“I’ll start it at the morning we left,” Greaser said, and did just that. He pointed out who everyone was, and five minutes after they left the screen went blank. It turned on again and Lydia noted it was almost 10 p.m. on Friday night. She sat forward quickly.
“Holy shit! Is that...?” She whipped her head around at Jackson and stared with huge eyes.
“Yes.”
Lydia continued to watch and kept repeating, “Oh my fucking god.” Over and over and over again. The camera turned off five minutes to eleven that night and didn’t come on again until Lincoln, Jackson, Greaser, Burt, and Randy walked through the back door almost an hour ago. Lydia saw what happened to Lincoln Murphy just by breathing the air in his own home.
“I want a copy of this.”
Greaser grinned when he held it up for her. “Already done. Now, do you think we should get someone in here and dust for prints?”
“I do, even though we have them dead to rights on the security footage, I want to get actual prints. You guys will probably have to come in and give yours for comparison.”
“Already on file,” Greaser said. “Former military. So is Randy.”
“Okay. Let me call the CSU team in. One of you call the hospital and check on Murphy. I don’t know how long the team will take. But he can’t come back here, if he had that type of reaction.” She pointed to the screen where he was being worked on by the EMTs. “This place is going to have to be scrubbed from top to bottom.”
“Mary?” Greaser asked Jackson.
“Yeah. Mary is Burt’s wife. She can organize the women to come in and clean, but not until after you clear it.”
“Thanks. Now call the hospital. I’ll wait here for the crime lab, and once CSU is done here, I want to go talk to him.”
Greaser stepped outside and called Burt.
“Hey, how’s our boy?”
“Bad. He’s in ICU with a fucking tube down his throat. What the fuck happened, Greaser? We can’t answer any of the doctor’s questions. Did you and Jackson see anything on his security cameras?”
“Yes, the skank and a man broke in late Friday night, they had at least eight cats with them and let them loose in the house. We have footage of the skank holding a cat and rubbing it across his pillow on his bed.”
“Fuck. Wonder how she found out about his allergy?”
“If she hung out at the club, she would have found out that way. And no, before you even ask, Addy would have nothing to do with this. That fucking skank is clearly visible on the security tape. Jackson called a friend of his on the police force. A detective with the first name of Lydia.”
“I know her. Good people.”
“Apparently there’s more to the divorce than we know about, Lydia’s involved. I do know that Jackson told her over the phone that the charges against the skank would be attempted murder.”
“Or premediated. If she’s on video with those cats, then she knew what she was doing. Hell.” Burt snorted. “Maybe she thought he’d have a mild allergic reaction and she would be his nurse in shining armor. Christ, what a mess. Do you think I should call Addy?”
“Christ, I never thought of that. Let me talk to Jackson about that. Oh, before I forget, Lydia called in a CSU team and they’re dusting Abe’s entire house for prints. You’ll have to go in and get printed for comparison. And once the house is cleared by the cops, do you think Mary would get the women together to come clean?”
“I don’t see why not, not once I tell her what happened. But my prints are already on file. Had to take them long time ago.”
“Okay, I’ll pass that information along. We’ll stay here with Abe.”
“Hold on a minute, Burt.” Greaser looked up and saw Jackson and Lydia standing there. “Burt’s on the phone. Abe’s in ICU with a tube down his throat. Doctors were clueless. I told him of his cat allergy. He knows about the skank. He wants to know if he should call Addy.” He punched a button on his phone. “Burt, you’re on speaker, Detective Lydia and Jackson are here.”
“Mr. Maddison, this is Detective Lydia, do you think his wife would come to the hospital?”
“No clue. God, what a fucking mess. I hope you throw the fucking book at this skank, Lydia.”
“Oh, I plan on it, Mr. Maddison. You can count on that. I’ll talk it over with Jackson about contacting Mrs. Murphy. I’m sure he’s going to want to call her lawyer first and toss it by him.”
“Okay, just let me know. I’m staying here until I know he’s out of the woods or someone shows up.” Then, he hung up.
Lydia turned and sighed. “Do you think you should call Franklin?”
