Deception with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery Book Two) Read online

  “We managed to flip one of the men in the crew and were able to get Shane in. He’s been working with two low level thugs fencing the stolen property, but he hasn’t been able to identify the ringleaders. The last time I spoke with him he said he thought he was getting close. He sounded really excited.” His last words seemed to hit him hard.

  “If he had found something, who would he have told?” Rilynne asked.

  “He was checking in weekly with the sergeant. If he had anything definite, it’ll be in his reports.” He hesitated before continuing. “He had a couple false leads his first few months on the case, and he told me he wasn’t going to let it happen again. If he just had suspicions about something, he wouldn’t have told the sergeant about it. He always wrote everything down in his journal, though.”

  Matthews jotted a few lines down in his open notepad. “Do you know where we could find his journal?” he asked.

  Clark shook his head. “He would have kept it somewhere no one would be able to find it, but where it would still be easily accessible for him. Start with his undercover apartment or a locker at the gym,” said Clark.

  “When was the last time you spoke with him?” asked Rilynne.

  “Let’s see,” he leaned back in his chair, running his hands over his dirty face as he thought. “Six days ago.”

  “What was his mental state?” she asked. “Did he seem worried about anything?”

  He shook his head quickly. “On the contrary. He was actually pretty excited. He said he thought he would be meeting the men in charge soon. He was eager to get back to his old life, I think. He and Jane had been talking about starting a family just before he went under. Shane said he was ready, and he was actually considering taking a desk job. He knew it would be safer and that it would make Jane happy, which is all he really cared about.”

  “From your observations, how was his relationship with Jane?” Matthews leaned forward uneasily. Rilynne couldn’t help but think it made him uncomfortable sifting though the life of a friend. “I know he was not the type of person to share problems at home, but is there any thing you have observed that would suggest they might have been having problems?”

  Clark fidgeted with the pen that had been sitting on the table in front of him for a few moments before answering. “Jane didn’t want him to take the undercover assignment, and they did have a pretty big blow up about it the night before he went in. She didn’t even wait for me to leave before starting in on him,” he explained. “They seemed to have worked it out, though. I know she made regular visits to the station to check on his status, and he tried to arrange for them to meet up a couple times a week. I’m sure it put a little strain on the relationship, but it wasn’t anything serious.”

  “Is there anyone that you could think of who would have wanted Shane dead?” Matthews asked.

  “As far as his personal life went, no. You knew him,” he said to Matthews. “Shane was one of the greatest guys you could ever meet. Everyone liked him. And from everything he told me, his cover was still intact and he was in good standing with the crime ring. If they had found out who he was, though, I wouldn’t put it past them to take him out. They’ve been growing increasingly aggressive with the home invasions, and over the last few months have started only hitting homes that were occupied, violently beating the owners,” he said. “Other than that, he was a good cop who helped to secure a lot of convictions. I’m sure he made several enemies in doing so.”

  Matthews seemed to be struggling to get his next question out. Rilynne was on the verge of jumping in when he finally spit it out. “Is there any reason that Shane would have had cocaine on him at the time of his death?”

  “No,” Clark said abruptly, shaking his head and looking intently at Matthews. “Shane is the last person in the world who would ever get involved in any kind of drug activity.” He sounded very confident with his answer.

  “Were drugs involved in the case in any way?” Rilynne asked.

  “Not that he told me,” he answered. “But if they were, he would have put it in his reports or his journal.”

  Matthews closed his notebook and stood up. “Thank you for coming in, Clark. I think that’s all we need for right now,” he said kindly. “Oh, wait. Is there any reason you know of why Shane would have been at this house?” He slid a photograph of the vacant house he was found in across the table.

  Officer Clark picked up the picture and examined it carefully. “Is this where they found him?” he asked. Rilynne nodded, watching his face for any sign of recollection, but she didn’t see one. “No, I’ve never seen it before. And he never mentioned anything about a house to me.”

  After walking Officer Clark out, Rilynne dropped back down in her desk chair. Matthews, whose desk had been moved to face hers, also took his seat.

  “So, explain this to me,” she said, leaning forward. “Stolen property gets delivered to Villarreal and he sells it for them. How exactly does that work? I know he can’t actually have been selling stolen goods.”

  Matthews chuckled. “Actually, I remember hearing some officers talking about it a few months back. Apparently we were able to seize the funds in the crew’s bank account when we turned the first guy. In exchange for the property, Shane was giving them that money back. Of course it will all be seized again when the ring is brought down. The property has all been returned to the victims, of course, with the understanding that it not be advertised they got everything back.”

  “Smart,” Rilynne nodded impressively. “Wouldn’t they run out of money, though?”

  Matthews’ chuckle progressed to a full bout of laughter. “Well, according to the officers, they had been tracing the bills and grabbed the member of the crew who had been depositing everything into their new account. They put him in lock up out of the county and emptied the account again,” he explained. “So what it looked like to the remaining members of the crew was their guy just split with all of the money. Now they’re filtering it back to them again.”

