Chapter Nineteen

“What did you make of that?” asked Garrett. “You were awfully quiet in there.”

The door sounded loudly as it opened and I winced. Then it was shut, leaving us in silence once more.

“He was lying,” I said.

“Which bit?”

“Most of it. The Mafia guys, the convenient loan, the gambling, the kid.”

“I wondered if you picked that up. The kid.”

“You didn’t say our dead guy had a boy, just that he had a kid. Huff knew though, even though he said he didn’t remember. He gave us the loan shark story to throw us off and then he made a slip-up. Or he thought throwing a few red herrings at us would give us other avenues to explore and waste our time.”

“At first, I didn’t see him as a killer but the longer he spoke… I’m seeing him for it now. I thought he was just a patsy Black took advantage of to get into the museum so he could pull his real job, and maybe he was at first. Now I think Huff either knew about the heist or had an inkling about what was really going on before it happened or maybe soon afterwards. Perhaps he wanted a cut for keeping quiet.”

We had our backs to the prison as we passed through the final checkpoint, and walked towards the parking lot. Garrett was playing with his keys. I was thinking about Charlie Black’s last moments. Black knew he had the jewels in his pocket but did he think about handing them over to his killer to potentially save himself? Or was keeping them his last defiant act?

“Did you see his face when you said the jewels were found on Black’s body?” I asked.

“Yeah, he was startled.”

We paused to get into the car and pulled the seatbelts around us. As I popped the buckle in, I said, “More than that. I think he was shocked. Like it would never have occurred to him that Black had the jewels on his person.”

“What’re you thinking?”

I thought harder about it, puzzling out probable events in my mind. “I think Huff knew Black was dead and he knew about the jewels. He thought he was being poker-faced and drawing out information from us. My guess is he figured out what Black did, tracked him down and confronted him. Black probably told him the jewels were someplace safe to get rid of him and that he’d cut him in, when what he most likely intended to do was abandon his life here and start over somewhere new.

“For some reason they fought. Maybe Huff realized it was a double-cross and wanted his cut now for keeping quiet. Black gets killed and Huff buries him in a panic. Huff decides to lie low for a little bit until he can get the jewels. Or figure out where they were, not knowing Black had them on him all along. Unfortunately, he doesn’t keep his nose clean and gets pinched for the robbery. He’s probably been sitting inside the whole time, waiting for the day he can collect. He now thinks he’s only got a week left until he can retrieve them. He must think he knows where they are but now he knows we have them. Well, you do in MPD’s evidence room.”

“It could mean he was in on Black’s theft. They did it together and somehow Huff gets double-crossed. Black told him a lie about where the jewels were or told him they had to lie low awhile.”

“Or maybe Huff really didn’t know anything until long after. Timothy Wright stuck around for at least two months after the heist, remember? In trying not to draw any attraction, Black made a mistake. Huff figured it out and followed Black to Montgomery where Black had his nice, new, anonymous life far from the grind of maintenance work. Finding Black under an assumed name clinched his guilt in Huff’s eyes and he threatened him with exposure in return for a cut of the jewels. They fought and Black was killed.

“Huff panicked, buried him and hightailed it back to New York until he was sure the murder wasn’t discovered. Back in New York, thinking he was the new big guy of high-end theft, he plans a heist of his own but he’s not as smart as Black. That went wrong and Huff got sent down. He couldn’t return to get the jewels or the payout but he thought he knew where they were. Maybe Black told him they were hidden somewhere! All Huff had to do was sit tight until he could retrieve them. He gets transferred here where it’s easy for him to get released.”

“I like this theory,” said Garrett. “But I have no idea in heck how I’m going to prove it. We need the gun, we need to place it in Huff’s hands, we need to place Huff in town when it happened. At the very least, we need Huff bragging about coming into money. There’s no way he kept that quiet all these years. Wait here.” Garrett unbuckled and reached for the door handle.

“Where are you going?” I asked, which sounded better than what I almost said: sounds like a you problem . I was pretty sure my brother wouldn’t appreciate that. Plus, I wouldn’t have meant it. We were a team. Any problems were us problems, right up until it went to court. Then it was Garrett’s official problem.

“I’m going to very politely ask for Huff’s phone records. I want to know everyone he’s had contact with. Apparently, there’s a girlfriend somewhere around here that he wanted to be closer to.”

“Will they give it to you?”

“Maybe. We’ll see. Wait here while I find out how stringent the prison is on following rules. I’d rather not get a warrant if I don’t have to. It adds time more than anything else.” Garrett hopped out, slamming the door behind him.

