Chapter 11

 

Eddie went quickly down the stairs at six o’clock. He was determined to make it to prayer meeting on time. At the bottom of the second flight, the door opened, nearly smacking him in the face.

“Sarah!”

“Eddie! Sorry.”

“That’s okay.” They stood awkwardly, looking each other over. “How you been?” he asked at last.

“Okay. I heard there was a lady from that city magazine here looking for you.”

He laughed. “Not me. They picked Tony.”

“Really? They asked him over you?”

“Sure, he’ll be great.”

Sarah shrugged. “I guess he’s cute, but he’s not really handsome.” She flushed a little and looked down at her feet. “They probably took him because of his uncle. Funny, Ray Oliver told me they wanted you.”

“I told her I wasn’t exactly eligible,” Eddie confided.

Sarah’s face fell. “Oh. I thought you and Leeanne broke up.”

“Well, we kinda did, but … I haven’t given up hope.”

She nodded. “Then I hope it works out for you.”

“Really?” He tried to see her eyes, but her lashes hid them.

“Yeah. I’d like to see you happy. Don’t you think one of us should be happy?” She smiled and stepped past him toward the stairs.

“Sarah—”

She stopped with one foot on the bottom step and sniffed a little.

“You’re not—” Eddie stopped, wishing he had just let her go.

She took a deep breath and looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. “I’ve been wishing I could talk to you lately, but it didn’t seem right somehow.”

“What about?”

“Remember last year, when you tried to explain to me why you left the church?”

Eddie nodded.

“I should have listened to you.”

“It’s not too late.”

“My mom and I have talked about it.”

“How do you mean?”

“She said … maybe you were right. Way back then, I mean. I was just mad, and I wouldn’t listen. But then I got curious. I actually bought a book off a book rack at the grocery store. You know, those religious book racks?”

“Yeah. What kind of book?”

“It was about families, and how God can heal families that have fought and hurt each other. It was really interesting, but I don’t think anything could fix the Benoit family.”

“God can do anything,” Eddie said softly. “Sometimes it’s not the way we think it will be, or as soon as we wish it would be. I’m praying for my own family, and I haven’t seen much change there yet. But I believe that someday they’ll listen, and God can change their hearts.”

Sarah looked briefly up at him, then down again. “Harvey said he and Jennifer have prayed for me all this time. Can you imagine?”

“Yes, I can imagine that.”

“They really say prayers every day for people?”

“Not saying prayers like we learned. It’s different. They—we—pray for people by name, and ask God to help them with their problems.”

“So, it’s not like they say Hail Marys for me?”

Eddie shook his head. “Listen, you ought to talk to Jennifer. She knows a lot about prayer and stuff. I know she could explain it better than I can.”

“I couldn’t just call her.”

“Sure, you could. She’d love to see you again.”

“I don’t know.” Sarah looked up suddenly, a little frown wrinkling her brow. “Hey, how well do you know that EMT guy?”

“Jeff Wainthrop? He’s Leeanne and Jennifer’s brother.”

“No, not him. The one named Mark. He was with Jeff the night—you know. The night you called them for Nicole.”

Eddie remembered. “Mark Johnson? I don’t know him very well. I’ve met him a couple of times is all.”

“Oh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“He asked me to have coffee with him sometime. I kind of blew him off.”

“Why? He seems like a nice guy. Jeff works with him a lot. I think they get along.”

Sarah shrugged. “Maybe I’ll say yes next time.”

“How’s your sister?”

“She’s better. She went back to work a couple of weeks ago.”

Eddie nodded, knowing the inner wounds from Nicole’s ordeal would take longer to heal.

“She still says our dad never hurt her.”

“Maybe he didn’t,” Eddie said. “She’s younger than you. . .”

“She’s talking about going back to live with him again. She says my mother and I are wrong about him. But we know we’re not.”

“I’m sorry.” Eddie didn’t know what else to say. Sarah’s mother had never filed charges against her husband.

Sarah swallowed hard. “So, you and Leeanne are ...”

“Listen, Sarah, I’m pretty sure she’s the right one for me. I want to marry her, and I’m doing my best to patch things up. I said some stupid things before, and she said a few, and … well, we both needed to grow up a little. But I’m still hoping, and I’m praying about that, too. I’ve asked God to forgive me and to help me be a good husband. I want to spend the rest of my life with Leeanne. You understand?”

