slip up. And they usually slip up on the timeline, Amos. They can’t be in two places at the same time. You know that as well as anyone.”
“They do slip up, but not by that much,” countered Decker. “Fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour can be fudged, but not hours. It was a huge hole. If he was meticulous in other respects, why not with that critical piece? I’m just saying it’s something to keep in mind.”
Jamison asked, “When will you be back?”
“In about an hour.”
He clicked off and stared out at the highway as the vastness of Texas stretched ahead of them. All the way to the horizon the topography looked exactly the same. He closed his eyes and let his mind whir back to something that was gnawing at him.
Bogart glanced over and saw this, something he had seen often back in Burlington.
“What?” he asked.
Decker kept his eyes closed but said, “Shotgun then fire.”
“Come again?”
“They were killed with the shotgun and then set on fire.”
“That’s what the police report said, yes. Why?”
In his mind Decker brought up the photos of the charred bodies. The good thing about hyperthymesia was that he saw things exactly as they were; no detail was missing. Nothing inserted, nothing taken away. Clear as a mirror.
“Pugilistic.”
“What?”
“The bodies were in the pugilistic pose.”
Milligan glanced at him. “Right. Fire makes muscles, tendons, ligaments stiffen and contract, whether the victim was dead or alive before the fire was started. Fists clench, arms bend, you look like a fighter in the ring in a defensive stance.”
“Hence the name,” said Decker, whose eyes were still closed. “The shotgun blast killed them, clearly.”
Milligan shrugged. “Shotgun blasts to the head from a close distance are always fatal. Nature of the beast.”
Decker opened his eyes. “So why burn the bodies? If they were already dead? And I don’t believe it was symbolic.”
Bogart said, “The police reports raised that question but never answered it. If it was done to make identifying the bodies more difficult, it didn’t work. They were identified by their dental records. And even if that hadn’t worked, you can still get DNA off a burned body.”
“But maybe the killer didn’t know that.”
“You mean maybe Melvin Mars didn’t know that?” said Milligan.
Decker ignored this. “They were positively identified as Roy and Lucinda Mars?”
“Yes. There was no question about it. The bodies were badly burned, and despite the shotgun wounds to the head, enough of their teeth were left intact to ID them through their dental records. They were the missing couple.”
“Still doesn’t answer my question. Why burn the bodies after they were dead?”
They drove for a few more miles in silence.
Finally Bogart said, “Maybe the killer panicked. They do. He tried to get rid of the evidence, thinking that maybe the fire would cremate the bodies.”
“All it did was create a lot of smoke that someone noticed and called the fire department. If he had just left the bodies, they might not have been discovered for a long time.”
Milligan interjected, “Well, if their son didn’t kill them he would have found the bodies when he got home that morning. Or more likely the house would have been burned down.”
“There was no reliable time-of-death calculation?”
“With burned bodies outdoors you can have an entomologist look for insect evidence, flies laying eggs, that sort of thing. Even indoors you have that occur. But that sort of evidence wasn’t available. Flies naturally won’t lay eggs on a burning body. The most precise analysis for TOD on severely charred victims is an examination of the bones. Chemical and microscopic analysis. But then you’re talking microradiography and electron microscopy.”
Decker nodded. “But I doubt in a rural Texas county twenty years ago they were able to do any of that.”
“I doubt they have the equipment to do it today,” pointed out Bogart. “So the TOD was determined largely by the call to the fire department at ten minutes past midnight. The firemen showed up eleven minutes later. Five minutes after that they discovered the bodies.”
“So twenty-six past twelve?”
“Correct.”
“Let’s say the bodies were set on fire around midnight.”
Milligan said, “Mars would have had time to do it then. Straight from Tanner’s place to the house. Do the deed, get back in his car and head out to the motel.”
Bogart said, “Now, we can assume if the bodies had been burning for long that the house would have been more damaged by the spreading flames. He kills them, sets the fire, and is gone by midnight or shortly thereafter. That way the fire has only been burning for maybe less than a half hour or a bit more when the fire department shows up.”
