Murder in Vail

by Moore,Judy

  Helga also was escorted to her room on the first floor.

  “You stand outside and protect me?” she asked the young officer.

  He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be here all night.”

  “They take my knife, so I need be sure you keep me safe. I don’t trust anybody in house.”

  “Don’t worry, ma’am. You’re safe. There will be an officer at your door at all times.”

  Helga shut the door and got ready for bed. After she turned out the light, she couldn’t sleep and lay awake thinking about the big news she had learned a couple of hours ago. She couldn’t believe Sally was going to leave her all that money. And the house! She knew Sally would leave her something, but that was so much. Sally must really love me, Helga thought. How could she have done what she did to her?

  Chapter Fifty-two

  The police allowed the houseguests in the mountaintop home to sleep until 11:00 a.m. the day after Christmas, since they had been up so late the night before. Then, intense questioning began again and lasted until late into the evening. A team of officers left the house to investigate the death of the poacher, fanning out across the land behind the house to see if they could find the rest of his body.

  Late the next morning, after everyone had gathered once again in the living room of the house, Detective Jackson entered the room and said he had an announcement to make. Everyone looked at him expectantly.

  “We have finished our preliminary investigation and gotten back much of our fingerprint analysis and some of the DNA reports. The coroner has determined that Rachel Braddock was indeed smothered. There were no traces of drugs in her system.”

  “I knew it,” Stephen said, glaring suspiciously at everyone standing around him. “I told you she wasn’t on drugs.”

  “Based on our findings, we are ready to make an arrest.” Jackson signaled two officers to approach the group. Yvette gasped and fearful expressions appeared on the faces of almost everyone.

  “Glen Sherman, you are under arrest for the murder of Rachel Braddock and the attempted murder of Sally Braddock,” Jackson announced. “Officers, please take Mr. Sherman into custody and read him his Miranda rights.”

  As the two policemen took Glen by the shoulders and turned him around to handcuff him, he began to protest. “No, no! You have the wrong person! I didn’t do this.”

  “Mr. Sherman, you have the right to remain silent,” one of the officers began.

  Glen pleaded with the officers and the others in the room as his arms were being pulled behind him. “There’s been a mistake. I’m innocent.”

  Stephen’s face flushed. He balled his hand into a fist. “You killed my wife!” He was ready to take a swing at Glen when another police officer grabbed his arm.

  “You don’t want to do that, sir.”

  Lance grabbed Stephen around the chest and pulled him back. “Stephen, I know you’re upset, but this won’t help anyone. Let the police do their jobs. The justice system will take it from here.”

  “That’s good advice,” the detective said to Stephen. “Listen to your brother.”

  Stephen pulled away from Lance and turned his back on the others. He bent over, covered his eyes with his hands, and his shoulders began to heave.

  “Stephen!” Glen cried as he was being handcuffed. “I didn’t do this. I promise you. I didn’t kill Rachel.”

  Helga stepped forward and screamed in Glen’s face. “You try kill Sally! I hope you rot in prison.”

  A policewoman grabbed Helga by the shoulders and walked her away from Glen. “No need for that. Everybody just calm down.”

  Glen was led out of the room to the sound of the remainder of the Miranda rights being read to him.

  “Ouch! These handcuffs are too tight,” Glen complained to the police as he was being taken to the helicopter. “And be careful with my watch. That’s an expensive watch.”

  Once he was boarded onto the helicopter and strapped in, it took off for the ride down the mountain to the police station in Vail.

  Back in the house, the detective addressed the others.

  “The rest of you have been cleared and are free to go. The roads aren’t passable yet, and it will probably be another couple of days before you’ll be able to get your vehicles out. If any of you would like for us to give you a ride down to Vail in the helicopter, we will be glad to take you. It will be back up here in about an hour.”

  “I want ride,” Helga said immediately. “I want to get out of this house now.”

  “I want to leave too, Lancie,” Yvette said, grasping her husband’s hand.

  Lance and Stephen looked at each other. “I think it would be a good idea if we all got out of here now,” Lance said. “We can come back up later. How about if we stay at a hotel in town for a few days?”

  “We have your mother and your sister staying at the Marriott. Would you like for us to try to arrange for you to stay there too?” the detective asked.

  Stephen nodded, and Yvette looked relieved.

  “What about the dogs?” Stephen asked. “We can’t leave them here.”

  “We can make arrangements for them too,” the detective said. “There’s a good kennel not far from the station.”

  Stephen nodded.

  “Let’s go up and pack a few things,” Lance said.

  Chapter Fifty-three

  Gwen rolled over in her queen-size bed, opened a weary eye, and peeked at the clock radio on the end table. Nearly 10:30 a.m. She never slept this late, but yesterday had been exhausting, even more tiring than the day before if that was possible. All those questions! They’d kept her in the interview room for over six hours.

  And now they wanted her back in by noon. Just enough time to shower and get a quick breakfast in the coffee shop downstairs. She dialed her mother’s room. Sally answered the phone on the first ring. “Mom, do you want to get some breakfast?”

