Monday, September 22nd
Kilton Motor Company, 9:30 pm
Alison knocked tentatively on the door of the manager's office. It was not easy for her to speak to that arrogant man who often scolded her for every trifle. The woman was glad when it was time to go home and the workday had passed without being humiliated and insulted by Kilton. The only thought that refrained her from leaving that job was the salary. At her age, it would be difficult to find another job.
“Come in!” an imperative voice from within.
" Excuse me, Mr Kilton, can I talk to you for a moment?”
The man raised his gaze from the papers on his desk and nodded.
Alison closed the door and approached the desk.
" Sir, I wanted to ask for your advice.”
The man leaned back in his leather armchair and looked at the secretary as if he had never seen her before. This was the only encouragement Alison expected. She gathered her courage and started:
“Last week, I think last Thursday, I saw Steve put two envelopes into Andy's desk drawer. I had gone into their office to give Andy some papers he had asked. The envelopes looked exactly like the ones the police found.”
She noticed that Kilton was looking beyond her towards the door. She realized at that moment that, without knocking, a sales clerk, a certain Monroe, had silently entered. The man, even though he had seen her talking to the manager, had remained in a corner and, Alison thought, he was listening with interest. Alison decided to keep on talking, also because she could not ask him to go out. Kilton didn't seem to care if that man listened.
A little more tentatively, the woman went on:
“Furthermore, I saw Steve talking a few times with a man - I think Steve called him Bill - in the parking lot. They were discussing and even arguing and that man, Bill, menaced him. In your opinion, should I go to the police or talk to the lawyer you sent to Andy?”
Kilton looked absolutely indifferent to what she was telling him. He answered in his usual arrogant tone:
“Why do you ask me? I don't think you have seen something particularly meaningful. The envelopes could be different from the ones the police have found. Brown could talk to whoever he wanted outside the company. Have you ever seen that man here? Was he maybe a customer?”
“No, Mr Kilton. He has never come here. I am sure he is not a customer. But he menaced Steve. Maybe he is the one who killed him.”
“Miss Lewis, if you want to talk to the police, you don't need my permission. I think they need something more substantial than menaces heard in a parking lot. Anyway, do as you like… now, as you can see…” he pointed his finger at Monroe, who had not moved from the corner, “I am busy.”
Alison knew she couldn't expect anything more, so she left the office. She felt uneasy, because she didn't like Monroe and she had noticed he was listening with interest. Why? Did he have anything to do with the murder? Monroe was so obsequious, so deferential with Kilton, always ready to do what the manager asked.
Trinity police station, 9:45 am
While Jason was waiting for Bill Carlton to be brought in, he called David Hogan to his office. After putting him up to date with what he had learnt at the Coopers', he gave Hogan the cell phone.
“Hand it to the lab technicians, please. I think it is a prepaid phone. I need the call log.”
David turned to go back to his desk but Grant called him back.
“Another thing, David, please.”
Hogan stopped in the doorway and turned to Jason.
" Can you look for information about the lawyer Kilton sent to Cooper? His name is Guy Williams. There is something strange in his behaviour.”
“Guy Williams? Wait a minute!”
Hogan hurried to his desk, he rummaged through a pile of folders next to the computer, he took a note and he went back to the detective.
" That’s why the name sounded familiar!” he exclaimed.
Jason took the sheet of paper from David's hands and read it with interest.
David explained:
“When we started including Carlton in this investigation, I retrieved all the folders we had about him - quite an enciclopedia, to tell the truth!” He added with a smile.
" As you can see, last time he was arrested, he was assisted by Guy Williams!”
“But why is this Williams one of the lawyers working for Kilton? Is it just a coincidence?”
“You know, Jason, that I don't usually listen to gossip, but many people in town say that the Kilton Motor Company has some strange dealings. A lot of customers complain about the quality of the cars they purchase and Bill Carlton has been seen often with Steve Brown in the company parking lot. I checked, but there is no contract with Carlton's garage for the maintenance of the cars.”
Jason was listening with interest. He commented:
“Carlton will never have an official contract, but you know that his business dealings are rarely above board.”
