Long Shadows

Chapter 41

L​ater that day Decker was sitting in his hotel room reading over the latest report from the medical examiner. It was Alan Draymont’s DNA on the sheets, towels, and washcloths. That meant he and the judge were having a sexual relationship. And they both died after a night of sex.

Andrews had confirmed Barry Davidson was on the Zoom calls when he said he was. And if Tyler was telling the truth, his alibi for his father made it clear that Davidson could not have killed his ex-wife. There just wasn’t enough time in the firm window they had to work with. And even if you added some time on either end of the TOD, it would have been too tight to get to Cummins’s place and back. And Decker didn’t see Barry Davidson as capable of murdering his wife and then calmly getting on a Zoom call with clients. But even with the unusual frenzied killing, the hit man angle was still a possibility. Andrews had said he would have information on Davidson’s financial records soon.

He glanced at his phone. Maya Perlman had sent him the emails detailing the messages from Gamma. Alan Draymont had been one of the security personnel assigned to them, among others. Alice Lancer was not on the list, however.

And then, as confirmation of his theory, Roe emailed that Julia Cummins had not contracted with Gamma for protection or even made an inquiry about such services. And yet Draymont’s name had been given to the security people by Judge Cummins as an authorized person, so he could come and go at any time. That made sense if they were seeing each other.

He texted Andrews and told him about Roe’s email.

Andrews texted back that neither Davidson’s Mercedes nor Tyler’s BMW had accessed the gate on the night of the murders.

Well, that made sense if Barry had hired someone to do the deed.

He called White in her room and filled her in.

“She never hired Gamma? So how did she and Draymont hook up?” she asked.

“Let’s head back over to Cummins’s house. Got some things to check.”

They cleared security and drove to the judge’s house.

Decker had a key for the police lock that had been placed on the front door. They entered and White said, “What do you want to look at again?”

“Everything.” He leaned against the wall of the foyer. “Now we know Draymont wasn’t officially guarding the judge. He was here on his own dime.”

“Then why did they stonewall us at that meeting then? They could have just told us that in the first place.”

“Roe might not have known that Cummins hadn’t hired them. And if she did know she was probably wondering what the hell Draymont was doing at Cummins’s home. She probably didn’t want to commit one way or another until she saw how things played out because it could adversely affect her company.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense. She’s a sharp lady.”

“In Roe’s email, she said his work records showed that Draymont had been taking some time off, but he’d also been doing some daytime assignments in Fort Myers.”

“So presumably he might stay overnight with Cummins when they were together? He was there late that night.”

“Possibly. Roe didn’t mention Draymont requesting a hotel room or anything like that as a business expense. There are probably official channels at Gamma you have to go through for that. And if he had required housing they would have just used someone from the Naples office to cover the assignment in Fort Myers.”

“But Trevor Perlman said the judge asked him about Gamma. He took that to mean she was looking for security.”

“That’s right. And at their lunch she told Tyler that she was having security protection. He told his dad about it. Barry texted the judge to ask her about it but she never got back to him.”

“So, she lied to everybody?”

“Maybe she didn’t want Barry to know she had a new boyfriend, so she made up the story about needing protection and told Tyler, knowing that he would tell his dad.”

“Well, apparently everyone knew she was dating Dennis Langley.”

“We don’t know that for sure. Maya Perlman just knew there was someone but didn’t have a name. Doris Kline, maybe her closest friend, knew his name, but Julia swore her to secrecy. And he never came to her house, at least by his own admission. And if he’s to be believed, they only had sex at Langley’s house, and once went all the way to Miami to do it.”

“But who would care about her having sex with either Draymont or Langley?”

“Her ex-husband, for one. And, despite what he said, Langley might have a problem with getting dumped and then replaced by Draymont. And we have to check his alibi with his new girlfriend, though she might have a motive to lie for him.”

“They picked up his gun and did the ballistics. It wasn’t a match for the weapon that killed Draymont.”

“I know. Andrews texted me. But Langley might have more than one gun. And if he did kill Draymont, no way he gives us that gun. The murder weapon might be in the ocean.”

“Langley said he thought she was afraid of something or someone, Decker.”

“That’s if Langley was telling the truth. If she was really afraid, why not hire protection? Which she didn’t. But, as I said before, I think she was afraid of someone, too.”

“But you think whoever killed Draymont didn’t kill the judge. So, at least with your theory, those crimes aren’t connected.”

“Not connected at one level, but maybe at another.”

“Damn, Decker, you’re making this really complicated.”

“If it is complicated, then I’m just laying it out accurately. Let’s go to the bedroom first.”

They headed up the stairs and looked around.

Decker leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Something was bugging the crap out of him. And then, as he draped, one over another, the layers of conversations they’d had with third parties, along with facts uncovered, a startling inconsistency occurred to him.

