“Got some action on Donna’s credit card at the ATM on Caulfield.” Jake shoved the tape into the player. “We got the tape from the bank so we should have a pretty good picture of the person using it.”
The conference room used to be Jake’s and Frank’s offices and was now equipped with state of the art equipment. Captain Robinson stood in front of the monitor as though threatening it not to give them a suspect.
Frank pressed the stop button and froze the image of a skinny guy, hair hanging down past his eyebrows. He jerked as though wired up on something. The man punched a few buttons, then his eyes lit up as the machine spit out money. “He took three hundred dollars, according to the bank. He then tried for a couple hundred more and got that, but Donna had a five hundred dollar limit on her withdrawals.”
Jake used the second monitor and shoved in the tape while Frank printed out a photo of the thief. The second tape from the camera off the building showed the parking lot. “We might be able to catch his license plate.” The camera showed a rail thin man hurrying to a rusted pickup truck. Jake zoomed in on the plate number. It was a clear image. Robinson jotted down the number and lumbered out of the room.
“Why the hell wouldn’t he have used the ATM card immediately before Donna’s body was found?” Frank popped the tape out of the machine.
Jake shrugged. “Maybe he was passed out in a gutter somewhere and forgot he had it.”
Within ten minutes the police had located the pickup truck parked outside of the Honeydew Drop Inn. Frank parked in a side street in clear view of the truck. The bar was only a couple blocks from the remnants of the original downtown district and around the corner from the unemployment office.
Two brown-skinned men with distrusting eyes glared at them from the listing stoop of a halfway house. Two more were seated on a bench under the overhang of a wrap-around porch. Although their jackets hid their guns, the detectives weren’t fooling anyone.
They entered the bar and walked in as though they belonged there. Daylight streamed in through the window haze as six heads swiveled from bar stools. Two patrons quickly stabbed out their cigarettes since smoking was illegal in bars and restaurants. The bartender was a sack of sagging skin and white hair and appeared to size them up before they stepped less than four feet into the establishment. He straightened and kept his hands flat on the bar.
Once his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Jake quickly scanned the faces at the bar but didn’t see their guy. Davey Karston was twenty-three years old but you wouldn’t know it by his photograph. He looked more on the forty-year-old side. According to the records, he still lived with his parents, had been unemployed for three years, failed a drug test at his last place of employment, and spent five days in jail last year on a drunk and disorderly charge.
One patron was slouched in a back booth nursing a beer in one hand with two empties sitting next to him. Frank looked at Jake and grinned. By the looks of all the beer bottles on the bar, it appeared Davey had been buying a round or two for the house.
As soon as Davey caught sight of them strolling up to the booth, he started scrambling out like a puppy on a slick floor. He couldn’t quite get his hands and feet to grab hold.
“Where you going, Davey?” Frank asked. “Looks like you been spending a little money.”
Up close, Davey was a scared kid but worse for wear. Drugs and alcohol had ravaged his body. His clothes hung on his frame and were in need of a washing.
Jake grabbed fistfuls of fabric and hauled him out of the booth. He didn’t feel much heavier than Dillon. “We need to have a little talk downtown, Davey.”
“I didn’t do nothin’,” Davey stammered.
“Thanks for the beers, Davey,” one patron yelled.
<><>
Davey looked up as they walked in. Jake wasn’t sure how Davey fit into the scenario but he was certain he didn’t have the strength to kill someone. He barely weighed over one hundred twenty soaking wet.
“Thought you could use something to drink.” Frank set a bottle of water on the table. “Maybe it can help dilute that beer so you can think clearly.” They had already let him sit and stew for an hour to help him sober up.
“Tha-thanks.” Davey grabbed the bottle and twisted off the cap.
Frank took a seat across from the kid while Jake hefted one cheek on the table next to Davey and glared at him. “Pretty nice of you to buy those boys a few drinks,” Frank said. “Where did you come up with the money? We know you don’t have a job.”
“Uhhh, unemployment checks.”
Frank smiled and shook his head. “Those ran out last year.”
“I do odd jobs for cash.”
“Like what?”
Davey’s eyes drifted from Frank to Jake. Jake had shoved the sleeves up on his Henley shirt revealing forearms larger than Davey’s neck. Jake flexed his hands as though they were itching to wrap around something. Davey swallowed hard.
“I clean up around the bar. Duke pays me, uhh, off the books. Just a few bucks here and there.”
“Want to empty your pockets for me, Davey?” Frank smiled all friendly like. “Just put everything out here on the table.”
“Uhhh, do I have to?” Davey’s eyes drifted to Jake’s hands, the fingers still doing their flex dance.
