Cozy Christmas Murder
Page 41
“In the house, yes. James lives above the garage and everyone else goes home at the end of the work day,” Lottie answered.
“So, you were home last night?” Adams inquired.
“No, sir, none of us were here except for Mr. Bellington. He had given everyone their Christmas bonus’ and dismissed all the staff to go Christmas shopping,” she answered. “I can speak for everyone except for James.”
“Do you know if Mr. Bellington was expecting anyone last night?”
“No, I do not.”
“His family is in California right now?”
“Yes, they are at Mrs. Bellington’s mother’s house celebrating Christmas. She is too frail to travel so, they go to her.”
“And Mr. Bellington does not travel with them?”
“No, every year he stays home to complete year end work for his company so he can relax over the holidays.”
“And everyone that knows the family knows he stays home?”
“I guess so, yes.”
“What time did you go shopping last night?” Adams asked, flipping the page of his notebook.
“I left around six and returned home about eleven-thirty.”
“And you saw nothing?”
“The tree lights were the only ones on in the house. I assumed Mr. Bellington had gone to bed,” she answered. “I didn’t see the open safe in the darkness. My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be.”
“Detective Adams, could you come over here?” the medical examiner requested.
Adams stood on the outside of the bar looking over. The body had been put in a body bag and placed on the gurney.
“What have you got?” he asked.
“This was under the body,” he answered, holding up an earring.
“Put it in an evidence bag and hand it to me.”
He carried the piece of jewelry over to the housekeeper.
“Do you recognize this?”
“No, I don’t. It wouldn’t have been in the downstairs safe unless Mr. Bellington bought it for his wife for Christmas. All of her insured jewelry is kept in a safe in their bedroom upstairs.”
“So, you have never seen this before?”
“No, this is a new piece,” Lottie confirmed.
“Did Mr. Bellington have a jeweler that he used consistently?”
“Yes, he always deals with Thomas Tagnello of Tagnello Jewelers.”
“Could he have been at the house last night?” the detective asked.
“I can’t say for certain; he could have been here as it is so close to the holiday. Mr. Bellington always did his shopping in secret, so it was a surprise to everyone on Christmas Day.”
“Looking at the gifts under the tree, can you tell if anything is missing?”
“No. I’m sorry, I can’t,” she answered honestly. “There was an addition though. The crystal case behind the tree was put there last night after everyone left the house. I believe that Mr. Bellington put it there for his wife’s gift.”
The elderly housekeeper teared up as they rolled the gurney by her and out the front door.
“Is someone going to call his wife?” she asked through the sobbing.
“We will make the call. I need the number where they are staying.”
“Miss Lottie, what is going on here?” Robert Jr. demanded to know, standing in the doorway to the living room. “What is the medical examiner’s wagon doing parked out front? I had to come in the back way.”
“Oh, Robert,” she said bursting into tears.
“And who are you?” Adams inquired.
“I am Robert Bellington Jr. and I live here,” he answered.
“I thought you were in California?” the detective asked, suspiciously.
“I was, I mean I never made it there,” he answered.
“Where were you since yesterday morning and how come you are not with your family?”
“I don’t have to explain my whereabouts to you. Miss Lottie, I demand to know what is going on,” he said, clenching his fists.
“Your father is dead,” she answered quietly.
“Murdered is more the correct term. So yes, you do have to tell me where you have been the last twenty-four hours,” Adams stated.
“Father, murdered?” his son asked in astonishment. “When? How?”
“Sometime early last evening. Tell me exactly where you were last night between eight o’clock and eleven o’clock,” Adams demanded.
“I was at the Snow Bunny Men’s Club in Bellows. I booked a room and was at the bar most of the night,” he answered.
“What do you mean by most of the night?” Adams asked.
“I don’t know exactly. I’d been drinking heavily, hooked up with a girl and don’t remember much after that,” Robert Jr. answered.
“Can anyone verify that you were there? What was the girl’s name that you spent the night with?”
“The bartender can verify I was there. I don’t know the girl’s name though,” he admitted.
“Oh, Robert, really? This was exactly the lifestyle that your father couldn’t tolerate. Why weren’t you with your mother?” Lottie questioned.
“Vanessa and I had a big blow-out in the limo and it continued into the airport. I couldn’t stand the thought of spending three days with her and I stormed off and left them at the gate,” he answered.
“Who is Vanessa?”
“My sister, unfortunately,” Robert Jr. mumbled.
“Robert!” Lottie exclaimed.
“Did you and your dad fight often about your so-called lifestyle?” Adams asked.
“All the time,” he answered, before realizing he just put himself on the suspect list because of his statement.
“I’m done interviewing all the staff,” Piper said, entering the living room. “I sent them all home for the day and told them not to go anywhere in case we had to ask them more questions.”
“You sent them all home? Who’s going to cook for me?” Robert Jr. whined.
“Is this guy for real?” Piper asked Adams.
“You don’t seem real broken up about your father’s death,” Adams said to Robert Jr..
