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“Marking the spots?”
Oliver held up some small orange cones with numbers on them.
Decker said, “What have picked up?”
“Mostly fast-food sandwich wrappers and junk from the roach coach. S.I.D. is on the way. So are a couple of investigators from the Crypt.”
“If it’s a construction site, where’s all the activity?” Decker asked.
“No activity because they’re waiting for the framing inspector to sign off. The appointment was for four o’clock in the afternoon. The foreman, who’s name is Chuck Tinsley, arrived here first and was going over the property just to make sure everything looked okay. He was waiting for the contractor and the architect to come down when he discovered the body. He called 911, then immediately called the contractor, who is on his way.”
“Where’s Tinsley?”
Marge pointed to a black-and-white. “He’s ensconced inside. Should I get him?”
Decker nodded as his gaze continued to fix on the swinging corpse. His thoughts were meandering to several places, and none were good.
CHAPTER SEVEN (#ulink_4c9aca54-95d9-56ac-abba-4acda502a24b)
THE BACK PASSENGER door to the cruiser was open, a uniform standing in front of the space, keeping watch over her charge as well as the set of wheels. If Decker squinted, he could see a figure huddled in the backseat, his arms wrapped around his body as if his arms were straps on a straitjacket. As Decker approached the car, he nodded to the police officer and pointed to the open door. The cop bent down and spoke to the huddled man. When he emerged, Tinsley was average height, a tank of a fellow with long, muscular arms, dark eyes, a strong chin, and a face of controlled stubble. The officer led him to Decker, who glanced at her tag.
“Thank you, Officer Breckenridge, I’ll take it from here.” He extended his hand to the foreman, whose complexion was ashen behind the darkening of beard. He had brown eyes, a Roman nose, and thin lips. His hair was a nest of cowlicks. He appeared to be in his thirties. “Lieutenant Peter Decker.”
“Chuck Tinsley.” His voice was deep but held a slight tremble. “This is…I’m a little freaked out.”
“I do this for a living and I’m a lot freaked out,” Decker said.
Tinsley laughed nervously. “If you see a pile of vomit, it’s probably mine.”
“How’s your stomach now?” Decker asked.
He held up a soda can. “Someone was nice enough to give me this. I think it was the lady cop. I’m a little confused.”
Decker pulled out his notebook. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“Nothing much to tell. I came early to clean up before the contractor arrived.” He bit his lip. “I saw the body.”
“Can we back it up for a minute?”
“Sure?”
“When did you get to the site?”
“Around quarter to.”
“Quarter to what?”
“Oh, quarter to two. One forty-five.”
“And when were you supposed to meet the contractor.”
“Around three-thirty, four.”
Decker looked at his watch. It was nearly three now. “You came early?”
“Yeah, to clean up. You know how it is with construction crews,” Tinsley said. “They throw their shit all over the place. I try to get them to clean up at the end of the day, but if it’s been a hard one, I let it go. It’s easier to clean up by myself when they’re not here. That’s what I was doing. With the inspection coming, you need a clean site.”
“So you came at one forty-five and…what did you immediately start doing?”
“Cleaning up stuff. Picking up nails, piling up loose lumber, gathering up tools left behind, throwing away trash…lots of trash.”
“Did you have a trash bag with you?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Where is the bag now?”
Tinsley’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Not sure. Probably I dropped it when I saw the body.”
“When you noticed the body, how long had you been at the site?”
“Maybe five minutes. I saw a lot of flies and figured there was a pile of dog shit that I needed to clean up. Not that I see a lot of dog shit inside the house, but I figured what else could be attracting so many flies?”
“Then what did you do?”
“I think I found a plastic bag or something to pick up the shit with. After that, things got fuzzy. I think I mighta screamed. Then I barfed. Then I called 911 on my cell.”
“You also called the contractor?”
“Yeah, I called him, too. He told me he was running late, and hopefully he’d make it before the inspector. But then I told him about the body and that I called the police and that he should cancel the inspection.”
“Then what did you do after you called the contractor?”
“I don’t really remember…the police showed up a couple of minutes later. Someone told me to wait in the car and that someone would be with me in a moment. I said I was feeling a little sick and someone got me a can of soda. And that’s that.”
Decker said, “Did you touch the body at all? Maybe feel for a pulse?”
Tinsley turned green. “I mighta. I don’t remember too well.”
“Did you get a good look at the face?”
“I just glanced at it…her. It didn’t even look human.”
“Did you recognize her as someone you know or have seen around the area?”
“Tell you the truth, I didn’t look that long.”
“Could you glance at the body another time, just to see if you can identify her?”
“I suppose so…”
Decker led him over to the corpse. Someone from the coroner’s office had given the go-ahead to cut her down. She laid her on a gurney with a sheet over her head. S.I.D. was printing her hands. Decker gently removed the blanket to expose the face. It was still red and puffy, but a bit less distorted.