  “Sorry, Gwen, I had breakfast two hours ago. Didn’t want to wake you. I’ll come sit with you, though, and have another cup of coffee.”

  “Okay. I have to take a shower first. See you downstairs at 11 o’clock?”

  “Sounds good.” Sally hung up, walked to the window, and pulled back the drapes covering the sliding glass door to the balcony. No snow today and not a cloud in the sky. She wondered how much longer they would have to stay at the hotel. She just wanted to go home and swim in her pool and play with her dogs.

  But most of all, she wondered what was happening with the investigation. Every time she asked that nice young detective, she clammed up. Sally was curious about what was going on at the house and how her family members were being treated by the police. And, most of all, she wanted to know if they were any closer to finding out who had tried to smother her and had killed Rachel. What if they never found out?

  Sally rode down the elevator to the hotel restaurant and found Gwen already there, sipping a cup of coffee and nibbling on a bagel. Sally ordered a cup of coffee.

  Gwen had the local newspaper spread out in front of her. She turned it around so Sally could see. “Well, it’s all over the news,” she told her.

  The headline read, “Murder Attempt on Braddock Heiress; Family under Investigation.” A subhead to the article read, “Daughter-in-law Dies Mysteriously.” An eight-year-old photo of Sally and her husband at a Vail charity event ran with the picture.

  “Oh God,” Sally moaned, turning the paper over. “I can’t deal with that right now.”

  They had a booth by the window with a perfect view of the ski runs down the mountain that were packed with holiday skiers. They sat in silence for several moments staring out the window.

  “I would love to be out there right now,” Gwen said with a sigh.

  Sally smiled. “The ski bug has bitten you.”

  “It sure has.
Skiing down the mountain was so much fun. I really want to go out again before I go home.”

  “Then we will,” Sally said. “As soon as the police are finished with us. My wrist is almost healed.”

  “That’s good,” Gwen said. “Thank goodness you didn’t sprain it. You would have been out for a while.”

  Talking about skiing reminded Gwen of something she had been meaning to do. She reached in her purse and took out her checkbook and a scrap of paper she had been saving. She wrote a check for $300.

  “This is for the boys who gave me the ride on the ATV.”

  She showed her mother the check, and Sally raised her eyebrows. “That’s a pretty big check for two teenagers.”

  “I know. They had me over a barrel, though, and could set their own price. So they did. They weren’t feeling the holiday spirit.”

  “That’s the way of the world, I guess.” Sally sighed.

  “I know. It was a really long ride, though, so I guess they deserved it.”

  Gwen asked the waitress for a hotel envelope. She brought it to Gwen a few minutes later. Gwen dug into her wallet and found a stamp. “I’ll mail it from the front desk on our way out.”

  Gwen peered out the window toward the mountains. “I wonder what’s happening up there, now. Do you think they’ve discovered anything?”

  Sally shrugged. “Nobody tells us anything.”

  Gwen eyed her mother curiously. “Mom, are you going to be comfortable living in the house after everything that’s happened? With Rachel being murdered in your bed?”

  Sally grimaced. “I don’t know. I’ve thought about it, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to. I guess I’ll have to see how I feel when I go back. But I love the house so much. I hate to think of moving.”

  Gwen nodded. “It’s a hard decision. Like you say, it will depend on how you feel being there when you get back. I can’t think of anything worse than having to move out of the home I love. It would kill me.”

  Sally felt a little pang of guilt, but she forced herself to ignore it. She hoped her daughter’s financial situation wasn’t so dire that she would lose her house. If it was, though, she had no one to blame but herself. She and Glen were both so extravagant in their spending habits. She might have to learn the hard way to control her spending.

  Gwen glanced at the policewoman standing near the door of the restaurant who was waiting to drive them to the police station. Gwen noticed she kept looking at her watch.

  “I think it’s time to go, Mom,” Gwen said, nodding toward the policewoman and dropping a twenty dollar bill on the table.

  Sally took one more sip of coffee and stood up. “Look, Gwen,” Sally said, pointing out the window. “Here comes another police helicopter. I’ll bet it’s coming from the house.”

  Gwen glanced up. She wondered if they were getting closer to finding out who tried to kill her mother.

  In the back of the helicopter, sitting uncomfortably with handcuffs scratching against his wrists, Glen looked down at Vail Village and wondered where his wife was. Please let her believe me, Glen thought. What if she thinks I’m guilty too? He was counting on her to find him a lawyer—a good one—right away.

  Chapter Fifty-four

  The patrol car carrying Gwen and Sally back to the police station was just pulling into the parking lot when the helicopter touched down and the doors opened.

  Two uniformed officers stepped out first, and then took Glen by the arms to help him out. Gwen waved when she saw Glen, not realizing at first that he was in handcuffs. She waved again and called his name.

  “Gwen!” Glen shouted. “Get me a lawyer. They think I did it. I’m innocent!”

