The Lucy Chronicles

CHAPTER SEVEN

Thursday June 2nd, 2011

2:18 p.m.

The phone records had finally arrived. I was so anxious; it almost felt like Christmas morning.

I ripped open the envelope and with highlighter in hand, I began marking anywhere that I saw the dates May 25th to May 29th. I started with Jolene’s records. There was a lot to highlight on

May 25th and 26th. All records stopped by the 27th. I looked over Daniel’s. He had a lot less to go through. I cross referenced the numbers, looking for a match. Bingo! It was showing Jolene had sent and received numerous texts with Daniel on Thursday until 11:37 p.m. I scanned over records for the next few days. He didn’t send any other texts to Jolene after 11:37 p.m. on Thursday. I sat back in my chair, rocking slowly. This is something. I searched through the files on my desk and pulled out his interview papers. I skimmed down to where he had answered the question about contacting her over the span of time she was missing. “I dunno, I guess I texted a few times.” Ok, he didn’t technically lie but that definitely raised a red flag. I went back to Jolene’s phone records. The last text she sent was at 12:01a.m. I pulled out the phone list her father had given me. With the papers side by side, I slid my finger down the list of numbers. Bingo. A match. My finger traced across the page to the name. I stared at it for a moment. Josh Mason. Ok, this is more than a coincidence. He lied about being away. He was supposedly meeting her for coffee that evening. Now he was the last person she had texted. Ever. I picked up the phone and dialed the contact information on the phone records. A friendly voice answered after the first ring. “Good afternoon, Grapevine Communications. How may I assist you today?”

“Hi, yes, can I please speak with Eloise Martin? Tell her it’s Detective Hart calling.” The friendly voice placed me on hold for a moment then Eloise’s voice came onto the line. “Eloise, I am just looking over the cell phone records you sent over to me. I had a question about retrieving text message data. Is it possible to get a copy of the actual messages sent and received?”

There was a pause before she spoke. “Miss Hart, I’m not sure we can do that. I will have to check into our privacy rules. You can understand, we need to protect our customers.”

I rolled my eyes, impatient with her hesitance. I was not in the mood to play games. “I completely understand Eloise, but this is a murder investigation. Those messages could be very important to the case. I can arrange to have a warrant issued, if you prefer to go that route. I can assure you it will be a lot more messy and time consuming on your end.” I was hoping to shake her a bit and it worked.

“Alright, alright. I will see what I can do.” Her voice was less friendly now. “I will do my best to have them sent over to you by Monday.” I smiled, pleased she’d caved so easily. Now, to track down the mysterious Josh Mason.

6:31 p.m.

Nine phone calls later and I still couldn’t track down Josh. Why is this guy so hard to get to?

There has to be more to his story. It just doesn’t make any sense. My phone rang and I answered it before the first ring could finish.

“Detective Hart.”

“Oh, hi there. I wasn’t sure you would still be at the office. It’s George, Jolene’s father. I was calling to get an update. I can’t seem to get any answers as to what is being done to catch this son of a bitch.” I was hoping to avoid this call. Truthfully, we didn’t have much more than a few suspicions. Definitely nothing certain that would be anywhere near getting an arrest. I closed my eyes as I answered him.

“Hi George. I understand your concern. I can assure you we are following every lead and doing everything can to find who did this.”

“So basically, you have nothing. Fucks sake.” I could tell he was agitated and rightfully so. I really had nothing to tell him that would make him feel better about this. “Detective Hart, this isn’t my first rodeo. I know how these things work. I’m a god damn defence lawyer. But, this is my daughter. My Jo-Jo. There has to be something you can…” He sighed loudly. “I just want justice for what happened to her and peace for her mother. For all of us. Please, we have been in agony since we were told…since….please.” I could feel his pain. There was no worse feeling than wanting to help someone and not having the right tools to do so.

“I can assure you, we will find whoever did this and they will pay. I promise.” It was all I could offer.

“Thank you, Detective Hart. I believe you. Appreciate your time.”

