The End of Summer: Book One in The Detective Bill Ross Crime Series

by Irving Munro

  The LSU crew each hugged Galina, agreed to stay in touch and with that, left to make the drive back to Vail. It was Saturday July 9th. In just over two months, Galina Alkaev would be dead.

  Chapter 28 - Vanderbilt University

  2014 - The Cold Case Investigation

  “Everyone in the war room now!” announced Jack Johnson, “Bill has found something of interest in his research of Jim McCord and his college days!”

  Bill Ross laid out for the team what he had found.

  “Jim McCord graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville with a Masters in Computer Science. During his time there, he and two other male students had been accused of raping a female student. The student had dropped the charges, which often happens in rape cases but her attack had been quite violent and she had been sodomized. I found the medical records of the student, Pauline Lawson, in the Nashville Police Department archive.”

  “McCord could still be our guy, people!” announced Jack, “Tommy and Marie, you guys need to get to Pagosa Springs ASAP and talk with the folks there who know McCord. Let’s be diligent. No stone left unturned!”

  Tommy contacted the sheriff’s office of Archuleta County and briefed them on the investigation. Sheriff John H. Gordon was happy to help in any way and assigned Detective Raul Ortiz to help them.

  They flew from Austin on U.S. Airways connecting in Phoenix and arriving 11:15 a.m. into Durango. Raul Ortiz was there to meet them. Raul was a muscular 40 year old and looked a little bit like the boxer Roberto Duran. When Tommy shook his hand he was convinced that Raul could probably give Duran a run for his money in the ring. During the ninety-minute drive from Durango to Pagosa Springs, Raul updated them on the research that he had done on Jim McCord.

  “The guy appears to be squeaky clean,” said Raul. “No traffic violations, no problems with neighbors and no unpaid bills with any local business.”

  Tommy sighed and said, “We can tell you from experience that he’s anything but squeaky. What about the neighborhood?”

  “The community where he has a home is very upscale. Most properties have ten plus acres and a minimum of four bedrooms and four baths. He has three neighbors that back on to his property directly. There’s Scott and Rachel Shultz, who are only around in the summer. Then there is Josef and Cornelia Jacobsen and Luther Fisher who live there year round.”

  “Does Mr. Fisher have a wife?” asked Marie.

  “Nope. Luther’s wife passed away a few years back. Really tragic story.”

  Raul checked his mirror, turned into the right hand lane and said, “I took the liberty of calling all three residences and we have an interview scheduled with Scott and Rachel Shultz later today. The Jacobsen’s and Luther Fisher cannot meet with us until tomorrow. You guys must be hungry, so let’s grab some lunch. I normally eat at Wayne’s Diner. The food is good and I went to school with Wayne, so the conversation is always good too. We were both on the high school baseball team. He was a pitcher and I played catcher. Our meeting with Scott and Rachel Schultz is at three o’clock, so that gives us enough time to grab a quick burger. That OK with you guys?”

  “Sounds great Raul,” said Tommy.

  ~

  They arrived at the Shultz residence right on time.

  “Come in, please!” said Rachel Shultz as she guided them into a huge public room with spectacular mountain views.

  As they walked into the room, Scott Schultz, dressed in shorts, flip-flops and a San Diego State tee shirt entered from his adjoining office. With his blond hair and California tan, he looked like he had just come from surfing Trestles, the world-renowned surf beach north of San Diego.

  “Hi there! I was just wrapping up a call when you arrived. How can we help the investigation?” asked Scott, wasting no time to get down to the reason for the visit.

  Tommy shook Scott’s hand and said, “What business are you in, Mr. Schultz?”

  “I import fine furnishings from Europe. My main showroom is in San Diego but I have another one in New York. Mainly furniture, but I also import carpets from Iran and paintings from Holland and France. By the way, please do call me Scott!”

  “Do you work, Rachel?” asked Marie, making the assumption that she would also be OK with the informality.

