No Remorse Page 9

  “I will. I’ll text you as soon as I get this figured out,” I said.

  Jones smiled. “Cool. I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.”

  “When are you leaving?”

  “I’m heading out today. I wanted you to hear from me what’s going on.” Jones poured himself a cup of coffee, then turned his gaze back at me. “One last thing. Johnson’s really good, but don’t let him take over. Hold your ground. He’s a good guy, but he’s really aggressive.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll make you proud.” I patted him on the back. “Take care of your family, and don’t worry about any of this.”

  He took a sip of his coffee before he placed the lid on the cup, and then with a tilt of his head he left. I could see the dampness in his eyes. I knew from previous conversations his brother was a handful and had been battling some pretty wretched demons. Most of his issues seemed to be drug- and gambling-related.

  When I returned to my desk, Johnson had arrived. He turned and looked in my direction.

  “Did you talk to Rob?” he asked.

  “Yeah. That really blows.”

  “Yep.” There was an uncomfortable silence that hung in the air for several minutes. Neither of us said anything else about the situation, but the emotional camaraderie we had with our brother left a lot of thoughts unspoken. We knew it wasn’t for us to chatter about, but it lingered in the back of my mind.

  Johnson cleared his throat, bringing me out of my reverie. “Where should we start? I’m following your lead.”

  “Let’s go find Mrs. Dupree. While we’re there, we can get her appointments and begin checking to see if there are any holes in her alibi, or not. And we need to get Effridge’s life insurance information like you suggested.”

  Johnson held out his arm in the direction of the door. “After you,” he said.

  Chapter 17

  “Can I help you, Detectives? I’m really busy today,” Mrs. Dupree said as she emerged from her office.

  “We’d like to ask you a few more questions, Mrs. Dupree,” I said.

  “Carlotta, please. I really don’t have time today. Perhaps we can talk tomorrow.”

  “We really need to talk to you today. We can talk here, or you can come with us to the precinct,” I said.

  She huffed out a breath, shaking her head. I knew she was annoyed, but this investigation couldn’t be conveniently discussed around her schedule. We had a job to do.

  “Fine. Let’s do it here,” she said. Her tone was clipped and she made it perfectly clear she was not a happy camper.

  We entered her office and sat down in the chairs she’d pointed to across from her desk.

  “Where’s the other detective?” Carlotta asked. “Jones, I think was his name.”

  “He was called away for a family emergency. This is my new partner, Detective Johnson.”

  She flashed him a forced smile. “Nice to meet you. What can I help you fellows with today?”

  “We’d like to get a copy of your scheduled from Friday. We also need the names and phone numbers for everyone you were meeting with.”

  Carlotta picked up the phone and spoke with her assistant, requesting her to bring her the things we requested.

  “Anything else?”

  “It’s our understanding your son hired a private investigator. Were you aware of that?” I asked.

  “Jonathan is a busy-body. Yes, unfortunately, I’m aware. He was obsessed with Larissa.” She took a sip of her coffee. “I’m so sorry, can I get either of you something to drink? I can ask Diane to bring you something.”

  “No, thank you,” I said. Johnson declined, too.

  “Ma’am,” Johnson began, “did your son send any information from the PI to anyone that you’re aware of?”

  “I honestly have no idea what he did with the photos. I know he showed the pictures to me. That was the straw that broke the camels’ back for Chase and me, and I moved out shortly afterward.”

  “When did he show the photos to you?” I asked.

  “A few months ago, just before I moved out.”

  “I hate to dredge up any bad feelings, but can you tell me what the photos detailed?” Johnson asked.

  “My feelings stopped being an issue when my husband decided to trample them. Some of the photos Jonathan showed me were of Chase and McKenzie Sims, one of the models who works for me. He swore to me that was Chase’s new girlfriend, but I didn’t believe him. She’s been dating Billy, my photographer, for quite some time, and they’re virtually inseparable.”

  “If you didn’t believe it, why did you move out?” I asked.

  “The other couple pictures were of some young girl with her arms full of books, looking at my husband as if the sun rose and set because of him. I remembered feeling that way when we first began dating, but hadn’t felt like that in a long time. I knew he’d been having an affair with Larissa, but we agreed we were going to try to work on our marriage. It wasn’t going very well, and then those pictures… When I saw them I knew I needed to get on with my life, without him. He wouldn’t leave, so I did.”

  A light knock was heard before Carlotta requested the person to enter. Her assistant, Diane, came in with a small stack of papers that she handed to Carlotta.

  “Thank you, dear,” Carlotta said.

  She smiled without a word before she turned and quickly left, closing the door behind her.

  Mrs. Dupree sifted through the papers, then reached in our direction with everything intact. “Who wants these?” she asked, looking between Johnson and me.

  I reached and took them from her. “Thank you.”

  “Everything’s there. The schedule, contacts, and my lunch receipt. If you need anything else, let me know.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Johnson said.

  I thanked her for her time and we left. Johnson said he’d begin verifying her alibi. We needed to either keep Mrs. Dupree on the suspect list or take her off because her alibi checked out.

