One Little Lie Read online

  Detective Boulter’s large frame filled the open doorway, and he entered her office. “Hey, Boss, you’re here late. We got the autopsy results.”

  “They called me. I was just looking at them. We need to notify the widow and see what she knows about this.” She saw Brian’s gaze sharpen, but he said nothing, even though he knew that would be his job. None of them liked that tough task. “Did you see the notation about what was found tucked in the front of the gown and the note?”

  Brian nodded, went to the coffeepot, and began to make coffee. “Weird, huh? Maybe the old geezer, Alfie, wasn’t as far off as I thought. That body might have been planted here on purpose like he said. I’d assumed the guy’s head and limbs were removed to make it hard to identify him, but anyone with even a little bit of forensic knowledge would know the DNA database would pull him up immediately since he’d been arrested. Maybe the killer just wanted to slow down identification a bit.”

  “Could be. I checked out the dress.” She told Brian about the make and the theft of a dress like it. “I saw you there with a lady friend looking at lingerie.”

  Brian grinned. “The women love that store.”

  The coffee finished brewing, and she went around her desk to get a cup for Brian and her. “What are you doing here so late? Your date stand you up?”

  “Yeah, can you believe it? Tourists.” He shook his head. “Like the real Dwayne Johnson was going to walk up to a strange woman on the beach and ask her out.”

  “You play up that resemblance too much.”

  He ran his big hand over his head. “At least I’ve got hair.”

  She smiled and handed him his coffee. “There’s that.”

  He’d asked her out a few times when he first came to work for the department, but her refusals had finally sent him searching in another direction. She hadn’t been ready for a relationship when she was twenty-five, but now that she was nearly thirty, she was beginning to notice handsome men. And Brian was a fine specimen. But dangerous. Very dangerous. She doubted one woman would ever be enough for him.

  She gulped down her coffee and turned for the door. “Let’s go grab a sandwich, then head for our vic’s house.”

  “You’re tagging along?”

  “Hearing it from a woman might be easier for the widow. And I’m sure you’d rather not do it alone.”

  He flashed her a smile, but she wasn’t susceptible to him. An image of Reid glowering at her popped into her mind, and she frowned. Where had that come from?

  She grabbed her bag as her phone rang, and she answered a call from the mayor. “Hi, Lisa.”

  “How’s it going with Reid?” Lisa’s voice was overly chipper.

  “Awkward. A civilian shouldn’t be tagging along on a murder investigation.”

  “You have an ID on the torso yet?”

  “We do.” Jane told her what the autopsy revealed. “I’m heading there now.”

  “With Reid, I hope?”

  Jane grimaced. “He left hours ago.”

  “Go grab him. He’ll get to see how quickly you’ve started to nail down what happened. This is great press, Jane, and I don’t want it to slip away from us.”

  Jane sighed. “Fine, I’ll call him.” She ended the call and told Brian about the mayor’s request. “I’ll text him after we eat. If we don’t give him much time, maybe he’ll bow out.”

  Eight

  She glanced at his boy’s profile from the front seat. Nice kid. Will seemed respectful and well behaved. Jane guessed him to be around sixteen, and she suspected Reid looked exactly like him at that age.

  She parked in front of a neat white house and glanced at Brian. “Ready for this?”

  “As ready as anyone ever is for something like this.”

  Reid spoke from the backseat. “Wait a minute. This is Gary Dawson’s house.”

  Her chest squeezing, she stared at Reid. “You know him?”

  “He was the videographer I fired. He was stealing from me to pay gambling debts, and I had to turn him in to the police.”

  Great, just great. She had a possible suspect in the vehicle with her. “You can’t be here.” That should be obvious even to him. She turned the vehicle back on and flipped the blower to high. “I’ll leave the air on for you.”

  He held her gaze in the rearview mirror. “I know his wife well. It might help if she has a familiar face when she gets the news.”

