“Irene Cramer worked as the teacher at the Brothers’ school,” said Kelly.
“The Brothers? I do business with them. Their word is their bond.”
“What about the military installation?” asked Decker.
Dawson’s eyes narrowed. “London Air Force Station? What about it?”
“Do you do business with them, too?”
“Sure. Their folks come to town and frequent my places, and we provide some of their supplies. Why?”
Decker shrugged. “It’s a murder investigation. We ask questions about everybody.”
Dawson glanced at Kelly. “But why do the Feds get called in on a local murder?”
Kelly said, “We always appreciate the help.”
Dawson eyed him skeptically. “And I can sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.”
“We met your daughter,” interjected Jamison. “You must be very proud of her.”
Dawson grinned. “She’s gonna be running the world before long. She’ll leave what I did in the dust when all is said and done.”
“She’s dating a man named Stan Baker,” said Decker. “We met him, too.”
The light seemed to dim in Dawson’s eyes. “Is that right? Well, I keep out of that. She’s grown and can make her own decisions, especially when it comes to men.”
Jamison said, “Wow, I wish my father would be as enlightened. I’m in my thirties and I still get detailed emails and phone calls about my personal relationships.”
Dawson grinned. “Oh, I tried to poke my nose in here and there. The fourth time it got chopped off, I said, okay, I’m done here. Not worth it.” His expression darkened. “Then after Maddie died...” An awkward silence persisted until he said, “Anything else you folks want to ask me?” He glanced at the papers on his desk.
“We understand that your son committed suicide,” said Decker.
Dawson immediately tightened. “He took the coward’s way out, yeah. But what the hell does that have to do with anything,” he snapped, glowering at Kelly, who looked taken aback by Decker’s comment.
Decker said, “We also understand that you and Stuart McClellan are best friends.”
Dawson looked wildly at Decker for a few moments, and then burst out laughing. “Okay, I didn’t figure you for having a sense of humor. Fact is, that’s been blown way out of proportion. I’m not saying the guy and I will be going on vacation together anytime soon. But the town is booming and we’re both making money hand over fist. And we don’t compete. We’re more complementary.” His tone became more businesslike. “But this has nothing to do with a gal being murdered, right?”
“Like I said, we ask lots of questions in the hope of finding a path forward.”
“Sounds to me like you’re trying to dig through mud to get to the gold.”
“It always seems that way right before you hit the mother lode,” replied Decker.
Jamison said, “We met Stuart McClellan and his son, Shane. Your daughter was there, too. At the hotel where we’re staying. It’s one of your places.”
“Okay, so?” said Dawson.
“Any idea why the McClellans would be there?” asked Jamison. “Caroline seemed surprised that they were.”
“It’s a free country. They can go where they want.” He grinned. “And, hell, I don’t mind old Stuart putting some cash in my pocket.”
“Shane seemed quite smitten with Caroline,” pointed out Jamison.
Dawson stood. “Well, it was nice meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you around.”
The others stood, too, but Decker remained seated.
“Your daughter was making an offer to buy the apartment building where Irene Cramer lived. Did you know about that?”
“Caroline doesn’t have to come to me for every little thing. We are trying to acquire properties. And now’s a good time to do it. Stuff is still relatively cheap.”
“But you’d think prices would be going up in a boom,” said Jamison.
“It was booming last time, too. And then in a few years everything went to hell.” He paused and rubbed his chin. “What do you folks know about fracking?”
Jamison said, “Just what we read in the papers, so not much.”
“We produce more oil than any other state except Texas. But with fracking there are two downsides. First is, you get overwhelmed by the people coming in for the good-paying jobs, and drugs, prostitution, and other crime and shit like that goes through the roof. And you can’t build the homes, schools, roads, and stores and all the other stuff people want fast enough. Then there’s the second downside. You get busts. Last time oil prices went through the floor overnight and stayed there because OPEC increased production to drive the frackers out of business. Then everything around here shut down, and I mean everything. I got close to losing every nickel I had. But that’s also how McClellan really solidified his hold on the shale land around here.”
“What do you mean?” asked Jamison.
“When the fracking industry really came into vogue a while back, the big boys came up here loaded for bear. And they gobbled up all the available leases and paid top dollar for them. But with the bust cycle, they fell by the wayside and McClellan bought up their leases for pennies on the dollar. And he has his business model all squared away, so apparently no more booms and busts for him.”
Jamison said, “That still doesn’t answer my question about the prices around here now.”
“Well, despite McClellan’s operations being in good shape, people are getting damn nervous, waiting for the rug to get pulled out again. So it creates opportunities for those with a healthier appetite for risk.”
“But you almost pulled out a few years ago,” commented Kelly.
Dawson glared at him. “Maddie didn’t want to live here anymore. She’d been through hell and back with me. The last bust came, but then things started picking up again. But she’d had enough by then. She wanted out come hell or high water. We had a few dollars left. So we were going to buy a little villa in France and spend our golden years there. But then—”
“We understand she died in an accident,” said Jamison.
He nodded. “I was out of the country and she ran off the road during a blizzard. She didn’t realize that the rear of the car had run up against a berm. It had bent her tailpipe and clogged it,” said Dawson, the misery clear in his eyes. “She breathed in all that crap. And... died.”
“Why were you out of the country?” asked Decker.
“I was buying the place in France. Caroline was with me.”
“So she was going to live there with you?”
“She was tired of this place, too. Fresh start all around. And it’s what Maddie wanted.” He glanced at Decker. “But, again, why would any of that be relevant to your investigation?”
Decker rose. “I take the position that everything is relevant until it isn’t.”
“And you didn’t answer my question from before. I still don’t know why you Feds got called in on a local killing.”
“Well, on that one, you can join the club,” said Decker as he headed for the door.
Chapter 19
As they drove back to town, Jamison glanced at Decker and said, “You should fill Kelly in on what you found.”
Decker proceeded to tell Kelly about what he had done with Cramer’s corpse.
The local detective’s eyes kept widening the longer that Decker talked.
“Okay, I thought I had heard it all, but you just took it to another level.”
“Wasn’t on my wish list, I can tell you that.”
Kelly said, “You really think she was carrying something inside her?”
“It would explain why her intestines and belly were sliced open. I think the rest of the ‘autopsy’ done by whoever killed her was just to cover that part up.”