by S F Bose
So now I can’t speak for myself? I felt my entire body heat up with anger.
“I need some coffee,” I muttered and walked toward my office.
“Liz, let’s meet and discuss how we want to proceed with the case,” Sam called after me.
“I’ll stop by your office after I eat,” I replied over my shoulder. After dumping my jacket and messenger bag in my office, I headed for the kitchenette. I brewed a cup of coffee and picked the biggest Boston Cream donut I could find in the pastry box Neville had set next to the coffee machine. Then I retreated to my office and shut the door to eat in peace.
Energized by caffeine and sugar, I grabbed my notebook and left my office half an hour later.
“Neville, the pastries are wonderful. Thank you,” I said, veering over to his desk.
“You’re welcome,” he replied and smiled.
“Where are you at with the audio interviews?”
He pushed his wire-rim glasses back up on his nose. “I finished the Paulie Meagher interview and I’m just starting in on the Tommy Vann audio,” he replied.
“Excellent. You’re keeping up with us. Good work,” I said.
Neville grinned. “Thanks, Liz.”
I walked into Sam’s office, knocking lightly on the doorframe.
“Hey,” he said. “Have a seat.”
I sat in the nearest visitor’s chair and put my notebook on his desk. Flip slept near Sam’s desk, his face and paws twitching as he dreamed.
“Okay,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “I know you hate having me hanging so close.”
I held up my hand. “Sam, I understand your heart’s in the right place. However, I don’t think of myself as someone who needs protecting, so I’m having problems with that. I also feel…suffocated.”
He listened closely. “I understand,” he replied. “Let’s change it up. We’ll protect each other. Anyone coming after you is probably coming after me. So we’ll watch out for each other. Okay?”
I doubted that anyone was coming after Sam. Nobody had shot at him or left a bullet to scare him. However, I was tired of being angry.
“That sounds good,” I agreed. “However, I want to drive my own car.”
Sam hesitated and then nodded. “Okay, that’s reasonable. But I’ll still tail you.”
“That’s fine,” I agreed. “I also want my bedroom back.”
Sam sighed. “It’s going to make protection more difficult, but okay. I’ll put the sleeping bag in the hallway outside the bedroom.”
I started to object but Sam held his hand up. “Until we determine there’s no longer a threat to you, I’ll sleep in the hallway. If you kick me out of the house, I’ll walk the perimeter of the coach house all night. That will make me very cranky but I’ll do it.”
I groaned. “Okay, we’ll try the hallway,” I agreed and he nodded.
Sam was about to say something more when my phone rang. I slid my phone out of my pocket and looked at the screen. Simon Goodman.
“Good morning, Mr. Goodman,” I said. Sam’s eyebrows shot up.
“Good morning, Ms. Bean. First, I’d like to apologize for losing my temper the last time we spoke. It was inappropriate and rude. I’m sorry. This has all been very stressful.”
“No problem, I understand,” I replied.
After a pause, Goodman continued, “I spent some time over the weekend thinking about the investigation. I’ve concluded that I can’t leave our contract open-ended. I need a conclusion to this for my son and the rest of my family as soon as possible. So I’ll give your agency one more week to find Steven Meagher’s killer or killers. If you haven’t accomplished that, I’ll find another investigator.”
I was stunned. Then I stammered, “Mr. Goodman, we can solve the case. We just need more time.”
“A week should be more than enough time. The contract will end a week from today. I’ve made up my mind, Ms. Bean.”
With that, he hung up. Shaking my head, I returned the phone to my pocket.
“He canned us?” Sam asked.
“No. He’s giving us a week to find the killer. If we don’t, he’ll get another investigator.”
Sam groaned. “Losing that contract would generate bad publicity we can’t afford.”
“You think word would get around? I asked.
“I know it would, Liz. The PI business is very competitive. Any new investigator Goodman hired would tout the fact they got the contract and we lost it,” Sam replied glumly.
I couldn’t think of anything positive to say. “You’re sure?”
Sam nodded. “I’m sure. We have to solve this case.”
“How? Our best lead is the video of the two guys at the cabin. But our only witness doesn’t recognize them and neither does the widow. And the police tech people couldn’t find any clues in the video.”
“I know,” Sam agreed. “It looks bad but—”
His cell phone rang. Sam glanced at the screen and said, “It’s Newmont.” He answered the phone and put it on speakerphone.
“Hey Newmont, Sam and Liz here.”
“Morning. Glad I caught you both. I wanted you to know I submitted the envelope and cartridge to Madison and asked for a print check,” Newmont said.
“How long will that take?” I asked.
“No way of telling. I marked it as possibly related to the Meagher murder case, which might help speed things up. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything,” he replied.
I flipped open my notebook and started taking notes. “Okay, thanks Newmont.”
“I also called Fred Graydon, Tommy Vann’s cousin,” Newmont said.
“Did he verify Tommy’s story?” asked Sam.
“Unfortunately, I got his assistant. Mr. Grayden just left for a bicycling trip in Italy and won’t be back for three weeks.
“How convenient. No cell phone?” Sam asked.
Newmont grunted. “No, he evidently likes to disappear when he goes on one of these jaunts. He didn’t leave any contact information. So I asked his assistant to have him call me when he gets back.”
“What is it with these people?” I asked. “First Tina Malden left on a spiritual retreat and couldn’t be reached until she returned to Mystic Grove. Now Fred Graydon has ‘disappeared’ in Italy for three weeks?”
“Believe me, I understand,” Newmont replied. “It’s very frustrating.”
“Did you have any new brainstorms about the two guys at the cabin?” Sam asked.
“Not really,” Newmont replied. “I had hoped the video team in Madison would find something we could use, but they didn’t.”
“Yeah we spun our wheels reviewing the video. If Rose had kept recording when the car left the cabin, we might have gotten a plate number,” Sam said. “But she didn’t.”
“Did you find anything new after we spoke on Saturday?” Newmont asked.
“Nothing,” I replied.
“Okay, well I’ll keep thinking about it. I have to head into a meeting. Talk to you later,” Newmont said and we hung up.
Sam and I discussed our options.
“We could call Rose O’Ryan and ask her to watch the video with us. Maybe if we slowed it down for her, she’d notice something new,” Sam suggested.
“Yeah, maybe we could also have a separate session with Larissa Meagher,” I replied.
There was a short knock at the door. A frowning Neville entered the office.
“Sorry to interrupt, but there’s something odd on the Tommy Vann audio.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It could be nothing. But during the interview, you asked Vann if he knew anyone named Fontana. He replied, ‘No.’ He denied knowing Mac Goodman too. However, later in the interview, he said...” Neville stopped to read from a notebook. “He said, ‘Wait a minute. You asked about Dom Fontana. Is he the guy Larissa cheated with?’”
Neville looked up and stared at us. We stared back. “Don’t you see? At first, he said he didn’t know anyone named Fontana. The
n he suddenly knew Dom Fontana’s first name.”
Sam and I looked at each other and back at Neville. “Let’s go listen,” Sam said.
We went to Neville’s desk and he played the audio for us. It was exactly as Neville had said. We listened to the audio clip twice.
“That’s a great catch, Neville. He did use Dom’s full name later in the interview. I never noticed that,” I said. “Dom Fontana isn’t a name that Tommy guessed.”
Sam nodded. “I agree. And he tried to connect Dom with Larissa.” The three of us returned to Sam’s office.
“Let’s work through this. How would Tommy Vann know Dom Fontana and that he was having an affair with Larissa Meagher?” Sam asked.
“Maybe Steven Meagher knew about Larissa’s affair and told Tommy about Dom,” I said
“Or Tommy Vann saw Larissa and Fontana together. Then he somehow got Fontana’s name,” Neville suggested.
“Maybe Larissa Meagher told Tommy about Dom,” I added.
“After any of those scenarios, Tommy could have contacted Dom, if he wanted to,” Neville said.
Sam nodded. “All of those scenarios are plausible too. I wish we knew which one actually happened. Or what other scenario brought Dom and Tommy together.”
“Why don’t we just call Tommy Vann and ask him if he knows Dom Fontana? If he says he does, we can ask how they met,” Neville suggested.
Sam and I looked at each other.
“What could it hurt?” I asked.
“Okay, I’ll call him. Do you have the number, Liz?” Sam asked. I checked my cell phone and read it off.
Neville and I sat back as Sam dialed the number. “I’m not going to put it on speakerphone. I don’t want to spook him,” he said and I nodded.
After a few seconds, Sam said, “Hi Tommy it’s Sam Nolan. We spoke about Steven Meagher’s murder… Right. I’m sorry to bother you, but we had some problems with our audio recording of the interview. Can I ask you about three names that have come up in the case? … Great! The first name is Mac Goodman… You never heard of him? Okay, the next name is Eric O’Ryan… Doesn’t ring a bell? That’s fine. Last name is Dom Fontana… You don’t know him either? … What’s that? … Oh, these are names that came up one way or another during the investigation… No, they’re not suspects. We’re asking everyone we interview if they know these men… Right. Well, thanks for your patience. I appreciate it. Have a great day… Bye.”
Sam disconnected the call and looked at us.
“He doesn’t know Dom Fontana?” Neville asked.
“That’s what he said,” Sam replied.
I shook my head. “Something’s fishy. Is it possible he doesn’t remember bringing up Dom Fontana’s name during the interview?”
“I don’t know,” Sam replied. “It doesn’t make sense. First, he doesn’t know Fontana. Then he tries to connect ‘Dom Fontana’ to Larissa as her lover. Then he denies knowing Dom Fontana.”
I realized something else. “You know, Tommy also denied knowing Mac Goodman during the original interview. However, he didn’t ask us if Mac was sleeping with Larissa.”
“He was planting the idea of Dom and Larissa,” Neville agreed.
Sam smiled. “I’m feeling a glimmer of hope. That really was a great catch on the audio, Neville. You should seriously think about being a PI.”
“Sam, Neville is going for his MFA at the university in the fall,” I reminded him.
“This work is good experience for writing my mystery books,” Neville said and smiled.
“There you go,” Sam replied. “Think about it. Maybe you could continue to work here part-time.”
Neville’s eyes lit up. “I will think about it. Thanks.”
My cell phone rang and I checked the call screen. Larissa Meagher.
“Hi Larissa,” I said.
“Hi Liz,” she replied. I heard sniffling.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She ignored my question. “I need to talk to you and Sam. Are you free? I could be there in an hour.”
“Sure, that’s fine,” I replied.
“Thanks,” she said and hung up.
I looked at Sam. “Larissa Meagher needs to talk to us. She’ll be here in an hour.”
“Did she say what it was about?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No. But it sounded like she was crying.”
Chapter 33
When Larissa arrived, she looked terrible. There were dark circles under her eyes, she wore no makeup, and her blonde hair looked disheveled.
Sam and I walked her to the conference room.
“Neville, join us please,” Sam called.
“Coming,” Neville replied.
Sam and I sat across from Larissa. Neville hurried in with his laptop and sat next to her. I started the voice recorder on my phone.
“Larissa Meagher, this is Neville Greenwood, our associate,” Sam said.
Neville smiled and said, “Pleased to meet you.” Larissa glanced at him and smiled briefly.
I leaned forward and looked across the table at her.
“Larissa, what’s wrong?” I asked.
She looked at me and I saw tears. She pulled a tissue from her jacket pocket and dabbed at her eyes.
“I left something out the last time I was here. It’s something that’s been eating at me,” she said.
“What is it, Larissa?” Sam asked.
She sniffed. “The day my husband was killed, Dom called me in Chicago like I said before. But I didn’t tell the entire truth. It was a strange call. He told me I was going to be happy because soon we’d be together forever. He said it was our destiny. I just laughed.”