  Rilynne joined Matthews in his enjoyment. They were still laughing several minutes later when Officer Vega walked in.

  “Come on in,” Matthews said, walking back to the conference room. “Julio Vega, this is my partner Rilynne Evans. Please, have a seat. No, not that one,” he said pulling the chair Clark had been sitting in toward the back wall. He took his seat on the other side of the table and pulled out his notebook. “Now, I know that you and Shane were really close. What can you tell us?”

  “I don’t know,” he said somberly. “I don’t know why anyone would want to hurt him.”

  “Did he ever talk to you about the case he was working?” Matthews asked.

  “No, I haven’t talked to him much since he went under,” he explained. “I’ve seen him maybe two or three times, but only in passing.”

  Rilynne could see that he still had the same conflict on his face, but like before, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

  “We heard that his wife had been upset when he took the assignment. Do you know how their relationship has been since?” Rilynne asked.

  Vega shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “They’ve been working on their problems. The last time I saw Jane she said he was going to take a desk job as soon as he wrapped up the case so they could start a family.”

  “Is there any thing that you have seen in the past with Shane that would explain why he had drugs in his pockets when he was killed?” Matthews asked hesitantly.

  “It must have had something to do with the case,” Vega responded. “Shane’s older sister died of a drug overdose when he was in middle school. It was the reason that he wanted to become a cop. He was determined to keep the drugs off the streets and out of the hands of children. There’s no way that he would ever get involved in that kind of activity.” He was just as confident with his response as Clark had been.

  Matthews sat his pen down and leaned back in his chair. Rilynne had the vague feeling he had also sensed that Vega was holding something back. If he con
sidered bringing it up, he decided against it. “We know that Shane kept a journal. Do you know where he would have kept it?” he finally asked.

  Vega shook his head. “He never mentioned it to me.”

  “Okay, well that’s all for now,” Matthews said, rising from his seat. “Find us if you think of anything else.”

  Matthews and Rilynne stayed in the conference room when Vega walked out. When he had rounded the corner out of the detective’s office, Rilynne sat back down in her seat. “So you noticed it, too.” It wasn’t a question.

  He let out a long sigh, running his hands over his face. “That he was hiding something?” he asked. “Yeah, I noticed it.” He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling in quiet contemplation. “Let’s check the duty logs,” he said several moments later. “I don’t believe he could have had anything to do with Shane’s death, but let’s make sure.”

  “What’s the story with the two of them?” Rilynne asked.

  “They grew up next door to each other, and have been friends since they could both walk. When Shane decided to become a cop, Julio followed suit,” he said. “Julio was even the best man at Shane and Jane’s wedding. I’ve never seen two men closer. They were really more like brothers than friends.”

  Rilynne left Matthews glaring up at the ceiling as she walked back to her desk. She had just pulled up the duty log on her computer when the phone rang.

  “This is Evans,” she said, pulling the receiver to her ear.

  “Detective Evans, this is Dr. Andrews. I wanted to let you know that I have just finished the autopsy on Shane Villarreal.”

  “Good. What did you find?” she asked pulling out her notebook.

  “Well,” he said. “He was shot three times at close range. The first two shots were made while he was standing. The one to the shoulder was a through and through, and the second hit him in the chest. Remarkably, it missed all vital organs and neither shot were fatal. He was already on the ground when he was shot the third time. The shot punctured his left lung resulting in asphyxiation.”

  “Were there any drugs found in his system?”

  “Well, I did find some white powder in his nose, but I ran a full blood panel and it came back negative. I also checked his nasal passages and they’re also clear of any sign of drug use. I’ve sent hair samples to the lab for further testing, but from my findings so far, no. There appear to be no signs of any kind of drug use.”

  “Huh. So it looks like someone put the drugs in his nose after he died?” she asked.

  “From what I can make out, that’s exactly what happened.”

  “Well, is there anything else you can tell us about the body? Were you able to pull any trace off of him?”

  “I did get a skin sample from under his fingernails and sent it to the lab. There was also a black substance that I couldn’t identify stuck in his hair. I sent that and his clothes to the lab, along with the bullets that I extracted.”

  “Okay, thank you. Let me know if you turn anything else up.”

  Rilynne hung up the phone and walked back to the conference room to find Matthews exactly as she had left him.

  “Did you get a hold of the duty log?” he asked without shifting his gaze.

  “Yes,” she answered, taking the seat Vega had occupied. “He was on duty during the time frame Dr. Andrews gave us for time of death. They actually had a pretty busy shift also, with nearly back to back calls.”

  Matthews nodded, finally looking down at Rilynne.

  “He did appear to be telling the truth about the drugs, too,” she continued. “Dr. Andrews just called and he said there appeared to be no sign of drug use. There were traces of a white powder in his nose, but it looks like someone placed it there after his death to make it look like his murder was drug related.”

  Matthews looked the same way she had felt while on the phone with Dr. Andrews: confused.