At that moment an agent knocked on the door and said politely:
“Excuse me. I wanted to say that Bill Carlton is in the interrogation room. He is really in a bad mood…”
The detective took a folder he had prepared the day before and he went to the interrogation room. He put the gun into the locker just outside the door and he went in.
Bill Carlton watched him enter. He was a short man in his late fifties with the face of a person no one would want to meet on a dark street at night. He had a perpetually arrogant expression of a person who is used to obtaining whatever he wants through menacing and violence. He had crew-cut grey hair, dark eyes and a goatee. He had an enormous tattoo visible on his left arm, depicting a terrible-looking snake. He was wearing stained jeans of a colour that could have been blue or grey and a checked white and red shirt with rolled-up sleeves.
Jason sat down opposite him and laid the folder on the table. “Hi, Carlton ! Do you remember me?”
“Of course, Grant. I haven’t seen you in quite a while though. I still don’t know why I am here and I have already asked for a lawyer.”
“You are not under arrest, Carlton , not yet at least,” Jason answered calmly and continued, “When I decide to arrest you, you can call a lawyer, so don’t get nervous. I am going to ask simple questions and I want straight answers from you, OK?”
“It depends on the questions, Detective!” Carlton said defiantly.
“Where were you last Thursday evening, say between eight and ten? This is a very simple question!”
“I won’t answer if you don’t tell me what’s going on!”
Jason was absolutely indifferent to the tone of the answer, he opened the file and started to scan through the pages. Bill was watching him intently.
“Well, let’s put it like this. Here I see a lot of things, let’s say, a little beyond the limits of legality, that I could pin on you very easily. I could even close up that garage of yours. So I think you had better answer my questions.” He looked straight at the man in front of him and went on, “Unless, of course, you have something to hide, much worse than what I can see here.”
Bill pretended not to care about what Jason had said but there was a perceptible change in his expression and his demeanour.
“I insist on knowing what happened last Thursday!” he persisted, but a little less arrogantly.
“I ask questions here, Carlton, and YOU answer,” the policeman said firmly. The tone, emphasized by Jason’s hoarse voice and the slamming of his fist on the table, added to his annoyance and Bill understood that challenging Grant would not be the right choice. Being used to these situations, he knew when it was time to fight and when it was time to back up.
“OK, I don’t remember exactly but I closed my garage at six p.m., you know I live just above the garage. Before I went home, I went to the bar opposite for a couple of beers, but I didn’t stay long ‘cause I was tired.”
“You didn’t go to the Trucker last Thursday night, did you?”
If Bill was surprised by the question, he did not show it. “No, I sometimes go there on the weekend to meet some friends, not on Thursday!”
“Was Steve Brown one of your FRIENDS?”
Jason was looking keenly at the man opposite him and he was checking for any reaction, big or small, as the questions were getting more direct and to the point. At Jason’s mentioning Steve Brown, Carlton showed a slight expression of surprise which would have escaped a less experienced detective than Jason.
Anyway, he immediately recovered his composure and said, “Yes, we used to meet at the Trucker to play cards, if that’s what you mean.” He was trying to sound casual but Jason noticed that he was getting nervous.
“We know that he was often in debt with you, wasn’t he? So I think it was more than a couple of card games.”
“Now I see what you’re getting at! I know he was killed! You want to pin his murder on me but I have nothing to do with it. If he owed me money, why should I have murdered him? And every once in a while he paid his debts, so I can’t complain!”
“How did he pay his debts? Where did the money come from?”
“I don’t know! The only thing I know is that every two or three months he came to me with an envelope with money! I don’t usually ask where the money comes from, as long as I am paid back.”
“I think you have just said that you don’t have an alibi for the night of the murder, am I right?” Jason changed the subject even if he was sure that Carlton knew much more than he let on.
“I don’t need an alibi because I didn’t do anything.” Now Carlton was visibly nervous. “If you don’t mind, I have a garage to manage and a lot of work to do!”
“Don’t move out of town, Carlton , I will need to talk to you again in the next few days.”
Carlton had already stood up, and as soon as the door was opened, he immediately left. Jason remained for a few moments sitting at the table. He thought that Carlton was the most obvious suspect because of his past records and his relation to the victim, but there was still something that Jason couldn’t grasp, there was something more to this murder.
