BLONDE DECEPTION - The Logan Files

by Marshall Huffman

  Her eyes widened for a second before she regained her composure but the damage was done.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

  “Sure you do. You went to all that trouble to crawl under the tape and retrieve whatever you had hidden in there,” Logan said, leaning over and looking her right in the eyes.

  “I didn’t take anything,” she said.

  “What about your underwear?”

  “I mean besides that,” she said quickly.

  “Marcia, you are a very poor liar. Let’s come back to that in a minute. When were you at Dr. Pratt’s house last?”

  “Who?”

  “Good. That was better. You didn’t blink that time. Dr. Pratt. You were at her house. So was Adriane.”

  “I don’t know where you get your information but you need to check your sources better,” she said.

  “Really? We did. We had the forensic lab do the checking for us. Guess what? They found some of your hairs and the DNA matched the sample we took,” Logan said in a low voice.

  She just sat, looking at him.

  “Remember now?” he asked.

  “I think I might have been to her house once. Andy wanted to drop off something and I went along,” she replied.

  “And you all ended up in the bedroom?”

  “No. That is not the way it was. I went to talk to her. Andy had been over to her house several times and I wanted to know what was going on,” she said.

  “That still doesn’t explain why your hair was found in the bedroom,” Logan said.

  “You know. It’s kind of embarrassing. She decided to show me why Andy came to see her rather than telling me about it.”

  “You had sex?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many times have you been to her house?”

  “Just the once, honest. I wasn’t all that impressed,” she said looking down at the table.

  “Okay, let’s talk about Dr. Ryan. How do you know him?”

  “The guy that ratted Sharon out?”

  “No. The guy who stood up to her blackmail. The guy in the hospital who is starting to recover nicely,” he said.

  She didn’t reply.

  “You know DNA is a funny thing. It’s kind of like a little tracking device. You lose one little hair or some saliva and bingo; you can be traced to that location. You know what I mean?”

  She just looked down at the table.

  “Marcia, look at me,” Logan said.

  She continued to stare at the table and he reached over and took her chin in his hand and lifted her head.

  “Marcia, I’m going to advise you of your rights now. This is a tape recorder to record the event.”

  He took out a card from his wallet and read her rights to her. He then had her check off a box on a form attesting to the fact that she had understood her rights.

  When that was finished Logan said, “Marcia. I think it is time we cleared all of this up don’t you?”

  “I guess I’m ready,” she said, her shoulders sagging.

  “Would you like an attorney present?”

  “Should I have one?”

  “It’s up to you. I can’t tell you what is best for you. Sometimes they help and sometimes they don’t,” he said.

  “Let’s just get this over with. I don’t want to do this anymore,” she said, her shoulders sagging even further.

  “Alright. We will be recording this on both video and tape. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. I understand,” she replied.

  Logan turned on the recorder.

  “Today is Wednesday, June 13th. I’m Detective John Logan and with me is Marcia Burton. She has been Mirandized. Do you understand your rights as I read them to you Ms. Burton?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sorry could you say yes or no?”

  “Yes. Yes. Okay?”

  “And you are waving the right to having an attorney present at this time.”

  “Yes. Can we get this over with? Where do you want me to start?”

  “Why don’t you just start at the beginning and tell us what you know,” Logan said.

  “Sharon Lewis was such an evil bitch. Sooner or later someone wasn’t going to play her stupid games any longer. I guess that person happened to be the Ryan guy. When he decided to not go along with her blackmail she freaked out. She was running around telling everyone that she was going to get that son-of-a-bitch. She told anyone that would listen. Of course she changed the story to make it sound like she was the victim. The next thing I know she disappeared. Gone. Vanished. I was really happy about it because Andy was still sulking about Sharon. I don’t know what she saw in that ungrateful little bitch.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Go on,” Logan urged.

  “Andy kept disappearing and I thought maybe she was going back to Sharon so I followed her one day. I was shocked. She went to Dr. Pratt’s house. I knocked on the door and there they were. Totally naked. hey didn’t seem at all upset by my coming. They just invited me in. So, I thought what the hell, why not.”

  “So you had sex with both of them.”

  “Yeah, but like I said. Pratt was less than impressive. I think she just liked to talk about it more than anything else. She thought it was so cool to get everyone upset. She was one of those people that like to join any cause if it upsets people. Did you know she was in Green Peace?”

  “No. It doesn’t matter now much does it? So then you went home?” he said, getting her back on track

  “Yes. But by this time Sharon was found dead. Andy freaked out again. She is ranting and raving. I had never seen her like that. She was way out there. I knew right then it would never work between us really. She started doing just what Sharon had done. Telling everyone she was going to bring down the University and half of the faculty. She had a big mouth that was for sure,” Marcia told him.

  “Go on. Where do you come into all of this?”

  “It got to where I couldn’t stand being around Andy. She was totally out of control. She picked on everyone about everything. Finally I was approached by one of the University officials. He offered me fifty thousand dollars if I would help him sweep this under the table.”

