Ardmore Green Page 10

  Chapter 23

  “Thanks for agreeing to chat with me again,” said Zeke. “We won’t take long.” He was sitting in a swivel chair in a conference room on the twenty-third floor of the Penn Acquisitions building, across from Roger Gordon.

  “Again?” asked Tiffany Gordon, who was sitting about as far away from her husband as the small room would allow.

  “We spoke with Mr. Traynor before,” said Roger, “when Will and Susie were murdered. Well, right after they were killed.”

  “Who is ‘we’?” asked Tiffany in an acidic voice.

  “Well, Seth and I,” Roger started.

  “You let Seth talk to the police without...” she started immediately.

  “We had a lawyer...” Roger quickly cut his wife off.

  “He’s a child, for God’s sake,” she said and paused. “You’re a moron, Roger.”

  “So, back on point, we’re still investigating the murders,” said Zeke, and smiled as everyone looked at him. “As well as Carrie McCarthy’s disappearance.”

  “I don’t see how we can help,” started Tiffany. “We certainly don’t know anything about the murders.” She shuddered. Tiffany Gordon was a short, thin woman of about forty years with auburn hair cut in a trendy, layered cut and accented with complimentary lowlights. She wore wool slacks and a matching navy blazer, with an off-white blouse and black close-toed pumps. The initials on her purse were those of a famous designer.

  “We don’t think that you do,” said Zeke in a friendly tone. He smiled at Mrs. Gordon.

  Kimmy, sitting between Zeke and Mrs. Gordon, hopped up and grabbed a bottle of water from an ice bucket on the credenza. She held it up toward Tiffany with a smile and mimed, “You want one?”

  Mrs. Gordon nodded, a temporary truce.

  “We need to go back over this in light of the seriousness of the crimes, in hopes that you may remember something that could help us find Carrie,” Zeke continued.

  “Well, we didn’t know those children that well. They were friends with Seth, is all,” Tiffany said. “I can’t remember them coming over to the house.”

  “Has Seth said anything in the past couple weeks that seemed odd to you?”

  “Like what?” asked Tiffany, growing defensive again.

  “Here’s the situation. We’re looking at a young girl who ran away and ended up staying at your daughters’, Anne and Amy’s house.”

  “I didn’t know that,” said Tiffany.

  “She was there a couple weeks ago. It was Susie Lopper, before she died,” said Zeke.

  “Oh,” said Tiffany.

  “And then, the two kids were murdered and put in a dumpster in Ardmore,” said Zeke, “which, as I understand it, almost never happens around here.”

  “I know about that,” said Tiffany. “It’s terrible. I saw it on TV.”

  “And another girl, another 14-year-old, is presently missing,” Zeke said.

  “So there’s a connection between all this?” she asked.

  “We think it’s possible,” said Zeke. “One common denominator is your son, Seth. He was a close friend with all three of these kids. They spent a lot of time together.”

  No one spoke.

  “Can either of you vouch for Seth’s whereabouts the night before last?” asked Zeke. “Were you with him?”

  “He was with me. I have an apartment in Cross Creek Manor, on Montgomery Avenue,” said Tiffany.

  “That’s near Suburban Square,” said Zeke.

  “Sure, it’s one of the reasons I chose it,” she said.

  “And Seth was staying with you?” asked Zeke.

  “Of course,” she said.

  “And he was with you last Sunday night?” asked Zeke.

  “I said he was,” said Tiffany. “He was sleeping there when I woke up Monday morning. He stays with me weekends so Roger can visit his bimbo. He sleeps on my sofa bed.”

  Zeke looked at Roger. “Did you hear back from the alarm company?” he asked. “You were going to check with them to see what time Seth came in on Sunday night.”

  “Oh, yeah, I checked, and no one came in that night. The alarm was on all night. I guess I was wrong about him coming home.”

  “Mr. Gordon, when we first spoke, you told me that Seth had made some choices in the past that you think he’d do differently now,” said Zeke.

  “Well, yes...” Roger said.

  “We need to know more about that,” said Zeke.

  “I don’t see why,” said interrupted Tiffany, hijacking the conversation again.

