Cruel Comfort (Evan Buckley Thrillers Book 1) (17 page)

'Are you feeling okay?' Audrey
asked. 'You look like you've seen a ghost.'

'I'm fine - just surprised.’ He was
anything but fine. ‘I've talked to Matt Faulkner quite a lot recently and he
never mentioned that his wife grew up in the house Carl Hendricks lives in.'

'Is that so unusual?'

'I think so. I specifically remember
asking him how come Hendricks ended up living in such a big place - he said he
had no idea.'

His mind was racing with the
possibilities that were now opening up. 'We'd talked briefly about his
wife...you'd have thought he'd say
I don't know, but that's the house my
wife grew up in.
We actually stood together and looked at a photo of her
standing in front of the barns. Why wouldn't you mention such a massive coincidence?
The fact that he didn't is suspicious, as far as I'm concerned.'

'I'm sure there's a perfectly good
reason. Matt's a good man.'

Evan wasn't really listening to her
platitudes. 'There must be a reason he didn't want to make the connection. If
that house was in his wife's family all those years, it's just not possible he
doesn't know what happened to it after they moved away.'

'His wife would have known for
sure,' Audrey agreed. 'Her brother had just come back to town and was living in
the family home. Even if they weren't close, she would know if he sold it to
this Carl Hendricks.'

'Or if he was still living there but
under a different name. And if she knew, Faulkner knew. She couldn't keep
something like that from her husband.'

He couldn't believe Faulkner had
deceived him so badly. 'What all this means is that Faulkner knows for sure
whether Jason Saunders and Carl Hendricks are the same person.'

As he said it, something went off in
Evan's brain. Audrey saw it in his face. 'What is it?

He couldn't believe he hadn't made
the connection before. 'Faulkner took me to a bar a few nights ago. That's when
this happened.' He pointed to his face.

'Nice places he takes you. I didn't
like to ask what happened.'

Evan wasn't really listening to her.
'We were talking about Hendricks and he said
Jason
. I'm sure of it. He
passed it off saying I misheard him because the music was too loud. I'd
completely forgotten. Probably because of this.' He pointed to his face again.

'What happened?' She was peering
closely at his face now that the topic was up for discussion.

'I was attacked in the parking lot.
The guy broke my nose and bit off a piece of my ear as well as kicking me in
the...you get the picture. I've been worrying about the guy ever since and
obviously buried everything else.'

'All this,' Audrey said, warming to
the theme, 'suggests that they are the same person and he doesn't want you to
know.'

'Exactly. If Saunders sold the house
to Hendricks, what's to hide? But if Saunders
became
Hendricks that
means Carl Hendricks is...'

'Matt Faulkner's brother-in-law.'

'And that's something he's hoping to
keep quiet.'

They were both quiet for a moment as
their words sank in. As far as Evan could see, there were no innocent
explanations for Faulkner wanting to keep it a secret.

'It could just be that Matt doesn't
want any association with Hendricks,' Audrey said. 'After all, if he is Jason
Saunders, he's a bit of a scumbag.'

Evan was shocked. Old ladies didn't
use language like that. He gave her a reproachful look.

'Don't be such a prude,' she said,
poking him gently in the ribs. 'Anyway, it makes sense that the ex-Chief of
Police wouldn't want to be connected to a criminal. And now his wife's dead,
there's no reason to be.'

Evan was far from convinced. In his
mind the possible explanations were much more sinister.

'It could also be that he was
protecting and covering up for Hendricks.'

She sighed. 'I suppose it's your job
to have a suspicious mind. Myself, I just can't believe it. He was the best
Police Chief this town ever had.'

Evan knew he had a very
uncomfortable conversation with Faulkner coming up. He felt slightly nauseous
thinking about it. If it was true, it could blow Faulkner's whole reputation
out of the water.

'I'm going to have to ask him about
it, but before I do I'd like to have my facts straight. It's got to be one
hundred percent. I need that photograph of Saunders as soon as possible.'

'I'll get right on it.’ She gave him
a playful shove. ‘Cheer up; you've got a face like a smacked arse, as my dear
old husband used to say. That was before he buggered off - another favorite
phrase of his - back to England.'

At least her language brought a grin
to his face. Unfortunately it didn't change the ominous feeling that he'd
bitten off a lot more than he could chew.

One positive thing to come out of the
day's revelations was that he didn't need to schlep half way across the county
to the District Court and spend hours trawling through the change of name
records. All the evidence pointed towards it being true and as soon as he got
Audrey's email he would know for sure.

He wished he was a bit more tech
savvy so that he could get his emails on his phone, but he'd only just got the
hang of texting. He'd have to go to the office to get it. A thought suddenly
crossed his mind. He stopped and turned the car around and headed back the
other way towards Faulkner's trailer park.

He parked outside Faulkner's trailer
and tried the door but it was locked so he walked across to the neighbor's
trailer. He could hear the sound of the TV from inside; it sounded like a football
game.

Briggs came to the door. He had a
beer can in his hand and scowled when he saw who it was.

'You again,' he said, looking back
at the TV. Evan could see a stack of empty cans on the floor next to his chair.
There was a smell coming out of the trailer like the catbox had caught on fire.

'Yes, me again.'

'What do you want? I'm watching the
game.' He belched loudly.
And your address, Sir?

'I'm heading over to visit Faulkner.
I thought you might like to come along. Being such good neighbors and all.'

Briggs looked at him like he was deranged.
'I told you, I'm watching the game.'

Evan tried to peer round him into
the trailer. 'Doesn't look like your wife is in.'

'She's gone to see a movie with her
sister.' He belched again and Evan enjoyed the smell of second-hand beer. '
Terminator
two hundred and twenty-five or something. She loves all that shit.'

'You're more of a
Bridges of
Madison County
man, are you? See yourself as a bit of a romantic Clint
Eastwood type.
Brokeback Mountain
perhaps?'

Briggs looked at him like he was
something unpleasant on the bottom of his shoe. For a second Evan thought he
was going to take a swing at him. 'Give my regards to Matt. Wish him better.'
He started to close the door.

Evan put his hand on the door. 'I
want to take him some of his things. Can you let me in?'

'Jesus Christ. All I want to do is
watch the game in peace. Is that too much too ask for?'

He disappeared back into the trailer
and came back with the big bunch of keys. 'Here, let yourself in. Don't forget
to lock up again when you're done.' He threw the keys to Evan and closed the
door in his face.

Evan found the right key after a few
tries and let himself in. He didn't feel guilty in the slightest about
misleading Briggs. He certainly didn't feel guilty about nosing around in
Faulkner's home behind his back - not after the duplicitous way in which
Faulkner had treated him.

He knew exactly what he was after.
He went into the kitchen and over to where the photographs were tacked to the
wall, and pulled off the one of his wife with her parents outside a barn - a
barn he now knew was sitting on Carl Hendricks's property.

He didn't completely recognize it -
apart from the fact that the photograph was at least fifty years old, he hadn't
paid too much attention to the barns when he was there - but he knew it was one
of them.

He put it in his pocket and then
carefully scrutinized all the others for any other tell-tale signs that might
mean something to him now that he knew what he was looking for.

'Damn,' he said to himself, after he
failed to find anything of any use. That would have been too easy. There was a
gap where another photograph had recently sat, but that didn't necessarily mean
anything. It could mean that Hendricks had removed it the previous night, or it
could mean nothing at all. It was probably nothing as Faulkner was hardly
likely to have a picture of Hendricks on his wall, after he'd done his best to
hide their connection.

Evan sat down at the kitchen table
and thought about what to do next. He didn't have any qualms about searching
Faulkner's place if he thought it would produce anything, but he wasn't sure it
was worth it. Faulkner wasn't stupid and Evan didn't know what he was looking
for anyway. But just as he was about to lock up, he suddenly thought of
something. It only took him five minutes to find what he was looking for.
Faulkner wouldn't need it for the next couple of days. He slipped it into his
pocket, locked up and dropped the keys off with the still grumbling Briggs
before driving away.

What Evan really wanted to do was
drive straight to the hospital and confront Faulkner. He'd always been a bit
impatient, but he knew he had to force himself to take it slowly and wait until
he had all his ducks in a row. He needed the picture of Saunders before he
talked to Faulkner, so he drove back to his office to see if Audrey had sent
him anything yet.

The light was on in Jacobson's
office as Evan walked past. Evan knew he'd want to know the outcome of his
meeting with Audrey so he knocked and went in.

'What's the haps, Evan? How'd it go
with Audrey?'

Jacobson was sitting at his desk doing
something with some unpleasant looking surgical instruments.

'What the hell are these?' Evan
asked picking up a box of what looked like serrated toothpicks.

'They're barbed broaches - they're
for removing dental pulp and other rubbish from root canals. Might be using one
on you if you eat too many of Audrey's cakes.' He winked knowingly at Evan.

Evan wished he hadn't asked. 'I
don't know how you do this job,' he said. He put the box back down. It made him
feel queasy just thinking about it. He was sure he could feel a sharp twinge of
pain coming from one of his back teeth.

'At least I'm the one dishing the
pain out. My nose hasn't been broken recently. Got two complete ears as well.'

'Do you want to hear what Audrey
said, or not?'

'From the look on your face, it's
something important.'

'It was you who first suggested
Jason Saunders might have changed his name to Carl Hendricks.' Jacobson nodded.
'It turns out Saunders was a bit of a scumbag - to use Audrey's term.' Jacobson
raised his eyebrows and smiled. 'He also had a sister - Brenda - who got
married and became...' He paused for effect.

'Come on Evan, don't make me use one
of these to extract the information.' He brandished something that Evan didn't
want to look at.

'Mrs Matt Faulkner!'

'You're kidding.' He dropped
whatever he’d been brandishing onto the desk, leaned back and put his hands
behind his head.

'No way Jose. That means if
Hendricks is really Saunders, then he's Matt Faulkner's brother-in-law.'

'Which throws an entirely different
light on your case. One that doesn't reflect well on our ex-Police Chief.'

'It puts me in quite a difficult
spot.' He sat down on the corner of Jacobson’s desk and picked up one of the
surgical instruments.

'I can see that,’ Jacobson said,
taking it out of Evan’s hand and putting it back down. ‘I don't suppose you're
looking forward to your next chat with Mr Faulkner.'

'No. He's suddenly turned into an
uncooperative witness. Or maybe even a suspect. An accessory at least.'

Jacobson started drumming his
fingers on the desk. 'How does this tie in with your theory that it was
Hendricks who attacked him.'

'I'm not sure. One obvious scenario
is that Hendricks is the culprit and Faulkner covered up for him...'

'And now Hendricks is trying to tie
up the loose ends - permanently.'

'It would explain why Faulkner was
so keen to blame it all on Robbie Clayton. A convenient fall guy.'

Jacobson frowned. 'What are you
suggesting - that they did away with him as well to provide a false trail?'

'I don't know. It all seems a bit
far fetched. I know blood's thicker than water, but that would be taking it to
extremes.'

'I think you need to get your facts
together before getting carried away by all this. It's too easy to make the
circumstances fit with your existing theory.'

'I know. That's why I need the
email.'

'Email?'

'Surely you know what email is, Tom.
Even Audrey uses it.' He slid off the edge of the desk as Jacobson picked up a
dental scalpel.

'Audrey said she'd dig out a
photograph of Saunders and email it to me. Then I'll know for sure if that's
who Hendricks really is. I was on my way to see if she'd done it yet.'

'Why don't you get your email on
your phone, like everyone else. I do.'

'Because I'm a luddite. I'll go and
check now.'

'I'll come with you. Just in case
your friend is lurking upstairs.'

'You might as well bring the scalpel
just in case.'