Bad Penny Read Online Free PDF Page A

dug through the pockets and then checked all the labels, looking for a name. Nothing turned up until he looked in an inside jacket pocket and found a business card for Mark Presley of Presley Implements in Dallas, Texas.
     
    Montoya frowned. Something about the name and business rang a bell, but he couldn’t remember if it was something he’d read or something he’d heard, much less what it was.
     
    A few minutes later he was finished. He took down the name and phone number of the implement company, then returned everything to the evidence locker and headed for his desk. The first order of the day was to call Presley Implements. But when he asked to speak to Mark Presley, the silence on the other end of the line was telling.
     
    “Hello? Are you still there?” Montoya asked.
     
    “Oh. Yes. I’m sorry. Um…Mr. Presley is no longer here. Mrs. Presley is acting CEO. I’ll put you through.”
     
    Luis Montoya prided himself on being able to read people. He knew when they were lying, or when they just weren’t being as forthcoming as they should have been. It was the latter that he picked up on this time.
     
    A moment later the call was answered.
     
    “This is Penny Presley. How can I help you?”
     
    “Ms. Presley, my name is Luis Montoya. I’m a homicide detective in Chihuahua, Mexico, investigating the death of a man named Solomon Tutuola. There was a card belonging to Mark Presley of Presley Implements found with his belongings, and I’m trying to find out how or if they knew each other.”
     
    He heard a sharp, indrawn breath and then what sounded like a hiss before he got an answer he hadn’t expected.
     
    “God! I not only don’t know anyone named Tutuola, but during the past few months, it became apparent to me that I didn’t know the man I’d married all that well, either. Mark is in prison, on death row, awaiting execution for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend. Needless to say, we are divorced. I suggest you speak to the Dallas Police Department for all the sordid details.”
     
    “Have you or your husband ever been to Chihuahua?”
     
    Sarcasm was thick in Penny Presley’s voice. “I can’t say I’ve had the pleasure, but it has become blatantly obvious to me that I had no idea what Mark was doing. He could have been to the moon and back and I would have been the last to know. Is there anything else?”
     
    Montoya sighed. Divorce was often ugly. This one had obviously been over the top.
     
    “No, señora. Thank you for your time.” The click in his ear was her only goodbye.
     
    He hung up the phone, made a couple of notes on his file, then dialed Information for the Dallas Police Department. From one cop to another, he was expecting his reception there would be warmer than the one he’d gotten from Presley’s ex-wife.
     
    He dialed again, absently tapping the end of his pen against the desk as he waited for the call to be answered. A few moments later, a softspoken female picked up.
     
    “Dallas Police, how may I direct your call?” “Homicide Division.”
     
    “Thank you.”
     
    This time his call was answered on the first ring.
     
    “Homicide, Detective DeWitt.”
     
    “My name is Luis Montoya. I am a homicide detective in Chihuahua, Mexico, investigating the murder of a man named Solomon Tutuola.”
     
    “Yeah, so how can I help you?” DeWitt asked.
     
    “We found some property that we think might have belonged to a man named Mark Presley. It was in a car belonging to my victim. I’ve been told Presley was convicted of murder, and I’m assuming it was your department that ran the case.”
     
    DeWitt’s attention suddenly sharpened.
     
    “You need to talk to Detective Bradley. He’s the one who had the case. Hang on a minute, I’ll put you through.”
     
    Again Montoya was put on hold, but only briefly, and this time the man who answered was more than ready to help.
     
    “Detective Montoya…this is Bradley. How can I help you?”
     
    Again