After we hung up, I had a pit in my stomach. I didn’t like the feeling. It was something I didn’t want to feel again. Frustrated, I shut my computer off and decided to head home. I peeked my head out of my office door and checked to make sure Johnson had already left. I had been avoiding him since our talk two days ago. Well, avoiding as much as I could. He was still my partner after all. I just couldn’t stomach being around him more than what was required. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust myself.

A nice breeze hit my face as I stepped into the parking lot. It was unusually warm for early June. I slipped off my jacket and pressed my car unlock button. My cell phone rang just as I opened my car door. It was a number I didn’t recognize.

“Hi, um, this is Josh. Josh Mason.” Finally! This was the call I had been waiting for all day.

“Josh Mason, thank you so much for returning my calls. You are very hard to track down. I was getting worried you may not actually exist.” As I stood outside of my car, I looked around the empty parking lot. I felt uneasy for some reason.

He let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry for the confusion. If I could speak with you in person, I can explain everything. It will all make sense, I assure you.” He was very mature for his age, I could tell. He wouldn’t give me any further information over the phone, so we agreed to meet on

Saturday morning at the station and the call ended. I stared at my phone a few moments, still feeling uneasy. It felt like I was being watched. I scanned the parking lot again, but there was nobody else with me. Stop it, Lucy. Get a grip. Getting into my car, I immediately locked all my doors, just in case.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Saturday June 4th, 2011

9:32 a.m.

I was sitting across from Josh Mason in our interview room. Johnson was beside me. My first impression as I greeted him in the lobby was exactly what I had expected. He not only sounded mature for his age, he looked it too. He was tall with short sandy blonde hair that was neatly styled. He had several prominent features, including deep blue eyes and a strong jawline. Josh wore a light jacket over a navy polo shirt and pressed khaki pants held up by a brown leather belt. His shoes were not that of a typical seventeen year old. They were brown leather, matching his belt seamlessly. He looked like someone that had jumped off the page of a Ralph Lauren catalogue.

Johnson cleared his throat and began the routine questioning. I watched Josh with each answer he gave. He was confident. Calm, yes, but he had a confidence to him. Almost arrogance. He never took his jacket off. Which I found odd, given how unusually warm it had been. He had also declined to have an adult in the room with him. He told us he had nothing to hide and was more than comfortable providing a statement without a parent or lawyer present.

“Alright, can you please explain where you were between Thursday May 26th and Friday May 27th?” I leaned in closer, like I was trying not to miss a single word Josh spoke.

“I was at school Thursday, studied for a science test at home that night. Then at school again Friday. ” His answer didn’t match what we had been told, so I waited for Johnson’s next question.

“Josh, you know we have been trying to locate your whereabouts. We were even told you were out of town. We both know that was a lie. I am just having a hard time grasping why you would lie about being out of town during the murder of your closest friend. I am in a position to think you are hiding something. There is something more here, Josh. You need to be honest with me.”

Josh sighed and lowered his head. He rubbed his hands on his pant legs a few times before looking up again. His confidence seemed to have disappeared and we were left with an anxious teenager.

“Ok….ok,” he spoke slowly. “Look, if I tell you everything I know you have to assure me I’ll get some kind of protection.” He was looking directly at me now. His face had panic all over it.

Before I could speak, Johnson jumped in.

“We need to know what you know. Then we can help you better.” His eyes went to Johnson then back to me and he nodded.

“Ok…it was Daniel. Daniel killed Jolene.” He stopped, almost to let that sink in for a minute.

“How do you know this?” I asked, finally.

“He told me. He told me he killed her because she broke up with him. That he couldn’t stand not being with her anymore.” He stopped again. His hands went over his face, but I couldn’t tell if he was crying.

“I understand this is hard, Josh. We really need to know everything.” I tried to soften my voice and it seemed to help him continue.