“I’m sorry my father is gone and I really hope you catch who did it,” Robert Jr. stated. “But right now, I need to go take a shower and wash the remnants of last night off this awesome but tired body.”
“Don’t leave the area and don’t come back into the living room as it will be taped off for a few days,” Adams instructed.
“But that’s where the bar is,” Robert Jr. protested.
“It’s also the crime scene and where your father was murdered. Stay out of the living room, understand?” Adams ordered, losing his temper with the son.
“I suppose I can use the bar in the pool,” he muttered.
“Robert, I am so glad that your mother is not here witnessing your behavior,” Miss Lottie stated. “She’d be devastated.”
“Miss Lottie, you are still the help around here and I don’t appreciate you voicing your opinion in front of strangers. Now, go make me some lunch while I shower,” he demanded as he left the room with a flip of his hand.
“What an arrogant little…” Piper started to say before Adams cut her off and didn’t let her finish her statement.
“Yes, he is and always has been,” Miss Lottie agreed, shaking her head and frowning. “But, I don’t think he would have killed his father. Robert Sr. was Robert Jr.’s bank. He pretty much got whatever he asked for.”
“Can you get me the number so I can call Mr. Bellington’s wife? Her name is Patricia, correct?”
“Yes. Maybe I should call her with you on the extension,” Miss Lottie suggested.
“That’s fine, if you think you are up to it,” Adams agreed. “Piper, check out the crystal box behind the tree that Miss Lottie said was added last night. Take pictures and make sure they dust it for prints.”
They retired to Mr. Bellington’s study and made the necessary phone call. There was silence on the other end of the phone as the housekeeper expl
ained the situation at the house. Patricia broke down crying so her mother took the phone. She assured the detective that her daughter and two granddaughters would be home on the first plane that they could get. She hung up to attend to her family.
“Miss Lottie, I mean what I said. No one goes past the police tape blocking off the living room. My team will be in and out all day processing the murder scene,” Adams said, putting his notebook in his jacket pocket. “Are you ready, Piper? We have a jeweler to go talk to.”
CHAPTER 5
* * *
The black sedan pulled up in front of Tagnello Jewelers on Main Street. The area was bustling with Christmas shoppers. Adams and Piper got out of the car and entered the building. A young girl walked up and asked if she could help them.
“Detective Adams and Piper,” he said, flipping open his badge. “We need to speak with Mr. Tagnello.”
“I’m afraid he just left to make a delivery, but he should be back shortly,” she answered.
“We’ll wait,” Adams said, perusing the cases of jewelry.
“There’s a waiting area over there,” the clerk suggested.
The two detectives settled into chairs and picked up magazines. Adams was amazed at the customers who just whipped out credit cards and bought whatever they wanted. Most didn’t even look at the price tags of the items they were purchasing.
He and his wife had made a promise to not over-spend just because of the holiday. To them, Christmas had become too commercialized. Instead, they treated each other to gifts throughout the year and called them ‘just because gifts’; just because I was thinking of you and I love you.
A gentleman in a grey pinstripe suit entered the store and walked out back to the offices. The clerk disappeared and came back out waving the two detectives over.
“Mr. Tagnello will see you now,” she said. “Follow me, please.”
“I’m Thomas Tagnello. How can I help you?” he asked extending his hand to the detectives.
Adams took the lead.
“Do you know a Mr. Robert Bellington?”
“Yes, Mr. Bellington has been a good customer of mine for many years.”
“Did you deliver some pieces of jewelry to his home last night?”
“Yes, I did. I delivered his wife’s Christmas presents last evening. Why?”
“What time was that?” Piper asked.
“I was at his home at precisely eight o’clock. Would you kindly tell me what is going on here?” Tagnello asked.
“What time did you leave his house?”
“Let’s see. Mr. Bellington looked over the pieces and then we set them up in the crystal case near the tree. We had a glass of cognac at the bar, he locked the pieces up in the safe and I left close to nine,” the jeweler answered. “You still haven’t told me what this is about.”
“Robert Bellington was murdered in his home last night,” Adams said, looking for a reaction.
“Was it a robbery?”
“Why do ask? What did you drop off for his wife?” Piper inquired.
He opened his desk drawer, pulled out an envelope and handed it to Adams.
“This is a copy of all the paperwork I gave to Robert last night. I keep a copy for insurance purposes.”
“Wow! The necklace alone was four point eight million? Is this one of the earrings that were in the set?” Adams asked, taking the evidence bag out of his pocket and laying it on the desk.
“Yes, that is one of the pieces that I dropped off last night. Where is the other one?”
“Missing, as well as the necklace and bracelet. There was also an unknown amount of cash in the safe that is gone,” Piper replied.
“Yes, I saw the stacks of bills that were in the safe. There was a great deal of money in there,” the jeweler confirmed.
“Who else knew about the pieces and how much they were worth?” Adams asked.
“No one else but Robert and I knew about the gifts. Every year it was a secret kept between us so that Patricia would not snoop around and find her gifts,” he replied. “When I was there he told me that no one else knew about the pieces. My clerks didn’t even know what I was working on as I worked behind locked doors,” Tagnello assured them.
