Simba didn’t say a word and my mind raced. What evidence could Grimes have put together since yesterday? No judge would grant a search warrant based on a partial match of a license plate. He must have come up with additional evidence, some sort of relationship between Penny and Henry, and I didn’t even have that nailed down yet, it was still conjecture on my part. Grimes wasn’t due to talk with Penny’s mom Carla Piccinini until tomorrow, so that left Sam, Johnny Knox, or maybe Dessa or Sylvia. Sam was the most likely candidate given his hatred of Henry, but he claimed he didn’t know anything about Penny during his last interview with Grimes. But of course he could have been lying; maybe Simba’s interest in getting custody of Chloe prompted him to rat out Henry. Johnny Knox was also a possibility, either on his own initiative, or based on Sam’s orders. And it just didn’t make any sense for Dessa or Sylvia to be involved if they were still laying low.
“Can I see the search warrant, please, Detective?” I said to Grimes. I then turned to Simba, “Do you know where your brother went? You’d better go get him.” She turned without a word and walked out the same door as Henry.
Grimes handed me the search warrant, which was limited to his car looking for evidence of a crime. Not much help there. Henry and Simba reentered the room. “How can I help you officer?” Henry said mildly.
I have a warrant here to search your car. We’ll have to impound it. Can you please direct me to the car? Is your garage out back?”
“Can I ask what for? You can certainly search it, I don’t really care, I have nothing to hide. I haven’t driven the car in over several years now. In fact I let my driver’s license lapse. But what is this all about?”
“Here’s the warrant,” said Grimes
“What crime could I possibly have committed?” said Henry. “This must be a mistake. Let me show you back to the garage, and you can see for yourself that the car hasn’t been driven for months.”
He started to lead Grimes out the side door towards the large four car garage in the back and Simba and I trailed along. “Is this about Penny?” she whispered.
“He doesn’t have to tell us exactly, just that they think that there is probable cause that there is evidence of a crime in the car, but it must be about Penny. But I just can’t figure out how they got probable cause,” I said, suddenly a wave of nausea that I had done half of Grimes’ work for him by giving him the tip about checking Henry’s license plate.
Grimes turned to Henry with his hand out asking for the key. Henry said, “There is no need for a key, detective. I live in a gated community and therefore have never locked the garage.” Henry’s calm demeanor was in sharp contrast to Simba, whose fingers were now digging into my elbow. One of the policemen moved forward to grab the door and yanked it, and it smoothly opened. The garage was empty.
Grimes put his hands on his hips and turned slowly toward Henry, “Mr. Murphy, let me clearly understand you. You say that you have not driven this car in two years? Where do you think it is then?”
I was surprised and impressed by Henry’s defiance. He placed his hands on his hips in a perfect imitation of Grimes and said very deliberately, “You are correct detective. I did indeed say that I had not driven the car in several years. Perhaps I should be more explicit about the term “several.” By several I meant more than one, but for the exact number I would have to check with my insurance company, but I am sure that you can check with the DMV to see when my license lapsed.”
Grimes did not move. “Is it your contention, Mr. Murphy, that your car has been stolen, and if so, did you report this to the police?”
Henry stood firm, and the two other cops, Simba and I were transfixed by this performance. “I don’t contend anything. All I can say is that I did not authorize anyone else to use it. And as I was unaware that the car was no longer in the garage, there would be no way that I could report it as stolen. I don’t think that I have anything further to add, and I am sorry that I cannot help you further. If you want to question me further, I will refer you to my lawyer.” Henry turned and walked away. Grimes looked at me, and I just shrugged my shoulders. Grimes had no choice at this point but to walk back down the driveway to where his car was parked on the other side of the gate and leave.
Simba and I followed Henry into the house. He was leaning over the sink supported by his hands and his whole body was shaking. “What is happening to me, why is this happening? I haven’t done anything. This is about that Penny girl isn’t it, that nosy friend of Dessa’s isn’t it? He turned and looked directly at me.
“You have brought this all down on this family and you too,” as he first stared at me and then at Simba.
“The point is that we are a family, and we will solve this as a family,” said Simba. She put her arm around Henry and then turned to me. “Tell us what we should do.”
“I should’ve known when that little tramp showed up with all those tattoos for God’s sake,” said Henry. “I should’ve kicked her out of this house immediately, instead for Dessa’s sake, I asked her in. Should’ve kicked her out,” he mumbled.
