Detective Ernie Kaufman stood in the doorway to Lucas’s office. His eyes quickly assessed the crime scene. A bloody body on the floor and two women covered in blood sitting in chairs near it, he had to ask, “What on earth happened here?”
“Detective, this is the victim’s mother, Mrs. Wakefield,” Emily said, gesturing in the woman’s direction. “You’d better get the paramedics to tend to her ASAP.”
He took one look at the old woman’s face and agreed. He stepped out of the office. “Hey, Willy,” he called out to one of the EMTs, “we need you in here.”
Two young men in uniforms brought a gurney into the office and one of them checked Mrs. Wakefield’s vitals. Her heart was racing and her blood pressure was low, he said. He helped her out of the chair to assist her onto the gurney, but she went limp in his arms, grabbing at her chest.
“I think she’s having a heart attack,” the paramedic yelled. The other EMT took her legs and they lifted her onto the gurney. “Let’s get her to the hospital.”
Ernie picked up her handbag and laid it next to her as one of the paramedics put an oxygen mask over her face.
As the EMTs rolled Gloria out, the Detective assigned a policewoman to stay with her until he could sort out what took place. “Make sure you bag her clothes and get a swab of her hands,” he reminded.
Ernie called for the coroner to retrieve Lucas’s body, before turning to question Emily.
“What the heck happened here, Emily?” Ernie asked, staring into her face. “Dead guy on the floor, blood all over the old woman, blood all over Maggie—spill it.”
Ernie had been on the Paradise Valley police force for over twenty years, but it wasn’t until Colin had to take a leave of absence that Ernie took the promotion, against his better judgment, to be the town’s only detective.
Emily took Ernie by the arm and led him into the other room while a couple of uniforms taped off the crime scene. “The dead man is Maggie’s fiancé. I already said the older woman is his mother, or was.”
Ernie’s bushy eyebrows lifted in surprise, creating a cascade of wrinkles across his considerable forehead. “All right. Go on.”
“Maggie and I came here together. When we walked in, Lucas was already dead on the floor and his mother was sitting in the chair calling nine-one-one. She said she found him like this, and that she’d tried to help him but she was too late. I’m assuming that’s how she got the blood on her hands and her dress.”
“So why does Maggie have blood all over her?” he asked.
“Because he’s her fiancé, Ernie,” she stressed, her eyes growing round with emphasis. “When she saw him on the floor, she didn’t think about it being a crime scene, she just rushed to him and put her arms around him.”
“I wish she hadn’t done that,” he mumbled.
“What would you do if you found your wife dead on the floor? You’re telling me you wouldn’t run to her and take her in your arms?” Emily asked, trying to put Ernie in Maggie’s shoes.
“I guess I would,” he replied, shifting his burly weight.
“Let me take Maggie home now. This is all such a shock to her. They were supposed to be married two weeks from today.”
“I can’t let you take her just yet. I have some questions for her,” he said.
“Listen Ernie, Maggie was with me for the last few hours and we came here together just a little while ago. She saw what I saw, when I saw it. She’s not going anywhere, so if you have any questions for her, call her in the morning. I’m sure she’ll be willing to answer them.”
“But I’ll need her clothes.”
“What? Why? I just told you she and I came in together and I saw her lay against Lucas, getting his blood on her. She did not have his blood on her prior to that.”
“If I don’t do it by the book, the DA will chew my butt.”
“Please, Ernie, have a heart.”
“All right, if you and she will sign a written statement to that effect and be willing to testify in court to that, if need be, then okay. If the DA has a problem with it, he can just demote me back to officer. I’d prefer that anyway.”
“Thanks, Ernie.” She patted him on the arm as she started to walk away.