“Nine?” Lena was sure she’d heard wrong.
“Brock got four of the bodies. Richard Cable got the rest.”
Lena knew Cable ran one of the funeral homes in Catoogah County. She asked, “What was the cause of death?”
Jeffrey ripped the sheet of paper off his pad. “Alcohol poisoning, drug overdoses. One had a heart attack. Jim Ellers over in Catoogah did the autopsies. He ruled them all natural causes.”
Lena was skeptical, not of what Jeffrey was saying, but of Ellers’s competence. “He said nine people in two years, living on the same place, died from natural causes?”
Jeffrey said, “Cole Connolly had a lot of drugs hidden in his room.”
“You think he helped them along?” Frank asked.
“That’s what he did with Chip,” Jeffrey said. “Cole told me that himself. Said he was tempting him with the apple, something like that.”
“So,” Lena surmised, “Cole was picking out the ‘weak’ ones, dangling drugs or whatever in front of their faces, seeing if they would take them and prove him right.”
“And the ones who took them ended up going to their maker,” Jeffrey said, but she could tell from his crocodile smile he had more.
She asked, “What?”
He told her, “The Church for the Greater Good paid for all the cremations.”
“Cremations,” Frank repeated. “So, we can’t exhume the bodies.”
Lena knew there was more to it than that. She asked, “What am I missing?”
Jeffrey told them, “Paul Ward got all their death certificates.”
Stupidly, Lena began, “Why would he need-” but answered her own question before she finished. “Life insurance.”
“Bingo,” Jeffrey said, handing Frank the paper with the names. “Get Hemming and go through the phone book. Do we have one for Savannah?” Frank nodded. “Find the big insurance companies. We’ll start there first. Don’t call the local agents, call the corporate national fraud hotlines. The local agents might be involved.”
Lena asked, “Will they give out that information over the phone?”
“They will if they think they’ve been cheated out of some dough,” Frank said. “I’ll get right on it.”
As Frank left the room, Jeffrey pointed his finger at Lena. “I knew this had to be about money. It had to be about something concrete.”
She had to admit, “You were right.”
“We found our general,” he told her. “Cole said he was just an old soldier, but he needed a general to tell him what to do.”
“Abby was in Savannah a few days before she died. Maybe she found out about the life insurance policies.”
“How?” Jeffrey asked.
“Her mother said she worked in the office for a while. That she was good with numbers.”
“Lev saw her in the office once at the photocopier. Maybe she saw something she wasn’t meant to.” He paused, mulling over the possibilities. “Rachel said Abby went to Savannah before she died because Paul had left some papers behind in his briefcase. Maybe Abby saw the policies.”
She asked, “So, you think Abby confronted him in Savannah?”
Jeffrey nodded. “And Paul called Cole to prod him on to punish her.”
“Or he called Lev.”
“Or Lev,” he agreed.
“Cole already knew about Chip. He followed him and Abby out into the woods.” She had to say, “I don’t know, though. It’s strange. Paul didn’t strike me as the overly religious type.”
“Why would he have to be?”
“Telling Cole to bury his niece in a coffin in the woods?” she asked. “Lev seems more like your general to me.” She added, “Plus, Paul was never in Dale’s garage. If that’s where the cyanide came from, then it points straight back to Lev, because he’s the only one we can connect to the garage.” She paused a moment. “Or Cole.”
“I don’t think it was Cole,” Jeffrey insisted. “Did you ever have a real conversation with Terri Stanley about that?”
She felt her blush come back, this time from shame. “No.”
His lips pressed into a tight line, but he didn’t say the obvious. If she had talked to Terri before, maybe they wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Maybe Rebecca would be safe at home, Cole Connolly would still be alive, and they would be back in the interrogation room, talking to the person who had killed Abigail Bennett.
“I fucked up,” she said.
“Yeah, you did.” He waited a few seconds before saying, “You don’t listen to me, Lena. I need to be able to trust you to do what I say.” He paused as if he expected her to interrupt him. She didn’t, and he continued, “You can be a good cop, a smart cop. That’s why I made you detective.” She looked down, unable to take the compliment, knowing what was coming next. “Everything that happens in this town is my responsibility, and if somebody gets hurt or worse because you can’t follow my orders, then it’s all on me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t good enough this time. Sorry means you understand what I’m saying and you’re not going to do it again.” He let that sink in. “I’ve heard sorry one too many times now. I need to see actions, not hear empty words.”
His quiet tone was worse than if he had yelled at her. Lena looked down at the floor, wondering how many times he was going to let her screw things up before he finally cut her loose.
He stood quickly, taking her by surprise. Lena flinched, gripped by an inexplicable panic that he was going to hit her.
Jeffrey was shocked, looking at her as if he had never seen her in his life.
“I just-” She couldn’t find the words to say. “You scared me.”
Jeffrey leaned out the door, telling Marla, “Send back the woman who’s about to walk in.” He told Lena, “Mary Ward is here. I just saw her pull up into the parking lot.”
Lena tried to regain her composure. “I thought she didn’t like to drive.”
“Guess she made an exception,” Jeffrey answered, still looking at her like she was a book he couldn’t read. “Are you going to be able to do this?”
“Of course,” she said, pushing herself out of the chair. She tucked in her shirt, feeling fidgety and out of place.
He took her hand in both of his, and she felt another shock. He never touched her like that. It wasn’t something he did.
He said, “I need you to be on your game right now.”
“You’ve got me,” she assured him, pulling back her hand to tuck in her shirt again even though it was already tight. “Let’s go.”
Lena didn’t wait for him. She squared her shoulders and walked across the squad room with purposeful strides. Marla’s hand was on the buzzer as Lena opened the door.
Mary Ward stood in the lobby, her purse clutched to her chest.
“Chief Tolliver,” she said, as if Lena wasn’t right in front of her. She had a ratty old black and red scarf around her shoulders, looking more like a little old lady now than the first time they had seen her. The woman was probably only ten years older than Lena. She was either putting on an act or was truly one of the most pathetic people walking the face of the earth.
“Why don’t you come back to my office,” Jeffrey offered, putting his hand at Mary’s elbow, guiding her through the open doorway before she could change her mind. He said, “You remember Detective Adams?”
“Lena,” Lena supplied, ever helpful. “Can I get you some coffee or something?”
“I don’t drink caffeine,” the woman replied, her voice still strained, as if she had been screaming and had made herself hoarse. Lena could see she had a balled tissue up her sleeve and assumed she’d been crying.
Jeffrey sat Mary at one of the desks outside his office, probably wanting to keep her off guard. He waited for her to sit, then took the chair beside her. Lena hung back behind them, thinking Mary would be more comfortable talking to Jeffrey.
He asked, “What can I help you with, Mary?”
She took her time, her breathing audible in the small room as they waited for her to speak. “You said my niece was in a box, Chief Tolliver.”
“Yes.”
“That Cole had buried her in a box.”