  “No, I do not,” said Rachel. “We entertain a lot and I deal with that. Our suppliers visit the U.S. frequently, so we entertain in our San Diego home and also here in Colorado.”

  “Do you socialize with Jim and Mary McCord when you are here in the summer?” asked Marie.

  “We have in the past,” replied Rachel, “but I would not say that we are best friends or anything like that. We have dined at their place and they have at ours.”

  “Would you care to offer your opinion about them?” asked Tommy.

  “Not sure what you mean!” said Scott, jumping into the conversation, looking a little concerned. “He is not a suspect in the murder, is he? Detective Ortiz, you had said that this was an interview for general background information. Is that still the case?”

  “Yes,” replied Raul Ortiz. “We are just trying to build the best background picture we can of Jim and Mary McCord. It must have been a shock for them when they found the dead woman in their backyard.”

  Marie flipped to a fresh page in her notebook and said; “We understand that Mary McCord has undergone extensive therapy since the murder. Do you know anything about that, Rachel?”

  “Yes, she has been in therapy for years, even before the murder,” said Rachel, instantly realizing that she should not have said that as it opened up a door. Marie walked right in.

  “Can you elaborate?” asked Marie.

  “It is not our place to pry but I do believe that they were having marital problems and Mary was trying to work through them with the help of a counselor,” said Rachel.

  Tommy turned to Scott and asked, “What’s your impression of Jim McCord?”

  “Seems like an OK guy. Perhaps a little full of himself, but decent enough” replied Scott.

  “Would you have them over for dinner again?” asked Marie.

  “Can’t see why not!” said Scott, but Rachel didn’t look like she totally agreed with her husband. Marie picked up on her negative body language.

  “And what about you, Rachel? Do you agree with Scott that Jim McCord and Mary would be on your guest list for your next social gathering?”

  Rachel squirmed in her seat and said, “Sometimes, I do feel a little uncomfortable around him!”

  “Why is that?” pressed Marie, as Scott looked on somewhat perplexed.

  “I just feel sometimes that he is undressing me with his eyes.” responded Rachel.

  Scott shifted uncomfortably in his seat again, obviously feeling that Rachel perhaps had gone too far with her critique of Jim McCord.

  Afterwards, Tommy and Marie thanked the Shultz’s and asked if it would be OK to call them again if they thought of any other questions. Rachel said yes but Scott looked less than thrilled with the idea.

  “I’ll bet there will be some words between those two after we leave,” said Marie as they walked back to their SUV.

  “A real sleaze ball, our Jim McCord,” said Tommy as they drove off.

  ~

  The following morning, Raul, Tommy and Marie drove up to Luther Fisher’s place. Compared to the almost pristine condition of the Shultz home, Fisher’s home looked rundown. It was obvious that he didn’t care about first impressions. The garden was overgrown and there was an old tractor with a snowplow attachment in the middle of the yard. It probably hadn’t moved since the previous winter.

  They rang the bell several times before Luther Fisher, dressed in what looked like military fatigues, opened the door. Whereas the outside of the home looked rundown, the inside looked spotlessly clean. The surroundings were not luxurious, almost the opposite; everything looked like it had a place and was functional rather than opulent.

  After the introductions were made, they sat at the kitchen table. Luther had prepar
ed a pot of coffee and he gave them each a mug. Tommy couldn’t help but notice that a rifle was propped up at the end of the kitchen island and a handgun lay by the side of the phone.

  “You need to be careful with weapons lying around your home, Mr. Fisher,” said Tommy.

  “I am careful!” said Luther abruptly. “So how can I help? You want to know about Jim McCord?”

  Raul poured himself some coffee and said, “Yes, Luther, as I explained on the phone, these detectives are here for background on Jim and Mary McCord. They are reopening the case of the body found at the McCord’s residence in Austin in 2005.”

  “Does Jim know you are here?” said Luther aggressively.

  “He doesn’t know we are in Pagosa Springs today but we have told him we are reopening the case and he has agreed to provide full cooperation.”

  “Is he a suspect?” asked Luther.

