ONE TOO MANY - ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILE #9 Read online

  After a while Dan said, “You’re mad at me aren’t you?”

  “No Dan I am not mad at you. You’re right about everything you said. It’s me. I don’t know what I want or how to go about getting it so I just bottle it up and don’t think or talk about it. That’s why I don’t ever have successful relationships. I’m the problem. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t want a successful, good looking, considerate, fun guy like Ben Warman? The only one I can think of is that stupid Bartoni.”

  “Hey, don’t call my partner stupid. Mixed up maybe but never stupid.”

  I had to laugh. Dan was really trying to bring me out of my funk.

  “You do know that it’s also chemistry, right? Good looks and all of that only go so far but the chemistry has to be there as well or it will end up being a disaster,” Dan told me.

  “I realize that. The problem is I flunked chemistry in High School,” I replied.

  “Didn’t we all?” Dan said.

  EIGHTEEN

  The neighborhood was a really nice one with large homes on generous lots and kids playing outside.

  “This doesn’t look very promising,” I said.

  “Pretty nice digs. Not your usual place to take an abducted girl to,” Dan agreed.

  We pulled into a freshly repaved driveway and followed it a good ninety feet back to the house. The house was a brick two story that was immaculately cared for. The landscaping alone cost more than my house.

  “You’re sure this is the right place?” Dan asked.

  “That’s what it says,” I replied getting out of the car.

  We walked up to the beautiful inlayed stained glass door. Dan pushed the doorbell and we could hear deep chimes going off inside the house. No one answered. Dan rang again and knocked on the door.

  “Can I help you?” a voice said from behind us.

  I about peed my pants. I wasn’t ready for someone to sneak up behind us.

  “Uh, Mr. Baker? Matthew Perry Baker?” I asked as I recovered.

  “That would be me,” he said, “I hope you’re not selling anything.”

  “No Mr. Baker, we are not selling. I’m Detective Bartoni and this is my partner, Detective Roberts.”

  “Ah, I’ve seen you on television and in the papers. I must say you are even more attractive in person.”

  I wanted to say ‘I know’ or ‘quit bullshitting me’ but instead I said, “Thank you, that’s very kind of you.”

  “How can I help you? I assume this isn’t a social call.”

  “No sir it isn’t. We would like to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.”

  “Certainly. Please, come in and I’ll get us something refreshing to drink,” he said opening the front door.

  The place was absolutely spotless. Everything was in its place without so much as a cushion being crooked.

  “Nice place,” Dan said.

  “Thank you. I don’t need a place this big anymore but you know how the market is. I would lose equity in it if I sold it right now. Would you like lemonade or?”

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “I’m fine,” Dan replied as well.

  “If you don’t mind, I would like some lemonade; I was out working in the yard when you drove up.”

  “Please feel free, we’ll wait right here,” I said.

  He went off to the kitchen and Dan whispered, “Kind of a strange bird don’t you think?”

  “You’re just jealous because he didn’t say you looked good on TV.”

  He did a McGregor eye roll but didn’t say anything. Mr. Baker came back with is glass of lemonade and took a seat across from us.

  “Now, how might I help you?”

  “Mr. Baker since you saw me on television and in the papers you must be aware of the two missing girls.”

  “Yes. It’s all over the news. It’s practically all you do hear about.”

  “Yes well could you tell me why you were at or near the High School where the girls were abducted?”

  “I’m not sure I understand? I’ve been by the school on many occasions. I go to the mall over by the school and I like the pizza place a few blocks from the school. What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Well the thing is my partner and I found a battery out in the field. The lab report came back with your fingerprints on it.”

  “I see,” was all he said.

  “Can you expound on that just a little?”

  “Not really. I mean if you found it there with my fingerprints that seems very strange. Wait, I lost my phone about a month ago. I don’t know where exactly but it was a cheap one anyway so I just replaced it. I suppose someone could have tossed it in the field,” he offered.

  “This was just the battery,” I told him.

  He shrugged, “Then who knows? I sure didn’t throw it in the middle of the field. What would be the point?”

  “Mr. Baker, DMV says you own a dark blue van, is that correct?”

  “I own a van but it just blue. Sort of French Blue I believe it’s called.”

  “Where is it now?” Dan asked.

  “In the garage with the other cars,” he said taking a sip of his lemonade.

  “Would you mind if we had a look at them?”

  He frowned and said, “What is this all about? Do you think I had something to do with the girls’ disappearances?”

  “Sir, we are just checking all possibilities. The battery with your fingerprints on it is a lead that we are following up on.”

  “I see. Maybe I should call my attorney,” he said setting his drink down.

  “You have every right to do that. Why you would need an attorney is beyond me. What do you think Detective Roberts?”

  “I guess I would call him if I had something to hide.”

  “That’s it. That’s going far enough. I want you out of my house. You come in here hinting that I’ve done something I wouldn’t even dream of doing and expect me to just sit there and let you talk to me like I were a criminal. That ‘only if I had something to hide’ is so overused you should be ashamed for even bringing it up. Now I would like for you to leave.”

