ALL THE DEADLY LIES
by Marian Lanouette
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: 2/27/2018
Homicide detective Jake Carrington takes murder personally…
The victim was bludgeoned, stripped, and left for dead.
Shanna Wagner deserves justice—and there’s no
better cop than Lieutenant Jake Carrington to find her killer. The
brutality of the crime reminds Jake of his sister’s murder
seventeen years ago, and the remorseless man responsible, now up for parole.
Shanna Wagner deserves justice—and there’s no
better cop than Lieutenant Jake Carrington to find her killer. The
brutality of the crime reminds Jake of his sister’s murder
seventeen years ago, and the remorseless man responsible, now up for parole.
Then another woman is killed—and Jake
goes dangerously close to the edge. He’ll have to face his personal
demons and focus his formidable skills if he hopes to stop a vicious
murderer from striking again—and hold on to his career, and his life . . .
goes dangerously close to the edge. He’ll have to face his personal
demons and focus his formidable skills if he hopes to stop a vicious
murderer from striking again—and hold on to his career, and his life . . .
Chapter 1
“Sergeant, in my office, please.”
Captain Shamus McGuire stood at attention in his doorway, all six-feet-four
inches of him. His steel-gray hair cut to military precision focused one’s
attention on his matching gray eyes.
Homicide Sergeant Jake Carrington of
the Wilkesbury Police Department looked across his joined desk to his partner,
and lifelong friend Louie Romanelli and shrugged. Louie threw him a questioning
look as he adjusted his tie and started to rise from his chair.
“Just Jake, Louie,” the captain said as
he turned into his office.
Jake picked up their latest case file
to update the captain and walked in to join McGuire.
“Take a seat, Jake.” The captain
pointed to one of the two institutional-gray ones in front of his desk. He took
off his glasses and massaged his forehead.
Though Jake preferred to stand, he took
the less beat-up seat on the right. The room was a monument to the man, all
spit and polish. Sparse furnishing with a few awards and medals hung on the
walls. Paperwork in precise piles, a picture of his family, the standard
computer and phone were all he had on his desk. McGuire’s appearance and stance
spoke of his military background and warned his cops he took no crap from them.
It wasn’t like him to stall but that’s exactly what he was doing at the moment.
McGuire turned his smoky eyes on him.
Jake went on alert. Something was up, something big.
“Captain?” Instincts had Jake bracing
for what came next.
“Spaulding’s coming up for parole
again. And this time he’s requesting a DNA test before he comes before the
board.” Jake’s stomach curdled. McGuire continued, “He’s also requesting the
DNA samples from your sister’s crime scene be tested against his sample.”
“What bullshit, Shamus.”
Jake jumped up, roamed the office. His
mouth went dry. Deep down he was afraid the old samples somehow wouldn’t match
and would set Eva’s killer free. This new development would split his
attention. What could Spaulding gain from this maneuver? To catch a killer, you
had to get inside his head. Did Spaulding assume the system would release him
if he got a new trial?
He looked out the window and studied
the downtown area as he ran every scenario through his mind. This was his town,
though imperfect as it was. He and Eva had been born here of immigrant parents.
Its one hundred thousand residents depended on him and those who had come
before him to protect it.
Outside of his tour of military duty
overseas he didn’t venture far from it, a good city, though down on its luck
since all the manufacturing jobs went overseas. Wilkesbury recently had the
distinguished honor to be named one of the top five saddest rust belt cities.
And it’s the one that was farthest south of the belt. In its glory days,
nothing could touch
Wilkesbury. Most of the crime in the
city came from the twenty percent of the Wilkesburians living under the
national poverty level. The city had its mix of people, businesses, homeless,
shoppers, and kids. More kids claimed the downtown area since UConn had put a
branch right across the street from the station. Today some of the kids wore
shorts to celebrate the hot weather. Last week it was in the forties. Today the
temperatures hit the seventies. New England, you gotta love it, he thought.
Clearing his mind, he focused on The
Palace Marquee. Next month Johnny Mathis would be here for two days. He thought
it a monument to the citizens of Wilkesbury when private citizens and
businesses raised the money to save the Palace. It had been closed for eighteen
years. The last performer had been Tony Bennett in 1987. Bennett had opened the
newly restored theater in 2004 and it was still going strong. Jake loved the
old theater. It brought back good memories from his childhood. The grand old
theater done in the tradition of the Met was a step back in time. Since it had
been refurbished it drew some big-name performers and plays. It’s
about time we got something decent in the downtown area, he thought. Murders
were down in recent years but overall crime continued. Eva’s death was the
reason he became a cop instead of going
on to play pro ball after college.
Turning from the window, he walked back
to stand in front of Shamus’s desk. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the last part,”
Jake said.
“The sperm gathered at the time of the
autopsy was preserved, and with new technology he has the right to ask for the
testing.”
“When will it happen? I want to be
there through the whole process from collection to testing to make sure there
aren’t any switch-ups.” What a way to start a Monday.
“It hasn’t been granted yet. His lawyer
is working on the request,” McGuire stated.