  “You’re automatically a suspect. I need you to stay in the vehicle.” He opened his mouth to object, but she turned to Brian. “Want me to take the lead?”

  Brian grimaced. “That would be my preference.”

  Reid reached for his door handle. “I want to go.”

  She whirled around. “If you make one move out of this vehicle, I’m arresting you and hauling you in for questioning.”

  His furious eyes glared back at her, but he held up his hands. “Fine. I haven’t seen Gary since he was arrested, though.”

  She didn’t answer and got out. She let Parker out the back and walked to the front door of the ranch home with the entourage behind her. The dog would be on his guard against a weapon being pulled, and Jane had no idea if the wife might be involved in this murder.

  The yard was neat and nicely landscaped, but the navy shutters could use a fresh coat of paint, as could the front door. She pressed the doorbell and listened for the sound of footsteps past the faint sound of a child calling for his mom from inside.

  The door finally cracked open a bit to reveal a young woman. At least the half of the face Jane saw looked female with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

  Jane held up her badge. “Pelican Harbor chief of police, ma’am. Could I speak with you a moment?” The door opened more fully, and the child’s cry grew louder. “You need to tend to your little one? I can wait.”

  With the door fully opened, the reason for the woman’s caution was in plain view—she sported a shiner that had nearly swollen her lid shut. Jane looked her over but didn’t say anything.

  The woman hesitated and glanced at Brian, who was behind Jane. “Come on in. He doesn’t want to go to bed. I’ll check on him.” She left the door open and scurried to another room.

  Jane stepped inside and followed her into a neat and tidy living room furnished with a brown tweed sofa and a turquoise armchair. Brian and Parker followed, and she motioned for the dog to lay down by her feet.

  The woman went down the hall, and the child’s calls subsided. She was gone for about five minutes before Jane heard the faint click of a door latch, and Mrs. Dawson came back down the hall.

  “He’s looking at a book,” she said.

  “How old?”

  “Four. What’d you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t. It’s Chief Hardy with Pelican Harbor. And you are?” Jane continued to stand.

  “Fanny Dawson.”

  “Just you and your little boy live here?”

  “And my husband, Gary.” She reached up to touch her swollen eye.

  Jane’s palms curled into fists. “When did you see him last?”

  “Um, Sunday?”

  Three days ago. “You didn’t see him on Monday at all?”

  “I tried to call his phone, but it went straight to voice mail. H-He’s been having some problems.”

  “He gave you that black eye?” Brian asked.

  Fanny nodded. “But it wasn’t his fault. I provoked him.”

  Was Gary’s abuse the cause of his death? “No man should hit a woman. He vowed to love and cherish you, not beat you.” Jane held up her hand when Fanny started to protest. “His abuse is not the issue here. Does your husband have any enemies?”

  Fanny’s lips trembled. “Not that I know of. Why would you ask something like that? He’s okay, isn’t he?”

  “I’m afraid not, Fanny. His body was found just off Pelican Harbor early yesterday morning.”

  Fanny’s blue eyes widened and flooded with tears. “It can’t be Gary. I want to see him.”

  The last th
ing Jane wanted to tell her was the body’s condition. Maybe she wouldn’t have to. At least not yet. “We made a positive ID with his DNA. He was recently arrested and was in the database. I’m afraid there’s no mistake.”

  “H-He was murdered? You asked about enemies. He must have been murdered. Shot, stabbed?”

  Jane would have to tell her. “The autopsy revealed he’d been beaten, and I’m afraid his head and limbs are missing.”

  Fanny’s face blanched, and her eyelids fluttered as she sank back against the chair. Jane leapt toward her and pushed her head down between her legs. “Take deep breaths. You’ll be okay.”

  Fanny obeyed, and Jane patted Fanny’s back when she raised her head. “You have any family in the area?”

  “My mother is in Washington, DC, right now, and my brother is a Blue Angel over in Pensacola. My dad died a couple of years ago.”

  “Is there someone we could call for you?” Jane asked.

