Stand

by Becky Johnson

  Now sitting in a police station after being shot at, I relaxed. I marvel at my own mind. I should be falling apart, but I had reached a point of no return, a point where the extreme became the new normal. Adapt or die, and I adapted. In the last nine months I learned to handle life with my new awareness of danger. In the current crisis, I was handling it. I was proud of myself; I’m not going to lie.

  When Jack came back he asked if I wanted to ride along to question Lori Claret. I gave him a look like he was crazy. “Of course. Did you honestly think I might say no?”

  Jack just grinned at me. I don’t think he was surprised by my answer.

  It took forty five minutes to get the proper paperwork together and people moving. Jack had someone working on warrants, someone working on Lori’s financials, someone else working on Elizabeth’s financials. He wasn’t expecting any trouble, but I had strict orders to wait in the car. No exceptions. Which meant Jack understood my terminal curiosity and decided that the car was the least dangerous place to confine me.

  We were still in D.C. so we would talk to Lori Claret first. She had an old fashioned brownstone in an upscale section of Washington.

  It was eleven at night when we stopped in front of the brownstone. The lights were still on. Jack and a uniformed police officer went up to the front door. They rang the bell twice before a woman in a bathrobe answered. I couldn’t hear the exchange from the car. They talked for a few minutes before Jack and the uniform returned to the car. I was practically vibrating out of my seat. Sometimes I think Jack purposefully tortures me. He got in the car, buckled up, turned the key, all while I kept up a litany of what happened, what did she say, where are we going?

  “She is coming to the station to answer questions there.”

  He didn’t actually say calm down, but I got the message.

  ______

  Jack didn’t let me question Lori. I was a little annoyed, but then I didn’t honestly think he would. Plus he did let Skeet and I observe.

  While Jack and I were out, Skeet had been working with the officers on gathering financial and background information on Elizabeth and Lori. It didn’t take him long to catch us up.

  For the last five years Elizabeth had made regular payments to a bank account in the Cayman Islands a few times a year in the amount of a hundred thousand. For the last five years Lori’s financials were perfectly normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

  Lori Claret arrived at the station wearing a black power suit with a sleek, young lawyer trotting behind her. She wasn’t under arrest but I guess a lawyer wasn’t taking any chances. He didn’t stay with her very long.

  Jack and Detective Carter sat across from her and the lawyer. They started the interview by showing a picture of Jimmy, and asking if Lori knew him.

  Lori and her lawyer declined to answer. They moved on to generic questions. Where she worked, how long she worked there, what she did, if she was in a relationship. Her answers were brief and to the point. I was perched on the edge of my seat, glued to the monitor, watching the proceedings like a hawk.

  Jack pushed Jimmy’s picture forward, and asked again if she knew the man in the picture. The lawyer asked why.

  “He’s dead. He was shot earlier this evening.”

  Lori’s face went white and her hands clenched together.

  Her lawyer started to demand an explanation. He didn’t really get a chance. Lori said she would answer the question. Her voice barely raised above a whisper. He turned to her and discreetly attempted to persuade her to see things his way. It didn’t work.

  Jack restated the question. My eyes were focused on the monitor in front of Skeet and I. I had my cell phone out and ready to text any questions I had. Not that I expected Jack would respond to me, but I wanted the chance to get my questions in.

  “Do you know this man?”

  Lori gazed down at the table for a few moments before taking a deep breath and looking up at the picture and the two investigators sittings across from her. Her face was resolved, but her hands twisted together in front of her.

  “Yes, I worked with him at Johnson, Lewes, and Ferguson.”

  “Is that the only way you knew him?”

  “Yes, of course.” She moved her hands down to her lap, but even here in the observation room I could tell that she was lying.

  “When was the last time you saw this man?”

  “He disappeared a few years ago.”

  “So the last time you saw him was a few years ago?”

  “Yes.”

  Jack paused for a second and shifted the papers in front of him. Detective Carter took over. She placed a picture of Elizabeth on the table.