  “He also pulled a skin sample out from under his finger nails and an unknown black substance from his hair. Both have been sent to the lab for analysis. They’re also working on his clothes and the bullets that were pulled from the body.”

  “Anyone who knew Shane well would have known that he didn’t do drugs.” He seemed to be thinking out loud. “Why would someone place drugs on him if no one would believe he had anything to do with them?”

  “I don’t think that they would,” she answered. “I think we need to look into the case he was working. While Shane Villarreal was outwardly against drugs, Shane the criminal wouldn’t have been. If he’d been killed in relation to something going on with his case, they wouldn’t think twice about making it look like a drug deal gone bad. They probably assumed we wouldn’t have looked into it closely. Just another junky off of the streets.”

  “Wilcome is talking with his sergeant now. He’ll be able to get all of the reports that Shane submitted. If his death is in any way related to this case, we’re going to find out who the players are.”

  Rilynne knew it was personal for Matthews. Besides Villarreal being a member of their police department, Matthews had been close to him. She knew nothing on earth would stop him from tracking down who was responsible.

  It was just before seven when Detective Wilcome made it back into the office. Matthews jumped up out of his seat when he saw him and reached for the files in his hand. Rilynne hadn’t seen Wilcome looking so glum in months. His sky blue eyes, which were normally engaging and insightful, were now dim and full of sorrow. She also had a feeling that he hadn’t eaten anything since receiving the call that morning.

  “How’s Jane?” Detective Matthews asked.

  “As to be expected,” he said leaning against the desk next to Rilynne’s. “She nearly fainted when she saw me at the door. She hardly stopped crying long enough to say anything at all. I told her you would be by tomorrow to talk to her.”

  Matthews nodded and sat back in his chair.

  “What have you learned so far?” Wilcome asked.

  “Well,” Rilynne started. “It appears that someone planted drugs on him to try to shift the investigation. There was DNA left under his fingernails, though, which is being run in the lab. Our initial guess is that his death might be related to his undercover work. His partner was able to fill us in on some of the specifics from the case.”

  “Good. His sergeant pulled these up for us. It’s every report that Villarreal submitted while on the case.” He motioned toward the stack of papers Matthews had taken. “There’s also an overview of the case and the information for all of the suspected members in the crew.”

  Matthews thumbed through the pages. “We’ll start in on these now. We should also mention that we noticed some odd behavior from Julio Vega.”

  “He’s the one who went through the academy with Villarreal right?” Matthews nodded. “What kind of behavior?”

  “It seemed like he was hiding something,” Rilynne answered. “We did check into his whereabouts for the time of death, and he was working. He was definitely holding something back during his interview, though.”

  He nodded while pushing himself off of the desk. “Keep an eye on him. Let me know if anything turns up.” He walked to his desk in the corner without waiting for a response.

  Matthews split the stack of reports in two and handed half to Rilynne. Villarreal had been meticulous about including every detail he could in the reports. By ten o’clock she had only managed to make it half way through her stack.

  “Have you found anything yet?” Matthews asked, rubbing his eyes.

  Rilynne sat the stack down in front of her. “Everything is pretty standard so far. There’s a good deal of information about the two men he had been working closely with, but nothing as far as the ringleaders. You?”

  “The same here. Clark did say it wasn’t until recently that he thought he was onto something, but he wouldn’t have included it in these unless he was positive. We need to find his journal,” he said.

  “Hopefully his wife will have an idea where he
would have kept it.” After locking the reports up in her desk drawer, she turned off her lamp and walked out with Matthews.

  Chapter Three

  Her drive home seemed to take no time at all. Despite being much further from the office than her apartment had been, the drive time was still shorter than if she had taken her usual walk.

  She hadn’t noticed until she reached up to unlock her front door that the moving truck was no longer parked in front of her house where she had left it. She was pulling out her phone to call Ben when she discovered why.

  He had not only unloaded all of her stuff, but he had even started to get everything arranged for her. Her sofa and chairs were set up around her assembled entertainment center in the living room. The dining room table and chairs were in place over the rug her mother had given her when she moved into her first apartment after college. All of the boxes had even been placed in the room they belonged in. But the most surprising part of all was the bedroom. He had assembled all of her furniture, moved the boxes of her clothes to her closet, and even made her bed.

  “Huh…” she said on a long breath as she leaned against the doorframe, taking it all in.

  After several moments she reached again for her phone.

  “I owe you way more than a round of drinks,” she said when he answered. “You really didn’t have to do all of this.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said in a casual tone. “Tylers told me about the case you were called out on, and I knew you wouldn’t be getting in until late. I figured you might actually like a place to sleep other than on your couch, surrounded by boxes. Although, you could have made a fort out of them; that would have been fun.”

  “Still, it must have taken you all day. I really do owe you.”

  “I think I’m okay with that.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

  “And what happened to you never going in a woman’s bedroom?” she asked curiously.

  “Well,” he paused. “Technically it isn’t really a bedroom until it has been slept in. I just went into an empty room and built stuff. I’m pretty sure that makes it a workshop instead of a bedroom.”