Chapter 18. Sheriff Ericsson has a Plan

The morning after the meeting of The Cut and Curl Detective Society Erin calls the sheriff’s secretary. She invites Sue to lunch at the Harbor Deli at the end of Main Street. Erin suggests they sit at a corner table in the back where they can talk privately. She fills Sue in with the ideas developed the night before for helping Sheriff Ericsson with his investigation of David Wellborne. After hearing the plan Sue says, “That’s a great plan, Erin. I know just how I’m going to feed it to the sheriff bit by bit. I’ll start as soon as I get back to the office. By the time I’ve brought him his second coffee tomorrow he’ll know what to do. I promise, knowing him, he’ll be convinced he thought of every move himself. He doesn’t ever need to know Pam had anything to do with it.”

“Don’t forget about using Wellborne’s temper or making the mayor believe he’ll help his re-election by getting Wellborne to Pineville without him knowing the sheriff is waiting with warrants,” Erin reminds her.

“I won’t forget. I’ll help him get an arrest warrant for Wellborne from the prosecutor. I’ll even have warrants for searching Wellborne’s car ready to submit to Judge Laura Mae Hopper before he asks. I’ll bet Jane at Northern Insurance will tell me the make and model of Wellborne’s car. There’s nothing private about what kind of car people drive. I can tell her the sheriff needs to know for a traffic ticket Wellborne got when he was here in October. I’ll say the deputy wrote down Wellborne’s name correctly but the ink smeared and we can’t make out the make and model of the car.”

“That’s crafty, Sue. Jane should know or be able to find out if Wellborne has one of those devices in his car that tracks driving for savings on insurance premiums. Don’t let him forget to get a warrant to arrest Wellborne if his confrontation yields evidence he’s guilty.”

“I have to be crafty working for Sheriff Ericsson. Otherwise he’d never accomplish anything and I might have to break in a new sheriff.”

That remark starts them laughing as they pay their bills and head back to their jobs.

Sue waits until the pudgy little sheriff is walking past her desk toward his office when he returns from his usual lunch at the Corner Bar then says, “I have a question you might know the answer to. I was reading a crime novel last night. Two cops were arguing over the best way to find a murder’s gun in a shallow lake, you know, shallow like the harbor. One says dragging it with a magnet or grappling hook is best. The other says a metal detector or sending in a diver. They never agreed in the novel so I was wondering. What do you think?”

“I think it would depend on how much area has to be searched. If it’s a small area a magnet would do the job quickly and easily. If it’s large a diver would be better. That reminds me I meant to have Deputy Wilson put on his diving gear and search the harbor around Carson Crenshaw’s boat. Carson’s killer could have dropped or thrown whatever he hit Carson with into the water, if he didn’t take it back to his car.”

“Does that mean you’ll want a warrant to search Wellborne’s car for a weapon when you get him back here for questioning?”

“Ah, yes, I’ll need a warrant then.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure you have it when you need it, Sheriff. Judge Hopper’s secretary will tell me what we need to say to get the judge to approve it. She won’t say anything about it so I can be ready ahead of time.”

“That’s good, Sue. You’re a big help.”

The sheriff goes into his office as Sue returns to her paperwork thinking, ‘if you only knew, Sheriff’.

At the end of the day Sue sticks her head into the sheriff’s office and says, “I’m leaving a couple of minutes early, Sheriff. I’m meeting the mayor’s secretary Marylynn at Jack’s bar. She wants my ideas for anything that can help his re-election. She thinks he been so preoccupied with the shady scheme he and Glen Lund have going he’s neglecting doing things that make him look good to the voters.”

“I thought he must be up to something the way he talked when I visited him. Do you know what he and his shifty cousin are up to?”

‘No, Marylynn overheard them talking about getting the Wellborne property on the cheap. She doesn’t know more than that. You know, Sheriff, you have been working so hard on the Crenshaw murder case you haven’t put much attention on your re-election either. I am going to suggest to Marylynn maybe there’s something you and the mayor can do together that will look good to the voters. Of course, you’d have to have some way of making the mayor see it’s in his interest to help you. Well, I’m off. Have a good evening, Sir.”