While I waited, I called Lily to check in.

“What’s happening?”

“The Dugans are installing a new fence,” said Lily. “There’re a lot of gawkers, and the temporary panel keeps tipping over, so it makes sense. I’m not sure I’d want my house to be known as the dead body house but I think the horse already bolted from the stable on that one.”

“Tell Lexi that the police have all gone,” said Mom, her voice as clear as if she were holding the phone.

“The police have…” started Lily.

“All gone,” I finished. “I know, I heard.”

“They’ve added a side gate,” boomed Mom. “It’s got a padlock. That’s very wise. They don’t want any more dead bodies buried on the property. Do you think they’ll have to tear down the garage?”

“They’ve added…” started Lily.

“I heard. Why would they tear down the garage?”

“More dead bodies,” said Mom. “The Mafia do that. There’s always a dead body in the concrete foundations.”

“This wasn’t a Mafia job. It was a one off,” I said.

“Lexi says it wasn’t…” started Lily.

“Give me the phone, Lily. How do you know? Hmm, Lexi? How?” asked Mom. “This could be a start of something much bigger. We don’t know what’s in the foundation.”

“The police went over the yard and house with cadaver dogs. They cleared it. There are no more bodies.”

“If you say so,” sniffed Mom. “I suppose Garrett would have said something if there was anything to be worried about.”

I wasn’t so sure of that but it wouldn’t help Mom to tell her I disagreed. She’d whip all the neighbors into a frenzy, hire a digger, and have trenched all the backyards on the street by the end of the week. No one needed that. Least of all, my dad. He’d probably dive into the hole in their backyard and pull the turf over his head for some peace and quiet.

“The Dugans filled the hole and they put turf over it. The retaining wall Pete put in for the patio is very nice and he’s added a raised border too. He’s done such a good job,” continued Mom.

“Put Lily back on,” I instructed her before she told me about the new plants too.

“I’m here,” said Lily after some considerable huffing from my mom.

“Any suspicious characters lurking?” I asked.

“Only the man across the street. He keeps coming out in his bathrobe.”

“That doesn’t sound suspicious.”

“He’s not wearing any underwear.”

“How do you… oh.” I grimaced.

“Your mom sent everyone on their street a photo of him. He’s threatening to sue. She’s threatening to have him locked up for public indecency.”

“Have you seen Gideon Black slash Ben Rafferty or anyone who even remotely looks like him?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“No,” snipped Lily. “And I’ve visually examined every male pedestrian near the house. Your mom recognizes seventy percent of the lurkers from the neighborhood and the others don’t match our man. I’m positive our thief hasn’t strolled past or attempted to gain entry. Is that what you hoped?”

“I’m not sure what I hoped for.”

“Shall we stay longer?”

“Please. We’re out of town, following a lead but we’re heading back soon. I’ll check in later.”

“Who’s we?” yelled Mom.

“Garrett and me,” I said.

“You can tell us about it at family dinner. This time it’s barbecue. We’re having Mexican food next time. It’s not authentic but we’ll do our best. It’s Mexican-inspired.”

My heart thumped. “Is that tonight?”

“Don’t you read my texts?” asked Mom. “No, it’s not. You still have time to go to the deli and pretend you made a side dish.”

“Gotta go!” I trilled, disconnecting.

Garrett waved a slip of paper as he approached the car. When he got in, he passed it to me.

“What am I looking at?” I asked.

“Huff’s phone logs.”

“They’re all outgoing.”

“And? What did you expect? They don’t get phones by their bedsides here.”

“Ha ha. They’re mostly all the same number. Did you call any?” I was already reaching for my phone.

“Not yet. I asked for the visitor logs but apparently, Huff didn’t get any visitors since he arrived. They did say he was really chatty about some woman he had here. My guess is that’s her number. Amybeth.”

“I’ll get her address.”

“Good. We should visit her on the way back to the station.”

“Do you know when family dinner is?” I wondered.

“Jeez. Is that tonight?” Garrett grimaced.

“I have no idea. One of us should find out.” When Garrett didn’t make a move for his phone, I added, “Guess that’ll be me.” I unlocked my phone, opened my texts and… nothing. Mom hadn’t sent anything. “Mom said she texted but she hasn’t so I guess we’ll never know when, but we do know that it’s barbecue this time and Mexican food next time.”

“I love Mexican food.”

“It’s Mexican-inspired.”

“Still food,” said Garrett. “Let’s get on the road. Mom can let us know what’s going on when she’s ready. Until then, we’re on the clock and it’s ticking.”