“Stop talking Henry,” I said. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you, because you need to talk with a lawyer and I can give you a recommendation, because I have worked with some excellent criminal lawyers, but I don’t want you to say another world.”
“I don’t like your tone, and besides I haven’t done anything,” he said.
“Look, I’m not trying to be rude here, but evidently the police think that there’s at least enough evidence to search your car, I don’t know what that evidence is, but now your car is missing, so you have to understand that doesn’t look good. They are certainly going to want to talk with you again, and you need a lawyer to advise you about what you have to answer and what you don’t.”
“Like I said, why do I care, I didn’t do anything, so why do I need a lawyer?”
“Henry, do you remember that you told me the other day that you had never heard or seen of a Penny Knox, and I even showed you a picture? And now you tell me that you invited her into your house. Now I’m sure that you had your reasons not to tell me the whole truth, and that was your right, but that type of inconsistency can get you into real trouble with the police. So please don’t say anything else, not to me, not to Simba, not to anybody until you talk with a lawyer. I don’t even want to know who you think may have taken your car.”
“Henry, listen to her, please,” said Simba. I know that you didn’t do anything, you couldn’t have, but let’s let a lawyer handle it. We’re family and we’ll find a way. Liza, who do you recommend?”
“There are two people that I’ve worked with in the past and both are excellent, and it is just a matter of who might be available on a Sunday to talk with you. I’ll give them a call right know if you’d like.”
“Henry, listen to what she’s saying, please. I’m on your side here. It is you, me, Dessa and Goddard, and it’s not Sam. This is me trying to be strong, trying to stand up to Sam and I need you to be strong here too.” Simba was now facing him directly and had grabbed both of his forearms with her hands. I am sure that we were all simultaneously thinking who could’ve taken Henry’s car, and no one wanted to say out loud that it was most likely Dessa.
I acknowledged Henry’s slow nod of assent and went into the next room to make the calls, leaving Simba and Henry alone. I first called Jake Boyd and left him a message. My second call was to Jimmy Earle, who answered on the first ring. “Hey Blue, what’s up? Haven’t heard from you in a long time, since that messy Castellano case out in the desert.” I gave him a quick sketch of the case, including the strained family dynamics. He let out a long whistle, “Sounds like you have a live one there Blue, but the one thing I don’t understand is how the cops got onto to Henry Murphy in the first place. What was the probable cause for the warrant?”
“Jimmy, I’m feeling bad about this, but it might have originally come from me, back at the beginning of the case when I was just looking for the daughter. I indirectly mentioned to Grimes that he might want to check out Murphy’s license plates. I don’t know why and I should’ve known better. But Grimes must have more information, and I don’t know what it is, because I don’t know how he would know that Penny, the dead girl had met Henry Murphy. I just don’t know, but I do know that Henry Murphy needs good representation, he is kind of a lost soul right now. Do you have time to see him today?”
“I am at my son’s soccer game right now, but there are only 10 minutes left in the second half. Can he meet me at my office in about 45 minutes? Tell Murphy not to talk to anyone else until we talk first, not even to his sister.”
My phone rang again as I was walking back into the living room to give Henry the good news about Jimmy Earle. “Hey Liza, this is Jake. Could we be talking about the same case here. I just got a call from Sam Todd – something to do with his daughter and her friend Penny?”
“Jake, who are you representing? I am here with Sam’s brother-in-law Henry who’s just been served a search warrant for his car.”
“I am representing Sam, though he says he’s not in any trouble. Maybe we can consolidate the cases, if this is one big family mess. I’d love to work with you, you have always been my best investigator.”
“Jake, you just happened to answer my call second, and Jimmy Earle has agreed to represent Henry for the moment. Maybe when we figure out exactly what is going on, we can consider consolidating.”
“Sounds good Liza, you can’t go wrong with Jimmy, and I’ve got a great relationship with him. Well, here I am just pulling into Sam’s driveway. Beautiful day up here in the canyon. Talk to you soon.”
I walked into the living room and Henry and Simba were sitting side by side on the sofa and vacantly staring out the window. “Good news, Henry, my colleague Jimmy Earle is able to take your case. He said he could meet us at his office in about 45 minutes, so we better get going now, you can follow me in my car.”
“Forty five minutes,” said Henry, “where in Santa Teresa is he located? I don’t think that anything is that far away.”
“His office is in Cutter City, so it will take us a bit to get there.”