Sarah nodded. “I’m glad for you, Eddie. Really.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you.”

“Yeah.”

When he entered the church, Leeanne was already seated in the middle of a packed pew, between Jennifer and Sharon Browning, and she held Connor on her lap. Eddie sat down behind them, wishing he’d gotten away from the station a little earlier. It seemed he was always a step or two behind these days.

The pastor was speaking on forgiveness, and Eddie couldn’t help applying every point to his and Leeanne’s situation. When he’d tried to talk things out with her, she’d said she wanted to be friends. Would she ever be ready for more than that? And what was his responsibility if she wanted to keep it at this level?

Nothing’s going to happen if I keep on working twelve hours a day and being late everywhere I go. She might go home again for the weekend. An emptiness washed over him. He allowed his eyes to drift to the back of her head. She had pulled the top of her hair back with a green ribbon. At the neckline of her dress, he glimpsed a fine gold chain of square links that disappeared beneath the fabric. His pulse quickened. She used to wear the little jade cross he’d given her for Christmas on that chain, he was sure. She may have mailed back the diamond, but he hadn’t seen the jade cross in months.

He knew he wouldn’t give up on Leeanne until she was married, to him or to someone else. Time for Phase II, he decided. During prayer time he remained silent, but his thoughts churned, and his fragmented pleas went up to God for a reconciliation.

 

*****

“Carl called me and said they’ll come to dinner tonight,” Harvey told Jennifer at lunch on Thursday.

“Oh, good. When I spoke to Margaret, she thought this would be the best night—barring any emergencies, of course.” Jennifer took his empty plate away and refilled his coffee cup. Lunch at home always had the feeling of a stolen tryst, and she tried not to let him feel rushed.

“I told Eddie I want him to come, too.”

“I hope you didn’t phrase it as an order.”

“No, but I didn’t leave him a lot of wiggle room.” Harvey took a sip of his coffee.

“You know, Beth hasn’t been feeling very well.” Jennifer sat down beside him. “I’ve been running over there two or three times a day to make sure she’s all right. She promised to lie down this afternoon. I hope Margaret can take a quick look at her tonight. Beth’s next appointment isn’t for another week.”

“You think it’s serious?”

“She’s a little crampy.”

“Not good, at seven months.”

“You’re right.”

“Is Jeff home?”

“He was supposed to get off at midnight, but there was a big fire last night, and he didn’t get home until four o’clock. He slept in this morning.”

Harvey turned his head toward the door. “What was that?” He got up and walked toward the entry.

“Company?” Jennifer asked.

“Florist truck next door.”

Jennifer went quickly to the entry. “Let me run over and get it. I don’t want Beth to get up, and Jeff might still be sleeping.”

“If it’s for Leeanne, bring it over here. She’ll be here tonight.”

“She’d better be,” Jennifer said. She had not only asked Leeanne to make a point of eating dinner at their house, but had instructed Beth to send her over if she showed up next door.

When she returned to the kitchen carrying a florist’s box, Harvey was pulling the bag of trash from the overflowing kitchen wastebasket.

“I can do that, honey,” she protested. “You’ll get your suit dirty.

“No, I’ll do it.”

She set the box down and opened a drawer. “Well, here, let me get you another gold-plated trash bag.”

“What, the price went up?”

“Actually, the price is the same. But I used to get twenty in a box, and now I get fifteen.”

Harvey tied up the full bag and shook the new one open. “Do you need more grocery money, gorgeous?”

“No, we’re doing all right.”

“Okay, because I don’t want to spread our resources so thin you can’t keep the household running.”

Jennifer laughed. “We’re not wealthy, but you’re so careful, I feel as though I’m the most financially secure woman in Maine. Excluding Tabitha King, of course.”

Harvey smiled. “What about Barbara Bush and Martha Stewart?”

Jennifer’s lip curled. “They’re from away.”

“Has Eddie been spending his money at the florist’s again?”

“Yeah, pink roses. Do you think that’s significant?”

“What?”

“White last time, pink this time.”

“How should I know?” Harvey made certain the trash bag fit tightly around the lip of the wastebasket.