As Garrett drove us down the narrow road and past the checkpoints, I put in a call to Lucas, giving him Amybeth’s name, along with the number from the call logs, and asked him for an address. Not five minutes passed before Lucas texted an address and a full name.

“Amybeth Bell lives downtown,” I said, reading the message aloud. “Lucas says she’s a cook At Tiny Treasures Daycare and they’re not related so she has to be the girlfriend.”

“What’s a daycare cook doing with a felon?”

“You’d be surprised,” I said. “Don’t serial killers usually amass a big female following?”

“Huff is hardly a serial killer.”

“Maybe she’s working her way up. Start with a run-of-the-mill felon and eventually marry one of the worst humans on the planet in a jailhouse wedding,” I said and Garrett cast a side-eye at me and grimaced. “So he’s got a woman in town and it sounds like she’s a romantic interest, not a female relative. Doesn’t explain why she’s not on the visitor logs.”

“It could be that Huff needs somewhere to stay while he searches for the jewels. He’s been inside a long time. He may well be craving female company while he rehearses his get-rich-quick scheme.”

It was my turn to grimace. “Can you monitor his calls for the next few days? If he’s here for romantic purposes, he’ll keep calling her. If he’s really just here for the jewels, and he knows they’ve been found, he won’t call her again. She won’t be any use to him now.”

“Good thinking. I’ll call the warden when I’m back at MPD.”

“You know, it could be that he wants both.”

“How so?”

“Well, there’s no man that falls in love faster than a homeless one and he’s potentially going to be that when he gets out. So he romances a woman in the right area in the hopes she’ll be desperate enough for a man to take him home when he’s released. She puts a roof over his head and gives him everything else he needs while he goes out looking for the jewels. But imagine if he does really like her and he’s about to get a huge payday. He’s got it all then. Money, a woman, and a home.”

“That would be something to dream about while incarcerated. Okay, so I’m keeping tabs on his communications anyway. We’ll see what happens.” Garrett leaned in to his dash and sighed. “I need to stop for gas or we’ll be pushing this lump of junk home. Do you want anything?”

“Chocolate,” I said as Garrett pulled into the gas station and parked next to the pump. “I’ll go in. Do you want anything?”

“Get me a chocolate bar and a coffee,” he said. “I’ll be right in after I fill the tank.”

I headed into the gas station mini-mart and browsed the candy bar counter, then got a water from the big refrigerators spanning the back wall. By the time the coffee was pouring from a self-service machine, Garrett walked in. “I have a deep suspicion of coffee machines that also dispense soup,” he said, looking at the machine with mild disgust. “I swear I always get a little bit of the one I don’t want in the one I do want.”

“Yummy,” I said, reaching for a plastic cap. The liquid slowed to a dribble and I extracted the cup, added its cap, picked up packets of creamer and sugar, and carried everything to the counter. Garrett paid, asked for a receipt, and we strolled back to the car.

“What are the other numbers on the call list?” I asked, thinking about another number that had been called a few times. I unwrapped the chocolate and bit into it.

Garrett took a long sip of his coffee and pulled a face. “No clue,” he said. “I taste tomato. Or onion. Maybe chicken. I don’t know. It’s not good.”

“Do you want me to toss it?” I asked looking around for a trash can.

“No, I need the caffeine. I’ll suffer through it.”

Nestled back in the passenger seat, I reached for the call sheet and pulled up a browser on my phone and input the number. “It’s a real estate agent’s,” I said.

“I can’t see him buying a house or applying to rent somewhere. He doesn’t have a bean to his name. I don’t imagine he has any kind of credit either.” Garrett buckled his seatbelt and we headed for the road.

“Me neither, but…” A thought occurred to me. I clicked on the website and searched for the recently sold properties. When I found the listing, I smiled and turned the phone to my brother. “Look what they sold.”

Garrett glanced at the screen, then back to the road as we left the forecourt. “Is that the Dugans’ house?” he asked.

“It is. I think if we spoke to the realtors, we’ll find Huff called about it. Probably trying to stall the sale or find out who bought it and what they planned on doing.”

“Or seeing if it were empty so he could break in and search. He was trying to cover all his bases.” Garrett took the turn onto the freeway back home and accelerated.

“In a clumsy sort of way. He was probably worried the body would be discovered.”

“In that case…” A small bang sounded and the car veered sharply. “What the heck!” Garrett wrenched the wheel. The car listed to the side and continued to slide in an arc as the brakes screamed.

Then another pop.

“Garrett!” I yelled as I braced myself.

The car spun onto the opposite side of the road before hurtling nose first off the edge.