Last Valentine's Day Part Three

The case was closed. The District Attorney had charged Nick Amberly with the murder of Kathy Lockhart, and he was ready to go to trial. As far as everyone was concerned, it was over. Detective McClay knew he should be working on another case, but he wasn’t. Though all the evidence pointed towards Nick when McClay arrested him, now his sixth sense was ringing like an alarm bell.

Something’s missing, he thought. No doubt he drove her out there, but there’s no sign of a struggle. Why didn’t she put up a fight? Her case file seemed to have a permanent place on his desk, and for good reason. As many times as he opened it, he must have saved hours of work not having to retrieve it from the filing cabinet.

For the countless time, he opened it up. No question about it. She died of asphyxiation. It wasn’t what was in the report that made him wonder, but what wasn’t in it. No signs of being bound. No broken finger nails. No scratch marks on her hands. A minor gash on the forehead, but not enough to render unconsciousness. So, why didn’t she put up a struggle, even to get out of her grave? That was the unanswered question.

McClay looked at the toxicology report. Point 02 alcohol content. No narcotics. Negative for poisons. Slowly shaking his head, McClay closed the folder. There’s got to be more than that.

He picked up the phone and dialed the county forensic office. “Hey, Joe. McClay here.”

A familiar voice crackled over the phone. “Hey, Mac Daddy, it’s been a while. How’s your wife and my kids?”

Joe’s sense of humor was crude and a little offensive, but when it came to his job, he was the best. “I need a favor,” McClay asked.

“Oh ho, my man! It must be a big one. No How are you, or a smart comeback. So, what is it?”

McClay took a deep breath. “It’s about the Lockhart case. I need you to run more blood tests for poisoning. I know something’s there, but I can’t find it. Is there anything you can do?”

The pause on the phone seemed to last an eternity “The case is closed, man. If I run any kind of tests on her, heads are going to turn my way and then yours. If we can’t find anything, heads are going to roll” There was another pause. “You sure you want to do this?”

“I’m stuck over here. Everything points at Amberly and my Captain says that’s it. Every time I ask him to look further in the case, he shuts me down. Says if I can find more evidence, he would relook at the case, but at the same time, I can’t do more forensic testing, since the case is closed. That’s why I need your help.”

 “Catch-22, man. I hate that shit. Tell you what. I’ll do my best to keep it under wraps and run what I call a Heinz 57 variety of tests on her blood sample and see if anything sticks. If anything comes back positive, you can buy me a steak dinner. How’s that?”

A sigh of relief escaped McClay’s mouth. “You’re the man, Joe. Thanks.” After hanging up the phone, McClay re-examined the case file. As he looked at the bottom of the last page his stomach began to turn. There, at the end of the report were the names of three witnesses, who he never bothered to contact. Better late than never. He wrote down their addresses and ran out the door.

***

A cloud of doom hung over McClay as he drove down the road. Unfortunately for him, the first two witnesses he visited had nothing of importance to report, leaving all hope resting on the shoulders of the last one. He pulled into a driveway and exited his vehicle, an elderly stepped outside to greet him.

“May I help you sir?” she asked in a feeble voice.

“Ms. Thelma Blackburn?”

“You can call me Thelma.”

“Good morning, Thelma. I’m Detective McClay. I’m investigating the Kathy Lockhart murder case. I’m sorry, it took so long for us to reach you. You said you have something to report to us.”

“Well, yes, detective, I do. Let me start from the beginning. It was the afternoon of February 14^th. I was driving by the cabin, and I happen to notice a car parked out in front of it. At first, I didn’t think much about it but then I heard about the murder out there. When I tried to report it, I thought it was strange when no one at the police station contacted me, considering the car I saw wasn’t the same color as the one driven by that Nick fellow.”

 McClay’s heart skipped a beat. “Are you sure about that? It’s difficult to distinguish color especially at such a distance and the foliage blocking the view from the road.”