  “Do you know this woman?”

  Lori looked down at the picture in front of her.

  “No.”

  “She’s lying!” I turned to Skeet. He was sitting back in an office chair relaxed, watching the interview. He didn’t seem concerned about the lying.

  I turned back. “I’m going to text Jack.”

  “Jack’s got it under control.” Yeah, whatever. I was texting him, anyway. She’s lying. Ask her again. I hit send and watched Jack like a hawk. He reached down and checked his phone. Then he ignored it. Ignored it. I couldn’t believe it. I sent him another text. Ask her again. I hit send. This time he didn’t even look at his phone.

  “He’s ignoring me.”

  Skeet didn’t seem shocked. “Char, calm down, Jack has this covered.”

  I really don’t like it when people tell me to calm down. It’s even worse when I know the calm down is fair. Truth was I did need to calm down. Jack did have this under control. I just didn’t like being out of control. Hard truth and one I didn’t want to own up to. I gave Skeet a dirty look and tuned back into the interview.

  The detective was still questioning Lori.

  “Did you work at all on Muriel Fitzgerald’s case?”

  This question seemed to throw her a little. That surprised me. Surely she saw this coming. She didn’t answer the question right away. She looked down at the table for a minute, collecting her thoughts. Then she turned to her lawyer and quietly asked him to leave. He was shocked, I could tell. He argued with her in fierce whispers before leaving the interview room. When she looked up again there was something a little different in her eyes. I found myself leaning closer.

  “Everyone worked on that case, at least in part. It was worth millions. I wasn’t involved as much as James was, but I did some legwork.” She had just mentioned James. I felt my body tense up. She knew him more than she had let on. This was it. I could feel it. We were getting somewhere, or Jack and the detective were getting somewhere, but I was giving myself a little credit.

  What happened next proved that sometimes silence is the greatest interrogation tool that exists. Jack and the detective said little. Lori’s story came pouring out. She and James had been having an affair. According to her, James was about to leave his wife when Muriel’s case was picked up by the firm. James started to suspect that Muriel’s death was not so innocent. James and Lori began to investigate on the side. They came up with a plan to blackmail Elizabeth. James approached Elizabeth while Lori sat at a distance and recorded the encounter.

  In the observation room I was so tense I could feel myself shaking. I had been right. I knew what had happened. I could see the whole thing laid out in front of me. There were just a few pieces that need to be filled in, and right now Lori Claret was filling in some big ones.

  James and Lori thought they had a plan all in place when James started feeling like someone was following him. He and Lori grew increasingly paranoid. Jimmy’s story about being attacked was maybe the one true thing in the story he had told us. After the attack, James called Lori and he ran. They were panicked. Lori had a house in Maryland that had belonged to her grandmother. It was secluded and still in her grandmother’s name. James had been living there ever since. He and Lori met there regularly. He continued to blackmail Elizabeth, but publically he stayed off the radar. Th
ings were going fine until I started looking into Jimmy’s disappearance. The first time I called with questions Lori called James and he started following me.

  Jack took Lori back to the beginning of her story and started questioning her, for the last half an hour or so she had talked pretty much non-stop. Now they were getting more details. I felt myself relax for the first time in several hours.

  I let out a deep breath forcing tension from my body. It was after midnight and I was exhausted. It had been a long day. There was still one thing that was bugging me.

  I slumped back in the office chair and rotated around to face Skeet. “Who are you?”

  He laughed a little, but didn’t answer me.

  “No, I mean it. You run the gym with Moshe, you fit in at a country club, you and Jack are best friends, you were in the military, but all I ever see you do is work out with me.”

  It was bugging me. Like an itch under my skin. I didn’t get him. I knew he worked at the gym, but I had never seen him do anything there, and he had been amazingly available to me, as if he had all the free time in the world. When we were at the country club today, he fit in like was born there, but most days he dressed like he was one step away from being homeless. He drove a beat up old pickup, but his guns were top of the line and not cheap. He was an enigma.