  “Hold it, back up. A University official? What University official?”

  “I don’t know who. He just called me out of the blue one day,” she said.

  Logan just looked at her for several seconds. This sounded too made up. How could they know to call her? Who would do it and how did she know they were from the University?

  “Marcia, I want you to take your time and think about what you just said. Someone out of the blue calls you and says they are from the University. Doesn’t that sound…farfetched?”

  “I know it does, but that’s what happened. I don’t know how they got hold of me. They said they represented the University. That’s all I know.”

  “You didn’t ask questions?”

  “Look. I have never had over a hundred dollars at one time in my life. Think about it from my point of view. Fifty thousand dollars,” she said.

  “And with your help, they would make it all go away?”

  “That’s what he said.”

  “You’re sure it was a man?”

  “I’m sure,”

  “And he said he wanted you to help him make all of this go away. Meaning?”

  “He told me the first thing he wanted me to do was to go on vacation at his expense and stay for a week. I was not to call or come back during that time. I did. I went two days later. It wasn’t costing me anything so I went first class and stayed at the Pier House in Key West. It was fabulous. Do you know that they have these big hot tubs in the room?”

  “That’s nice, but let’s get on with the story,” Logan prodded her, “How did you get the tickets or money for the air fare?”

  “It was delivered by someone. A young boy. He knocked on the door and said he had an envelope for me.”

  “And you just tore it open. No thought of it containing an
y kind of deadly form of biological materials?”

  “Gosh, I never thought of that.”

  “Then what?”

  “It was all hundred dollar bills. I had never seen that much money in my life. I bought a ticket and stayed like he said. When I came back Andy had committed suicide.”

  “She didn’t commit suicide. She was murdered,” Logan said, watching for a reaction.

  “What? You said it was suicide. I read the note. What do you mean she was murdered?”

  “It’s the truth. Someone put a gun to her head and blew her brains all over the wall.”

  “No way. That couldn’t be true. You’re just trying to get me involved in all of this.”

  “You already are. You helped this mysterious University person kill your friend Adriane. You’re involved up to your neck and its getting deeper all the time. What did you take from the apartment?” he said, slamming his hand on the table.

  Marcia jumped back, startled.

  “I told you. Just some personal clothes.”

  “That is a very strange place to keep undies. Hidden in the wall behind a baseboard,” Logan said.

  “I don’t know anything about that. I haven’t done anything wrong. Unless going on vacation at someone else’s expense is a crime,” she said, crossing her arms.

  She looked at him defiantly, a slight smirk on her face.

  “You know what’s going to happen next? I’m going to have you booked for obstructing justice. You’re going to need to get a lawyer,” he said, walking over to her and taking her by the arm.

  “You can’t do that,” she said pulling her arm away.

  Logan opened the door and had one of the female officers come in. She handcuffed her, read her rights one more time, and took her away. Randy came in with the rest of the detectives and sat down.

  “Now what? Do you believe her about this mysterious University person?” Bull asked.

  “I’m not sure. It seems a little too pat. Like she had thought this all out and knew where she wanted to lead us,” Logan said.

  “What are you going to do next?”

  “Have her arraigned and placed in jail for a day or so. Then we will have another little chat.”

  “And in the meantime what do you want us to do?” Jonas asked.

  “Get her phone records. Find out if anyone called her about the time she said they did and check it out. Bull, get the phone records from the University. Go through the attorneys if you have to.”

  “Man, do you know how many that will be?”

  “A bunch? Just a guess,” Logan said smiling at him

  “Thanks a lot,” he grumbled.

  “Randy, find out if any of our three professors has a cell phone, and if so, get all that you can on them.”

  “I thought we could eliminate them based on the DNA?” Randy said.

  “When I see a halo around their heads, then I’ll totally eliminate them. I’ll admit it is a long shot at best but I don’t want to let this get any colder than it already has. We have precious little to go on,” he reminded them.

  “What are you going to do?” Randy asked.

  “I’m going to the University and talk to some secretaries. They know more than anyone about what is going on,” he said.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  Marcia sat at the steel table, twisting her hair. Logan let her sit a while longer before having the guard open the door. He walked in and took a chair across from her. She had on a bright orange jumpsuit that looked two sizes too large for her. Her eyes were sunken in and her skin was pale. She looked like she hadn’t had much sleep. Her hair didn’t look very clean either.

  Logan knew she was having a hard time adjusting. Everyone does, no matter how hard they think they are. The first time the cell door slams being locked up suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.

  “Having a good time?” Logan asked.

  “I’ve been in worse places,” she said.

  “Marcia, I don’t want to see you end up here for years. You have too much to live for. You don’t have a criminal record and from my background check you haven’t been in trouble before,” he said

  “Until this all came along. Until you accused me,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

  “I didn’t accuse you. I know what you did. There is a difference. It is a fact that you will be found guilty of obstruction, entering a crime scene area and removing evidence. You are looking at eight to ten years,” he said. Letting it sink in.

