“The dead talk to her?” Frank huffed as he carried the video recorder into Jake’s apartment.
Jake moved the morning papers to one side and placed the bags of hamburgers and fries on the coffee table. “You’ve repeated that about twenty times, Frank.”
“But she knew how long the body was there.”
“She knew how long ago the overpass was built.”
Jake slid open his balcony door. Three floors below a young mother was pushing an infant in a stroller. Jake paid six hundred and fifty dollars a month for what seemed like a day care center. Kids outnumbered the adults four to one.
“What about the military? She knew he was in the military.”
“It was a lucky guess. Everyone in the military has prints on file. Maybe she recognized the fabric as something one would buy at a commissary. As a process of elimination, it’s not a bad place to start. Just don’t read more into this.”
Frank set the recorder down on the floor in front of the television set. “Okay, how did she know how he died? Buried alive? Benny hasn’t even done an autopsy yet.”
Taking a seat on the couch, Jake shifted his eyes in Frank’s direction and let out a sigh. “Another guess with nothing factual or logical to back it up.” Jake opened an envelope and passed several sheets of paper to Frank. “Sergeant Samantha Casey, twenty-six, happens to be the goddaughter of Chief Don Connelley.”
“No shit. This what you stopped off at the office to get?”Jake flashed him a grin. “Remember that sixty-year-old records clerk who had a crush on me?” Frank nodded. “She’s now Connelley’s secretary.”
Frank studied the personnel records. “You sure you have the right girl?”
“See for yourself.” Jake backed up the tape and pressed the PLAY button. “Watch.”
“She’s bugging the state rep’s phone?” Frank asked.
“That’s what it looks like.”
The screen showed Sam opening the safe, taking out the contents, slipping something into her purse. When she held Preston’s pin in her clenched fist, Jake pressed the STOP button.
“My god,” Frank gasped. “That’s the same way she held the pin in the lab.”
“Red wig and plenty of makeup transform any plain Jane into Cinderella. The eyes are definitely the same.”
“Not to mention the legs,” Frank added with a chuckle.
Jake pressed the PLAY button again. They watched Preston walk in, take a phone call, pound the keys on his computer. Once he left, Sam accessed the computer, printed out a page, and stuffed it in her purse.
“I would be curious to know what she printed off of Preston’s computer,” Jake said.
“I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw who Murphy is paranoid about
… a woman. But now I think Murphy might have something to be paranoid about.” Frank hooked up his recorder, inserted a blank tape, rewound the tape in Jake’s machine, then proceeded to copy the tape.
Jake pulled out newspaper clippings of murder cases. “Check these out. Press makes her sound like some psychic who just sits behind her desk with a crystal ball.”
Frank unwrapped a burger and sat down next to Jake. “You saw what she did with King Tut. I’m telling you, Jake, there’s something strange going on.”
Jake pulled the articles from Frank and tossed them back into the envelope. “You would be a believer. Your relatives come from a long line of New Orleans voodoo priests.” He studied his notes and added, “I did find out something interesting. Seems Connelley received a disturbing photo from the mayor. My source tells me Casey has disguised herself on numerous occasions and shown up at secret political meetings, sometimes as a waitress, bartender. Connelley has looked the other way in the past, even welcomed some of the information she would pass on to him.”
Frank’s smile broadened. “I think I’m going to like this lady.”
“Well, Connelley is up for a big promotion. If his little snitch were to be exposed, Connelley would probably end up writing parking tickets somewhere.” After taking a swig of soda, Jake added, “This lady is flying by the seat of her pants. According to Mary, Chief Connelley had a fix on Sam’s test scores, threw her into a desk job after only six months. I would bet she couldn’t shoot a target if she were standing in front of it.”
“I guess patronage still reigns. That shouldn’t surprise you.” He glanced at the videotape. “So, what’s your next step? Are you going to take the video to Connelley?”
Jake ejected both tapes, studied them, then shook his head slowly. “No, I have other plans for this tape.”