Shadow of Death (22 page)

In one section of her room, Cheryl had all of her stuffed animals. Like she had told him once before, the bear he'd won for her was sitting next to her first Cabbage Patch doll. Cheryl had read way too much into his
actions at Cedar Point. Troy now resented that bear and without thinking
about the absurdity of his actions, he pulled at it until its head popped
off. Stuffing flew everywhere as Troy tore it into shreds. Subconsciously
,
perhaps he was destroying Cheryl like she was trying to do to him. When
Troy was satisfied that he'd mutilated the animal until it was unrecognizable, he continued with his search.

Tucked away in the far back corner of her closet was Cheryl's high school yearbook. Troy wouldn't have given it much thought had he not seen the word “Bruins” engraved on it. He'd seen that word before! He started flipping through the pages and that's when it all became evident to him. Nugent and Cheryl had attended Briggs High School together, located on the city's southwest side. They were called the Briggs Bruins and the symbol was a purple “B” with a bear print on the left. From the pictures of the two of them together and Nugent's note in her yearbook, there was no mistaking the fact that Cheryl and Nugent had had some kind of close relationship.

To Cheryl, thanks for all the laughs and good times. You are a special person and I hope one day, you'll like me as much as I do you. Good luck with everything. I'll be here whenever you call. If you don't call, I'll stalk you. —Don

Troy wasn't sure what all of this meant. It did explain how Nugent had known about his and Cheryl's past relationship when Nugent ques
tioned him about her “disappearance.” Troy backed away from the closet
and sat at the top of Cheryl's bed as things were sinking in. That's when he sat on what could have been the most damaging piece of evidence against him if those working the case had found it first.

“Well?”
The sound of Nugent's voice brought him back to the present interrogation. “Perhaps you didn't understand the question. Were you at home all day yesterday?” he pressed.

“Detective, I want to remind you that, unless my client is under arrest, he's not obligated to answer any of your questions. Perhaps you should move on,” Murphy interjected, giving Troy a sideway glance.

“When's the last time you've been by Cheryl Hunter's home?”

“I last saw Cheryl a week ago. You know that.”

Nugent smirked. “You're being very evasive, Evans. Could this be the reason why?” He threw several pictures of Cheryl's dead body on the table. “She was found last night at Alum Creek. She'd been sedated and then stabbed fourteen times. Someone really wanted to make sure she was dead.” Troy stared at the pictures, wanting to feel sorry for Cheryl like he would any other victim of homicide. Yet, all he felt was relief. Cheryl was finally out of his life. “When's the last time you've been to Delaware?”

Delaware, Ohio, a city about thirty minutes north of Columbus via Route 23, was home of the Alum Creek State Park, and apparently the location where Cheryl's dead body had been discovered. Troy could not be sure of the last time he was in Delaware, but he was certain that it hadn't been any time recently and he told Nugent as much.

“You see this?” Nugent pulled out another picture of Cheryl, a blowup that zeroed in on her neck where a shoe imprint was clearly visible. “Stabbing her wasn't enough. The sadistic perp crushed her larynx after she was already dead.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“I would think you would feel some sense of remorse for someone you loved at one time.”

“I would only feel remorse if I'd done something to her. I have never been in love with her.”

“Troy…” Lawrence shook his head in disapproval.

“I bet the person who did this didn't love her either.”

“Maybe. Or, perhaps it was a crime of passion. Maybe she never got around to liking the fat football jock from high school who declared in her yearbook that, if she didn't call him, he'd stalk her. I would hate for him to be the one investigating her case because that would surely be a conflict of interest, don't you think?” Troy wasn't sure whether Nugent and Cheryl had ever been romantically involved after high school, but two divorces and an interdepartmental scandal obviously didn't sway Nugent's commitment toward her. He still cared for her and that helped Troy understand why Nugent had been taking this case so personally.

