Proof Positive (2006) (23 page)

There must have been a full moon last night. All the crazies were running amok. There was a pileup on I-5. I worked the crash site until ten. Then, just as I was getting ready to go home, I got called to the double homicide at the Cock and Bull tavern. I didn't crawl into bed until three.

So you haven't heard about the hammer?

Cashman's pulse went from zero to two hundred in a nanosecond, but his expression didn't change.

What hammer?

The damnedest thing happened yesterday afternoon.

Guzman told Cashman about the discovery that Paul Baylor and Kate Ross had made in the tire well of Mary Clark's car.

Hayes was your case, right? Guzman said.

Yes.

Did Mary work on it?

That was me and Mike Kitay.

That's right, before his heart attack. Guzman shook his head sadly. Mike was a great guy.

He helped me out a lot when I started.

Can you think of any reason why Mary would take evidence from Hayes and hide it?

No. That's bizarre. I can't even remember her talking about the case.

Tell me if you remember anything, okay?

Sure. Where's the hammer now? Cashman asked nonchalantly.

Hannah Graves decided to give the evidence to Paul Baylor so the defense could examine it. She figured that the judge would give it to them anyway.

So Paul's got it?

Yeah, I couriered it over as soon as we were through with it and Hannah gave me the okay. Well, I' ve got to go. There's a crisis in the drug lab.

Guzman headed down the hall, and Cashman went to his work area, walking slowly to avoid suspicion. As soon as he got to his desk, he called Oregon Forensic Investigations and pretended to be a potential client. Baylor's secretary told Cashman that her boss would be in court all day and wasn't expected back until after five, which meant that Baylor hadn't had a chance yet to examine the hammer.

Cashman leaned back and closed his eyes. He had a pounding headache. Baylor was very smart. Cashman had no doubt that he would figure out what was wrong with the hammer as soon as he had the time to inspect it and the evidence bag at his leisure. If Baylor got near the hammer, Cashman's career would be over.

The rest of the day crawled along at an excruciatingly slow pace. As soon as he could get away from the lab without arousing suspicion, Cashman drove to the industrial park where Baylor had his office. He parked his car several blocks away. There were very few people walking on the streets, and he was able to work his way to the side of a warehouse with a good view of the front of Paul's building without being seen. Cashman checked his watch. It was a little before five, and Baylor's reserved parking space was empty. Cashman hid in the shadows and waited.

Paul Baylor had been on the stand until court recessed at five o' clock. Then the attorney for whom he was working insisted on holding a postmortem in a bar near the courthouse. Considering what he was being paid, Paul felt that he couldn't refuse. By the time he was able to beg off and return to Oregon Forensic, his secretary had gone home and the businesses on either side had closed up for the night.

It took an effort for Baylor to trudge up the ramp to his office. He had a slight headache from court and a soft buzz from the alcohol he'd imbibed while conferring with his client. There were lights on the walkway, but they were dim and none of them were over his office door. Baylor bent down to find the keyhole. He missed the first time and swore. In his exhausted state, it took all of his concentration to perform this simple task.

Baylor didn't bother to turn on the lights in the reception area, because the numbers on the keypad for the alarm were illuminated. He punched in his code and was about to go to his office when a man rushed across the room. Baylor was so shocked that he didn't raise his arm when the intruder swung a weighted sap at his head. The pain from the blow was blinding. Baylor's knees buckled. The second blow dropped him to the floor. The third blow knocked him unconscious.

Amanda paused in the entrance to Paul's hospital room and stared. The top of Baylor's head was wrapped in gauze and he had two black eyes.

It's not as bad as it looks, Paul said, contorting his face into what was supposed to be a smile but ended up as a grimace when a bolt of pain hit him.

Why don't I believe you? Amanda said.

Okay, it's almost as bad as it looks. I' ve got a concussion but there's no permanent damage. I'm only in tonight for observation.

What happened? Amanda asked as she cleared some pillows off a chair and moved it to the side of Paul's bed.

Someone broke into my lab last night after I got back from court.

Did you get a good look at him?

Paul shook his head. He was wearing a ski mask and he rushed me so fast that I was down and out before I knew what happened.

It sounds like you' re lucky to be alive.

If he wanted to kill me he could have. But I didn't ask you to come to the hospital so you could tell me how sorry you feel for me although the concern is appreciated. I think this was more than just a random burglary. I looked through my office and the lab while I waited for the police. The thief took some drugs I was testing, my laptop, stuff you'd expect a junkie to take. But he also grabbed an item you wouldn't expect an addict to steal the hammer we found in the tire well of Mary Clark's car.

The hammer? That doesn't make sense. Was it with something valuable? Maybe the thief was in a hurry and scooped it up with some things he thought he could sell.

That's not what happened. A courier from the crime lab brought over the hammer while I was in court. I called in for messages during the lunch break and my secretary told me it had been delivered. She said that she put it on my desk in the office on top of the mail. The laptop and other things the thief took from my office were on the other side of the desk and the rest of my mail wasn't touched.

So you didn't have a chance to inspect the hammer?

No. I was going to look at it in the morning.

What do you think is going on?

I have no idea. Maybe this guy was just a thief and he took the hammer for some weird reason of his own. But it's too big a coincidence to just write off. Mary went to a lot of trouble to make sure no one would find that hammer. Then we find it and it's the subject of a random theft? I don't buy it.

Chapter
33.

REUBEN CORRALES HAD BEEN RELIEVED WHEN FELIX DORADO eased up on him after he offed Vincent Ballard, but he knew that his status could change instantly. Felix was quick to anger and sometimes it was hard to figure out why he was pissed off. But for the time being, Reuben felt that he was out of the doghouse. Since the murder, Felix had even let him off babysitting the street dealers and made him one of his bodyguards.

