Proof Positive (2006) (24 page)

Eventually, Ray's mother sold the farm and they made enough to move to Portland. Ray worked at a gas station until he screwed up and got fired. Then he worked in a supermarket as a box boy, but that didn't work out either. He was unemployed when his mom was killed.

He did kill her, right? Kate asked.

Doug looked upset again. I'm pretty certain he did, but right before he died Ray said he didn't kill his mother.

Weaver's voice caught. His features crumpled for a moment, and Amanda thought he might cry.

Sorry, Doug said.

That's okay, Kate said. She knew what it was like to see someone die and know that you were responsible. When she was on the police force, she'd shot a twelve-year-old boy to death. It didn't make any difference that the kid was an assassin hired by a gang to kill a snitch because a juvenile couldn't be tried as an adult and could literally get away with murder. Justified or not, Kate knew that the cost of being responsible for the loss of a human life was a piece of your soul.

A neighbor called the cops when she heard screams coming from Ray's house, Doug said when he regained his composure. The police caught Ray running away.

The first time I talked to Ray he told me that he was asleep in his room when his mother's screams awakened him. He said he found her dead in the entryway and heard someone running out the back door. He claimed that he was chasing a man when the police stopped him.

Did you believe him? Kate asked.

I wasn't sure what to believe. No one saw anyone else going in or out of the house, but none of the neighbors paid attention until the cops came.

Did the police find evidence that there had been anyone but Ray and his mom at home? Amanda asked.

No, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't someone else there. Mrs. Hayes had just come back from shopping. Her shopping bags were in the hallway and the door was open. A clerk at the local market told the detectives that he'd given her forty-three dollars in change. Mrs. Hayes's purse was found near her body. It was open and her wallet was on the floor. There weren't any bills in it. Her diamond wedding ring was also missing.

I thought maybe someone saw her get the cash and followed her home, but there weren't any witnesses to support the theory. The cops never found the money or the ring, but Ray had enough time to hide it before the police arrested him. Not many officers were involved in the search of the neighborhood and they didn't look for long.

If Ray said he was innocent, why did he plead guilty?

I told him he should.

Doug paused to see if anyone would condemn him. When no one said anything, he continued.

See, Ray did make a short statement to the police before they took him downtown. They gave him the Miranda warnings after they cuffed him and they asked him if he'd killed his mom. He swore he didn't hurt her, so they asked him about the hammer. He said he'd never noticed it, which was possible if he ran outside after someone. The cop who arrested him tried to clarify what he meant, so he asked Ray if he held the hammer. Ray said he never touched it. When Cashman found Ray's prints on the handle of the hammer, they had him.

I knew we'd get killed at trial. Ray is so slow that he would have been destroyed if he took the stand. I tried to get Poe to offer Ray life if he pled but he refused. He said that Ray deserved to die for what he'd done. Maybe I should have gone to trial but it seemed so hopeless. I gambled that the jury would be lenient if they knew Ray had accepted responsibility by pleading guilty. It was Ray's only brush with the law. So I convinced him to plead.

Did he protest? Amanda asked.

Not really, which is another reason I think he really did kill his mother. All he said was that he trusted me and would do what I thought was best. But I miscalculated. Doug closed his eyes for a minute. Martin was brilliant and I wasn' t. He knew how to push the jurors' buttons. By the time he was through he made it sound totally unreasonable to let Ray live.

But you think he did it? Kate persisted.

Doug paused. Then he nodded. Most of the time I do, but sometimes He shook his head. He was so serene when he died. I don't know how anyone could do what they say he did and be so at peace with himself.

What happened to the hammer after the trial? Kate asked.

I assume it was part of the evidence that was sent to the Supreme Court when the case went up on automatic review. When the appeals were exhausted the evidence was probably returned to the crime lab.

Carlos said he'd assigned Mary to look through a number of old cases to see if they could destroy or return the evidence, Baylor reminded Kate.

That's right. She probably came across it when she was doing the review, Kate said.

Which still doesn't explain why she would take a hammer from a closed case to which she had no connection, Amanda said.

Kate looked at the packed boxes and sighed. It looks like I'm going to be here late trying to find the answer to that question.

Chapter
35.

FRANK JAFFE WAS JERKED OUT OF A SOUND SLEEP BY THE jangling of his phone. He tried to ignore the ringing, but the caller was persistent. When Frank rolled toward the phone, the clock on his nightstand read 2:06.

Who is this? he asked, making no attempt to hide his annoyance.

Call the cops and meet them at the vacant house on Forty-second and Trafalgar. There's only one on the block. A present is waiting for you: Rueben Corrales and Luis Castro the two men who killed Vincent Ballard and the gun they used to kill him. Tell the cops that a parolee named Clarence Edwards was living at the Continental Motel on the night Ballard was murdered. He saw Corrales and Castro leaving Ballard's room.

How ? Frank started to ask as the line went dead. He hadn't recognized the voice, but he didn't have to be Albert Einstein to figure out that Martin Breach was behind the call. That meant Henry Tedesco had found Ballard's killers.

Frank dialed Mike Greene's home number. Mike wasn't any happier than Frank to have his sleep disturbed, but he was awake instantly when Jaffe told him why he was calling. As soon as he hung up, Frank splashed water on his face; pulled on a pair of jeans, a flannel shirt, and sneakers; and headed for Forty-second and Trafalgar.

Forty-second and Trafalgar crossed in one of Portland's least desirable neighborhoods. There were more weeds than grass in most yards and plenty of BEWARE OF THE DOG signs. Frank had no trouble finding the vacant house, because there was an ambulance parked at the curb next to two marked cars.

