Chapter 5

Vasquez answered her phone just as she was locking the evidence kit in the trunk of her car.

"Hi Tina, it's Prescott," the forensic psychologist said. "Anything new on your missing girl?"

"Jeffrey, hey," Tina sighed, closing the trunk. "Nothing yet. What have you got?"

"Nothing much, I'm afraid," the man replied with an apologetic shrug. "I went through some models, but we don't have much of a profile on her. That makes it tough to predict."

"Yeah," Tina agreed, walking back towards the college administration building.

"It's interesting though that the girl was missing before the memorial service," Prescott said. "That doesn't really fit with what we've got on her."

"You think she'd want to be there?"

"Yeah. In these kinds of circumstance, suicides generally tend to be premeditated," the man explained. "It's not an impulsive act, it's carefully considered and there's a logic to it."

"A logic for the girl," Tina said, knowing all too well that logic was a subjective term.

"Well, yes, but it isn't an irrational act. That's what I'm saying, there's a procedure leading up to the event."

"Like the phone call to the sister..."

"Exactly," Prescott agreed. "The phone call, setting affairs in order. She'd probably want to prepare herself physically. Buying new clothes, for example, is common. She would think of it as going away, moving to another place where she could be with the person she loves."

"But you're saying Lisa should have waited until after Barbara's funeral?" Vasquez asked, pausing outside the building.

"More than likely, yeah," Prescott said. "She'd want to spend as much time with Barbara as she could and once the time was up, that's when she'd need to take the next step."

"As much time as she could, huh?" Tina frowned, trying to remember something Emily had said over lunch. "What if..."

"What's that?"

"You were saying this morning that the girl would want a special place," Tina said slowly, her thoughts coming together like a jigsaw puzzle.

"Right, that's the other red flag we have here. She's missing and if she really killed herself..."

"She shouldn't be," Vasquez nodded. "What if the special place was with Barbara?"

"What do you mean?" Prescott asked.

"If she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Barbara and..." Tina looked across the parking lot. "So far as she was concerned the rest of her life was forever, so..."

"Where was the deceased?"

"Uh ... A funeral home," she said, reaching into her purse for her notebook. "I think, they kept the body..."

"A funeral home would work," Prescott agreed. "A morgue would probably repel the girl, but in a comfortable setting..."

"Yeah," Tina nodded. "The body was released to McKinnen Funeral Home Saturday evening. So presumably, what? Sunday afternoon, night, uh ... Monday ... The girl could have gone there anytime and..."

"Sure," he said. "It would better explain why she wasn't at the grave service. But if Lisa killed herself at the funeral home..."

"It still leaves us with no body," Tina sighed and that was the real issue. Without a body there was nothing. No suicide, no murder, and most importantly perhaps, there was no closure for the girl's family and friends.

Vasquez didn't have any answers yet, she knew, just another possibility that didn't really make a lot of sense. What motive could anyone have to murder Lisa Thomas? She hadn't witnessed or even suspected anything in the death of Barbara, her phone call to Emily made that clear. If she'd killed herself, why would it be covered up? To protect someone, obviously, but who and from what?

"I'm sorry, Detective. Dr. Moore has left for the day," Laura said with an apologetic lift of her hands.

"Did you tell him I was coming back?" Tina asked the secretary, glancing at her watch and it was just after two in the afternoon.

"I told him, yes ma'am. On his way out," the woman nodded. "You can come back Monday morning and..."

"Right. On his way out," Tina took a deep breath. "Who was he meeting with?"

"Excuse me?"

"Dr. Moore," Tina said. "He was in a meeting when I was here earlier. Who was he talking to?"

"Oh, I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss Dr. Moore's private..." Laura frowned.

"Yes you are," Tina offered the woman a reassuring smile. "Just a name, that's all."

"Um," Laura reminded herself that this was a Texas Ranger who was asking. "He was meeting with Coach Riles and Dr. Peterson."

"Floyd Peterson?" she asked. "The coroner?"

"Yes," Laura nodded. "Dr. Moore ... He's not in trouble, is he?"

"No," Tina shook her head. "I don't think so, but I do need to speak with him. Did he say where he was going?"

"He didn't say anything, really."

"Okay. May I?" She picked up a pen from a holder on the secretary's desk and wrote her phone number on a yellow sticky. "Here's my phone number, if Dr. Moore should return this afternoon. I'd appreciate a phone call, okay?"

"Alright," Laura agreed.

"Where would I find Coach Riles?" Tina wondered. "As long as I'm here..."