“Wait a minute, what kind of lawyer this Earle guy, a lawyer from Cutter City? Is that the best you can do?” Simba moved to grab his forearm and hushed him.
“Let’s face it Henry,” I said, “Santa Teresa has plenty of corporate lawyers and estate lawyers, but there’re just not that many criminal lawyers in this town, particularly ones that have handled murder cases. Jimmy Earle is one of the best, and it just happens that his office is in Cutter City. I have worked with him on several cases, and I think that you will be impressed. You may remember that case last year of those kids that robbed the Chinese restaurant. He represented the kids, and the case was thrown out.”
“Hold on,” said Henry, He suddenly stood up and spoke with his back facing us as he stared out the window. “What are you talking about? I’m not involved in any murder. And I remember that Chinese restaurant case – it was obvious that those kids were guilty. I’m not guilty, so I don’t need some sort of sleazy Cutter Cityl awyer who can get me off on some technicality since I didn’t do anything in the first place.”
“Henry, stop it, stop it right now,” said Simba. No matter how innocent you are, you need a lawyer, and if Liza has found you a good one, I think that you should go and talk to him. What’s the harm? You just have to get over your very unattractive bias against Cutter City. Now is no time to be a snob.” Simba stood up, took Henry by the hand and lead him over to the door. I had no qualms about Jimmy Earle. He was a great lawyer, and the only thing that Jake Boyd had over Jimmy was that his office was just two blocks further south than Jimmy, which put him just barely in Santa Teresa.
Our two cars arrived at the office, just as Jimmy was pulling in, so I made awkward introductions in the parking lot. I had actually never been to Jimmy’s office before, we mostly communicated by phone, and when we met it was usually at a coffee shop, and one time we had even met at the Clean Plate Café. I actually would have liked to meet and talk with Jimmy before he met Simba and Henry, and certainly I now wanted to give him the heads up that Sam had retained a lawyer and that there was something big and complicated going on. Jimmy pulled out his key and as we walked in, I prayed that his office would not consist of an old chipped steelcase desk and a linoleum floor that was rubbed raw. That might be more than Henry could take. But his office was decent, not like a lush, plush downtown Santa Teresa office, but clean, nice carpeting and entirely serviceable. Jimmy turned to Simba and Henry, “please take a seat here for a moment while I go into the back office to get some paperwork. And perhaps you could come with me Liza and help me print off some forms. I will be right back. Would you like some coffee? My assistant Madge isn’t here, but please help yourself. The office kitchen is just through that door.” Both Simba and Henry murmured no, probably because neither of them knew how to use a coffee machine.
As soon as we got out of sight, Jimmy asked me what else he should know. I quickly told him that Sam had retained Jake for unknown reasons, and described the acrimony between the three parties, and that probably Dessa and Goddard were probably caught in the middle of a situation that was rapidly moving out of control. “Where does Simba fit into all of this?” he asked. “Should she be part of the interview?”
“In the last day, I think that she has learned that her husband is not a very nice man, and may be capable of anything. She desperately wants to reconnect with Henry, but at the end of the day, she will probably drive back up that canyon to her husband, who can be very manipulative.”
“Okay, I will interview Henry by himself, and my only real job at this point is to straighten out the warrant. So who are you working for now anyway? Can you do some investigating for me?”
“I am technically working for Simba, serving as a family mediator, to try and get her back in touch with both Henry and her daughter Dessa, but that part of the job may be over now.”
“Tell me if you were going to investigate one thing, what would it be?”
“Well, two things, first I would want to find out what additional information the police have on Henry, and next I would like to further investigate a whorehouse in Cutter City, since I think that is where Sam and Henry first crossed paths.”
“Oh yeah, I remember that case, they nabbed the mayor of Santa Rosa there. Go ahead, take that on as your assignment and put it on my tab, and maybe you could get Simba out of here while I interview Henry.”
We grabbed the forms that we needed, and when we went back into the waiting room, Simba had fallen asleep on the couch, while Henry had taken his toenail clippers out of his front pocket and was again trimming his nails. Jimmy motioned Henry into his office and closed the door. I gently woke Simba up and suggested that I drive her back in her car to the Murphy house where she could get some much needed sleep. I would then take the bus back here and pick up my car. She mutely agreed. As we walked out to the car, she routinely checked her cell phone for message. “Oh my God,” she said, “It looks like Dessa returned my call.”
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