The Reed Ferguson Mystery series Box Set 3 Page 5

She collapsed in my arms, sobs wracking her body. I was still holding her when the police arrived.

  A while later, I was sitting in the tiny chair next to the tiny table in the corner of the store, waiting to talk to Detective Sarah Spillman of the Denver Police Department. Once the police had arrived, they’d cordoned off the alley and escorted Jodie inside the building. The crime scene unit arrived and I watched from a vantage point at the alley entrance. The press arrived, and within seconds of them, Spillman. She had one of her partners, Ernie Moore, bring me into the store, while her other partner, Roland “Spats” Youngfield, went with her. I told Moore exactly what happened, and it took about fifteen seconds. He sat across from me, dwarfing the chair, and seeming aloof as he took notes. But I knew better. Just because he looked like the clichéd slob cop from many a dime mystery – cheap brown suit, gut hanging over his belt, yellow-stained teeth – that didn’t mean he wasn’t sharp. Spillman wouldn’t have put up with him otherwise.

  Moore paused when I’d finished, then started in again, asking the same questions but phrasing them differently. When he kept getting the same answers, he looked disappointed.

  I was getting bored. “How about we go around back?” I asked.

  He stared at me, stone-faced.

  “It’s more fun than being here.”

  He obviously wasn’t thrilled to have drawn the assignment of interviewing the smartass detective, and I found myself slightly miffed at that. I’m not such a bad guy. Since my snappy repartee was falling on unappreciative ears, I lapsed into silence. A half hour later, Spillman swooped in from the warehouse.

  “Why is it you’re always a part my investigations?” she asked, running a hand through her blond hair. She was casually dressed, khakis and a green blouse, but she was all business, as was her style.

  “It’s your lucky day,” I said.

  As I’d become a more seasoned private investigator, I’d encountered Detective Spillman, and her partners Youngfield and Moore, on more than one occasion. She’d tolerated me, like campers tolerate mosquitoes. Maybe it was my charm and dry sense of humor, but whatever it was, I had the feeling I was winning her over.

  She frowned at me, then jerked her head at Moore. He stood up, and she walked with him back to the door as they spoke in low voices. Then Moore disappeared into the warehouse.

  She turned back to me. “I’ll haul your ass into jail if you messed with my crime scene.”

  Okay, maybe I hadn’t quite won her over.

  She came over and sat at the tiny chair previously occupied by Moore, taking less than half the space he did. She fixed me with a solid gaze. “Jodie told me you work here at Blue Light. Tell me it’s just a coincidence that on your first day on the job, one of the owners ends up dead.”

  “That is strange,” I said.

  “You’re not funny.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be.” I put my hands on the table. “Jodie told you about why she hired me?”

  Spillman nodded. “She and her brother discovered a new way of growing marijuana, and she thinks someone might be trying to steal the idea. She hired you to go undercover to see if you can find out who’s behind some suspicious activities.”

  “You know as much as I do.”

  She contemplated me for a moment. “Why don’t I believe you?”

  Maybe because I’ve lied to you in the past, I thought but didn’t say.

  “Did you see any suspicious activity today?”

  “No.”

  More silence. I waited her out.

  “Moore tells me you found the body and you didn’t touch a thing.”

  “Scout’s honor,” I said but didn’t hold up any fingers because I had no clue if Scouts held up two fingers or three.

  “Did you notice anything unusual or see anyone in the alley?”

  I shook my head. “I took the trash to the Dumpster. That’s when I saw a shoe sticking out beside it. I went to check it out and found the body. Then I called the police.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yep.”

  Like Moore, she seemed disappointed. She glanced around the store, then grimaced. “Murder at a pot store. The press is going to have a field day with this.”

  “Are they still out there?”

  “Oh yeah.” She stood up.

  “What can you tell me?” I asked.

  She gazed at me. “He was killed with a small caliber gun at fairly close range. At this point, it doesn’t look like he fought with anyone, so he probably knew the killer. Or maybe someone took him by surprise.”

  “Was the body moved?”

  “Doesn’t look like it.”

  “Was he robbed?”

  She shook her head. “Still had his wallet with forty bucks in it, and credit cards.”

  “You don’t have much.” Once the words were out, I regretted them. Acting like the mosquito, I thought.

  My words hung heavily in the air. Then she gave me a frosty smile. “You’ve heard the expression ‘Don’t leave town’?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, don’t.”

  With that, she strode through the warehouse door, her heels clicking like gun shots on the hard floor.

  Chapter Eight

  I found Jodie upstairs in her office.

  “Have a seat,” she said, her tone flat.

  I sat at the chair opposite her desk. “How are you doing?”

  “I think I’m in shock.” The look she gave me was of sadness so complete it nearly tore through me. “Jude was everything to me.”

  “I know.” I didn’t know a whole lot about her and Jude, but that much had been clear, even if they’d been fighting today.

  “He watches out for me, kind of the big brother protector.” She smiled. “I can’t tell you the number of boyfriends he’s scared off, letting them know what would happen if they didn’t treat me right. If I had money trouble, he was there. And what’s going to happen to Blue Light?” She rested her elbows on the desk and put her head in her hands. “Oh, I don’t even know where to begin with all that. He took care of the business side.”

