Stratagem Read online

  Hugh’s words seemed to spill out. “It felt like forever until the ambulance got there. The whole time, Tim kept doing CPR. The paramedics got there and took over doing CPR. They wheeled Anna Belle out on a stretcher. She looked so still.”

  “Did you know Anna Belle had an allergy to cherries?” Danielle asked.

  Hugh shook his head. “We never talked about allergies or anything.”

  “But you knew she drank those energy drinks almost daily, right?”

  Hugh nodded. “Everybody knew that.”

  “What happened after the ambulance left?” Brandon asked.

  “Well, Tim and Emmi headed out to the hospital.” Hugh shrugged. “I felt bad. I mean, I liked Anna Belle and knew many people didn’t. I went to the hospital behind Tim and Emmi.”

  Brandon wasn’t about to let that one slip by. “What do you mean you know that many people didn’t like Anna Belle?”

  Hugh lifted one shoulder, almost too casually. “Of course Emmi hated her, but who could blame her? I’m betting Tim was hurt she’d broken up with him. She was ambitious and wouldn’t let anyone get in her way. Sometimes how she acted on that ambition hurt people and they took it personally.” He shook his head. “With Anna Belle, it wasn’t personal. It was all business. It didn’t matter who it was, she was going to do whatever she could to get ahead. You had to respect that.”

  No, not really. Brandon had seen many detectives earn their shield by playing dirty and using the backs of their fellow officers to climb up the ladder, and he never respected them. Actions did, in most cases, speak louder than words.

  Danielle picked up the questioning, flipping the question back around to Thursday afternoon. “What happened at the hospital?”

  “I found Tim and Emmi in the waiting room, so I hung out with them. One of the guys from the house, his name was Cole or something, was waiting there for word too. He was with the game company. Well, I know that now. I didn’t that night.” Hugh let out a slow breath, his shoulders sagging just a little. “Anyway, a doctor finally came out and asked if we were with Anna Belle. We said we were, and the doctor said he was sorry, but that she hadn’t made it.” Hugh shook his head. “I was in shock. Guess Tim was too, because Emmi had to lead him out. That other guy just left, didn’t say anything. It was so unreal.”

  Brandon nodded. “When did Tim tell you everything had been a game?”

  “Tim called Friday afternoon and told me. He also said he’d given all the information to the police to help with the investigation.”

  “Did you talk to anyone else? Besides Tim and me and my partner here?”

  “Nope.”

  Brandon slipped on a smile. “Is there anything else you can think of that we might need to know?”

  Hugh opened his mouth, then clamped it shut.

  “Anything at all?” Brandon pressed.

  “It’s probably nothing.”

  “What?”

  “When we were in the waiting room at the hospital, Emmi had gone across the room to get coffee. Tim sat there, hanging his head, and he was mumbling under his breath. It took several minutes of me listening really hard to understand what he said.”

  “Which was?” Danielle asked.

  “He said, ‘It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault.’ Like, over and over again.”

  “Do you have any idea what he could’ve meant?” Brandon asked, even as excitement built inside him.

  “I don’t know. I wondered if maybe he meant because he did something to make her break things off with him. Or if he meant that he had us all there under false pretenses. I just don’t know, man. You’d have to ask him.”

  Oh, Brandon intended to ask him when they interviewed Tim Dubois later that afternoon.

  Hugh stood. “Can I go now? I have some things I need to take care of.”

  Brandon and Danielle stood. Brandon extended his hand. “Thank you again for coming in. We really appreciate it.”

  “Sure. Anna Belle might’ve had issues with some people, but she didn’t deserve to die.” Without any further explanation, Hugh passed through the door Danielle held open.

  “Well, that one was different.” Danielle led the way back to their desks.

  “You’d think we’d be used to getting new information out of every witness by now, but this one…”

  “Yeah, this one seems to take the cake.”

  “I want to go over the inventory from the CSI unit again and see what jumps out as not belonging. Voodoo dolls, Mardi Gras masks…. I can’t believe we didn’t question those items to begin with.”