  Fanny shook her head. “I’ll call my mom. She’ll be out of town a couple of days, but she’ll want to know about this.”

  “Can I get your phone number in case I need to speak with you again? And I’m afraid we will need your computer and to search paperwork here your husband might have left. I can get a search warrant, but I’d rather take it now if you’ll give permission.”

  Could this slight woman have killed her husband? It didn’t seem likely, but Jane tried never to make snap decisions. She hesitated. “Did your husband have a gambling problem?”

  Quiet tears tracked down Fanny’s face. “That’s been most of our problems.”

  “Did very many people know about it?”

  “Some. And take whatever paperwork you need. I want the killer found.”

  Jane nodded to Brian, who headed down the hall in search of the office.

  Fanny jotted down her phone number on a notepad she snatched from the coffee table. “And as far as people who knew—I’m part of a cooking club, and I think I talked about it with my friends a few times.”

  “Could you give me a list of those people as well?”

  “They wouldn’t have hurt Gary.”

  “I’m sure they wouldn’t, but we need to perform a complete investigation.”

  Fanny nodded and wrote down some names, then passed the paper to Jane.

  “What about Reid Dixon? We know he pressed charges against Gary for stealing from him. Have there been words or any kind of fight between the two of them?”

  Fanny shook her head. “Reid sent me money—two thousand dollars—after Gary was arrested. He didn’t want to turn him in, but he had no choice. Gary took a lot of money and expensive equipment from the company, but Reid is a good man and wanted to help me and my son. I’m sure he had nothing to do with this.”

  Jane wasn’t so sure. “Do you know what your husband did with the money he stole?”

  “I assume he used it on his gambling debts, but I don’t think it was enough.” Fanny reached for a tissue from the box on the end table and mopped her eyes.

  “Do you have the name of his bookie?”

  “No. I’ve never met any of his gambling friends. I’m sorry.”

  “Can you think of any reason your husband would have a Kennedy half-dollar on his person?”

  Fanny clutched her hands together in her lap. “No, he didn’t collect coins or anything.”

  “A note on his clothing read Vow Breaker. Did you kill your husband, Fanny?”

  “Of course not! I loved him.” Fanny’s eyes flooded with tears again. “I want to call my mom. Can you go now, please? I need to be alone.”

  Jane nodded. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Fanny. We’ll be in touch.”

  * * *

  The holding room smelled of fear and cigarettes. Reid stared at the locked door. He should have called an attorney, but he had nothing to hide. Wasn’t that always the way someone got railroaded, though?

  The door opened, and Jane stepped inside accompanied by Detective Boulter. Both were somber.

  Jane took the lead. “Mr. Dixon?”

  His gut clenched when his gaze met her direct hazel eyes. “What happened to calling me Reid?” When she didn’t answer, he wanted to strangle her. “Where’s my boy?”

  Jane sat in a chair across the table from him. “Having a Coke and a bag of chips in the break room.” Jane pulled out a notepad. “You came here from New Orleans? What brought you to the area?”

  “I already told you.”

  “I’d like to hear it again.”

  He pressed his lips together, then sighed. “The documentary I’m doing on you. My son and I got here a few days ago.” Careful. Never offer information.

  “I see,” Boulter said. “With your job, you have the flexibility to live wherever you like?” A scent of cinnamon wafted from his mouth as he worked a piece of gum.

  “What’s that got to do with the murdered person?”

  Jane lifted a brow. “Please answer Detective Boulter’s question.”

  Reid pressed his lips together again and shrugged. “I travel all the time for my work. As long as I have an airport within driving distance, it’s good. I can fly in and out of Mobile. I do this kind of thing all the time.”

  Jane fixed him with a hard stare. “Tell us about your relationship with Gary Dawson.”

  He didn’t care for being on this side of an investigation. “He worked for me for ten years. He was basically my right-hand man, not just my videographer. I thought the world of him and trusted him. I was shocked when I realized he’d stolen equipment and money from me.”

