“But there was a body,” Ryan protested.
“Yes there was, it was supposedly her twin.”
This news did not seem to shock Ryan as Tracy thought it might and she looked keenly at him.
“You knew she had a twin?”
“She may have mentioned it once or twice but I thought it was one of the many stories she told me. Rita was never a straightforward person, you know.”
“Don’t I know it?”
“So why would the police think she would stage her own death?”
“As of now they are leaning towards the fact of life insurance,” Tracy answered.
She then started the car and pulled out of the driveway, she then looked up at Ryan who looked tired and placed a warning hand over his.
“Are you ready?”
“No, I am not.”
“I know,” Tracy answered and placed a gentle kiss on his left cheek. “I am right here for you.”
“I know you are,” he answered.
She then looked straight at the road ahead and started driving to the venue. She had a brave face on but her mind was imprinted by Rita’s face. She was as confused as everyone else about Rita’s case but her mind was on the money. She threw a side glance in Ryan’s direction and thought of the rampant sex they had been having – for a grieving man he sure had a strong sex drive. She wiped the thought out of her mind and decided on focusing on getting through the day ahead.
*****
Sam looked from his computer screen and smiled up at Lohan. They were both seated in the office working on the case.
“Why are you smiling like that?” Lohan asked curiously. “Found something?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
He turned the computer screen and from it, Lohan could see the name June Andrews appearing on the screen with Rita’s face.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he exclaimed as he got out of his seat and moved towards Sam. “She is the spitting image of Rita. Granted, she wore her hair differently but nevertheless the same.”
“I know,” Sam said and went on to look at her personal information. “The family does not live far from here.”
“Has she been buried already?”
“I think so,” Sam answered. “I can’t see any death certificate filed.”
“You know they take forever to file those things. They only speed up when the family needs life insurance or an inheritance.”
“Do you think we should go over there and try getting some answers?”
“I think we should,” Lohan agreed. “But I will let you handle this on your own.”
“You’re not coming with me?”
“No, I still have to take care of the shrink business.”
“Dr. Mathews?”
“The one and only.”
“He still won’t crack?”
“He is just about to,” Lohan answered and started walking out of the room.
“Rita’s memorial is today.”
“That is very interesting,” Lohan answered. “I will join you once you are done talking to the family, we should go pay our respects.”
“Ok, I will give you a call.”
Lohan walked out of the office and headed to the interrogation room with a new sense of determination. He wanted to get answers from Dr. Mathews and hoped he would crack soon. He strolled into the room and found Peter waiting on him with an expectant look on his face.
“I trust you slept well, sir?” Lohan said as he took a seat opposite him.
“I have had better nights.”
“I am sure you have,” Lohan started. “Let’s get right to it then, shall we?Have you talked to your attorney?”
“I have,” Peter answered. “I called him yesterday and he said he would show up today though he gave me legal advice on the phone”
“That is a smart lad,” Lohan pointed out. “You do know he is going to charge you for the legal advice. You want to know what else he is going to do?”
“I don’t.”
“He is going to show up here when it is not visiting hours or when he is sure he will not be able to access you, and decide to wait on you. Then he will bill you by the hour for waiting on you before getting in here to see you.”
“What is your point, Detective?”
“My point is, Peter, for a man who charges his patients by the hour, you sure like to waste a lot of time.”
Peter did not answer Lohan and he slightly shifted in his seat as he considered Lohan’s words. They made a lot of sense and he knew his choices were limited.
“I have a question for you, sir.”
“Anything,” Lohan answered eagerly.
“The last time you were here you said a dead man tells no tales,” Peter started. “What did you mean by that?”
“So you were paying attention!” Lohan answered excitedly. “All I meant was this: if you were coerced or forced into any kind of arrangement by Rita you can come forward. We will of course need concrete evidence to pin the crime on a dead person.”
Peter let out a loud, hearty laugh, a reaction that Lohan had not anticipated. He then leaned closer to Lohan and looked him straight in the eye.
“So in short you want me to place the blame on Rita because she cannot defend herself?”
“You can take it any way you want to,” Lohan said. “Whichever will get you talking.”
A silence befell both of them as Peter thought keenly about his options. He took in a deep breath and relaxed in his seat and threw Lohan a few curious looks.
“What is in it for me?” Peter asked curiously.
“What do you mean?”
“If I tell you what I know, what do I get in return?”
“It depends on what you know.”
“I know a lot,” Peter said. “I know enough to help you solve the case.”
“Then you had better start talking.”
“Not until I get a deal,” Peter replied. “And as much as I know I am going to wait for my lawyer to secure the deal for me.”
“Alright” Lohan answered. “I will make that phone call for you, I believe he will make haste once the call comes from me.”