“He said he had been texting her Thursday night, but she was refusing to see him. He was angry at her for breaking up with him. She found out he was seeing Sara behind her back. They had a blow-up on Thursday morning over it, but they are best friends. After I talked to Jolene and calmed her down she forgave Sara. She couldn’t forgive Daniel though, and that just made him angrier.” He took a sip of water and kept on going. “So after she kept refusing to see him, he decided to just show up at her house. It was really late, but he fed her what she wanted to hear. He was sorry and that he just wanted to spend time with her one last time. That he knew of the perfect place where they could watch the sunset and just talk. She went for it….of course she did. She was a people pleaser.” He let out a sigh and shook his head. “He took her to that clearing off Valler Road. She had no idea how angry he was. She didn’t even see it coming. He was behind her and slipped his belt off, then just wrapped it around her neck.” He made the motion with his hands. “He told me he stabbed her with a pocket knife right after. He was just so angry.” He put his hands over his face again. Still no tears. Just sobbing sounds.

“When did he tell you this?” Johnson asked as Josh composed himself.

“That Friday night. We had all met up together, our group of friends. I knew Daniel was at work, so I went to see him after. We were having a smoke in my car and he just told me everything. He gave me her cell phone too.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a pink phone and set it on the table. “I was scared, that’s why I said I was out of town. I knew if I talked to the police, I had to tell the truth. I didn’t know how Daniel would react.” That makes sense. I can see how he would be scared if he knew this. Still, something is off.

“Josh, when was the last time you spoke to Jolene?” Johnson looked over at me, but I didn’t care. I was taking over the questioning.

Josh cocked his head to the side as if to think about this for a moment. “I texted her about midnight, on Thursday. Well, Friday technically. I just wanted to know if she was doing ok. She never responded to me.” That matches the phone records.

“Were you and Daniel good friends?” He looked puzzled by this.

“No, not really. He was Jolene’s boyfriend.”

“Why did you go see him that night, at his work?” His face changed from puzzled to Aha! I know what you are doing.

“I know it seems odd. We really weren’t friends but, I knew he cared for Jolene. Aside from what his actions showed. He did care about her. I just wanted to make sure he was ok.”

“You really make a point to check if everyone is ok.” I sounded slightly sarcastic and Johnson picked up on it. He kicked my foot under the table, but I kept going. “Would there be a reason he chose you, a very close friend of Jolene, to confess to? I am just trying to get a better understanding, that’s all. It doesn’t make sense right now. Why did he give you her phone?”

“I really don’t know Ms. Hart. I think I was just the right person at the right time. He must have been feeling really guilty.” He gave a shrug and shook his head again.

I tapped my pen on the table. There was still something off about this. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Everything seemed to be lining up with his story, but there was just something. The evidence was too conveniently left behind. Daniel couldn’t be that dumb.

Johnson stood up and reached out his hand to Josh. “Thank you Josh. We appreciate you coming forward. I am going to take you down the hallway now to get this in writing from you. We will also take some DNA, as routine-“ Yes! I jolted upright in my chair.

“Josh, can you please remove your jacket?” Johnson turned toward me and I brushed him off with my hand. Josh was reluctant, but slowly took off his jacket. There, on his forearms, were fading scratches. Johnson sat back down in his chair.

“Could you please explain where these scratches came from?” I was gleaming, like I had just come across a Gotcha! moment in a Murder She Wrote episode.

“I was helping move furniture for my grandmother last Saturday. She had a bookshelf, it was in a nook in the basement. When I went to pull it out, the stone walls scratched my arms. You are more than welcome to check with her. I was there from noon to about 3:00 p.m. that day.” He held his arms out forward, as if nothing to hide. Johnson stood back up, seeming satisfied.

“Was that the out of town grandmother?” Again, another look from Johnson.

“No, this is my maternal grandmother. They live here in town.” Before I could even come up with another question, Johnson took Josh out of the interview room.

I was still tapping my pen when he re-entered ten minutes later. He stood for a moment, then grabbed the pen out of my hand and threw it across the room. Shocked, I couldn’t even speak.

“What in the bloody hell are you doing Hart?” He was angry.

“Questioning the-” He cut me off, pointing his finger at me.