  “There are no suspects at this time, Mr. Fisher. We are just trying to construct as much of a picture of Jim and Mary McCord’s’ life as we can. We think that in doing so, we might find some connection that will allow us to find out who did this.”

  “Makes sense, I guess,” grunted Luther.

  “You live here year-round, Mr. Fisher?” asked Marie.

  “Yes, I do!” said Luther.

  “What line of business are you in?”

  “I’m retired.”

  “Do you have hobbies?”

  Luther grimaced and said, “I thought you were here to talk about the McCord’s. What do my hobbies have to do with that?”

  Sensing the interview wasn’t going well, Tommy jumped in. “As we said, we are trying to construct a whole picture, Mr. Fisher. We need to see where the McCords fit into that, so if you would just try to answer the questions we have, we’ll try to keep this short and sweet and get out of your hair as quickly as possible.”

  Luther relaxed and said, “OK, sorry about that. There is too much government interference into people’s business these days and what I do with my time is my business, no one else’s!” He was clearly laying down the boundaries for the conversation.

  “So let’s switch gears, Mr. Fisher. How long have you known the McCords?” said Tommy.

  “Quite a while. I built my place a couple of years after they did.”

  “Do you socialize with them?”

  “I don’t socialize with anyone. I’ll occasionally have a beer with Jim if he is going into town and I have some businesses to take care of down there.”

  “What kind of guy is Jim? Do you like him?” asked Marie.

  “Can’t say I dislike him. Never did anything to me. Pretty straight shooter I would say.”

  The conversation continued along the same lines for about an hour. It was tense and uncomfortable, but they got the information they felt they needed. As the interview wound down, Tommy was struck by an idea: Luther Fisher was almost certainly a “Doomsday Prepper.” Preppers are convinced that there will be a catastrophe that will cause the social and economic collapse of civilization, as we know it. Their lives are dominated by the need to prepare for every eventuality and they do so by stockpiling firearms, ammo, and food. They see conspiracy in everything and hate anything that smells of government interference in their lives. Not only that, they feel law enforcement agencies are an instrument of the government and treated with suspicion. Yes, Luther Fisher was a Prepper!

  As they were preparing to leave, Marie did her “is there a restroom I could use” routine.

  “Let me show you,” said Luther and walked her along an adjacent corridor. As she attended to business, Luther hung around, pretending to adjust some pictures on the wall. There was no way he was going to let her out of his sight so she could stick her nose where it wasn’t wanted.

  While they waited in the kitchen for Marie’s safe return, Tommy and Raul spotted an elaborate and expensive floor mounted telescope in the living room pointed in the direction of the mountains. Tommy walked across to the scope and peered through the lens. He had expected to see mountains but instead, it was pointed across the valley at a small cabin with an RV and a boat parked alongside it.

  “Don’t touch that!” roared Luther. “That is a very delicate and expensive piece of equipment!”

  Tommy jumped back and said, “Oh sorry, Mr. Fisher, I didn’t touch it. Just admiring the view.”

  As they were preparing to leave, Marie asked, “I understand that you are a widower, Mr. Fisher?”

  “Yes, I am. My wife passed some time ago,” replied Luther.

  “There is a photograph in your hallway with you and a tall blond lady taken by a lake. Is that your late wife in the photograph? She was very beautiful,” said Marie.

  Luther’s eyes looked off to a faraway place as he said, “Yes. That is my Summer.”

  “Her name was Summer, Mr. Fisher?”

  Luther barked, “Yes, her name is Summer! What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Background, Mr. Fisher. Just further background.”

  On their way back to the car, Marie shook her head and said, “Her name is Summer, as if she were still alive. What a fruitcake!”

  Chapter 29 - The drowning at the lake

  2014 - The Cold Case Investigation

  After the Fisher interview, Raul, Tommy and Marie drove a couple of miles to the Jacobsen home.

  Josef and Cornelia Jacobson had relocated from their native Minnesota to Colorado fifteen years ago, having spent three years getting their home built and then furnishing it to their satisfaction prior to making the move. Josef Jacobsen met them at the door and took them into their family room. The inside of the home smelled like a bakery and Marie suddenly had a yearning for fresh baked apple pie.