Lohan got to his feet and looked at Peter; he looked weak and resigned but nevertheless had a brave face. He had a gut feeling he had the answer to every question about the case and walked out to place the call to his lawyer.
*****
Sam drove through the streets as he keenly followed the directions to June Andrews’ residence. He was just about to negotiate a corner when a call came through for him and he lowered his speed before connecting to the Bluetooth in his car.
“Hello,” he spoke into the receiver.
“Hi.”
He had not looked at the caller ID before picking the call but recognized the voice on the other end.
“How are you doing?”
“Trying to hold up so far,” Tracy said. “Not so good.”
“How are the kids?”
“Running late,” Tracy answered. “We are waiting on them to get here before we start.”
Sam searched his brain for more sympathetic words to give to Tracy but was glad when she interrupted him.
“I have to go Sam, I will keep you posted,” she said. “Are you still coming to the memorial?”
“Yes, Lohan and I should make it there by noon.”
“I will see you then.”
The line went dead and Sam got back to looking for the house in question and let out a smile when he finally located it. He parked right in front of it before stepping out of the car and walking towards the front porch. The front garden was well taken care of and so was the well-manicured lawn. He took in his surroundings and noticed how neat and affluent the whole place was before drawing a conclusion about June Andrews. He rang the doorbell and patiently waited for whoever was on the other side to answer it.
“Good morning.” An older man opened the door and looked at him curiously.
“Good morning,” Sam answered.
“Do
I know you?”
“No you don’t,” Sam answered as he stretched out his hand for him to shake. “I am detective Sam and I am here investigating a case.”
“What case?”
“One involving June Andrews.”
“June?” the man asked, confused. “But she died only a few weeks ago.”
“That is why I am here,” Sam said. “Would you mind if I came in?”
“Not at all,” he said and stepped aside for him to walk through the door. He then ushered him to the living room sofa and walked over to the kitchen. Sam was left staring at his surroundings and immediately noticed the living room had many photos of June and the man who opened the door.
“Have a beer, will you?” he said as he offered Sam a beer bottle. He then crossed his legs and looked at Sam expectantly, waiting for him to speak.
“I am sorry sir,” Sam said apologetically. “I did not get your name.”
“That is because I did not give it to you,” he answered smartly. “My name is Mike.”
“Were you June’s husband?”
“Fiancé” he corrected. He had a bottle in his hand as well and took a sip from it as he went on to look at Sam.
“I see,” Sam answered. “I will get right to it, Mike.”
“Sure.”
“How well did you know June?”
“Well enough to want to marry her,” Mike answered.
“How long were the two of you together?”
“About six years.”
“That is a long time. Were you with her when she was diagnosed with cancer?”
“Yes, I was.”
“How long ago was that?”
“About two years ago. We’d started talking about having a family before we got the diagnosis,” Mike answered with a sad, nostalgic look in his eye.
“Did you know any of her family members?”
“No, I did not.” he answered. “June was an orphan. She grew up in the foster system.”
“Not even her twin sister, Rita Sutter?”
Sam waited for a reaction from Mike but did not get any. The name didn’t seem to ring a bell as he said it.
“She had a twin?”
“Yes, she did,” Sam answered. “Tell me something, Mike, who attended June’s burial?”
“My family, and close friends,” Mike answered. He took a sip from his beer bottle and looked at Sam strangely before asking, “If you do not mind me asking, sir, what is this really about?”
“We will get to that, Mike. Relax.”
Sam took out a few files from a folder he had walked in with and pulled out a single sheet of paper.
“I can see here that at some point during her treatment your insurance company refused to pay the bills.”
“Yes, that is true.”
“Did Rita know about that?”
“No, she did not; I couldn’t burden her with that at that time.”
“Why did the insurance company refuse to pay the medical bills?” Sam asked.
“They claimed that some of the procedures and treatment carried out on June were experimental and therefore could not be reimbursed.”
“And yet sir, you seem to have done just fine according to this invoice,” Sam pulled out an invoice with a receipt attached to it. “You paid all the bills right after June passed on.”
“I used our savings to pay that.”
“Funny, I thought you would say that,” Sam said and pulled out another sheet of paper “This receipt here shows that your savings are intact and the source of payment came from an offshore account.”
Mike sipped again from his beer bottle before looking in Sam’s direction and wore a resigned look.
“I can tell you what you need to know but I cannot be held accountable for it in the future,” Mike said and sat up in his seat.
“You had better start speaking,” Sam said and got comfortable in his.
“When the insurance claim for June’s medical bills did not go through, a young woman approached me and said she would clear all my bills.”
“What did you have to do in return?”
“All I had to do was let her borrow June for a day or two once she died.”
“Do you know this woman?”
