Page 24 of Ashes of Us
She was almost at the house when her phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw it was Maverick and answered it quickly, glad for the distraction. “Hey Mave, what's up?”
“Hey, can you come down to the Tow Lot on Frontage?”He asked, sounding annoyed.”I found your husband's car, but they won't let me near it without you.”
“Yeah, sure.” Danica immediately switched direction, heading to the El Camino. “Do I need to bring anything?”
“ID and your marriage certificate.”Danica changed direction again and headed into the house.
“I'll be there in twenty minutes.” She quickly found the marriage certificate and tucked it into her purse, along with a copy of her and Jasper's insurance policy, just in case. On her way to the Tow Lot, she called their insurance and explained everything to the adjuster. After giving her his condolences, he went over what he needed from her to start processing the insurance claim and said he would email her some paperwork so they could get the ball rolling.
Pulling into the Department of Transportation parking lot, she saw Maverick standing beside his car with a police officer. She parked nearby and approached slowly, not wanting to interrupt them, but Maverick looked up and gestured for her to join them. “Excellent, Danica, this is Sergeant Drew Galvan, he's in charge of your husband's accident investigation.”
Danica held out her hand, trying to smile. “Sergeant Galvan, sorry I haven't been in touch, as you can imagine it's been a... trying week.”
“I understand.” He shook her hand firmly. “Mave was just bringing me up to speed on everything. I'm sorry for your loss and for what's going on with your husband's family.”
“Thank you,” Danica murmured, wondering why Maverick was telling him about everything, but then realized Galvan and Maverick were clearly well acquainted with one another and Galvan probably knew that Maverick was a PI. The sergeant asked to see her ID and marriage certificate, which Danica presented, along with the insurance information, showing her and Jasper shared a policy.
“I have everything you need to get started on your insurance claim.” The stocky sergeant smiled sympathetically at her as he turned to his car and opened the door, pulling out a thick folder. “This is my report, and I included pictures of the car with it.”
Danica thanked him again and then asked if they had found Jasper's cell phone.” He nodded and pulled out an evidence bag. “When Mave got in touch asking about it this morning, I had it signed out of evidence. There's nothing on there that pertains to my investigation, your husband wasn't on a call or texting at the time of the collision. We still have his dash cam, but it was damaged pretty badly in the crash, so our techs are doing their best to try to get something off it.”
Danica nodded; she had forgotten about the dash cam. It was a very inexpensive one he'd found online and bought for each of their vehicles when he discovered it'd lower their insurance premiums, so it didn't surprise her that it'd been damaged or that they were struggling to get the footage from it. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Sergeant Galvan nodded and gestured for them to follow him. “Your husband's collision occurred at six-fifty-three in the evening at the Cambridge and Sudbury intersection. He was heading east, and the driver who hit him went through the red light, striking the driver's side. The kid that hit him was in a rush because he was late for his shift and was on his phone atthe time of the collision.” He paused as he stopped in front of a motorized gate and waited for it to open. “I'm sorry it took so long to notify you. The woman in the vehicle with him initially claimed to be his wife. It was only after we got to the hospital, and a nurse approached us and said there was a different name on file as his next of kin. We had to wait for her to finish with the doctors before we could question her, and it took the threat of arresting her for obstruction of an investigation for her to admit she wasn't his wife. Then we had to find you.”
Danica blinked in surprise. “She pretended to be me?” She asked, glancing at Maverick as she tried to get clarification.
“No,” Sergeant Galvan shook his head as the gate opened. We would have arrested her for impersonating you if that were the case. She gave us her real name and claimed to be his wife. When asked why, she said she panicked.”
Danica nodded. “Panicked. Right,” she scoffed and then cleared her throat as Galvan led them between rows of cars that had been towed for one reason or another. “And the other driver?”
“Survived with a couple of broken bones and some facial damage from the airbag deploying.” They reached Jasper's car, and Danica felt her knees get weak as she saw it. The driver's side of the vehicle had been almost folded in half. She was honestly shocked that Jasper had survived the initial impact and made it to the hospital.
“What the hell was he driving?” She breathed as she surveyed the damage. The frame had clearly been crumpled, and the car was a complete write-off.
“A 1990 Buick LaSabre.” Galvan nodded at the car. “We've already processed it. Feel free to take anything we leftbehind. You can speak to the admin staff in the building to have the car brought wherever you want to take it.”
“Straight to the scrapyard.” Danica shook her head as she crouched next to the car and looked underneath. Sure enough, the frame had buckled, and it was a write-off. Remembering what her insurance agent said about needing it evaluated by a certified mechanic, she pulled out her phone and walked a short distance away to call an acquaintance of Jasper's, Robin Slater, who worked in another garage near their house. She gave him a quick rundown and asked if he could come get Jasper's car and inspect it for insurance. He gave his sincere condolences and said he was on his way. Leaving Maverick to go through her husband's car, she walked back to the main building and went inside. After she paid the towing and impound fees, which she thought were ridiculous considering the situation, she went outside to wait for Robin, climbing aboard his tow truck and directing him back to the car when he arrived. He took one look at the car and shook his head.
“It's a write-off.”
“I know, but you know what insurance companies are like.” Danica slid out of the passenger seat and stood to one side with Maverick and Sergeant Galvin as they watched Robin put the car up on the bed and secure it in place. When he was done, Danica said she would stop by and pay for everything on her way home, but to her surprise, he waved her off.
“Don't worry about it.” He said gruffly. “I liked Jasper, and I like you. It's on the house.” She was about to protest, but he gave her a shut up and deal with it look as he climbed back into his truck.
“I'll be in touch about the report for your insurance company.” He shut the door and drove out of the lot without waiting for a response. Danica shook her head slightly, chucklingat his abruptness. He wouldn't appreciate a verbal thank you, but she made a mental note to bring him and his workers coffee and donuts on her way to work the next day.
Maverick approached and passed her a silver compass pendant with “J & D” engraved on the back, along with a picture of her and Jasper, which he kept in his visor. Danica closed her hand around the pendant, feeling the ever-present lump in her throat grow a little. Her and Jasper didn't wear their wedding rings very often, since they both worked with tools and machinery and a ring was a great way to lose a finger, instead Jasper had gotten them matching compass pendants with their initials engraved on the back, because“No matter where we are, we'll always find our back to one another.”
“Mave found this under the passenger seat,” Galvan told her quietly, holding up a broken chain in an evidence bag. “We don't think this was broken in the car accident.” Danica frowned as she looked at the chain.
“Then how did it break?”
“Mave told me your theory that your husband picked up Miss. Gamache to discuss the possibility she was carrying his child.” He looked over the chain carefully. “I'm wondering if there was a physical altercation. Obviously, we won't get fingerprints, but we may get DNA.” Danica felt like she had been splashed with cold water. Did he mean what she thought he did?”
“You think she may have caused the accident?” She swallowed, feeling the sadness and anger switch again.
“No, the guy who ran a red light while speeding and texting caused the accident.” He shook his head as he put the evidence baggie in his chest pocket. “But I am wondering if she was distracting him and maybe it contributed to why yourhusband didn't notice the car speeding toward him when every other car at the intersection did and either stopped or sped up to get out of his way.”
