Secrets, Lies & Alibis

by Patricia H. Rushford

  Mac’s imagination conjured up a headstone instead of a diamond. Shoving the thought aside, he focused back on what Tim was saying.

  “Like I said, Megan designed the setting. There were two hearts overlapping and the stone was set in where they joined. The diamond was bordered by sapphires, our birthstones. Megan said the hearts represented our two hearts meeting and becoming one with each other.” His voice broke and Mac waited until he could go on.

  “Did she actually have the ring?” Mac knew she had from Gordon’s testimony, but he wanted to get the whole story from Tim.

  “I gave it to her just before I left last time. We went out to dinner to celebrate.” He shook his head. “My last picture of her was her holding the ring up to the light. I swear her eyes were brighter than the diamond. I was wondering . . . did you recover the ring?”

  Mac wasn’t certain he should give him that kind of information, so he looked to Kevin for the answer.

  “I’m afraid not,” Kevin said in a gentler than usual tone. “We haven’t found it. In fact, we haven’t had a very good description of the ring until now. There were no personal effects found with her.”

  Tim nodded. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”

  Mac frowned. He couldn’t blame the guy for wanting it back, but the question raised a red flag. His girlfriend had been brutally murdered and he wanted to know about the ring?

  Tim stared at the tissue still in his hand. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’d be concerned about the ring. I . . . um . . . I was thinking about having her buried with it.”

  “Why’s that?” Mac asked.

  Tim met his gaze. “Do you believe in life after death?”

  Mac didn’t answer. “Do you?”

  “Yeah. I know the ring is a tangible thing, but I was thinking the act of leaving it on her finger would somehow let her know that even though we were never able to get married officially that she’d know I really meant to. You know, like we’d be married in eternity.”

  Mac didn’t know how to respond. He let the silence build, thinking that this was a good time to wait for Tim to offer more information. And for him to collect his thoughts.

  “Would you guys mind filling in the blanks for me?” Tim finally asked. “The newspaper accounts I read and the report I got from Cindy didn’t tell me much.”

  “What exactly are you asking?” Mac studied the man’s face, looking for inconsistencies. The guy seemed a little too perfect. A little too cooperative.

  “I’m not sure. I guess I want the details, like where she was found and what the body looked like. Had she been raped?” He bit into his lower lip. “She told me she’d never slept with a man before me. I don’t want her to have been raped.”

  “I’m sorry, Tim,” Kevin replied. “We can’t divulge that kind of information at this point. The more information we keep confidential, the less chance investigative information can be leaked to the media.

  Sometimes we get lucky and the bad guy tells us something he couldn’t have read in the papers or seen on television.”

  “I suppose that makes sense in a way.”

  Mac kept his gaze on his paper. “Tim, you indicated you and Megan were . . . intimate?”

  “Yes, but not until that last night we were together.”

  “Were you both exclusive at the point of your engagement?”

  “Heavens, yes. Megan was a virgin until we . . .”

  Mac noticed a slight defensiveness in his voice. Did he know about Megan’s relationship with Reed?

  “I don’t mean to be intrusive,” Mac went on. “We’re just trying to identify patterns of conduct for Megan.”

  “I just don’t see the relevance, and I’d rather not talk about our sex life.”

  Kevin gave Mac a slight shake of his head, indicating he shouldn’t push Tim on the matter. He covered the action by turning his head from side to side, while he rubbed his neck.

  “Could you tell me one more thing? Did you use a condom?”

  “Of course. The last thing I wanted was to get Megan pregnant.” “I understand.” Mac leaned back.

  “Um . . . do you mind if we take a break?” Tim asked. “I’d like to use the bathroom. And I could use that coffee now.”

  “Sure. The bathroom is right down the hall.” Mac pointed toward the briefing room. “Right next to that is the break room. You’ll find the coffee in there. Help yourself. The cups are right next to the carafe.”

  “Thanks.” Tim got up and made his way to the restroom.