Decker shook his head. “But it’s forty minutes to the motel from here. The motel clerk said he checked in at one-fifteen. That leaves a gap of about thirty-five minutes.”
Bogart said, “Maybe he drove around. Maybe he sat out in the parking lot trying to calm down. I mean, he would’ve just killed his parents, Amos.”
“He had the forty-minute drive over to do that. He waits in the parking lot he’s screwing up his supposed rock-solid alibi, which was really no alibi based on the timing that Tanner and the motel clerk testified to. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“But it’s the best scenario we have.”
“But it’s got a big problem.”
“How do you mean?” asked Milligan.
“Over twenty years ago a credit card would probably have been manually run through the system, especially at a motel in rural Texas. There would be no electronic time stamp. So it was the motel clerk’s word against Melvin’s.”
Milligan shook his head. “No, I checked that. The motel owner called the card in at sixteen minutes past one, to verify the account. That came out at trial.”
“Still doesn’t prove anything.”
“I don’t see why not,” said an exasperated Milligan. “And don’t forget, his mother’s blood was found in his car. How is that possible unless he killed them?”
“I need to talk to Mars again.”
“What about?” asked Bogart.
“Among other things, credit versus cash.”
CHAPTER
16
WHAT THE HELL does that have to do with anything?”
Mars stared from his hospital bed at Decker, who impassively stared back. Bogart was next to Decker and looking bewildered. Milligan had elected to wait in the car and make some phone calls.
Decker cleared his throat and said, “I told you before that nothing is too important to overlook. The room rate was twenty-five bucks. Why not just pay that in cash? Why pull a credit card?”
“Where’s my lawyer?” Mars demanded. “Where’s Mary?”
“I suppose she left,” replied Decker. “We can call her and wait until she gets here, but it would be faster if you just answered the questions.” He paused momentarily. “So why the credit card?”
“It was over twenty years ago. I don’t remember.”
“Just take a minute, think back and try. That’s all I’m asking.”
At first Mars looked put out, but the genuine look of curiosity on Decker’s face made him lean back against his pillow and do just that.
After about a minute he said, “Okay, my first inclination would have been to pay cash. I didn’t like using the card. Only I didn’t have enough cash. In fact, I don’t think I had any.”
“You went on a date with a woman with no cash? Did you go out to eat, take in a movie, order takeout? Did you spend it that way?”
“We didn’t go out. We stayed at her place. She made some food. We had some beer.”
“And no drugs. You said she had some pot?”
“Well, Ellen smoked a joint, but not me.”
“Did
you ever ask why she lived in the middle of nowhere?”
“No, I just assumed she had a good reason. It was probably cheap.”
“Was she in college? Did she have a job?”
“I think she had something to do with PR. I think she mentioned that at some of the alumni events. She seemed the type. Really pretty, very outgoing.”
“So you discovered you had no cash when you went to pay the motel guy?”
“I think so, yeah.”
“Did you remember having any cash on you before you went to Ellen Tanner’s?”
“Well, since I didn’t have any cash after I left her place and I hadn’t spent any while I was there, I guess the answer to that would be no.”
“No, that really doesn’t answer my question. Did you look in your wallet before you went to Tanner’s? And if you did, did you have cash in your wallet?”
Mars looked at Bogart. “Do you have any idea what he’s getting at?”
When Bogart said nothing, Mars glanced back at Decker. “I don’t remember, okay? I just don’t.”
“Where did you get the credit card?”
“It wasn’t from any alumni booster or anything. It was all on the up-and-up.”
“I don’t care about that. I just want to know where you got it.”
“My parents got it for me. I’d graduated from college. Made the dean’s list the last two semesters. It was a reward. It had a low limit on it, but it was cool to have. Never had a credit card before.” He added dryly, “Haven’t had one since.”
“And you used that to pay the motel room bill?”
“Yeah. Lucky too, since I had no cash.”
“Did he run the card with a manual machine?”
“Yeah. One you use your hand to push back and forth.”
“The motel clerk testified he phoned in the charge to confirm it was okay. Did you see him do that?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t surprised. I was a young black dude showing up at night. Probably thought I’d stolen the card. Guess he wasn’t no college football fan.”