“No, you were not just questioning, Hart. You were doing what you always do. Looking for something that isn’t there. We just got a confession. This is it! We got Daniel on the hook. The evidence lines up. We can arrest him now.” I looked at him, wondering if we had just been in the same room.

“I don’t believe him. We are still waiting on DNA to-” He cut me off again.

“We have the DNA, Hart. It came back just before we interviewed Josh.” I couldn’t believe he didn’t tell me we had the DNA back. “It matches Daniel. The belt, the pocket knife, the fingernails. Daniel’s DNA is there.”

I sat back in my chair. I could hear the words and I should have been elated, but there was still something not right. Johnson sat down beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“Look, it doesn’t matter that you don’t believe him. He’s being truthful. The evidence backs that up. It was Daniel who killed Jolene, just like we thought all along.”

“I just don’t-” Johnson cut me off for the third time.

“Hart, we got him. He is going to be arrested by the end of the day.”

I tried to speak again, but Johnson cut me off for the final time. “Fuck, Hart. What is your problem? There is nothing else there. You spent the entire week chasing leads after Daniel. Now that we have this confession dropped in our lap to back up the evidence, you want to pull this now? You have serious issues, girl. Get yourself right. I am the one dealing with the press calling non-stop and the pressure to get this arrest. I am the lead bloody detective, Hart! Do you even understand how much more I take on than you?” He was breathing heavy and making hand gestures as he talked. “No, you don’t do you. You live in Lucy World. Where even if something so clearly right bites you in the arse, you still question it.” He turned toward the door and on his way out shouted, “He will be arrested by end of the day. Case closed.”

I sat for a few more minutes, wondering why Johnson felt he could treat me like that. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was looking for something else when the answer was right in front of me. My initial gut instinct was Daniel. The evidence pointed to Daniel. Josh said Daniel told him he did it. This is a Detective’s dream case when you break it down. Then why do I still feel like there’s something missing?

CHAPTER NINE

7:45 p.m.

I normally get a thrill from arresting a suspect, however, I felt nothing as we handcuffed Daniel Heckbert and read him his rights. He was shocked, crying and pleading. While we booked him, he was still crying and pleading for us to listen to him. That he didn’t do it and that he would never hurt Jolene. Afterward, I dodged seeing Johnson again and left the office. I had shut my cell phone off and lay in bed on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling. I had an overwhelming feeling that we were wrong, despite the evidence. I went over the interviews in my head, comparing the demeanor of Daniel vs. Josh. On a scale of one to ten, both ranked high as guilty in my opinion. I’d been so focused on Daniel for nearly a week. Then Josh came into the picture.

Although there were some questionable incidents, you can’t beat DNA results. There was just something about the way he described what Daniel had told him. I couldn’t tell the difference if it’s what Daniel did or what he had done. Regardless of how I felt, I was wrong. My gut instinct about Josh was wrong. If I was right, we wouldn’t have found Daniel’s DNA all over the crime scene. Even when we looked through her cell phone, there was no significant texts or voicemails that incriminated Josh in any way.

There was a knock at my front door. I grabbed a pillow and put it over my face, hoping whoever it was would go away. Another knock. Frustrated, I threw the pillow aside and walked downstairs. It was Sylvia Flores, my neighbor. She had a fresh batch of lettuce from her garden for me. It was good timing, I was starving. As I gathered what ingredients I could find in my fridge to create a salad, there was another knock at my door. I hoped it was Sylvia again with tomatoes. I opened the door and was shocked to see Johnson standing in front of me.

“Can we talk?” I wasn’t sure what to say, so I nodded. Walking past me, I could smell nothing other than the faint scent of his cologne. He’s really here to talk I guess.

We sat on my sofa, silent. I waited for him to speak first.

“Lucy, I want to apologize. The way I treated you, it was wrong. I should never have acted like that. I was a fool.” He shifted closer to me and placed a hand on my leg.

“It’s fine, I get it. I was being difficult. I should never have challenged the evidence. I just…” My voice trailed off as I saw his head shaking.

