CHAPTER 6
"…So she lawyered up the minute she got here." Det. Lee Jennings finished telling Hoyt what had happened when Naomi Benson had been brought in earlier.
"And she's out on bail already?" He sat down in his chair behind the desk as Matt landed on the couch with a heavy sigh.
"Yes sir."
"Figures." He looked over at Houston who was sipping on a cup of coffee and opening his laptop. "Which interrogation room is Ashford in now?"
"Three."
"Okay, I'll…" He looked up as Sanchez opened the office door.
"Excuse me, sir. We've got a domestic dispute that turned into a murder-suicide."
"I'll get it." Lee took the paper from the clerk and headed out, tagging Gabby Giovanni to help him.
"Are you working on Benson?" Hoyt looked back over at his friend as Sanchez left and closed the door behind him.
"Yeah…" He continued to work the keyboard for a few minutes before closing the machine and giving a low curse. "How in the hell are the two of them hooked up?" Rubbing his eyes the PI propped his feet on the coffee table in front of him.
"Good question. That was her Lexus he was driving."
"Who's her lawyer?" Matt tilted his head back on the couch rubbing his temples.
"R. James Canton, Esquire." Looking at the file that Jennings had given him Michael said the name with a slight British accent causing the PI to chuckle.
He didn't open his eyes as the cop quietly opened the top right drawer on his desk and tried to sneak out the bottle of antacid, hoping his friend wouldn't notice. "Got any Tylenol in there?"
"Yeah." He tossed it across to Matt hoping to hit him in the chest but the cowboy caught it without opening his eyes. It was returned a moment later as Houston popped two of the pills into his mouth and chased them down with the last of the coffee and stood up, stretching his back and then popping it as he walked to look out the window.
"Alright…we've got Ashford; we've got his prints at the first fire, and…" His phone rang. "Yeah, Yoshi?" He looked at Michael and gave a thumbs up. "Uh huh…great….Yeah, I can get those now. We just brought him in a little bit ago…Uh huh. Me, too. Thanks, bud. 'Bye." Houston hung up. "I need to get Ashford's palm prints to see if they match up to the emergency exit at the second theater. Yoshi just confirmed his fingerprints were on the jug of coconut oil. He's part of it and doesn't have much room to wiggle." The last was said with a grin. "Ready to go chat with him?"
"About as ready as I'm ever gonna be. Let me get somebody to come up and get his palm prints." Hoyt made a quick call and then got up from the desk and followed Matt down the hall to the interrogation room where Gregory Ashford sat with a sulky look on his face. "Mr. Ashford, I want to remind you of your rights once again." He recited the Miranda Warning as he and Matt both had a seat. "So…would you like to tell us why you've burnt down two movie theaters?"
"Who says I have?" Ashford gave both men a cold stare.
"You do." Matt propped his boots up on the table as he usually did. "We've got your prints. Speaking of which…" There was a knock on the door and Hoyt opened it to a clerk from the ID section. Slipping on a pair of nitrile gloves the clerk approached their suspect who began resisting as the tech began getting a digital scan of his right palm. Houston sat up and hit the table with his right hand, scaring not only Gregory Ashford but the clerk. For once Hoyt had seen it coming and barely managed to stifle a chuckle. "Your choice – the hard way or the easy way – what's it gonna be, Ashford?" He sat back down as the clerk got the print and Matt told him where to send it. "Now, as I was saying we've got your prints. What we don't have is a reason why you did it. Care to share?"
"I don't have to say anything."
"That's fine. But you're going down for these two fires…and oh yeah, the murder of your aunt." The look he gave the suspect was one of pure hatred. "Why did you kill her anyway? The $800 and the silverware weren't enough?" Ashford looked slightly surprised for a minute but continued to keep quiet.
"What difference does it make, Houston?" Michael spoke up. "He'll be a dead man when the murder conviction comes down. The fires will just be icing on the cake. He's much too honorable to let anyone else take the blame for any of it."
"I want my lawyer."
"People in hell want ice water, too." Houston looked angrily at the man in front of him. "Who's your lawyer?"
"I don't know his name."
"Hard to recommend him I reckon."
"Look, what about my phone call?"
Houston reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, placing it on the table in front of the man. "There ya go."
After a slight hesitation Ashford began dialing and looked agitated when the call wasn't answered and went to voice mail. He didn't leave a message but disconnected the call and sat back in his chair.
The PI reached out for the phone and looked at the last number dialed, comparing it to one in his notebook. "Would you looka there? I think she dumped him." He chuckled as did Hoyt. "So old Naomi isn't answering her phone; might be because she's talking to her lawyer." A shocked look flitted across Ashford's face momentarily. "You know, I bet he won't represent both of 'em at the same time. What do you think?" He looked at Hoyt.
"Nope, probably not…and of course she IS the one with the money." The cop yawned and looked at his watch. "So what's it gonna be, Ashford? Do you want to talk - do you want a public defender - or what?"
"I'm not talking without my lawyer."