Like the last time Troy was being questioned, he managed to ruffle Nugent's feathers. He'd upped the ante this time as Nugent's face turned as bright as the apple depicted in the Snow White fairytales.
“Did you leave your house anytime yesterday?”

“Detective, that's enough. Your questions are becoming repetitive and quite frankly, it's making me nauseous. Obviously, there is no evidence linking my client to this crime and I think he's done his due diligence by
volunteering
to assist you with this investigation. I'll ask again to make sure there's no misunderstanding: is my client under arrest?”

“No,” Nugent snarled.

“Okay, we're done here.”

“We're not done, Evans. I'll be visiting you real soon with paperwork. Don't go too far.”

Once they were outside the building, Lawrence said to Troy, “My office…
now!”

•  •  •

“What are you hiding?” Lawrence wasted no time ripping into Troy in front of Larry who watched confounded.

“Nothing.”

“Don't play games with me. I'll give Richard his money back and turn you loose quicker than you can blink. The way you were dodging that detective's questions regarding your whereabouts yesterday, I know you're hiding something. Spit it out or find yourself a new attorney.”

Lawrence was good. Troy didn't have to see him in court to know that. The word of Richard Griggs, one of the best district attorneys in the city, carried a lot of weight. Plus, Troy had seen the way Lawrence blocked Nugent's line of questioning during the interrogation. Troy couldn't afford to lose him. He confessed. “Last night, after my wife went to sleep, I went over to Cheryl's.”

“You did what! I specifically told you not to go to her house and I'm quite certain that I spoke English. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn't. I was frustrated because of what happened Friday night when my wife and I went out.” Troy realized that he had been so mad that he hadn't informed his attorney of the events at Skyler's and took the opportunity to fill him in now. “I don't believe for a second that she was ever missing. I went there hoping to find clues to her whereabouts.”

“Was Cheryl there?”

“No.”

“Of course not because she was being murdered and now you don't have an alibi for the time of her death!” Lawrence loosened his tie while contemplating his next words. “Who knew you were going over there?”

“No one.” That was kind of the truth. Troy had sent RJ a text stating that he was
thinking
about it, but he never actually admitted to RJ that he had gone.

“Detective Nugent knows.”

“How? It was after midnight. I parked a few blocks from her house and I'm sure no one saw me go in or out.”

“Why do you think he kept asking you if you were home all day? He was trying to get you to say yes so he could prove otherwise. C'mon, I shouldn't have to tell you this; you're a cop! You know how these things work.”

“For all I know, Nugent might be involved in all of this. I found Cheryl's high school yearbook. She and Nugent went to school together. He liked her. I also found her diary and I think she was using it to set me up. It contains a lot of entries about us that aren't true. I have these things with me if you want to see them.” The yearbook was in his truck; the diary was immediately returned to his pocket after leaving Nugent.

Lawrence, whose bald head had turned amber, didn't speak for several minutes. “You do realize that whatever you have in your possession has been obtained through breaking and entering, an act that is illegal according to the Ohio Revised Code!”

“I know. I was hoping to find clues as to where she was hiding. I didn't know someone was going to kill her. I bet it was the person who was helping her frame me. That could very well have been Nugent.”

“Dad,” Larry timidly interrupted, “He may have a point. Maybe we should take a look at the things Mr. Evans has. He can't go back to the house and return them now because I'm sure there are cops crawling all over her place. Perhaps we can use the information in it to help find her killer and clear Mr. Evans's name.”

“You watch too many
Perry Mason
and
Matlock
re-runs. It's the detectives' responsibility to find the killer, not ours. If Detective Nugent is dirty or biased, there are legal steps we can take to make sure he's removed from the case. But, we will play by the book. My job is to make sure my client doesn't get charged and convicted of this crime. As long as there's nothing to tie you to Alum Creek or her murder, that shouldn't be a problem.”

“Then it won't be,” Troy said confidently.

