Twice Dead - Catherine Coulter [230]
Simon and Lily stood looking at the Jeep. “They didn’t really try to hide him,” she said. “On the other hand, it could have been a long time before someone accidentally came upon him. God bless hikers.”
“The medical examiner estimates he’s been dead about seven hours, give or take,” said Clark Hoyt. “He’ll know a lot more after the autopsy. Our lab guys will crawl all over that Jeep to see what’s what. Ah, here comes Lieutenant Dobbs. You’ve met, haven’t you?”
“We’ve spoken on the phone,” Simon said and shook Dobbs’s hand. Simon saw quickly enough that the lieutenant was impressed with how Clark Hoyt deferred to him.
“Do you think he was with someone?” Lily asked both men. “And that someone killed him and then moved his body to the driver’s side?”
Lieutenant Dobbs said, “No. From the trajectory of the bullets, there was someone, the shooter, riding in the backseat, behind Monk. Maybe someone else riding in the passenger seat. I don’t know. Maybe Monk knew they were taking him out to kill him. But if so, why did he calmly pull over? Again, I don’t know. But the fact is he did pull off the road into the redwoods, and the guy in the backseat shot him.”
Simon and Lily were given permission to walk over the area. They looked everywhere, but there wasn’t anything to see. The hikers had made a mess of things in their initial panic. There were five cop cars and two FBI cars adding to the chaos. There weren’t any tire tracks except the Jeep’s, which meant that the other car must have stayed parked on the paved road.
Lieutenant Dobbs eyed Simon and Lily and said, “Agent Hoyt tells me you guys are involved in this up to your eyeballs. Let me tell you, you two have brought me more woes than I’ve had for the last ten years, beginning with that jerk who attacked you on the public bus, Mrs. Frasier. Oh, yeah, Officer Tucker found Morrie Jones a couple of hours ago, holed up in a fleabag hotel down on Conduit Street.”
“Keep him safe, Lieutenant,” Lily said. “He was part of this, too, as was Mr. Monk. And look what happened to him.”
“You got it.” Lieutenant Dobbs said then, “You know, it hasn’t been all bad. I’ve met Hoyt here, a real federal agent and all, and I haven’t had to watch Wheel of Fortune with my wife. I haven’t had a single bored minute since I got that first call from you guys. Only bad thing is this body over there. A body’s never good.” He sighed and waved to one of the other officers. He said over his shoulder, “Clark, try to keep these two out of more mischief, all right? Oh, yes, I’m going to be interviewing all the Frasiers, including your husband, Mr. Tennyson Frasier. Maybe it’ll scare them, make them do something else stupid. I understand you’ve already tried, got them all riled up. Now let’s see how they handle the law.” He waved toward the body bag containing Mr. Monk. “This wasn’t a bright thing to do.”
“Don’t forget Charlotte Frasier, Lieutenant,” Lily said, “and don’t be fooled by that syrupy accent. She’s terrifying.”
Hoyt said, “Then I’m going to wait until the lieutenant is through with them, wait until they’re nice and comfortable at their homes in Hemlock Bay again, and then I’m going to pay them a little visit and grill them but good. Savich has sent me lots of stuff. I’ve been speaking to some of our representatives in Sacramento, checking real close into Elcott Frasier’s financial situation. Lots of conflicting info so far, but there’s been a lot of flow in and out of his accounts there. Something will shake loose; it usually does. Oh, yeah, I heard that Elcott Frasier has hired Mr. Bradley Abbott, one of the very best criminal lawyers on the West Coast, to represent him and his family.” Hoyt rubbed his hands together. “This is going to be really interesting.”
As they drove back to Eureka, Simon was brooding. Lily recognized the signs. He looked single-minded as he drove, looking neither right nor left, saying nothing to Lily,