As he came out of the interrogation room, he asked to talk to Hogan again. He asked the agent to have Carlton shadowed wherever he went and to report any movement to him.
Trinity prison, 10:30 am
Mrs Cooper left her husband, after talking to him and the lawyer. She was sad seeing her beloved man in prison, he was so dejected and depressed. They would celebrate their twentieth anniversary next month and they were planning on inviting her sister and family, his brother and wife, to have a pleasant day after the mass with the renewal of their wedding vows. She thought she had been really lucky to find Andy; he was a hardworking man, devoted to his family. When their daughter was born, they were so happy. It had been wonderful to see her grow up into a sweet, sensitive child and then a wise, intelligent and generous teenage girl. Now their little peaceful world seemed to be coming apart and she hoped that Detective Grant had been sincere when he had told Meg that he believed Andy was innocent. It had done Meg so much good to talk to her teacher and the detective, and both had been so kind and considerate. She had heard a lot of talk about the tough homicide detective who had moved to Trinity, but yesterday, he had been really gentle, maybe because he knew what they were going through.
She took the phone from her purse and dialled the number written on Jason’s business card. The detective answered after a few rings.
“Detective Grant. I am Grace Cooper, Andy Cooper’s wife!”
The detective became immediately very kind and what surprised Grace was that he first asked how her husband was and not what was certainly more interesting for him.
“How is your husband, Mrs Cooper? Father Mark found him so sad yesterday and he is so worried.”
Grace knew that the detective was a long-time friend of the priest but she noticed a great concern in Grant’s words.
“He is still worried but I think he was relieved when I told him that I didn’t want him to sign the confession. With the lawyer, we stuck to what you had recommended. We just asked for some more time to think about it. Mr Grant, it was the first time I had spoken to this attorney but I didn’t like him. At first, he didn’t want me to stay, but I said what you had told us about my right to be present and he didn’t object, even if it was evident that he was not happy.”
Jason was listening perplexed at what Mrs Cooper was telling him. He asked, “What was his reaction when you told him you wanted to wait?”
“I think at first he thought it was my idea and he asked Andy if it was his decision because he told him that nobody could decide for him. Mr Grant, that is what the lawyer has done up to now, he has decided for my husband!” Jason smiled at Grace’s remark which was correct and to the point. He thought that knowledgeable men should beware of simple but sensible people like the Cooper family. “When Andy declared that he had thought about it and didn’t want to sign so soon, the lawyer was visibly annoyed but he said we could wait ‘a couple of days’ ( he used these words). At first, he said he would be back at the prison in two days, next Wednesday afternoon, but then he checked his mobile phone and changed it to Thursday afternoon because he said he had another appointment on Wednesday. Detective Grant, will it be enough? What shall we do then?” Her voice was pleading and anxious and Jason realized that the stress Andy and his family had suffered so far was becoming unbearable.
“Now, you don’t have to worry, Mrs Cooper,” he said soothingly, “if there is no important news or further developments by Thursday, we’ll decide what to do, OK?”
“Oh, Detective Grant, I know you are doing everything you can, I know you are a good detective and Father Mark trusts you, but I am still worried because my husband can’t sleep, and I see him wasting away in that prison.” She was on the verge of tears and Jason said,
“Mrs Cooper, you have to be courageous now as you have been so far and encourage your husband. Go to visit him as often as you can and don’t let him see that you are frightened.” He paused and added, “and don’t apologize to me, I understand what you are going through. You must trust me, Mrs Cooper!”
“I do, Mr Grant, WE do, Andy, Meg and I trust you and pray that you will find that criminal soon. Thanks, Detective!”
“I hope to be able to give you good news soon, Mrs Cooper, “‘bye for now!”
Grace ended the call and wondered why so many people said that Jason Grant was a hard cop. For her and Meg he had been a great help and comfort so far.
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Bill Carlton’s car garage, 11:00
As soon as Bill Carlton was back in his garage, he took out his mobile phone and dialled a number. He was not as self-confident now as he had pretended to be in front of Grant. An automatic voice told him that the person he was calling was out of reach. He looked for the second number, and he dialled it.
After a few rings, the person he was calling answered.
