Within Plain Sight

by Bruce Robert Coffin

Maintaining a painted-on smile, in case she passed anyone in the hallway, Diane walked directly to her office and closed the door.

  Byron and Stevens compiled two separate lists. The first was Stavros family relatives. The second consisted of restaurant employees. They made a calculated decision to change it up with the family matriarch, hoping to catch Lina with her guard down. This time Stevens would have a go at her. Byron dropped Stevens off at 109 and they split up to work their respective lists.

  “May I help you?” A pleasant feminine-sounding voice emanated from the speaker box above the security keypad at the entrance to the Prouts Neck compound.

  Stevens recognized the voice immediately. “My name is Detective Melissa Stevens. I’m here to speak with Angelina Stavros.”

  “I’ve read the paper, Detective,” Stavros said, her tone no longer pleasant. “I know you’re targeting my son.”

  “We aren’t targeting anyone, Mrs. Stavros. We only want to find the truth,” Stevens said as gently as she could. The goal after all was Lina’s cooperation.

  Following a short silence Angelina’s voice returned through the speaker. “Drive in, Detective.”

  Stevens waited for the gate to trundle open, then she drove up to the house.

  Byron parked on the street right around the corner from Alessandro’s. His list was comprised of Dani’s coworkers. Given the day’s headlines Byron figured there was zero chance that Alex would be at work, making it the perfect time to poke around.

  He walked up the service alley and found one of the employees outside having a smoke. Based on his white pants and shirt, kitchen staff. Byron identified himself and asked the man his name.

  “Louis. Louis Violette. Folks call me Louie. I remember seeing you here last week. You had another detective with you. Cute.”

  Byron grinned. “I’ll be sure and pass that along, Louie. Did you know Dani Faherty very well?”

  “Sure. We all did. Well, most of the staff.”

  “Did Dani have any enemies? Someone that might’ve wished her harm?”

  Violette tossed the butt of his cigarette on the pavement then lit another. “Oh, shit,” he said, realizing what he had just done. “Sorry about that.”

  “Relax,” Byron said. “I left my littering citations in the car. So, did she?”

  “Nah, I don’t think so. Couple of the other women might’ve been a little jealous of all the attention she got from the boss.”

  “The boss?”

  “Yeah, Alex. The two of them got along pretty well. Maybe a little too well, if you get my meaning.”

  “You think there was something going on between Alex and Dani?” Byron asked.

  “Hey, I don’t like to start rumors, but they acted a little different toward each other whenever Lina or Alex’s wife, Deborah, was around.”

  “Thanks, Louie,” Byron said. “Manager inside?”

  “Petri? Yeah, he’s probably overseeing setup in the main dining room.”

  Angelina’s assistant, Ruth, greeted Stevens at the door, then led her to a sitting room located at the back of the estate. Stevens was trying to stay focused on the reason for her visit, but she couldn’t help but be taken with the extravagance of her surroundings. The new home made the one on Bowdoin Street seem cheap and outdated.

  “Detective Stevens to see you, Mrs. Stavros,” Ruth the Assistant announced.

  “Thank you, Ruth,” Angelina said. After Ruth had departed, Stavros focused her attention on Stevens. “Detective,” she said, nodding her head but making no attempt to stand. She gestured toward a padded antique divan. “Please, have a seat.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’d offer you something to drink but, as it so happens, I’m not feeling all that benevolent. Given that my son is about to be locked up and my daughter-in-law will probably take my grandbabies back to New York.”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Stavros,” Stevens said.

  If the pained expression on Lina’s face was any indication, she would not be consoled.

  “Well, you drove all the way out here. I assume you have questions? You may as well ask them.”

  “Did you know about the affair between Alex and Danica Faherty?” Stevens asked.

  “I suspected.”

  “Did you ever speak to Alex about it?”

  “My son is a grown man, Detective. He is completely capable of managing his own life.”

  Stevens found a fair amount of irony in her answer, given that Lina was about to gift a house to Alex and his family.

  “Did Deborah know about the affair?” Stevens asked.