"Oh. His office is beneath the gymnasium, near the old football field," Laura said. "Out the east doors and to the left, just look for the gym. You can't miss it."

"Say," Tina paused on her way out of the office. "I was told that Dr. Moore made the funeral arrangements for Barbara Welch ... You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?"

"Why yes," she cleared her throat. "I, um ... helped. There was no funeral though, just a memorial service."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Barbara was, uh ... she was cremated, so..." Laura shrugged. "The service was there at Mckinnen's."

"Cremated," Tina frowned slightly. "Who made that decision?"

"Dr. Moore," Laura said. "After talking with some of the board members, I believe. Why? Is it important?"

"I don't know," Vasquez pursed her lips. "I was told that Barbara's personal effects were released to Dr. Moore. Do you know where they are?"

"In his office, I believe," Laura shrugged. "There wasn't much. Her clothes and purse, that's about all."

"Could I take a look?"

Coach Riles was working in his spartan office when Tina knocked on the open door. He looked up and felt his gut tighten and then flare painfully. He hid his grimace well and reached into his desk without thinking, removing a bottle of Milk of Magnesia and swallowing half of it.

"Coach Riles?" Tina asked, reaching into her purse.

"Yeah," the man nodded, relaxing as the fire in his belly slowly died down. "Goddamn ulcer. Who are you?"

"Detective Vasquez, Texas Rangers." Tina held up her badge and noted that Riles didn't seem surprised. "I'd like to talk to you about Barbara Welch."

"Welch," Riles waved his hand and Tina walked into his office. "Too bad about her."

"Did you know her well?" she wondered, taking a folding metal chair opposite the coach's desk.

"Well enough," he shrugged. He was a large man, robust and approaching fifty. He had a hard face, red and deeply lined from a lot of years squinting into the hot Texas sun.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Tina asked. "Before the accident."

"Um, that morning," Riles said. "We had a ... budget meeting with Moore in his office."

"Budget meeting? For the athletic department, you mean?"

"Yeah. After the meeting, I didn't really see her again until, uh ... Saturday morning. You know."

"Right," Vasquez nodded. "You have a key to the pool facilities, is that right?"

"Me?" Riles shrugged. "Of course I do. Why?"

"I'm just wondering." She smiled and crossed her legs. "Did you have your key with you Friday night?"

"Uh..." the coach licked his lips. "I think I left my keys here, in my desk. I don't really remember."

"Your keys to the pool and..."

"The facilities," Riles nodded. "What's this all about?"

"What time did you leave the campus on Friday?" Tina ignored his question.

"After football practice," he said. "About, oh ... six o'clock maybe."

"But you didn't lock up?"

"What? Uh..." Riles frowned, trying to understand what she was asking and why. "Some of the players were going to work out, so..."

"Okay," Tina nodded. "So the key to the pool was in your desk and some players were working out ... Where's that? A weight room?"

"Weight room, yeah," Riles shrugged. "Just down the hall there."

"That way?" Tina looked over her shoulder at the open door. "Who were the players?"

"I don't..." Riles shook his head. "I have forty three boys on the squad, I'm not sure who was staying."

"But someone was?" She raised her eyebrows and Riles nodded reluctantly.

"Look, if you're thinking one of my players might have had something to do with Barbara..."

"Why would I think that?" Tina tilted her head. "It was an accident, right?"

"Yeah," Riles nodded. "That's what it was, so these questions..."

"I'm just getting all the facts," Tina shrugged. "Was Barbara seeing anyone? Did she, uh ... have anything going on with one of your players?"

"Welch?" Riles almost smiled but caught himself. "She played for the other team, Detective."

"The other team?"

"A lesbian, you know?" He shook his head. "She was a real dyke."

"I see," she said slowly. "Did that bother you?"

"It didn't keep me up at night," Riles said. "Kind of a waste though. She was a good looking woman."

"Right," Tina looked at the man and Riles didn't look away. "How about your players?"

"My boys? What about 'em?"

"How did they feel about a good looking woman who played for the other team?" she asked him. "Any resentment or jealousy..."

"No," Riles shook his head. "If you're thinking someone on my football team might have given the woman a little push..."

"Where were you Friday night, Coach?"

"I was with my wife," Riles stared at the woman. "I was home all night."

"Okay," Vasquez nodded. "And your keys were here ... Do you know the penalty for obstruction of justice?"

"What?" He swallowed hard.

"It's ten years," Tina said. "Conspiracy can get you more. A lot more."