"Good luck with that." Matt got out of the chair and walked out.
Ashford watched as the door closed. "Who the hell is that guy?"
"The one who's about to put you away for a long time…" Michael got up and went to the door. "…or he may be the one who is gonna get a needle shoved in your arm." He quietly walked out, the door closing with a soft click and went back to his office where Houston was walking out with his laptop. "Going home?"
"Yeah. I've gotta get some sleep. With him in custody I think we can slow down a little bit. Rich has been watching videos all day from the surrounding businesses, but I haven't talked to him since this morning." He pushed the button for the elevator.
"Well, give Catey Rose a kiss for me…and tell CJ she's welcome."
"For?"
"Not having to bail you out." Hoyt laughed.
"Ya know it's been a while since I've been in cuffs…" Matt stepped onto the elevator and got a lopsided grin on his face. "…except for when CJ…" The doors closed and the last thing he saw was the look of shock on Michael's face. He chuckled as he pulled his keys out of his pocket and went to the truck.
Arriving at the ranch after fighting through the LA evening traffic, Houston came into the kitchen to find Catey eating her supper with the help of nanny Sheila Wentworth and Tilly, while CJ checked on a pan of lasagna in the oven. After giving his daughter a kiss on the top of her head, he walked over to put his arms around CJ and gave her a big hug. "Somebody sure had a busy day today." She gave him a kiss.
"Too busy."
"Mama sent more lasagna. It'll be ready in about five minutes."
"Okay." He headed into the den and looked at the couch just inside the door. He could stretch out for a few minutes, have supper, and then go work with Jasper for a little while before studying for his test. A few minutes later CJ called out to him but didn't get an answer. Maybe he hit the shower. Two steps into the den told her the story: there stretched out with his feet dangling over the end of the couch was her husband, face down and sound asleep. She gently removed his boots and covered him with an afghan before returning to the kitchen.
Around midnight Matt woke up in the same position that he had stretched out in. After maneuvering around and sitting up on the side of the couch, he rubbed his eyes, went and got a drink of water, and wandered back to the bedroom where CJ was curled up in their bed asleep. Considering his options, the PI quietly went and took a shower before coming back out and sliding into bed. CJ gave him a sleepy smile and a kiss before moving over and resting her head on his chest, just like always. He kissed the top of her head and drifted off.
The next morning Matt walked into the kitchen and found a stack of pancakes waiting on him along with a steaming hot cup of coffee. After kissing CJ on the cheek, he sat down and began talking with Catey over breakfast.
"Daddy?"
"Hmm?"
"Go ride Cricket."
"We can't ride right now. How about tonight?"
The little girl gave him a disappointed look and sighed, reminding him of CJ so much he broke into laughter. "I swear, Babe – she looks just like you when she does that." He continued to chuckle.
"Daddy?"
"Hmm?"
"Go ride Jasper?"
"No, I don't think Jasper is ready for you just yet. Maybe in a few weeks." Once again she gave him the look and sigh sending him into another round of laughter along with Sheila and CJ. "Tell you what; if I can get a chance to work with Jasper tonight we MIGHT be able to go for a ride on him. But I can't promise you, okay?" He got up and rinsed his plate, putting it into the dishwasher before picking up the laptop. After kissing CJ he leaned over and gave Catey Rose a buzz on the cheek. "Love you bunches, you know that?"
"Yep. Love my daddy." She gave him a kiss on the nose and then shook her finger at him. "Be good."
"Yes ma'am." He headed out the door. "You ladies try to stay out of trouble today, too. Love you, Babe."
"Love you, Cowboy." CJ watched as he put on the holster before getting into his truck. She looked at Sheila. "You know, Catey talks a lot for her age. I believe it's because of Matt. He's talked to her practically non-stop since she was born, just like she understood every word."
"She's smart, that's for sure. But you talk to her, too. It isn't just him." She watched as the baby teased Tilly with a piece of pancake before feeding it to the half Blue Heeler half Husky.
On the way to the lab, Matt's phone rang. "Hey Michael."
"You aren't in cuffs are you?" The cop snickered.
"Not at the moment. What's going on?"
"Gregory Ashford has agreed to a public defender. I set up an interview for 9:00. Will that work for you?"
"Sure. I'm on my way to the lab to see what else we've got. I'll bring it along with me and maybe we can convince him to spill the beans. I'm still trying to figure out how in the heck he got hooked up with Naomi Benson."
"That makes two of us. See you later."
Matt swiped his ID on the way inside the building where the lab for the Fire Department was housed and went to find Yoshi Masaru, the tech that he usually worked with. "Mornin'."
"Not too bad of one, actually." The young tech grinned and straightened his glasses. "I guess you're looking for some more answers, huh?"
"It would sure be useful."
"In that case…" He waved the investigator over to one of the work terminals. "Alright, your palm prints from Gregory Ashford matched the ones at the second theater. All of the prints on the flare cartridges were his as well."
"Okay, maybe we can get this one wrapped up today. Thanks a lot."