  “What about Wes and Heath?”

  She looked up at me. “Yeah, except I don’t trust either of them.” She moaned. “Oh, I hate dealing with those two.”

  “Wes was just like you described him.”

  “Yeah, he’s a piece of work.”

  “When is Heath coming in?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Will they be able to take care of things?” I hesitated. “In Jude’s…absence?”

  She blew bangs out of her eyes. “I think so. Oh, man, this is terrible.”

  “I’d like to talk to both of them.”

  “Why?”

  I shrugged. “They stand to gain from this.”

  “You think one of them would commit murder? Why would either one want to kill Jude? They’re partners with him…us.”

  “If they sold your new way of growing to a competitor, they pocket all the money,” I said. “Everyone’s a suspect now.”

  I thought about my conversation with Ivy. Right now, she was at the top of my list.

  She surprised me by saying, “Including you.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You went out to the alley. You could’ve killed him.”

  I nodded slowly. “That’s true, but why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know.” She sighed. “Ignore me, I’m not making sense.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “What’d the police ask you?”

  “How I found out about Jude. Where you were. Did Jude have any enemies, or money trouble, or any other trouble that would make someone want to kill him.”

  “And?”

  She shook her head emphatically. “Everyone loves Jude. Loved.” Her voice cracked. “Why would anyone do this?” She snatched a tissue from a box on the corner of her desk and dabbed her eyes.

  I remained silent while she composed herself. Then she threw me a determined look. “I still want to retain your se
rvices.”

  “To find Jude’s killer.”

  “Yes.” Her jaw locked.

  I thought for a moment. “I’ll need to dig into everything. All of Blue Light’s records and finances and Jude’s personal finances. I need to look in his office and his home.”

  “You’ll have full access to everything.”

  “You might not like what I find.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “If Jude wasn’t robbed, then why did someone want to kill him?”

  “I don’t know. Everyone liked him,” she repeated.

  I tilted my head.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been here one day and I know that isn’t true.”

  She gestured toward the door. “What have they been saying?”

  “They’re not necessarily fond of him.”

  “Who?”

  “It doesn’t matter who,” I said. “But if some of the employees had problems with him, so could others.” And if Ivy wanted to rip them off, she might’ve killed Jude, I thought.

  “I guess you’re right.” She slumped down in her chair.

  “Why were you arguing with Jude today?”

  “You heard that?” She blushed, then stood up and started pacing. “Man, I could use a joint now.”

  “I need you clearheaded.”

  “I’m just saying…” She stopped and a hand flew to her mouth. “Oh man, do you think the police knew I was high?”

  “Probably.”

  “Oh, great. Now they won’t take me seriously.”

  “They’ll take murder seriously,” I said.

  She went to the credenza in the corner, pulled out a bottle of Scotch and a glass. She cocked an eyebrow. “If I can’t get high, then just one?”

  I shrugged. She poured a little into the glass and tossed it back.

  “Oh, where are my manners?” She held up the bottle. “You want one?”

  I shook my head.

  “Yeah, right. You’re on the job.”

  She snickered, then poured a little more in, put the bottle back and sat down at her desk again. She was on edge, and I wondered how long I’d have before she broke down.

  “What were you and Jude arguing about?” I asked again.

  “I was telling him that we needed to be careful with our secret. And I asked him about that guy he was talking to.”

  “Who was he?”

  “I don’t know and Jude wouldn’t tell me.”

  “You’ve never seen the guy before?”

  “Never.” Her hand trembled as she took a sip of Scotch.

  “Why do you think Jude got so angry?”

  “I wish I knew. He’s been testy lately, and I wasn’t helping things.”

  “Why did you ask if he was in trouble?”

  Her eyebrows arched. “You heard everything, didn’t you?”

  I stayed silent.

  “He hasn’t been himself.” She threw up a hand. “What you heard wasn’t him.”

  “How about we look in his office?” I changed the subject.

  “The police looked in there already.”

  “Now it’s our turn.”

  “Oh, okay.” She tossed back the rest of her drink and set the glass down. It clinked loudly on the glass desktop but she didn’t notice. She stood up, then put a hand on the edge of the desk to steady herself. “Whew. Feeling a little lightheaded.”

  I wondered if she was still feeling the effects of the joint she’d smoked earlier, and now a decent amount of Scotch. Combine that with the stress of the situation. Not good.

  We walked out into the hallway. The light from her doorway bathed the hall in shadows as we went to Jude’s office.

  “Huh, that’s funny,” she said as she opened the door. “Even though he thinks I’m paranoid and too careful, the one thing he always does is lock his office door when he leaves. Did someone break in?”

  I shrugged as we entered the room. Like hers, his office was spacious and decorated in a similar manner with a glass tabletop desk, file cabinet and credenza. In addition to the typical office setup, he had an additional computer sitting on a small wooden desk in the corner.

  I gestured at it. “Why the two computers?”