  Stunned, Gwen couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This could not be happening. She started to run toward her husband, but the policewoman stopped her as Glen disappeared behind the corner of the building.

  Sally hadn’t moved, her face frozen in astonishment. When Gwen saw her mother’s expression, she hurried to her side. “Mom, I can’t imagine why they arrested Glen, but I just know he didn’t do this. He loves you, Mom. He’s told me so many times that he loves you like you’re his own mother. He wouldn’t do this.”

  Clearly shaken, Sally responded. “But why would they arrest him? They must have some evidence.”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

  Gwen took her mother’s elbow, and they rushed into the station. Detective Belton was waiting for them in the lobby.

  “Why has my husband been arrested?” Gwen demanded.

  “Please,” the detective said calmly to the two women, “let’s discuss this in my office. Come with me.”

  Gwen scanned the rooms they passed through on the way to the detective’s office, hoping to catch a glimpse of Glen. But he was nowhere in sight.

  “Please take a seat, both of you,” Detective Belton said when they reached her office.

  “What is going on?” Gwen demanded.

  “Detective Jackson will fill you in fully when he arrives. He’s finishing up at your house and will be down early this afternoon. What I can tell you is that DNA evidence was found at the scene of both crimes linking the assaults to your husband.”

  “DNA?” Gwen gasped. “What do you mean? What kind of DNA evidence?”

  “Hair,” the detective answered. “Hair follicles matching your husband’s DNA were found in both of the beds where Rachel Braddock was killed and where your mother was attacked.”

  Gwen and Sally were both stunned.

  “But how do you know it’s his hair?” Gwen asked.

  “Everyone who was staying in the house submitted to DNA testing. Because of the situation, the lab was able to rush the results. We also asked your husband if he would submit a hair sample, which he did. The hair was a physical match to your husband’s, and the DNA test confirmed that it was indeed his hair. Both he and others in the house told our investigators that he had not been near either bed.”

  Gwen stopped to think. She looked at the ceiling, trying to recall, “I remember Glen was definitely in both of the rooms. Everyone was. I was nearest to the beds, taking their pulses. I remember Glen came up behind me, but—” She looked away. “We need to get a good lawyer.”

  Chapter Fifty-five

  An hour later, Glen was led into an interview room where both Detective Jackson and Detective Belton were waiting for him.

  “What possible evidence do you have against me?” Glen bellowed at the detectives, pacing around the room.

  “Please sit down, Mr. Sherman,” Detective Belton told him.

  “I want a lawyer,” Glen demanded. “This is ridiculous.”

  Glen continued to pace, finally sitting when a police officer posted at the door took a step toward him. He stared around the dreary room. What was he doing here? He wished he’d never left Palm Beach to come to this Godforsaken state. He hated snow, he hated mountains. He missed the ocean and his boats. He just wanted to go home.

  “Mr. Sherman,” Jackson began. “You have been arrested for these crimes because there is substantial DNA evidence against you.”

  “DNA evidence?” Glen exclaimed. “What in the world are you talking about?”

  “We have found several strands of your hair at both crime scenes,” he said. “In fact, strands of your hair were found in Rachel Braddock’s hand.”

  Glen was stunned. “In her hand?”

  “Yes, in her hand. And three of your hairs were found in the bed where the attack was made on Sally Braddock.”

  Glen seemed bewildered. “But that’s impossible. I mean, I was in both rooms afterward, but I wasn’t near the bed. How is this possible?”

  “And there is other evidence. The pillow used in the attack on Sally Braddock was found under the bed in your bedroom.”

 
“What?”

  “In addition, your fingerprints were found on the doorknob of the room where Sally Braddock spent the night.”

  “Now that, I can explain,” Glen said, leaning forward, staring hopefully at Detective Jackson. “When my wife Gwen disappeared, I searched the house for her. I thought she might somehow have gotten into the room where Sally was. I tried the door, but it was locked.”

  Quiet for most of the questioning, Detective Belton opened a file that had been sitting on the table.

  “We also have looked into your financial statements,” she said, “and see that you have some looming debts that you and your wife do not have enough in your accounts to cover.”

  “We were managing,” Glen said defensively. “Everybody has more debt than savings. I had some irons in the fire, and we had discussed downsizing.”

  Detective Belton pulled a stack of text messages printed out from a cell phone account and spread several pages out on the table.

  “And then there’s the matter of your cell phone records, Mr. Sherman. We have found a number of calls and texts that, shall we say, are questionable for a married man.”

  Suddenly, Glen looked very uncomfortable.

  “What right do you have to go into my cell phone records? I can call who I want.”

  “Yes, you can,” Detective Belton said. “But your wealthy wife might be interested to know about some of your texts to other women. You made some big promises to a couple of different women, Mr. Sherman. They sounded like you didn’t intend to be married much longer and that you were expecting to come into a great deal of money.”

  Glen didn’t say anything for several moments. “Well, what people say and what they do are two totally different things. I was just doing a little flirting. It was nothing serious. I love my wife.”