Chapter10—MistakenNonentity
"Good morning, Miami. Well, the top story of the day just seems to be this rain. We're going on our fifth straight day of steady rain, and that's due to a low-pressure system that's still parked off the Atlantic coast. We have flood warnings going up in just about every county from here to Tampa Bay. A state of emergency has been declared in Dade County, as well as several others. Melissa, any idea when we're gonna get a break from this rain?"
Delko stirred and moaned tiredly, reflexively covering his head with his jacket. The morning news now blended in with his dream. He had slept on the break room couch with his arms folded as the television blared over him. He flinched when he felt something patting his shoulder.
"Delko! Hey, wake up, man" he heard Frank say to him.
He could hear the urgency in Frank's voice. The police officer in him took over. Quickly he sat up and rubbed his face before opening his bloodshot eyes. "Yeah. Tripp? What's going on?"
"County's in a state of emergency because of the flooding. Horatio and Emmie are now officially missing. We didn't hear anything about them last night. So we're gonna need you guys to pull twelve-hour shifts until this thing's over."
A bleary-eyed Delko yawned and stretched his arms while he looked at Frank. "Yeah, okay. I'm getting up now."
Frank backed up from him. "Go home if you can. Grab a shower and a change of clothes." He glanced at his watch as he spoke. "It's six o'clock right now. Need you back at six tonight."
Delko nodded sleepily. "What about you, Tripp?"
Frank motioned behind him. "Stetler cut me and half of us loose last night. I'm on days while he goes home. He and I are gonna trade off. He'll be back tonight. Weather's still pretty bad, so air's still grounded. Soon as they lift that tornado watch, we're gonna be looking."
The reality hit Delko now as he slowly came to life. "So they still don't know anything?"
Frank shook his head. "Nothing. Emmie's parents called up to file a missing persons report. Stetler took the call. It'll get out to the news eventually that Horatio's missing. We don't need them to know that a Stockburne's missing too. So do whatever it is you have to do today." Frank now turned to leave. "See you tonight. Watch those roads."
Having had sufficient sleep, Delko simply gathered himself and drove to Casey Automotive and Tires. The rain and wind continued to pound Florida. He kept both hands on the steering wheel as he crawled through the grayness and meandered around brown pools on the pavement.
At the desk stood an older, thin, graying man who looked like he'd been fixing cars for the better part of forty years. His brown uniform was smudged, but his name was visible. Delko ignored the pounding rain on the steel roof and the hissing of air shocks in the bays.
The older man put his hands together as he looked at Delko intently. "Morning, young man. You're the first guy in here I haven't had to pull out of the mud" he said heartily.
Delko smiled slightly. He lifted arm to show his badge. "Yes, Sir. Eric Delko with the Miami-Dade PD. I'm checking up on some repairs your garage made to a 2000 Chevy Lumina last week. It belonged to Angela Miller."
A sad look crossed the man's face now. "Yeah. Eric Miller. Too bad. I heard about that on the news."
"Yeah, it is. We understand the Chevy Lumina was serviced last week for a lube and oil and a tire rotation. And then Angela Miller had to bring it back because the turn signals went out."
The man dipped his brown eyes and busily clicked a keyboard in front of him. "Hold on, young man. Let's see, uh, Miller. Chevy Lumina. Bear with me. My girl couldn't make in today on account of the roads, so I'm not too good with this thing." He squinted at the old brown computer screen for a moment. "Yeah. It says here that on Monday the car got worked on. Angela brought it in for routine work. Lube and oil would've been fine, but it says here…." He raised his eyebrows. "That's funny. She got those tires about a month ago. All four of them were brand new. Not sure why she'd need them rotated so soon."
Delko pursed his lips as he nodded thoughtfully.
"But wait a minute now. It also said the turn signals went out on that same car. Brought it back Thursday. My son checked that car himself." He motioned with his grease-stained hand toward the bays. "White Chevy Lumina. Saw it up there on the lift." A confused look crossed his face now. "That doesn't make sense either, now that I think of it. Fixing the turn signals? And he had it up on the lift."
