Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(20)

“Julia wasn’t at the house then. Let me think a minute. Yeah, it was at school. About a week ago. There was an awards program at school. Tyler was getting the student-athlete of the year.”

“Nice,” said White. “I’m sure you were both proud.”

“He works hard and deserves it. I was never much of an athlete in high school, and I didn’t do any sports in college. He gets some of his size from me, but Julia was a great swimmer and tennis player. His athleticism definitely came from her.” He looked up at them, his face a tapestry of misery. “How…how did she die? No one told me.”

White exchanged a glance with Decker, who said, “She was stabbed, Mr. Davidson.”

“Oh my God.” He put his head in his hands.

Andrews pulled out his phone. “Something was left beside her body.”

Davidson looked up. “What?”

Andrews held up his phone. “This note.”

Davidson looked at them. “‘Res ipsa loquitor’? Sounds like Latin. What’s it mean?”

“We hoped you could provide some information about it, and also about any enemies she might have had.”

“I don’t know Latin. And she had no enemies that I knew of.”

Andrews said, “I did a preliminary check of her past trials. She’s overseen a number of drug cases, syndicates, gangs. Some pretty dangerous characters.”

“I…I guess. I just never focused on that,” said Davidson.

“And she had a personal bodyguard. Any idea why?” asked Decker.

“Tyler mentioned something about that after he had lunch with her, so I texted Julia to see what was up. She never got back to me.”

Decker nodded, looking thoughtful. “Do you have any enemies?”

Davidson looked up in surprise. “She had the bodyguard, not me.”

“Maybe she was more cautious. So, any enemies?”

Davidson looked away. “N-no. No enemies. Look, I…I need to end this interview. I’m going…to be sick.” He rushed from the room.

They walked outside and stood around Andrews’s car.

“Anything from your talk with Tyler?” asked White.

“Confirmed his father’s alibi in all respects, so unless the kid is lying to cover for his old man, which I don’t think he is, Barry might be off the suspect list if the TOD holds. Tyler said he never saw any security guard around his mother’s place while he was there. But he did say his mother told him about it, and that it was about some stupid stuff having to do with her job. That’s probably Tyler’s word choice, not the judge’s.”

“How would he not see a guard there?”

“Well, if the guard was outside the whole time, and he arrived and then left while Tyler was sleeping, it could be the case. We need to get that info from the company.”

“So the ex may be free and clear?” said White.

Decker said, “Not necessarily. We could be looking at a murder for hire. Then his alibi is meaningless.”

When Decker got into the car and closed the door his phone buzzed. He recognized the number.

It was Earl Lancaster.





Chapter 13



E?ARL, IS ANYTHING WRONG?” SAID Decker anxiously.

“It’s Sandy, Amos.”

Decker felt his gut clinch. “Sandy! What’s the matter? Is she okay?”

“I tried to talk to her about her mom. But I could make no headway.”

Decker relaxed. “Earl, the police department has some really good grief counselors. They can talk to Sandy—”

A clearly desperate Earl Lancaster interrupted. “We’ve tried that, Amos, it was no good. The thing is—”

“What?”

“Sandy wants to talk to you.”

“To me!”

Decker looked up as Andrews started the car. White was looking at Decker curiously.

He lowered his voice. “Why does she want to talk to me?”

“Because she says you never lie to her.”

“The thing is, Earl, I’m down in Florida on a case. I can’t get away right now.”

“That’s okay. She just wants to talk to you. Can you do it now? She’s very insistent.”

Decker looked up at White, who was still staring at him. “She wants to talk to me now? What am I supposed to say?”

“That—” Earl’s voice dropped. “That her mom had to go away but will always be looking down on her, watching her, something like that.” Decker heard a noise. “All right, Sandy, all right, here he is.”

Decker heard some shuffling as the phone was passed over.

Then Sandy’s voice came on. “Are you Amos Decker?”

Decker thought about clicking off. But then he imagined Sandy’s small, hopeful face and he just couldn’t. “Yeah, Sandy, this is Amos Decker.”

“I want my mommy, Amos Decker, but nobody will tell me where she is. Will you tell me where she went? Please?”

As per her nature, Sandy was speaking loudly, and by the expression on White’s face she could hear it all. She noted Decker staring at her helplessly, and quickly looked away.

Decker said, “She…your…mommy had to go away, Sandy.”