Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #4: Books 13-16 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [story read aloud .txt] 📗

breath, but Dehan was off again. “It’s not just a theory, sir, we have facts to back it up. We started canvassing the businesses along the banks of the Bronx, south of Starlight Park, north of where she was found. Stone’s theory was that the killer must have had a connection with one of those businesses, otherwise it made no sense to dispose of the body there. This morning, just after Stone talked to you, he got an email from Blackstone’s Builders, on Bronx River Avenue, with a list of personnel, full time and part time, from 2016.”

“…and…?”

She said, “Samuel Reynolds was employed there on a part time basis in November. Not only that, sir, but the employees have an improvised gate to the riverbank, where they take their lunch, coffee and cigarette breaks. Sunday night, November 6th, 2016, there was a break in. Nothing was taken, nothing was disturbed.”

“Dear God…”

“And that’s not all…”

“More?”

I spoke before she could continue. “We interviewed Chad again, sir. I felt sure we were missing something about that night. His behavior didn’t make sense. And it turned out that he did go out to meet Celeste after he phoned her, contrary to what he had told us before. He said he saw her being embraced by a big, tall man, who then picked her up and carried her to a white pickup truck. At that point, he turned away and returned home, believing she had hooked up with Rod, her lover. So he didn’t see what this man did with Celeste. He was sure the man was well over six foot because, as he embraced Celeste, he could see the height difference. Lenny and Celeste are about the same height, and his truck is not a pickup.”

Dehan finished for me. “Samuel is over six foot, he is tall and very strong, and he has a white pickup.”

He spread his hands. “It is very, very compelling…”

Dehan shook her head. “Sir, it is just about conclusive. All we need is his confession, and I am pretty sure we can get that.”

“But how in hell do you explain Lenny’s behavior?”

I sighed. “Sir, it is pretty simple. Chad did the same thing. And they were both right, to some extent. If Lenny had followed the evidence, he would have become the prime suspect in his own investigation. Logically, he must have known better than anyone that finding the real killer, once his colleagues had zeroed in on him and discovered his relationship with Celeste, was going to be almost impossible. He knew, as he told Frank, that the chances of there being any forensic evidence from the body, after a week in the water, were close to nil, but the circumstantial evidence against him was very strong. What he needed to do was kill the investigation as quickly and effectively as possible. That’s why he told Frank not to bother with the glue chamber, that’s why he didn’t call the CS team to her room, or bother chasing up witnesses or going to see Chad.

“After we found the computer and took the sheets in for DNA testing, he assumed we’d go after him—and he panicked. But even so, he was shooting to scare, sir, not to kill, and he swerved to avoid me at the last minute. He just lost control.”

The inspector and Dehan spent a moment nodding quietly. Finally, he said, “Yes, put like that. Very well, John, what do you want to do?”

“We need to talk to the Reynolds. We need to bring them in and interview them in depth.”

They both frowned at me, like weird reflections of each other. The inspector echoed me: “The Reynolds? The whole family?”

“Yes.”

Dehan said, “Even Helen? She’s crazy!”

The inspector looked momentarily scandalized. “She is suffering a mental illness, surely, Detective Dehan!”

I said, “It would be useful to have an interview with her, sir, with her psychiatrist present to evaluate her answers. While medicated, I think she is quite coherent.”

“What exactly do you hope to get from this poor woman?”

I sighed. “From what I have been able to observe, she is aware of what happens in the house, she overhears conversations, and she is aware of how Celeste was perceived by her family. As I understand it, her slide into psychosis may have started when her mother died. She made a comment to me about her sister killing her mother. She may well know what happened the night Celeste died.”

Dehan had been frowning throughout our exchange. Now her frown deepened. “Are you thinking of Helen as a suspect?”

I returned the frown, then shrugged. “Do you know who killed Celeste?”

Her eyes went wide. “I’m pretty sure it was Samuel!”

I smiled, a little exasperated. “I know you’re sure of that, but do you know who killed Celeste?”

“… No, of course not.”

“Neither do I.” I turned to the inspector. “We don’t want to make the Lenny mistake again, sir. I’d like to be thorough and meticulous. I would like to bring all three of them in and question them in depth in light of the new evidence, and then compare their testimony.”

He sat for a moment with his lips in a tight line and his eyebrows high on his forehead. After a moment, he shifted his eyes to look at Dehan. “I think we have just been schooled, Carmen. What about the father? I understand he is bedridden.”

“We can talk to his physician and have him or some other medical practitioner present to make sure he’s OK.”

“Very well, John. Go ahead and bring them in.”

On the way back down the stairs, Dehan gave me a frown that had more than a touch of reproach in it. “Way to slap me down, Sensei! Was that necessary?”

I didn’t answer straight away. We pushed through the doors and stood on the porch for a moment, watching