  “Please have a seat,” said Josef, as his wife, Cornelia, arrived from the kitchen, cleaning the last remnants of flour from her apron. “May I offer you some coffee and perhaps a blueberry muffin to go with it? They’re freshly made.”

  Once the coffee and muffins arrived, they began their interview.

  Marie took a bite of her still warm muffin, washed it down with some coffee and then said, “We are trying to construct a complete picture of Jim and Mary McCord’s life so that we might get a break in finding who killed the woman found on their property in Austin back in 2005.”

  “What a life Mary has had over the past few years!” said Cornelia. “First there was the death of Summer Fisher and then they find a dead body in their yard. Not surprising that she has been receiving therapy, poor woman.”

  “Yes, we were told that she was getting help. How was Jim McCord during this time? Was he supportive of his wife?” asked Marie.

  “I’ll answer that!” interrupted Josef. “I want to make it clear that I really dislike Jim McCord. I have told him that to his face, so I guess there is no reason not to discuss that openly. He is a braggart, a liar, and a womanizer!” said Josef.

  “Josef, please don’t speak like that” interrupted Cornelia, uncomfortable with her husband’s directness.

  Marie pressed, “A womanizer, Mr. Jacobsen? Why do you say that?”

  “I have seen him about town with different women in his car, some of them no older than our granddaughter and she’s eighteen. He lied to me about the financial stability of a computer software company he was involved with some time back and I lost a packet on that. Jim McCord is not to be trusted. Not that I am trying to suggest any connection to the dead woman but he’s just not good people!”

  Marie turned to Cornelia, “You mentioned that Mary was emotionally affected by the death of Summer Fisher. Can you tell us about that?” Marie had taken the lead in this interview and was doing a fine job in the opinion of Tommy and Raul.

  “Yes, it was back in 2003, I think. The Fishers and the McCords took a trip to the lake at Navajo State Park. It’s less than an hour south of here. They drove down in Luther Fisher’s RV and took the boat with them. They had been there a couple of days and the second night before dinner, Mary and Summer laid out on recliners at the end
of the jetty to watch the sun go down. By all accounts, they had been drinking wine most of the day while Jim and Luther were fishing on the lake. Summer got up from her recliner, tripped and fell into the lake. Mary, a good swimmer, dove in after her. It was later discovered that Summer couldn’t swim and that Mary had tried in vain to rescue the poor woman.”

  Tommy looked up and said, “We just met with Luther earlier and he told us that he didn’t socialize with Jim and Mary.”

  “While they may not do so today, Luther spent a lot of time with both of them back then,” said Cornelia.

  Cornelia then continued with her memory of the drowning death of Summer Fisher.

  “The state police investigated the drowning and initially concluded that it was a tragic accident. However, that changed when then heard a rumor that Jim McCord might have been having an affair with Summer. They thought that Mary might have intentionally pushed Summer into the lake and then dove in to create the illusion of trying to save her. This scenario was eventually ruled out and the final verdict was accidental drowning but the emotional damage the episode caused to Mary had a lasting effect. The discovery of the dead woman in her yard accelerated her emotional decline. She has been seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication for acute depression ever since.”

  After a few minutes, they said their goodbyes to the Jacobsen’s and Raul drove them back to Durango for their flight back to Austin.

  “Thanks for your help in setting this all up for us Raul,” said Tommy.

  “Not a problem Tommy. Come back and see us anytime. I love to fish and have a cabin a few miles from Pagosa, so if you get the inclination to catch some of the best trout in the world, grab your rod and get on up here,” replied Raul.

  As the plane taxied for take off, Tommy looked out of the window to get a final glimpse of the Colorado landscape. The trip to Pagosa had yielded a treasure trove of information on the McCords. The opinions offered by Herman Lutz on the character of Jim McCord were confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt. But could he be the killer? That was still the million-dollar question.