varnish.

  “They must have used some sort of cable or wire. Wow. That’s pretty evil.”

  Derek didn’t disagree. “I guess we need Ms. Santos after all. Remember she said the stairs were done recently? This looks fresh.”

  “Yeah, this definitely happened after the work was done here.” She ran her finger once again over the mark on the left spindle. Jordan straightened and headed back down again, joining Ms. Santos in the kitchen area.

  “You told us that the stairs were redone—can you tell us when the company was last in the house?”

  “They finished the varnish on the banister two days ago. This is why we had to wait for the carpet. They told us it takes seventy-two hours to dry and harden completely. Now…I don’t even know what to do about this. His children certainly don’t care or talk to me about it.”

  “One more thing,” Derek added. “Can you show us where tools for gardening or general maintenance are stored?”

  “We don’t do much of that ourselves. Gerald always hired a firm—he believed in supporting small businesses, but yes, there’s a shed. Let me get the key.”

  Of course, that would have been too easy. The only wire they found was a piece of mesh. Santos wasn’t kidding when she said they weren’t doing that work themselves.

  It was time to see the lawyer, and, Jordan realized, she would have to do some more research on razor-sharp trip wire.

  * * * *

  There was not a hint of blemish on Ashcroft’s reputation. Enemies?

  The lawyer all but laughed in their faces. Tamara Lyndon was in her late forties. Her firm had worked with the Ashcrofts for over two decades, and apparently, he hadn’t given them much to do other than the day to day work.

  “You wouldn’t expect a man like this to see past his privilege, but he was truly an exception,” Lyndon said. “People couldn’t get angry with him to save their lives.”

  “Well, someone did.”

  “I can’t imagine who would do such a thing. His business partners…some of them thought it was silly he was giving away so much to charities. He had a big interest in civil rights. Others just set up some amounts so they avoid paying taxes, and they couldn’t care less about the causes. His kids…There was some tension, but I believe they loved him.”

  “What kind of tension are you talking about?” Derek asked.

  This was better, the two of them working, boundaries in place.

  “For one, I’m sure you’re aware he stopped giving money to Abby’s projects. She doesn’t even have bad ideas, but she never sees them through, and Gerald decided it was time for some tough love. Well, it only meant he wouldn’t finance the latest idea. She’s still living comfortable. He worked with Craig through his gambling problem. The air was clear between them. Linwood—he was going to take over the company some day.”

  “Isn’t that unusual, him being the youngest?”

  “Not at all. He has the knack for business. Abby and Craig both had their…issues with money, and I think they are both aware Linwood is the best choice. Craig will stay on in accounting, and Abby hopefully comes up with the real next best thing. I’m sorry I can’t help you much.”

  “That’s all right,” Jordan assured her. “We’re trying to get a complete picture.”

  “How can you be sure it wasn’t a break-in?”

  “Nothing was stolen, and it didn’t look like anyone forced their way in. We assume that Mr. Ashcroft knew his murderer.”

  “It’s so sad. He was a good man.”

  This seemed to be the only thing everyone agreed on. That, and it was curious that no one had mentioned Craig’s gambling problem before.

  * * * *

  When they were back at the station, the lieutenant asked Derek for an update while Jordan went to see Dr. Adams.

  “So you escaped from another stern conversation upstairs,” the medical examiner remarked. “Your partner wasn’t so lucky?”

  “I know you prefer to see him down here, but I’m afraid you’ll have to do with me. What more can you tell me about Mr. Ashcroft?”

  “We know he took a bad fall down those stairs, but the stuff he had in his system didn’t help.”

  “The sleeping pills.”

  “No, that’s the thing. The pills in the bottle were prescription medication, but not sleeping pills. Digoxin is used to treat heart conditions, sometimes heart failure that cannot be controlled by any other medicine. One possible adverse side effect is ventricular tachycardia which can lead to sudden cardiac arrest.”

  “So this drug alone could have killed him?”

  “Yes. Someone wanted to make sure, huh?”

  Jordan took a look at the cut on Ashcroft’s leg. This had to have been planned a while ago, from the inside, by someone who knew a lot about Ashcroft’s life, the staircase remodeling, the sleeping pills he was taking. Yet, everyone in that circle claimed they loved him.

  “Can you pinpoint the time of death?”

  “I’m so glad you asked. This kind of drug takes a while to take effect, and based on this, and the injuries…I’d say between two and four a.m.”

  “Okay.” Jordan pictured Ashcroft taking the pill, not knowing it wasn’t the harmless sleeping aid prescribed to him. He might have gone to bed, not feeling well and got up to go downstairs, maybe dizzy already…and there was the wire on the stairs.

  For all the planning, the perpetrator had been suspiciously bad at covering their tracks. It was almost as if after the fact, they didn’t care…or felt remorse, and wanted to be caught.

  “Okay, you’re not going to question my expertise?”