“Hi, it’s Bill. Why don’t you answer on the other phone? Listen to me, I don’t want to be mixed up in this murder. Why did the police want to talk to me? You told me that Cooper had confessed. What’s the matter?”
He listened for a few minutes and his nervousness increased visibly, “What do you mean the secretary saw me talking to Brown and wants to go to the police? I don’t have anything to do with this matter, but remember, if I am dragged down I will drag you down with me! You know what I mean!”
Again, he listened and answered, “Of course, I didn’t say anything to the police but you know that Detective Grant, he is not one you can fool around as you like, he is clever! He has already gathered information about my business.”
After listening again, he said, “Give me the address of that secretary.”
The person on the other end spoke.
“OK, I don’t know when I will be able to do something!”
He paused while the other person spoke.
“OK, don’t get nervous, I will see what I can do.” And he hung up with a curse.
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Miriam's home, 4:30 pm
Jason dialled Miriam’s phone number at four that afternoon, hoping she would be available. “Hi, Miriam, it’s Jason.”
Miriam’s voice was not so cheerful and pleasant as the day before; she seemed distracted and sad. “Hi, Jason, how are you?”
“I am OK but… is this a bad moment? I don’t want to disturb you!”
“I am sorry, Jason, it’s not a bad moment and I am eager to learn if there is something new in the investigation. It’s just that…” her voice trailed off. Could she talk about her unpleasant exchange of messages with her stepsister with a person she scarcely knew? Why did she, who had never talked about her problems to anyone, suddenly feel the urge to talk to a person she hardly knew? Maybe because she missed her dad and she felt she needed someone near her. Instinctively she said, “I am at home now. Maybe I am asking too much, but I don’t like to talk on the phone about important things like the Coopers’ situation. Would you mind coming here for a cup of coffee or tea? We can talk more comfortably.”
Jason understood that Miriam had something that weighed on her heart; was he overstepping the boundaries he had put on himself if he went to her? He listened to his heart.
“I don’t like talking on the phone either. If you give me your address I can be there, let’s see… Do you mind if I come after dinner? Would eight be too late for you?” Miriam accepted and gave him her address.
When she hung up she felt strangely relieved. When she had a problem, she was used to talking to her dad and he always found the right words to say to her, but now she missed him so much. She clutched her father’s wedding ring in her hand and tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘Will this nastiness ever stop? What does my sister still want from me?’
She stood up and went to her desk to correct some homework. She promised herself not to tell Jason anything about her past, not for the time-being, at least.
When she had finished correcting her students’ work, she took her laptop and wrote to Father Lucio. She had so much to tell him this week.
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‘Dear Lucio,
Thanks for your unfailing mail. Yesterday I wanted to answer you immediately but there was also an email from my stepsister, Raffaella, that disturbed me. She asked me if I have taken a gold pen that belonged to my dad and that she remembered it was in one of the boxes I prepared before we sold the apartment. She said that she wanted it and that I have to give it back. Lucio, why is she always so nasty to me? I perceive this as a great injustice because I have never done anything less than kind to her, you know that the more she treated me with disregard the more I did everything I could to gain her affection. But now, I didn’t take that pen, I assure you. I don’t know if I have to answer and I know that, whatever I tell her, she will remain convinced that I have taken it.
But I have to tell you about what happened last week. The dad of one of my students, one of my best students, has been accused of the murder of one of his colleagues. Father Mark is convinced that he is innocent, he knows the suspect, Mr Andy Cooper, very well because he is one of his most helpful parishioners. Father Mark introduced me to the detective in charge of the investigation, Jason Grant, who is a very kind man, but you can see clearly that he is suffering for something. They asked me to talk to the family of the suspect, a wonderful united family. I went to visit them yesterday. Meg, my student and her mum are worried and scared. Pray, Lucio, for a fast positive solution to this investigation because too many people are suffering. Meg’s best friend, Louise, is the daughter of the manager of the company where the employee was killed and where Meg’s dad works. Yesterday, after the mass she asked to talk to me, but today she was not at my lesson. I will wait until Wednesday when I have another class with her, and I hope I will be able to talk to that girl because she seemed as frightened and worried as her friend.
