Now Say You're Sorry

by Barbara Fournier

  Randall wasn’t really a threat, so he was placed in a holding cell in the back of the barracks. Allen took a walk and purposely did a double-take when he strode past Randall’s cell.

  “What are you still doing here? I thought you and Teresa were out on bail?”

  “I couldn’t come up with that kind of money.”

  “Why didn’t Teresa post it for you? She’s loaded, isn’t she? I’d be a little pissed, considering all you do for her. What a lousy thing for her to do. Is she at least still paying for your attorney?”

  “Yeah, but we have the same one, how much more money or work could that be for a lawyer? She is such a spoiled brat is all I can say.”

  “She is still your boss. You need the job, right?”

  “I won’t if I go to jail. Especially for something that’s not my fault.”

  Allen had him right where he wanted him.

  “Randall, do you want to tell me what happened? Maybe I can help.”

  “I wasn’t part of this whole thing,” Randall said, letting it all spill out. “All I did was drive an ambulance for her. She’s the one that hired that Tim character to spy on the Sergeant. And she didn’t like what he found out at all. Especially when she found out what he was doing to that girl. Calling himself Santa. What kind of fucking moron does that? And who does that to a young girl. Telling her to say she’s sorry. For what? Sick bastard! And then, instead of my boss blaming her husband, she blamed the girl and her father. She’s the one that told Cole she would pay him outrageous amounts of money to take care of him.”

  “Meaning?”

  “You know. Finish him off. Cole even had a dog tag. A blank one that he hammered the word Santa into. He was going to put it where someone would see it. I have no idea where he would get a blank dog tag. All I did for her. I even kept Teresa’s affair with Ken quiet. They are all lunatics if you ask me.”

  “Ken? Who is Ken?” Allen asked cautiously.

  “You know, the cop that works here. Or, did work here. He is the one who told Teresa about Tim Cole. Got him the job. Not the killing part, I don’t think.”

  Randall was beginning to lose it, choking up trying to clear his throat and rubbing his eyes to prevent himself from crying.

  “I want to tell you something else, Officer.”

  “Do you want your lawyer here?” Allen asked.

  He knew he had crossed a line and thought it better to cover his own ass.

  “What’s the point? She’s just going to work to get Teresa off, certainly not me. Besides, I have another little secret.”

  “What?”

  “I was with Tim when he murdered the Sergeant. I didn’t do it. I swear! I don’t know if Teresa told Tim to kill him. I thought she just wanted to scare her husband. I couldn’t figure out why she wanted me to go with Tim. He is one creepy bastard. Afterward, I helped wrap Kelsey’s body in the Christmas paper. I thought the paper was for Chandler, but I guess it was for both.”

  Randall took a deep breath, feeling relieved to finally let it all out.

  “Then we went to Chandler’s house. But he was already on the floor with a knife in his chest. He wasn’t dead. Not until Cole pushed the knife in farther. The girl was in her room and she wasn’t alone. I heard a woman’s voice telling her to run. To climb out the window and run. Cole and I were scared of getting caught. Well, at least I was scared. Cole opened the bedroom door when the girl was halfway out the window. He told her no one would hurt her again. He told her he was her friend and not to be scared.”

  “What about the woman?” Allen asked.

  “I caught a glimpse of her behind the door through the hinges. Tim glared at her when she spoke to him. I think he was ready to finish her off. He’s crazy, but knows exactly what he’s doing. That guy needs to get the chair not another mental hospital, if you ask me. Anyway, this woman told Cole she would pay him a lot of money if he kept quiet and cleaned up the mess of Adam Chandler on the floor. She also said something like, I don’t know, burning him or something. I just wanted out of there.”

  “Who was she?”

  “Cole told me her name.”

  Allen turned to leave.

  “Officer, you can’t tell anyone what I told you.”

  “Are you nuts? Of course, I’m going to. I have a job to do. I will try to help you. Put in a good word, but that’s all I can do.”

  “No, Officer Manning, if you say anything, I’m going to deny it. Plus, if you tell anyone about this, I’m going to tell the entire police department your little secret.”

  Allen froze.

  “What secret is that?”

  “I know you are gay,” Randall answered.

  Allen Manning slammed his hand against the bars ready to tear Randall apart.

  “Who do you think you are? You little prick!”

  “I’m guessing you haven’t mentioned it to your colleagues or else you wouldn’t be frequenting a gay bar in another town. I’ve seen you there myself, just didn’t let you see me. I’m quite sure you’re not going there for police surveillance. I know how cops feel about having a gay officer on the job. Maybe not so secure that you’d have their back. Am I right? And that, detective, is my little secret.”

  Allen left the jail cell, not only scared about his career, but also how was he going to tell Detectives Lake and Clayton how he got this information.

  When they arrived back at the barracks, Allen was waiting. He knew what he had to do, regardless of his career. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ may be the unwritten rule, but everyone knows that’s not how it goes all the time.

  “Did you find out anything else about Teresa?” asked Lake. “I know she made bail and was told to stay in town. Do you think she’s a flight risk?”

  “That’s only one problem,” Allen answered.

