I shook my head. “I doubt it,” I said. “I think that was all on Shelley. Your father thought the best way to get rid of Chris was to buy him off with ten thousand bucks. I suspect there might have been something going on at the house that night that caused him to delegate Shelley to deliver the money. Right then, though, she was strapped for funds. She saw all that money and couldn’t bear to simply let it pass through her hands.”
Boom! Just like that, as the word came out of my mind, I made a critical connection between what had happened at the airport and what must have occurred on that cold March night in 2006. Shelley Loveday hadn’t driven home with Chris’s body in the back of her Subaru—not at all. Instead she’d driven him to the airport! I had no idea how she’d managed to transfer the body from the Subaru into the plane, but that had to be how she’d transported it from Homer to Eklutna Lake—by plane. Once the body had been loaded onto the aircraft, there would have been no reason for her to fly him out of town that snowy night. She would have waited for better weather. Then, at a more convenient time, she could have dropped the body off at or near where it had been found, landing on and taking off from the lake’s iced-over surface.
“If Shelley killed Chris,” Nitz was saying, “what about her husband? Was he in on it, too? Aunt Penny told me Jack Loveday committed suicide.”
It took a moment for me to change gears. “I doubt that Jack had any idea about what was going on. As for his committing suicide? That’s the general consensus, and it’s what the M.E. put on his death certificate, but several of the people I’ve spoken to over the past few days think that’s so much bunk, and I tend to agree with them.
“At the time of Jack’s death, he was at home recuperating from having his legs amputated after a plane crash, with Shelley supposedly looking after him, but I’m wondering about that. What if she was looking after him the same way she’s been looking after your father? The M.E.’s conclusion about Jack’s death was that he committed suicide by mixing too much alcohol with his prescribed meds. I’ve been told that his drink of choice was always tequila—as in straight shots of tequila. After tonight it’s not out of the question to think she might have added some of some extra meds to his usual evening nightcap, and he would have gulped them down without even tasting them.”
Nitz fell silent for a moment before concluding, “She really is evil, isn’t she?”
“Most definitely,” I agreed.
“Will she be convicted?”
“In connection with Jack’s death? Probably not, but with Chris’s you’d better believe Lieutenant Marvin Price of the Homer Police Department is doing everything in his power to make that happen. And speaking of Marvin, I should probably call him and see if he’ll give me a lift back to the hotel. It’s a little farther than I care to walk.”
“After all you’ve done for us today, I’ll be glad to take you,” she said.
“What about Jimmy?”
“I’ll have to wake him.”
“Are you planning on spending the night here?”
Nitz nodded. “There’s a foldout visitor’s chair in my dad’s room.”
“Why don’t you leave Jimmy with me, then?” I asked. “I have it on good authority that there’s a pullout sofa in my room at the Driftwood Inn. That’s bound to be more comfortable than sleeping on a love seat in a hospital waiting room. He can stay with me and sleep in a real bed. And I’ll be sure to feed him breakfast before I bring him back to you tomorrow morning.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” I told her. “As far as I’m concerned, nothing’s too good for Sue Danielson’s grandson.”
I don’t think Jimmy was even aware of being walked out of the hospital and loaded into his mother’s SUV. On the way to the hotel, with Jimmy sacked out in the backseat, Nitz asked a difficult question.
“What about a funeral?” she asked.
“It can’t happen until Professor Raines releases the remains,” I answered.
“What should I do about that? I mean, I’m not really his next of kin.”
“I think I should put you and Chris’s brother Jared in touch so you can work it out,” I said. “Why don’t I give him your number so the two of you can discuss it?”
“Okay,” she said. A moment later she added, “Should I see him?”
“See Jared?” I asked.
“No, Chris. Should I ask to see his body?”
When I had told the story, I’d stuck to the words “human remains” for a reason. I imagined that she envisioned a human skeleton neatly laid out in an understandable fashion. I’m sure Nitz had no idea that all that existed of the first love of her life was a glued-together partial skull. I wanted to shout to the heavens, For God’s sake no, don’t do that! In this case I went for understated elegance.
“I would strongly advise against it,” I said. “You’re better off remembering Chris as he was rather than the way he is now.”
“All right,” she said.
I hoped she meant it rather than simply saying the words she knew would shut me up.
“And about that funeral,” I added. “Once you and Jared decide on a mortuary, put me in touch with them. I’ll be happy to handle the funeral expenses.”
Nitz thought about that for a moment. “You really liked his mother, didn’t you?”
“I did more than just like her,” I said. “Sue was my partner. When you’re a cop, that’s a sacred bond. She saved my life more than once, and I’ll always regret not saving hers.”
“I don’t believe that what happened to Chris’s mother was any of your fault.”
That was easy enough for Nitz to say, but it wasn’t something that was easy for me to believe. I had many years’ worth of bad dreams and sleepless nights to prove it wasn’t true.
Chapter 36
When Nitz dropped Jimmy and me off at the hotel, I stopped by the desk to talk to Fred about the car-rental situation before going up to the room. I believe I’ve mentioned before that Homer is a small town. As it happened, the Driftwood’s night clerk was good friends with the guy who ran the Hertz operation at the airport. They were able to work out an arrangement to have a vehicle dropped off at the hotel overnight.
Once in the room, I pulled out the sofa bed, while Jimmy went to the bathroom to undress. I didn’t blame him for not wanting to shed his clothing in front of me. Fortunately Nitz had had the foresight to bring along a backpack with some of his clothing in it. Once dressed in pj’s, Jimmy fell into bed and was out like a light. Obviously his day of being a runaway had been a tough one for him.
Next up I called Marvin Price’s number. I expected he’d be wide awake, and he was.
“Any news about Roger?” he asked at once.
I passed along everything Nitz had told me.
“Anything else?” he wondered.
“As a matter of fact there is,” I said. “I had a brainstorm tonight. What if Shelley didn’t drive Chris’s body to Eklutna Lake?” I asked. “What if she used her plane? Maybe someone should check that for blood evidence, too.”