“He said ‘soon?’” I asked and Larissa nodded. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the tissue.
“Take your time,” I said and she nodded.
She took a deep breath and continued. “He said he was driving my car around. He’d been with Moose for hours and wanted to take a break. But he was on his way back to Moose’s place in Madison. He told me Moose was in bad shape and he planned to stay there late to help him. I said that was fine because I was driving home when we got back to Madison. I reminded him to return my car to the same parking lot and he said he would. Then Dom said if anyone ever asked, I should say he called me from Moose Crotty’s place and not from my car.”
“Dom asked you to lie for him?” Sam asked.
Larissa looked at him and nodded. “He did.”
“Did Moose live near the lot you parked your car in?” I asked.
“Not too far away,” she replied.
“Was there more, Larissa?” Sam asked.
Larissa cleared her throat. “Yes, something weird happened. I heard another man talking in the background. His voice was low at first and then got louder. He sounded upset and swore several times. And then I thought, ‘What the heck?’ I asked Dom what he was doing with Tommy Vann. He said it was a hitchhiker he’d picked up and not anyone named Tommy.”
My heart beat faster. “Are you sure it was Tommy Vann?”
“I’m one hundred percent sure. I’ve known Tommy for years,” Larissa replied. “He’s got a very distinctive voice. It was him.”
“Tommy Vann and Dom Fontana,” I said and glanced at Neville.
He looked thunderstruck. He had nailed a great clue on the audio and Larissa had just confirmed it. Tommy Vann knew Dom Fontana.
“How did Dom know Tommy Vann?” Sam asked.
“That’s exactly what I couldn’t figure out,” Larissa replied. “I have no idea how they met.”
“You never told Tommy about Dom?” I asked.
Her eyes widened. “No! Never! There was no reason. Besides, I couldn’t take the risk of Tommy passing anything along to my husband.”
I looked at Larissa and nodded. “I understand. So Tommy knew Dom, but he didn’t find out from you. You said your husband didn’t know about your affair, so he couldn’t have told Tommy about Dom. Maybe Tommy found out about the two of you in some other
way. Then he managed to get Dom’s name and contacted him.”
“Why would Tommy contact Dom? Honestly, if Tommy saw Dom and me together, I’m almost positive he would have called me,” Larissa replied. “We were on good terms and I gave him my phone number years ago.”
Sam rubbed his eyes and sat back. “Maybe Tommy wanted to warn Dom off. Or maybe Tommy was blackmailing Dom.”
Larissa shook her head. “I can guarantee you if Tommy did either of those things, Dom would have told me.”
After a silence, Sam said, “Okay, let’s take a step back. You said Tommy Vann was talking loudly in the car that day. What exactly was he saying?”
Larissa closed her eyes for a second and thought. Then she looked at us. “He said that Dom should hang up a couple of times. He swore few times. He also said something about tracking cell phones.”
“Tracking cell phones? You’re sure?” I asked.
“Yes because I repeated it to Dom and asked him what was going on. He laughed and said it was nothing. Then he reminded me about saying he’d called me from Moose’s place if anyone asked. We hung up right after that.”
“Did you ask him later about the call and being in your car with Tommy?” Sam asked.
“Not until that day he came to the house to check on me,” she replied. “I didn’t tell you the entire truth about that either. Everything about his bruised face and the fight with Moose was true. But then I asked him about driving around in my car with Tommy Vann. He told me I could never talk about him driving my car that day. I said I wouldn’t but I wanted to know about Tommy. Dom got very angry. He said he’d picked up a hitchhiker and wanted to know why I kept bringing Tommy Vann up.”
“Did you ever ask Dom if he killed your husband?” I asked.
Larissa swallowed and nodded. “I lied when you asked me that before too. I’m sorry. That same day at my house, I asked him if he had done anything crazy,” Larissa replied. “He started kidding around about being crazy about me. So I asked him directly if he had killed Steven. He looked shocked and said emphatically that he hadn’t. He also said I had to trust him.”
“Did you believe him?” I asked.