Another Three Dogs in a Row

by Neil S. Plakcy

  23 – Her Own Sister

  I was surprised that Lili wasn’t home when I got there, because the summer term was so slow and she often slipped out an hour or two early. I fed and walked Rochester, and then got to work on a salad for our dinner, with grilled chicken strips over romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green pepper strips and dried cranberries. I had just popped a loaf of frozen garlic bread in the oven when she came in.

  “You’re home late,” I said. “Problems at the office?”

  She shook her head. “No, everything’s so quiet I left early and went walking around Leighville taking pictures. The town and the campus are so different during the summer. It has a kind of uninhabited look that intrigues me.”

  We talked about that, how Stewart’s Crossing was a year-round kind of town, though it did have a lazier sense during the summer, with kids out of school and lots of families taking vacations.

  “And yet, there’s something dark underneath all the charm,” I said. “People struggling to make payments on mega-mansions. Kids doing drugs.”

  “But that’s everywhere. Look at your friend Peggy. She’s had a tough life and keeps getting knocked down but she gets up again. I know how she feels, losing marriage after marriage.” She looked up at me. “Think you’re going to wrap everything up by the time we leave for the shore?”

  “I think so. I have a couple of threads to chase down and then I’ll present everything to Hunter. It’s up to him what he does with it.”

  “And you’re okay with that? With not solving the case? You’ve been pretty obsessed with that kind of thing in the past.”

  “I already think I know who’s responsible. Peggy’s sister, Rita. She was having an affair with Carl Landsea and also working with him on a couple of scams through her office.”

  I explained what I’d figured out so far. “I’ve already sent most of the information to Hunter. He can show it to the district attorney, and if I did my work right the DA will go after Rita. I get to solve the case without any of the confrontation or danger.”

  “That’s a good thing,” Lili said.

  While Lili took care of the dishes, I wanted to follow up one of those loose threads I’d mentioned to her. I looked up the Office of the Inspector General online. It was tasked with investigating fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, or violations of laws and regulations involving Education Department funds or programs.

  Did that include going after Pell scammers? Probably. But did it mean that the agency was actively investigating Liberty Bell University? This might have been a routine visit.

  I could not find information on any open investigations, but after doing some digging I discovered that Liberty Bell U had already been cited several times for sloppy record-keeping, and had to pay some significant fines. That might mean Rita’s bosses were looking into what she was doing, to stem the outflow of money back to the government, and that would put her whole operation at risk.

  After I shut down the laptop I helped Lili go through her checklist of stuff to take with us to the shore on Sunday morning. I still needed to pick up some extra treats for Rochester and Rascal, and I promised to do that the next day on my way home from work.

  Thursday morning I dropped Rochester at Friar Lake with Joey once again, and drove into Leighville for our in-person interviews with the final five candidates for the student life position.

  I was glad that I got there early and was able to stop Dave Moretti from the financial aid office. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  I showed him the half-gnawed card. “This agency, would they only show up on a campus if there was a suspicion of fraud? Or do they make routine visits, too?”

  “Where’d you get this?”

  “I had an appointment with someone at Liberty Bell University, and my dog got hold of this business card. I was curious about it.”

  He looked like he’d smelled something nasty. “Liberty Bell University is one of the most notorious of the for-profit colleges,” he said. “Rife with scams and violations. I’m not surprised someone from the OIG was there.”

  We walked into the conference room together. “To answer your original question, I’ve never had a routine visit from the OIG, and I’ve never heard of anyone else who’s had one. If this inspector was at Liberty Bell, then there’s an open investigation.”

  I was fidgety through the interviews. Maybe Carl’s death wasn’t a case of killing the goose that laid the golden egg, but tying up loose ends. His last email to Rita had indicated that he wanted to get out, because he was afraid of going back to prison. If there was an active investigation, then he might have been tempted to rat out Rita in exchange for immunity, as he’d done with Big Diehl.

  We finished all five interviews, and then met to prioritize our choices. I was pleased with the two candidates we recommended – both had significant experience working with high-achieving students like the ones at Eastern, and both were young and enthusiastic and not likely to burn out too quickly.

  On my way back to Friar Lake I stopped at a hoagie shop in Leighville and picked up a roast beef sandwich with extra meat, which I shared with Rochester as an apology for abandoning him for most of the day.

  When I finished eating, I called Hunter Thirkell and asked if I could stop by his office on my way home from work. “I want to go over that stuff I emailed you.”

  “I’ve been in court the last couple of days so I haven’t had a chance to look through what you sent me. It’s all legal, right? Stuff I can show to the DA?”

  “Absolutely,” I said, and out of habit I crossed my fingers. After I hung up, I started to put everything in order and make sure that indeed, I’d come by all the information legitimately. I printed out the emails between Rita and Carl, highlighting the last one where he wanted to stop working with her because he was afraid that if caught he’d be sent back to prison.

  I added copies of the bank records, showing Carl’s two types of income from Liberty Bell University and the way each deposit was matched with a transfer to Rita.

  Rita had a motive to kill Carl – to keep him from ratting her out. If she went out with Carl, she’d have had the opportunity to fiddle with his bike.