  My thoughts about her changed completely. I didn’t believe she killed her husband. Not anymore. The more I talked to her, the more I believed she was satisfied to just walk away from him. She didn’t harbor enough malice that she would have taken the man’s life. She wasn’t full of rage. She was surprisingly indifferent toward everything to do with him.

  Luckily for us, when I called Jonathan, he agreed to meet us at the precinct. As I drove, I listened in on the conversations Johnson was having with those who could vouch for Carlotta’s whereabouts on Friday.

  “Everything checks out. She’s off the list. Everyone said she was where she said she was,” Johnson said, then sighed.

  “I didn’t think she did it,” I said.

  “Honestly, I didn’t either. But at least we have one person we can eliminate. That’s a good thing.”

  “I agree. The fewer people we’re chasing, the better.”

  Johnson’s phone rang twice before he answered it. I hated feeling like I was eavesdropping, but we were in the car together.

  “That was the life insurance company. The beneficiary for Effridge’s policy is his son.”

  “He’s just a baby. Does it go in a trust? Or does the legal guardian take control for him since he’s a minor?”

  “Effridge didn’t provide an alternate guardian since the kid’s under-age. I’m sure he never suspected the kid would get the money before he turned eighteen. It’s up to the courts now. The life insurance company won’t cut a check for the policy until they get the legal guardianship.”

  “That’s stupid. His mother is the legal guardian.”

  “I didn’t make the rule, I’m just telling you what they said. Anyway, she’s still a suspect. They aren’t paying out anything until we figure out this case.”

  “Just out of curiosity, how much is the policy for?” I was dying to know what the price tag was for this guy’s life.

  “A cool mil.”

  “One million dollars? Are you kidding me?”

  “I ki
d you not. The kid’s loaded, and he doesn’t even know it yet.”

  “Or maybe his mom’s loaded, and she does know it,” Johnson said.

  “Could she have had a million reasons to kill her baby’s father?”

  “I’ve seen people kill for a lot less.”

  “Nothing would surprise me. But she doesn’t seem to have the feet for a men’s size eleven sneaker.”

  “Maybe not. We just need to find someone who would be angry enough to shoot and stab our victim,” Johnson said.

  Chapter 18

  Calhoun was waiting for us when we walked into the station. He didn’t have a scowl on his face, like the last time. His face was emotionless.

  “Good morning, Detectives,” he said as we approached him.

  We each greeted him back. We quickly moved our conversation into room number one. I was hoping a change of room would change the result of our conversation. I’d never admit it to anyone I worked with, but I was very superstitious. When I was younger, I tried to believe it was just certain behaviors that yielded me good results. I thought my habits were driving positive things for me on the football field and classroom. When my mom or someone tried to force me to alter my habits, I’d freak out. If I ate pasta before the last game and we won, I was supposed to eat pasta again, so we would win, again. I tried really hard to pretend it wasn’t something driving me to behave a certain way, but my mom finally told me I was just being superstitious.

  “Thanks for coming down to meet with us, Mr. Calhoun,” I said.

  “Please, call me Jonathan. I understand you have questions about my private investigator.”

  “Yes, we do. Can I get you anything before we get started?” I asked.

  “No, thank you.”

  I couldn’t help but notice the drastic change in his demeanor from the last time we talked. He seemed much calmer, and nicer. I motioned to the seat and we all sat down.

  “The private investigator was hired by me several months ago to follow Effridge and take pictures of who he was with. I know you asked me about letting things go between Larissa and me, but I suspected my mother’s husband was up to his old tricks of sneaking around with other women. I felt a need to protect Larissa.”

  “I’m sorry, please help me to understand. Exactly who were you trying to protect Larissa from?” Johnson asked.

  “From Effridge, of course. He was a troll, a despicable cad. He used women and moved on to the next without the common decency of taking into consideration the previous conquests’ feelings or knowledge. Effridge was no gentleman!” Jonathan moved in his seat, then took in a breath and released it. “My only intention was to let Larissa know what he was doing behind her back and prevent heartache several years down the line, like he made my mother suffer.”

  “Tell us what the PI found, and what you did with the information,” I said.

  “I guess it depends on how you interpret the photos the investigator took,” he said snidely.

  Jonathan Calhoun

  “Can you expand on that? What exactly do you mean?” Detective Oliver asked.

  “The photographs could be interpreted as seeing two friends, Effridge and McKenzie, strolling and chatting. Or you could see the photos for what they are – two people flirting openly, without a care in the world and with no regard for their alleged significant others.”

  “Was there anything else you deemed significant that you received from the PI?” Detective Johnson asked.

  “Effridge had been caught red-handed. He and his filthy lies were exposed.” I knew what the smoking gun had been. I reached into the envelope, extracting the original photos. I set the stack of seven on the table in front of the detectives.

  Detective Oliver picked up the pictures and thumbed through them one at a time. The first five were of Effridge and McKenzie. The other two were the clinchers. They were the two that sent my mother into a tearful fit.

  “I’m not sure how you can conclude they’re flirting. The images aren’t projecting that to me at all. You also told me, the time you saw them together, there was no touching or kissing in public.”

