Checkmate (Caitlin Calloway Mystery Book 2) (7 page)

Max flopped down in his chair. “Can’t get a woman to talk to
you? Must be losing your touch, Calloway.”

“Bored suburban housewife. You want to take a shot at her?”
CC challenged him in hopes that he might actually get out of his
chair for something other than another cup of coffee.

“Good looking?”

“Eh, one of those skinny, tight-lipped, ‘I went to Wellesley’
types.”

“I hate those broads,” Max said. “The only time they talk to a
guy like me is when they’re working a fund-raiser for their kid’s
school or trying to beat a ticket.”

“Shirley know you try to chat up other women?”

“You know, that’s who could hold their own with that type.”
Max wagged his finger at her. “My wife can outsmart those tight
asses anytime, anywhere.”

“Did Shirley ever try to change you?” CC studied him closely.
“How you dress or act?”

“Don’t all women?” He laughed. “Nah, not really. But after we
were married, she started buying my clothes and giving me the ‘is
that what you’re wearing’ shtick.”

“Good Lord. Are you telling me this is the improved version?”
CC gasped with mock horror, fully aware that Leigh was watching
their banter very carefully. “Fair enough. I get it from Jamie now
and then. She’s much more fashion savvy than I’ll ever be. I do miss having cartoon characters on my underwear.”

“We’re cops. What do we know,” Max said. “Well, except
Mulligan. She cleans up nice.”

“Thanks, I think. So Jamie is the fem.”

“No.” CC laughed. “Everyone thinks so, but she’s much more
athletic and handier with power tools than I’ll ever be. Mulligan, did
you see that picture sitting on Stern’s desk of him and hiswife?”
She had begun to study the picture of Annie and her family again.

“Yeah, the same belt.”

“You’re certain?”

“It’s Armani. Not much chance of mistaking it.”

“I hate that designers put their names all over things.” CC
grimaced but was silently impressed by Mulligan’s observations. “I
mean what’s up with charging six hundred dollars for a bag that
isn’t practical and promotes the company that made it? I blame
Gloria Vanderbilt. She started that whole designer jeans crap.
Personally, I’ll take a well-worn pair of Levis any day. I still can’t
see how you can tell it’s an Armani.”

“Trust me.”

“So, what have you got?” Max asked. “I can see those wheels
turning. You’re onto something.”

“I got a missing kid, who dutifully called home and seemed
devoted to her job and studies. Who for some reason just up and left
her job not taking any cash, her laptop, cell phone, or her passport.
The only person who seems to think she did this voluntarily is the
wife who claims that the girl is nothing but a whore. This is the
same person who was the last person to see Annie alive. I’ve got a
room that is as neat as a pin except the bed, which has been trashed.
I’ve got a wife who has a jealous streak when it comes to her
husband. What I got is an itch to look at the wife’s GPS records and
no grounds for a warrant to do so.”

“Annie didn’t drive much,” Leigh added. “Mr. Stern said she
was nervous that she would end up driving on the wrong side of the
road. She mostly walked or took the subway. Mrs. Stern was most
displeased that she subjected the children to such an unhealthy
environment.”

“Another exact quote?” Max asked.

“Oh yeah.”

“She’s a snotty bitch,” Max said. “Why the GPS on the family
car?”

“You know why,” CC replied.

“Help Mulligan out.”

“Because she had to get rid of the body,” CC said. “Two-car
garage with an entrance off the kitchen. Easy stuff to move a small
girl like that without anyone, even the nosy neighbor, catching on.”

“Other than the bed, I didn’t see any overt signs of foul play.”
Mulligan sounded almost disappointed.

“There isn’t always a blood trail when you kill someone.” CC
sighed heavily. “We need to know Mrs. Stern’s movements on the
day that Annie disappeared.”

“Why are you so certain that the wife offed her?” Max asked.
“Maybe she and the husband had a thing going, and he’s got her
stashed somewhere. Or he made a play, she turns him down, he
freaks thinking Mrs. Snooty Pants is going to find out and he kills
the girl.”

“Then why was the wife the last to see Annie?” CC said. “Plus
I don’t think this guy takes a leak without clearing it with his wife.
Just to be on the safe side, Wayne is looking at Annie’s laptop to
confirm that she really was the good kid everyone thinks she is.”