“When will it happen?” Jake rubbed his
temples where a headache was forming.
“The board acts in their own time. I’d
say toward the end of the month. I’m behind you, as is the entire department,
Jake, to make sure Eva gets justice.”
Jake paced the room. Seventeen years
and it seemed like yesterday.
“When they took him out after the
trial, Spaulding whispered to me he’d done it and enjoyed every moment of it,”
Jake said. It was a moment in time he would never forget.
There were nights after the trial he
dreamed up ways of killing Spaulding, making him suffer as much, if not more,
than Eva had. Even today, when his moral code screamed there was no
justification for taking a life, he understood deep down in his soul that, if
given the chance, he’d remove George Spaulding from the face of this Earth and
not look back. Captain McGuire’s voice floated back into his head. Jake felt
shame standing in front of Shamus with thoughts of murder in his head. If he
did kill, what would separate him from the ones he hunted every day of his
life?
“As a cop, you and I both understand
the evidence is what convicts, along with a smart prosecutor. Spaulding’s
lawyer has petitioned the court. Even if the DNA isn’t a match, it wouldn’t get
him an immediate release. There was other evidence putting him at the crime
scene. And there was an eyewitness who saw him push Eva into his car. All it
will get him is a new trial. If I remember this right, all of the evidence
pointed to him. Have faith, Jake.”
“Faith? Is that what I should tell Eva?
Oh wait. I can’t. Because she’s dead!”
The captain ignored his outburst. “If
he goes to trial I promise we’ll reopen the case and work it along with our
current files. But, you can’t touch the file when we do.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“No, it’s not. If we want the chain of
evidence to remain pure you can’t touch it. I’ll respect and appoint whoever
you want to work it,” McGuire said.
“Louie.”
“It can’t be him either.” McGuire held
up his hands before Jake could interrupt him. “He’s too close to you.”
“What’s not to say any of the men in my
department aren’t too close to me?”
“Whoever you pick will have a state
trooper working with him.”
“You don’t trust your own men?”
Aggrieved, Jake threw up his hands.
“Do you want answers?”
“Shamus, I already got my answer. I’ve
no doubt Spaulding is guilty,” Jake said.
“Then this is the best way to handle
it. When we catch the killer, it will ensure a conviction,” Shamus said.
Jake pushed a hand through his hair.
The air thinned, cutting off his next breath. “I need to get out of here.”
He rushed from McGuire’s office. At his
desk Jake grabbed his car keys and ignored Louie’s questions. He didn’t trust
himself to speak. The pit of his stomach burned. What if the DNA didn’t match
Spaulding’s?
Damn, he wanted to punch something. No,
not something. He wanted to punch out Spaulding.
I swear if they release
him—I’ll—I’ll kill him.
“Jake, wait up.” Louie Romanelli followed
him out of the bullpen.
“Not now.” Jake kept walking.
Louie caught up to him and grabbed his
arm as he would a suspect and twirled him around. If he wanted to, Jake
could’ve decked him. They were evenly matched in height and weight. Instead, he
stood rigid. “Talk to me,” Louie said.
“Give me a couple of hours to pull
myself together. We’ll meet at my house later if you can. In the meantime, work
the Wagner case. I’d hate not to give the Wagners the answers they need.” He
didn’t bother to mention the case was similar to Eva’s that, he too needed the
closure.
“Tell me what’s wrong. Did McGuire fire
you?” Louie’s olive complexion whitened as he asked the question. His dark eyes
searched Jake’s face for an answer.
Leave it to Louie. For the first time
in over a half hour, he laughed. “No, I’m not fired. Spaulding’s up for parole
again and has requested new testing.”
He stared down his friend as Louie
processed the information. If it wasn’t for Louie and his family during the
weeks and months that followed Eva’s death, he wouldn’t be standing here today.
How different we are, Jake thought.
Louie, married for seventeen years to his grade-school sweetheart, now had
three kids. He, on the other hand, liked being single. Side by side, though
they matched each other in height, his skin tone paled next to Louie’s dark
Italian coloring.
“Shit.”
“Go back to work. I’ll talk to you
later.”
Jake walked away with his head down and
his mind spinning out in every direction. No matter what Shamus said, he owed
it to Eva to find the answers.
It’s my fault she died.
A self-described tough blonde from
Brooklyn, Marian Lanouette grew up as one of 10 children. As
far back as she can remember, Marian loved to read. She was
especially intrigued by the Daily News crime reports.
Tragically, someone she knew was murdered. The killer was never
found. Her Jake Carrington thrillers are informed by her admiration
for police work, her experience in running a crematorium, and her
desire to write books where good prevails, even in the darkest times.
Marian lives in New England with her husband.
Brooklyn, Marian Lanouette grew up as one of 10 children. As
far back as she can remember, Marian loved to read. She was
especially intrigued by the Daily News crime reports.
Tragically, someone she knew was murdered. The killer was never
found. Her Jake Carrington thrillers are informed by her admiration
for police work, her experience in running a crematorium, and her
desire to write books where good prevails, even in the darkest times.
Marian lives in New England with her husband.
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