  “Me too.” Danielle quickened her stride and reached their desks first. She grabbed the folder from CSI and flipped pages. “Toxicology reports on every item found in the victim’s room. Autopsy report. Here we go, inventory report of the actual crime scene room.” She ran her finger down the page. “We didn’t question the items because there’s no mention of any doll or Mardi Gras mask.” She handed the folder to him.

  Brandon quickly scanned the page, then flipped it over. Danielle was right—no mention of either item. Plenty of other items: list of articles of clothing, eye mask, suitcase, purse, energy drink, toiletries with items like moisturizer, makeup, perfume, and the like, but no mention of a doll or mask. He handed the file back to her, his gut tightening. “This is crazy. How could such items be missed? Who went from CSI to the house?” Brandon’s irritation blossomed into full-fledged anger. Cases were thrown out of court because of mishandling of evidence, and it sure looked like there’d been some mishandling on this case already.

  “Kara Cobb signed the sheets.” Danielle shook her head. “There has to be something else going on.”

  Brandon nodded. “Kara’s the best we have.” There was no way she would’ve missed not one, but two critical items.

  “Let me check in with her.” Danielle moved to sit in her chair.

  While his partner made the call, Brandon went through the file again.

  Anna Belle’s body had been released to a funeral home in Breaux Bridge, where Anna Belle had been from and where her mother still resided. He and Danielle were scheduled to visit Mrs. Fredericks tomorrow afternoon at her hotel. The mother had already explained that she and Anna Belle were almost estranged, so she didn’t know how helpful she would be to the investigation. In his experience, Brandon found that those were usually the interviews that garnered the most truth about the key players.

  He glanced over the rest of their notes. They were scheduled to talk with Tim and Emmi Dubois, separately, this afternoon. Tim at Deets PR and Emmi at her home. Considering what they’d learned, they would most likely be very interesting conversations.

  No mention of firemen being dispatched to the house on Wednesday evening. Another piece of the puzzle missing? This case was turning into a colossal mess. Commander Ellender would have his and Danielle’s heads rolling down the hall. He quickly fired off an inquiry to see why and what time the firemen were dispatched. Hopefully, the report had just gotten put in the wrong place or something and he’d get a copy ASAP for the file.

  Danielle replaced the headset to its cradle. “Kara says she’s positive there were no dolls or masks at the house.”

  “Could they have been missed? Maybe pushed under a bed or something by the paramedics?”

  Danielle shrugged. “Guess there’s only one way to tell for sure.” She stood.

  Brandon pushed to his feet as well. “Now that we’ve heard three accountings, it’ll give us a better feel to see the scene again anyway.”

  And maybe they’d find some answers.

  NINE

  “What exactly, are we looking for”—Pam stared at the rental house on Esplande Avenue through the front windshield of Grayson’s truck—“if we can even get in?”

  “I don’t know. Something that might explain why Anna Belle didn’t use her Epi. It just doesn’t make sense that she didn’t even go for it. That wasn’t like her. I’m trying to understand exactly what happened.” He eased the truck i
nto the driveway and turned off the engine.

  “You might need to start concentrating on finding evidence to clear your name, Grayson. No offense, but it seems as if the police are focusing on you.”

  “I’m the ex-husband, so it’s natural they’d look hard at me.” He wasn’t ready to admit just yet how badly it stung.

  “No offense, but let’s be honest. Anna Belle had a lot of enemies. A lot of people who would like her out of the way. Even permanently. You aren’t even the top tier of suspects.” Pam flipped down the sun visor and opened the mirror. She used the tip of her ring finger to dab at her lipstick.

  “How do you figure?”

  She snapped the mirror shut. “Sure you’re the ex-husband, but the emphasis is on ex. You’d already discovered her affair and didn’t kill her. You didn’t commit a crime of passion, instead opting to divorce her. You took the higher road. Even during the divorce proceedings, which she wanted to get dirty, you didn’t lower yourself to play dirty. So, if I’m a cop, a good one, I’d be asking myself why on earth you would all of a sudden break and kill her.”

