“It's not a competition. I expect you to do your job and I'll do mine.” Mac believed that. He just wished he could put his feelings aside.
“Okay. Maybe I read you wrong.”
Mac sighed. “You didn't. My feelings have been getting in the way of my common sense lately.”
“I'm not out to compete with you, Mac. I just want to be the best detective I can be. I won't be as good as Kevin, and I know you miss him. That has to factor in.”
Mac pulled into the parking space at the OSP office. “You're right in a way. I feel like a fraud next to him. And to be honest, this case has me spinning in circles. I don't know which end is up.”
“Me too.” Her dimples deepened as she gave him one of her great smiles. “We'll figure it out. We're young, but we're smart. We may not be as experienced as Kevin and Philly, but we can pick their brains whenever we need their seasoned advice. One thing I've learned being around these guysâit's okay to admit when you don't know something. They don't hold it against you.”
He set the brake and pulled the key out of the ignition. “I hope you're right.”
“I am. Just have more faith in yourself. Loosen up.”
Dana had wisdom beyond her years and a positive attitude that put his to shame.
“I'm glad we talked, Mac. I feel so much better.”
“So do I, partner.” And he did in a way, but it still irked him that she was so darn smart and fast.
IT SURPRISED MAC TO SEE KEVIN in the briefing room, though it probably shouldn't have. Even with the cancer, he'd want to stay on top of things. The large meeting center in the detective office was set up with a large television and VCR combination at the head of the room next to a wooden podium, facing sixteen chairs that sat alongside four long tables. The detectives often used the room to prepare cases for trial or to gather resources before a search warrant. This time they would assemble to make assignments on their case and bring one another up to speed on what they'd each learned in the past few hours.
“How you feeling, old buddy?” Mac patted Kevin on the shoulder as he sat next to him.
“Better than I look, believe it or not.” Kevin rubbed his hand over his bald head.
I sure hope so. Looks like you could use a little sun.
Mac kept the retort to himself, not sure if he should be joking around.
Dana settled into the row behind Mac and Kevin. She slipped her hair band around her wrist and shook her mass of golden hair free. She then pulled it together into a ponytail, wrapped it around a couple of times, and secured it again.
Mac frowned at the direction his thoughts were taking and looked away before she or someone else caught him staring at her.
Jan walked in then, followed by Russ and Philly. She sat behind Mac and Kevin, next to Dana, and greeted Kevin with a squeeze of the shoulder as she sat down. Jan and Kevin had been friends for years. The concern in her eyes mirrored the way Mac felt.
“Hey, cue ball.” Philly rubbed Kevin's head before heading for the back row with his partner. “Lookin' good for a desk jockey.”
Kevin chuckled and turned around. “Looking good yourself, scar head. If it wasn't for all those nicks on that noggin of yours, I'd say you should stay with that look.”
“Humph. Unlike you daisies, I've been in a few tussles in my life. Besides, chicks dig scars. Right, Jan?” Philly held out his arms to welcome a compliment. “You don't find rugged good looks like this every day, you know. I'm thinking about a modeling career.”
Jan smiled and shook her head, all too familiar with Philly's odd sense of humor. “If I were single, I'd be begging to go out with you, Philly.That's assuming you were between wives. What are you up to now, four . . . five?”
Mac and the others chortled. Jan was one of the few people who could put Philly in his place.
“I married my first wife twice; you know that doesn't count.” Philly folded his arms, resting them on his more than ample stomach. The sight strengthened Mac's resolve to get back into his fitness program.
“Let's get started.” Sergeant Evans entered the room, his coffee spilling over the edge of his cup. “Toss me those paper towels, would you, Russ?”
“Sure, Boss Hogg.” Russ tossed the box of towels to the front of the room.
They'd been using the towels to replace the long-lost grease board eraser for as long as Mac had been there. Frank used one of them to wipe the bottom of his cup. “Thanks.” He set his cup on a clean paper towel. “Okay, people. Listen up. I'll start with an update from the lab on the gun found on the burn victim and some interesting news I learned while I was down there.”