“Oh, I’m very sure, detective. I pulled up right behind the car in the driveway.”

As much as he wanted to believe her, McClay still had his doubts. “So, you just pulled up in the driveway, just to see who’s there?”

Thelma laughed. “You don’t know? I thought you were a detective. You see, I own the cabin, so I wanted to know who was trespassing.”

The next question barely passed McClay’s lips. “Did you get the license number?”

Thelma replied, “The cabin’s broken into several times each winter. When Spring comes around, I report all the damage to my insurance company, and when I do, I give them a list of whatever information I may have.” She opened a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper. “It’s the third license number on the list.”

There was no reason for McClay to run the number. He recognized it as Jack Lockhart’s. “Thank you, Thelma. I promise to get back with you on this.”

More news greeted McClay, as he drove back to the office. “Hey, Mac Daddy. Just thought, you’d like to know. The Heinz 57 test had a hit. Kathy Lockhart’s blood serum came out positive for TTX, Tetrodotoxin. It seems she was poisoned with pufferfish.”

“Thanks, Joe. You made my day.” Exhilarated by his new revelations, McClay hit the accelerator and sped to the office.

***

After squeezing one more shirt in his suitcase, Jack was finished packing. “Hey, Deb, you ready to go? It’s not everyday someone flies to Vegas to get married.”

A pleasant voice called out from the next room. “You might want to think about what you just said. I have a feeling people go to Vegas every day, just to get married.”

Deb is right about that, just like I was right about killing Kathy, when I did. He looked in the mirror and adjusted his tie. That part of his life was over with and now it was time to start a new one. Jack closed the suitcase and carried it to the doorway. “Come on Deb. The cab will be here any minute.”

“Hold on, big guy. I’m just checking my face. You don’t want me looking like a clown, do you?”

The urge to tell Deb to grow up or shut up swelled to a boiling point but seeing how close they were to leaving stilled his tongue. Deb’s getting more boring by the minute. Hope I won’t have to do anything about that.

At that moment, Deb walked into the living room. “Well? What do you think? Do I look like Ava Gabor or Bozo the clown?”

Jack lied. “Ava Gabor, of course.”

Pleased with his answer, Deb gave him a smile and looked out the window. “Why are police cars pulling up in our driveway?” she asked.

A moment later, Jack was watching with her. “I have no idea why they’re here.” His mouth uttered those words, but his mind said otherwise. I don’t know what they found, but it can’t be good. As he stood watching, Detective McClay stepped out of his car and proceeded to the front door. Before McClay could ring the bell, Jack opened the door.

“Jack Lockhart? I have a search warrant for your car. A tow truck will come shortly to take it away.” After handing Jack the warrant, he returned to his car and waited for the tow truck to come. As he sat there, he watched Jack peering out the windows every few minutes. McClay smiled. Oh, he’s scared, all right. I guarantee when forensics checkout the navigation system in his car, they’ll find it was at the cabin on February 14^th. That and the witness saying his car was there, will be more than enough evidence placing him at the scene of the crime. And then there’s the poisoning. There’s no feasible way Nick Amberly could have administered it without a struggle, and in fact, there was only one person who could have done it. Somehow, Jack dosed her and buried her alive.

He saw Jack staring out the window. Enjoy the view, Jack. It may be a long time before you see it again.

***

The cameras began to flash as the District Attorney approached the podium. “In light of the recent evidence we received, all charges against Nick Amberly are being dropped and at the same time, Jack Lockhart is being charged with murder in the first degree of his wife, Kathy Lockhart. Further information will be coming forth in the days ahead.”

A barrage of questions blared out, as the District Attorney walked away from the podium. Not once, did he turn to address them. Good for him, I thought. The last thing that the press needs is chum, to flare up their feeding frenzy. Enough people have already been harmed without their assistance.

McClay flipped the channel to ESPN and took a sip of beer. It was time to put the past to rest and enjoy the moment. Placing his feet on a footstool, McClay watched the game.