Read Dani Hayward, P.I.: The Joshua Franklin File Page 8

Chapter 4

  The next morning, after questioning Officer Phillip Smith, Dani reviewed her notes. Smith said he and his partner had broken down the study doors. After discovering Joshua Franklin was dead he went to the squad to radio for homicide while Ellis stayed with the body. After he returned, he had sat in the living room with Mrs. Franklin while his partner stood guard outside the study. Smith assured her that he could see his partner from his location on the sofa and had not lost sight of him during the entire twenty minutes before the detectives arrived.

  When Dani went to the fax machine shortly after twelve, she found the tray full of papers. The cover sheet caught her eye immediately. "Call me! URGENT!" Nothing was ever urgent to the man she had known for fourteen years. "What's up?" she asked when she got him on the phone.

  "You weren't kidding about the hornet's nest were you?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Have you read those reports I sent?"

  "No. I called as soon as I saw your message."

  "Wait till you see the one on Jeremiah Franklin."

  "Going to tell me or do I get to be surprised."

  "You'll be surprised either way. Uncle signs his paycheck."

  Dani's eyebrows met. "He's a Fed?"

  "DEA. He's been with them thirteen years."

  Jeremiah Franklin working for the United States Government was something Dani Hayward had not expected. "What else did you find?"

  "Well," Tom Sanders drawled. "He graduated from the academy in New York in the top two percent of his class. The FBI wanted him but he took a job with the King Harbor P.D. in upstate New York for three years before crossing the fence." There was a momentary pause. "That's about it except he was married for two years."

  "Anything on his wife?"

  "Not much. Belinda Hansen was working as a dispatcher for the King Harbor P.D. when they met. Other than that records about her are sketchy," he informed. "She died about eleven years ago."

  A thought flashed through Dani's mind. "During childbirth?"

  "How'd you know?"

  "Just a guess."

  "Damned good guess," the man sniffed. "Do you realize what kind of questions I raised by checking into a DEA agent's file?"

  "I'm sure it wasn't anything you couldn't handle," Dani chuckled.

  The man on the other end of the line laughed. “True.”

  “I’ll talk to you later Tom. Now it’s my turn to do some investigating.” Seconds later, Dani Hayward was on her way out the door.

  With this new information came new questions. Did the Kensington Heights Police Department know about Jeremiah Franklin's job? Dani doubted it. That might explain why he was such a hell-raiser in the local constabulary's eyes. It would be a good cover.

  Dani eased the truck to a stop and searched the forest of granite tombstones until she spotted the Franklin plot. She had expected the plot to be well-marked by a large monument. It was. She weaved her way through the cemetery, stopping in front of Joshua Franklin's headstone. After reading it silently she moved to the next marble slab. 'Belinda Hansen Franklin. Beloved wife of Jeremiah Franklin.' According to Tom's report she had been dead almost four years when her father-in-law was killed. The date on the tombstone confirmed that. If Belinda Franklin had died during childbirth what had happened to the baby?

  As she turned to go, Dani caught a glimpse of a white rectangle on the ground. She pushed the bushy grass aside, revealing a small headstone. 'Brittany Ann Franklin. Infant daughter of Jeremiah and Belinda Franklin.' Dani compared the dates on the two headstones. Belinda had died one day before her daughter. The brunette frowned thoughtfully before returning to the truck and heading for the Franklin estate.

  "Good afternoon Miss Hayward."

  Dani smiled. "Good afternoon Maria. Is Jeremiah at home?"

  "No Miss." The maid's tone wasn't much different than her employer's when she responded about the Franklin's son. "Mrs. Franklin said you would be coming by and asked that I tell you she did not see Mr. Jeremiah to give him your message. She said you would want to see the study though."

  "Yes I will."

  "I will let you get on with your investigating," the maid said then turned and went down the hallway and through one of the three doors beyond the staircase.

  The brunette went to the living room doors and looked at the room casually. Thompson said nothing had changed from the way he recalled it during his investigation. She sank to the sofa where Phillip Smith said he had been sitting with Mrs. Franklin and looked through the doors at the stairs beyond. Dani frowned then rose and went to the study doors. She slid the key Mrs. Franklin had given her into the keyhole and turned it. A shuffling sound from inside froze her hand on the knob. Someone was in the room. Dani swung the door open wide and entered the room to find… no one. She checked the only other exit. It was locked from the inside. Whoever had been in the room had not gotten out through normal exits. Dani started across the room then stopped when she stepped on something hard. She bent down and picked up a small toy car that had been half hidden under the oval rug that stretched out across the middle of the floor. Was her theory right? However, if it was and there had been a child in the room when she had unlocked the door, how had they gotten out? Was it possible the Franklin estate was old enough to have a hidden room? Or a hidden passage? Behind the bookcases or near the fireplace would be a perfect spot if one did exist. Dani began a close examination of the shelves, smiling when she discovered a red piece of material wedged between the wall and the first bookcase. In the intruder's attempt to escape had they caught a piece of their clothing in the secret door? Was there someone attached to that fabric? Dani went to the study doors and turned the deadbolt with a resounding click then tiptoed to the settee and waited.

  It was less than two minutes before the first set of shelves slid away from the wall and a small head appeared. Dani smiled at the dark haired lad. "Hello."

  The boy's dark brown eyes widened alarmingly before he disappeared from view only to reappear seconds later. His scrutinizing gaze fell on the tiny car she was holding. "That's mine," he said in a small voice.

  "I know."

  His forehead furrowed. "Are you going to keep it?"

