Even though it was earlier than we usually had lunch, on our way to the funeral home, Rue and I made a detour into the drive-through lane of a fast-food restaurant. If something or someone caught our attention at the funeral, we would act on it immediately, and taking time to fill our bellies would be out the window.
We had been working on our most recent murder, a mom-and-pop pawnshop robbery where the robber had wanted to leave no witnesses. He’d killed the sixty- and sixty-two-year-old couple and made off with a thousand dollars in cash, rare coins, guns, and jewelry. In addition to that case taking up most of our time, Danny filled our free moments with questions about Kim’s investigation. We needed to discuss the interruptions with Royce again. Every family of a murder victim wanted answers. We were well aware of that, but we couldn’t continue letting Danny interrupt our work day. We would give him updates when we had them, but that was the best we could offer. Without a lead or a break in the case due to somebody coming forward, we were up the creek without a paddle as far as Kim Whitman was concerned. Hopefully, someone at the funeral would stand out and cause us to take notice. If not, our nightshift and weekend crew were still working her case, but it was becoming colder as the days passed.
We reached Lyman Funeral Home at 12:40 p.m. The parking lot looked half full, and I backed into a spot near the exit. Since only a few people had already been interviewed, I was sure to notice an unfamiliar face.
Inside the foyer, we signed the register then mingled among the twenty people who had already arrived at the chapel. Small talk always provided information, and as we scanned the crowd, we sought the people we hadn’t already met. As I tried to do so discreetly, I pointed out a man in a gray sport jacket who was standing across the room.
“Ever see him before?”
“Nope, and he isn’t talking to anyone either,” Rue said. “Looks like the perfect opportunity to see what he knows.”
“You go first,” I said. “Approaching him together screams cops, and we don’t want to give away who we are or scare him off.”
Rue nonchalantly approached the man while I hung back and watched. I would give it five minutes then head in that direction and act like I’d been looking for Rue. I studied the man’s mannerisms to see if he seemed talkative, sad, uptight and nervous, or ready to make a quick exit.
Hmm, so far, so good. He hasn’t bolted yet.
I poured two coffees to use as props and headed that way.
“There you are, Devon. You left your coffee back on the counter.” I handed the cup to him then faced the man Rue had been talking to. “I’m Mitch, and I don’t believe we’ve met yet. Were you a friend or family member of Kim’s?”
“Lived in her neighborhood.”
“Got it. Devon and I here are friends of the family. What a shame, right?”
He nodded.
“I didn’t catch your name.”
“Bob. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
I raised my right brow with suspicion as he headed toward the hallway. “A man of few words. Very interesting. What did he say to you?”
Rue shook his head. “Not much. The guy was super vague and tight-lipped.”
“Let’s ask Danny if he knows him.”
We joined Danny, who was speaking to a group of people who had just walked in.
I patted his shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt, but can we talk to you for a minute?”
Danny excused himself and walked with us to a spot with a good view of the hallway.
“What’s back there?” I asked.
He shrugged. “As far as I know, it’s just the restrooms and offices.”
“Okay. Do you know someone named Bob who lived near Kim?”
“Nobody comes to mind, but there are a lot of row houses on her street.”
“Sure. We just spoke to a man who headed down that hallway. He said his name was Bob, and he seemed uncomfortable around us. He’s wearing a gray sport jacket and should be coming out any minute. Tell us if you recognize him when you see him.”
We faced Danny as he watched the hallway.
“Okay, the guy is coming out, and no, I have no idea who he is.”
“Go introduce yourself and ask how he knew Kim, then meet up with us before the service begins.” I glanced at my watch. “We’ve only got a few minutes.”
“On it.”
Rue and I tried to remain inconspicuous by taking up a spot in a corner near the foyer. We watched their interaction. The conversation between them lasted only a minute, then people began taking their seats. I pointed my chin at Danny, and he headed over.
“Take your seat in the front row. We’ll sit behind you, and you can tell us what the guy said.”
We sat down, and as I scanned the crowd, Bob headed for the exit. I elbowed Rue, jerked my head toward the door, and promised to be right back.
After passing through the vestibule, I watched as Bob climbed into a white Altima. I zoomed in with my phone and snapped a picture of the rear plate before he pulled away. I made a quick call to the station, told Royce that I needed someone to check out the plate number and text me the details, then returned to the chapel. We would watch for Bob later at the graveside service.
I returned to my seat next to Rue and leaned forward behind Danny’s back. “So, what was your conversation about?”
“The guy said his name was Mike and he only knew Kim through their social media accounts. He’s obviously lying about everything.”
