Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(62)

“How long’s she been dead?” asked Decker. “Seemed to me that rigor had clearly passed.”

“Jacobs figures not too long after she got plucked from the hospital.”

Decker looked off into the distance, obviously processing this.

“But how did they get her body inside the house?” said Andrews. “And why take that chance?”

“Symbolic,” said Decker, glancing at him. “Draymont and Lancer, two peas in a pod. So the next question is obvious.”

Andrews nodded in understanding. “I asked Jacobs. She already checked. There’s rolled-up money in Lancer’s throat.”

“Shit,” exclaimed White. She looked at Decker. “Well, obviously Lancer didn’t kill Draymont and Judge Cummins, like I thought. This ties into your theory of there being two separate killers.”

“But other than the gun versus knife and professional hit versus frenzied attack, do you have anything else to base that on, Decker?” asked Andrews.

“Yeah, nobody stuffed Slovakian money into the judge’s throat,” noted Decker. “And if the killers were different, the person who stabbed Cummins would have no way of knowing about the money in the throat. It’s not like it was visible on the corpse.”

Andrews nodded in agreement. “Right. So we have three stiffs and no suspects. But what connection did Draymont and Lancer have, other than working together at Gamma, and Draymont being seen at her house?”

“There’s at least one thing,” noted Decker. “We just have to find it. And there was bruising on her face.”

“Yeah, I noticed that, too.”

White said, “Which means they beat her up before killing her.”

Decker added, “They needed information. I wonder if they got it.”

Andrews said, “What would Lancer know that they needed? Something about Gamma? Hey, I know I thought it was a stretch, but do you think this really does tie into Kanak Roe’s disappearance?”

“Possibly,” said Decker. “But why let three years pass?”

“Maybe something just came to light,” said White. “And they had to act on it.”

Decker glanced at her sharply, a light sparking behind his eyes, but he remained silent.

Doris Kline and the Perlmans were in Kline’s yard and watching all the police activity.

Trevor Perlman walked over to them. The man was pale and disheveled, very unlike the man they had met the first time. He said, “I know you can’t tell us much, but the dead person isn’t Barry or Tyler, is it?”

“No,” said Andrews. “But any reason why you think it might have been?”

“With Julia dead, I just thought they would be the most likely ones to be in there.”

Decker said, “Did you see anything suspicious today or last night?”

“No. I went to bed early and I’ve been out most of the day. I just got back in time to see all this. Should we be, I mean, do you think we could be in danger? My wife is beyond scared out of her wits. And so is Doris.”

Andrews said, “I’ll have the local cops make rounds until we solve this thing.”

“Thank you.” Perlman walked back to his wife and they went inside their home.

Decker motioned to Kline, who joined them.

“My God,” she said. “Another body. What the hell is going on?”

“Did you see anything?” asked Andrews.

“When?”

“Last night, anytime today.”

“Who was killed?”

“A woman, not from the neighborhood. She was killed elsewhere and placed in the judge’s house,” said White.

“Well, I didn’t see anyone carrying a body in, if that’s what you want to know. I did see you and Decker go in the front door earlier. But that was it.”

“No cars in the driveway, no strangers walking by?” asked Decker.

“No, nothing like that. It’s actually been pretty quiet.”

“Well, keep your eyes and ears open.”

“Trevor mentioned you’re going to have some cops around?”

“Yes,” said Andrews.

“Well, thank God. My life is passing by fast enough as it is. I don’t need anyone else to hurry it along.”

She walked briskly to her home and closed the door.

Andrews shook his head. “Can’t blame them for being scared.”

“No, you can’t,” said White while Decker just stared at a spot in the sky.

“What are you thinking, Decker?” said Andrews, who noticed this.

“I’m thinking how long before we find Patty Kelly, or her body.”

He started to walk off.

“Where are you going?” asked Andrews.

He called back over his shoulder. “Back to the hotel. But tomorrow morning I’m going back to Gamma. Feel free to come.”

“Why Gamma?” said White.

Decker stopped and turned. “Lancer and Draymont were both killed in the exact same way and placed in the exact same spot. So, in life, they must have had a direct connection. And we need to find out exactly what that connection is. Now, we know that Draymont had been to Lancer’s house. They might have had a relationship of some kind. But they worked together, that’s the low-hanging fruit.”