by James Ross
“Knowing Richie the way that I know him they probably caught him making a pass at their wife,” Becca explained.
Bazz was curious to learn more about their relationship. “Is it safe to assume that you had a non-traditional marriage?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It sounds like you let him do whatever he wanted to do.”
“You mean as far as other women go?” Becca asked.
“Yes. He was married but could come and go as he pleased and even see other women.”
“Sure. Like I said, I’m not the jealous type. He played around all the time. I let him do what he wanted.”
“Did he have another girlfriend?”
“Yes. He always had girlfriends. The way I see it dating other women was better than gambling in the casinos or doing drugs. I really didn’t care as long as our bills were paid.”
“Did he have a special girlfriend?”
“It was Shari Daniels-Donnelly. A lot of people know that. He knew her before we got married. I couldn’t put a stop to it so I let him continue to see her.”
Lester J and Bazz were busy writing notes. “How was their relationship?” Lester J asked.
“Strained.”
“How so?”
“At one time we, as a couple, did a lot of things with the Donnellys. We double dated with them, took vacations with them, and often went to each other’s homes for barbeques and other social events,” Becca clarified.
“I’m a little naïve I suppose,” Bazz said. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Of course.”
“Was it a sexual relationship?”
For the first time since she entered the interrogation room Becca laughed. “Me and Tyler Cy?”
“We can start there.”
“Of course not. I have no romantic interest in him. We were friends. That’s it.”
“How about the other part of the foursome?” Bazz asked.
“Richie and Shari,” Lester J simplified.
“Did they have an affair? Is that what you’re asking?” Becca was trying to be a little more specific while the detectives beat around the bush.
“Yeah, did they?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. Maybe at one time they did, but who cares? It wasn’t worth all the negative energy to worry about it. I am happy and Richie made me happy.” She brought the handkerchief to her nose. “But today is a sad day.”
“I find that odd,” Bazz said.
“What’s odd?”
“Your relationship.”
“Maybe that is why we got along. I think that everyone needs to figure out how to make a relationship work. If more men and women did, there would be fewer divorces.”
Bazz had pen in hand. “So you didn’t care if he slept around with other women. Is that right?”
“Yes. I could care less.”
Lester J wanted to explore another area. “How would you describe your relationship with the Donnellys as of late?”
“It hasn’t been as tight as it once was,” Becca started. “We kind of grew apart for various reasons. Our kids have gotten older. Our interests changed. The schedules conflicted. Things like that.”
“What about Richie and Shari’s relationship?’
“Richie has been mad lately.”
“Why?”
“Because Shari told him that she didn’t want him calling her anymore.”
Bazz had a question. “Was there any particular reason?”
“She was getting a divorce and didn’t want him interfering with her business of getting a lucrative settlement.” Becca was frank and very believable. “Richie was losing a friend and it was very, very upsetting to him. She was ready to move on with her life and it was in a direction where he wasn’t welcome. He was angry about that.”
Bazz had to ask another question. “Don’t be upset, but I have to ask.”
“What?”
“Did you kill your husband?”
“Screw you,” Becca said as Bazz winced. “No.” She blew her nose. “And I’m done answering questions for today.”
Lester J put his left hand to his brow, closed his eyes, opened his right one and looked sideways at Bazz. “He’s just doing his job. We want to find the killer of your husband and we don’t have a lot to work with. Be patient and we’ll be in touch.”
Becca preferred Lester J’s low key approach. She shook his hand then went inside.
Lester J turned, walked back to his car, and waited for Bazz to jump into the passenger seat. “What do you think? Did she do it?”
Bazz shook his head negatively. “Nah. I don’t think so. My mind is telling me that we need to get to the Donnelly home ASAP.”
Chapter Fifty
Shari hadn’t been home from the golf course for more than thirty minutes. She had already been to court, spent a night in jail with little to no sleep, hustled to a golf league event, and learned that a good friend had been murdered.
When Detectives Mullen and Basnahan drove to the Donnelly residence they noticed something that was different from the many times they had traveled by the home. The ten foot high iron gate across the circle driveway was closed and locked. An eight foot high hedge blocked anyone’s entrance and only made the top of the upper level of the home and the gables on the roof visible from the shoulder of the road.
“Now what?” Bazz asked as the pair pulled to a stop.
“Let’s look for an intercom. There was one by the front door when we served her the order of protection,” Lester J replied.
“Obviously they do not want visitors today.”
“Or any day.”
“You don’t think they’re in mourning, do you?”
Lester J smirked. “Let’s not read anything into this yet.” The pair exited the car and searched the front boundary line of the property.
It only took a matter of seconds. “Here it is!” Bazz yelled. An intercom had been placed in a brick column that housed the mailbox near the driveway entrance. Rust had accumulated around the aluminum that housed the speaker. It was also present around the white button that needed to be pressed to request a conversation.
Bazz did not waste any time.
