4. The Investigation Begins

Sheriff Ericsson leaves the crime scene as soon as the medical examiner finishes and takes the body away. It’s close to noon so he decides to go to the Corner Bar, his usual lunch spot, for a burger and at least one beer. As he sips his beer while waiting for the burger he thinks about the steps he needs to take to solve Glen Lund’s murder. By the time he has finished lunch he has convinced himself he knows what to do. He won’t need any help with this investigation from Pam Lafave, the retired detective from Grand Rapids.

Returning to his office he calls Sue in and asks, “Do you think Trudy Lund is able to answer some questions?”

Sue replies, “Yes, it’ll force her to think about something other than her grief and loneliness she is facing without Glen.”

“Okay, I know where the Lunds live. Call Trudy and tell her I’m on the way to talk to her.”

Five minutes later the sheriff knocks on the front door of Lund's grey, ranch-style house. Trudy comes to the door and invites him in. He sees her brown hair down and straight rather than in her usual ponytail. Her eyes are red and she is wearing a pink robe. He can tell she’s been crying. He says, “Hello, Trudy, I am deeply sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to harm Glen. Everyone who worked with Glen respected him as a gentleman. His courtesy and thoughtfulness were admired.”

“Thank you, Sheriff. I can’t believe it. I didn’t want him to go to Hess’s after church but Glen insisted he needed to see Hess. He wouldn’t tell me why it couldn’t wait until Monday,” answers Trudy.

“I know this is a difficult time, Trudy, but I have a few questions I need answers to before I begin to look for Glen’s killer.”

“I understand, Sheriff, I’ll try to answer as best as I can.”

“First, do you know if Glen had any enemies?”

“No, if he did he didn’t tell me. He received threatening letters recently. The letters frightened me, but he told me to ignore them.”

“Do you have any of the letters?”

“No, Glen burned them. I thought the letters might be from someone Glen and his cousin, the mayor cheated out of their land. He wouldn’t admit it, if it was the case. He always protected Paul Waters. They were close as children, although Paul is two years older. Glen got used to doing what Paul wanted as a kid. He still did, even if he thought it unethical.”

“In that case I’d better consider the people connected with Paul and Glen’s land deals as suspects. Do you know of any people who were especially upset with their tax assessment?”

“The only ones I think might be mad enough to threaten Glen are Tom and Sally Eyre. They lost their farm due to unpaid taxes. They had to move to the trailer park and Tom has to drive to Alpena for work now. Tom complained to Glen about the high tax assessment being the reason they lost the farm. Even worse Tom accused Glen of seeing Sally behind his back. Glen would never do that, but Tom is a jealous man. Sally has a reputation for cheating on Tom. I suppose he’s heard the rumors. I’ve heard gossip at the beauty salon Tom hits her when he thinks she’s been unfaithful. I don’t know if he’s ever violent with anyone else.”

“Thank you, Trudy; I’ll put Tom on the suspect list as well. If you think of anyone else I should check on please call my secretary Sue and give her the names.”

“When will the medical examiner be finished with Glen’s body?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have Sue check and let you know. Please tell Sue what funeral home you want the body sent to and she’ll arrange it. There is one last question. Did Glen take any pain medications?”

“No, he hardly ever took an aspirin. Anything stronger caused anxiety for Glen. Why do you ask?”

“There was something near Glen’s body that could be a narcotic. Knowing how rumors spread in our village you may hear tales suggesting Glen took drugs. Ignore them. If there is actual evidence of any drug use I’ll tell you. Otherwise don’t pay any attention to rumors. Again, you have my deepest sympathies for your loss. You take care of yourself the best you can. I’ll let myself out.”

Arriving back at his office he sees Sue is upset. She asks, “How is Trudy? Is she okay? Was she able to answer your questions?”

“One question at a time, Sue. Trudy is doing as well as can be expected. She’s grieving, but she did answer my questions. Her answers suggest we have to consider all of the people who were landowners involved with Paul Waters and Glen’s shady deals. Tom Eyre is the only other person Trudy thinks could have been an enemy of Glen. Trudy said Tom blamed Glen for the high tax assessment he claims led to losing his farm. She went on and on with gossip about Tom and Sally instead of just telling me she thinks Tom is a suspect. I listened patiently. Maybe it helps her to talk about something not directly connected to Glen’s death. More important, she convinced me Glen wouldn’t have been hooked on opioids and seeking heroin as a cheaper substitute. If the packet we found under Glen’s body is a narcotic I believe the killer put it there to make it look like a drug dealer killed Glen.”

“How can you find the people involved with Glen’s land deals?”

“Mayor Waters will tell me if I approach him properly. He may want protection if he believes someone they cheated killed Glen. Have you heard anything from Deputy Wilson since he finished processing Glen’s car?”