Delko raised his eyebrows. "Your son?"
"Yeah. Patrick Casey's my son, Officer. Want me to have him call you?"
"Yes Sir, I'm going to need to talk to your son. Do you have the old parts your son took off that Lumina?"
The man thought for a moment. "Yeah. Wait here. Now I have to let you know that the first repair wasn't made in here. We were really busy all last week, so we have a garage down the road for overflow work."
Delko looked at the man firmly. "I'm gonna need those old parts. Okay if I have a look inside your other garage?"
The man grabbed his key ring. "Sure. Good thing we had the rain, because the scrap guy was supposed to come this morning and haul all of that stuff away. He couldn't make it because of the flooding."
Delko's brown eyes darted warily as he followed the man through the noisy repair bays. Any evidence from the turn signal repair was probably long gone by now, he thought. But he would go ahead and at least glance. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Ryan was hunched over a lighted magnifier. He glanced up at the bleary-eyed CSI. "You're not gonna sleep, are you?" he said with a grin.
Delko smirked. "Nah, man. Can't."
Ryan turned his head back to the magnifier. "Not worried about Horatio, are you?"
Delko sniffed. "No more than you're worried about Emmie."
That did it. Ryan gently pushed the lighted magnifier out of the way and stared into the distance. "I hope she's okay."
Delko raised his eyebrows now. "Yeah. Me too."
Ryan stiffened up when his phone chirped. He glanced at it before flipping it open. "Yeah." He furrowed his eyebrows now. "You sure? Does Angela Miller know about this?" He dipped his brown eyes now. "Really? Yeah, I'd say that changes everything. Yeah, be right over." With troubled eyes he snapped his cell phone shut.
"Who is it?" Delko wanted to know, still holding out hope that there might be word from Horatio or Emmie.
Ryan looked at him matter-of-factly. "Tyler did a little digging around into Melissa Matherson's background. Don't know what she was crying about."
Both Delko and Ryan now stood behind Tyler as he clicked the keys.
"Checked with the county probate" Tyler told them, never taking his eyes off the screen. "Wonder how Angela Miller felt when she found out she's gonna have to share."
"What are you talking about?" Ryan wanted to know.
A document came to life on the main monitor. "Eric Miller's Last Will and Testament. Just got filed with probate." He pointed with the cursor. "Eric Miller had his will changed last year."
Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. "That's right about the time Melissa Matherson came to Miami" he noted.
Delko leaned forward as his eyes scanned the printing. "Right there, Tyler. 'In the event of my death, all of my estate shall go to my wife, Angela Miller.'" He shook his head. "Okay. So what's the big deal? She's his wife."
Tyler nodded as he scrolled down. "Added this codicil. Thought you might want to check this out."
Both Ryan and Delko scanned the screen before they looked at one another. "'In the event that Melissa Matherson is living in Miami, Florida at the time of my death, half of my estate shall go to my wife, Angela Miller, and the other half shall go to Melissa Matherson'" Delko read aloud. "Sounds like our crying meteorologist had motive, wouldn't you say?"
Ryan smirked. "Yeah, but I've been over to their house. Didn't look like they had a whole lot. Old house, old furniture, two old cars, a lazy dog…."
"Gotta show you something else." He clicked the keys again. "Bank statements. Don't know if Angela Miller knew about these or not."
Delko's and Ryan's eyes widened. "I guess looks can be deceiving."
Tyler smiled slightly. "And another one just made it to probate. It's an account he had in the Cayman Islands." He clicked the keys again. Another statement came to life on the monitor. "He'd been keeping it offshore until last year."
"About the time Melissa Matherson moved to Miami" Ryan said. "God. Eric Miller was worth that much? And he was still working? I think I'd change my name and hide somewhere."
Delko and Ryan were speechless now.
"Explains how he could afford to send Melissa Matherson that much money every month" Delko said.
Tyler smiled now. "Hey guys? I saved the best for last." He clicked the keys yet again. More documents popped up onto the monitor.
Delko nodded now. "His name wasn't Eric Miller, either."