  As soon as he was out of earshot, Mac asked, “What was the deal, turning the questioning over to me?”

  Kevin grinned, not seeming the least bit apologetic. “Just testing you. Wanted to see how you reacted under pressure.”

  Mac frowned. “How did I do?”

  “Great. You barely flinched. So, what do you make of this guy?”

  “I’m not sure. On one hand, he doesn’t strike me as the killer type, but I don’t know about that business with the ring.”

  “Uh-huh. That was rather odd.” Kevin folded his arms. “But all in all, I’m getting good vibes. Though I’ve been fooled before.”

  “He’s got motive,” Mac ventured. “Did you see how defensive he got when I asked about Megan being with other men?”

  “The jealous boyfriend. A real possibility there. You never know how a man will act when he discovers the woman he loves has betrayed him. Why don’t you let me take over the interview when he comes back in? I’m going to let him in on some of the information we learned from Gordon and Cindy’s interviews in regard to Megan’s purported indiscretions.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’d like to see his reaction to the information regarding Megan’s recent encounter with Gordon. We may not have another chance to talk to Tim again, so we better put all our cards on the table now. Oh, and Mac, let’s not ask him to take a polygraph until the end of the interview.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tim walked back into the interview room a few minutes later, holding a cup of coffee. He sighed heavily and sat back down in the chair, staring intently at the dark brew.

  “Find everything okay?” Kevin asked.

  “Yes, thanks. The coffee is good—I half-expected mud. But then I understand you Pacific Northwest types pride yourself on good coffee.”

  “Yep.” Mac smiled. “An espresso joint on every corner.”

  Kevin nodded. “We need something to compensate for the rainy days.”

  “It might rain a lot, but it’s beautiful here—the mountains, the trees. It’s August and things are still green.”

  “We like it.” Kevin’s smile faded and he leaned forward. “We still have a few more questions for you if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure. Um . . . I was thinking about something in the break room. You’re probably wondering about my whereabouts from the time Megan disappeared until the time she was killed.”

  Kevin rubbed his chin. “Well, that is something we’ll probably check out.”

  He gave the detectives a sheepish grin. “I watch a lot of detective shows and they’re always talking about means, motive, and opportunity. I just wanted you to know that I might have had the means, but certainly not motive or opportunity. I took the liberty of typing up my schedule from August twelfth through the sixteenth.” Tim picked up his briefcase and set it on his lap. Opening it, he took out a two-page, neatly typed itinerary. “Thought I’d save you some time.”

  Kevin took the proffered pages and glanced over them. “Thank you.”

  “As you can see, I wasn’t in Oregon during that time period. I can send you actual records, if that’s any help.”

  “I appreciate your help, Tim. Looks like you have all your bases covered.”

  Bases covered? That’s putting it mildly, Mac thought. The guy was being a little too efficient. He made a quick note to himself.

  “There is one more thing, though.” Kevin studied Tim’s face as
he spoke.

  “What’s that?” Tim asked.

  “Could you send a record of the actual businesses you visited in these cities along with addresses and phone numbers?”

  “Sure. I’ll call my secretary and have her get on it right away.”

  Kevin set the itinerary on the table and moved it in Mac’s direction. “Right now we are in the process of proving who didn’t kill Megan, rather than working on any particular suspect. Those records will be made part of our case jacket, but I’m willing to take your word for it at this time.”

  “Thank you.” Tim took a sip of coffee.

  “Just a few more things and we’ll get you on your way.”

  “Okay.”

  “I want you to understand that we have talked to a number of people already. One of those people claims he, too, had a relationship with Megan, at least a short-term one. Were you aware of that?”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m sure Megan dated a lot of men before we met.”

  “This person claims to have had a relationship with Megan before the two of you met and that they were intimately involved as recently as two weeks ago.”

  Tim rubbed his temples. “I don’t believe you. This is some sort of trick to get me flustered, isn’t it? Well, guys, it’s working, but I find your tactics in very poor taste.”