“Almost everyone,” Mulligan added. “Mrs. Stern’s attitude has
made me hinky from day one. She didn’t even pretend to be
concerned about Annie’s whereabouts. Which tells me she knows
exactly where she is.”

“What kind of car does the wife drive?” Max began his ritual
shifting in his chair, making it squeak. CC often wondered if he did
that just to annoy her.

“One of those Mercedes SUVs.”

“What is the point of that?” Max scoffed. “Get a minivan or get
a luxury car.”

“Mulligan, what would you like to do?” CC asked. “It is your
case after all.”

“Easy to forget with this one. She’s like a steamroller.” Max
aimed his thumb at CC.

Leigh smiled. “She’s made a lot of headway.”

“No, I’ve just come up with more guesses,” CC said. “And
that’s all they are. Without any proof, not much you can do. Except
lean on the wife. No way the husband isgoing to give you
permission for anything else. I’m thinking Mrs. Stern has already
ripped him a new orifice by now. Whatever you’re going to do, I’d
do it quickly before the Feds get involved.”

“Any ideas you have, I’d be grateful,” Mulligan said. “I don’t
think I can keep the Feds from taking over. I’ve got a missing kid
from another country. Her parents are going crazy. Not that I can
blame them. I can talk to the neighbor again. Maybe she saw
something that day and didn’t think it was important.”

“You can try, but I’m thinking she told us everything and
enjoyed doing it. We got nothing,” CC said. “I can’t take another
lecture from our esteemed attorney general on what does and does
not qualify as probable cause.”

“Seriously? Coakley scolded you?”

“Scolded, spanked, and—” Max added.

“Hey.” CC cut him off. “The deal is we need to find out what
happened, without blowing the case. We’ve all been through this far
too many times to count.”

The three of them sat there stony faced, seemingly awaiting
divine intervention. Mulligan’s face skewed as she took another
look at Annie’s cell phone.

“Maybe we don’t need to look at Mrs. Stern’s GPS,” she said
quietly. “Maybe we could just look at Annie’s.”

“Excuse me?”

“Almost every cell has a GPS,” Leigh said. “And Annie didn’t
like to drive. Still she had a routine to follow that involved the
family. If we follow where the nanny was, perhaps we can find
some of Mrs. Stern’s stomping grounds.”

“Good call. Let’s go see Wayne.”

Leigh seemed pleased by the compliment. She held the cell
tightly as they made their way over to Wayne’s lab. Fortunately, the
Crime Scene Unit was just down the street.

“Why are you so fascinated by Annie’s belt?”

“I’m not.” CC shrugged. “It’s just that I noticed the suit jacket
with her stuff. It was hanging in the closet. Why not take the belt?
Then again maybe the brother took it back or she didn’t take it with
her. Or she did and I just didn’t notice it.”

“I doubt that there is very little that goes unnoticed by you,
Calloway.”

“Sucking up? I like it. Thinking about making a move?”

“It’s no secret how screwed up the budget is,” Leigh said. CC
liked that Leigh was direct with her answers. “Do you know Krassowski?”

“That dick?”

“My partner.”

“Oops.”

“No oops. He is a dick and a whole list of other things my mother would never approve of my saying,” Mulligan said. “Word is there might be a spot opening in homicide. It’s a move I wouldn’t object to making. Besides who wouldn’t want to ride with the woman who bagged Jeffrey Charles West?”

“Why is everyone talking about him today? Look, Max turned him over to the Feds,” CC said. “He was the one who ran the sick bastard’s prints.”

“Rumor has it that was because you asked him to.”

“Hey, he was a gold shield. Me, I was still a lowly foot soldier.”

“What tipped you off?”

“With West?” CC rolled her shoulders. “It was outside the Garden. A Celts game had just let out. We lost, so the crowd was surly. West looked like everyone else. Stocky guy with a hoodie. Thing was, he had his hand attached to his jewels and he was muttering. I brought him in on a PC and followed a hunch.”

“What was he muttering about?”

“It’s a wonderful life.” CC laughed. “That’s all the guy did was quote lines from the movie.”

“
It’s a Wonderful Life
? With Jimmy Stewart?”

“Yeah. West wouldn’t shut up, but he never said anything, like his name or why he was wandering around Boston with his hand on his nuts. All he did was quote lines from the movie. I’ve heard that he did the same thing during his trial. Had a kid a few years before that and named her Zuzu Petals. The guy was seriously fucked up.”