The buzzer went off in the Donnelly residence. Tyler Cy was in the lower level doing exercises for his knee. Shari ran to the top of the stairs and yelled down to her husband. “Those two detectives are here again! They’re on the intercom.”
Tyler Cy stopped his motion and replied. “Do you want me to answer or do you?” He knew what her answer would be.
“I don’t want to talk with them.” Shari had changed into her housecoat. “And I definitely don’t want to see anyone looking like this.” Without makeup and a stylish outfit her appearance was average at best.
“They can’t get past the gate. I’ll take care of it.” Tyler Cy limped to the intercom and replied. “Can I help you?”
“This is Detective Mullen and Detective Basnahan. We’re conducting a criminal investigation. We’d like to ask Shari some additional questions.”
“Is she a suspect?
“We can’t comment on that.”
“Is she under investigation?”
“We can’t comment on that. She is someone we’d like to ask some questions of.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Tyler Cy said. Silence was on the other end. “Any communication with my wife will go through our attorney.”
Lester J and Bazz silently mouthed profanities. After calming down Lester J asked, “Who would that be?”
“Frankie Shivetta.”
Lester J was a gentleman but he couldn’t help mouthing the F word. Shivetta was the most connected attorney in town. “Thank you. We’ll be in touch.”
The duo took a few short steps and re-entered the car. “That might as well implicate her in Richie’s murder,” Bazz said as they pulled away. “She has now officially become a person of interest.”
“Not so fast. We don’t have a lot of evi
dence. If no one talks it is going to be tough to build a case against her. We’re going to have to pay attention to every little detail.”
“It’s no different than any other capital murder case.”
“But you know how circumstantial evidence is in those. The prosecutor wants solid factual evidence. Right now we don’t have a damn thing to go on. Even Shadow in the canine division ran around in a tight circle. There wasn’t a scent to pick up.”
“That’s true, but we can open the book on Ms. Shari Daniels-Donnelly and move her to the top of the suspect list. Up to now she’s the only one that has hired a lawyer.”
Lester J was deep in thought. “Are we sure that she hired the lawyer?”
“What are you getting at?”
“Didn’t Mr. Donnelly say that Shivetta was our attorney?”
“Do you think that he might be involved?”
“I don’t think that we can dismiss the thought. If he found out that his wife was sleeping around with the victim he might have probable cause to have Richards wasted.”
“He’s a very successful businessman. He wouldn’t jeopardize his standing in the community.”
“Stranger things have happened. We have a lot of work to do.” Lester J sighed. “It doesn’t look like this one is going to get solved anytime soon.”
“I know we don’t have much evidence and we’re going to have to go against the best criminal defense attorney in town, but we might catch some luck,” Bazz said optimistically.
“We’re going to need it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Shari Daniels-Donnelly was in the county jail when Richards was murdered.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Frankie Shivetta was synonymous with good old-fashioned hard work; working the streets, that is. He was often seen on the sidewalks and in the courts and visiting the jails and prisons. Frankie schmoozed with prosecutors. He got to know defendants and witnesses. He networked in the world of crime and liked nothing more than to defend a suspect wrongly accused, especially those with no visible options left to them within the scope of the law.
What made his blood percolate were clients that came via referral from Congresswoman Lisa Boudreau. He loved clients that could pay for the best defense money could buy. So when Shari Daniels-Donnelly was delivered to his doorstep he felt he’d won the grand prize in the Powerball jackpot.
A high percentage of criminal cases don’t make it to trial. Frankie only had to argue in front of a judge and jury a half dozen times in the prior decade. There was posturing, maybe a plea deal, or a dismissal altogether. Frankie knew bullshit. He could sniff out the good evidence and see through the bogus posturing to call a prosecutor’s bluff. If the facts of the case lay in the shady area of the law Frankie could get focused and complete his due diligence. However if the facts of the case were foolproof then he could recognize the inevitable and try for leniency for his client.
It was not his job to find out if his client was guilty or not. His job was to defend his client against a prosecutor in a courtroom. He wondered why Tyler Cy and Shari Daniels-Donnelly employed his services. They had explained simply that their relationship with Richie and Becca Richards had turned distant as of late. It didn’t help that Shari’s phone records would indicate communication with the deceased. So the couple stayed on the safe side and became pro-active. They thought having the best criminal defense lawyer in town would provide a nice insurance policy for nosy investigators.
At six foot three Frankie struck an imposing chord with most people he met. His affable personality easily won over jurors. He actually took the time to care about them, or so it seemed in the courtroom. Men liked his no-nonsense approach that seemed genuine while females appreciated what came across as honesty when arguing a case. All he had to do was cast a seed of doubt in an obvious first degree murder case and get a plea bargain at the eleventh hour for a client. Death by lethal injection or life imprisonment could be avoided with a deal before the jurors would have an opportunity to cast their vote. Frankie was good. His services had been sought by a host of scumbags and the referral system couldn’t be stronger than it was in the holdover cell. He was excited to move the new deep-pocketed client to the top of his list.
