Woodland Estates. The cemetery with the lake. The cemetery with my daughter.
The cemetery where Rachel Tyler was found.
chapter seventeen
It’s a connection that was there two years ago but nobody was looking for it. Nobody even knew to look for it. Why would they? No way could they have known Rachel Tyler was going to be found one day buried in a cemetery. No way could they have known that her going to her grandmother’s funeral was sending her into the scope of her killer.
My cellphone rings, which is good news for me, since it means it’s up and running. I look at the display but don’t recognise the number.
‘Hello?’
‘What are you doing fucking with my investigation?’
‘Who is this?’
‘Who the hell do you think? You visited the Tylers.’
‘Look, Landry, I was …’ But I don’t know how to finish.
‘Jesus, Tate, what the hell are you playing at here? You’re going to seriously fuck things up for us.’
“I know what I’m doing.’
‘If you knew what you were doing, you’d still be carrying a badge. You’re going to mess things up, and if it wasn’t Bruce Alderman who killed those girls, that means we’ve still got a serious investigation on our hands. Which means there’s going to be a trial once we catch the guy, and suddenly we’re going to have to explain your actions at the trial. How’s that going to make you look? Or us? You think any defence lawyer worth more than ten cents isn’t going to be able to shred our case apart because you’ve fucked up all our evidence? Christ, Sidney Alderman is sure you killed his son. Come on, Tate, you gotta be more careful. You can’t let this bullshit happen.’
“I didn’t kill him.’
‘I know that. We all know it. But not Alderman. He’s sure you pulled the trigger. You might want to watch your back.’
‘It was an empty threat.’
‘Maybe. I’d still watch it anyway. He’s building up some Dutch courage.’
‘What do you mean?’
“He went straight from the morgue to a bar. He’s drinking himself into a state, and I don’t know whether it’s a better or a worse one.’
‘Let me guess. You gave him a lift?’
‘That’s a shitty question, Tate. I’m trying to help you out here.’
‘Okay Okay, I get the point.’
“I don’t think you do. Because somehow you got her ring.’
‘What?’
‘Rachel Tyler. You got her ring. You showed it to her parents.’
‘Bruce gave it to me.’
‘Bullshit. You had it yesterday afternoon. How’d you get it?
You steal it out of the coffin? Where are you right now?’
I was outside the cemetery about thirty seconds ago, but now that I know Sidney Alderman isn’t home, I’ll give his house a visit instead. ‘I’m at home.’
“No you’re not. I’m at your house and you’re not here.’
‘Good one, Landry. I’m standing in my driveway and you’re nowhere around.’
I’m pretty sure we both know the other one is bluffing.
‘Stay out of my case, Tate. Your name comes up one more time, and I’m going to take some action. Got that? You could do time here, man. You’re compromising things. You stole evidence which, by the way, I want back.’
‘Okay, I’ll…’
But he’s already hung up. I step out of my car and look up and down the street, suddenly worried that Landry might be watching me after all. There’s no sign of anybody. He was right about one thing, though. My name is about to come back up in about twenty minutes when he goes and talks to David. Things, like he said, are fucked up.
I knock on the door and nobody answers. So I move from window to window, peering inside, but since even sunlight can’t seem to penetrate the grime there isn’t much chance I can see anything. A guy like Sidney Alderman would come out and tell me to go to hell if he knew I was looking through his windows.
That means he definitely isn’t here. I try the back door. It’s locked.
So is the front. I get out the key Bruce left for me and try both doors, but it doesn’t fit. It’s not even close to fitting.
There are still plenty of ways to get inside, and I opt for the less subtle approach of kicking in the back door. It opens easily enough, bouncing back off the wall and almost closing again, stopped only by the busted-up jamb. The cops will know who did it. But if I’m right about things, it won’t matter. They’ll be glad I did it.
The first thing I can smell is alcohol. I move up the hallway.