My job here is going on satisfactorily. I am happy I have decided to accept this experience and I will never be able to thank you enough for offering it to me, Lucio. Pray for me and give me your advice about what to write to Raffaella.
Love, Miriam’
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Alison Lewis's home, 7:50 pm
Alison Lewis finished work a little later, at five-forty-five that afternoon. She stopped at the supermarket to do some food shopping and arrived home at about six-thirty p.m. Today at work it had been a little quieter than last Friday, and Mr Kilton was decidedly less nervous. When she told him that she had seen Brown put the envelopes into Cooper’s drawer and talk to a strange man in the hall and the parking lot, he had seemed indifferent and not particularly concerned. Maybe she was wrong, but she was sure that that clerk, Monroe, was very interested in what she was saying. Maybe she had been unwise talking about what she had seen in front of another person, but now it was too late to think about it.
During lunch break, Kilton had asked her to prepare some important papers, and she didn’t have enough time to go to the police station.
Now it was too late but she thought that tomorrow she could go to the police station during lunch break. Now that she had made up her mind, she was more serene, maybe it was just as Kilton said that what she had seen had nothing to do with the murder. She was so sad thinking of Andy in prison, as he was the kindest person on earth, who frequently asked her about her mother, always saw when she was sad, and most of all, she was sure he was not a killer.
When she arrived home, she prepared dinner then she settled on her sofa to watch TV as she did every night. She particularly liked reality shows, those new television series about home makeovers. The events of the last days had left her sad and fatigued. She couldn’t help thinking of that poor Steve Brown, so lonely and so kind to everyone and of Andy, who was really one of the most honest and polite people she had ever met.
She turned on the TV and she was watching it with interest when the doorbell rang. Nobody ever came to her after dinner, who could it be?
She slowly stood up and went to the door. She distractedly opened it a bit to see who it was and she felt a hand grabbing the door and opening it. Instinctively, she backed off toward the little table where she kept her phone, but that dark shadow grabbed her and held something above her head… then a sharp blow and… darkness!
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In front of Alison's home, 7:50 pm
The man in the dark car was really nervous. Nothing was going as he had predicted or expected. And now that woman, that secretary was complicating things even more. If she went to the police, maybe it wouldn’t change anything because she had just seen Brown put the envelopes in the drawer, but certainly, they would investigate, and that Detective seemed smart and was known for being one who never gave up until he reached the truth.
And then there was Andy Cooper who still had not signed a confession. If he had signed, everything would be clear and nobody would look for other suspects.
After shadowing the secretary from the office to her home to make sure she didn’t go to the police, he was waiting to see if someone else would do the dirty job instead of him but he didn’t trust that crook.
He waited not far from Alison Lewis’s home where he was not seen but could see who came and went. Her neighbour drove away at seven-fifteen and nobody came. Now it was almost eight p.m. and that crook hadn’t come. The man began to fear the neighbour would come back. If he wanted to do something, he had to do it fast.
He got out of his car, he was wearing gloves, he took a wrench and went to Alison’s door.
It is true that, once you start in the way of crime and murder, it is difficult to stop. The first time with Brown he had felt shame and remorse for a few minutes, now it was much easier. He just hit that woman with the wrench, opened drawers and cabinets, knocked a few chairs over to give the idea of a robbery and left, leaving the door open, being careful not to be seen by anybody. He didn’t feel anything, just relief at another danger removed. Would there be another one on the way?
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Miriam's home, 8 pm
Jason was feeling strangely excited while he was driving to Miriam’s. ‘Be careful,’ he thought, ‘you mustn’t get involved, no more people you care for should suffer or die, as has already happened. Miriam is better if she remains far from you.’ That is what he had promised himself six years before after his personal tragedy.
He smiled, thinking that maybe he was just running too fast, maybe Miriam was not interested in him. She was so sensitive, so kind but she had barely spoken to him, just a few words of courtesy. But today she had sounded so sad, so lonely, perhaps because, after all, she had been far from Italy for just a few weeks, maybe she was feeling homesick.