Jennifer watched him, smiling. “Well, they’re beautiful. So, how’s Mike doing on his investment?”

“Good. The septic system is turning out to be quite a headache. They need an extra big leach field for that many bathrooms.”

“I would think so, since there’s no city plumbing up here.”

Harvey sat down again and picked up his coffee mug. “There’s a big setback from the lake, and he needs to have a quarter acre or so cleared. It’s expensive to hire anyone to haul big equipment way up there. And once they’re there, it’s eighty bucks an hour.”

“Ouch. What’s he going to do?”

“I told him to talk to Rick Bradley. Rick’s boss knew someone in Ashland, which is a whole lot closer to Churchill Lake. Rick is going up for three days next week and oversee the building of the leach field.”

“Wow, terrific.”

“Yeah, Mike told him to take Ruthann and the kids. They’re putting them in the apartment he’s finishing for him and Sharon on the ground floor. They’ve got the shower hooked up now, and I think they’ll be fairly comfortable. They can’t do any more plumbing until the drain field’s done, though.”

“I’m glad Rick’s going.”

“Me, too. He’s a pretty smart guy. He made arrangements with one of the paper companies to get gravel from a pit they have about ten miles from the site.”

“That will save Mike a lot.”

“Yeah. I was afraid they’d have to haul it in from a hundred miles away. He’s going to need a lot of gravel. All the plumbing they’re putting in will be the biggest expense, for sure. But it looks like they’ll get the outside part finished before snow flies, and Mike hopes to have everything in the apartment bathroom and the kitchen hooked up soon, and even a washing machine, so he and Sharon can keep going up for weekends this winter and be comfortable.”

The doorbell chimed, and Jennifer turned toward the entry. “It’s the flower guy.” Puzzled, she hurried to the door.

“Hi, I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t realize before that you were my next delivery. That is, if you’re Mrs. Larson.”

“Yes, I’m Jennifer Larson.”

“Then this is for you.”

He placed a second florist’s box in her arms.

Harvey was carrying dishes to the sink. “Whatcha got, gorgeous?”

“As if you didn’t know.” She set the box on the table and lifted the lid. “Oh, honey!” A dozen yellow roses lay couched in green tissue.

Harvey smiled and pulled her into his arms. “I was afraid the idiot had forgotten you.” He kissed her tenderly. “I should buy you flowers more often.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Can’t let Eddie show me up.”

“I knew this campaign had your fingerprints on it.”

He laughed. “Think it’s working?”

“I hope so. Eddie, with your patience and finesse behind him. She doesn’t realize how blessed she is.”

“I’ve gotta get back to work.” He held her close for another moment.

“I hear Connor,” Jennifer whispered, kissing his ear. “Do you want to see him before you go?”

Harvey looked at his watch. “Yeah, but I need to hurry. Lots of interviews this afternoon. I’m already late.”

The wall phone rang. “I’ll get it,” Jennifer said. “You go give Connor a squeeze.” She grabbed the receiver on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Jennifer? This is Sarah Benoit. I hope you don’t mind, but Eddie suggested I call you.”

 

*****

Harvey bent over the microscope and looked carefully into the eyepiece.

“You see what I mean?” Eddie asked.

“You’re right, it’s not a match.” Harvey sighed.

“I’m glad, I guess, but what now?” Eddie removed the glass slide and slid it into the protective case.

“We know it’s not Brad’s hair from the dummy’s jacket. Now we need to compare it with Derek Anson’s. You said he has light hair.”

“Yeah, but he’s a big guy, Harv. He’s as tall as Jeff, and he probably weighs two-forty. I can’t see him crawling out from under the bathroom stall door.”

“You never know. Thanks, Zoe.” He nodded to the lab technician.

“Anytime, guys,” she said.

They left the lab and walked out toward the stairway.

“What about the security tapes from the sergeant’s desk?” Eddie asked.

“I took the tapes home last night and skimmed through the first shift. Talk about boring.”

“Nothing out of line?”

“Oh, there were a few comments that I wish hadn’t been made, but I don’t think there’s anything incriminating. One patrolman made some rather vulgar remarks about the dispatcher, Annie.”

“Oh, Annie,” Eddie said darkly.

“What?”

“Where there’s smoke, there may be fire.”