“Tell me about the crystal case,” Adams requested.
“The case was an etched crystal box that was set on a purple tree skirt. Inside was a marble bust of Patricia as well as a hand that looked like it was waving. Robert placed the necklace around the neck of the bust and the earrings on the ears. He draped the bracelet over the fingers of the hand,” Tagnello informed the detectives.
“You say there was a bust of Patricia in the case?” Piper asked.
“Yes, and it looked just like her,” he answered.
“The case only had a hand in it, no bust,” Piper stated.
“It was there last night. I asked Robert not to leave the jewels out in the case. I told him that they could not be replaced.”
“Do you have pictures of the items that you sold to him?” Adams asked.
“Yes, sir. They were some of my finest work; of course, I took pictures. Hold on and I’ll get them out of my private files.”
Tagnello handed the pictures to Adams.
“Sweet,” Piper said, looking at the pictures.
“The description of each stone is in the insurance papers. I am so sorry to hear about Mr. Bellington. He will be missed by many people. I feel bad for his wife, Patricia, but the one I really feel sorry for is his daughter, Kimberly Ann.”
“Why is that?”
“Kimberly Ann loved her father. The two were very close. She was nothing like her two siblings who only tolerated their father because of the money he controlled.”
“We met the son,” Piper said, rolling her eyes.
“He’s a piece of work. Robert told me one evening that his son had no respect for his parents and he has a fierce temper. Money is the only thing that matters to Robert Jr. and he has never liked the fact that his father doles out the family money only when he saw fit to,” Tagnello replied.
“Sounds about right,” Piper agreed, to the disapproving look of her partner.
“We appreciate your talking to us. It is necessary for you to come down to the police station so we can fingerprint you. We have to account for all the prints in the living room,” Adams stated.
“My prints will definitely be on the bar and the cognac glass. I believe I touched the crystal case as well. But, my prints are already on file with the police. I deal with large sums of money and high-priced jewels. The insurance companies I deal with insist that my prints be on record,” he explained.
“One last thing; you are sure of the time that you left the house? It will help us to pinpoint the time of death,” Adams quizzed.
“We finished the cognac and my stomach started to rumble. I hadn’t eaten all day and the drink was affecting my empty stomach. While Robert closed the safe, I grabbed a candy cane off the tree so the peppermint could settle my stomach and he joked with me that I had become soft in my old age. Yes, sir, the wall clock behind the tree read just about nine when I left and Mr. Bellington was very much alive when I walked out the door,” Tagnello confirmed.
“Thank you again for your cooperation,” Adams said, extending his hand. “We will be in touch if we need anything else.”
“Did you believe him?” Piper asked her partner as they walked to the car.
“He wasn’t nervous at all and he looked us straight in the eye while answering all the questions we threw at him. I don’t know; I’m still going to run a background check on him,” Adams answered.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Why kill one of your best customers for a lousy five mil? Bellington must have spent well over that in the past years and would probably spend a lot more in the future. I can’t see where Tagnello would benefit from his death,” Piper commented. “No motive in my book.”
Piper’s cell phone rang.
“Okay, we’ll be there,” she replied.
“Let’s grab a late lunch and head back to the station. I want to see what the crime scene guys put together so far and talk to the medical examiner to see if he has pinpointed a TOD,” Adams suggested. “This case is going to be splattered all over every media outlet and we need to work fast to find out who did it.”
CHAPTER 6
* * *
Miss Lottie sat at the kitchen island, tissues in hand. She had been sitting there most of the day, except when Robert Jr. came down whining about his lunch. James, the chauffeur, had come in to check on her and so had their neighbor, Jeffrey Tucker, who lived to the right of the mansion.
Tucker was slightly older than Robert Jr. and one of the partners in Bellington Computers. Single, and a multi-millionaire in his own right, he had been to many parties and family get-togethers held at the mansion. He adored Miss Lottie and was extremely worried about her. Promising to call the partners in the company, he told her he would be back later to talk to Patricia when she arrived home.
“I’m going out,” Robert Jr. announced standing in the kitchen door. “It’s too morbid around here. I’ll be home later.”
“Robert, don’t you even care a little bit that your father was murdered?”
“Yeah, I care; he was my father. But, I can’t sit around crying like you are. I need to get out of here,” he answered.
“Your mother will be home at seven. I expect you to be here when she arrives,” Miss Lottie ordered.
“My father hasn’t been gone twenty-four hours and you are stepping in giving orders like he did? I’ll be home when I get home. You’ll be one of the first ones to go around here when I have a say in things,” he said, storming out of the kitchen and slamming the front door.
Time passed slowly for Miss Lottie as she wandered through the quiet house. Things would definitely change in the Bellington household now that Robert Sr. was gone. Standing at the door of the taped off living room, she stared at the tree, thinking that this should be a happy time of year for the family. Now, every year at Christmas, there would be nothing but sorrow and painful memories.