“I didn’t then, but she was the spitting image of June and I gathered she must be her twin sister.”
“Do you know where she went after you sealed your deal?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Sam got to his feet after the information he had just been given and walked out of the room.
“Am I in any kind of trouble, sir?”
“I will contact you.”
He walked out of the room and was just about to place a call to Lohan but a call came from him instead.
“Where are you?”
“Was interrogating June’s fiancé,” Sam answered.
“We need to go to the memorial.”
“But we…”
“We need to get there,” Lohan interrupted before hanging up the phone. The urgency in his voice was not missed and Sam wondered what he had found out. He got into his car and drove off slowly his mind wondering what lay ahead.
****
Tracy saw the venue appear from a distance and threw a glance over at Ryan. He had been quiet most of the way and only moved slightly when Tracy finally parked in the driveway.
“Here we are,” she announced.
Ryan did not react. He did not move a muscle nor did he bother to say a word to her. She placed a comforting hand over his as he went on to stare ahead into the distance. She looked out at the crowd that was clearly waiting on them and noticed that his kids were already in the vicinity.
“We could seat here for a minute longer and make them wait,” Tracy said trying to get him to speak.
“You know what I hate?”
“No, tell me,” Tracy answered and looked at the blank expression on his face.
“I hate the pity,” he started. “I hate the way people will walk up to you and tell you how sorry they are and give you their condolences. I hate how people will tell you how she was a good woman and she left too soon when we all know she was wicked. I hate how they look sympathetic when some of them are actually glad she is gone.”
Tracy was about to give him a response but he rammed his fist into the dashboard in front of him before straightening his tie and letting out a bold, brave smile.
“It's show time.”
He stepped out of the car and started walking towards the crowd of people who were standing at a distance waiting on him. Tears welled up in his eyes when he saw his children and he realized how much he missed them.
“Hey guys,” he asked after giving them both hugs. “How was your stay at Grandma’s?”
“It was okay,” his son answered after pulling out of his tight embrace. “Grandma tried to make us eat all the time though.”
“That is good of her,” Ryan answered before turning his attention to Tracy who was standing right beside him.
“Kids, I would like you to meet your aunt Tracy.”
“Aunt Tracy?” Stacy asked confused as she gave Tracy a weird look. “How come I have never heard about her?”
“Your mother and her were very close back in the day and they had a falling out,” Ryan tried to explain. “To cut a long story short, she was your mother’s younger sister.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Stacy said rather reluctantly.
“I think we had better head on in,” Ryan said as he took note of the stares that came his way.
“Do you have the program?”
“No, I don’t.”
“I will go get it for you,” Tracy volunteered and detached herself from the bereaved family who were now getting too much attention from the crowd that had showed up. She took short strides to the back of the building in search of nothing in particular. She knew all the pressure and unexpected turn of events would get to her but did not expect it to happen at the memorial. She had a jumble of emotions searing rig
ht through her and did not know which one to heed. The possibility of her sister still being alive crossed her mind and she wondered how she would react to the news. She had hated her for so long but losing her in this way was different. A shiny black leather shoe caught her attention as it approached her and she looked up and assumed a face of bravery.
“I thought I would find you here,” the now-familiar voice said to her and she wondered what he was doing showing up to the memorial.
“You have got some nerve showing up here,” she said as she charged towards him.
“Relax, there is no need for drama,” Jack said and loved the look of anger that was carefully displayed on Tracy’s face.
“What the hell have you come to do here?”
“I can’t let everybody think they are burying someone who is still alive.”
“This is not the place Jack,” Tracy begged. “For Pete’s sake, the kids are here.”
“On the contrary, Miss Evans,” he answered. “This is the exact place and time.”
Tracy saw the determined look on his face and knew he would not be convinced otherwise. She knew he had something planned but wished she knew exactly what it was.
“Shall we?” he stretched forth his hand and offered it to her.
Tracy circled his arm with his and they both walked into the venue. She liked the place immediately and thought the event planner was very thoughtful. They had chosen a small hall that would fit about fifty people and a huge portrait of Rita was placed at the very front of the room. The room had white lilies all over and she immediately remembered how Rita loved white lilies. Ryan and the kids had already taken their place at the front of the room and she decided to sit at the back with her guest where she could keep a closer eye on him.
A few more people walked in after them. Some were sobbing softly while others were as cold as the North Pole. Tracy watched as a young woman who she presumed to be the event planner took the podium and looked at everyone with a somber face. She was clad in a tight-fitting black dress that made the contours of her body look crafted and a matching black hat perched squarely on her head.
Everyone in the room went silent when they saw her standing at the front of the podium and listened to her.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she started. “We are gathered here today to say goodbye to a dear friend.”
Mystery: Missing Rita: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Page 14