  “The investigator told me he’d witnessed flirting.”

  “Wait a minute. Who’s this?” They’d finally made it to the last two photos.

  “That’s Effridge’s student and mentee, Megan Green. Isn’t she stunning?” I said.

  I noticed the two detectives looking between the picture and each other. They laid the two images of Effridge and Megan side by side and stared, as if memorizing every detail. There was no need to interpret what was happening in either. In one photo, Effridge was embracing the small co-ed in his arms and smothering her with a salacious kiss as she stood between his legs. Her fingers were intertwined in his hair and holding him tight to her. The other photo had the petite strawberry-blonde sitting on his lap. Her arms were snaked around his neck while one of his arms was holding her tightly around the waist. The other hand appeared to be easing its way up her slightly-parted thighs, his fingertips under the mini-skirt closing in on the barely-visible pink panties.

  “Is there any way we can keep these two?” Oliver asked.

  “I suppose you can. Will I be getting them back anytime soon?”

  “Probably not soon. We’ll see what we can do,” Johnson said.

  “Fine.”

  “Who all did you show these pictures to?” Johnson asked.

  “I showed them to my mother right away, and eventually mailed them to Larissa and McKenzie.”

  “What prompted you to mail them to McKenzie?” Johnson asked.

  “If she wasn’t involved with him yet, but was contemplating it, I felt she had a right to know what was going on. She already knew about Larissa and that Effridge was married.”

  “When did you put them in the mail to Larissa and McKenzie?”

  “Monday, the week Effridge was murdered. I strongly doubt they had anything to do with his death.”

  “Really? You don’t think? You know how jealous Billy is, yet you sent the pictures to his girlfriend who lives with him. Did you think Billy would end up seeing the pictures?” Oliver asked. His eyes stayed fixed on the two pictures with the gorgeous co-ed.

  “I guess I knew he’d see them at some point.”

  “You guess. They live together. More like you knew without any uncertainty. And you must know he has a terrible temper. What were you hoping would be the result?”

  “I didn’t care, honestly, but if you’re asking if I thought Billy would kill him the answer is no. I guess I thought possibly Effridge would be threatened to stay away from Ms. Sims.”

  “Billy had already threatened Effridge. Ms. Sims was the one who’d breached the warning from her boyfriend and made the effort to see Effridge again as friends, according to her,” Oliver said.

  “She can say whatever she wants. If she wasn’t interested in him, why bother seeing him? Especially after Billy had already blown his top about it. If it were me I wouldn’t keep pressing my luck with someone like Billy who is a known gun-enthusiast and owns several.”

  “Let’s get down to brass tacks, Jonathan. Be completely honest with us. You hired a PI to frame Effridge. When that didn’t work, you moved to plan B and let the hothead photographer do your dirty work. You knew he’d snap seeing his girlfriend with Effridge. You were counting on it. Your plan all along was to eliminate the guy from the lives of you and your mother. Am I right?”

  The preposterous allegation came from Oliver. He seemed itchy to get this case closed. I wasn’t taking the fall for any of this. I had nothing to do with Effridge’s death, but I sure wish I had masterminded it. I hated the man and everything about him.

  “You couldn’t be farther from the truth, up until the point about getting that clown out of our lives. Mother was weak, and she never would have seen the divorce through. I wanted the ties to be severed between them.”

  “Well, they definitely are now. Did you have to pay Billy? Or did he do your deed for free?”

  “M
y deed? I never spoke with that maniac, Clark. If he killed him, it was of his own volition.”

  “So, that’s your story,” Oliver said.

  “That’s the truth. I didn’t kill or hire anyone to have Effridge killed.”

  “When was the last time you spoke with Larissa?”

  “It’s been weeks since I tried reasoning with her. She’s been blinded by Effridge’s bullshit. With any luck at all, the photos helped to bring things into perspective.”

  “You knew her and her temperament. Do you think she could’ve gotten angry enough to have killed Effridge?”

  “Absolutely not. She can barely bring herself to kill a fly. No, I can’t fathom it in my wildest imagination.” I looked at my watch. I needed to get out of there. I’d already spent more time than I’d planned to. “Gentlemen, I need to leave for my appointment. If you need anything further, I trust you know how to find me.”

  “Thank you again for meeting with us, and for the photos.”

  Chapter 19

  “We need to have a talk with Mr. Clark again,” I said.

  “I concur. He’s got a conviction record and there’s no way he should be in possession of any guns for any reason. We can get a warrant to search his place and see what we can find. I’ll get working on that right now. You call him and tell him we want him to meet us at his place as soon as he’s available,” Johnson said. Before I could reply, he turned and picked up the phone and began pressing the numbers. I turned and did the same.

  The timing worked out perfectly. When the warrant was ready, it gave us exactly the twenty minutes we’d need to get to his home. We pulled into a parking space just as he was getting out of his car. He leaned his head back, forcing his long red locks to tumble down his back. Without thinking, my hand raised to my own head and I rubbed my palm across my clean shaven scalp. I had long hair like his once upon a time, I thought.

  “What’s going on? What’s the big rush?” Billy asked. He stood before us with his arms crossed.