“Yes, yes, I will. I have some thinking to do. See you tomorrow, Sue.”

When Sue’s gone the sheriff thinks, ‘That’s how I’ll get Wellborne here without him knowing I’m planning to question him. I’ll get the mayor to tell him something has come up regarding his former property. Knowing the mayor and Lund are up to something shady gives me leverage with the mayor. I can convince him if we work together on solving this case it can help both our re-elections’.

The sheriff whistles happily as he locks his office door and heads for the Corner Bar for a cold one before going home

The next morning when Sue takes the sheriff his first coffee she says, “I have a question. We’re talking about getting a new car. My husband wants to get one with a GPS roadside service plan, you know, like ‘OnStar’ on the GM cars. I don’t think it’s worth it. What are the chances we’ll have car trouble and a tow truck needs to know exactly where we are? My husband says most GM employees have it and say it’s worthwhile. What do you think?”

“I don’t know, Sue. I guess it depends on how affordable it is.”

“I suppose you’re right, Sir. I’m not sure we can afford a new car right now. We’re just talking about it. We are having enough trouble paying the insurance premiums on our old car, even with the deductions we get with the tracking device that shows what safe drivers we are,” she says as she returns to her office.

Sheriff Ericsson thinks, ‘that’s how we’ll know if Wellborne followed Crenshaw to the harbor. He works for GM. He probably has ‘OnStar’. I wonder if GM keeps records of where a car’s been like the insurance companies. I’ll get a warrant for both if Welborne’s car has them, as well as a warrant to search his car for a weapon. I won’t mention it to Sue until later. I don’t want her to think she’s doing my job for me.’

When Sue brings the second coffee to the sheriff she says, “I’m worried for you sheriff. I know you are going to have to question Wellborne. You know what a temper he has. He might blow up and attack you. You’ll be careful won’t you?”

“Of course, Sue, I'll be careful. I know about his temper. He was always getting into fights when we were in school. He’d lose that temper of his and hit someone.”

Finishing his coffee the sheriff thinks, ‘My plan is coming together. I can use my knowing about the mayor’s scheme as leverage to get his help getting Wellborne here without tipping him off he’ll be questioned. I’ll have warrants in place to search his car and his GPS locations for the night of October 12. Hopefully, Deputy Wilson will find something in the harbor that we can tie to Wellborne. I’ll have this case solved within a week and without Pamela Lafave’s interference.’

After having lunch the sheriffs asks Sue to set up a meeting with the mayor as soon as possible.

Five minutes later Sue tells him he can see the mayor in the mayor’s law office at 3:00.

Sheriff Ericsson is shown into the mayor’s office and before he can speak the mayor says, “What can I do for you today, Sheriff? Marylynn said you want to talk about David Wellborne. Is that right?”

“Yes, Paul. I want you to get David Wellborne to come to Pineville and not tip him off that I want to question him about Crenshaw’s murder.”

“Why should I get involved in your murder investigation? It could be bad for me if something goes haywire and people find out I’m involved.”

“Not as bad for you if people find out you and Lund are scheming to cheat Jolene Crenshaw out of the Wellborne property.”

“How did you find out what we are doing? Never mind, we aren’t doing anything illegal so why do you care?”

“We are both facing re-election soon. It can help us both if we bring Crenshaw’s murderer to justice by cooperating. We can give each other credit that will look good to the voters. They don’t need to know about your scheming to cheat Jolene.”

“I see. You need my help and you’ll scratch my back if I scratch yours. Okay, I can get Wellborne here. When do you want him and where do you want to meet with him?

“Have him come next Saturday. I'll meet him here in your office. When you get it arranged tell me what time he’ll be here. I’ll be here waiting. This is going to be good for both of us, Paul. You’ll see.”

“It had better be good for me, Sheriff. I assure you I’ll have a plan to pin the blame on you if this backfires and I’m connected to your mess.”

“That’s fine, just remember the voters in our county won’t take kindly to learning you and Lund plan to cheat Jolene. They’ll see her as the grieving widow you tried to cheat.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s work on polishing our images with the voters instead of tearing each other down.”

“I agree with that. Thanks for meeting me. Let me know when to expect Wellborne here.”