“You better hope so. Get rid of the stuff you have illegally obtained and I don't want to hear another word about you going over to her place,” Lawrence warned as his desk phone rang. “Yes, dear, what do you need? No, you can go ahead and send it through.” He looked at Larry. “Please walk Mr. Evans out. I have a phone call to take.”

Larry was all too eager to oblige. “Mom, I'm going to go grab a sandwich. You want something?” She shook her head no and waved him away. When they were outside, Larry surprised Troy by asking to see the yearbook and diary.

“I don't know if that'll be a good idea. Your dad doesn't want anything to do with those things.”

“Mr. Evans, if someone is truly setting you up, then the cops will be sniffing around you hard. The last thing you want is for them to find her things in your possession. My dad told you to get rid of the items. He didn't say how,” Larry leered. “Give them to me and he will never know. I promise.”

Troy had to be at the end of his rope to find himself placing his trust in an ambitious Robert Shapiro wannabe. “Here.” Troy gave Larry the yearbook. “I'll keep the diary,” he said. There were so many false incriminating statements against him in it that Troy didn't want it to be anywhere except at the bottom of a furnace.

“Okay. Be careful with it. Meanwhile, I'll take care of things,” Larry said before jogging off.

“Hey, wait! What do you mean by you'll ‘take care of things.' ”

“Have a good day, Mr. Evans!” Larry yelled back and disappeared into the sandwich shop. Troy started to run after him, but he knew that doing so would be futile. Larry wasn't going to give back the yearbook and Troy was all the more glad that he'd held on to the diary. Troy got into his truck and headed home, hoping that he hadn't made matters worse by adhering to the younger Murphy's request.

I
f there was one good thing that came as a result of Cheryl's death, it was that it opened lines of communication between Troy and Natalie again. Feeling grimy and in desperate need of a shower, Troy expected to come home to chaos. Instead, things were peaceful. Natalie had already picked Nate up from school and he and the twins were taking a nap. Troy found his wife sitting in the living room reading her Bible. She jumped up and threw her arms around him when he walked in.

“People need to die more often if that's how you'll greet me every time.”

She didn't think his comment was funny. “I was worried about you. What happened?”

“Cheryl was stabbed to death last night and the detective brought me in for questioning. It's standard procedure, really. Nothing to be concerned about. I do have to tell you something, though.” Troy sat her down on the sofa. “Last night, after you fell asleep, I went over to Cheryl's. Let me explain!” he quickly added as he saw her face distort. “She wasn't there. I went looking for clues. I was hoping to find something that would help me figure out where she was hiding.”

“Well, we know she's no longer hiding. Someone killed her last night, right?”

“Yes… I feel like a monster because I'm not sad that she's dead. I know that's horrible for a man of my stature to say. I work in law enforcement, I have a family, and most importantly, I'm supposed to be a man of God.”

“You're still all of those things. Even if you did something bad to her, it won't change how I feel about you.”

Troy noticed the tears welling in Natalie's eyes and how much she was caressing his hand. Her right leg bounced rapidly and her breath was heavy. She was nervous. “Relax, babe. I did
not
kill Cheryl. I'm sure I could have, but I didn't, and hopefully, we'll have nothing to worry about.”

“What do you mean by ‘hopefully'?”

“I found this when I was at her house. It's her diary.”

“Is that what you were reading this morning?”

“Yeah. It starts out legit and then it turns into fiction. Some things are true, like this.” Troy turned to a page and read out loud.
“ ‘Today, I met with the Columbus PD to provide a profile for the Bible Butcher case. My heart almost stopped when I saw Troy. Our last conversation had been over twenty years ago and here I was expected to act professional and not let on that this man had severed my heart into many broken pieces. I managed. I avoided looking at the wedding ring on his finger. I couldn't believe it when I learned that he was married
and had children.'
I believe that was honest, but check out her entry from the weekend she drugged me.” Natalie snatched the diary from him and instead of him reading aloud, Troy did so over her shoulder.