  “I wouldn’t dare. Don’t hit on Derek. He has a girlfriend.”

  “Easy, I’m just enjoying the view.”

  “All right then. Is that all?”

  “Did you find anything about the wire?”

  “Not yet. I doubt it’s a special brand.”

  “One thing’s for sure. Whoever did this, really wanted him dead. Even if the pills didn’t do it, at some point he would have walked into that trap.”

  It was a chilling thing to think about, the safety of home compromised like this. Jordan thought she might have to do a paranoid sweep of her own once she got back.

  * * * *

  Dr. Snyder was perplexed when they asked him about the sleeping pills. At this point, they didn’t see it fit to share details about the heart medication that obviously hadn’t been prescribed to Ashcroft.

  “I told you, there was always trouble with those kids one way or another, but if Gerald had trouble sleeping, he would have told me. I’m sorry, I c
an’t help you.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Snyder.”

  When they were outside the office, Derek continued, “What if Ashcroft was sicker than anyone thought? Maybe he asked for a second opinion, was recently diagnosed?”

  “Yeah, maybe. Or someone knew very well what they were doing. Who had access to this information and Ashcroft’s medicine cabinet? Who did he trust most?”

  Derek shook his head. “I know what you’re thinking, but Santos isn’t the one. She had a huge crush on Ashcroft, obviously…”

  “He didn’t return the sentiment?”

  “No. I can see where she would have had the opportunity to pull this off, but I wonder if the doctor and his patient have always been such good friends, as he says?”

  “Good question,” Jordan said.

  * * * *

  Perkins didn’t seem to have anywhere to be, and she had a lot to say about her neighbors too. Ellie was beginning to think that either the complete story was true, that Lillian had cheated on her husband and he killed her in revenge, or that Marjorie had created a whole mystery in her mind. The truth was certainly more complex. As she listened to Perkins talking, Ellie heard a noise, a bump that came from somewhere behind her. She turned around, but there was no one, just Perkins’ house.

  “Do you hear that?” Ellie had meant it to be a rhetorical question.

  “Hear what?”

  There it was again, a repeated thump against wood. It seemed to come from beneath the wooden trap door of Perkins’ cellar.

  “Mrs. Perkins, would you open the door?”

  “Why? I’m sure it’s just some animal. I’ll take care of that later, don’t worry.”

  “Mrs. Perkins. Now.”

  The woman looked nervous, which had Ellie imagining a whole other story now.

  “I don’t have to, right? You can’t make me without a warrant. That’s what you were waiting for, right, to get permission to go into George’s garage? Why don’t you work on that, the bodies you might find…”

  “You are acting suspicious. I’ll have to ask you again.”

  “Okay, okay,” Perkins muttered. “It’s true what they say, you can’t trust the police, they are always going for the wrong ones. The neighborhood was in order once, quiet, until they moved in. The Delaneys are the ones you should arrest.”

  She bent to turn the key in the lock, her elbow hitting Ellie in the chest the next moment.

  “No, that didn’t help at all,” Ellie gasped before she got to her feet and ran after the woman.

  Casey arrived the moment she put cuffs on Mrs. Perkins who let loose a stream of obscenities.

  “Oh please, just take care of her,” Ellie said. “I believe we don’t need that warrant anymore.”

  “You okay?”

  “Sure.” She went back to the trap door and opened it all the way, revealing the woman trapped in the small space of the storage unit.

  “Mrs. Delaney?”

  “Oh thank God. I knew she was a terrible person, but this was rich even for her.”

  Ellie reached down to help her climb outside. Other than a bit of dirt on her clothes, Lillian Delaney seemed unharmed.

  “How did this happen?”

  “She’s been on our case ever since we moved in. Complained about everything, George’s business, the music, hell, the flowers we planted in the front. If she could have called the police about that, she would have! When I came home from work yesterday, George wasn’t there. Perkins came out, all friendly all of a sudden, and offered to bury the hatchet. I should have been suspicious. She had cookies and coffee all ready, and then she said she wanted to give us a bottle of wine from her cellar. I followed her downstairs. Stupid, right? She locked me in there. At least there was water and some food. I have no idea what her plans were in the long run, but they weren’t good.”

  “I agree. I’m glad we found you. Let’s notify your husband now. He’s been looking for you all day.”

  Lillian gave her a wry smile. “Only today? You’d think your husband would notice if you didn’t come home the first night.”

  “She sent him a text from your cell. You left your bag upstairs?”

  “I can’t believe this. Thank you.” Spontaneously and unexpected, Lillian Delaney hugged Ellie. “I hope you’re going to lock her up instead.”

  * * * *

  “I didn’t tell you about the gambling, because it has nothing to do with your case,” Craig Ashcroft said, seeming indignant that someone might think otherwise. “I think it’s outrageous that you keep bothering us in this time of grief. We are trying to plan a funeral. Linwood might hardly be right about anything, but he’s right about this.”

