The Joy of Revenge

Chapter 129

CHAPTER 129 Suicide Note

The Sheriff

It was almost six in the morning when | got the call from Bismarck Police. It was a phone call | wasn’t expecting.

“Sheriff Nathan Combs, I’m Detective Carl Matthews of the Bismarck Police Department. I'd like to apologize for the hour, but there seems to be a series of untoward incidences that seem

to be linked to the small town of New Salem. The most recent being a shootout at the Huff

Hills mansion which intel says is owned by CMD Enterprises. | called the number listed. down and it was answered by a man who claims he’s the attorney of the CEO of the company, a woman named Cynthia McDowell, who happens to reside at Highland Oaks, New Salem. | was hoping you could get in touch with her and tell her to drop by the precinct. There are a few questions | need to ask her,” the man said.

“That’s not possible, Detective Matthews,” | replied, scratching my head, “Cynthia McDowell passed away last Sunday around midnight.” | heard his sharp intake of breath.

“That’s, uh, that’s unfortunate. Is there anyone else | could talk to? Her husband, a brother or

sister, maybe her son or daughter?”

“Her son is out of the country on vacation,” | told him. “No one knows when he'll be back.

Her husband has been dead for years and from what | know of her, she doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. I’m sorry if | can’t be of much help to yo

you.”

“No, no... you're helping me just fine, Sheriff,” he said.

“If there aren’t any more questions, Detective, | have work to do,” | said, hoping that was it. Apparently, there was more.

“Hold on, Sheriff... Before you hang up, | also called to inform you that we found a car at Elk Cliff, abandoned, registered to a Cris Murdock who | understand is a councilman of your town. We didn’t find anything inside except for a pair of shoes and a set of clothing in the trunk. Dashcam is missing and it seems the car’s exterior and interior have been wiped. clean. The people from our crime lab can’t find one single print. Engine’s cold... so we figure the car has been here all night. | have my men looking through the CCTV footage near the area and unfortunately, we haven’t found anything yet. Has anyone reported him missing?” “No, not that I’m aware of,” | answered. “I’ve been preoccupied with the investigation on the circumstances of the death of our former mayor as well as an ongoing investigation on the /6

CHAPTER 129 Suicide Note

murders of several others, assets of mine who was helping us bust a drug syndicate. We believe a Marla Lawrence together with a group of unknown assailants murdered our assets.”

gman

“Marla Lawrence... the name Marla was mentioned by a man we found injured at the diner several days ago,” he said, pausing to go through his little notepad. “Here it is, a young named Riley Harris. He was struck by a vehicle and is currently in the hospital, unconscious.” | closed my eyes, trying not to panic.

This was bad.

If Riley ever wakes up, there was a big chance he’d talk, putting everyone in jeopardy.

“| wasn’t informed Riley Harris figured into an accident there. I'll call his grandmother and

have him transferred here-”

“Sorry to interrupt, but it wasn’t merely an accident, Sheriff. Currently, he is under the custody of the Bismarck Police. We're hoping when he wakes up, he'll be able to help us with our investigation,” the detective said, starting to sound suspicious. “I called your office a couple of days ago and informed one of your deputies, a Deputy Randall Evans, about the incident. | was under the impression he notified you of the situation. Anyway, if it isn’t any trouble, I’d appreciate it if you could come by our police station. Any time is fine.”

“I'll see, Detective. I’m really busy. Maybe | can send someone else to answer all your

questions,” | replied, angry at Randy for not informing me about Riley. He was obviously sor

at me since | refused to give him more money.

“Sure, Sheriff. That'll be fine too. By the way, if you get in touch with Councilman Cris Murdock, tell him to come by the station so he can pick up his car,” the detective said.

“Thank you, Sheriff, and good day.”

This was just fantastic.

Riley Harris and Cris Murdock’s car were in Bismarck Police custody and to top it all off, they needed someone from New Salem's Sheriff Station to help with their investigation.

| dialed Cris’ number and it went straight to voicemail. | debated whether | should call Lisa.

It was too early and | didn’t want to alarm her if Cris was indeed missing.

There was only one person | could trust to handle the situation.

Jack.

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11:49 Tue, Apr 2 M GU

CHAPTER 129 Suicide Note

60%

“| got some bad news. | just got a call from Bismarck Police. They found Cris Murdock’s car abandoned near the side of Elk Cliff,” | said after he answered. He uttered a curse. “Do you know anything about this?”

“Lisa came by the station around four this morning to file a missing person’s report,” Jack answered. It was my turn to utter a curse. Cris is missing!

“Well, | need you to head down to Bismarck and while you're at it, inform Lisa,” | instructed.

“And ask Randy why in the hell didn’t he tell me Riley Harris is in a hospital in Bismarck.”

“Riley’s in the hospital? | spoke to his grandmother the other day and she said she didn’t know where he was,” he said, sounding frustrated. “Sheriff, if Riley talks, we're all going to go

to jail.”

“| know. I'll send someone to take care of him. In the meantime, | need you to put on a show and speak to Detective Matthews at the Bismarck Police Station.”

Sure. | just

need to finish my breakfast and head back to the station first. After | finish with

the Martins and their new attorney, I'll call Lisa and have her come with me to Bismarck.”

“Who is this new attorney?”

“Lincoln Murphy, the one who sprung Bo out after the Cynthia McDowell fiasco,” he

explained.

Vv

“| know him,” | said. “Take your time. The detectives at Bismarck said they’re in the wake of our investigation on the death of Theodore Cohen. Maybe I'll se station after we get this barn set up. We can’t be seen here at sunrise which is h

less than an hour. I'll contact Bismarck Police and tell them to expect you. And, of

forget, call the district attorney so the both of you can meet this Lincoln Murphy-”

| paused, noticing one of my deputies running towards me with his phone in his hand. “Sheriff, | just got a call from St. Elizabeth's. Seems there’s a dead body in their parking

Female.”

it

G od da mn it! This sh it isn’t going to end.

