She drove to the end of the block and headed past Shades of Ink Tattoo shop where she spotted Steve standing on the stoop and waved. One of these days, she needed to pop in to say ‘hi’ but not today. She had murder on her mind.
Mercedes turned into the alley and almost collided with a police car that was blocking the alley. She swerved around the car and spotted several uniformed officers digging through their dumpster.
Chapter 19
Carlita stood near the back of her building and watched as two men wearing white jumpsuits and rubber gloves rummaged through her trash bin. While the men searched the dumpster, two others stood on the other side holding trash bags. “You’re not gonna find a single thing in our dumpster to implicate my daughter in Jon Luis’ death.”
“We’ll be the judge of that,” Detective Wilson said. “We have to follow up on every tip, every lead.”
“You’re gonna waste your time because some bozo called in an anonymous tip telling you Jon Luis’ murder weapon was inside our dumpster,” Carlita said. “Who would know that, other than the killer?”
“What if your daughter confided in a friend? There’s a reward for information leading to an arrest. People turn in criminals all of the time.”
Mercedes parked the car and hurried to her mother’s side. “What’s going on?”
“Someone called in a tip that Jon Luis’ murder weapon was in our dumpster,” Carlita said.
“That’s crazy,” Mercedes sputtered. “Only the killer would know where the murder weapon is.”
“We’ve already gone over that. Detective Wilson seems to think you confided in someone, told them you tossed the weapon in the dumpster and they turned you in to collect a reward.”
“Five grand.” Detective Wilson shoved his hands in his pockets.
“You can’t search our dumpster without a search warrant,” Mercedes said.
“Your mother gave me permission.”
“Because there isn’t anything in there,” Carlita said.
“We got something, Wilson.” One of the men stuck a gloved hand in the air and began waving it.
“I’ll be right back.” The detective stepped off the stoop and hurried to the bin.
“Tell me this ain’t happenin’,” Mercedes groaned.
“I wish it wasn’t.” Carlita squinted her eyes. “Looks like a gun. Let’s go.”
Carlita and Mercedes jogged to Detective Wilson’s side.
“That’s not mine.” Mercedes watched the detective slip on a pair of gloves, place the weapon in a plastic bag and seal it shut.
“It matches the make of the murder weapon. We’ll have to do some testing.”
“I’ve been setup,” Mercedes said. “Someone is trying to frame me for murder.”
Detective Wilson gave Mercedes a quick glance, but remained silent as he waited for the investigators to finish digging through the trash.
“The rest of the dumpster is clean, Wilson,” one of them finally announced.
The men crawled out of the dumpster and began tossing the bags of trash inside.
“I need you to wait over there.” Wilson pointed to the stoop before he made his way over to the crime scene van.
“I can’t believe this,” Mercedes groaned.
“Me neither. I never would’ve given them permission if I had the slightest inkling there was somethin’ in the dumpster,” Carlita said. “Why you? I don’t get it.”
“It’s the perfect setup. Whoever did Jon Luis in totally set me up. They know who we are and if the cops do enough diggin’ around, they’re gonna put me in jail and throw away the key.”
“Not if I can help it,” Carlita said.
The detective slowly made his way over. “Our preliminary examination indicates that the weapon we found in your dumpster matches the weapon that killed Mr. Luis. Just between you and me, I don’t think you’re dumb enough to go around telling someone you shot Jon Luis and that you tossed the weapon in your dumpster.”
“I’m not and I didn’t.”
“We’ll be sending the gun in for analysis. In the meantime, please don’t leave town.”
“I won’t,” Mercedes promised. A sudden thought popped into her head. “Wait.”
The detective turned.
“When did you get this so-called anonymous tip?”
“This morning, a few hours ago.”
“That’s interesting,” Mercedes said. After he left, mother and daughter stepped inside the apartment building. “I gotta tell you something. I’ll wait until we’re home.”
Mother and daughter tromped up the stairs and into their apartment.
Mercedes closed the door behind them. “No one in the author group knew I was back except Cricket. The others thought I was still in New York. Ma, I told Cricket everything. I was sure she wasn’t Jon Luis’ killer. Now I’m beginnin’ to think I was wrong.”
“You’re sure?” Carlita asked. “A hundred percent sure she’s the only one who knew you were still here in Savannah?”
“I can’t be certain, but I think so. That’s why I asked Detective Wilson when he received the anonymous tip. It was right around the time I stopped by The Book Nook and left a message for Cricket, asking her to call me. The store worker saw me. He wrote my name on a Post-it note and told me he would let her know as soon as he saw her. She called me not long after I left the bookstore.”
“You’re thinkin’ she somehow found out you were here, brought the murder weapon by, tossed it in the dumpster and then called the cops?”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. She said she was out running some errands. Cricket knew all about George Delmario, knew all about the Madison Square / Herbert Honeycutt death.”
Mercedes tapped her foot on the floor. “I’m still not sure about the Russian connection.”
“Maybe it was the Russians,” Carlita said. “They got nervous cuz they heard Warren Paulson was going to start pointing fingers, so they took him out. Now, years later, they’re probably still workin’ the area, heard Jon Luis was investigating the case and did him