  Grayson’s heart raced. If the police knew what was in Anna Belle’s files, they’d have the answer to that question. Movement on the front porch caught his attention. “Hey, that’s the owner. Let’s go.” He got out of the truck, heard Pam shut the passenger door behind him, and made his way up the overgrown walkway.

  The concrete and brick of the front porch pillars were dirty and covered in kudzu vines. The whole front of the white and redbrick house needed a serious pressure washing. The old house looked as weathered as the many storms it had withstood.

  “Can I help you?” The older man wearing overalls as worn as the house tucked a screwdriver into his front pocket.

  “I don’t know if you remember me, sir. Grayson with Game’s On You?”

  The man squinted. “Yeah, I remember you.” He nodded at Pam. “And you. Because of that loud hair of yours.”

  Pam giggled. “Yes, sir. I do like to stand out.” Grayson’s assistant might be a little on the weird side, but she had a way with clients, especially men. Didn’t matter if they were young, middle-aged, or old, she managed to handle them all with ease. Grayson had never appreciated that particular gift more than at that moment.

  “We were just wondering if we could have a quick look around.”

  The man stared at Grayson through eyes squinted by many years of long hours in the sun.

  “We’ll only be a few minutes.” Pam smiled, her pinkish-purplish hair seeming to brighten in the sun that was peeking through the gray clouds.

  “You know one of those girls died here, right? I mean, she actually died at the hospital, but she was one of the people here.” He hardened his stare at Grayson. “You know anything about that?”

  Pam looped her arm through Grayson’s. “We’re as shocked as you are. We’re trying to figure out what happened.”

  Grayson checked that there wasn’t any yellow sealing tape on the door. “I assume the police have already cleared your property?”

  “They told me they were done and I could have my cleaning crew come in. I’m waiting on them to get here now.”

  “I promise we’ll be as quick as we can.” Pam widened her smile. “If you’ll just let us in for a few moments. Please.”

  He hesitated only a minute before he gave a curt nod. “I guess that’d be okay.”

  “Oh, thank you so much,” Pam gushed as Grayson tugged her toward the door.

  “You’re incorrigible,” he whispered as they entered.

  “Hey, we’re in, aren’t we?” Pam grinned. “So, what do you want to check out first?”

  “Let’s go to Anna Belle’s room.” The man could change his mind any minute now, and Grayson wanted to at least check for himself that Anna Belle’s Epi hadn’t just been missed.

  Pam led the way up the stairs. The wood creaked under their weight. “A little creepy when there’s not a lot of people.” Her tone was hushed in the house as empty as a crypt.

  Grayson’s senses were assaulted as soon as Pam opened the door to the room Anna Belle had stayed in. The lingering tendrils of her signature perfume, Chanel No. 5, drifted over him, wrapping him in a cloak of memories. He swallowed. Hard.

  “Are you all right?” Pam’s concerned expression nearly choked him as much as Anna Belle’s presence.

  “Yeah. Let’s see if anything was missed.” He dropped to his knees by the bed and peered beneath the bed skirt. Dust bunnies greeted him, but no Epi. Not even a track of where one might’ve skidded under the bed if dropped during a panicked haste.

  “I’ll check the bathroom.” Pam’s footfalls were soft on the old hardwood floors that popped as she went into the adjoining room.

  Grayson pulled open the desk drawers, hoping to find—just what, he didn’t really know. Something that would help make sense of what had happened to Anna Belle. Anything. He was desperate for answers because right now nothing made sense.

  Cabinets scraped open and popped shut in the bathroom as Pam went through the bathroom.

  He shut the last desk drawer and glanced around the room. Now what? He pulled back the curtains covering the balcony door. It was locked with a dead bolt. No sign of anything out of the ordinary.

  “Didn’t see anything odd in the bathroom. I’m going to move on to some of the common areas we know she was in. I’ll start in the kitchen.” Pam waited for him to nod before she headed toward the stairs.

