Uncover Persona - Chapter 10

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Janice and Harold sat in Harold's SUV outside the funeral home as they watched mourners coming in for the two funerals going on today. There was a ninety-year-old woman whose funeral was taking place right after Kenton Jenkins'. It was pretty easy to distinguish between the two funerals' attendees. Most of the people coming for the elderly woman's funeral were older people, with an occasional young person coming in. The majority of the people coming for Kenton's funeral were anywhere from their mid-twenties to mid-sixties.

"There are not as many people coming for the funeral as I expected," Harold commented.

"I suspect that he was a big jerk to most people who didn't endear him to very many," Janice observed.

She and Harold had gone to Louisville on Friday and combed the bars that catered to the bay community, hoping to see if Damon showed up with someone. They showed Kenton's picture around, but no one knew him. Janice had talked to both Kim and Emily on Friday about their theories. Harold had talked to a friend of his, who was a computer wizard, about looking through Morgan Chase's files for anyone with the name Junior or the suffix Jr attached to their name. There was no way they could get the company's files subpoenaed, but if they could find someone in the company with that name, maybe they could make the connection between the men. Harold's friend said it would be Monday before he'd have anything because the company had over ten thousand employees nationwide and some amazing firewalls.

Janice felt Emily's thoughts about someone trying to set her up sounded realistic. If she had not stayed all night in the hotel with Mario Rodriquez, and if she hadn't stayed at a hotel with such good surveillance, she would have been the prime suspect. What really struck Janice as an interesting point was when Emily said, "What if it was a man who had not hit Kenton as hard as he could? He just hit him as hard as he thought I could."

That made sense, except for the imprint on Kenton's temple. It made her wonder if his attacker had hit Kenton harder than he intended to. She still liked Damon Butler for this murder. They just didn't have any way of placing him there without his wife giving him up, but so far, she had been adamant that they had spent the night together having to make up sex. This didn't ring true after the way Damon had treated her in front of Harold and her. Janice shook her head. Unless they ran into some luck, this case was going to be very hard to solve.

Harold nudged her and nodded toward the parking lot. Walter Chase and his wife got out of a limo. Frank Chase and his wife got out on the other side of the limo. Frank had become of interest to them ever since they saw him hanging out with Damon Butler in Louisville. Emily Jenkins had alerted them to the fact that the two men were in Louisville for the marathon that they both ran in last Saturday.

The two of them seemed to be very close friends. They had thought he might be the mysterious Junior, but his name was Frank Connor Chase, and his father's name was Walter Edward Chase. So they had run into another brick wall.

Whoever murdered Kenton Jenkins was either very smart or very lucky, and Janice couldn't decide which it was. She watched the foursome approach the funeral home. Walter Chase and his wife didn't even look in their direction. Frank spared them a quick glance, gritted his teeth, and looked away.

"He seemed a little nervous," Harold observed.

"Yes, he did," Janice agreed. "I think we need to dig into his background a little more. See if we can't find a connection to him and Kenton other than through Morgan Chase."

Harold pulled out his phone and sent a text to his colleague, telling him to do a thorough check into Frank Chase.

Janice looked at her watch, almost two. The funeral would be starting in a moment. "Let's go in and check out our mourners."

They slid into the pews in the back of the room and studied the group of about fifty people. Kenton's parents weren't there. Emily told them that she had finally gotten through to them, but they were in Egypt. She said they were devastated but couldn't return for the funeral.

Kim and Ashley were sitting in the row behind Emily. Emily sat in the first row with her parents on either side of her. Sonja, Fernando, and Mario finished out of the row. Carol was sitting in the row across the aisle from Emily. Damon was sitting next to her. The Chases were in the row behind them.

Emily had told them that Kenton was an only child, but they had expected to see some cousins. There was no one except Emily and her friends and family. All the other people appeared to have been co-workers or business associates.

A minister from Kenton's parent's church started speaking, but neither Janice nor Harold was listening to what he was saying. It was mostly stuff about finding God and returning home, the usual stuff that preachers say at funerals.

Not many people seemed to be crying, some of the women, but none of the men. Janice whispered to Harold, "This is really sad. This guy doesn't seem to have had many real friends. Have you seen anyone that might strike you as the murderous type?"

"No," Harold whispered back, "and I haven't seen anyone talk to Emily that I thought could potentially be setting her up. So far, most of the people I've seen seem to be here more for her benefit than her husband's."

"I was thinking the same thing, except for the Chases. When the preacher starts wrapping up, let's go back out and position ourselves so we can see how people react as they are leaving."

"That's a good idea," Harold said.

