The Heart of Lies

chapter 14



Colin walked into the Paradise Valley police station and surprised the receptionist working the front desk. “Hey, Stella!” he shouted, echoing the classic Tennessee Williams line from A Streetcar Named Desire.

She jumped to her feet. “Oh, Colin! It’s great to see you again!”

“Thanks, Stella.”

“Are you back for good?”

“Just a visit. Say, is Ernie in? I need to talk to him.”

“Yes, go on back. You know the way.” She smiled and pushed a release button to buzz him through.

He wandered down the hall and stuck his head in Ernie’s doorway. “Hey, buddy.”

Ernie glanced up with a look of surprise that quickly melted into a broad smile. “Hey, yourself. Was Emily happy to see you?”

“Of course, but that’s not what I’m here to see you about. What can you tell me about the murder?” Colin asked.

“Why don’t you come in and have a seat?” he said, gesturing toward the chair across from his desk. “And be sure to close the door behind you.”

Colin shut the door and took a seat, his gaze roving across Ernie’s desk. He watched with interest as Ernie pulled a thin file off the top of a short stack of folders and laid it open. Then he clasped his large hands on top of it. “What do you want to know?”

“Why did you arrest Josh Sullivan?” Colin asked.

“Well, ol’ Pete Peterson owns the Graystone Building where Lucas Wakefield had his office. Pete is such a cheapskate, he pinches pennies ’til Lincoln bleeds,” Ernie chuckled.

“Is this story going somewhere, big guy?”

“Of course. After Evan Parker was murdered in his office there last year, the other tenants pushed Pete to put security cameras on the building for their safety. So, he did, rather than lose some of his renters.”

“If he’d done it sooner, maybe we’d know who killed Emily’s late husband,” Colin said.

“That’s right.”

“But what does that have to do with Josh?” Colin asked.

“Well, after getting the video, we found that Josh was the last one to leave the Graystone Building last night—that is, before Gloria Wakefield and Maggie and Emily came there. When one of my officers and I went to talk to Josh this morning, we found that someone had done a number on his face, and his knuckles were bloody and busted up. I asked him about it. He started to say he had gotten into an argument with Lucas until Maggie told him not to say another word until he got a lawyer. I had no choice but to bring him in. My officer waited with him while I called for an arrest warrant. While we waited, Maggie called an attorney, that guy who defended Delia McCall a few months ago.”

“Alex Martínez?”

“That’s the one. Say, isn’t that the case Emily worked on?”

“Yes. You might say that’s how our romance began.”

“Now she’s got you involved in this case,” Ernie said, shaking his head.

“You’re the one who called me, Ernie, not her.”

“I called you to give her moral support, not to poke your nose in my investigation,” Ernie scowled.

“I’m not poking my nose in your investigation,” he said, defending himself. “I’m here to help.”

Ernie’s scowl turned into a wide grin. “Gotcha!” he shouted with a fist pump and let out a thunderous laugh.

“You old coot.”

“Hey, watch it young man.”

“What else do you have?” Colin looked down at the open file.

As a seasoned detective in San Francisco, he had worked nearly a hundred murders. This was only Ernie’s second murder case. The first one he worked was as an officer aiding Colin, who at the time was Paradise Valley’s only detective. Since Colin’s departure, Ernie now held that esteemed position—the entire case rested on Ernie’s big shoulders.

“Well, since Lucas Wakefield appears to have been beaten to death, and Josh all but admitted having been in a fist fight with him, what else do I need?” Ernie asked smugly.

“Was there anyone else on the security video?” Colin questioned.

“Yes, but no one else that would have done it.”

“Tell me who was on the video around the time of the murder,” Colin pressed. “You do have a time of death don’t you?”

“Yes.” Ernie looked at the notes in the file. “Doc Walters says time of death was between six and seven last night. Around that time, the video showed Mayor Sullivan entering the building, then Josh Sullivan. Shortly after that, it shows Josh leaving, then Mrs. Wakefield, Lucas’s mother, entering, then Maggie and Emily going inside.”

“Have you questioned all of them?” Colin asked.

“Not yet, but I will. I’m working through the list, but it’s a little tricky. The mayor, the victim’s mother, the fiancée—you know what I mean?

“It’s gotta be done, Ernie.”

“Step by step, I’m working through it. Hey, did you hear Mrs. Wakefield is in the hospital? She had a heart attack last night, right after she found her son dead. They had to rush her to the emergency room.” He pulled out a small notepad and began to write. “I’ll have to check on her status.”

“I hadn’t heard that. Poor woman, losing her son and having to be the one to find him.”

“Just a crying shame all around,” Ernie said. “You know Josh is military, like you were.”