  “I’m sorry, Tim, but this is the story we were given.”

  Tim leaned forward, setting his cup on the desk. “I can’t believe this. I won’t believe this. Megan was in love with me and I was in love with her. We were to be married and spend the rest of our lives together. I was going to take care of her, provide for her. Now I ask you, why? Why would she run around with another man? Answer me that!”

  Tim’s gaze fled from Kevin to Mac and back again. “Do you have any more profound bits of information you would like to pass along to me about my fiancée? Because if not, I would like to go.”

  “No, nothing more today. I’m sorry I upset you; this was just a question that needed to be asked.”

  “Right, for patterns of conduct. I remember.” Tim placed both hands on his thighs and stood up. “Let me tell you something, gentlemen. Megan was the kindest, most beautiful woman I ever met. I didn’t really care about Megan’s past. I’m sure if she saw this guy recently there’s a perfectly good explanation. Unfortunately, she isn’t here to defend herself. I loved her. When she died, a part of me died with her. I hope you don’t plan on dragging her name through the mud. I refuse to.”

  Kevin nodded. “We never had the pleasure of meeting Megan. I’m sure everything you say about her is true. You just need to understand that we’re trying to catch a killer before he kills again—before he takes some other man’s fiancée or wife or daughter. We take this grim responsibility very seriously and we ask the hard questions because someone has to.”

  Tears watered Tim’s eyes again as he ran his fingers through his thick blond hair. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t prepared to hear that from you. If it happened, if Megan was involved with someone else, I’ll just have to come to grips with that. Do you think he might have been the one who killed her?”

  “We don’t know at this time. Mac and I are still working on him. We’ll be meeting with him tomorrow, in fact.”

  “For an interview like this?”

  “Not exactly. We’ve spoken to him in-depth already. Tomorrow he’ll be coming in for a polygraph examination.”

  “A lie detector test?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you guys want me to take one of those, too, just so you can be sure I’m not involved so we can work together and catch this . . .”

  His jaw clenched. “This maniac.”

  Kevin walked him to the door. “It would be great if you did.

  The polygraph coupled with your business records would certainly be of help.”

  “Do want me to take it now?”

  “Tomorrow. I know it’s a hassle having to come back, but we aren’t set up for the examination today. We have to bring up a specialist from Salem.”

  “Tomorrow’s good. I’m staying at the Riverside Inn—it’s not that far away.” He reached into his still-open briefcase and pulled out a business card. “I’ll give you my phone number at the hotel.”

  He jotted the number on the back and said, “I’ll call my secretary right away and have her send those records you wanted.” He hesitated a moment and added, “If you give me the number here, I can have her fax them over—you could have them later this afternoon.” “We can do that,” Kevin replied. “One of us will call you in the morning to set up the polygraph. I’d ask that you don’t consume any alcohol tonight and try to get as much rest as possible. The polygraph detective prefers that the subject of the exam use no drugs or alcohol twenty-four hours prior to the examination.”

  “Drinking myself under the table was definitely on my agenda tonight, but I’ll abstain. Thanks for the warning.”

  “Do you have any questions for us?” Kevin asked.

  “Yeah.” His eyes went hard as blue ice. “Could you tell me a little about this other guy she was seeing?”

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea right now,” Kevin said. “If it’s any consolation, I doubt Megan would have chosen him over you.”

  “Thanks for that, at least. Have a good afternoon. I guess you’ll be in touch.”

  Mac and Kevin thanked him for coming. After he’d gone, Kevin picked up Tim’s card and itinerary. “I don’t think he’s our guy, but we’ll take a look at these business records and see how he does on the box tomorrow.”

  Mac chewed on the end of his pen. “Kevin, you know this stuff better than I do, but it wouldn’t be hard for him to find out about Gordon Reed. I mean, all he has to do is ask Cindy. If she gives him as much info as she gave us . . .”