“She has a reputation?” Harvey eyed him narrowly. “How come I don’t hear these things?”

“Because you’re a captain, and you don’t hang around the patrolmen’s locker room.”

“Well, you’re not exactly in the thick of it.”

“Still, you know. I go to the diner for lunch, and the guys will say things in front of me they wouldn’t say in front of you.”

“So, the guys downstairs think she’s fast, or what?”

“I heard she’s pretty free and easy.”

“Any evidence, or just hearsay?”

“Uh, well, Jared Brenner claimed firsthand knowledge.”

“Huh.” Harvey shook his head. “Does that make it okay to gossip about her? I mean, is it all right to say Annie’s easy, but not okay to say Debbie looks hot today?”

“You got me.” Eddie pushed open the door to Priority. “If the woman doesn’t know what they’re saying, is it harassment?”

“I don’t know, but it isn’t right.”

“Well then, you’ve got some women who talk as bad as the men.”

“True,” Harvey conceded. “Jennifer told me when she worked in Records that some of the clerks talked pretty rough. So, if the woman isn’t insulted, it’s not hostile, so therefore it’s not harassment, but if she’s upset, then it is?”

“I guess it’s a fine line,” Eddie said. “But we know some of it went beyond remarks. At least, the witnesses say it did in a few cases.”

Harvey headed for his desk. “See if you can get Anson to come down here for another interview.”

“He won’t like it.”

“Then we’ll have to chase him to Biddeford again.”

“You want to ask for a warrant for his hair?”

Harvey frowned. “I’m not sure the judge would think we have probably cause.”

“I don’t suppose we could pick up a stray hair or two? Like getting his fingerprints on a glass or something?”

“I don’t know. We’re not arresting him.”

“But if it’s in plain sight? Like on his jacket? He is a suspect.”

“We don’t want to blow the evidence and make it inadmissible.”

“Okay, Harv. I’ll see if he’ll come down here tomorrow.”

Harvey sat down wearily as the secretary approached his desk.

“Captain Larson, I have some messages for you.”

“Thanks, Paula.”

“Coffee, sir?”

“That would be great, but I can get it myself.”

“I don’t mind. Not that I would get it for all the guys, but you’ve got a lot on your plate.”

“Thanks. I guess I drink a pot or two by myself every day.”

Paula clucked at him. “Better watch the caffeine, Captain.”

“I know, I know.”

She smiled. “Do you think you could stand decaf?”

“How about half and half?”

“Well, it’s a start.” She went off toward the break room, and Harvey consulted his schedule. When she returned, he took the mug from her. “Thanks, Paula. I’m not sure how cost-efficient it is for the P.D. to keep us in coffee.”

“I don’t know if you guys could function without it.”

“Could you please call Records and tell Candi Mullins I can see her anytime?” Harvey asked. “Our appointment is for two, but if she’s free now, I want to move things along.”

“Sure.” Paula smiled and went back to her desk.

Harvey sipped the coffee, trying to decide whether she had cut it with decaf or not, then brought in his e-mail.

“Harvey?”

He turned to find Nate standing at his elbow.

“What is it?”

“Something a little odd. Probably not related to the murder, but …”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

“Okay. I went over the list of City Hall employees, and we know a few of them were there that day.”

“Sure, Mayor Weymouth was there, and I saw several city council members.”

“Yes, sir, but so were a couple of custodians. They showed the setup crew where to find stuff, and they were supposed to clean up after and put everything back in place in the rooms we were using when it was over.”

Harvey took another sip of coffee. “Interesting. Have we interviewed them?”

“Yes, sir, but I found something new in the computer files.”

Harvey glanced up at him. Nate had excelled in computer training, and Harvey had begun to turn to him first with assignments involving a lot of computer time. “What did you find?”

“This one man, Donald Lloyd, was arrested in August.”

Harvey raised his eyebrows.

“He was picked up one night for an expired registration, and they found heroin in his car.”

“And?”

“Well, he bailed out real quick, for one thing.”

“Standard for those charges, if it was his first offense.”

“Yes, sir, but he was supposed to go to court yesterday. That’s how it came to my attention. I put his name—well, all the names on our witness list—on the flagging program.”

Harvey nodded. He hadn’t taken the time to do it himself. He was slipping.

