Sassafras, Part 80

Rick


I could already connect Sneider and Stapleton to Santo’s disappearance, maybe his death. All I needed was to find out if Stapleton and Hollywood were the same person. Just because Stapleton was involved in the same fight as the man I was looking for didn’t mean he was that man. Maybe they were partners. I searched for any other complaints brought by Martin and found two others filed the same day for the same incident. Luckily, the other officers didn’t have parents as considerate as Stapleton did. There was a lot of information in their files. They both gave statements naming Stapleton as the man who attacked Martin. That pretty much connected all the dots as far as I was concerned.

By then it was time to hit the road. I called Boyd to give him the good news.

“Boyd.”

“Good news old man. Are you at your office yet?”

“Pulling in right now. What do you have for me?”

“Well, for starters I have statements from two other officers naming Stapleton as the man who Matt called Hollywood. Check your e-mail. I sent you enough evidence to connect Stapleton to both murders, and Sneider to Santos’s. You need to bring in Matt and question him.”

“Okay, okay. Hold your horses. You don’t need to tell me how to do my job. I had a hunch I was going to be heading to Sassafras. Already booked a hotel room in Bond for tonight. I’ll go over everything you sent me before I go. I want to stay away from the police or the sheriff’s department until I know for sure who’s dirty and who’s not, but I’m definitely going to talk to Matt.”

“How much longer until all this is over?”

“Small town life not agreeing with you?”

“I’m worried about Jenny’s sister, Joan. Sneider’s got a bug up his ass about her. I don’t think she’s safe. I’d really like to get her and her nephew out of town.”

“Now, just wait until I get a chance to talk to Matt. I don’t want you spooking anybody. Hopefully I’ll have a statement by tonight and this will be over by morning. Think you can wait that long?”

“I don’t guess I have any choice, do I?”

“Just be patient. You did good work, Rick.”

“Yeah, well it isn’t over until the fat lady sings.”

“I hear her warming up already.”

“I hope so.”

I left early, but the highway was still so bad I barely got to my PO’s office on time. At first I was pissed at how slow everybody was going, until I hit the first slick spot. I guess the locals know what they’re doing. Still, I counted three cars on the side of the road on the way in and the snow was still coming down. Then, of course, I ended up having to sit in the waiting room for a half hour. He’s not a bad guy, but doesn’t go out of his way to be nice. I guess he’s just overworked because he never has any idea who I am. This was the fifth time I’ve seen him and he didn’t even know my name.

He asked the usual questions. Am I still working at Purina? Do I still live at the Monte Vista? Have I been in any trouble? Then he told me my file was picked for a random drug screen. I tried to talk him out of it. Not because I wasn’t clean, but my crime wasn’t remotely connected to drugs, and I never tested positive while I was in prison. I didn’t see why I had to piss in a bottle now, but he said there was no getting around it. Rules are rules and all that. So he followed me to the bathroom and watched me take a leak.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket almost as soon as I got in his office, but I couldn’t answer it. When I got out of the building I checked to see who called. I smiled when I saw Joan’s number. Then I heard the voicemail she left and almost had a heart attack right there on the sidewalk.

“Hi, Rick!” she bubbled with excitement. “I have the greatest news. You’ll never guess. Billy found something on Jenny’s blog, an entry she never finished. Remember that drug dealer? That guy they found in his trunk? She knew who killed him! It was Sneider! She had evidence she was going to take to the sheriff’s department, but he must have found out somehow. I’m going to call Officer Stapleton, the guy she was supposed to meet, and show him the picture Jenny had. And don’t get mad at me for snooping. Billy found it, it wasn’t me, honest. I’ve been good.”

Shit, fuck, and holy crap! I had to dial twice because my finger twitched the first time, but finally I heard it ring. Please, God, let this be a nightmare. Let me wake up and start this day all over again. Finally she answered.

"Joan, this is important. Did you already call Officer Stapleton?"

"Yes."

Fuck. “Did you use your cell phone?"

"Yes."

Thank God. At least Sneider hadn’t heard it. “What did he say?"

"He said he'd meet me at the car wash at noon. Why? What's going on?" I looked at my watch. That was less than 15 minutes. It just gets better and better.

“You can’t go to the car wash, Jenny. Last night Matt said Stapleton killed Jenny.”

“What!” I could just imagine the look on her face. “You, you…Rick! Matt told you who killed Jenny and you didn’t bother telling me anything? You knew all last night and never said anything!”

“Hold on, hold on. I got Matt talking last night and all he said was that somebody he called Hollywood did it. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to find out who Hollywood was before I said anything.”

“You should have told me, Rick!”

“I couldn’t. If I told you anything you would have run right down to Tanner’s and started interrogating Matt. You know you would have.”

“Well maybe I would have found out more than you did.”

“And maybe he would have clammed up. What then?”

“We could have gone to the police.”

“And said what? To who? Hollywood could have been anybody, Joan. All I knew was he was a police officer and he wasn’t Sneider. That doesn’t really narrow it down, does it?”

“You still, you should have said something,” her voice shook as she talked. “You should have trusted me,” she whispered.

“I do trust you, Joan. Maybe I should have told you last night, but I know you. You wouldn’t have been able to stay home after I told you what Matt said. I couldn’t take that chance. I’m sorry. I didn’t find out who Hollywood was until right before I left for my PO meeting. I didn’t want to tell you what he said over the phone. I’m not going to. I’ll tell you everything he said when I get back, but you can’t go meet Stapleton.”

“But why would Stapleton want to kill Jenny? He didn’t even know her.”

“He knew Sneider. Look at the picture, Joan. He’s the man on the left, leaning against a car.”

There was a moment of silence. “How do you know who’s in the picture, Rick?”

Oh, shit. “Just trust me, Joan. I’ll explain everything when I see you.”

“Rick, how do you know who’s in the picture?”

This was going to get ugly. “I’ve seen it.”

“When? How?”

“It doesn’t matter, Joan. I swear, I’ll explain everything as soon as I see you again, but we don’t have time right now. You’ve just got to trust me. You can’t stay there. When you don’t show up at the car wash he’ll be looking for you. You've got to get out of there, now. Don’t wait for me, just get Billy and leave. Don’t take Jenny’s car. As soon as he realizes you’re not going to show he’ll start looking for it. Do you know someplace close where you can hole up that nobody will think to look for you?”

“Yes, I know a place.”

I waited a second, expecting her to tell me where, but all I heard was silence. I tried telling myself the only thing that mattered was that she was going to get out of there, but when I realized she didn’t trust me enough to tell me where it felt worse than that fiery slap she gave me Friday night. “But you’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“No. Not until you tell me the truth. The whole truth. I don’t know if you’re lying to me, or just not telling me everything, but you’re up to something. I can feel it.”

“Okay, okay. It’s probably better if you don’t tell me. Just lay low. I’ll call you when I get to town. Don’t trust anybody. And definitely stay away from all the cops. They are dirty. I should have told you a long time ago. I’m sorry, Joan.”

I heard her huff into the phone. “Yeah, that makes two of us,” she said and hung up.