  “If she didn’t, she certainly does now. Honestly, I don’t know if she was aware or not. You’d have to ask her.”

  “Had Alex and Deborah experienced any marital problems previous to this?”

  Lina hesitated before answering. “They dealt with some issues while still living in New York City. But that’s all I can tell you. As I indicated previously, you’ll have to ask Deborah if you want to know more.”

  Byron was seated in Petri’s office waiting for the restaurateur to return. Their conversation had been interrupted no less than five times in the short span of time that Byron had been there. Byron looked around the office at the various photos hanging from the walls. One in particular caught his eye. It was an older picture of Alex standing with Deborah and Petri. Deborah looked very much like she had when Byron knew her in college. All three were smiling.

  Petri breezed back into the office and sat down. “I’m sorry about this. Lunch rush.”

  “I totally understand,” Byron said. “I only need to ask you a few more questions.”

  “Fire away.”

  “Did you know about your brother’s affair with one of the staff?”

  “You’re talking about Dani Faherty?”

  “Yes. Were you aware that they were seeing each other?”

  “No, I wasn’t. But Alex has a long history of being unfaithful to his wife and family. This wasn’t the first time.”

  “There had been problems between Alex and Deborah before this?”

  Petri nodded. “In New York. They even split for a time. Deborah and I spent a lot of time talking about it.” Petri stopped speaking. He appeared to be trying to read Byron’s expression. “Sergeant Byron, I know you think my brother did this horrible thing but you’re wrong. Alex isn’t that kind of person. He doesn’t have it in him to commit murder.”

  Byron wasn’t at all surprised by Petri’s defense of his brother. They were siblings after all. And most people, at least those outside of law enforcement, have difficulty imagining, much less comprehending, the dark side of human nature. Police work lifted the veil. It had been a long while since Byron had any doubt about what people were capable of. The truth was, regardless of Petri’s assurances, not only did Alex Stavros have the opportunity, but he had also planned an elaborate scheme to meet up with Dani and establish an alibi for the night she went missing. As for motive, it might have been as simple as Dani threatening to out him to Deborah. It wouldn’t have been the first murder committed to cover up an affair.

  “Can you think of anyone on your staff who had a problem with Dani Faherty?” Byron asked.

  Petri thought for a moment then shook his head. “No. Our core group gets along quite well. Pretty typical for people in this business. There are always the job jumpers, folks who think it would be neat to work at a high-end restaurant like this one, at least until they find out how much work it really is and move on. But our core group thrives in this environment. Loyalty and attention to detail are very important to me.”

  “I want to ask you about Lina’s former house on Bowdoin Street.”

  “Sure. What would you like to know?”

  “Who, besides Alex, has access to it?”

  “Well, Lina, obviously. And me, I actually stayed there for a bit when I first came up to Maine to get the restaurant off the ground, before my house was ‘move-in ready’.” Petri made quotation marks with his fingers.

>   “Anyone else?”

  “My uncle Dennis. Deborah. Um, I guess that’s about it. It was the family house.”

  “When was the last time you visited the house?” Byron asked.

  “I’m not sure. It’s been a while. I guess it must have been about a month after I moved into my house in Cape Elizabeth. You know, getting the last of my things moved.”

  “And when was that?”

  “Six months ago, maybe. Give or take.”

  One of the waitstaff appeared in the doorway to Petri’s office. “You’re needed in the kitchen, Mr. Stavros.”

  “I’m sorry, Sergeant Byron,” Petri said as he stood. “Duty calls. Was there anything else?”

  Byron closed his notebook and rose, too. “I think I’m all set for now.”

  There was a knock on the closed door to Diane’s fourth-floor office.

  “It’s open,” she said, quickly pulling herself together.

  Detective Mike Nugent stuck his bald pate through the doorway. “Hey, Sarge. You busy?”

  “Not at all, Nuge. Come in. You can leave the door open.”

  He hesitated. “You sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m good.”

  Nugent pushed open the door then walked in and sat down directly in front of her desk.

  “Well? How’d the interview go?”

  She forced a smile. “Not great, actually.”

  “Really?”

