Authors: Juliet Dillon Clark
At home, Lindsay’s mother, Helen, was in the kitchen unloading groceries. “Hi honey,” she said when she heard Lindsay come in.
“Hi Mom!” Lindsay gave her mom a hug. “Where’s Evan?”
“He’s asleep. We just got back from the grocery store. I wasn’t sure what time you were going to get back, so I got stuff to start a pot roast in the crock pot,” Helen said. “How was your trip?”
“It was fine. Do you remember the Davenport murders?”
“Not really. Are they the same Davenports that have the farm land in San Luis?” Helen asked.
“As a matter of fact, they were related. Can I ask a favor, Mom?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“Can you watch Evan this afternoon while I run up to Manhattan Beach?”
“No problem. Go do what you need to do,” Helen answered.
Lindsay had already called Jeremy Davenport on the way home and arranged to meet him at his apartment. She headed out the door and up to the beach. Jeremy’s apartment was in Hermosa Beach, about a block from the water. She had to circle the block three times before she finally got metered parking near the Green Store. Jeremy’s apartment was a block from there. She had to walk down and alley to get to the back of the duplex he lived in. His place was nice. It had a large patio in front with a table and chairs. He had potted plants that looked like he had just planted them. The pots were bursting with bright colored impatiens. Jeremy invited her into the spacious two bedroom apartment.
“Nice place,” Lindsay said.
“It’s okay. I can walk to the beach.” He went over to one side of the living room and pointed towards the beach. “I have an ocean peek. If I stand right here I can see the water.”
She went over to where he was standing and took a look at the sliver of water that could be seen from that vantage point. “I talked to your aunt Terri yesterday,” she said.
“Good, it sounds like you are making progress,” he responded casually.
“I’m confused about some things,” she stated.
“Like what?”
“Well, I thought you told me you moved here for a job,” she said.
He paused and thought for a moment. “I don’t think I did. I believe you heard that from my Grandma Davenport.”
“Why does she think that?” Lindsay asked suspiciously.
Jeremy sighed. “I don’t like lying to her. She is so obstinate sometimes, she leaves me no choice.”
“That’s a copout,” Lindsay said flatly.
“I’m sort of working down here. My other grandparents are here and we are working out a deal to start a winery on my parent’s old property,” he said.
“Terri told me that. Couldn’t you do that from up north?” she asked.
“Not really. Grandma and Grandpa Davenport know everyone up there. They are going to be pissed off at me when they find out what I’m up to,” he said.
“Why?” Lindsay asked.
“They want me to go into their family business. Grandpa is trying to retire. He tried letting my aunt and uncle run the business, but he thinks Uncle Chuck is a buffoon and Aunt Carol doesn’t have a lick of sense when it comes to business,” he said.
“This is the same business he wanted your father to run?” she asked.
“Yes, the same. My father’s independence hurt my grandparents. They felt like he owed them. They are the same with me,” Jeremy said.
“Tell me about the deal with your other grandparents,” she said.
“Kind of the same thing they had going with my parents. They own the land that the winery will be on. They are fronting me the money for the grapes. They’ve already helped me buy the stock to start the crops. We are going to start remodeling the house next week, so I can live there while we are building the operation. I should be able to move in about two months from now,” he said.
“I’d like to talk to your grandparents about their recollections of the time around the murders. Can you arrange that?” Lindsay asked.
“I think I can. They are spending a great deal of time at UCLA medical center right now. Grandpa Doran is undergoing chemotherapy. I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
“Isn’t it going to be weird living in that house after all that has happened?” she asked. She was curious as to why he would want to do something like that.
“Yes, it will be. It’s a short term plan. We are waiting for permits for a new home to be built on the property as well as those for the wine tasting room. You don’t just hang out a sign and become a winery. The grapes take several years before they produce. This is temporary,” he said.
“I understand. That place is creepy. I don’t think I would be so brave in your situation,” she said.
“It’s not bravery on my part. It’s almost like a mission that I need to accomplish. I need to finish my parents’ dream,” he said.
“Terri told me that you didn’t see the Dorans when you were a child. How did you all reconnect?” she asked.
“I was always curious about my parents and what had happened. I have been researching all of this since I was a teenager. I didn’t know I had another set of grandparents until I was sixteen. I overheard Grandpa Davenport arguing with Uncle Chuck,” he said.
“That must have been a surprise,” she said.
“Not a good surprise. I was angry. I confronted my grandfather about it. He told me they were bad people and they had gotten my parents killed,” he said.
“You didn’t believe that?”
“If I had been five years old, I probably would have believed it. I was growing up and I knew how manipulative Grandma and Grandpa could be when they didn’t get their way. I had witnessed them in action with other family members,” he said with a shrug.
“So you went looking for the Dorans?” she asked.
“I found out where they were and contacted them discreetly. That’s when I found out about the court battles to keep them away from me. Typical Grandpa,” he said.
She thought for a moment and wondered if she should tell him about the homicide detective she met with. “What did your grandparents tell you about your parents’ death?” she asked instead.
“They told me that my mom was mixed up in drugs and some bad people killed her and dad because of it,” he said.
“You believed that?” she asked.
“At first I did. It was the Davenport line. Uncle Chuck and Aunt Carol parroted the same story to me,” he said.