  The means was trickier, but I was going under the assumption that Rita worked with other bikers on the financial aid scam, and that she might have gotten one of them to show her the brakes on his bike, maybe even explain how they could be fiddled with. Or gotten one of the other scammers to meddle with Carl’s brakes for her.

  All in all, it was a convincing case that Peggy’s sister should be considered a viable suspect in Carl’s death, and that by presenting that information to the prosecutor, Hunter could kick off further investigation and maybe even get the charges against Peggy dropped.

  Rochester and I walked into Hunter’s office a few minutes after four and I handed him the folder of paperwork. He was wearing a white shirt that once again strained against its buttons, but he had pulled off his red power tie and hung it over the shoulders of an owl statuette beside his desk. His suit jacket hung from a hook on the wall beside a bookcase full of law books.

  All of that material, I thought, could probably fit on a single hard drive these days, and I wondered if Hunter ever used those books, or if they were there for show.

  I sat in the chair across from him, with Rochester on his haunches beside me. I scratched behind the dog’s ears as Hunter flipped through the paperwork.

  “Her own sister,” he said finally. “Jesus, what’s the world coming to?”

  “I know Rita was jealous of Peggy when they were kids, that Rita thought Peggy was too full of herself because she wanted to go to college. I doubt that’s enough of a motive to ruin her sister’s life now, but Peggy brought Carl into Rita’s orbit, and I think he might have been the one to bring her those Social Security numbers. The fact that she was screwing her sister’s husband probably didn’t matter that much to her.”

  “And killing her brother-in-law?”


  “He’d become a liability to Rita. So he had to go.”

  “This is good work, Steve.” He crossed his hands over his broad belly. “You ever think of becoming an investigator? I know a lot of attorneys who could use someone with some digital skills.”

  “Right now I’m set at Friar Lake,” I said. “I’m considering taking some computer forensics courses, though. Try to channel my impulses into legitimate avenues, and give myself some credentials for the future.”

  “Can I call you again if I need some help? When a case isn’t pro bono and I can pay you?”

  “You can call, sure. Can’t guarantee I’ll be able to help you.” I leaned forward. “What happens next?”

  “Next? I meet with the prosecutor and give her this information. Then she decides how she’s going to move forward with Peggy.”

  “And Rita?”

  “That’s up to the prosecutor. This is solid information, but of course she’ll have to replicate it herself with her own investigators. And then she’ll decide if she wants to press charges against Rita.”

  24 – Love and Hate

  As I drove home, I felt bad for Peggy. Blood was supposed to be thicker than water. It was too bad that her worst enemy was turning out to be someone who should have had her back. Though as an only child, I knew I had an idealized version of what having a sibling would be like.

  I called Peggy and asked if I could stop by her house on my way home. “You have more news?” she asked.

  “I do. But I want to talk it over with you.”

  I got to her house a half hour later, and I saw the curiosity on Peggy’s face as she let us in. “What’s so important that you had to tell me face to face?”

  We sat across from each other once again, Peggy on the sofa with Rochester beside her, and me in the recliner. Piece by piece, I went through the evidence that I’d passed on to Hunter.

  When I finished, her mouth was open in horror. “You think Rita killed Carl?” she asked, and there was a plaintiveness in her voice that tugged at my heart strings.

  “There’s a lot of evidence that points her way,” I said. “But remember, the police had a lot of evidence that implicated you, too. It’s not up to either of us to make the final determination.”

  “Saturday afternoon should be interesting then,” she said. “My sister Catherine, she’s the touchy-feely one, wants the four of us to get together at RJ’s house for lunch. Fortunately it’s within the general area where I can go without getting permission from the judge.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Peggy,” I said. “If I’m right, Rita killed Carl and she could be dangerous.”

  “I know how to deal with my sisters,” Peggy said. “And if it comes down to that, I think Catherine and Anne will take my side against RJ. It’s the first time Catherine has reached out to me, and I miss her and Anne. I feel like I have to go along with this.”

  She laughed bitterly. “Though I don’t see why RJ is willing to agree to host us all if what you’re saying is true.”

  “Take care of yourself, Peggy,” I said. “Don’t tell Rita anything that you and I have talked about, because if she’s guilty you don’t want her to come after you.”

  “I’m hoping it won’t come to that,” Peggy said. “Catherine says it’ll be the four of us sitting around talking about the past.” She looked wistful. “The good stuff, at least. Us getting out of Trenton, our mom happier.”

  I hoped that would be the case.

  On my way home, I passed one of the big pet stores, and that reminded me that I’d promised to pick up some treats to take down the shore with us. It was a big well-lighted place with aisle after aisle of everything from dwarf hamsters to puppy piddle pads.

  I took Rochester into the store with me, and as usual, the clerks all fawned over him—how beautiful he was, how well-behaved. I didn’t mention he was also a crime-solving canine.

  I loaded up a cart with rubber chews, bones stuffed with peanut butter, and more dental treats. I had to put the bag in the back to keep Rochester from nosing through it.