  He moved beside the bed and halted. The fragrance of Anna Belle’s perfume was strongest here. No surprise since she’d always used the Chanel No. 5 bath oils to help her relax. She said the smell calmed her. He sat on the edge of the mattress, letting the grief grip him. How had everything gotten so messed up?

  Grayson opened the bedside table drawer, then reached to turn on the lamp. He pressed the button on the lamp’s base, but nothing happened except that the button shifted. He looked again and realized it wasn’t the lamp’s button at all. He pulled the white, black, and gold magnetic circle off the metal lamp base. His heart and gut flipped places.

  It was his St. Andrews golf course ball marker. Or one just like his, not that he had any monopoly on the item sold in the pro shop at the course. He and Colton had gone two years ago and gotten them as souvenirs, and there had been more than plenty for sale there.

  Why did Anna Belle have his? It was usually kept in his display box in his office. Why would she bring it here, to this place, at this time? He ran his thumb over the raised design. Had she kept it as a token to remind her of him?

  That didn’t make sense, but then again, nothing seemed to make sense and hadn’t for some time. It made no sense that their love hadn’t been as deep and strong as he’d thought. It made no sense that she’d had an affair. It made no sense that she’d—well, that she’d done some of the horrible things she’d done. He wasn’t perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he’d loved Anna Belle with the most consuming love he’d ever felt.

  “Grayson.” Pam’s voice drifted up the stairs. Maybe she’d found something.

  “Coming.” Grayson stood and pocketed the ball marker. He’d figure this one out later.

  Pam met him at the bottom of the steps, Brandon and Danielle hunkering behind her.

  Perfect. Just perfect.

  “Brandon.” He nodded at the cops. “Danielle.”

  “What are you doing at the crime scene?” Danielle’s eyes were harder than the chip on her shoulder.

  “I’m guessing the same thing you are—looking for answers.” He had permission to be on the premises from the owner, but he had to admit, to the police it would shine a very unflattering light on him.

  “This is our job, Grayson. Not yours.” Brandon’s words were delivered without attitude.

  Which made Grayson feel all the worse. “I’m just trying to figure out what happened to her.”

  “Or maybe you’re here to make sure you covered your tracks and didn’t leave anything incriminating
behind?” Danielle’s hands were fisted on her hips.

  Grayson opted to keep his mouth shut and just stared at Danielle.

  “We just came by to look for her EpiPen,” Pam told Danielle in her matter-of-fact way. “Grayson is convinced that as soon as she had symptoms of having ingested her allergen, she would’ve gone for her Epi. Since she didn’t use it in time, obviously, we just wondered if maybe she got to it too late.”

  Grayson nodded. “If the symptoms came on too fast, maybe by the time she got it out, she couldn’t function and she dropped it and it rolled under some furniture or something.”

  Brandon slowly nodded. “Did you find one?”

  “No. Not even a trail of it in the dust under the bed.” Grayson’s disappointment was as tangible as the tension in the room.

  “The one recovered in her purse hadn’t been used.” Brandon shrugged. “It hadn’t been tampered with either, for what it’s worth.”

  Grayson nodded. “But she always carried a backup pen in her toiletry case. Was that one recovered?”

  Brandon shook his head, but his partner interrupted.

  “We could arrest you now.” Danielle propped a foot on the bottom stair. “For interfering in a criminal investigation.”

  Brandon glared at his partner for a nanosecond before looking back to Grayson. “It was a bad idea to come here, whatever your reasons. You should know better.”

  He did, but… “I’m just trying to figure out what happened. None of this makes sense.” He really needed it to make sense.

  “I understand, but you have to stay out of our way.” Brandon shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Let us do our job.”

  He hated to admit it, but he was in way over his head. “I’m sorry. We’ll leave now.” He motioned for Pam to follow him as he strode for the door.

  “Just a moment, Ms. Huron,” Danielle called out after them.

  Pam turned to face the police. “Yes?”

  “Could you be so kind as to come to the station for further questions? Say tomorrow afternoon around three?”