  "No. I wouldn't keep something that didn't belong to me."

  The lad eased out of his hiding place and came forward slowly, stopping near the far corner of the desk. "Are you going to tell that I was in here?"

  Dani guessed the boy to be close to eleven years old; the same age Belinda Franklin's daughter would have been if she had lived. He wore a red, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of new-looking jeans. A pair of black socks covered his feet. "Would you get in trouble if I did?"

  His nod was instant.

  Dani had to find a way to get the boy to talk to her. But first, she had to gain his trust. "I don't want to get you into trouble." She fingered the car. "That's a nice looking corvette."

  He moved a step closer. "Do you like to play with cars?" His voice gained a tone of hopefulness.

  "I did when I was a little girl." She held the car out in an open hand.

  A small smile touched the lad's lips as he took another step toward the seated woman. "I've got a lot of them in my toy room." He took the red car from her cautiously then looked at it before he sank to the settee beside her. "You're nice."

  "Thank you," Dani said pleasantly. "So are you." She crossed mental fingers. "My name's Dani. What's yours?"

  "Brian." His brown eyes sparkled. "Brian Andrew Franklin. Andrew is my Grandfather's middle name too."

  Hmmm. Twins? "I know it is. You must be very proud that you and your Grandfather have the same middle name."

  The boy's shoulders straightened with visible pride. "Yes I am. I love him a lot. We used to play together. He liked to play with cars too."

  Dani smiled. "I'll bet you'd sneak down sometimes and play cars with him."

  He grinned sheepishly. "Yes I did and sometimes Grandfather would sneak up to my room too but only when Grandmother wasn't home." His vo
ice diminished to a whisper. "We both promised never to tell Grandmother. She would have been very upset." His concerned gaze bounced to the bookcase and back. "Grandmother doesn't know I know about the secret stairs. Grandfather told me about them when I was little. He said I could use them whenever I wanted to come down and see him." He leaned close. "But he said it had to be our secret."

  "I'll keep your secret," the brunette promised.

  His smile was genuine. "Thank you."

  Dani had a thought she could not ignore. "Did you and your Grandfather liked to play soldier too?"

  "We sure did," he confirmed with a grin. "Grandfather bought me a big bunch of soldiers for Christmas when I was littler. And for my birthday once, he even bought me a toy gun."

  "Oh," she oozed. Dani did not like what she was thinking. "I'll bet you really liked that."

  He nodded agreeably. "I sure did. We used to have a lot of fun playing soldier. Grandfather had some toy guns too and we would pretend we were generals fighting each other." Sadness blanketed his face. "I wish he didn't have to go away. I miss him a lot." The sound of a car in the driveway brought the lad's eyes to full width.

  Dani saw his fear and decided to protect Brian Franklin and his secret. "Run along. We don't want anyone to learn about your secret."

  He gave her a thankful smile then hurried to the bookcase. Halfway behind it, he stopped. "Thanks Dani. I hope we can play sometime." He disappeared and the bookcase closed behind him.

  When a light knock came on the study door Dani opened it to see Captain Thompson standing in the foyer. His expression was honed in granite.

  "Good afternoon Miss Hayward," the uniformed man said as he entered the room.

  "Good afternoon Captain." Dani closed the door.

  "I thought we agreed I'd accompany you when you came here."

  "I didn't think it was necessary since Mrs. Franklin approved of me conducting the investigation." Actually, she did not want him nosing around while she was working.

  Thompson decided to let the subject lie. He did not need to get any more onto this woman's bad side than he already was. "Did you find anything?"

  Dani shook her head. Brian Franklin would remain a secret, as would the hidden passage. However, would they be able to stay that way? "I've only been here a few minutes." She went to the desk and examined the top of it. "You never found the murder weapon."

  It was not a question but Gerald Thompson felt compelled to respond. "That's right. But we do know it was a thirty-eight."

  "That was in the ballistics report." A frown cowered on her brow as she turned to face the Captain. "Have you ever considered the theory that there might have been two shots fired?"

  "Two shots? Where in the hell did you get that idea? Only one bullet entered the body."

  "True. But what about the wound on the victim's temple?"

  "Franklin hit his head against the desk when he fell," Thompson voiced his eight-year-old assumption.

  "Death was instantaneous," Dani reminded as she went past the Captain. She opened the library door and stepped into the foyer.

  Jerry Thompson's thoughts were spinning with the woman's statement as he followed her out into the mid-afternoon sunshine. "I'm quite aware death was instantaneous," he said sternly. "But what does that have to do with a second shot being fired?"

  "Not a second shot," Dani corrected. "A first one. If you will look at the coroner's report again you'll see the wound is on the right side of the victim's head. If he got it as you say he did Franklin would had to have been facing the glass doors when he was shot." Her dark head swung. "We both know he wasn't. And then there's the matter of the large amount of blood on the floor. If death was instantaneous where'd it come from?"

  "If your theory's right, where's the second bullet?" the Captain countered her question with one of his own. "We went over that room with a fine-toothed comb." His forehead furrowed. "If that's what happened, explain the lapse of time between the first and second shots."

  "I can't yet," she admitted, sliding behind the wheel of her truck. "That's something I'm working on. You must excuse me Captain. I have an investigation to do."

  "Wait a minute!"

  But Dani didn't wait. She dropped the gearshift into drive and steered the truck toward the street. Tom's reports would be at her office by now. She was anxious to see what he'd found. Then she would return to the Franklin estate and see what she could do about finding that other bullet.