“Yes, he stuck his head in to see you while you were at Trudy’s. He told me the door handles of Glen’s car had no fingerprints. He found Glen’s cell phone on the front seat. He went to the shared deputy’s office to write up a report for you.”

“Hmm, if the car door handles were wiped clean it suggests someone else drove the car to the picnic spot. I’ll wait for the medical examiner’s report. I’ll bet he concludes Glen was shot somewhere else and his body dumped at that picnic site. ”

“Deputy Wilson agrees with you on that. What do you want to do now, Sir?”

“Set up a meeting with the mayor, Sue. He may not know it yet but he’s going to give me a complete list of all the people he and Glen cheated. While you’re setting up the meeting with the mayor I’m going to check to see if Tom Eyre has any record of assaults or other violence. Then I’ll check Glen’s cell phone log if his phone isn’t locked. I want to see what time he talked to Ralph Hess.”

Sheriff Ericsson checks the criminal records database and finds Tom Eyre has several arrests for bar fights years ago, but no convictions and no recent arrests. He concludes Tom’s troubles were typical of an aggressive youth and he’s matured. He thinks it’s surprising that there are no reports of violence against his wife Sally. He’s trying to decide if the beauty shop gossip about Tom hitting her is made up, or if she’s afraid to report his violence when Sue comes in and says he can meet with the mayor at 3:30. 

“You can make it if you leave now, Sir,” She says.

“Okay, I’ll have to check Glen’s phone later.”

Sheriff Ericsson arrives at Paul Waters’ law office on time. Marylynn shows him into Waters’ wood-paneled office. Waters stands up, walks around his desk, and extends his hand. The sheriff shakes his hand and says, “Good afternoon, Paul thanks for seeing me on such short notice.” The sheriff notices Waters’ unusual shoes and adds, “Those are sharp-looking shoes.”

“Yes, they’re Prada, very comfortable. I hoped you’d contact me, Sheriff. Trudy called me as soon as she learned my cousin Glen had been murdered. She believes the killer could be after me as well, due to our doing business together,” says Waters.

“Yes, Trudy is afraid the killer may be after you. Do you want me to assign a deputy to protect you,” the sheriff says hoping it will make Waters uneasy and therefore cooperative.

“No, I’m not concerned. No one has ever threatened me or Glen as far as I know, over any of our business deals,” responds Waters.

“Alright, but if you change your mind call me. You may not have received any threats, but Glen did. Trudy said he received threatening letters recently. Have you received any such letters?”

“No, as I said, I’ve never been threatened. Glen’s letters must have been related to his tax assessments, not our land deals,” Waters replies.

“You and I both know, Paul, Glen’s tax assessments, and your land deals are usually connected. Don’t forget the Crenshaw case,” says the sheriff.

“I haven’t forgotten. The increased tax assessment caused Crenshaw to change his plan and that got him killed,” Waters insists.

“Don’t try to B.S. me; we both know you were behind the increased tax assessment. Glen Lund wouldn’t spit without your direction. If I were in your shoes I would be concerned knowing how your scheme led to Crenshaw’s murder. Anyway, I didn’t come here to argue. I want you to give me a list of every one of the people you and Glen schemed against to get their land cheaply.”

“Why would I give you such a list? As mayor I don’t need voters finding out I made them suspects in Glen’s murder.”

“Didn’t you learn, Mayor, it’s better for both of us to cooperate on these matters? Need I remind you, Mary Jane Bloom would be tickled pink to write a scathing column in the Weekly Journal about how you and Glen schemed to cheat Jolene Crenshaw out of her beach property?”

“Okay, you’ll get your list. But please keep my name out of this. I don’t want anyone seeking revenge for naming them as suspects.”

“No one but you and I need to know how I got the names, replies the sheriff.

“You’ll have the list tomorrow, Sheriff.

When the sheriff gets back to his office he asks Sue, “Sue, what’s prada? I noticed the mayor had sharp looking shoes. When I mentioned them he said they’re prada, they’re comfortable. I didn’t know what he meant. Is prada a kind of shoe like loafers or wingtips?”

“No, Sheriff. Prada is a brand of shoes. It’s a very expensive brand. They should be comfortable given what they cost. You know the mayor. He likes fancy clothes.”

“Yes, I guess he can afford fancy clothes with the profits he makes from his shady land deals,” replies the sheriff.

Tuesday morning Sheriff Ericsson gets Glen’s cell phone from the evidence room. He finds it’s locked. He yells, “Sue, Glen’s phone is locked. Have Towner take it to the medical examiner’s lab. He can use Glen’s fingerprint to unlock it. Tell him to cancel the lock and write down all the phone numbers and times in the call log and bring the list to me.”

“Yes, Sir.” She takes the phone and leaves the sheriff’s office.

An hour later Towner returns with the phone and a list of the recent calls.