  He took a deep breath before continuing.

  “I have a verbal confession of what happened the night of the murders. Nothing in writing.”

  “From whom? Cole?” Lake asked.

  “No. From Randall. He spilled his guts to me. Told me everything.”

  “Damn it, Allen! Did he say he would testify at least?”

  “No. He just wanted me to know his part in all of this. I felt like a priest sitting on the other side of a confessional. He told me something else. He knows the name of the other woman in the Chandler house. It wasn’t Teresa.”

  “Then who?” Reese urged.

  “All he said was he knew her first name. You’ll see in the interview. Not what I wanted to hear. I don’t know guys. This just keeps getting worse. He did say he has seen her around before. That’s all he said.”

  Allen took another deep breath.

  “Detectives, I have something else I need to tell you both. Randall threatened to reveal a personal secret of mine if I shared any of this info with you. I need to beat him to the punch, no matter the consequences. My first priority is and always will be this job and making sure these people go to jail for the rest of their lives. So, I’m just going to say it. I’m gay.”

  Emerson and Reese exchanged glances. Reese was first to speak.

  “First of all, Allen, no one cares about that. I promise you. Now let’s get these assholes put away where they belong.”

  “Wait. Are you saying everyone knows?”

  Lake nodded yes.

  “Of course,” Lake confirmed. “Can we get back to work now?”

  Allen stood silent for a minute.

  “Um, yeah, sure.”

  Emerson asked one of the other officers to pull the video from Randall’s jail cell.

  “Thank goodness we have cameras in all of them. We need to go through the whole conversation you had with him. The bad part is a judge will probably say it’s inadmissible in court because there were no lawyers present.”

  “Somewhere during the conver
sation, I asked him if he wanted his attorney there. I thought I better protect myself. He said no. It should be on the video.”

  It was.

  Chapter 95

  Reese thought it was time to have yet another talk with Teresa. This time, she took Officer Manning with her. First, they had to make sure she made bail. Judge Canton confirmed she had. Next was to show up at her hotel unannounced. There was some college-age kid on the desk who clearly was not aware of the circumstances of why they were there.

  “I’m Detective Clayton, Cromwell Police Department. This is Officer Manning. We’d like to see Teresa Kelsey please.”

  “She’s in Suite 1001. Top floor. Do you want me to tell her you are here?”

  “No,” Allen replied, “we’ll find our way to her suite. But thank you.”

  As they headed for the elevator, he nudged Reese.

  “That girl is definitely going to lose her new job as soon as we knock on Teresa’s door.”

  Once they reached the suite, Allen covered the peephole while Reese knocked on the door.

  “Who is it? Go away!” Teresa yelled from the other side of the door.

  “It’s Allen Manning. We need to talk.”

  She opened the door and saw it was both Allen and Reese.

  “I have got to get someone to clean that peephole. What do you want now? Haven’t you already ruined my life enough? Do you need to remove all my dignity?”

  “I think you did that yourself by hiring Tim Cole to spy on your husband,” Reese said. She was getting sick of Teresa’s attitude.

  “We just want to know if you had any idea of anyone your husband was seeing on the side,” Manning said. “Did Cole tell you he saw anyone with him? Are there photos of any kind? We are trying to help you, Teresa.”

  “Shouldn’t I have my attorney with me during this little visit?”

  “You certainly can have her here,” Reese answered. “It’s up to you. We just want to know if Cole found your late husband with another woman. And if so, did he say who that was?”

  Teresa was tired of this whole mess and wanted out of it as soon as possible.

  “The only one he could find was Chandler’s daughter. I really didn’t know she was just a child, or at least acted like a child. Tim told me how Martin hurt her and how Adam did the same. Sick bastards. Both of them. And I don’t know what I was thinking hiring that guy. I knew my husband was having an affair. Ken told me this guy needed a job. So, I hired him. He didn’t say he was a lunatic.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning he wanted to hurt my husband for what he did to me and to that poor girl.”

  “How did he want to hurt him?”

  “He said if I paid him extra, he would take care of it. I thought he was just going to beat him up or something like that.”

  “You want us to believe you didn’t have any idea what Cole meant by, take care of it?” Manning asked, getting right in her face.

  Teresa was now furious with the implication and wanted to spit in his face. She would have, except she knew she had to make her statement sound believable.

  “And did you pay him?” Reese asked.

  “I did,” Teresa hung her head. “What good would it do to lie about that now? Are you going to arrest me again?”

  “No,” Reese answered. “But we would like you to give us your statement in writing. Of course, check with your attorney if you like.”

  Allen and Reese thought it best this way. They had enough evidence to arrest her on conspiracy to harm the Sergeant. But they were after bigger things. Teresa said she would make the statement after she got to see her attorney.

  Outside of the hotel, Reese thought out loud.

  “So, if Teresa only knew about Kei Lien then she must not know there was another woman at Chandler’s house the night of the murders, correct?” Reese mused. “Do you think Cole might throw this other woman under the bus if he thought she was trying to blackmail him? I seriously don’t think he would agree to kill either one of the victims without knowing who hired him. I suspect he would go for the highest bidder.”