"I think you'd better leave," Riles said slowly.

"Sure," she nodded. "I think I have all the information I need now."

Tina stood up slowly, replacing her notepad in her purse as she walked towards the door.

"Oh, one more thing, Coach..." she turned around. "What were you talking to Floyd Peterson about this afternoon?"

"What?" The man paled noticeably.

"In Dr. Moore's office," Tina said. "The three of you had a meeting. What was that about ... the budget?"

Riles didn't say anything and Tina turned after a long count of ten to leave the man's office, taking a left. Some twenty feet down the hall she found the weight room. It was empty for the moment and Tina turned around to leave. She'd only wanted to see it and there was something very wrong with Coach Riles. That had been obvious to the Ranger from the moment she'd sat down. He might have an alibi for Friday night, but it was a sure bet that at least one of his players didn't.

Like most crimes involving rape and murder, this had been an inside job, as Mahoney liked to say. It was far more common for the victim of a sex crime to know her assailant than it was to be attacked by a stranger. Of course a lot of people knew Barbara, but Riles saw her everyday, him and his players. The means was the Jacuzzi, the motive ... Tina wasn't sure, but money was always a good one. College money? The department budget? It didn't seem likely but people had died over far less in Tina's experience. It felt right and Tina had good instincts, so she decided to pin that one on Riles too, just for the moment.

Opportunity? That was an easy one. Barbara's keys had been found in her purse, locked inside the pool. The doors couldn't be locked closed without a key, so whoever had killed Barbara had his own key. Riles had been lying about leaving his keys in his desk, that had been plain. The man never went anywhere without his keys, Tina thought. Yeah, Riles was a good tree to shake and something would fall out of it. He might not have killed Barbara, but he knew it wasn't an accident and he probably knew a lot more than that.

It felt good to have a real suspect list. Riles, Fiddler, Peterson ... and Moore? Tina frowned at that, recalling Helen's good opinion of the man. Fiddler's secretary had shown the original files to the college president before faxing them to Austin. If Moore was involved, wouldn't he have tried to dissuade Helen? If he wasn't involved, why was he meeting with Riles and Peterson? Why was the man avoiding her if he wanted a Ranger investigating Barbara's death?

Moore wasn't at his residence, a large house in the small section of the campus set aside for faculty housing. An older Hispanic woman, the man's housekeeper apparently, answered the door and she was nervous when Tina identified herself as a police officer. Probably an illegal, Vasquez thought, and no real help at all except to confirm that Dr. Moore had been home on the night Barbara had died. Although she had no idea where he might have gone, Tina hadn't really expected to find him there and she moved on, finding Barbara Welch's small house nearby. She used the keys she'd gotten from the dead woman's purse to open the door.

This was just a matter of routine really and Tina walked through the quiet house slowly, taking visual notes and disturbing very little. She knew the Sheriff's Department had been through the place already and Fiddler would have removed anything obviously relating to either Barbara's death or Lisa's disappearance. But anything less than obvious might have escaped the sheriff's attention.

"Hmmm..." Tina picked up a plastic shopping bag and found a receipt inside, a small computer printed invoice from one of the local fashion stores dated Monday morning.

"A new dress?" she said to herself and she found the tags that had been cut off on the bedroom dresser. A size four and Lisa had spent eighty-nine dollars on it, plus tax. A new dress for Barbara's memorial service, Tina wondered, or because the girl was going away? It fit in nicely with Prescott's analysis.

A quick look through the dresser and twin nightstands produced little of interest and more than anything else, Tina was hoping for a note. That seemed unlikely though, given Lisa's phone call to her sister, but still ... People did like to leave something tangible behind to explain why.

Tina found it when she discovered a digital camera in the bedroom closet. She turned it on, viewing the images on the tiny LCD while she sat on the made-up bed. The entire house was clean and neat, except for the tags on the dresser and the plastic bag she'd found. Tina imagined that Lisa had spent much of Sunday making their home beautiful one last time and that seemed incredibly sad.

"Lisa," Tina sighed, finding the last picture in the camera's memory.

It was a photograph of Lisa and taken in that same bedroom, the one she'd shared with Barbara. From the look of it, the camera had been placed on the dresser and Lisa had used the timer delay function. The girl was wearing a cheerful dress, sky blue with white lace and a floral pattern in gold like her hair. She resembled Emily, but they were different as well. Lisa was beautiful and very young, looking into the camera with frail blue eyes and a soft smile playing at the corners of her mouth. There was a serenity there, an acceptance on her face that was unmistakable.