“That’s what Emily said. I hope you’re wrong about him, Ernie.”

“Me, too.”

~*~

Alex phoned Maggie from the jail. Emily sat next to her on the couch, watching Maggie’s expression for any sign whether the news from Alex was good or bad.

Maggie nodded her head at what Alex was saying. Her eyes were red and swollen and the remnant of her mascara bled below her eyes. Her mess of blonde hair was pulled haphazardly into a ponytail. She clicked her phone off and tossed it on the wooden coffee table, leaning back on the sofa, closing her eyes.

“What did he say?” Emily asked.

“He said Josh won’t be arraigned ’til Monday,” she replied, her eyes still closed, “but he’ll try to get me in to see him today. He didn’t know when, though.” She stifled a cry that almost broke through.

Camille ambled into the living room, wearing her face of motherly concern. “The kitchen’s all clean, everything from breakfast is put away. What else can I do, Maggie?”

Maggie sat up and looked at her through watery eyes. “Can you explain to me how this happened?”

“I don’t understand, Maggie.” Camille rushed to the sofa and sank down on it. “What do you mean?” Camille had a look of confusion in her eyes and she glanced at Emily for some help.

“Yesterday, I was engaged to a wonderful man and we had our whole lives ahead of us. I was so thrilled to have my boy home, and happy he could be here for the weddin’.”

Maggie thrust her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders began to shake as she wept. “Now everythin’ has gone to hell! My Lucas is dead and my son is in jail, accused of killin’ him!” she bawled.

Emily patted Maggie’s back softly as she wailed, and Camille put her arm around Maggie’s waist.

After a few torturous minutes of sobbing, Maggie sat up and Emily handed her a box of tissues.

“What a big blubber baby I am,” she said, wiping her nose with a tissue.

“Don’t say that, Maggs.” Emily remembered having been a crying mess, too, after Evan’s death.

“We would expect no less, hon,” Camille said, lightly running her hand up and down Maggie’s back. “Whatever you need, we’re here.”

“Em, do you think my son could have killed Lucas?” Maggie dabbed at her eyes, the sobs subsiding.

“I would hate to think so, but I guess it’s possible,” Emily replied. She didn’t want to tell her friend that, but she had to be honest. The evidence so far certainly did point to him. She could feel Camille’s stare heating her skin. “I’m sorry, Camille, but I have to be honest with her.”

“We’re here to support Maggie, and by extension, Josh,” Camille snapped at Emily.

“I am being supportive, but Maggie asked me a question and I’m not going to lie to her,” Emily defended. “It doesn’t look good, but that doesn’t mean he did it. Colin went to find out what the cops have. Let’s wait until we hear back from him before we start jumping to any conclusions.”

“Until I have absolute proof, I’m choosing to believe Josh is innocent,” Camille declared.

“I agree, Cam,” Emily said, “but I’m not going to stick my head in the sand and hope it all goes away.”

“Enough!” Maggie shouted and shot up off the sofa.

Both Camille and Emily sat back, stunned.

Maggie walked to the windows and looked out, before turning back to face them.

“Emily, can I hire you to investigate this murder, clear my son. I have some money saved.”

“No, Maggs—”

“Why not?” Maggie interrupted.

“Let me finish. No, I won’t take your money, but I promise you that Colin and I will do all we can to find out who murdered Lucas, and why.”

“If my son killed Lucas,” Maggie dropped her gaze to the floor and crossed her arms, “then I’ll have to deal with it, although I’m not sure how. But if he didn’t do it,” she raised her head and looked Emily in the eye, “then the real killer needs to be rooted out and caught.”

Maggie turned back to the window and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. “I just can’t imagine why anyone would want to kill my sweet Lucas.”

~*~

When Maggie went to lie down again, Camille agreed to stay with her, leaving Emily free to meet up with Colin and find out what he’d learned from Ernie. She phoned him and he swung by Maggie’s place and picked her up.

Colin filled her in on the security tape the police had, showing Josh was the last to leave the office before Lucas’s mother showed up, which he said lined up with the time of death the medical examiner determined. That evidence, together with Josh’s admission that he and Lucas had had a fist fight before he left the office was all the evidence Ernie needed to hold him.

“I want to sit down and interview Josh,” Emily told Colin, “get his side of the story.”

“I thought you talked to him last night when he came home.”

“Yeah, but I have other questions for him. Something’s just not adding up,” she said. “Why was Sully there? Who else was on the security tape? What about—”

“Whoa, slow down, Emily. You’re going to blow a fuse,” he warned. “I’m sure Ernie can get us in to see Josh, but we’ll probably have to have Alex with us. I’d like to talk to the medical examiner, too—see if we can get the cause of death dialed in a little clearer.”