“Zuzu Petals West?”

“A line from the movie, I think. Like I said, the guy was seriously screwed up. When we busted him we found his manifesto. It was a bunch of papers with all of Jimmy Stewart’s lines from the movie. It was tucked into a copy of Catcher In The Rye.”

“I heard Florida couldn’t wait to fry him.”

“Can’t argue with his sentence,” CC said. “He was one sick bastard. Wayne, tell me you have good news.” She greeted the tech who had a way of making her life easier.

“Calloway.” Wayne, the shy tech, returned her greeting. “I see you brought your friend back. I haven’t had a long look at the laptop yet.”

“But you’ve had a look. Look at this, too, while you’re at it.” She nudged Mulligan to hand over the cell phone. “We need to know where’s it’s been. Everywhere it’s been.”

Wayne peered over his glasses and gave her a weary look. “You don’t ask for much.”

“Still waiting for world peace. What did you get from the laptop?”

“I’m not done.”

“But you’ve looked.” Her tone grew terser.

“Annie Fraser’s life was more boring than mine.”

“Not possible.”

“She kept in touch with friends and family back home,” he said while fiddling with the cell phone. “She was taking a class at Boston College. One of the nighttime extension courses. Child psychology. She was doing well. Made a couple of friends at class. That’s it.”

“We need the friends’ names, addresses, and I mean real addresses. Don’t be giving me, ‘I can find Johnny at I’m-a-big-stud-muffin dot com.”

“I’ll send it over.” He plugged something into the cell phone. “How was California?”

“Same.”

“As long as he stays locked up.” Wayne grunted. “I’ll get this together and e-mail you the results.”

“Send it to Mulligan. It’s her case.”

“Really?”

“Yes, at this point in time, Annie Fraser is a missing person.”

Wayne shook his head. “No one leaves behind all of their gadgets.”

*   *  *

After trading information with Leigh and Wayne, CC made her way back to her desk. She glanced at her watch and noted she had a few hours to kill. Max was busy on the computer, looking at bigger and better sailboats.

“Do you even know how to drive one of those things?” She taunted him as she plopped down in her chair.

“It’s sail. You sail a boat. I’ll learn. Come next April, I’ve got nothing but time on my hands.”

“Uh-huh, whatever you say, Popeye.” CC clenched her jaw. She hated that Max was leaving. He had trained her, took her under his wing, and when she was promoted to detective, he was the first to ask to partner with her. Not having him to turn to was going to be strange.

“You better get a damn big one. After a week of listening to you nonstop, Shirley’s going to need something big to transport your body.”

He ignored her jab. She busied herself with making notes on the Fraser case. “What am I doing?” she muttered under her breath. “It’s not my case.”

“Can’t help yourself.”

“Aren’t you going to miss it, Max?”

“Nope,” he answered finally looking up. “There was a time when I would have but not now. I’m done. I’d say it’s your turn to shine, but you already do.”

“God, you’re not getting all sappy on me are you?”

“Not a chance, Calloway. I’m just saying—”

“Calloway!” Leigh Mulligan’s frantic voice cut off whatever Max was trying to say. “I think we’ve got a break. Nosy neighbor just called in a disturbance at the Stern residence.”

“Max?”

“Go.” His voice was soft, yet CC detected a sadness in his eyes.

She offered a nod and grabbed her jacket. Before she could catch her bearings, she was following behind Mulligan who seemed determined to set a new land-speed record. CC didn’t argue about Mulligan taking the lead. She silently reminded herself that it was Leigh’s case. She had to admit Mulligan looked cool, confident, and in control. Leigh navigated the streets, her face perfectly masking any excitement she may have felt and her eyes carefully hidden behind her designer sunglasses. CC’s wife and sister would know the designer, but to her, they just looked expensive.

“Wayne found a couple of inconsistencies on Annie’s phone,” Mulligan said. “I sent a team to Albemarle Park. Based on the towers her phone hit, the park is in the middle of things. Plus the day she disappeared she was at the park with the kids. The local parks department locks it up at dusk. They think it will keep the local teens from hanging out at night. As much as I hate to say it—”

“The woods that run along the back are a great place to dump a body,” CC said when Leigh’s stoic veneer slipped. “I know the park, played a couple of softball games there. It’s hard when it gets to this point. I’d love to find this kid alive and well. We’ve both been here before. We can hope.”