Tyler Cy and Shari knew what they were getting themselves into when they paid a visit to Frankie’s modest office—together. Privately, Tyler Cy had lowered the boom on his wife. He made it perfectly clear that he, and only he, would be doing the talking. After being dropped off by the courier, Tyler Cy limped to the street-level front door of Frankie Shivetta. Shari had already entered. Upset about being silenced, she let the door close and watched Tyler Cy struggle.
After sharing customary first-meeting pleasantries, the business began.
“Have either one of you been charged with a crime?” Frankie asked.
“No,” Tyler Cy answered, “but my wife was a good friend of the deceased.” He paused. “Actually both of us were.”
Shari shifted her weight in the chair so that her hem line would rise up her thigh. The movement did not go unnoticed by Frankie.
“Why do you feel the need for a lawyer?” He wasn’t trying to imply that he wasn’t interested. He was prying for information so that he could answer their questions in a meaningful way.
“Given our present and past relationship with the couple, the police may want to ask us questions. They have stopped by our home and we informed them that we had hired you as our lawyer. We think that our interests would be better served with an attorney present.”
“I can do better than that.” Frankie was not brash. “I’ll keep them away from you.”
“Good. We have a lot of changes in our life right now and we don’t want to be drawn into a murder investigation. We don’t want the distraction.”
“That does not pose a problem.” Frankie acknowledged Shari’s smile as she re-crossed her legs. “Here’s the way I work. I require a retainer of ten thousand dollars up front. With that, I’ll make a call to the investigators and inform them that you are my clients. They won’t bother you. Do not under any circumstances mention this investigation or event to anyone. Are we clear on that?”
“The retainer will be delivered to your office later today by courier,” Tyler Cy confirmed. He looked at Shari who was busy checking out the size of Frankie’s hands. “Do you understand to keep your mouth totally shut about all of this?”
Shari simply nodded because of the orders given prior to arrival.
“Don’t talk to anyone—friends, cops, investigators—about anything. Let me handle that. You two can go ahead and live your lives as if nothing has happened. The cops won’t jeopardize any potential action by compromising the case.”
Tyler Cy nodded and flashed the lawyer a thumbs up. Shari gave Frankie a wink and a suggestive view as she rose to her feet.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Investigators Mullen and Basnahan were in constant, and often subconscious, communication. They had to hit the trail while it was still hot.
This case, however, had a major problem.
The crime scene provided no clues.
Ballistics determined that the bullet that killed Richards was from a .357 Magnum. One shot. One shell casing. The only blood at the scene was from the victim. There were no tire tracks on the asphalt parking lot and no footprints. The crime scene was sterile.
“What are we going to do?” Bazz asked.
Lester J thought before answering. The question had occupied his mind since he had arrived on the scene. “We have to find out the motive. Somebody wanted this guy whacked.”
“We talked to the guy who was meeting him and Richie’s wife. I think we have a pretty good idea who might be involved,” Bazz said.
“Yeah, but Shivetta won’t let us talk to her.” Lester J scratched his chin. “There’s more to it. We have to find out why.”
“Money? Passion?”
“Why did this gal all of a sudden appear on our radar? She’s married to a
real estate magnate and lives a pampered life. We served her with an order of protection a few weeks ago and now she turns up as a suspect in a murder. What’s going on?” Lester J thought he might be on to something.
Bazz stated the obvious. “Whatever we find out isn’t going to come from her.”
“Of course,” Lester J replied. “We have to start somewhere. Why did she come to our attention in the first place?”
“The goofy blonde that keeps coming down here filing the complaints.”
“That’s right. Let’s take a look at the lady that shows her face around here screaming and demanding protection from Mrs. Donnelly.”
“What’s that got to do with Richard W. Richards?”
“I don’t know that it does,” Lester J replied.
“She filed an order of protection for her own well-being.”
“Yeah, but somehow she has established a connection to this gal. We need to talk to her. Maybe she’ll throw some light onto what is going on or at least give us some insight into Shari Daniels-Donnelly.”
“Tindra Svahnstrom?” Bazz asked after flipping through his notes.
“If that’s her name,” Lester J said before pausing, “but let’s do our homework before we meet with her.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Shari Daniels-Donnelly was lawyered-up. She had gone from lunching with girlfriends, playing bridge, shopping, and golfing in leagues at the most prestigious venue in St. Louis to paying fees to a divorce attorney, retaining a second to keep her out of jail on a court order, and hiring a third to prevent nosy investigators from questioning her in a murder investigation.
None of it was of great concern. Her lifestyle continued. In spite of what was going on behind the scenes she remained visible around town.
Her bond with Congresswoman Lisa Boudreau was tightening. It was all laughs and giggles.
When in town, which had become more frequent, Lisa Boudreau stayed at her upscale townhome in midtown St. Louis. At one time in her career she sought the publicity that TV cameras and press conferences brought. But now she was more laid back and liked to be low-key and do things under the radar. She did not seek the fame that came with her position. Lisa wanted to live life like Mary Q. Public.