Mac straightened, as did the others, showing respect for the sergeant as he moved behind the podium. Sergeant Evans was old school State Police and former military. He believed in leading from the front and always stood at the podium when he did his speaking.
“For those who don't know already, Mac and Dana were dispatched to a probable accidental death of an elderly gentleman, a Mr. Clay Mullins, who was hit by a train a couple of nights ago. It was his house that burned down this morning. Said house was supposedly under watch by the local P.D. for warrant application. We received the call around 2:00 a.m. The dwelling was fully engulfed, further complicating the case Mac and Dana were working. The old guy was apparently worth a bundle in real-estate assets among other things. Jump in here, Mac or Dana, if you have anything to add.”
Mac stood up and turned around to face the other detectives. “Thanks, Sarge. We started the death investigation at the request of the D.A. in St. Helens. Like Sarge said, we have an older gentleman who was struck by a train while traveling a packed gravel path from his home to the rail yard, where he'd worked for years and still visited daily. His assumed wealth and some of the circumstances surrounding his death are puzzling. We have more people of interest than Bayer has aspirin. There's a railroad employee who has no love lost for the old guy.” Mac shrugged. “The guy stiffed us on an interview, by the way. In addition, we have real-estate types looking to buy the land, one of which suggested to Clay's daughter that she have the old man declared incompetent. Also, we have a local kid we caught burglarizing the place just hours before it was torched. There's an estranged son who turns up out of the woodwork to lay claim to his old man's estate then turns up dead in the home, and there's Clay Mullins's attorney, whose name seems to be popping up all over the place.”
Mac went on to tell them about the second victim. “Dana and I just came from the medical examiner's office. Dr. Thorpe says he took a blow to the head, which apparently killed him before the fire had a chance.”
“Is the identification confirmed?” Kevin asked.
“A tentative positive right now. Doc Thorpe expects to have the confirmation this evening. He had picture I.D. in his wallet. His sisterâClay Mullins's daughterâlives on the south side, but we haven't made next of kin yet. We'll wait for the positive tag from the M.E.”
“Any space aliens or Elvis sightings?” Philly leaned back.
Russ snuffled.
“Sorry, Philâthat's your department,” Mac quipped. Then getting back to business, he said, “We understand from Mullins's daughter that there is a maid, but we haven't been able to hook up with her as yet. She apparently has a son with ties to the guy who burglarized the home the night before the fireâa local druggie by the name of Tyler Cohen. We caught him coming out of the house while we were getting a description for the warrant affidavit.” He glanced at his partner. “Fortunately, Dana apprehended him.”
“How come
she
caught him, Mac? What were you doing?” Russ grinned, seizing the opportunity to embarrass Mac. He knew perfectly well what had happened.
Dana flashed Russ a dark look. “Mac was the suspect's primary target in the attempted assault. Believe me, he had his hands full with a flying garbage can lid.”
“That and the fact that Dana runs like greased lightning,” Mac added. “She's pretty handy with her stick too.” Mac was surprised at the real sense of pride he felt in his partner.
Kevin gave him a knowing wink. “You got anything else on this guy?”
Mac cleared his throat and continued. “Yeah. Cohen admitted to hearing about the old man's death and thought it might be a good opportunity to steal a few things for drug money. At any rate, the case keeps getting muddier.” Turning to Dana he asked, “Did I cover everything?”
“I think so. We have a very long list of people to interview. Hopefully those people will give us a clearer picture of what we're dealing with. We still don't have the physical evidence of wrongdoing on the Clay Mullins case, but it's looking more suspicious all the time.”
Sergeant Evans thanked them. “As Mac and Dana indicated, this supposed death investigation has grown legs. As you know, we found a firearm on the victim in the fire. I had the gun dropped off at the lab. Jacob Mullins purchased and registered the gun two weeks ago. Wain Carver took a quick look at it and agreed that it had been fired recently based on the powder residue in the barrel and the missing cartridges from the magazine. He's going to give it the once-over and take a test fire for the IBIS database, see if it's been used on a past crime. It's hard to get a bullet out of those .22's in good shape, but if anyone can do it, Carver can.”