  “Let’s just say I don’t think I wowed anyone.”

  “Well, for whatever it’s worth, I’ve done a bunch of interviews in my time and I find that whenever I get a chance to review the video they’re never quite as bad as I thought.”

  “Thanks, Nuge.”

  “Besides, they all know you, Sarge. One crappy interview isn’t gonna keep them from giving you a chance, right?”

  “I hope not.”

  “Did they say how soon they’ll make a decision?”

  “They didn’t, but I’m guessing early next week. So, what’s the latest on baby Nugent?”

  “The word is stubborn.”

  “Sounds like someone we know.”

  “Jeez, I hope not. If this pregnancy is any indication, this kid won’t move out of the house until they’re fifty.”

  Chapter 29

  Saturday, 12:05 p.m.,

  July 22, 2017

  Byron was at home in his North Deering condo emptying the dishwasher. Despite his attempt at housework, his thoughts remained occupied by details of the case. The previous day had felt like a waste. They’d made no noticeable progress aside from Pelligrosso’s confirmation that he had recovered a number of Faherty’s prints from Lina’s Bowdoin Street house. He could tell that his team was nearing the point of exhaustion, so he had given them the weekend off. Having been at it nonstop for a week and a half, he knew they all needed some downtime to be with their families, to try and restore order to their personal lives. The sole exception was the Nugent family, whose order was unlikely to be restored anytime soon. Byron had spoken to Diane several times by phone, but she, too, was wrapped up in her own thoughts of promotion.

  He had just shelved the last of the glasses when his cell began to dance across the kitchen counter. The name displayed on the caller ID was none other than Jim Ferguson.

  Byron grabbed the phone and answered. “I would think having the Assistant Attorney General call you at your house, on a Saturday no less, might be perceived as a bad thing. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  “You sitting down?”

  “As a matter of fact, I’m not. Does this have anything to do with my request to speed up the results from our tests?”

  “As a matter of fact, it does.”

  “You’re worse than Dustin Tran. Tell me already.”

  “The blood you recovered from Angelina Stavros’s kitchen belongs to Dani Faherty.”

  Byron was pleased but not overly surprised. “And the semen?”

  “None other than Alex Stavros, Chef to the Stars.”

  Chef to the Stars who’s lawyered up, Byron thought.

  “What do you want to do, John?”

  Byron slung the dish towel over his shoulder and sat down at the table, taking a moment to consider what they had. Everything pointed to Alex being the killer, including Alex himself by lying about his affair with Dani. The secret rendezvous and phony alibi, borrowing a car, all of it. Still, Ferguson had brought up too many loose ends and alternate possibilities for Byron’s liking.

  “Can I interpret your silence as meaning that you’re conflicted, mon ami?” Ferguson asked.

  “Yeah,” Byron said. “I guess I am.”

  “Because of my alternate suspect theories?”

  “That’s part of it.”

  “Let me see if I can help you with that. My theories were just that. I was throwing shit at the wall, like any defense attorney worth their salt. But it’s still shit, John. We deal in facts, and in this case all the facts still point to Alex Stavros as the killer.”

  Byron couldn’t refute it.

  “Let me ask you a question,” Ferguson said. “Would you hesitate for even a second if this was just some Joe Shmoe from Podunk, Maine, instead of the well-heeled son of a Hollywood movie icon?”

  “Throwing my own words back at me, huh?”

  “In your general direction perhaps,” Ferguson said.

  “No, I guess I wouldn’t.” It bothered him that Ferguson was right. Maybe he was just being overly cautious, or maybe there was an intimidation factor at play here.

  “I know you wouldn’t,” Ferguson said. “Those cuffs would already be clamped on and we both know it.”

  “Then you’re prepared to charge him?” Byron asked.

  “Prepared, willing, and able.”

  After joining up with Stevens at 109, Byron placed a courtesy call to LeRoyer, giving him the heads-up.

  “Does Lynds know?” LeRoyer asked.

  “No, Marty, she doesn’t. I figured you could tell her. Unlike some around 109, I follow the chain of command.”