"No problem."
Matt whistled as he walked down the hallway and got to Rich's office. "Knock, knock."
"Who's there?"
"You must be getting old like Michael. You've already forgotten who I am." Matt snickered as he sat down.
"Save the old jokes for the cop, Rookie." He pointed to the computer. "We've got a couple of video shots of Ashford from the stores across the street from the second theater. He was driving Naomi Benson's Lexus, by the way."
"I still haven't figured out how the two of them got hooked up." Matt watched the footage and handed his friend a flash drive. "Can you put that on there for me? Michael and I have an interview set up for him at 9:00 – along with his public defender."
"Umph…think he'll talk?"
"He'd be stupid not to let someone else take part of the heat – but then he's not exactly a rocket scientist, is he?"
"Nope." Rich handed back the flash drive. "So how did the photo shoot go?" He got a big grin on his face as he saw the uncomfortable look on the younger man's face.
"It went. Thank God CJ went with me." He looked at his watch. "Guess I better get moving on over to the station. I'll holler at you if we get anything else." Standing to leave his phone rang. "Hey Uncle Roy…" He paused. "Hang on a second. I'm gonna put you on speaker so Rich can hear this, too." He punched the button. "Okay."
"I spoke to the employees from both theaters. One remembered seeing Ashford there the day of the fire at the first one. An usher had to make him leave the balcony area – it's only used at night and on the weekends. The other was a young lady who worked the ticket booth at the second theater. She remembered him because when she asked him which movie he wanted he told her it didn't matter – just give him a ticket."
"So he was scouting them out, huh?" Rich nodded.
"So it would seem. That's all I've got."
"Well, that's something else we can add to the file. Thanks, Uncle Roy. I'll call you back in a minute. I've got another job for you if you're feeling up to it." After being reassured that his uncle was interested, Matt hung up and headed out the door, whistling once again as he went out to the parking lot and slid behind the wheel. He punched Roy's number on his cell phone and it was answered almost immediately. "Hey. How about you use your expertise to dig a little deeper into Todd Conley – the owner of the theaters? The fact that both theaters belonged to him could mean that Ashford has a personal dispute with him or that Conley is possibly involved somehow."
"I'm on it. I'll call you when I have something." The elder Houston went across the office and pulled up BABY to see what else she could give him on the owner.
When he got to the station, Matt took the stairs up to the fourth floor and hit the coffee pot outside of Michael's office. As he took a sip, Gregory Ashford was escorted from the elevator by an officer and a woman who appeared to be his lawyer. Hoyt came out of his office, refilled his own cup, and watched as Lee Jennings directed the trio down to one of the interrogation rooms. Matt filled his friend in on what they had gotten from the lab.
"I'd say we've got a good case on him – but I sure would feel better about it if we had a good motive." The two men walked down the hallway to room number five and entered. Once again, the lieutenant reminded the suspect of his rights and then motioned to Matt.
"So have you decided to cooperate?" Houston took a long sip of coffee as he looked across at the man who appeared to have slept very little the night before.
"Yeah." Ashford started to speak again but was silenced by the young public defender.
"Mr. Ashford will be happy to cooperate with you as long as certain conditions are met." The attorney opened a folder. "He agrees to help you with the fire investigation as long as the murder charge is dropped."
"You've GOT to be kidding me." Hoyt looked incredulously at the young woman.
"No, Lieutenant. We're quite serious." She looked surprised as Matt got up and stepped out of the room without a word. He went across the hall to an unoccupied room and called Rich, informing him of what was going on.
"They can't be serious."
"She says they are." Matt sighed. "Look, this guy needs to be put away as long as possible. The murder charge will get him at least 25 years or more – assuming that the DA goes with first degree charges. He beat her to death with a hammer and split her skull in two – that would qualify. The arson charges would only be maybe 10-12 years depending."
"I think we need to talk to the DA's office before it goes any further, but obviously we want this guy put away as long as possible." He was quiet for a minute. "If we could get Naomi Benson to talk…we might be able to get him on both."
"That was my thinking. I'll call you back." Matt hung up and stuck his head back into the room where the three sat silently staring at each other. "Michael – can I see you for a minute?"
The cop stood up and followed his friend back into the other room, listening as Houston told him about the phone call. "Yeah, we have to handle it that way. No way is he getting to duck the murder charge." Nodding he went back into the interrogation room ending the interview and informing the lawyer that the DA would be contacting her.
As the two friends went back to Michael's office and had a seat, they watched as the officer escorted Ashford and the lawyer to the elevator, the suspect showing obvious agitation as he began shouting and cursing at the lawyer. Both detectives got to their feet and went back out to the lobby as the officer and Ashford's attorney tried to calm him. It appeared to be working and everyone headed back to what they had been doing when a shot suddenly rang out.
Houston and Hoyt spun around in time to see Ashford now aiming the officer's pistol at his attorney and pulling the trigger. Immediately the two friends drew their weapons and fired, dropping the man to the floor in an instant.