  “Elizabeth reminds me of my ex-wife.” He shrugged. “My dad likes to golf, so I’ve been in country clubs before. I like working at the gym and working out with you. Jack’s a good guy.” That was it.

  I guess he thought that answered my questions. Instead inside I was going. Ex-wife? Dad? Golf? Country Club? I am pretty sure my mouth was hanging open.

  I was still staring at Skeet, who had gone back to ignoring me, when Jack stepped into the observation room.

  “We’re going to question Elizabeth in the morning. We can get rooms at a hotel, if you’d like to stay.” He was talking to Skeet. At first I wondered why he wasn’t asking us both and then I realized that he knew I wasn’t going anywhere. Skeet was the question. I couldn’t help but grin. I didn’t think Skeet was going anywhere either.

  Chapter 23

  We got rooms at the Marriott and the first thing I did was get a shower. Afterwards I sent Tammy a text to have her take Max out in the morning. Then I fell into bed. My paranoia has some plus sides, mainly that I always carry spare supplies in my car. I had deodorant, clean underwear, and a spare shirt, so at least I was clean and had something to wear tomorrow. If I dreamed that night I don’t remember it. I slept so deeply I don’t think I even moved.

  My cell phone alarm went off at six. I hadn’t had more than five hours sleep at the most, but that was actually pretty good for me these days. I should have bounced out of bed, but being shot at makes a person tired. I dragged myself out of bed and pushed through my yoga routine. Mountain pose, forward bend, cobra, down dog, up dog, plank, breathe. After practicing my poses until they flowed instead of stuttered, I did my best to put myself together. Even with my emergency car kit it wasn’t easy. I had to wear the same pants as the day before, a tank top, hoodie, the same boots, and whatever makeup was in my purse. I used the hotel hair dryer, and then decided I was a lost cause and put my hair up in a ponytail. It wasn’t my best, and it didn’t really go together, but it would do.

  By seven forty-five I was in the lobby to meet Jack and Skeet for breakfast. We had a killer to catch.

  ______

  Our plan today was pretty simple: get Elizabeth to confess. So easy, right? Jack was on the phone for most of breakfast, and Skeet isn’t exactly a conversationalist, so there wasn’t a whole lot of talking around the breakfast table.

  That was fine with me. I used the time to check the security at my home, check on Max and Kitty, text Tammy to make sure that she gave Max an extra treat. We weren’t usually separated this long. I wasn’t worried about Kitty, but Max usually went everywhere with me. I was a little worried about him. Tammy reassured me that everything was fine. Max was fine. The house was fine. I stopped texting her when she asked me if Skeet or Jack had hit on me yet. She will never give up on finding me a man. I have given up, but Tammy is still holding out.

  I pulled a notebook out of my shoulder bag. I wanted to organize my thoughts. I felt like I had almost every piece of the puzzle but one, and that one was key. I have always been a list maker. My mind works best when I have everything down on paper.

  The ride to the police station was quiet. I barely paid any attention to Skeet or Jack. Something about this whole case just wasn’t fitting, or maybe it fit too well. It kept spinning through my mind Muriel, Elizabeth, and James. Something wasn’t right. I was either missing something big, or I was overthinking everything. Honestly, either was possible.

  When we reached the station I asked for a room or a corner and some tape. They found me a closet. Well, they claimed it was an office, but considering that I could touch the walls with my arms stretched out and there were no windows, I’m pretty sure it was a closet. There was an old office chair, that was a little creaky and leaned a bit to the left, and a small table. That was it. It worked for me though. I left the door open so I didn’t feel completely claustrophobic, put some Beatles on my iPod, and got to work. I started with the facts.

  Muriel Fitzgerald died in 2008. She drew up her last will in 2006 after she started getting sick. She used an unknown lawyer and no one in her family knew about the will. She died of a wound infection from possible neglect.

  Elizabeth Fitzgerald was Muriel’s sole heir. She hired Muriel’s last caregiver. She hired Johnson, