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Five Days Later
Dee and Connie strutted into the double-doors of Brown Landscaping and stopped at the receptionist’s desk.
“Hello.” The bubbly brunette woman beamed. “You must be Detectives Quarter and Wilks.”
“Hello,” Connie said. “Is Mr. Brown in?”
“He’s expecting you. Just a second.” She lifted the receiver off her phone, pushed a button, and informed Brown of the officers’ arrival.
Moments later the elevator dinged and a medium-built white man with a large belly stuffed in a plaid shirt and worn jeans, approached Dee and Connie.
They exchanged introductions.
“What can I do for you?” Mr. Brown squinted at Dee as if he couldn’t see.
“We’re investing the murder of a young woman who lived in one of Hart Carroll’s rent homes,” Connie said.
“Wow.” He stroked his chin, forehead lifting. “Okay.”
“We found out you did backyard work at the home she used to stay in.” Connie told him the address. “Does that sound familiar?”
“This would’ve been about a year ago,” Dee said.
“Okay, let’s check.” Brown told the receptionist to find the information on the computer. “I have many crews so have to see who might’ve been in charge for a particular job.”
She searched for a moment and then said, “Pablo and Cody supervised that job.”
“Cody is no longer with us.” Brown pulled on his suspenders. “He died in a car accident about six months back.”
“That’s horrible,” Dee said.
“Pablo’s on a job now but let me call him.”
Connie nodded. “We appreciate it.”
Brown made the call and handed the phone to Connie.
“Hello?” She put the phone on speaker. “Pablo?”
“Yes.” His Spanish accent was so thick Dee couldn’t understand what he said.
Connie said who she was and asked about the job they did at Autumn’s.
“Yes, I remember,” Pablo spoke amongst drilling and hammering in the background. “We dug a space in the backyard for a garden. But, we never planted the garden.”
“Excuse me?” Connie scrunched her face, suggesting she couldn’t understand him either.
“We never planted the garden,” Pablo yelled as if that made his words clearer. “Mr. Carroll had us clear it out but never called us back to finish the work.”
“And, this was about a year ago, right?” Dee asked.
“Yes,” Pablo replied. “I’m about to leave the crew for break. I could go to the property and show you the space we cleared if you want.”
“That would be great,” Connie said. “We’ll be there waiting for you.”
****
Dee and Connie bumped into Winston after they returned to the station.
“Did you check out that landscaping place?” he asked, holding a folder.
“Yep.” Connie took her blazer off and hung it on the back of her chair. “They dug space for a garden about the same time LJ left but Carroll changed his mind and told them not to do the garden.”
“It was in the backyard.” Dee sat and pushed her chair up to her desk. “The guy who did the job took us over there to see it.”
“We’re betting the space wasn’t for a garden.” Connie gave Winston a suggestive look. “It was about three feet wide and eight feet long.”
Winston gaped. “Those are grave measurements.”
“Hm-mm.” Dee sipped her old coffee from that morning. “Ugh.” She licked the bitter liquid from her lips. “The plot thickens, huh?”
“Literally,” Connie said.
“Whoa.” Winston blinked. “So, LJ might be in that grave?”
Dee nodded. “We have to get a warrant so we can dig up the backyard.”
Winston looked through his folder. “It’s gonna be hard as hell to convince a judge LJ’s disappearance is connected to Autumn’s death without evidence.”
“We’ll get that warrant.” Dee pulled a bag of cheesy chips out her drawer. “If I have to suck the judge’s dick to get it.”
Winston smirked. “What if the judge is a woman?”
She grinned, popping a chip into her mouth. “Then I might have to learn how to eat coochie.”
“Dee.” Connie grimaced. “Gross.”
****
A Week Later
Nelda’s neighbor, Odina Kuri parked herself at the table in the interrogation room, face flushed with fear. “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.”
“Thanks for coming.” Dee and Connie sat across from her. “What did you wanna tell us?”
“I lied when I said I witnessed Grayson Paul hit Nelda.” She lowered her voice, fingers trembling. “It never happened.”
Dee exhaled, exchanging glances with Connie.
“Nelda paid my cousin to hit her and make it look like Grayson did it.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Connie said. “Back up. What did you say?”
“She paid my cousin Eddie to hit her so she could say Grayson did it.”
“Why on earth would Nelda do this?” Dee asked.
“She says Hart Carroll told her to.” Odina scratched her hand. “I asked Nelda why they wanted to do Mr. Paul like this but she wouldn’t tell me.”
Dee rubbed the cool tabletop. “How could you go along with this when you knew Grayson was innocent?”
“Nelda’s a friend.” She sniffed. “I wanted to say something, but I got scared after time passed. Are you going to arrest me?”
Dee sat back, catching Connie’s suggestive expression. “Will you help us get Nelda and solve this case?”
“I—”
“Don’t get shy now,” Connie said. “Nelda and Carroll might’ve killed Autumn and LJ Witt too. You covered for them, which makes you an accessory.”
“Accessory to murder?” Odina’s face twisted. “I swear I had nothing to do with anything. Nelda wouldn’t even tell me what’s going on. Please. I wanted to help you guys. I didn’t have to come here.”
“It’s your choice, Odina,” Dee said. “Help us and we’ll help you. You don’t and you might share a prison cell with your girl Nelda.”
“I can’t go to prison.” She waved her hands, palms outward. “What do you need me to do?”
“We want you to wear a wire and get Nelda to confess,” Connie said.
****
“Here we go.” Nelda carried two plates of hot spaghetti to her kitchen table three nights later. “Bon appetite.”
Odina sniffed the pasta and meat sauce. “Smells great.” She pressed on her bosom, making sure the tiny microphone under her dress remained secure.
“I’m so glad you wanted to have dinner.” Nelda got a bottle of red wine and two glasses. “Lord knows I need the company.” She sat at the table. “Everything okay?”
Odina wrapped pasta onto her fork. “It’s a little hot.”
“Shoot.” Nelda jumped up, snapping her fingers. “Forgot the parmesan cheese.” She got the container of grated cheese and set the bottle in the middle of the table.
Odina tasted the tangy spaghetti. “It’s delicious, Nelda.”
“Is it?”
Odina licked sauce off her lips. “Sorry you’ve been so stressed.”
“Ah.” Nelda laid her napkin in her lap. “I’ll be okay.”
“Anything wrong? Got something you wanna get off your chest?”
Nelda chewed, eyes going left and right. “Not really.”
Odina faked a smile, the wire tickling her stomach. “I doubt that’s true.”
Nelda tore her garlic bread in half.
“We’ve known each other for years.” Odina pointed her fork at her. “I can tell when something’s bothering you.”
Nelda poured wine into her glass and glared at Odina. “I can trust you, right?”
“Have I ever told any of your secrets?”
Nelda laughed. “And, you know plenty of them.”
“I do.” Odina giggled.
A cloud of sadness suddenly filled Nelda’s face. “I really liked Autumn.”
Odina swallowed.
“I didn’t want things to turn out the way they did.”
“What are you talking about?”
Nelda propped her elbows on the table and sobbed. “I got dragged into this.”
“It’s okay.” Odina walked to her and hugged her. “You’re a good person. Whatever you did, you wouldn’t hurt anyone on purpose.”
Nelda cried into Odina’s stomach. “God, forgive me.”
Odina clenched, hoping Nelda didn’t sense the wire. “Did you do something to Autumn?”
“No.” She let Odina go.
“Did Hart?”
Nelda looked straight ahead, a tear trickling from the corner of her eye.
“You don’t have to be afraid.” Odina knelt beside her. “You’re not alone. Whatever you say won’t leave this kitchen. I promise.”
“You’re the closest friend I have. I’m ashamed of what you’ll think of me.”
“I’m gonna always be your friend.” Odina wiped Nelda’s tears and kissed her cheek. “But, you can’t go on like this. It’s tearing you apart.”
Nelda pinched the corner of her napkin. “Hart killed them. LJ and Autumn.”
Odina covered her mouth. “Why?”
“Drugs.” Nelda wiped her nose. “Hart’s in the drug game and uses some of his properties to run drugs. LJ dealt drugs for him and he was also the muscle for when people owed Hart money.”
“My god.”
“One night, LJ called Hart to his place and demanded he give him some money to leave town. LJ had gotten into trouble with some gang and they were after him. Hart refused and then LJ tried to blackmail him, saying he’d tell the police about the stuff he and Hart were into.”
Odina rose.
“Hart told LJ to leave the property and LJ refused. He swore he’d turn Hart in and ruin his drug operation. They fought. Hart claimed the murder was self-defense, and that LJ attacked him with a bat.” Nelda gaped at Odina. “I’m not sure I believe that, but Hart beat LJ until he was dead.”
Odina sat in her chair, mind going in a thousand directions.
“Hart needed help to get rid of the body so he called me.”
“Why did he think he could call you?”
“I don’t know.” Nelda shivered. “Maybe because I’d always been loyal to him and he trusted me. Plus, he knew I’d be too afraid to tell.”
“Did he pay you?”
Nelda nodded. “To help him dispose of LJ’s body and to keep it a secret.”
“Nelda.” Odina sighed, closing her eyes.
“I didn’t wanna do it but it happened so fast and Hart was desperate. He begged me.”
“Okay, what happened after LJ was killed?”
“He wanted to cut him up, but I couldn’t go for that. All I could think about was how his family and his mother would feel if we threw him out like trash.”
Odina shook her head.
“Hart said we’d just leave him in the house and play dumb when he was discovered.” Nelda took a measured breath. “But after a few days, Hart got scared because he thought people might’ve seen us over there so he decided we needed to get rid of the body. We went over there and LJ was smelling and decomposing.”
Odina’s stomach turned.
“Hart got the idea to bury LJ in the backyard.” Nelda took in a deep breath. “We said I’d just tell people LJ moved away and that would be the end of it. Then, Autumn moved in and got suspicious when people started talking about LJ leaving the way he did. She started asking me all these questions, and Hart was afraid she’d figured out what happened.”
Odina moaned with her eyes closed.
“He freaked out and said we had to get rid of her.” She wiped tears. “I begged him not to but he said he wasn’t going to lose everything over LJ’s murder so Hart went to Autumn’s.” She took a deep breath. “He strangled her. I had to go along, but I didn’t want to, Odina. He said I’d go down with him if he got caught.” She howled, tears covering her face. “I can’t go to prison. That would be the death of me, Odina.” She slapped the table. “The death of me.”
“And, that’s why you set Grayson Paul up?”
Nelda sniffled through her red nose. “I’d told Hart about how angry Grayson was when Autumn broke things off. To us, that seemed a perfect motive, so we decided to set him up.” She pleaded through her torn expression. “I’m sorry, Odina. I really am.”