The foreman stared at the face for a few seconds, and then averted his eyes. He appeared to be holding down his stomach. “I don’t know her at all.”
“Thank you for trying.” Decker guided him away from the scene, the two of them walking toward the cruiser.
Tinsley gave a sick smile. “At least I didn’t heave this time. When can I go?”
“We’re almost done,” Decker told him. “I’d like you to write down exactly what you told me, including that you don’t recognize the corpse.”
“Uh, sure. No problem.”
Decker handed him a tablet of yellow lined paper. “You can sit in the police car while you write. I’ll take the soda can if you’re through with it. Do you want another one?”
“Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind.” Tinsley handed the can to Decker.
“It’s not a problem. Could you also give me the contractor’s name and cell number?”
“His name is Keith Wald. I have to check my cell for the phone number because right now, I’m too shaken to remember it even though I’ve dialed it a thousand times.”
“I’ll check your cell for the number. As a matter of fact, would you mind if I looked your cell phone over? I’d like to get the exact times of the calls you made.”
“Sure.” Tinsley handed him the phone. “You can even look over any of the numbers I used. That’s what you want to do, right?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
“I guess it’s natural to suspect everyone. Most of my calls are business, but there are probably some to my friends. I’ll tell you what number belongs to who. Anything, as long as it takes my mind off of that.”
Tinsley pointed to the house, assumedly to the body in the house. A moment later, Decker espied a mustachioed, dark-haired man charging across the lot, escorted by Officer Mary Breckenridge. The man’s face was all seams, ruts, and pits, with a strong cleft chin and a head of dark thick curls. His eyes were hooded by a jutting brow and he was walking bowlegged. He stood around five eight and seemed to be in his late forties.
“That’s the contractor, Lieutenant.” Tinsley yelled and waved his arms. “Yo, Keith! Over here.”
“What the hell happened?” Wald broke into a jog. “What’s going on?”
Decker said, “Officer Breckenridge, why don’t you escort Mr. Tinsley into the cruiser so he can write down his statement.”
“Yes, sir.” Breckenridge gently nudged Tinsley forward. “This way, sir.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Wald said out loud. “I need to talk to this man.”
“You can talk to him after you talk to me.” Decker introduced himself.
Wald stuck out his hand. “Okay. Could you tell me what the hell is going on? Chuck said something about a body hanging from the rafters.”
“What else did he tell you?”
“That it was a woman. God, that’s horrible.” Wald checked his watch. “The city inspector is supposed to come in about an hour.”
“You’re going to have to cancel that,” Decker said. “No one is allowed on the premises until we’re done.”
“The homeowners are going to blow a gasket. We’re already a couple months behind. Not my fault. Homeowners keep changing their minds.”
“Could I get the names of the homeowners?” When Wald winced, Decker said, “They’re going to find out. It’ll be best if it comes from someone official.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Grossman—Nathan and Lydia. He’s a doctor, so I mostly work with her.”
“Do you have a phone number?”
“Yeah…hold on.” Wald checked his BlackBerry, his mustache twitching as he moved his upper lip. “Here it is.”
Decker copied the number on his notepad. “What can you tell me about them?”
“He’s around sixty, she’s younger…maybe forty. They have two teenage boys—fifteen and thirteen. I think he also has a son from another marriage. God, this is awful!”
The dead woman seemed older than her teens, so the boys didn’t pop out as primary suspects. Still, they needed to be looked at. “How old is the son from the first marriage?”
“I have no idea.” Wald blanched. “Why are you asking?”
“Routine questions. I’ll want to contact everyone associated with the spot,” Decker said. “Do you know his name?”
“No.”
“I’ll get it from the homeowners. Could you to come take a look at the body? See if she looks familiar to you?”
“Me?”
“We don’t have her identification yet. Maybe she’s someone in the neighborhood.”
“I don’t spend a lot of time checking out the ladies. When I’m here, I work.”
“If you’d just take a look at her, I’d appreciate it.”
“Oh God.” Wald heaved a sigh. “All right.”
“Thanks.” Decker walked him over to the crime scene and for the second time in ten minutes uncovered the sheet to reveal the face. She was still bloated and purple, but her features were recognizable as those of a young woman. He could now clearly make out the deep purple ligature mark that had cut into her neck at the Adam’s apple.
He could now say with confidence that the corpse wasn’t Terry McLaughlin.
One less thing to deal with…or more to deal with. Terry was still missing.
Wald gagged and slapped his hand over his mouth. “Never seen her before.” He turned tail and walked away.
Decker covered her face and caught up with Wald. “Thank you for helping.”
“Was that really necessary? Now I’m gonna have nightmares.”
“Did you call the inspector?” Decker said.