Tonight, Felix was clubbing, and Reuben had been sent to the bar to order a round for Dorado, Pablo Herrera, and the four putas they had brought with them. The women were hanging all over Dorado and his lieutenant, laughing at any stupid joke Felix made as if it were the funniest thing they'd ever heard, and letting Dorado and Herrera grope them, without complaint. It made Reuben jealous and horny, so he focused his full attention on the total knockout who pushed next to him at the bar, grazing his hip with hers and smiling to show a luscious mouth full of pearl-white teeth straight out of some toothpaste commercial.

Sorry, this place is so crowded.

No problem, Reuben said, stepping back to give her more space.

The broad was stacked, and her long dark hair was loose and sensuous. He caught her eyeing his biceps and decided to take a shot.

You' re new here, Reuben said. I ain't seen you before.

My name is Jenny. I just moved to Portland. She flashed her smile again. I don't know anyone.

Now you know me. I'm Reuben. Reuben Corrales. Where you move from?

LA. I was dancing in a club down there but I had some trouble with the manager. She shrugged, and her hair bounced. You know how it is.

Reuben nodded, savoring a vision of Jenny, naked, swinging around a pole with her hair flying and her fantastic breasts bobbing to a rock-and-roll beat.

You here alone? Jenny asked.

No. He pointed toward the booth in which Dorado, Herrera, and the women were squeezed together. I'm with them.

The woman looked disappointed. So you got a girlfriend.

Oh, no, Reuben said quickly. The women are with those two guys. I'm bodyguarding.

The woman let her eyes drift over his chest and shoulders. That's easy to believe, she said. You must be a serious lifter.

Reuben blushed. I' ve been in contests.

Your arms look like boulders. Jenny let her eyes drop a bit, acting coy and shy. Could I touch one? I' ve never been with someone with a build like yours.

Reuben smiled and flexed his right biceps. Sure. Go ahead.

My God. I can't even get my hand around it. She giggled. How did you get a build like this?

Reuben explained how a serious bodybuilder develops his physique, and the woman hung on his every word. She also moved closer while he was talking until their crotches were almost touching. Reuben was painfully aware that his biceps weren't the only part of his anatomy that was as hard as a rock.

Reuben, the woman whispered as her hand grazed Corrales's erection. There's another part of you I'd like to touch.

Oh, yeah? Corrales said, his voice suddenly husky and his temperature up several degrees.

You look flushed, she said. Why don't we go outside and get some air?

Corrales cast a nervous glance at the booth. The drinks he'd ordered had arrived, and there were three other bodyguards anyway. Felix wasn't going to miss him.

It is a little hot in here, Reuben agreed.

Jenny put her tongue in his ear, then whispered, It may get a lot hotter.

Reuben led the woman to the club's back entrance and stepped through the steel door into the back alley. His lust had narrowed his focus to a spot just below his belt line, and he didn't notice the men who were standing beside the door until one of them stroked a Louisville Slugger across his shin. Reuben collapsed in agony and didn't feel the needle slip in. A moment later, he was unconscious. Jenny put the syringe in her purse as she walked out of the back alley to a waiting car. A second car pulled up beside the unconscious weight lifter. Henry Tedesco popped open the trunk, and Charlie LaRosa and another huge man lifted Reuben and dumped him in.

Chapter
34.

AMANDA, PAUL BAYLOR, AND KATE HAD ALREADY GATHERED IN THE conference room at Jaffe, Katz, Lehane, and Brindisi when Doug Weaver wheeled in a dolly with the Raymond Hayes files.

Thanks for bringing those over, Amanda said.

No problem. Doug looked at Paul. How are you feeling?

Pissed off, Baylor answered. I really want to find the bastard who did this.

I don't blame you, Doug said as he unhooked the bungee cord that held the two banker's boxes in place. When he dumped the files out onto the table, Doug noticed a stack of photographs that Baylor had taken at the crime lab. The picture on top showed the trunk of Mary Clark's car.

Is that where you found the hammer?

Yes, Kate said.

Doug studied the picture. This is really weird, he said. Why would Clark do this? Ray is dead and the case is closed. She wasn't even involved. Bernard Cashman was the forensic expert who worked it up. Are you certain that it was Clark who hid the hammer in the trunk? Couldn't it have been someone else?

There's no doubt that Mary handled the evidence bag, Baylor said. They dusted it for prints and hers are all over it.

The next photograph was a close-up that Paul had taken when the evidence bag had been removed from the trunk. The hammer was clearly visible through the plastic.

It's strange seeing the hammer after all this time, Doug said. I didn't pay much attention to it during the case.

Amanda looked at him oddly. Wasn't it the key piece of evidence?

Yes, and I was going to have an expert take a look at it until Ray decided to plead guilty.

You never had the state's findings double-checked by an expert? Baylor asked, trying to hide his amazement.

Doug colored, embarrassed by criticism he probably deserved.

I didn't think it was necessary if we were pleading guilty, he explained. I stipulated that the hammer was the murder weapon in the penalty phase. There wasn't any doubt about that. The police found it next to the body and Mrs. Hayes's blood was all over it.

Could you tell us about the Hayes case? Amanda asked. She could see how bad Weaver felt and she wanted to give him a chance to talk about something other than his failure to get the hammer tested.

There's not much to tell. It wasn't that complicated. Ray grew up on a farm in eastern Oregon. When his dad died his mom tried to make a go of it, but she was along in years and they didn't have much money. Ray wasn't a big help either. He was a hard worker but not very bright. The shrink I used thought that he wasn't mentally handicapped but he was very low normal.