He parked in front of Miriam’s little bungalow and walked the short path that led to the front door. He rang the bell and Miriam opened almost immediately. She was wearing a light grey jumpsuit and her hair was gathered in a ponytail. She was not smiling as he had seen her when they had first met; she had a troubled expression on her face that was difficult not to notice, being so different from her usual jovial countenance.
“Thanks, Jason, for coming. Please, come in!” she simply said.
Jason entered and noticed a tiny home that was kept with great tidiness and taste.
“Miriam, I don’t want to intrude, I hardly know you, but you look tired and sad today. Is it a bad moment? Tell me, we can meet tomorrow if it’s better for you.” Jason was looking at her face with genuine apprehension.
Miriam had a lump in her throat and could not answer, she just walked to the sofa and invited Jason to sit down. She sat on the armchair next to him and bent her face because she didn’t want him to see the sadness in her eyes.
“Jason, don’t worry!” she said after a few moments when she felt she could speak with a firm voice. “I have received some nasty messages from Italy from… a relative, so to speak, and I am always sad when this person treats me like this, but now I am ready to listen to the development in Andy Cooper’s case. Would you like an Italian coffee?” she asked with a smile, standing up. “I have brought my moka with me from Italy.”
“Thank you, Miriam, I would like to try Italian coffee, but don’t worry, I can sit at the table if it’s more convenient for you!” Miriam’s justification had not completely convinced him but he didn’t want to insist. He followed her to the kitchen corner and dining area where the table was. He sat down on a chair while she was busy with the coffee. She took two cups from the cupboard and put them on the perfectly clean table, together with a beautiful glass sugar bowl.
Miriam knew that her sad and off-putting welcome had discouraged Jason and she asked, “Have you discovered anything about the mobile phone that Meg found in her home?”
“Yes, it is a prepaid phone. I don’t know if you have these kind of phones in Italy, but here in Canada, a person can buy a phone with prepaid credit and a provisional number, when they don’t want to use their phone. Various phone calls were made and we are checking the numbers. So far, we haven’t discovered anything interesting, but some numbers have gone to voicemail, and we are checking who they belong to. Mrs Cooper called me this morning to say that they have been able to convince the lawyer to wait for a few days, until Thursday afternoon. I hope it will be enough because Mrs Cooper still sounded worried and frightened.” Jason noticed that Miriam, after pouring coffee into the two cups, had gone to the window and was looking out. Jason stood and went towards her. She was looking so lonely, so sad, and she had been immediately so generous with her students, so concerned about their problems. Someone should take care of her, her family was so far away, ‘if she had a family,’ Jason thought.
“Miriam,” he said as she turned to look at him, “I know that we have met only once, but if there is something wrong and I can do something for you, you can come to me, you know!” he said tentatively.
Miriam went back to the table and they sat down again. She looked embarrassed. “I am so ashamed, Jason. We are talking about the destiny of an innocent person, Andy Cooper, and I keep thinking about a stupid misunderstanding with a person who lives thousands of miles away and who has nothing to do with my life now. The fact is that sometimes you would like to know why certain people seem to enjoy tormenting you when you have done nothing to deserve it.” She knew that Jason could not understand the meaning of what she was saying, because he knew nothing of her past. She was debating with herself whether to tell him or not when the detective’s mobile phone rang. Jason excused himself and answered. From his sentences and the look on his face, Miriam could tell that it was not good news.
When he ended the call, Jason said, “I am really sorry, Miriam, but there has just been an attempted murder that can be connected to Cooper’s case.” Miriam’s eyes widened and she looked concerned.
“Attempted murder? Oh, my God. Who is it this time?”
“The secretary of Kilton Motor Company, Alison Lewis!” Jason did not regret telling Miriam because he knew she was very reserved. “They have taken her to hospital, let’s hope that they will be in time to save her life!”
He added apologetically, “I am sorry, Miriam, but I have to go now.” He was really sorry to leave her so sad and troubled.
Miriam immediately said, “Of course, Jason, don’t worry, I am OK and I hope that lady will recover soon and you will arrest that killer before he hurts anyone else!”
Jason left, and while he was driving to Alison Lewis’s home, he kept thinking of that pleasant young woman he was starting to care about. ‘No, Jason,’ he said to himself, ‘stay away from her. Don’t make her suffer.’
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and then Add to home screen.