  “So, what do you want from me? I didn’t do anything really wrong. So I told a few lies, everyone does,” she said.

  “And that makes it all right? Not when it involves the law and a case revolving around three murdered victims.”

  “Look. I don’t know who the guy was. I took the money and went on vacation. That’s all there is to it. That’s not against the law,” she said

  “Oh, going on vacation isn’t against the law, but withholding information about the phone call, entering the crime scene and taking evidence is. Marcia, we know you removed the stun gun from the closet hiding place. We found that you had purchased one in Chicago. We have the receipt,” Logan said, setting it on the table.

  She just looked at it.

  “How did you find out?”

  “Actually, your mother told us you bought one,” he said.

  She sat up straight in her chair.

  “You talked to my Mom? Why in the hell would you do that? Can’t you leave anything alone? Don’t you have feelings?” she said, raising her voice.

  “We talked to her when we started doing a background check on you. During the course of the conversations she happened to mention that when you moved to Indianapolis you bought a stun gun for protection. You told her it was because of your job, which I guess may be kind of true. She thought you were working in a restaurant but you were actually a stripper. That’s where you met Adriane. The Gold Club I think was the name of it,” Logan said.

  “You people. So smug.”

  “Not smug, just looking to find the truth. Three people are dead. Murdered. I am the one who has to find out why. I would think you would want to help if you loved Adrian as much as you profess,” Logan said.

  “I never thought that would happen. I was mad at her. Hurt, but I never wanted anything to happen to her,” she said.

  She let her shoulders slump forward and placed her arms on the table. She didn’t cry but just sat there a few seconds.

  “You’re right. I did have a stun gun. When I came back I was supposed to call the same man and report in. I was picked up by your officers before I had a chance. When I got to the hotel, I went down in the lobby and called him.”

  “What was the number?”

  “I don’t remember. It was on a small piece of paper. After I called he told me to get rid of it. I did.”

  “I see. Go on. He asked me if I had a gun. I told him no, that I didn’t like guns. I told him all I had was one of those electrical stun guns. He asked me who knew about it and I said no one, not even Andy. He asked me to get it and to bring it to the Children’s Museum. I was to leave it on the second floor under the bench in front of the big building blocks. I took it and left it where he told me to. That is the last I know about any of this. I did not kill Andy, Sharon, or Pratt. I didn’t even know about Ryan until you mentioned it. Was he shot too?”

  “Electrocuted. With a stun gun,” Logan said.

  “Wait. No way. This was a set up. You are trying to trap me. I don’t even know what he looks like,” she said, getting up from the chair so suddenly that it fell over.

  The guard came rushing in and grabbed her in a head lock.

  “Marcia, you are in a world of hurt. You owned the stun gun. It was used in an attempt to kill Professor Ryan. You’re going to take the fall for this unless you come up with more of a believable story than you have told so far. Something is missing and unless I can find out what, I have you to fall back on,” Logan said.

  He knew it wasn’t en
tirely true but he had her off guard and he wanted to press the matter while he could.

  “You can let her go,” he told the guard.

  Reluctantly the guard released his grip on her and went back into the hallway.

  “Sit down Marcia,” he said.

  She did as told. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She wasn’t quite as dumb as Bull thought.

  “What will it take to clear me of all of this?” she said, waving her hand.

  Logan didn’t answer right away. He wanted to give the impression he had to come up with a reasonable solution. He folded his hands on the table top. He could hear the constant chatter and noises of women in cells just outside the room. Maybe he had come too soon. Maybe he should have waited a few more days? Maybe, maybe, maybe. Second guessing is easy.

  “Marcia. First, I don’t believe someone just called you and said they wanted to have you help them make it all go away. We have checked your phone records and no one called you from the University. Secondly, I doubt if anyone would give a kid fifty thousand in cash and just drop it off. Third, when you came back and found that Adrian had been killed, you would have told us all about the alleged mysterious benefactor. Fourth, it is an absolute fact that you went back to the apartment to get the stun gun that was hidden behind the baseboard in the closet. Fifth, it is far too risky to just leave it at the museum. Anyone could have found it before he could have retrieved it. Sixth, you really aren’t a very good liar. I have worked with the best and you are nowhere near the best. Here is what I propose we do. You give me the whole story. Every bit of it and I will see just how much can be left out about your part. You may get some jail time or maybe not. Even if you do, it will be one heck of a lot better than what you’re facing now,” he said, leaning back and placing his hands behind his head.

  It was a moment of truth. That point in time when they are going to break or shut-up and lawyer-up. He waited. He could see she was mulling it all over in her head, trying to play all the angles. Bull was wrong. She was smarter than she was acting. Finally she sat back up and he could see she had come to a decision. He only hoped that this time it would be something more believable than the crap she had been feeding him in the past. He hated it when someone tried to play him for a fool.