“Jack, you head on back to the station and wait for the Martins’ attorney and the DA. | gotta shuffle it back to St. Elizabeth's. There’s a dead body in their parking lot,” | said, informing him of our new case.

“Who is it this time?” Jack usked shocked.

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CHAPTER 129 Suicide Note

“| don’t know, but they say it’s female,” | answered. “It’s going to be another long day. | was hoping to go home and take a shower. Seems I’m not going to.” | sighed and ran my fingers through my oily hair. “Call me if you have trouble keeping Ford Martin in lock up. | don’t want that as shole out.”

“Will do, Sheriff,” Jack said and hung up.

“Men, that'll do,” | said, surveying the chairs and tables in the barn. | pointed at my deputies. “You two, take the crates back to Cohen Mansion and you three, you guys are with me.”

“Sheriff, what do you need us to do after we’ve unloaded the crates?” A deputy assigned to the crates asked.

“I need you to give this to the judge,” | said, handing him an envelope full of money. “Liam. doesn’t want Ford to make bail and sk ip town. Tell the judge, if he wants more, he knows who to call.”novelbin

By the time we reached the hospital, the sun was up. Several of my men from the station had cordoned the area off from the public and were trying to subdue the media.

| saw the medical examiner crouching down beside a woman's body. Her salt and pepper hair was twisted in a bun and she was wearing white coveralls with ‘Medical Examiner’ printed on

the back. She was a woman in her early fifties with light green eyes and soft features, something her daughter, Sarah Hughes, didn’t inherit from her.

| looked down at the dead body lying on the ground and recognized the face

Administrator Lindsay Hartman.

This just keeps getting better and better.

“Dr. Hughes,” | greeted the medical examiner. “What do we have here?” She stood up

walked towards me.

“Lindsay Hartman, aged 62, cause of death gunshot wound to the right temple. There’s stippling around the entry point consistent with suicide. Body’s still warm. | give time of death approximately around five in the morning... give or take. By the way, | found this in the pocket of her Chanel suit. It’s a suicide note. She handed me a folded sheet of paper. “I don’t know, Sheriff... It just seems so bizarre.”

“What do you mean?” | asked, putting on the latex gloves | have in my pocket and taking the sheet of paper from her.

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CHAPTER 129 Suicide Note

“She’s suppose to be retiring in a week or so,” she said. “I even spoke to her last week about retirement homes in Florida. She was thinking of moving to some place warm when she retired. But now... this. It seems so out of character.”

“The suicide?” | asked. Lindsay Hartman was a cold woman, alone and lonely. Her contemplating suicide was a possibility.

“No, Sheriff. Killing Theodore Cohen,” Dr. Hughes answered to my surprise. “It’s all there in that note. She confesses to injecting Theodore Cohen’s IV bag with a lethal co ck tail of digoxin and insulin. | mean, what did she have against Theodore? It doesn’t make any

sense.

“She what?!” | hurriedly unfolded the sheet of paper and quickly read its contents.

On the thin sheet of paper was Lindsay Hartman’s well-written confession as well as an apology for including Ford Martin in her plans, stressing there was no other way to kill Theodore Cohen. Although the suicide note was well crafted, Lindsay Hartman didn’t leave a reason why she wanted Theodore dead.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. This made things so convenient for Ford...

“You're right, Dr. Hughes,” | said gruffly. “Lindsay Hartman committing suicide doesn’t make any sense unless this was all done purposely.” Dr. Hughes raised her eyebrows at my sudden implication.

*Well, her confession absolves the hospital of any and all liability, Sheriff,” Dr. H pointed out. “As for Ford Martin, if he gets a really good lawyer, he can either be all charges or go to jail for maybe twelve months on involuntary manslaughter cha thing is, if you think about it, the pharmacist who dispensed the medication should liable as well. If the pharmacist isn’t held accountable for Theodore’s death, the same apply to Ford Martin. His attorney will definitely use that argument in Ford’s defense, charges against Ford will be dropped.”

“But there were text messages on his phone,” | argued.

“Which could have all been sent by Lindsay Hartman before she grew a conscience,” Dr. Hughes said. “It’s easy. All you need is an app on your phone.” | raised an eyebrow and looked at her skeptically. She bounced her head and rolled her eyes. “If this was truly a suicide.”

“I'll talk to the DA about the pharmacist, but twelve months for involuntary manslaughter isn’t enough. If | can’t get Ford for killing Theodore, I'll get him for sexual ha

THE

CHAPTER 129 Suicide Note

non-consensual por nography instead,” | told her. She sighed, nodding her head.

“If it isn’t one thing, it's another. A lot of the female staff at the hospital will be grateful. Well, I'll leave it up to you to inform next of kin, I'll call you if anything comes up from the autopsy. Have a good morning, Sheriff.” Dr. Hughes gestured to her team to put Lindsay Hartman's corpse in a body bag.

After taking a photo of the suicide note, | placed the note in a plastic bag and gave it to our crime scene operatives. “I want you to check this for fingerprints asap and have the lab examine if that signature is a forgery.” Then, | instructed my men. “Get this place cleaned up

and tell the media they'll get a statement later in the day. When you're done, divide yourselves into two teams. | need one team to search Lindsay Hartman’s home and another

to search her office and to look for her car.”

After giving my instructions, | quickly drove back to the station before the news of Lindsay Hartman’s suicide spread.

There was no way in hell I’d allow the Martins to win.

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