Sheriff Ericsson checks the call list while he’s having his second cup of coffee in his green mug. He learns Glen called Hess at 9:00 Saturday night. He thinks, ‘That’s strange, Hess said he asked Glen to come to his house at 1:30 on Sunday. Was Glen checking to see if they needed to work Sunday or did he tell Hess something causing Hess to want to meet? I suppose it concerned working on Sunday afternoon, they’ve been pressured by the mayor on the city’s financial problems.’ Not learning much from Glen’s phone log he tells Sue to ask Deputy Wilson to come to his office. When Wilson comes in the sheriff says, “Wilson, I want you to check with Tom Eyre to see what he was doing on Sunday afternoon and evening. We don’t have a time of death yet and we don’t have any evidence pointing to Eyre. He’s just a person of interest now, so find a way to ask him casually. We don’t want him believing he’s a suspect until we know more. Can you do that?”

“I think so, Sir. I know he drives a red Dodge pickup with a dented fender. I’ll keep an eye out for it this evening when he’s back from work. I think I’ve seen his pickup at the Corner Bar in the late afternoon. I’ll bet he stops for a beer after work.”

“Okay, I don’t need to know how you’re going to do it. Before you go, did you finish your report on processing Glen’s car?”

“Yes, I gave it to Sue first thing this morning.”

Wilson leaves. The sheriff asks Sue to bring him Wilson’s report and another coffee. Sue sets the report and a fresh cup of coffee in his blue mug on his desk and takes away his empty green mug. Wilson’s report says Glen’s car had no fingerprints on the door handles, steering wheel, and gear shift. Someone had wiped them clean. Other surfaces had lots of the two different fingerprints, which Wilson speculated were Glen’s and Trudy’s. The sheriff concludes someone else drove the car to the picnic site. It can only mean they shot Glen somewhere else and dumped his body at that site. He wonders, ‘They had to leave. Did they have someone else pick them up? Were there two people involved in Glen’s shooting? Did they walk away after dumping the body?’

By the time the sheriff finishes studying Deputy Wilson’s report it’s lunchtime. Sue asks as he’s passing her desk on the way to lunch, “Beer and burger at the Corner Bar today, Sir?”

“No, today I feel like a Coke and a ham sandwich with fries. I’ve got to be at the top of my game. I’ve got more questions than answers about Glen’s murder. I wish the medical examiner would finish soon. Maybe his report will give me some answers.”

When the sheriff returns from lunch Sue hands him an envelope and says, “Marylynn, Paul Waters’ secretary dropped this off for you while you were at lunch.”

“Good, I’ve been expecting that.”

He takes the envelope to his office, opens it, and finds the list of names Waters promised. He’s surprised to find names related to six land deals. He thinks, ‘I only knew about three. Those two have been doing shady deals for years.’

He calls to Sue, “Is Wilson in or out on patrol?

“He came in after lunch, Sir. Do you want to see him?”

“Yes.”

When Wilson comes in the sheriff says, “Wilson, I have a list of names of people connected with shady land deals Glen Lund and the mayor orchestrated. There are eight names connected with six land deals. We don’t have any evidence against any of these suspects. If I had any evidence against one of them I’d bring him in and sweat a confession out of him. We need another approach. Any ideas?”

“Yes, l would be patient. The Weekly Journal comes out today. I’ll bet Mary Jane Bloom has a column about Glen’s murder. She can’t resist adding her two cents worth on who might be suspects. After her column gets around I’ll bet we start getting calls suggesting who the killer might be. Probably most of the calls will be useless or misleading but one or two may offer helpful clues.”

“Good thinking, Wilson. Mary Jane Bloom will write as sensational a column as she can this week. I am surprised she hasn’t called me. I guess she’s learned I won’t tell her details about an ongoing investigation. Next week she’ll insinuate I’m not doing a proper investigation. We’ll let the pot boil for a couple of days. By then we’ll have the medical examiner’s report. In the meantime you continue to try to find out where Tom Eyre spent last weekend. I’ll process Glen’s office. Maybe his computer will have some useful information.”

On his way out he tells Sue he will be processing Glen’s office. The sheriff spends the rest of the day going over every paper on Glen’s desk and in the few file folders in the desk drawer. He carefully reviews every document on Glen’s laptop dated in the past three weeks. 

As he comes back into his office Sue asked, “Did you find anything helpful in Glen’s desk or computer?”

“Nothing jumped out at me. I’m not even sure what I should have been looking for. Send a deputy to bag and tag everything from Glen's desk and put the stuff in the evidence room. As soon as he’s finished tell him to unseal the office and let Hess know he can go back to his office. It’s almost time to go home. What a day. I’m going to the Corner Bar and have a beer before going home. Rumors will be circulating already. Maybe I’ll learn something listening to them. See you tomorrow, Sue.”

“Yes, Sir. You try to have a relaxing evening. The next few days will be hectic I’m sure.”