  “That’s got all our research on it,” she said. “The latest notes. It’s not connected to the network or the Internet. That way no one can hack in and get the information.”

  “Too bad,” I murmured.

  “I’ll need to look at it.”

  She bit her lip. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “I’m not going to steal your idea,” I said, slightly peeved that she didn’t trust me. “But what if other information is stored on it? Something that could lead us to his killer?”

  “I’m on that computer, too, and there isn’t anything.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Well…”

  “Does anyone else use it? Your partners?”

  “No, just Jude and me.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “As far as I know.”

  I sat down in front of it. It was turned off. “He doesn’t just lock it when he’s not around? He shuts it down completely?”

  She nodded emphatically. “He’s really careful. And you or I wouldn’t be able to get onto it anyway.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s password-protected.” She said with a “der” in her voice.

  “You just said you work on that computer.”

  “Only when he logs on first.”

  I glanced at her out of the corners of my eyes. “He doesn’t trust you?”

  “Don’t be silly.” Doubt crept into her voice. “I never really questioned it. He’s always been so good to me, I never gave it a second thought. I just figured he was being extra careful with our secret.”

  “Huh.” I stared at the blank monitor. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was more on that computer than she knew, but how to access it? Cal, of course, but would Jodie, or her partners, let him try?

  I looked at her. Confusion filled her eyes, as if she was just realizing that maybe she didn’t know Jude as well as she thought she did. I decided to let the question of accessing the computer wait, but made a mental note to check to see if there was a way to know who had logged on the computer. If it was set up to have multiple accounts and passwords, that would be relatively easy to ascertain. If not, I didn’t know if there was another way to find out.

  I turned to Jude’s desk. A large monitor sat on it, and in front of it, a laptop had been hooked up.

  “He doesn’t take his laptop with him when he leaves?” I asked.

  “I thought he took it with him. He has that backpack and he puts it in that. And I’ve seen him with the laptop at home.”

  I mulled that over as I sat down at the desk. Was Jude planning on coming up to his office to get his laptop before he left? Or had he gone against habit and left it here on purpose? I had no way of knowing.

  I opened the laptop. It was in locked mode and was password-protected. “Is this one hooked up to the network?”

  “Yes.” She slumped into an oversized chair across from the desk.

  “Do you know his user name and password?”

  “All of our user names are our first initial and last name, so jlundgren. But I don’t know his password. You could try his birthday, or stuff like that.”

  I rested my hands on the keyboard. “Shoot.”

  She rattled off his birthday and I typed it in. Nothing. We tried other things, like his birthday spelled out, where he was born – California, his favorite band – Led Zeppelin, what she thought was his favorite color – blue, and combinations of his birthday with those, and none of it worked. Yeah, maybe in novels, I thought.

  “We’re wasting time,” I said. “I’ve got a friend who can help with this.”

  “Really? I thought those guys only existed in detective novels.”

  Touché, I thought.

  “You can’t let the partners know I’m loo
king at this stuff,” I said. “Or anyone else. I’m just the new guy.”

  “Okay, as long as you swear you won’t steal anything.”

  “On my honor.” I avoided the “Scout” part this time.

  “Speaking of the partners, I’ve got to call them. Is it okay if I do that now? I’m not sure how much longer I can last.”

  I nodded. “I’ll look around a bit while you do that. Then I can take you home if you want.”

  “That would be nice.”

  She pulled out her cell phone and dialed, then stood up and stepped into the hall.

  I half-listened to her muffled voice as I poked around in Jude’s desk. Ironically, given how careful Jude was about computer security, none of the drawers was locked, but they also didn’t contain anything unusual. Bank statements, bills, employee records and so on.

  On the desk were the accoutrements of a businessman: a coffee mug with a bank logo on it; a framed picture of Jude and Jodie, his arm draped around her, aspens in the background; a little wooden plaque with his name on it. A marijuana journal placed right at the corner of the desk, edges lined up with the desk. Stapler, pen holder, and tape dispenser, all neatly lined up to the left of the monitor.

  A yellow legal pad sat to the right of the laptop with some notes on it: Call bank – Tuesday. Mar del Plata. Cordoba. Names for new strains? It didn’t mean anything to me, but I took out my cell phone and took a picture of it anyway.

  I sat back and contemplated everything. None of this pointed me to his killer. Jodie’s raised voice broke my reverie.

  “You don’t need to come down right now. There’s nothing you can do.” A pause. “Look, Wes, if you want to, I can’t stop you, but I’m telling you, everything here is okay.” Another pause, then she spoke again, but her voice was farther away. “Yes, your door is locked, and so is Heath’s.” Pause. “Fine, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  She walked slowly back into the office. “That was Wes. He thinks he needs to come down here right now, but I don’t know what he’d do.”

  “Maybe doing something will make him feel important.”

  “I guess so.” She blinked hard. Exhaustion had taken over. “Do you mind if we go now? I need to be here early so I can tell the employees what’s going on.”

  “Sure.” I stood up. “I’d like to look at Jude’s house, but we can do that later.”