  “Sure you do,” said Zeke. “But won’t it be better to talk with us about it rather than the police or the FBI?”

  Mrs. Gordon hesitated.

  “Well, I think it will...” said Roger.

  “Shut up, Roger,” said Tiffany. “All you care about is boffing your intern. Don’t pretend that you’re concerned about Seth or anyone else, for that matter.”

  “Your intern would be Mary?” asked Zeke. “I met her in the park.”

  Roger stopped talking and looked at him.

  “Yes, and she’s barely legal age,” said Tiffany, the acid back in her tone. “He should be arrested for...for...well, for stupidity!”

  “OK, let’s all put our feelings aside for a moment,” said Zeke. “What choices do you think Seth would have made differently? What was behind that comment?”

  “Well, he got into some trouble with some prescription meds, some pills,” said Roger. He seemed relieved that the conversation had taken a new direction.

  “How serious?” asked Zeke, noticing that Kimmy was taking notes on her iPad.

  “Well, it was a first offense,” said Roger, dismissively, “so he got off with a suspended sentence and community service. He has to check in at the police department every so often.” He said it as if it were no big thing. Boys will be boys.

  “I saw that in his record,” said Zeke. Sally had e-mailed him a secure copy of both Seth’s and Will’s adult police records the day before.

  “You did?” asked Tiffany. “It wasn’t Seth’s fault,” she insisted. “He was being influenced by some older boys, some college age boys, and he went along with them. He won’t do that again.”

  “I’m sure,” said Zeke, as sincerely as he could. “What else do we know about the drugs he had?”

  “I don’t know anything about that,” said Tiffany.

  “Well, they were pain pills, I think. Oxycodone, for one,” said Roger.

  “Persian poppy,” said Zeke, under his breath.

  “...And Hydrocodone,” Roger continued.

  “Yep. Pain killers,” Zeke said.

  “But that was all he had,” said Roger.

  Zeke nodded and said, “Where did he get them?”

  “Well, he didn’t have much...” Tiffany started to say.

  “Actually, he had a substantial amount with him when he was arrested,” said Zeke. “Enough for the charge to be ‘possession with intent to sell’.”

  “Well,” said Mrs. Gordon. “Well...”

  “Was it stolen?” asked Zeke.

  “No, no,” Roger answered, “but we’re really not sure where he got it. He said he got it from a friend at the college.”

  “What did the police find?” asked Kimmy.

  “They couldn’t determine the source. At least that’s what they told us. Seth had to tell them his part, though, to get the suspended sentence. He gave up his college friend, a guy named Alan Parker.”

  “Alan’s in jail now?”

  “No, I think he cut a deal with the D.A. and got off, too,” said Roger. “Actually, Alan wasn’t Seth’s friend so much as he used to be Amy’s friend. Amy is Seth’s sister. She dated Alan for a while.”

  Chapter 24

  “This place is pretty good,” said Kimmy. They were sitting in a booth at Jack McShea’s Public House, sharing a wild mushroom quesadilla and reviewing the morning’s interviews. Kimmy was actively steeping a cup of hot tea, encouraging it with small gestures, while Zeke
enjoyed room temperature water with lemon.

  “Clive sent word that the DNA found on Susie was a match for the Burns boy, which translates to consensual sex. And the autopsy seems to confirm the time of death,” said Kimmy.

  Zeke nodded.

  “The Gordons don’t seem to have much in the way of common ground,” said Zeke.

  “No, she’s still wounded from the affair,” said Kimmy.

  “And that it’s still going on humiliates her,” Zeke added.

  “Some folks just don’t want to be happy,” said Kimmy, as if to herself.

  “We’ve got some new connections, though,” said Zeke. “Kind of interesting.”

  “We do,” said Kimmy. “We have an Alan Parker, who used to date Amy, Roger and Tiffany’s oldest daughter and Seth’s older sister.” She was reading from her iPad.

  “Right, and we have the drugs...” said Zeke. “Might play into it, as a motive of some sort.”

  “And the McCarthys don’t have anything to do with Carrie’s disappearance,” said Kimmy.

  “I don’t think so, either,” said Zeke. “Although dad Kevin’s aggressiveness may very well have driven her out of the house, running.”