  Kevin agreed. “Good point. We don’t want another homicide on our hands, do we? We’ll need to be careful about staggering the times of the polys tomorrow so Tim and Gordon aren’t in the same place at the same time.”

  Mac hoped that precaution would be enough. He’d caught the hateful look in Tim’s eyes. A look that could translate to murder.

  Kevin led the way back to the briefing room.

  Eric was already there, seated at the front row table with his cell phone pressed to his right ear and the office phone in his left hand. “Right, great. Thanks, Allison,” Eric said into the cell phone as he flipped it shut and put the office phone to his ear. “Sorry, go ahead, Philly. Uh-huh. Shoot. Okay, let me know what you find out at the Fred Meyer store. Great, looks like the Wonder Twins are out of their interview, so I’ll get them over to the club.” Eric hung up and turned to face them.

  “What was that all about?” Kevin asked.

  “Philly and Russ went by the Plaid Pantry store on Halsey to check out the ATM where Megan’s card was used on the morning of the fourteenth. The machine doesn’t have a built-in camera.

  However, the store has a video camera that monitors the door and cashier area. The bad news is they recycle their tapes after a week so if we had the bad guy on tape, it’s already been recorded over twice. Philly and Russ are heading over to the Fred Meyer store now to see if they can come up with anything there.”

  “Was that Allison Sprague on the other line?”

  “Oh yeah, got some good news there. She was able to extract DNA from the victim’s thigh bone marrow for a baseline sample.

  Now it’s up to us to find something to compare it to.”

  “Humph.” Kevin slipped off his jacket. “A murder weapon dripping with blood would be nice.”

  “You wouldn’t be getting the big bucks if it were that easy, old buddy,” Eric laughed.

  “If I had half your money, I’d burn mine.” Kevin replied with a grin.

  “Speaking of money, how did Tim shake out in the interview?

  Looked like he was wearing my year’s pay on his wrist.”

  “Hey, his Rolex might be nice, but it’s not as fancy as my Wal-Mar
t special.” Mac lifted his arm to display his black plastic digital watch.

  Eric laughed. “Very chic. I picked up a similar one in the south of France over the summer.” He showed them an inexpensive watch similar to Mac’s.

  “If you two ladies are through showing off your jewelry,” Kevin said, “I have a couple of items I’d like to discuss.”

  “By all means.” Eric gave Mac a wink.

  “Actually, Tim did okay in the interview. I don’t think he was aware of Megan’s indiscretions, which shoots the jealous boyfriend theory. I don’t think he killed her. The polygraph tomorrow should tell us if he’s being honest with us.” Kevin went on to tell him about the itinerary Tim had provided.

  Mac rubbed his chin, not certain if he should express his opinion. He was, after all, the new kid on the block and he’d already made a fool of himself a time or two. He didn’t share Kevin’s feelings about Tim. To him the boyfriend had done all the right things, including the printout of his itinerary. Wanting to look over it himself later, he decided to ask for a copy.

  “Oh by the way, Kev,” Eric said after Kevin had finished briefing him on Tim. “While you were in the interview, there was another homicide in Salem so we lost part of the crew.”

  “Perfect. What now?”

  “State Penitentiary in Salem, an inmate was set on fire in the vocational rehab center. Looks like someone threw some combustible fluid on him and lit a match. The victim was a convicted child rapist, so even in prison he wasn’t the most popular person.”

  “Any suspects?” Kevin asked.

  “Yeah, about forty-five of them. Of course none of the inmates saw or heard anything. They are all in lockdown while our guys respond. The lieutenant pulled four guys off this case to deal with all the interviews on the new call, so you two, Russ, and Philly are the only guys from homicide left working this caper right now.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Kevin rubbed his deeply lined forehead. “Tim gave us a good description of Megan’s engagement ring, so I’ll get that information to you right away. In the meantime, did we get anything from the narcotic detectives or pawnshop guys?”

  “Negative. No victim property turning up and no dopers are coming up with any information from the street. We’ll just have to keep going through the motions until we get a break.”