It didn't take long for the preacher to finish. Janice and Harold quickly took their positions. Harold next to the door at the back of the room where he could check out the people who were going to slip out without going up to the casket, and Janice by the front door where people would be coming out after they had visited the casket.

As with most funerals, the people in the back rows got up to leave first, filed up to the casket, and then left. Janice saw a few of the women weeping. She suspected these were previous or current lovers.

A few people touched his hands, which were folded over his chest. Most people just looked from a few inches back. Everyone who left stopped and said something quietly to Emily, who was crying in earnest as a wife should be.

Janice watched very closely as the Chases got up. She tried to make it look like she wasn't watching them in particular. She noticed that Harold had moved in behind the Chases. Walter Chase stopped and bent down to speak to Emily quietly. She was nodding and wiping her eyes. His wife also bent down and whispered something.

Frank Chase leaned down and said something to Emily as well, but it couldn't have been more than a few words. Frank's wife didn't even look at Emily. Harold looked at Janice with a raised eyebrow. Walter stopped in front of the casket but was several inches back. Frank stepped a little closer, forcing his wife to step closer as well. Harold was just a few steps behind them. Janice glanced at him, and in that split second, Frank's wife tripped and grabbed the side of the casket. It shook like it might tip, but Frank and Walter both grabbed to stabilize it. Emily jumped up to see what had happened.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Cecelia Chase turned to her. "I'm fine," she said curtly. "Got my heel caught in the carpet."

Harold looked at Janice. That was interesting, Janice thought. Why is this woman so cold to Emily if she doesn't even know her? Janice looked down at the smooth carpet. Where did she catch her heel?

When the Chases walked past her, Janice made a point to note all the jewelry, as well as the lack of jewelry, on their hands. Walter didn't wear any jewelry and didn't have tan lines saying that he had taken any jewelry off. His wife had three rings, all with diamonds on them. Frank was wearing a wedding band. He had his right hand in his pocket, so she couldn't see if he had a ring on that hand. His wife was wearing four rings. Two made up her wedding ring and band. She had one on the middle finger of her right hand that formed a raised football shape and was covered in diamonds and a small pinky ring that looked like a signet ring.

Janice really wished she could see those rings up close, but she couldn't think of a way to do that without just snatching the woman's hand and gawking at it. The diamond ring was too big to have caused the indentation in Kenton's head; the pinky ring might have done it but was probably too small. Without probable cause, they couldn't even bring the Chases in for questioning. There was absolutely nothing that pointed toward them, except the fact that Frank and Damon seemed pretty close, but that didn't really have anything to do with the murder; at least it wouldn't to a judge.

As everyone filed out the doors and started getting in their cars, Janice and Harold went back into the room with the body. Janice looked at the body. There was a tan line around Kenton's pinky where a ring had been. "I didn't notice this before," she said, pointing at the tan line.

"Did he have any jewelry on when we brought him in?" Harold asked.

"I don't think so."

The funeral director came into the room. "I'm sorry, but we have to close the casket now and take the body to the gravesite."

Janice and Harold both flashed their badges. "Can you tell us if any jewelry was taken off Mr. Jenkins?" Janice asked.

The director thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure the body didn't come in with any. I'll check with my embalmer, but I don't think Mr. Jenkins had any jewelry."

"We'd appreciate it, "Harold said.

The director started to close the casket, but Janice stopped him. "Harold, you got a pen or something?"

Harold checked his pockets. "Yes."

"I see something at the edge of the lining." Janice looked into the casket again. "It looks like there's a ring in there." She pulled an evidence bag out of her purse and took the pen Harold gave her. She turned to the funeral director." No one is to know that we found this in the casket, is that clear?"

The director was peering into the casket. "Of course," he said and looked up at Janice. "That was not in there earlier when we opened the casket for today's viewing."

"Do you videotape the entire funeral for the family?" Harold asked.

"Yes," the director said. "I'll make sure you get a copy of it as soon as possible. I'm going to go stall the pallbearers." He left the room and closed the doors behind him.

Janice and Harold could hear him talking to the pallbearers outside the door. "I wonder what he's telling them," Janice said.

"Hopefully, something that won't let them know we found something. If the ring was placed in here today and it turns out to have the markings that match the ones on Kenton's temple, that means the killer was here today," Harold said.

"Hopefully, the video caught the person actually putting the ring in here."

The director came back into the room. "I told everyone that there had been a request to add something to the casket, which isn't unusual, and that was the cause for the delay. I don't think anyone saw the two of you still in here. I'll show you a back way out, and no one will know who was in here."

"Great, thank you," Janice said.

"I've had a few other murder victims come through here, and a few other times when the police needed to take another look at the body before we took it to the gravesite. I always try to do what I can to help. Hopefully, any evidence you find will help you catch whoever did this," the director said.