  “Yes sir. We will go but you aren’t doing yourself any favors,” Dan said.

  “Get out,” he said standing up and pointing to the door like we had forgotten where it was.

  **

  “It was going pretty well for a while,” Dan said.

  “I don’t know. I think the guy is pretty slick. He’s just a little too smooth. The ‘get out’ part was more for show than anything else.”

  “So you think he is our guy?”

  “I don’t know but he certainly didn’t eliminate himself. I mean after all unless he had a body in the van what harm would it have been to let us look?”

  “Maybe it was something in the garage that he didn’t want us to see.”

  “There is that. That would be pretty foolish though and I don’t see him as a foolish person,” I replied.

  “You’re probably right. His digs aren’t exactly a good place to keep someone captive.”

  “Well here we are again. Sniffing at anything and everything and getting no closer,” I lamented.

  “Maybe we should bring him down to the station and try to talk to him again.”

  “And what would accomplish? Punish him by making him pay an attorney to whisper sweet nothings in his ear and charge him five hundred bucks an hour.”

  “It would serve him right.”

  “I don’t see the need for that besides why waste our time as well?”

  “He could have said I looked taller or better looking in real life,” Dan said.

  “Oh for heaven’s sakes you big baby!”

  “Well, he could have.”

  And they talk about how vain women are. Good gracious, men are every bit as bad if not worse. Of course I wanted to pull down the mirror and check my lipstick but thought better of it under the circumstances.

  NINETEEN

  Dan and I were back at the butt ugly precin
ct headquarters. It looks like it was designed by a drunk who had been on a three day binge and was still hung over. If it wasn’t the ugliest building in the city, it was a close second.

  I was rather surprised to see flowers on my desk again. I cautiously opened the card in case Ben had decided that I needed anthrax to straighten me out. All it said was ‘Sorry’.

  I had to ponder that. Sorry about last night? Sorry he was through with me? Sorry he had ever met me? What the heck does ‘sorry’ mean in a situation like this?

  “What did you learn?” McGregor said coming over to my desk for a change.

  “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. It started off pretty well. He had a fairly reasonable explanation for the battery being out in the field but it went downhill quickly when I asked to see his garage and to look at his van.”

  “Downhill?”

  “He threw us out and said he was going to get his attorney involved.”

  “Oh hell they all say that. He isn’t going to start paying an attorney until he absolutely needs to,” the captain said.

  “I know that but you can see how it put a damper on any further cooperation. We have nothing to really link him to the crime. His house is big and located in the high rent district so he isn’t holding anyone there I don’t think. Maybe we just struck him the wrong way.”

  “Okay, that’s out of the way. Now give me the Bartoni gut reaction.”

  “He is hiding something. Maybe not kidnapping and murder but something isn’t quite right. His body language changed dramatically when Dan gave him the usual line about needing an attorney.”

  “Got a plan of action?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Do I want to know about it?” McGregor asked.

  See that’s what I mean about him as a boss. He lets us hang ourselves rather than holding us back all the time. He knows we realize there is a line that can’t be crossed and that we are professional enough to know when we have gone far enough. Not many bosses are like that.

  “Maybe it would be better if you didn’t know everything at this point.”

  “Good enough for me. I’m going to lunch.”

  “Enjoy.”

  He waved as he headed down the stairs.

  “Hey,” Dan said jumping up, “I’m starved too.”

  “Let me go to the bathroom and then we can grab a bite to eat.”

  “Just hurry. My stomach is eating my backbone.”

  “Yeah, you look like you won’t make it another hour without food.”

  **

  We went to a bar-b-que joint that Dan thinks is just fabulous. I tolerate it. Actually I don’t get the whole concept but then it seems like there are a lot of things I don’t get lately.

  “What do you make of this?” I asked handing over the card that was enclosed with the flowers from Ben.

  He looked it over and I saw his eyebrows rise as he read it.

  “Humm.”

  “And that means what?”

  “Well, I guess it could mean a couple of things. You said you guys had a rather strained conversation. At least that’s how I’m interpreting what you said. So he is either saying sorry this isn’t going to work or sorry I probed too deeply and upset you. It came with beautiful flowers not a bunch of black roses or anything like that. If I had to guess I would say he is sorry he pushed you so hard last night,” Dan said devouring half of his sandwich in one bite.

  Geez, the shark in Jaws couldn’t take any bigger bite than that. I’m thinking I need a bigger table.

  “I can sort of see that. Heck I don’t really know what’s going on to be truthful.”

  “Angie, this is so unlike you. You just aren’t the type to fold under pressure. Come on. Just tell him like it is and let the chips fall where they’re gonna fall. You’re becoming a mess dealing with Ben like this. Sit down and get it all out in the open. Pull no punches, like the real you, and then see what happens.”

  I thought for a minute while Dan downed the rest of his sandwich, stole my pickle and scarfed it down. I expected the plate to disappear next but he showed some restraint.