Frank pulled a photograph from a pile of paperwork and displayed it to the group, which was an enlarged snapshot of a latent fingerprint. “Now, the guy who stiffed you and Dana on the interview?”
“Dan Mason,” Mac acknowledged.
“This print belongs to your Mr. Mason. Our I.D. Bureau lifted it off the chrome handlebars on Mr. Mullins's scooter before it was logged into evidence. Dan Mason has an extensive criminal history for assault fourth degree and fraud, mainly bad checks and identity theft. Looks like the two assault arrests are D.V. related, both dismissedâalthough it was enough to get his prints on file.”
“Domestic violence, huh?” Jan sneered. “Dismissed because the punk intimidated his wife not to testify, I'll bet.”
Mac sat at attention, adrenaline charging his tired bones. So the guy had a record. Why was he not surprised?
“I'll get a workup on him, Sarge,” Kevin offered. “See what I can find out on the computer.” He'd been taking copious notes. “This Mason guy would be my next stop if I were you.” He directed the comment to both Mac and Dana.
“Just what I was thinking,” Frank agreed. “I want you and Dana on this guy until you find him. Bring him in on a material witness hold if he won't cooperate.”
“You got it, Sarge.” Mac could hardly wait to get on it. No wonder Dan Mason hadn't made the interview. He could see the guy getting mad enough to beat up Clay Mullins, then put the old guy under the train to hide his crime. The train would hide any damage he might have done.
“Philly and Russ, I want you two on the kid Dana and Mac corralled last night. Find out where he went after he was released. Question him on the arson,murder deal. The sheriff 's office should have a good address for him. And see what you can turn up on Mullins's maid. Do you guys have a name?”
Mac consulted his notes, but before he could flip back to the page where he'd written it down, Dana had it. “Rita Gonzales.”
“Check and check,” Philly answered.
“Jan, I need the cause and origin confirmed on this fire ASAP.
You want to update the group on the fire and contents of the house?”
“Sure, Sarge.” Jan stood up to brief them. “Most of the house and the contents are a total loss, though there may be some recoverable stuff in the basement. I recovered what I think will be accelerates from the entry on the riverside, but it will be a while before the lab confirms my suspicions. With the discovery of the body and Polo's hit on the evidence we seized, I went ahead and wrote a two-page search addendum to Mac's affidavit and received a telephonic warrant in case we recovered something that wasn't listed in the initial warrant.”
“What kinds of things did he have in the house?” Dana asked.
“Old railroad documents, artifacts, all of it related to railroads.
The place was a museum.”
“So it's all lost?” Dana seemed genuinely concerned.
“Not all,” Jan said. “Fortunately, the concrete construction of the basement, along with the asbestos in the sub floor, protected some of it. The fire department arrived in time to saturate the flooring. It's charred and burned through in places, but a good portion of the floor remained fairly intact. Some of the items can be cleaned up. Luckily the detached garage had more of the same that was undamaged.”
Turning to Frank, she added, “I'm waiting on the lab so I can help out if you need me, at least until the next call comes in.”
“Why don't you help Kevin with a little background work? We still need info on Jacob Mullins.”
“I have a couple of things to add.” Mac opened his notebook.
“Jacob, assuming he's the victim we found in the fire, had a business card for a local attorney by the name of Addison Shaw. Shaw happens to represent his father's estate, so that may be why he had the guy's card. We have a grand jury subpoena for Clay Mullins's medical and financial records, although we haven't served it on any accounts or bank resources as yet. We mainly got the subpoena so the M.E. could get hold of the medical end.”
“I've ordered up an Equifax from headquarters and am in the process of seeing what kind of debts or accounts Mr. Mullins held,”
Kevin offered.
“You okay with all that, Kev?” Frank asked. “You're signed up for quite a bit of work.” He winced and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Sorry, Kev. I probably shouldn't have asked in front of everyone.”
Kevin smiled good-naturedly. “No problem. I'm fine. I'll let you know if it becomes too much.”