“Do you know if Carl told them about Susan’s death and the missing children?”
“I doubt it. That would put his mother in the grave for sure. I don’t think he dared tell them.”
“Thanks, that helps.”
Sharkey looked up the names and found an address for them and a phone number. Sharkey picked up the phone and dialed the number. A man answered.
“Mr. Nelson Abbott?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“I’m Detective David Sharkey from the Key West Police Department. I’m looking for the parents of Carl Abbott from Miami.”
“That would be us. What does the Key West Police want with Carl?”
“I’m sorry to inform you that the body of Carl Abbott was found this morning.”
“Carl…are you sure?”
“I talked to him as recently as yesterday. It’s him. We have his ID, and the medical examiner confirmed his fingerprints today. I know this is a great shock. Our Human Resources Department will be in touch with you shortly to go over details and follow up on any questions you may have. I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“I can’t come there, and my wife is too ill to even know about this.”
“I understand. Natalie Stone from our office will be in touch and she can help you.”
“Thank you. I’ll wait for the call.”
“I’ll be in touch with you as we get more information about the case.”
Sharkey hung up and his heart sank. “Man, this is not good.”
Jenny walked over to Sharkey and sat down.
“I know those calls are the worst.”
“Yeah. His folks are not in the best of shape to know all the details. Thank goodness we have a wonderful person in Human Resources to help.”
* * *
Sharkey applied for a search warrant for the hotel room of Carl Abbott after they found his dead body in the canal.
Sharkey got the copies of keys they found on Carl’s body and went to the hotel and opened the hotel door with his key card for the room. He went to Carl’s suitcase and opened it. He took pictures of the contents. Inside was his computer on top of his folded clothes.
Sharkey placed the computer in a box that he had brought for evidence and looked through the clothes. In the zipper compartment he found a wad of receipts for restaurants in Key West. He looked at where he had been and checked the dates and noticed that they went back to the day before the murder of Susan Abbott. That he found interesting.
Sharkey went through the papers in the compartment. There were receipts for gas and lodging in a bed and breakfast here in Key West for the night of the murder. Then he moved to the Galleon Resort the next afternoon. He had dinner receipts for that day, too.
There was a map of Key West and several places were marked. One was Government Road.
There was a receipt from a gas station in Marathon on Highway One the day after the murder.
He called and had Carl’s car impounded and asked that forensics do a complete workup on the car.
Taking the suitcase and computer with him, he put crime scene tape over the door and took the evidence to the crime lab.
“Here we go, Sharkey. This is the cell tower that picked him up the night he claimed he was in Miami. When you called him the next day he was actually on Marathon. The next call he made was in Miami to a number in Miami. Then he called your number, Sharkey, and it was from Miami. Then later, another call from Key West. These are all his calls from Key West.”
“Thanks, that helps.”
Sharkey called Frank again. “Frank, when you went over Susan Abbott’s body did you find any identifying marks on her besides the cut and bruise under her chin?”
“Some scratches on her arms where she ran into the bushes.”
“I believe that it’s possible that her husband Carl murdered her. But I have no proof. Now he’s dead. I’m up the creek with no paddle.”
Frank frowned. “That said, I’m not sure anything that I found will help. Sorry.”
“No. Don’t be. Facts are facts. Thanks.”
Sharkey then checked the results from the lab for Carl’s car.
The lab going over his car found hair samples, trash that included two pop bottles with Carl and Stephanie’s fingerprints, candy bar wrappers, blonde hair in the back seat, possibly from a child. Maps, registration papers, flashlight. A pair of men’s gloves. The floor mats on the driver’s side had dried sand. The shoes in his suitcase were tennis shoes with a sculptured bottom but no rock or coral rock.
Sharkey reread that last item. He smiled.
“Jenny, I think I have something.”
Jenny walked around the desk and looked over his shoulder.
“No coral rock…in his car.”
“I want to call Miami and have them check Carl Abbott’s house looking for hard soled shoes or boots and looking for blood and coral rock remnants on them. If we find them, that could be conclusive enough to nail him for Susan Abbott’s murder.”
Sharkey made the call to Miami and was told they would search Abbott’s home.
* * *
Jenny Springfield had made a fresh pot of coffee and was sitting staring at the murder boards. She had added a picture of Abbott on the top left-hand corner of the board above a picture of Abbott’s body with pertinent information regarding the area where his body was found. Sharkey joined her.
“This is a real mess,” he said. “The kids’ only effective relatives are Harris and his ex-wife.”
“Maybe we should talk to her.”
“Good idea. But I think we should talk down here. She’s not telling us everything she knows about Carl Abbott. That’s interesting because he could have killed Susan.”