  “He had access to your financials?” Jane sounded skeptical.

  Reid didn’t blame her. “Looking back, it was stupid to have him drop off bank deposits and things like that, but like I said, I trusted him.”

  Jane’s expression softened slightly. “How’d you discover the theft?”

  “I decided to buy a new SUV and noticed there wasn’t as much money in savings as there should be. I sent the files and receipts over to my accountant, and he found the discrepancy. I knew it only could have been Gary and confronted him about it. He didn’t even try to lie. He promised to pay it back if I gave him some time, and I was going to do that, but then I discovered the missing equipment too. He admitted to a gambling problem and had the nerve to ask me for a hundred-thousand-dollar loan to pay his bookie before he got hurt.”

  “He was in trouble?”

  Reid didn’t like thinking about the fear in Gary’s eyes. “He was panicked about it. I thought he’d be safe in jail, which was one of the reasons I turned him in. Why was he out?”

  “He was released on bail. We identified the victim with fast DNA and uploaded it to the crimes database. Dawson’s profile was in there because of his arrest for theft, and we got an immediate hit.”

  Reid felt completely disoriented by the continued suspicion in her face. “You think I had something to do with it?”

  “You turned him in. I would assume there was animosity.”

  “There wasn’t. I wanted him to get help for his addiction, and I didn’t want to enable him.”

  “When was the last time you saw Mr. Dawson?”

  “I called him to come over to the house and confronted him two weeks ago.” The scene that day still bothered him. He’d trusted Gary, and he’d been floored when he found the source of the theft.

  “Had you already moved to Pelican Harbor?”

  “No, though I’d rented the house. We moved a couple of days later.”

  “I see,” Boulter said. “Did you speak with his wife after he was arrested?”

  “No.” He hadn’t known what to say to her, but he’d made sure he sent her a check for two thousand dollars in only her name. He’d hoped it would tide her over a bit.

  Jane glanced at her notebook. “Dawson never contacted you after he made bail? Maybe tried to get you to drop the charges?”

  “He tried to call me, but I didn’t answer. I had nothing to say.”

  “So you were angry,�
�� the detective said.

  “Not angry. Disappointed, hurt, yes. But I know myself, and I would have been tempted to let him off. That wasn’t the right thing to do, and I knew it. He’d been stealing from me for over two years, and he was in even deeper. He needed help.”

  “When did you find out he had a gambling problem?” Jane asked. “Did you know before he stole from you?”

  “My IP guy found gambling sites in his work computer’s search history. And of course he admitted it then too. When did he die?”

  “The autopsy couldn’t pinpoint it exactly because he’d been in the water, but nearest estimates put him murdered on Sunday. What were you doing on Sunday?”

  Relief flooded through him. “I was in a phone meeting with my producer after church for about an hour, then Will and I went to Mobile to do some sightseeing. We took in the battleship and went to the carnival museum. If you check cameras, I’m sure you’ll see us there.”

  Jane jotted down something else, then she and Detective Boulter rose. “What about your wife, Mr. Dixon?”

  “Ex-wife.” His hands curled into fists. “What about her?”

  “She’s been missing for eight years. There’s quite a detailed investigation in her disappearance. Did you kill her?”

  He leapt to his feet. “I had nothing to do with her disappearance, and if you looked into it at all, you would see I hired an investigator three different times to try to locate her.”

  If he had to, he could tell them Lauren had resurfaced, but it might get back to Will, and he wanted to avoid that unless he had no choice.

  Her expression remained skeptical. “I think we’re done for now. You can collect Will from the break room. Until your alibis check out, I don’t want you continuing with this documentary.”

  He knew better than to object. She was right. He followed her through the door and into the hallway. She directed him toward the break room, then walked the opposite way.

  At least they hadn’t questioned Will. He wasn’t about to tell them that his son and Gary had been fishing buddies. Who knew what they’d make of that.