"That is very good of you," Harold said. "I speak for all homicide investigators when I say your assistance is very much appreciated."

Janice took the pen and leaned over the casket. She carefully slid the cell into the band, pulled it out, and slipped it into the bag. She slipped the bag into her purse and handed the pen back to Harold. "Okay, let's get out of here and head to the gravesite." She turned to the director. "How quickly can you get us a copy of the video?"

"I'll get a copy made for you as soon as I finish with the next funeral and get it right over to your office. It should be no later than eight or nine tomorrow morning."

"Fantastic, now where's that back exit?" Harold said.

The director closed the casket and led Harold and Janice to the back door that led out to the hearse. The director went out ahead of them and started talking to the driver, leading him away from the car. Janice and Harold slipped out and made their way to the parking lot. Most of the people who were going to the burial site were already in their cars, waiting for the procession to start. They got into Harold's SUV and made their way to the end of the line.

Within minutes, the director was at the front of the building helping the hearse driver get out into traffic. There were uniform police on motorcycles waiting to lead the procession to the graveyard in Brentwood.

"Do you think the ring is what caused the indentations on Kenton Jenkins' temple?"

"Maybe," she said. She took the ring out of her purse and looked at the markings. "Humph, interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"This design looks strikingly similar to one of the rings Carol Butler had."

"Really?" he said in a surprised tone.

"Yep, the pinky ring in her jewelry box." Janice looked at the ring again. "I think it's the same design, and I bet you it's a man's pinky ring."

Harold looked over at it, "Could be."

"And, both Kenton Jenkins and Damon Butler are missing pinky rings."

Harold looked over at her as the funeral procession started. "You think the three of them had matching pinky rings? That is just twisted. Wouldn't he think Carol or Damon would notice that they had the same pinky ring that Kenton had given them? For that matter, wouldn't you think Emily would have noticed they all had similar pinky rings?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but both couples seem to have very dysfunctional relationships," Janice said. "And, other than the wedding ring you picked out for your wife, could you tell me exactly what other jewelry she has?"

Harold opened his mouth to say that he could but realized that he couldn't unless he went through his wife's jewelry boxes. He shook his head.

"Exactly," Janice said.

When they reached the graveyard, Harold quickly found a place to park. He wanted them to be positioned close to the gravesite so they could watch people as they approached the grave. They stood at the edge of the canopy covering the grave and watched the pallbearers, who included Mario and Fernando Rodriquez and some other men who looked like they might be related to the Rodriquez. The director's assistant gave the men assistance as they lowered the casket. Janice noted that neither Damon Butler nor the Chase men had been pallbearers. In fact, the Chases were not here.

Janice studied the group. There were about six women who were standing together and wiping their tears. Janice suspected they were old lovers because they had not had very much interaction with Emily.

There were two older couples and a few men and women that were close to Kenton's age who appeared to be together. They had spoken with Emily at the funeral home and were talking to her now. One of the men had similar facial features to Kenton. Janice wondered if these people were his family. But why didn't they sit in the family row at the funeral home?

The Rodriquez's stood with a couple that Janice knew were Emily's parents. Kim and her partner, Ashley was standing with them as well. Carol was standing next to Barbara McKinley, and Damon was standing off by himself.

"It's a beautiful day for a funeral," the assistant funeral director said as he walked past them.

It was a beautiful day, Harold admitted, but he was more interested in Damon Butler. He nudged Janice when he noticed that Damon was fidgeting and kept checking his Blackberry every few minutes. "He seems nervous," Harold whispered.

"Yes, he does," Janice agreed. She looked around at the other people at the grave. Everyone else seemed duly sad, as they should be at a funeral. But, Damon Butler hadn't shed a tear and acted like he had a more important appointment than his best friend's funeral.

"Do you think he's lost weight?" Harold asked.

Janice studied Damon Butler. He did look a little smaller than he had been before. Not gaunt, but his face did look slimmer, and his suit looked like it was a size or two too big. She watched him fidgeting again. "You think he might be doing meth or crack?"

"Maybe," Harold said. "Both would make him very twitchy, and either could have turned him murderous with rage if he became angry enough."

"We hadn't thought about a drug angle," she said thoughtfully. "Both crack and meth would make you more uninhibited too. When are we supposed to get the tox tests back?"

"Should have the preliminary reports the first of the week," Harold said.

"It's going to be interesting to see what all Kenton had been into." Janice watched Damon out of the corner of her eye. He was texting someone. "We need to tail him after the funeral, but I don't think we should do it directly. You think we can get an undercover to watch him for a few days?"

Harold took out his phone. "I'll text the Chief and see if he can hook us up with someone."