Chapter 84

“We have reason to believe, Jack Lee actually wrote most of this story, despite the fact that his byline isn’t on it,” Digby continued. “Mr. Lee apparently pulled his byline, in order to prevent anyone associating his last name with the last name of Dorchester ‘Dee’ Lee. We have reason to believe, Perry Spalding ordered the firebombing, through an associate, who then ordered another associate to carry it out. That associate carried it out, possibly with the help of Darroll Missions, then someone told Dee Lee about it, and Dee Lee told Jack Lee, who put it in the newspaper, naming Darroll Missions as the firebomber.”
The men were shuffling in their seats. This was far too complicated for this early in the investigation, and Digby knew it.
Keetch was looking impatient.
“We suspect Dee Lee has been feeding his cousin information like this, when it suits him, for many years.”
Two or three cops had their hands up. “Why would Dee Lee tell the newspaper about Perry Spalding ordering a burn-out? They’re both Gypsies?”
“-I thought you said Darroll Missions did it, now you say some other guy?-”

Digby put her hands up to quiet the room. “Spalding wanted his involvement known and broadcast in the media, for intimidation purposes. Trust me, it was high-fives at Burnside for the inmates that day. It was a show of power. Spalding was claiming responsibility for the firebombing, like a terrorist.”
“Let’s get to the point, Digby,” Keetch broke in, quietly.
“I will. The point is a low-level drug dealer named Darroll Missions was named in the story. Paragraph nine. The article appeared December 29. Mr. Missions committed suicide the following night, ingesting four grams of cocaine and suffering cocaine poisoning. The point is Mr. Mission’s family may blame the newspaper for Darroll’s suicide. In fact, we believe they do. Rawle Powder, the first reporter, has experienced violent attacks and retaliation on his family, ever since the story ran. The pranks began with a series of angry phone calls, and more seriously, a poisonous chemical was put inside a bottle of mouthwash belonging to Mr. Powder’s wife. Our double homicide could well be an escalation of this, where the Missions family finally figured out it was Jack Lee who wrote the part that possibly caused Darroll Missions to off himself.”
She took a breath and scanned the room. People were nodding their heads.
“In any case, this is only speculation, at this point.”
“Um,” Keetch cut in. “The crime scene also shares a feature with an earlier murder, does it not?”
“Right,” Digby said. She was reluntant to share too many of her investigative details with so many people. “Our crime scene shares a feature with another unsolved murder that took place a few years ago, in New Brunswick. It was the murder of a Missions family relative. We are, therefore, seeking to locate several members of the Missions family for questioning, most of whom are in the system. We’ve placed the following persons on our ‘person-of-interest’ list. Willard John Missions, 65, 1803 Gaspereau Avenue, Greenfield. Willard Clarence MacDonald Missions, 1623 Melanson Road, Melanson. Darlene Emmanuella Missions, 37, Melanson. Kurtis Dale Raymond Missions, 18, no fixed address. Jack Tobias Missions, 40, Black River. Popular Elzeard Missions, God help him, 39, Greenfield. There’s also two children we’d like to touch base with, but it’s not a priority, living outside the province: Leonard Weldon Papineau, 12 and Alden Clarence Papineau, 11.”
She reached down and clicked off the presentation. “That’s all, folks.”