Sarah, I’m guessing she’s visualizing a big bull’s-eye on the other woman’s forehead.
Katrina, on the other hand, has the same calm, refined expression her brother Aaron has. Her face reveals nothing and I’m at a loss to gauge how difficult or easy it will be to work with her.
With introductions out of the way, Aaron turns his attention back to me and says, “It’s a sad thing that brings all of us here today. I understand you have found the bodies of our father and his wife, Bitsy.”
“Based on evidence we found with the bodies, it does appear that way,” I tell him. “But I’m not sure if their identities have been confirmed yet.” I look over at Izzy, who is standing behind Cass’s desk. He looks like he wants to run and hide somewhere, but to his credit he takes a step closer. After swallowing so hard that his Adam’s apple looks like the weight on one of those strong man things at the carnival, he introduces himself and volleys this first question.
“I’m Dr. Rybarceski, the medical examiner. I performed autopsies on the victims we found and can tell you that the bodies have been identified as those of Gerald and Bitsy Heinrich.”
“Can you tell us how they died?” Aaron asks.
“It appears they both died of injuries sustained in the motor vehicle crash. That’s only a preliminary finding, however, as we still have some test results we are waiting on.”
“Were they killed instantly?” Katrina asks. Sarah shoots her an evil look that impresses me. That stare could melt icebergs.
“It doesn’t appear so,” Izzy says carefully. “There was evidence to suggest they both survived the initial crash, but I can’t be sure how long at this point.”
The evil stepsiblings all exchange pointed looks and then Grace fires away with another question. “Can you tell which of them died first?”
Izzy takes a deep breath before answering. “Perhaps we can once we analyze all the evidence a bit more. But at this point I can’t answer that question.”
“Well, when can you?” Grace asks, sounding impatient. “We need to know.”
“It will probably take a few days at least,” Izzy says. “Maybe longer. We need to analyze certain fluids and examine, um, the insect activity.”
If anyone has any concerns that the idea of bugs munching on the dead bodies of their parents would bother anyone in this group, we are quickly enlightened.
“Well, get on it then,” Grace says irritably, and the others all nod. “Do whatever you need to do with what you’ve got and get us an answer.”
Izzy looks like he wants to snap back at the woman but to his credit he manages to maintain his composure. “May I ask why this information is so important to you?” he asks.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Grace says, rolling her eyes and placing her perfectly manicured hands on her hips. Aaron holds one hand up to shush her and smiles at Izzy.
“It seems there are some issues with the wills,” he explains. “As you may or may not know, Bitsy wasn’t my father’s first wife. I think he knew some of us didn’t approve of her or their arrangement so when he married her he changed his will. Now it says that if he dies before Bitsy, she inherits the bulk of his money. But if Bitsy precedes him in death, the money goes to us, Gerald’s children.
“Bitsy had a will as well, and it states that her entire estate will go to her children, Sarah and Tom.” He gestures toward the two-some as he says their names, then sighs heavily. “There are millions of dollars at stake here,” he says, turning his gaze on me. “And where that money goes will be determined by who died first. If Bitsy survived the crash longer than my father did, then she inherits his money and it all goes to Sarah and Tom. But if my father survived longer, it goes to us. You see our dilemma here?” He bestows that charming smile of his on me again and I find myself smiling back before I know what hit me. To add to my delight, Hurley sees it and his scowl deepens.
Izzy says, “I can’t promise you that we’ll be able to distinguish the times of death with the degree of accuracy you need. Often the best we can do is narrow it down to a chunk of hours.”
Sarah is the one to roll her eyes this time and she stomps her foot in anger. “Goddamned spoiled rich brats!” she mutters. “You don’t need the money. The trust fund your father set up already gives each of you an annual income that’s greater than most people will see in a lifetime. You’re just being greedy.”
Katrina glares at Sarah and grits her teeth. Grace says, “It’s not your money to begin with, you stupid bitch. Your mother was nothing but a cheap gold-digging whore who bewitched my father so she could get her hands on his money.”
“My mother is not a whore!” Sarah screams.
“You’re right,” Grace says, smiling smugly and catching Sarah off guard. “At least not anymore. All she is now is worm food.”
“Fuck you!” Sarah screams. She launches herself at Grace, grabbing a chunk of that dyed-perfect hair. Katrina jumps to her sister’s defense, which forces Tom to abandon Easton and join the fray to assist his outnumbered sister. Easton watches for a second, shrugs, and then joins the melee.
The air fills with shrieks of anger and a cacophony of cuss words. Within seconds the group becomes a blur of swinging hands, kicking feet, ripped clothing, and flying chunks of hair. The two uniform cops do their best to break it up and regain control but it’s clear they have their work cut out for them. Then one of them heightens the interest by taking out his Taser.
Aaron, Hurley, and I step back toward the desk out of the way seconds before the Taser fires. The prongs fly out and bite home accompanied by the electrical static noise of 50,000 volts of electricity. Someone screams—it’s a low, male sound—and falls to the floor. The ploy is successful; the group immediately grows quiet and breaks up, distancing themselves from the victim.
I hear Hurley mumble “dumbass” under his breath just before the group parts enough for me to see who got fried. There on the floor, his body rigid with agony, is Taser cop’s uniformed partner.
Chapter 24
An hour later we have managed to clear out the various members of the Heinrich-Conklin debacle and I’m sitting in the office library with Izzy, Hurley, and Bjorn, who has just made it onto my hit list by finding and eating the pint of Ben & Jerry’s I had hidden in the break room freezer.
“I’ve got all the insect evidence from the bodies collected,” Izzy tells us, “but the only forensic entomologist in the state is on vacation and won’t be back for another four days. I can try to find someone else but I’m not sure how long it will take so it may be a while before we can get any data.”
“Great,” I say. “Somehow I don’t think patience is a strong suit for anyone on either side of that family. I don’t understand why they can’t just work it out between themselves. Hell, there’s plenty of money to go around. Why not just split it up evenly between all six of them?”
“Because that would make too much sense,” Izzy says. “The more money these rich people have, the more they want.”
“Frigging spoiled rich people,” Hurley mutters. “I hate them.”
His comment cheers me at first because I suspect it might be driven by his jealousy toward Aaron. Then I remember the rumors I’ve heard about Hurley’s past. Prior to coming here he worked as a homicide detective in Chicago. But a brusque run-in with a well-connected, rich man whom Hurley suspected of killing his wife cost Hurley his job, even though the man was later arrested and convicted of the crime.
“Well, I’m ready to switch gears and get back to focusing on Shannon’s case,” I tell the group.
“Speaking of which,” Hurley says, pulling a slip of paper from his jeans pocket. “That shrink gave me a list of names for the patients who had appointments on the day of Shannon’s murder. They all agreed to talk to me as long as they wouldn’t have to testify.” He unfolds the sheet and shows it to us. I recognize five of the names, including Jackie’s, and note that Hurley has made checkmarks beside all but one of them.
“What do the checkmarks mean?” I ask.
“It means I’ve spoken with them and verified their appointments. The only one I couldn’t reach was the noon appointment, this woman named Catherine Miller,” he explains, tapping a finger next to the name. “But since we know Shannon was killed sometime after noon, I don’t think it matters. The shrink’s alibi is looking pretty solid. So