“Right here.” Frank rapped his knuckles on a space in the middle of the table. “Lighten your load a little.”
Davey reached into his left pocket and pulled out a comb, driver’s license and some change. “Don’t I get a lawyer or somethin’?”
“You’re not under arrest, Davey. Now the other pocket.” Frank flashed him another friendly smile. “Don’t be shy about all that extra money you were paid under the table.”
Davey slowly reached into his right pocket. “You aren’t gonna take it from me, are you?”
“You’ll get it all back.”
Out came a wad of bills, a receipt, and a card. Davey tried to pull the card back but Jake’s hand whipped out and slammed on top of Davey’s so fast that the man yelped.
“Not so fast.” Jake plied Davey’s fingers from the pile.
Frank pulled the contents from the table and counted the money, separating it by denomination. “You’ve got around four hundred dollars here, Davey. That’s a lot of sweeping. And what’s this?” Frank turned the ATM receipt around and read it. Then he picked up the ATM card and read it, flicked his gaze to Davey, then back to the card. “You sure don’t look like a Donna. Where’d you get the card, Davey?”
Beads of sweat started forming on Davey’s forehead, making a lazy trickle down the sides of his face. He swiped at the beads with shaking hands.
“How about we let you meet Donna, Davey?” Jake clamped a hand on Davey’s shoulder. The man moaned and slouched as though the weight of Jake’s grasp was crushing.
“What do you mean?”
Frank scooped the contents of Davey’s pockets away from the man. “Donna’s down in the morgue, Davey. She’s been dead for about a couple weeks so why don’t you tell us where you found the ATM card.”
Jake released his grip and Davey sat up a little straighter. “I found it on a sidewalk…uh…outside the Jewel store.” Davey’s hair started to cling to his forehead.
Jake grabbed a chair and slammed it next to Davey’s. He sat down and leaned in close. “I don’t think so, Davey. See, I don’t like it when I’m being lied to and I HATE to waste my time running around chasing false leads. I bet if we compare the footprints found near the body with the imprint of your shoes, we can prove you were there. How did you kill her, Davey?”
“WHAT?!” Davey tried to jump up but Jake jerked on his arm. “I…she was dead when I found her. The card was in her pocket.”
“And you didn’t think to call the police?” Frank feigned shock. “A young woman dumped in the woods. She could have still been alive.”
“How would I know? She wasn’t breathing and her eyes were open.”
“So you waited til things cooled off before you used the card.” Frank started stacking the bills into one pile. “Pretty smart on your part.”
Davey beamed and nodded his head in agreement. “I learned that from a buddy.” He stopped when Jake leaned in closer.
“If you didn’t dump the body, who did?” Jake checked his watch. “Did I tell you I hate to be late for dinner? Talk quick.” He clasped his hands and squeezed. The sound of his knuckles cracking made Davey wince.
“What do you want to hear? I was walking at the first crack of daylight.”
“Be more specific.” Jake checked his watch again.
“Uhh, a Sunday, cause I heard church bells ringing. But don’t ask me the exact date. Wait.” He closed his eyes and tapped his fingers as though counting. “Last Sunday I was home carving a pumpkin for my mom, so it had to be the Sunday before that.”
“Up early or getting in late?” Frank asked.
“Well,” he grinned and then stopped himself. “Guess I was trying to walk it off before going home.”
Frank checked the file folder in front of him. “According to our records, you live on the other side of town. What were you doing by the golf course?”
Davey’s eyes shifted along the length of the table, then the walls, as though looking for answers. He ran a hand through greasy hair and slouched further in the chair.
Frank lifted his eyebrows as if to ask, “what do you want to do?” Davey may not have had the strength to kill the victim but he was at the scene of the crime. Jake stood and walked over to the mirror behind Frank where he could stare into Davey’s eyes but the man kept staring at the table. “What we do know is Davey was at the crime scene. What we don’t know is if he stumbled on the body or helped the killer unload it from the car.”
“No, no. It was like I said. I stumbled onto the body. All I did was steal the card but you got all the money back, as well as the lady’s card there.”
Frank grabbed the bills and fanned them near his ear. “Feels a little short. Not all the money is here, Davey.”
“I can make it up. Just give me a little time but I can’t go back to prison.” His beady eyes pleaded as he started to rock in his chair.
Jake pushed away from the wall. “I don’t have time for this. Either he knows something or he doesn’t. Let him think about it overnight.” Jake reached for the door handle.
Davey jumped up. “Wait, wait.”
They waited.
“I can show you where I was when he dumped her.”
Jake stepped away from the door. “You were there when he dumped the body?”
Davey bobbed his head. “Yeah.”