Thank you, superpower.

He opened his eyes. “We went to Gamma after Draymont was killed. We wanted to know why Draymont was here. We assumed he was guarding the judge, right?”

“Right,” replied White.

“They told us they couldn’t reveal anything pending a review by their counsel. But we pushed it.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So they brought in Alice Lancer to talk to us about the matter.”

“But she fainted dead away and then got taken from the hospital by two fake cops.”

Decker nodded. “But now we know that the judge never contracted with Gamma or even made an inquiry about hiring them. So why did they bring Lancer in to talk to us about something that never happened? What could Lancer possibly tell us?”

White looked confused. “I... she... Damn, that doesn’t make sense.”

“The woman who brought her in said that Lancer would be able to provide us information about Draymont. She didn’t specify anything about Draymont being assigned to guard the judge.”

“I don’t remember the exchange exactly,” said White.

“But I do. So we need to check with Gamma and find out why Lancer, out of all the people there, was picked to talk to us.” He pulled out his phone and punched in a number.

“Who are you calling?”

“Kasimira Roe,” replied Decker.

“She won’t tell you anything. That lady hides behind the lawyers.”

“I think she might talk to me this time... Kasimira? Yeah, it’s Decker. Look, I went over your father’s file, talked to Danny Garcia, and I have some thoughts and leads I’m going to run down. But on my case, I need an answer to a question.”

He asked about Lancer.

“Right, yeah. Okay... Is that right? She did? All right, yeah, thanks. I’ll be in touch about your father. Thanks again.”

He clicked off and looked at the floor.

“Well!” snapped White. “What did she say?”

Decker glanced up at her. “Gamma didn’t pick Lancer to talk to us. Kasimira said that Lancer approached the associate Kasimira sent out of the meeting and told her that she could help with the inquiry.”

“You mean she basically volunteered to come and meet us?”

“Yeah, but she didn’t meet with us, did she? She pulled her fainting act before she said a word, and now she’s disappeared.”

White looked thoughtful. “So she might have seen us come in, anticipated what we would ask about, and then seized the opportunity?”

“But why come forward and then disappear? Why not just slink off into the shadows and we’d never know of her involvement, since Gamma wasn’t protecting the judge?”

“Did Roe say why Lancer came forward?” asked White.

“She didn’t know for sure, but she said that Lancer and Draymont worked closely together at Gamma. He was the field guy and she was a supervisor. But still, Lancer could have just kept silent. There would be no reason for us to question her.”

“But if she wanted to get away she might pull a stunt like that.”

Decker said, “But why not wait a bit and then just announce you’re moving or taking a new job or retiring to go paint landscapes in Tuscany? Why do it that fast?”

White replied, “Because after what happened to Draymont, she was afraid the same thing would happen to her. She had to act fast and seized on the opportunity of our being there.”

Decker looked at her with respect. “Freddie, I think you might be right about that. Nice work.”

She smiled at him.

“What?”

“First time you called me Freddie. I like how you say it.”

Decker looked around the bedroom. “I’m thinking Draymont bought it in the study, then his killer left right away. Then the second person comes in, sees Cummins kneeling next to the dead Draymont, chases her upstairs, and kills her.”

“So the second killer was there and also seized an opportunity?” said White.

“He might have seen Draymont go down and then he goes after his real target, the judge.”

“Or she. Could Alice Lancer have killed Draymont? Maybe there was something between them we don’t know about. They might have been more than coworkers. Remember that Lancer’s neighbor recognized Draymont as being at her house a lot. She thought they were dating.”

“And then Lancer left Cummins alive to tell on her?”

“Your theory of two killers is not as plausible as Lancer having killed both of them,” noted White. “She uses a gun with Draymont because he was a big, strong guy and she didn’t want to take a chance of him overpowering her. Then she waits for Cummins to come downstairs, maybe to check on the noise the shots might have made. When she does, Lancer attacks Cummins with a knife, chases her all the way upstairs, and kills her right here. If Lancer and Draymont were lovers, maybe they had a falling-out and Lancer went all jealous when she found out about Cummins. It could happen. That would explain the frenzy of the attack on Cummins.”

“And Lancer stuffs old Slovakian money down Draymont’s throat?” said Decker.

“She worked at Gamma, she would know of the connection. It’s a distraction only. Same with the cut-up blindfold and the ‘res ipsa’ bullshit.”

“Well, if we can find Lancer, it might clear a lot of things up.”

“Let’s hope we do.”

He said, “Now, let’s just check the study.”

They trooped downstairs, and into the room where Draymont’s body had been discovered.

They both stopped so abruptly, they bumped into each other.

The electric blue light was slamming Decker from all corners.

They had just found Alice Lancer. However, she would not be telling them a damn thing.