  “Why not mention it? You must have expected us to find out at some point.”

  “It’s not something I like to talk about, okay? Dad and I talked it over. I had therapy. That’s it. I haven’t touched any sort of gambling in over five years. If you’ll excuse me now? I have to work.”

  Back at the station, they found that Ellie had a more successful day, having found a missing woman and arrested the culprit, a neighbor with a lot of time on their hands and a penchant for drama and mystery.

  “I’m glad you had a good day,” Jordan told her. “I swear, the lieutenant gives me the evil eye every time we’re back here without an arrest. At least, no one’s suing so far, and…I’m sorry. For yelling at you this morning,” she clarified when Ellie gave her a surprised look. “I know you mean well. I just want her to stop, and she’s not listening.”

  “That’s okay. Maybe you’re right. Wait it out, she might give up at some point.” Ellie didn’t seem much convinced, but at least she had accepted Jordan’s apology. The day was looking up. “I’ll see you later at the Night Shift?”

  “That name will cause some misunderstandings in the future,” Jordan said with a smile. “Sure.”

  She and Derek spent the rest of the day talking to heads of charities Ashcroft had worked with. Interestingly enough, he supported LGBT rights, women in business and organizations helping individuals with various addictions. There was also a fund Tamara Lyndon had mentioned, assisting underprivileged children access sports and arts programs.

  Jordan had dreamed about winning the lottery a time or two, but the reality of what could be done with that kind of money blew her mind. It wasn’t surprising that most of the people she talked to were shell-shocked about Ashcroft’s death—whoever wanted to do him harm, still a mystery.

  Linwood had come around and wasn’t talking about suing the department anymore, but he too had urged them to release his father’s body so they could arrange the funeral. At this point, they didn’t have much to argue with…but there was still the heart medication that apparently wasn’t his.

  She and Derek parted ways at the end of her shift before she joined Ellie at the new bar, the Night Shift.

  It was bigger than the Code 7 had been, the lighting a bit brighter. It would take some time getting used to another place, though it was a small inconvenience considering the kind of catastrophe they’d almost faced. She was glad to see Ellie alone at a table.

  “Hey,” she said, slipping into the booth, sharing a quick kiss with her. “So this is the new hangout.”

  “I guess so. It’s still crazy to think of what happened…He was among cops all the time, and no one suspected a thing.”

  “Sometimes it’s the quiet, polite ones.” Jonathan Darby had been polite, too, until she got to know him better.

  “Yeah.” Ellie sighed. “At least it’s over now. Like the vacation. That was so quick, like a dream.” She leaned into Jordan, and Jordan suspected that she had more to say, but silence ensued.

  “You found that woman today.”

  “I was lucky. I guess she was too. What a bizarre way to handle a conflict with a neighbor, locking them in your cellar. I’ve had enough of those dark spaces. I think I might be getting claustrophobic or something.”

  “It will be better with time,” Jordan said.

 
; “We didn’t really talk about…all of this,” Ellie remarked. “Darby, Ward. Should we have talked more?”

  “As far as I’m concerned, I’m not willing to give either of them any more space in our lives. Besides, the vacation was highly therapeutic even when we didn’t talk.” Her plan worked. Ellie smiled at the implication.

  “No kidding. You feel like some more relaxing time tonight? You’ll see, you’re going to love being so close to work.”

  “Yeah, as long as Henderson doesn’t keep stealing the hot water. You didn’t want to christen the restroom here?”

  She laughed when Ellie’s eyes widened, as if she believed Jordan was serious about the idea.

  “Got you there.”

  “Come on, I didn’t think you were serious.”

  “You so did. No, it’s all right, I like not being desperate for a place to spend some time with you…though that time was pretty amazing.”

  “Yes it was. And we might want to change the subject right now.”

  “Go on. We’re used to that kind of thing from you two,” Kate said, pulling herself a chair. Henderson was stifling a grin, but wisely keeping his thoughts to himself.

  After a waitress had taken their orders, Kate brought the subject of conversation back to work. “It’s strange, two people reported missing in two days. You were luckier than I was. It turns out my girl got on the plane like her mother said and arrived on time. She rented a car and that’s where we lose her. No sign of the car either, and there’s the bracelet she sent back. Strange.”

  Jordan realized that the subject of a woman missing still caused her stress, bringing unwanted memories with it, Ellie’s abduction, Darby’s obsession with her that almost turned deadly. It was true, they had tried not to let these experiences intrude on their off-time, but sometimes, it was hard to keep them from bubbling up.

  The Ashcroft case was so different, and yet mysterious. She felt a little guilty for being relieved about a case that, for once, was in no way personal. Of course they hadn’t always been. With Darby haunting the town, her biological father turning out to be a career criminal, and the quiet polite son behind the counter planning and executing Ellie’s abduction, they’d had more than their share.