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Chapter43
“YOU LOOK TIRED.Didn’t you sleep okay?”
Mars asked this as he and Decker sat in the dining area of the Residence Inn the next morning having coffee.
“Slept like a baby,” lied Decker. He sat back and fiddled with his paper napkin. “Planning went into this. They had to get the print, the DNA, and come up with the light switch plate. They had to kidnap David Katz. They had to commit the murders, leave the evidence, and flee the crime scene. This was clearly premeditated.”
“I agree.”
“So why did they pick that night, then? To do it? Was it just a coincidence that it was around the time of the only known phone call between the two men for a long while?”
“Maybe they found out about the phone call another way. What time did it happen?”
“Twelve-ten p.m.”
“And Richards got the call at work?”
“It was his cell phone, but because of the time presumably it was—” Decker sat up straighter, his eyes wide.
“What?” said Mars, looking a bit alarmed.
“It was on a Monday in October.”
“Okay.”
“It was actually also Columbus Day.”
“A holiday, then.”
“Yes, and that meant two things. There was no school and the bank was closed.”
“So where was Richards when he got the call, if not at the bank?”
“He could very well have been at home,” said Decker.
“With his kids. And his wife. Do you think one of them might have overheard something, and then told someone?”
“That’s certainly possible. But regardless, they would have had to act fast. Get the print on the switch plate and take it with them to the Richardses’. Then someone scratches Hawkins’s arms and collects his DNA that way.”
“And you think it was his daughter, Mitzi.”
“It would explain why he kept quiet. He would obviously know who scratched him.”
Mars said thoughtfully, “I see what you mean. His wife was dying, and he didn’t want their daughter to get into trouble, even if it cost him his freedom.”
Decker nodded. “When they finish testing the DNA sample, I bet it will show that Mitzi’s DNA is also mixed up in what we found under Abigail’s nails.”
Mars said, “But why would she frame her own father?”
“She was a drug addict. Out of her mind half the time. She could have been easily persuaded to do it.”
“But what would be the motive of somebody doing all that to kill Katz and Richards? And how does that tie into David Katz going over to Don Richards’s house? Wait, do you think those guys were into drugs too?”
“Not that we know—” Decker stopped. “But Richards’s son, Frankie, was. And we found out he was also dealing.”
“But again, what’s the connection?”
Decker closed his eyes and dialed up his cloud. After a few seconds he shook his head. “It’s not in the case file.”
“What’s not?”
“The name of Mitzi’s drug dealer.”