  “He certainly is a crazy SOB, but he’s also smarter than we think. We already know number one boss was Teresa. He has to know the name of number two.”

  “Allen, let’s go back to the station to see how Emerson is making out with the video of the century.”

  Allen chuckled. He was feeling the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders, knowing his secret was no longer a deterrent to his career.

  On the way back to the precinct, Reese noticed a familiar face coming out of the bank. She immediately pulled over.

  “Reese, what are you doing? Why are we pulling over?” Allen asked before glancing down the sidewalk. “Whoa! What happened to that guy? Man, that’s messed up.”

  Reese jumped out of the car and Allen followed.

  “Andrew!” she yelled. “Wait up!”

  But Andrew kept walking. Allen was trying to keep up with Reese’s quick pace.

  “Hey, is this the guy you told us about? The guy from Jade with the same last name as the Sergeant?”

  “What gave you the first clue?”

  “Uh, the burnt skin. Christ, what’s wrong with you? One minute you’re as nice as pie and the next you’re a…”

  Reese ignored him and finally caught up to Andrew.

  “Andrew...Andrew Kelsey, do you remember who I am?”

  “Of course, I do, Detective Clayton. I suppose you want to know why I’m here. First, I had the DNA test done myself. That prick, your Sergeant, is my father. Or should I say was? I have the paperwork right here.”

  Reese glanced at it briefly. “So, what are you doing in Cromwell?”

  “I’m here to claim what is rightfully mine.”

  “Meaning?”

  “He had a will when he lived in Jade. It was drafted many years ago. Probably when I was born. I went around town inquiring about Martin Kelsey after you left town. I talked to a few lawyers. Found one that had the copy of his last will and testament. It says he left all his worldly belongings to me, his illegitimate son, Andrew Kelsey. I confirmed the will was up to date. The lawyer said it was the only time he filed one in the town of Jade. He also suggested I travel to his last known address to speak with an attorney or a bank manager in town to see if he had a safe deposit box. The first one I went to had nothing. This one did, but I need to get a copy of his death certificate in order to open the box.”

  “I will see to it that you get those copies right away. Where are you staying?”

  “The Strasburg hotel. It is mine now.”

  “I want you to feel comfortable. You do know who owns that hotel, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do, Detective”

  “Please reconsider your choice. There is a lot of investigation going on as you might suspect. So, I’m asking you to stay at a motel nearby, just until I get that death certificate for you.”

  “I thought you already found the killer. Tim Cole.”

  “He has admitted to several murders, but we think he had help. So please try not to complicate this investigation.”

  “Okay, but I still want those certificates so I can open his safe deposit box. I don’t need to stay at the Strasburg, but want to know what is in that safety deposit box.”

  “I promise I will have the copies for you tomorrow. Would you like me to go with you then? To the bank, I mean?”

  “That would be great. Call as soon as you get the copy for me. You have my cell correct? And, Detective, I am expecting you to do the right thing.”

  “I will, and yes, I have your number.”

  Chapter 96

  The precinct was buzzing when Allen and Reese got back. By now, everyone had seen Randall’s taped confession.

  Emerson didn’t even say hello when he saw the two of them coming down the
hall. “Reese, locate the judge. Get him to issue another warrant.”

  “Can I at least ask for what? I’m guessing you found out who the female is?”

  “I’m sorry, Lake,” Manning intervened. “I thought it was better if you saw it for yourself on the video.”

  Allen wasn’t quite sure how all of this was going to play out.

  “Change in plans, Allen. Let Captain Brown know we need a warrant.”

  “Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?” Reese was ready to pounce on her partner for not giving her answers.

  “Reese, you’re with me. I’ll fill you in on the way down to the morgue.”

  A deep, raspy voice interrupted them.

  “She’s going to burn me alive now. Isn’t that right?”

  Tim was standing with his face pressed between the bars of his cell.

  “Burn me alive.”

  Lake ignored him.

  “The rest of you keep an eye on both of our prisoners. Do not let them out of your sight or out of their cells. I don’t care if they say they’re dying. Do not open the doors to the cells. Everyone on board? Allen, as soon as you have that warrant in your hands call one of us. In the meantime, we will be down in the morgue to see if any other evidence has emerged.”

  Bill Oosterhout was in the middle of the autopsy on Ken Sorenson’s body when the door swung back hitting the wall with a thundering bang. Bill was startled.

  “So, Bill, is there anything else you can tell us about Ken Sorenson’s body?” Emerson asked. “Did you find any kind of drugs or alcohol he may have taken that would cause him to do this?”

  Emerson sounded angry, as if Bill had done something wrong.

  “Can you give us any idea, William Oosterhout, M.E. for Cromwell?”

  Bill was alarmed, Detective Lake never referred to him as William. Always Bill. He also never called him ‘The M.E. for Cromwell.’ Sara walked in behind the detectives.

  “Sara, can you help me out here?” Bill asked.

  “I don’t think she can answer for you, Mr. Oosterhout,” Reese said.

  “What’s going on?” Bill’s voice was shaking.