“No, I mean, yes. I apologize for raising my voice today. What I meant was I am so sorry I treated you like you meant nothing to me.” He was even closer now, our legs were touching. His fingers found my jawline, but I turned my head away. “Please, I am so sorry. I have been in torment thinking I hurt you.” I wasn’t sure how to respond. As many times as we broke off our affair, he never did this. We always came back together seamlessly. We picked up where we left off. No, this…this is different. I didn’t know how to act. He tried again with his fingers tracing my jawline and I let him. He leaned in to kiss me but I spoke before he could.

“James, how do I know this isn’t another game? It doesn’t change the fact you’re still married. That this is still wrong.” He pulled his head away and looked into my eyes, like he never did before. “I will leave her. If that’s what you want. I need you, Lucy. Did you know it was me who asked to work with you? You impressed me. I just never thought….These past few days have been horrible. I couldn’t touch you, kiss you.” Then he did and I had to admit I missed the taste of his lips. I pushed him away, trying to gather what he had just said. Never had he once told me he would leave his wife for me. Nor had I ever asked him to. This is too much. I stood up and walked across my living room, hoping I could clear my thoughts on the other side of the room.

“I don’t even know what to say James. You came into my office to tell me it was over on Tuesday. We’ve avoided each other the past few days. You were so horrible to me earlier today. Now you are here telling me…telling me…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. I was in disbelief, unsure where this was coming from.

He came over to me and wrapped his arms around me. It felt good to be pressed into him again.

“I want to be with you and only you, Lucy. That’s all I know.” He whispered softly. I looked up at him, his blue eyes looking back at me. For the first time I felt like he truly meant it and in that moment I chose the rusty old merry go round and jumped on without looking back.

Epilogue

Friday December 20th, 2013

6:01 p.m.

Fresh snow was falling outside. The rest of the office was anxiously waiting for the Christmas party to start so they could let loose and take advantage of the free booze. Johnson knocked on my door, a smile on his face and a red box in his hand. “You ready to head over?”

I smiled back, “Is that for me?” He winked. “I’m almost ready. Can I meet you there in ten minutes?”

“Sure, but you have to wait for this.” He held up the box. I laughed and then he was gone from my doorway. We weren’t partners anymore. He moved up to a different department with another promotion. He was still married, but had been separated the past two years. It made it easier for us to be seen together at least. I didn’t pressure him for a divorce. Things have been going so well, I didn’t want to jinx it by rocking the boat. He had moved into my townhouse with me, which was more amazing than I would have thought. Waking up to each other every day just felt right. We even planned a trip to the Bahamas after Christmas. Yes, things were going really well.

As I shut my computer off, my phone rang. I hesitated to answer it, but picked it up anyway.

“Detective Hart.” There was a pre-recorded voice on the line letting me know an inmate at a State Prison wanted me to take the call. Intrigued, I agreed.

“Hello?” There was a pause and I began to think it was a wrong number.

“Detective Hart? It’s Daniel. Daniel Heckbert.” I froze. It had been a little over two and a half years since we arrested Daniel. He had been in prison all this time awaiting trial. Why is he calling me?

“Daniel? Yes, this is Detective Hart.” There was another pause.

“I need to speak with you. Please, I’ve been in here for so long. I need to tell my story. Please. You have to believe me, but I didn’t kill Jolene.”

“Daniel, I understand how you must feel. Reaching out like this, why now? Why didn’t you tell us back in 2011?”

“Nobody would listen! I just can’t take it anymore in here. Please, I didn’t do it. I need to speak to you.” I wondered if this was just a pathetic effort before his trial to make some form of a statement that took credit away from the evidence. Not an outlandish idea, but that overwhelming feeling came over me again. The same feeling I had after interviewing Josh Mason. This feeling alone made up my mind.

“Ok Daniel, I will arrange to come speak with you. Let me warn you though, if this is some sort of gimmick for trial, so help me-”

“It’s not. I am telling the truth. I didn’t kill her and I know who did.” The automated voice came on the line again telling me his time was up and the call ended.