“Well, it came up that his hearing was canceled.”

“Why?”

“Lack of evidence.”

Harvey frowned. “What about the drugs?”

“I don’t know. They also dismissed the registration count.”

“So, Lloyd didn’t even pay a fine?”

“Not a penny, as near as I can tell.”

“Why not?”

“DISO—dismissed for other reasons. You want me to call the courthouse?”

“Yeah. Find out what happened to the heroin, too.”

“I’ll try.”

Nate turned away, and Harvey sat mulling the turn of events in his mind.

“Nate,” he called.

“Yes, sir?”

“Find out if that man’s got a record.”

The elevator opened, and Candi Mullins came in. Harvey stood up.

“Hello, Candi. Thanks for taking the time.”

She smiled. “I’m always ready for a break. How’s Jennifer?”

“She’s fine, thanks.”

“I don’t suppose she misses filing records? We’re shorthanded.”

Harvey laughed. “You couldn’t drag her away from home.”

Candi chuckled. “I figured it was like that. How’s the baby?”

“Fantastic. Listen, you know what this is about?”

She lowered her eyes and said demurely, “I’ve heard things. Questions about sexual misbehavior?”

“We’re just checking to see if any of the female employees have had problems with harassment on the job. Any inappropriate conduct that should be looked into.”

“Well, I can think of a couple of officers with foul mouths, if that’s what you mean.”

“Do you want to give specifics?”

“I don’t know. Since I’ve been married, I haven’t had to put up with so much.”

“But the single girls get a lot of attention around here?”

She shrugged. “I had my share of offers before I married Dave.”

“Guys wanting a date? Or something more obnoxious?”

“Well, some of them are just plain obnoxious all the time, but most of them are harmless.”

Harvey watched her closely. “I heard you had a close encounter with Raymond Neilsen in the elevator once.”

She laughed. “Yeah, well, it made me uncomfortable at the time, but I guess it wasn’t serious.”

“I heard he grabbed you. What does that mean?”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad. He just kind of put his arm around me and told me what a great job the civilian workers do for the department. Got right in my face, you know? I was new here, and it disturbed me. I was always careful not to get too close to him again.”

“So, you wouldn’t characterize that incident as harassment?”

She shrugged. “Some guys are touchy, you know? Patting your shoulder, squeezing your hand. There are some, like Bill Theriault, who are almost fatherly. He doesn’t bother me. Then there are guys you wouldn’t want to get in an elevator with alone.”

“Neilsen was in that category?”

“Well, like I said, I was new, and he was the deputy chief. It startled me. I didn’t know what to make of it, so I stayed out of his way after that.”

Harvey nodded thoughtfully. “So, what about Bill Theriault? Do you think he should be told to keep his hands off the women?”

“I think anyone offended by it would tell him. It’s not sexual with him. At least I don’t think so. He’s close to retirement, isn’t he?”

Harvey wasn’t sure that mattered, but he let it pass. “Who else?”

“Hm. I don’t remember anyone else touching me in a way I felt was inappropriate. But the language!”

“You’re here days. Some of Brad Lyons’s men have filthy mouths?”

She sniffed. “If you’re going to bring up Brad, why not start with him?”

“All right, let’s.”

“He’s crude.”

“Don’t some women find him charming? I mean, three women married him, after all.”

“He probably can be, but he can also be vulgar in the extreme. Especially when he’s been ignored by a pretty girl.”

“Would you make a statement to that effect?”

She blinked at him. “This is about Brad, isn’t it? You know, I can’t think of a particular thing I personally heard him say, but several of the girls in our department have complained about him.”

“Okay. We’ll get around to them. You’re sure you don’t have anything specific?”

“Not things he said to women. I’ve heard him say a few things to other men about women. Some were pretty bad.”

“What did you do when he said them?”

She flushed. “Pretended I didn’t hear and left the room. Do you want me to tell you what he said?”

“Unfortunately, in order for me to use it as evidence, you have to either tell me on tape, or write it out in a statement.”

“I think I’d rather write it.”

“Fine. Let’s put you in our interview room, and I’ll give you some paper and a pen.”

“Look, is this going to court? I mean, will we all have to testify against him?”

“I hope not. At this point it’s being kept internal.”

She nodded. “All right, I’ll do it.”