  “I’m inclined to believe Gina Samone,” said Kimmy.

  “Me, too,” said Zeke, sipping some water. “She was genuine and forthcoming.”

  “Is there a connection between the murders and Carrie’s disappearance?” asked Kimmy.

  “Not based on what Gina told us,” said Zeke. “And that’s a big relief.”

  “Her leaving was voluntary?” asked Kimmy.

  “After meeting her dad, I think it was,” said Zeke. “The last time a girl was missing I found her at Seth’s sisters’ house. I think we should check in there again.”

  * * *

  The house looked exactly the same as it had before with it’s vinyl siding and swayed porch. There was a dead fern in the corner. Zeke stood at the front door and knocked on the storm door. He’d parked in the street in front of the house and noticed that the blue Volkswagen with the telephone pole dent was still in the driveway.

  “Just a minute,” he heard a girl’s voice call through the door.

  The door opened quickly. The smell of burning hemp quickly replaced the smell of the porch’s moist, rotten wood.

  “Hello?” said a girl Zeke didn’t recognize. She looked to be in her early twenties and wore her red hair in a long, loose ponytail. She was wearing short jean-shorts and a small t-shirt that left little to the imagination. She was barefoot and was wearing no makeup.

  “You’re Anne,” said Zeke. “Anne Gordon.”

  “I am,” said the girl, smiling lazily.

  “We’re working with law enforcement on the double murder of Will Burns and Susie Lopper,” said Zeke. He held out a business card, and she opened the storm door to take it.

  “I know. That was horrible,” said Anne. She spoke in short, nervous sentences. “My brother was close with both of them. I used to date Will. I knew the girl, Susie, too. She stayed here sometimes.”

  Amy Gordon edged in next to her sister. She was wearing a tie-dyed peasant blouse, a different one from the last time Zeke had seen her. Her hair was still long and parted down the middle.

  “Can we come in and talk for a bit?” asked Zeke. “To you and Amy?”

  Anne seemed to consider his request for a minute. Then she said, “No, but we can meet you at McDonald’s and talk there. We need to get something to eat, anyway.”

  “OK,” said Zeke. “McDonald’s in Suburban Square in fifteen minutes?”

  “You buying?” asked Amy, suspiciously.

  “Sure,” said Zeke, “I’m buying.”

  * * *

  Zeke and Kimmy sat at an inside table at the McDonald’s restaurant a few blocks west of Suburban Square. The restaurant backed directly up to the Main Line on Ardmore Avenue. The girls hadn’t arrived yet.

  “So,” said Kimmy, rhetorically, “what can I eat from this menu?”

  Zeke chuckled to himself. “Water, I’d guess,” he said.

  Just then, the dark blue Volkswagen pulled into the parking lot with both girls inside. They parked and walked into the restaurant. Amy was smoking a cigarette, which she stubbed out before she came through the door.

  “I’m thinking double quarter pounder with cheese,” said Anne, as they approached the table.

  “Sounds good,” said her sister.

  Zeke accompanied them to the counter and paid for their meals Then he returned to the table and waited for them to be served.

  The girls picked up their food and slid into the booth across from Zeke and Kimmy, unwrapping the yellow papers protecting their sandwiches. Amy spilled a large order of fries on the plastic tray and squirted some ketchup from a packet on top of them.

  “So, go ahead and eat,” Zeke said. “We just have a couple of questions.”

  Both girls nodded, looking up quickly, then back at their fries.

  “Do you remember,” Zeke looked at Amy, “that I visited your house a week or so ago when I was looking for Susie Lopper?”

  “Yeah,” said Amy.

  “And now another fourteen-year-old girl is missing. Your brother’s girlfriend, Carrie McCarthy.”

  “She is?” said Amy. She looked at Anne, then back at Zeke.

  “She disappeared from her house two nights ago. We’re trying to find her,” said Kimmy.

  “No, we haven’t seen her for a while,” said Anne, Amy shaking her head at the same time. Seth said she was grounded or something.”

  “Before that, did she spend much time with you at your house?” asked Zeke.

  “A little bit. Seth would bring her over some. More often when Susie was staying with us. She and Susie are...were pretty tight,” said Amy, chewing on her sandwich.

