Chapter 7 - the buyer behind the badge)
Detective Calvin Pike was forty-two, broad-shouldered, calm, and apparently incapable of blinking.
Nora met him outside Hawthorne Ridge.
Two patrol cars were parked near the driveway.
Yellow tape covered the workshop entrance.
Marcus stood beside one cruiser smoking a cigarette despite having quit seven years earlier.
Calvin Pike approached Nora.
“Ms. Farwell?”
“Detective.”
“I understand you’re the current resident.”
“Owner.”
His expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
“Owner?”
“Yes.”
Marcus watched from across the yard.
Calvin nodded.
“We’ll need documentation.”
“My attorney can provide it.”
“Of course.”
Nora studied him.
“My brother says you have a connection to the entity attempting to purchase the property.”
Calvin stared at Marcus.
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
“He is mistaken.”
“Then you won’t mind telling me whether you control Ashford Residential Ventures LLC.”
Calvin’s eyes returned to Nora.
“I’m investigating a burglary.”
“So am I.”
He smiled slightly.
“This is not a good day for sarcasm.”
“My father was buried yesterday. Someone broke into his hidden records room overnight. My brother owes two-point-four million dollars to men who appear to know about those records, and the company buying this house traces to an address connected to your family.”
Calvin’s smile disappeared.
“You’ve been busy.”
“I hate inefficiency.”
Gerald arrived ten minutes later.
When Calvin saw him, something passed between them.
Recognition.
Nora noticed.
“You two know each other.”
Gerald said, “I knew his father.”
Calvin replied, “Most people did.”
Nora looked from one man to the other.
“Your father investigated the letter Samuel received.”
Calvin’s jaw tightened.
“That is not relevant to a burglary.”
“It is to me.”
“I’m sure.”
“Did your father die in a house fire?”
Marcus stopped smoking.
Calvin’s expression finally changed.
“My father died twenty years ago.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“He died in a fire.”
“After investigating Evelyn Mercer.”
Calvin stepped closer.
“Where did you hear that name?”
There it was.
Nora did not answer.
Calvin’s eyes sharpened.
“Ms. Farwell.”
“You know who she is.”
“I know a lot of names.”
“Was your father investigating her death?”
Calvin looked at Gerald.
“You should have told her to stop.”
Gerald replied, “Her father tried that strategy for thirty-four years.”
Calvin looked toward the house.
“You don’t understand what was stolen.”
“Then explain it.”
“Not here.”
Nora folded her arms.
“No.”
“Nora,” Gerald said.
“No more private rooms. No more vague warnings. No more people telling me I’m safer ignorant.”
Calvin studied her.
“You really are Samuel’s daughter.”
Nora almost corrected him.
Biology suddenly felt complicated.
Calvin reached into his coat.
Marcus tensed.
Calvin removed a photograph.
It showed three men outside a warehouse.
Samuel was one.
Warren Pike was another.
The third man Nora did not recognize.
On the back was a date.
2006.
Fourteen years after Evelyn’s supposed death.
Nora looked at Calvin.
“Who is the third man?”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Evelyn’s husband.
Nora’s breath caught.
“What were they doing?”
Calvin looked at the taped basement entrance.
“Trying to find Evelyn.”
Marcus laughed nervously.
“She was dead.”
Calvin turned.
“That is what someone paid the county coroner to write.”
Nora stared at him.
“You have proof?”
“My father did.”
“Where?”
“Gone.”
“In the fire?”
“Yes.”
Nora held the photograph tighter.
“Why is your company buying this house?”
“It isn’t.”
“Marcus says it is.”
“Your brother sees names and assumes relationships.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“The registered agent is your cousin.”
Calvin glared.
“My cousin has represented hundreds of companies.”
Nora said, “Who is the beneficial owner?”
Calvin did not answer.
“That’s what I thought.”
Gerald said quietly, “Calvin, if you know something, now would be the appropriate time.”
Calvin looked toward the patrol officers.
Then toward the road.
Finally he said, “Ashford Residential Ventures is controlled by Crown Meridian.”
Nora recognized the name from the basement ledgers.
“Who controls Crown Meridian?”
Calvin lowered his voice.
“That question is why my father died.”
A car approached.
Black SUV.
Marcus stiffened.
The vehicle stopped beside the driveway.
Dean stepped out.
He looked at the police tape.
Then at Calvin.
The two men clearly knew each other.
Nora felt something lock into place.
“Dean.”
He smiled.
“Nora.”
Calvin reached toward his sidearm.
Dean raised both hands.
“Relax, detective. I’m here on business.”
Nora said, “Whose business?”
Dean looked directly at her.
May you like
“Your mother’s.”
Everyone turned toward Elaine’s car pulling in behind him.