“So he made the call while you were standing there?”
“Yeah.”
“What did he say on the phone?”
“I don’t remember, okay? Whatever you say when you’re trying to make sure a charge is okay, I guess. I really wasn’t paying attention.”
Decker nodded slowly. “And he said that occurred at around one-fifteen in the morning.”
“Well, that’s bullshit, because it was around eleven. It’s only an hour from where Ellen lived to the motel. I know that for a fact. Been that way many times.”
“And that would be the logical way for you to go home?”
“Dude, it’s the only way.”
“And then your car died?”
“Right as I was passing the motel. Lucky for me.”
“Maybe not so lucky. Did you decide then to stay the night there?”
“No, my first thought was to see if I could get the car started. I couldn’t. Sat in the parking lot for like five minutes trying to get it going, but it was dead. Then I went into the motel office. Dude came out from a little room in back. Told him I had car trouble. That I wanted to call a tow service.”
“What did he say to that?” Decker asked quickly.
“He told me the only one around was like two hours away. And they were closed.”
“And you accepted that?” asked Decker.
“Well, yeah, I’d never broken down before. My dad was good with cars. Fixed anything wrong with ’em, so I never had to think about going to a repair place. So while I knew the area okay, I didn’t know where the closest tow place was. You said you’d been to my house?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this is middle-of-nowhere Texas. Back then that motel was the only one for I don’t know how many miles.”
“So when you knew you couldn’t get a tow you decided to check into the motel?”
“Yeah. Then I planned to call the tow place in the morning. Or maybe my dad. Only then the police came, and that’s when I found out what had happened.”
“And they knew where you were because of the activity on your credit card?”
“Guess so,” said Mars.
Bogart interjected, “Why didn’t you phone your parents that night? They could have come and gotten you.”
Decker looked at him approvingly and then turned back to Mars.
Mars said, “I didn’t have a phone. I could’ve used the motel phone, I guess, but it was late and I didn’t want to wake them up.”
“But if they woke up next morning and found you weren’t there wouldn’t they be worried?” asked Bogart.
“Look, I was a grown man. I stayed out all night before. When I left I told them I might be late, or I might go straight to my practice session if I stayed over at Ellen’s. I had my stuff in the car. So they wouldn’t necessarily be expecting me home.”
“So why didn’t you stay at Ellen’s?” asked Decker.
Mars looked down at his manacled hand. “Look, we had sex. She was really hot. Last woman I’ve slept with for twenty years. But—”
“But what?” asked Bogart.
“I was gonna be rich after the draft. And she…I think she wanted to be part of that.”
“What, marriage? How long had you been seeing her?”
“See, that’s the thing. Not that long. Like a few weeks. I wasn’t thinking of marriage. Hell, I didn’t even know where I’d be living. Depended on what team was going to draft me.”
“So did you two argue?”
“I wouldn’t say argue. We discussed stuff.”
“And what was the result of that ‘discussion’?” asked Decker.
“She politely asked me to get the hell out of her house, and so I did.”
Decker took a long breath. “When I first asked you about that, you said you left to get home and hit the sack because you had your workout session with your trainer the next morning.”
“Again, what the hell does that matter about anything!” Mars barked. “Now this dude in Alabama said he killed my parents. Why don’t you go question his ass and leave me the hell alone?”
“We are going to question him,” said Bogart. “But we have questions for you too.”
Mars pointed his finger at Decker. “This dude thinks I’m lying. He thinks I’m good for it. Got a beef against me ’cause I ran over his ass up in Columbus. Buckeye gets gored by the Longhorn. He sure as hell can’t be objective. Like the dude who prosecuted me. Did you know he was a Tennessee man? President of the boosters club and everything. Now that’s bullshit, ain’t it?”
Decker said, “This might come as a surprise to you, but most people’s lives do not revolve around football. I haven’t watched a Buckeyes game since I graduated. I couldn’t care less if you played for the Longhorns or ran over my ass twenty-some years ago. I just care about what happened to your parents.”
“Well, good for you. I’ve told you all I know about it. If that’s not enough then that’s too bad.”