A chill wind and temperatures in the thirties had not stopped a crowd from gathering. Two uniformed officers were blocking access to the house and keeping the rubberneckers at bay. Frank was getting out of his car when one of the uniforms walked over.

You'll have to move, sir. This is a crime scene.

I know. I'm Frank Jaffe. I got the tip about the two men and called Mike Greene from the district attorney's office.

Mr. Greene isn't here yet. You'll have to wait until he arrives.

Are the two men alive? Frank asked.

You'll have to ask the DA for that information.

Frank was about to press the officer when Mike parked behind him.

This gentleman says he wants to go inside, the officer said as soon as he'd checked Mike's ID.

It's okay, Greene said. What did you find in the house?

The front door was open when we got here but the lights were off inside. The two men were lying on the kitchen floor with gags in their mouths. They'd been handcuffed together. The keys to the handcuffs were on the kitchen table. They' ve both been roughed up but the EMTs checked them and said there aren't any serious injuries.

Do we know who they are? Mike asked.

They had their wallets on them. One guy's a bodybuilder name of Reuben Corrales. The other guy is Luis Castro. They' ve both done time and they' re known associates of Felix Dorado.

Did you find a gun? Frank asked.

The officer looked at Mike. He nodded.

Yes, sir, it was with the keys. A guy from the crime lab photographed and bagged it like you asked and it's on the way to the lab.

Are the men in any condition to be interviewed? Mike asked.

Yeah, but I don't know if you'll get anything out of them. They did answer the medic's questions but they clammed up when the detectives got here.

Mike turned to Frank. You can come in but don't say anything. I'll do the talking.

That's fine with me, Frank said.

Then let's go meet these gentlemen.

A chain-link fence surrounded a lawn that had not been cared for in a while. As Mike opened the gate, two EMTs walked out of the house. Mike had a brief conversation with them before walking up a slate path to the front door of a dilapidated bungalow. A criminalist was busy snapping pictures of a front room that was bare of furniture. When Mike opened the door, the wind blew dust balls across the floor with the force of a slap shot.

A policeman was standing near the kitchen sink, guarding two men who were seated on rusted bridge chairs at a cheap table in the kitchen. One of the men was as big as a refrigerator. The second man was five ten and wiry. They'd been staring morosely at the tabletop but they looked up when Mike and Frank walked in.

Also seated at the table was Zeke Forbus. His partner, Billie Brewster, was leaning against the wall. Brewster signaled Mike and Frank to step out of the room, and she followed them into the living room.

What's happening? Mike asked.

Nothing much, the detective answered. I told Zeke to have a go at them. I thought two Hispanics were more likely to open up to a good old boy than they would to a woman. But he hasn't got shit from them.

Okay, Mike said. Let me take a crack.

Be my guest.

Hi, Mike said, taking one of the unoccupied chairs at the table. He flipped open his wallet to show them his identification. I'm Mike Greene with the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office. How are you feeling?

I'm not saying anything without a lawyer, Luis Castro said.

That's your privilege, Mr. Castro, but my take on this is that you and Mr. Corrales are victims of kidnapping and assault, and I'll need your help to catch the people who did this to you.

The men didn't say anything.

Look, I know you have records and I know you work for Felix Dorado.

Corrales looked up, surprised, before dropping his eyes back to the table. Mike decided to focus on the weight lifter.

You probably think that I don't really care about what happened to you because you' re an ex-con who works for a drug dealer. But I take my job seriously, Mr. Corrales. If we find the men who did this I'll go after them as hard as I would if they'd kidnapped a priest. You can believe that.

Corrales continued to stare at the table. Mike tried to get the men talking for a few more minutes before giving up. Frank had been watching the interrogation from a corner of the room. Mike, Frank, and the two detectives walked out to the front lawn, where Corrales and Castro wouldn't hear them.

That went well, Brewster said.

What did you expect? Mike answered with a tired smile. They' re professional criminals. To these boys there's no difference between ratting out Dorado or the person who kidnapped them. A snitch is a snitch. Right now, they' re probably thinking that they'll take care of it themselves.

They'd think again if you could make a case that they murdered Vincent Ballard, Frank said to Greene.

You mean if the gun comes back as the murder weapon?

Frank nodded.

I hope you' re not counting on a dismissal in Prochaska if the ballistics test comes out positive, because that won't happen, Mike told Frank. I wasn't lying back there. I see Corrales and Castro as kidnapping victims and I'll bet Martin Breach is behind this. I'm also pretty sure that the gun will come back as the murder weapon, but all that says to me is that Prochaska killed Ballard and Breach had the weapon planted, hoping we'd cut Prochaska loose and arrest two of Dorado's men. I'm not going to help Martin Breach in his war with Felix Dorado, Frank. Without something else tying Corrales and Castro to Ballard's murder, I'll have to release them.

There's an eyewitness who may be able to put Castro and Corrales at the Continental, Frank said.

Brewster's eyes widened. How long have you known this? she asked.

Kate talked to a resident at the Continental. She didn't see anything, but Clarence Edwards, who was renting a room across from Ballard, told her he saw two men one with a bodybuilder's physique leaving Ballard's room on the evening of the murder.

Tonight, the anonymous caller told me that Edwards might be able to make Corrales and Castro. Kate's been trying to track down Edwards. He's on parole. You can work through his parole officer to find him.

Mike looked upset. You shouldn't have held back on this, Frank. What were you going to do, spring him on me at trial?

No. If Edwards panned out I'd have given you discovery, but right now I have no idea where to find Edwards or what he'll say.

Mike went quiet, and Frank let him work out what he wanted to do. It was cold outside, but no one noticed.