“But, then something changed?”
“Yes, my mother’s family changed my mind. They told me that the cops didn’t find any evidence that this was a drug-deal-gone-bad.”
“Did you confront the Davenports about that?” she asked.
“I did. But, I lied to them and said I did research on my own. I didn’t want to drag the Dorans into it,” he said.
“How did they react?”
“Oh, my grandpa was mad. He had to be taken to the hospital. He got so upset; the doctors thought he had a heart attack. My grandmother made me feel so guilty. I never brought it up again.”
“Jeremy, I’m willing to take this case but, I’m worried about getting paid,” Lindsay said changing the subject.
“Don’t worry about it. The Dorans are going to pay your bill,” Jeremy said.
“Do they believe that Kelly is still alive?” Lindsay asked.
“They want to find her if she is. I think my grandfather would like some closure before he passes,” Jeremy said.
“I will take the job,” Lindsay said.
Lindsay called Dixon Calhoun to find out what she could about the fire at the ranch in Shandon.
“We don’t know much,” he said. “The ashes are still too hot for the arson investigators to get in and see what’s going on.”
“So it is arson?” she asked.
“They think so. But, it is all speculation right now,” he said.
“You know, I stopped by there on the way home yesterday. I was spooked by someone and when I went out front, a car sped away from the property.”
“Did you get a description?” he asked with interest.
“No, he was too far away,” she said.
“When we were there, it looked like a local kids’ hangout. Maybe you caught someone there who wasn’t supposed to be there,” he said.
“Maybe.” She pondered that for a moment. “I spoke to the Dorans today; Shelly Davenport’s parents.”
“Did they have anything interesting to say?” he asked.
“Actually, a couple of things. They didn’t feel like the police investigated very well,” she said.
“You met the guy who led the investigation. Did he give you that impression?” Calhoun asked.
“No, he did the best job he could. Although he did mention that he was met with many obstacles. He thought that Daddy Davenport was pulling strings behind the scenes,” she commented.
“They have a lot of clout around here.”
“He also told me that he wasn’t sure that the man that was convicted was involved,” Lindsay said.
“Really?” Dixon commented.
“The Dorans also told me that David inherited that property from his grandfather and that David’s dad tried to buy it from him. They said that he offered them five times the property’s value to get it back,” she said.
“That doesn’t sound like very good business,” Calhoun said in a perplexed tone.
“No, it doesn’t. Is there anything special about that area that would cause someone to want the land so badly?”
“Not that I know of. It’s all farmland. Currently, there are grapevines for as far as you can see out Highway 46. It was alfalfa before that,” he stated as a fact.
“I find that odd. I need to set up an appointment with the Davenports. It doesn’t sound like they are pleasant people,” she said.
“No, from what I hear, they’re not,” he said. “Did you find out anything else?”
“Yes. Do you know anything about a judge named Martin Van Buren?” she asked.
“Yes. He’s retired and lives in Templeton,” he said.
“Good reputation?”
“Yes and no,” he said. “I don’t mean to badmouth, but he was investigated several times.”
“For what?”
“Different things. There were rumors that he took bribes. No one ever proved it,” he said.
“Civil servants don’t make that much. There should have been a money trail,” Lindsay remarked.
“His wife was rich. If he was taking money, it would have been hard to prove. He lives a pretty lavish lifestyle,” Calhoun said.
“You said his wife was rich.”
“She died about ten years ago in a car accident out on Highway 46 West,” he said. “They live out there. She was on her way home from some social function and got run off of the road; probably by a drunk driver.”
“The big social crowd,” Lindsay sighed. “Is that how Davenport and Van Buren knew each other?”
“Davenport was a huge campaign contributor when Van Buren ran for judge,” Calhoun said.
“I’m not sure. I don’t run with that crowd. I remember their pictures used to always be in the paper,” he said.
“Can you remember any of the allegations made against Van Buren?” she asked.
“No, not really. It was a long time ago. What brought this up?”
“The Dorans seemed to think that Van Buren had been bought off. The custody hearing for Jeremy was one-sided and they could never get enforcement of the visitation agreement,” she said.
“Anything’s possible, my dear. I have no idea how you would be able to prove something like that after all of these years.”
“I don’t either. I don’t even know if it is relevant at this point,” she said. “Jeremy only knew what the Davenports told him. He didn’t know that the Dorans existed until he was a teenager. All of those court hearings for visitation enforcement and the judge never once asked the child what he wanted.”
“When you put it that way, it does sound like there is a cover up,” he said. “Same point. You’ll never be able to prove it.”
“Have you been out to the ranch since the fire?” Lindsay asked.
“I took a swing by there this morning,” he said.
“How bad is the damage?” Lindsay said.
“The house is a total loss. The barn is partially gone. I talked to the investigator at the scene. He said they smelled accelerant when they walked up to the house. No smell on the barn. That’s probably why the barn wasn’t a total loss,” he said.
“When do you think the arson investigators will have their report ready?”
“I’ll let them know we need a copy and call you when it is ready,” he said.
Jeremy called Lindsay the following day. “I’ve set up an appointment for you to talk to my grandparents in San Luis. Can you go with me on Thursday?”