  LeRoyer ignored the comment. “Who’s with you?”

  “At the moment it’s just Mel, but Nuge and Bernie are headed in.”

  “You guys gonna let the shift commander know?”

  “Already have. He’s assigned two uniforms to go with us.”

  “I know I don’t have to say this, but go easy, okay? We don’t need more negative publicity than we’ve already had.”

  Byron bit his tongue. He knew what LeRoyer was saying was that he didn’t want to look bad to the new chief, again. The leaks on this case had been a PR nightmare. It seemed someone had been one step ahead of them at every turn. Byron knew LeRoyer was only worried about keeping his seat when the music stopped. Chief Lynds was evaluating each member of her inherited command staff and Marty LeRoyer wanted to remain in her good graces, unlike Ass. Chief Rumsfeld who seemed to have already begun the process of becoming irrelevant.

  It was 1:30 by the time they drove to the restaurant from 109. The plan was simple enough. They would park around the corner, slip in through the service entrance, grab Alex, and slip back out. But as the detectives approached Alessandro’s they found the restaurant already surrounded by news vans. Someone had beaten them to it, again.

  Byron, Stevens, and two uniformed officers entered the kitchen from the rear of the establishment, while Nugent and Robbins waited in the alley. Whatever food prep the staff had been engaged in abruptly ceased as all eyes turned to look at them. The look on Alex’s face upon spotting Byron said it all.

  Petri Stavros entered the kitchen from the front of the business. “Sergeant Byron, we’re trying to run a business here. What the hell is this?”

  “The media wasn’t my idea, Petri,” Byron said. “I wanted to keep this low-key.”

  “You failed.”

  Byron turned his attention to Alex who stood mouth agape between the uniformed officers and Stevens. “Alex Stavros, you’re under arrest for the murder of Danica Faherty,” Byron said.

 
“Is this absolutely necessary?” Petri persisted.

  Byron paused long enough to recall finding Dani’s body abandoned in the lumberyard and the image of her severed head lying among the weeds after having been mauled by God knew what kind of creature. He nodded at Stevens and the uniformed officers and they stepped forward and placed Alex in handcuffs. Byron then turned to face Petri. “Yes, it is.”

  Word had gotten to the media from inside the restaurant, and they had repositioned their circus. A throng of reporters and cameras were awaiting them in the back alley as the officers escorted Stavros to the waiting black-and-white.

  “Alex Stavros, do you have any comment?” one of the reporters shouted.

  “Why did you cut her head off?” asked another less cultured vulture.

  Byron exchanged a wordless glance with Alex. Defeat was etched on the younger man’s handsome face.

  As Byron and Stevens were climbing into the unmarked, they spotted Davis Billingslea amid the throng.

  “How the fuck did he get word already?” Byron said.

  Stevens said nothing.

  Byron was still steaming as he and Stevens departed from the jail. Their attempt at a low-key Saturday afternoon arrest had failed miserably. The same media outlets that had stormed Alessandro’s as the police took Alex into custody were now camped out in front of 50 County Way, each of them looking to get an exclusive on the charges and the facts that led up to them.

  Byron’s cellphone was jammed with missed calls, voicemails, and text messages. He didn’t have to check them to know what they were all about. As he was about to pocket the phone again it rang with an incoming call, this one from Lieutenant LeRoyer. Against Byron’s better judgment he answered.

  “What part of go easy didn’t you guys understand?” LeRoyer snapped.

  Byron looked over at Stevens. She was shaking her head.

  “Where are you?” LeRoyer asked.

  “With Mel. We’re heading to 109 from the jail.”

  “I’ll see you both there.” LeRoyer hung up without fanfare.

  Thirty minutes later Byron, Stevens, Nugent, Robbins, and LeRoyer were all seated around the CID conference room table. The arrest of Alex Stavros should have been cause for celebration, marking the end of a long and arduous investigation. Instead a dark cloud hung over the case and its investigators. All eyes were fixed on the television where the lead story of the evening news was being broadcast live from the Cumberland County Jail. Byron recognized the WGME reporter as Leslie Thomas.