The Cinco de Mayo Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

for half an hour. Finally I said, “Mrs. Gruner, I am visiting Arizona in May. I will be quite near the place where Heinz's accident happened.” I let her think about it.
    “Near the mountain where he hiked?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is it possible—would you have the time—and the interest—to find out about Heinz's accident? If you don't want to—”
    “I would like to. My husband is a police officer in New York. He may be able to put me in touch with the right people.”
    “This is very good of you, Chris.”
    “I hope I can learn something useful.”
    I drove her back to Hillside Village. She had some color in her cheeks from the out-of-doors, and she seemed in a good mood. She had asked me to do something important for her and I would do it.
    I picked up Eddie and drove home.
    “How would you be able to tell the difference between someone falling accidentally and jumping to his death from a trail in the mountains?” I asked Jack when we were together in the family room, a fire burning and coffee in our cups.
    “Hard to tell. You want to find proof that this kid you knew didn't kill himself?”
    “Mrs. Gruner wants to know what happened. If he did kill himself, I wouldn't tell her. She's been sitting for years thinking about what she did wrong that might have prompted him to take his life. And finding reasons why he didn't.”
    “Why's she in that home?”
    “She had a stroke. She needs a cane to get around, but she's very independent. She doesn't want help if she can do without it. I assume she's not able to live by herself, and I understand her anguish over her son's death.”
    The phone rang just then and Maddie said, “I found out where Heinz died.”
    I grabbed a pencil. “I'm listening.”
    “It's called Picacho Peak. It's somewhere between Tucson and Phoenix. I called the local paper this morning and they researched it for me. I bet you could get a map from the AAA and find it.”
    “I will do that,” I said. I told Maddie I had visited Mrs. Gruner and what we'd talked about.
    “They did taunt him,” Maddie said. “It was hateful, but it's what teenagers do.”
    I thanked her for her research and went back to the family room, where Jack had covered my cup with the saucer to keep my coffee warm.
    “Sounds like that was Maddie.”
    “She found out where Heinz died.” I showed him the name on the slip of paper.
    Jack took it from me. “Tell you what I'll do. I'll find out what town this is and get in touch with the police department or the sheriff's department. See if they can fax me the file. Don't expect this to happen in the next twenty-four hours. With a case this old, they'll have to dig up the file, but they'll have it somewhere.”
    “You're good,” I said.
    “Yeah, I'm the best.” He gave me the grin that I loved. “I guess I'm glad you save your sympathy for people. I'm not sure I could take it if you picked up stray dogs and cats.”
    I laughed. “Now, there's an idea.”
    “Let's just keep it an idea.”
    It was two weeks before Jack called to say the file had been faxed to him. I had nearly forgotten his promise. He brought it home with him in a thin file folder. Thin meant there weren't any questions. A homicide file is thick and heavy with copies of interviews and all the evidence vouchers, forensics reports, photos, and much more. All that was here were some photographs and the results of the autopsy. The parents had objected to that, but they had been informed it was the law.
    Nothing in the autopsy set off any alarms. The ME ruled Heinz's death an accident. He suffered several broken bones, trauma, and concussion. A handwritten letter from the sheriff accompanied the pages. He had no personal knowledge of the accident, as a deputy had been the first on the scene after the call came in that a body had been found. The deputy's first impression was that an unfortunate accident had occurred, and nothing afterward had changed his opinion.
    I left the photos for last, not wanting