  Friday morning I had to deal with a flurry of emails about the search committee, and make sure that I’d handled everything I had to before we left for our vacation. I met with Joey, and he and Rochester and I walked around the property and talked about the few things that might come up while I was away.

  “I’ll check my email at least once a day, but if something urgent comes up, feel free to call or text me.”

  “It’s the summer. Nothing is going to be urgent,” Joey said.

  I kept hoping that Hunter would call me with the results of his conversation with the prosecutor, but maybe he hadn’t been able to see her yet. Or maybe he’d figured I was done and now out of the loop.

  Saturday morning Lili began checking items off on her to-do list, organizing piles of clothes on the dining room table, putting out the dog food and treats and so on. Rochester sensed something was going on and he kept getting underfoot. One of my jobs was to make sure that all our digital devices were charged, and that we had all the necessary cables.

  Yeah, we’d promised to put those devices aside for a while and focus on being together, but Lili wanted to be able to take a lot of pictures and transfer them to her laptop. We both had to be able to check our emails, and maybe pull up a movie or two on the iPad.

  It was early afternoon when Peggy called. “Steve?” she asked, and her voice sounded strangled. “I’m really frightened.”

  “What’s the matter? “

  “I’m at RJ’s house, and she’s on a rampage, ranting about problems and her work that somehow are my fault. Catherine and Anne are trying to stop her but she’s not listening. I’m frightened.”

  “Walk away,” I said. “You don’t need to be in a toxic environment.”

  “I’m afraid if I do RJ will get even madder at me and go back to the police. She admitted that she’s the one who told them that Carl was abusing me, even though it wasn’t true. I don’t know what else she could lie about.”

  “Why don’t I come over there?” I said. “Sometimes having a third party there can defuse the anger.”

  “Could you? I hate to ask but I don’t know what to do.”

  “Give me a half hour.”

  Lili looked up from her work at the dining room table. “You’re not running out on me while I’m trying to organize everything, are you?”

  “I won’t be long. And I promise to do whatever you need when I get back.”

  “Fine. Go. But this is the end. Tomorrow morning we head for the shore and we’re going to be on vacation from everything.”

  “I understand. And I’m with you one hundred percent.” I kissed her cheek and hooked up Rochester’s leash.

  With him on the seat beside me, we retraced our steps to Rita Corcoran’s house in Newtown. There were a couple of cars in the driveway and along the street, and I recognized Peggy’s battered Nissan.

  Once again I noticed how impressive Rita’s house was, with perfectly manicured hedges and a group of pink roses in full bloom. What a contrast to the dump where Peggy lived.

  As Rochester and I got out of the car, I heard the sound of an argument coming from the back yard, raised female voices. “You’ve always thought you were better than the rest of us,” one voice said. “Because you went to college for a while. You were so ambitious that it made things harder for the rest of us who just wanted to get by. Teachers were always comparing me to you. Why can’t you be as good a student as your sister? Shit, I hated that.”

  “I wanted to make things better for all of us,” another voice said, one I recognized as Peggy’s.

  “Look around you, babe. I don’t need you to do shit for me,” Rita said.

  “Please don’t argue,” a third voice said. “Can’t we all get along, for once?”

  “Shut up, Catherine,” Rita said.

  Then it sounded like all four sisters were talking at once and I couldn’t make out what they were saying, until I he
ard Rita’s voice rise above the din. “You’ll see what happens to girls who try to be better than everybody else, Peggy. The cops are going to put you away for Carl’s murder.”

  “But I didn’t kill him,” Peggy protested.

  “I know that, babe. Believe me, I know that better than anybody. But it’s still very sweet to see you hang for it.”

  “What are you saying, Rita?” Peggy demanded. “Do you know who killed Carl?”

  “See what it’s like, when you don’t have all the answers, college girl?” Rita said.

  The voice I’d identified as Catherine’s rose. “If you know who killed Peggy’s husband then you’re honor bound to tell the police. It’s what sisters do for each other.”

  “I’ll tell you what I did for Peggy. I used that asshole husband of hers as the dummy who took all the risks when I came up with the money-making schemes.”

  “Come on, RJ. You’re not that smart,” Peggy said. “Aren’t you the one who’s always complaining about me and my couple of years in college? Doesn’t that make you too dumb to figure out any kind of scheme?”

  I couldn’t believe that Peggy was taunting Rita, when I’d told her specifically not to get her sister agitated and perhaps violent.

  “How do you think I got this big house?” Rita said. “I came up with the schemes and got Carl and his buddies to put their names and on the line, and when he started to complain I took care of him, and managed to get back at the college girl for all the shit she gave us all those years.”

  I stepped away from the gate and called Rick. “Peggy’s sister RJ just confessed to her and their other two sisters that she killed Carl Landsea and why.” I explained that I was at Rita Corcoran’s house in Newtown. “Can you come out here?”

  “Not my jurisdiction,” Rick said. “Landsea was killed in Tullytown.”

  “Can you call a cop over there?” In the background I heard the yelling continue.

  “I’ll see what I can do. Don’t get yourself in the middle of the trouble.” Rick rang off and I slipped the phone back in my pocket and let Rochester tug me toward the gate.