  “You dated Will?” Zeke asked Anne.

  “Yeah, after I broke up with him, he started dating Susie. But it’s alright,” said Anne. “I didn’t care. I was over him.”

  “Do you have any idea where Carrie might be?” asked Zeke.

  The girls looked at each other. “Not exactly,” said Anne. “But she was always mad about her dad and talking about the way he treated her. She was always talking about taking off, too. So was Susie. She said she wanted to hitchhike across the country with Will. That was more of an adventure, I think. But Carrie was just trying to get away.”

  “Did she?” asked Zeke. “A lot of people are very worried about her.”

  The girls looked at him.

  “Did she take off?”

  “Well, don’t tell Seth that we told you, but, yeah, she did. She and Seth left yesterday for California.” This from Anne.

  “California?” asked Kimmy.

  “Yeah, you know, Seth has this image of himself as a surfer,” Amy said. “He wants to follow the waves and sit on the beach at sunset. Stuff like that.”

  “And Jack moved out there last year,” said Anne.

  “Jack?” asked Zeke.

  “Jack Frost, a guy I used to go with,” said Anne. “He moved to L.A. after the cops busted him for selling drugs. I think it gave Seth the idea.”

  “Is that really his name?” asked Kimmy.

  “No, it’s Nathan Frost. Everybody just calls him Jack.”

  “So you say that Seth and Carrie took off. How did they go?” asked Zeke.

  “Seth’s car. Mom bought it for him after he was in that trouble with the cops,” said Anne.

  “Selling prescription drugs?” asked Zeke.

  “Yeah, that,” she continued. “Mom made a deal with him, if he stopped with the drugs, then she’d get him a car.”

  “What kind of a car?” asked Zeke.

  “It’s a Saab,” said Anne. “A new one. Sort of a bright blue color.”

  “Ara blue,” said Zeke, to himself. Then, “Isn’t he on probation or something?”

  “Yeah, but that’s a state thing. He figures they won’t come looking for him in California,” said Amy. “He says
it’s too expensive for them.”

  “Speaking of which,” Zeke continued, looking at Amy, “you used to date Alan Parker, right?”

  “Loser,” both girls said simultaneously.

  “Why a loser?” asked Kimmy.

  “He was always talking big, making like he was a real tough guy. But as soon as he got arrested, he gave up all the other guys in his dorm. And they said he cried like a baby.”

  Chapter 25

  George Lopper was lying back, propped up on pillows in the hospital bed they’d set up for him in the dining room. Someone had pushed the dining room table and chairs aside, and bunched them against the wall under the window. It looks like a quick job, Zeke thought. They just muscled the chairs around to make enough space. Kimmy was sitting on one of the chairs. George was in a bathrobe and pajamas, and he looked pale and gaunt. His breathing was ragged.

  “George, I need to ask you and Carol some questions about Carrie,” said Zeke. Oscar had met Zeke and Kimmy at the Lopper’s house.

  “Sure, I’m OK,” said George. “Just resting up a bit. Whatdaya need to know?”

  Carol Lopper stood in the kitchen doorway, looking distraught and ready to bolt from the discussion if it got ugly. Zeke could see her withdrawing mentally.

  George wheezed again and said, “Damn this. Can you get me another pill, Carol?”

  Carol Lopper came into the room and took a pill bottle from the top of the sideboard. She shook out a pill and gave it to George, then handed him a glass of water. When he finished sipping it, he handed it back to her and sighed.

  “We talked with the McCarthys, Carrie’s parents,” said Zeke. “I was surprised that her dad’s so aggressive.”

  “Yeah, he’s a wannabe,” said George. “You know, he’s not a made man, but he acts like one.”

  Oscar nodded neutrally.

  “We’ve been trying to understand why Carrie left home and whether it’s related to Susie and Will’s death,” Zeke continued. “And, as importantly, just where she went. We think she may have left with Seth Gordon for California. Would either of you have any idea where they might have gone?”

  “The girls used to talk about California,” said Carol. “They were excited about it, especially Carrie. They knew a boy who moved out there last year. His name is Jack Frost. Ever since, it was all they talked about.”