  He was absolutely right. I just needed to sit down with Ben and let it all out. Right now we were going nowhere fast so what could it hurt?

  **

  When we got back to the station I went to see Eric our go-to guy when we needed to dig information out. He was our resident computer nerd. I can Google and do the basics but when I want the real deep background information, Eric is the man I go to.

  “Hey Eric.”

  “Bartoni. What do you want now? Wait. First, is this official or am I risking my job again?”

  “Oh come on Eric. That’s a tad dramatic.”

  “Like heck. Should I remind you of all the borderline illegal searches I have done for you.”

  “Probably not. Look, this one is on the up and up.”

  “Right. You always say that.”

  “Just hear me out. All I need you to do is to find out everything out there in cyberspace about a guy named Matthew Perry Baker. Where he works, his past history, any prior arrests going back as far as you can. Where he has lived in the past. You know, the usual dirty laundry.”

  "Is this a red ball or can I finish what I am working on?” Eric asked.

  “How long will it take?”

  “A couple of hours,” he replied.

  “Yeah it can wait. He isn’t going anyplace anyway but if I could eliminate him it would be a big help. He seems okay on the surface but I have a hinky feeling?”

  “Okay, give me a couple and I’ll get on it.”

  “Thanks Eric.”

  “Always a pleasure,” he replied.

  Eric was definitely a strange bird but I can’t count the number of times he has gone out on a limb for me. He was only partly kidding about me putting him at risk with his job but he has always come through for me. The other thing about Eric is that he is a lot like me in that once he has an assignment he simply does not give up. He would never settle for a surface scan. He will dig and dig until he has squeezed the internet of every last drop of information.

  TWENTY

  “Here is something that is kind of interesting,” I told Dan.

  “What?”

  “Heather and Alyssa both had the same boyfriend. Not at the same time but he was dating Alyssa and broke it off and started going with Heather,” I told him.

  “Okay so what? I mean that happens all the time in High School. Alyssa was a straight A student and pretty prim and proper from what we have learned. Heather was a lot more advanced. She had a totally different personality. She got out in front of crowds and jumped around doing some fairly sexy moves judging from the videos we reviewed.”

  “Oh heck, they all do that now days.”

  “I know, I’m just saying, different personalities.”

  “That’s true but I think we need to have a talk with this young man.”

  “You be the boss lady. Let’s go do it.”

  “Let’s” I replied.

  **

  After a bit of a runaround we finally located Marty Bailer as he was walking off the basketball court at the High School’s outdoor facility.

  “You’re Marty Bailer?”

  “Maybe, who wants to know?”

  I held up my badge.

  “Okay, so?”

  “We want to ask you a few questions about your relationship with Alyssa and Heather.”

  “What about it?”

  “Well for one thing. You were dating Alyssa and then broke up with her. Then you started going with Heather. First of all what caused the break up with Alyssa.”

  “Dude, that’s personal.”

  I looked at him for a second. He had that ‘I’m so damn cool’ look about him. Now that’s not against the law but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to slap him into next week either.

  “Well here’s the thing Marty. One turns up dead and the other is missing. You are a common thread. See where I’m going here?”

 
; “Hey, it’s no big deal. Alyssa was nice enough but kind of a nerd. She was pretty straight-laced. Heather was in a different grove and I liked where her head was at.”

  “So you dumped Alyssa. How did that go?”

  “Duh. She didn’t dig it much. I mean I was the best thing she had had and she blew it.”

  “She wouldn’t put out.”

  He shrugged.

  “Am I right?”

  “Dude, that’s my business.”

  “I’ll tell you what is my business,” Dan said, “About one more ‘dude’ and you’re going to find your butt hanging out of that basketball hoop. Got it dude?”

  “Yeah. I got it.”

  “So were you with Heather the night she disappeared?”

  “We hung out some while she was waiting for practice but I got bored and took off.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “Just places.”

  “You had best do better than that,” I told him.

  “Heck I don’t remember. Uh, I went to the mall for a while then I think I went to Arby’s and ate. After that I went home.”

  “I need times.”

  “Oh man.”

  “Times,” Dan said.

  “I left Heather about 6:30 p.m. Went to the mall. Saw some friends and hung with them for a while. Left there around 8:00 p.m. and went to Arby’s. I ate inside then went home.”

  I handed him a note pad and pen, “Write down who you saw at the mall. Was anyone at home when you got there?”

  “My parents.”

  “We’ll talk to them as well.”

  “Ah man, do you have to? My old man is such a hard-ass. He will think I had something to do with this.”

  “We’ll explain to them that this is how we eliminate any potential suspects.”

  “Whatever,” he mumbled and started writing.

  **

  Heather lay on her side after he was finished with her. He had gotten mad at her once and beat her pretty badly. She knew her lip was split open and she would probably have black eyes. There was no doubt that he was totally crazy.

  One minute he would be telling her how beautiful she was and how much he enjoyed being with her then he would just explode over the smallest thing and before she knew it he would start hitting her.