“Okay, we’ll know what’s up with him soon enough. I snapped a picture of his license plate before he pulled away, and the precinct is checking him out.”
We sat through the hour-long service, listened to the few friends who reminisced about Kim, then mingled before leaving for the cemetery. A text had just come in from Royce stating that the white Altima was registered to a local man named Kevin Martin Sr., who was in his mid-fifties and didn’t live anywhere near Kim’s home. I figured the driver had to be Kevin Jr. since a second Kevin was listed in our people search database. We would definitely pay Kevin a visit later after Royce checked into his background. I needed to know if the younger Kevin had a police record and, if he did, for what offenses.
At two o’clock, we left for the cemetery, a fifteen-minute drive away. My phone vibrated in the cup holder as I drove. I pointed my chin at the phone. “Check that, would you? It’s probably Royce.”
Rue tapped the screen and read the message. “It’s from Royce all right, and he said Kevin has been arrested twice for stalking.”
“Really? That’s something.”
Rue groaned. “Or maybe not. Says the guy isn’t all there and, at thirty-five, still lives with his parents. They call him simpleminded and somewhat different but harmless.”
“Guess we’ll have to talk to the folks before we rule him out. Who goes to funerals of people they’ve never met?”
“Seriously? You don’t know that it’s a thing.”
I pulled back. “It is? Since when?”
“Since people are bored, don’t have a life or friends, and have a fascination for death and funerals. Besides that, there’s usually free appetizers. I bet Kevin was disappointed that it was a closed-coffin service, though. He isn’t our killer, Mitch, but nonetheless, it’s creepy, right?”
I sighed. “To each his own. We’re still going to have a conversation with the parents. Kevin needs an alibi for the night before and the morning of Kim’s murder. Plus, we have to find out if anyone in the family owns a gun.”
I turned in at the cemetery’s driveway, behind several other cars, and followed them to the gravesite. The hearse had already arrived with the body, and Danny and the few out-of-town relatives were seated under the dark-blue canvas canopy. The space held only about twenty chairs, but Rue and I were there to observe. We didn’t intend to sit anyway. Our eyes were peeled not only for Kevin but also for anyone else who might be watching from afar.
We stationed ourselves along several large live oaks scattered throughout the cemetery. We had a good view of the area as well as the graveside service and the people in attendance.
Rue stood only a hundred feet from me, so he was easy to see, plus we had our phones in case we needed to alert each other about a suspicious character. I watched for the white Altima and Kevin but never saw either of them. About halfway through the service, I caught sight of a tall man in a suit, standing against a gravestone several hundred feet away. He didn’t seem to be there to pay respects to the person whose marker he leaned against but instead seemed focused on the graveside service for Kim. I texted Rue to casually glance to his left and snap a picture of him. He was closer to the man than I was. We would keep our eyes on the man, who was wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day.
The stranger remained where he was for the duration of the service and never approached the family to offer his condolences. I was curious and, when the attendees returned to their cars, discreetly followed him. He drove away in a black sedan that looked a lot like ours, and that made me even more curious. I didn’t have enough time to see his entire plate number before another car pulled out behind him, but I did catch the first three numbers—117. I was growing more interested in Kim’s case as the day went on.
We met up with Danny before leaving just so he wouldn’t follow us to the station.
“We have some digging to do into that Kevin character today, plus I noticed someone off in the distance watching the graveside service. He drove away in a black sedan with what could be vanity or government plates, but I didn’t get a good-enough look. Do you know anything about that?”
Danny appeared baffled. “Wouldn’t that be an officer from your department?”
“It would be under normal circumstances, but nobody other than Rue and I was told to keep watch at the service. I’ll check into that, too, and get back to you later if I find out anything.”
With a handshake and well wishes, Devon and I walked back to our car.
Rue plopped down in the passenger seat with a groan and a thud. I felt the same way.
“Did you see what the make and model was on the black sedan?” he asked.
“Nope. It was too far away, and just as I was going to snap a picture of it, another car pulled out and blocked my view. All I got were the first three numbers of the rear plate—one, one, seven.”
Rue cocked his head. “Well, that’s something. Maybe Royce can shed some light.”
“Maybe, but as interesting as this case is becoming, we can’t forget about Mr. and Mrs. Grimes and the pawnshop robbery. We’ve already put a lot of time and effort into Kim’s case with absolutely no results. We’ll ask the questions we need to ask and then let the night shift take over. We have plenty of store videos around the strip mall to look at for the robbery and double homicide. Royce will have us by the throats if we don’t apprehend somebody for that case pretty soon.”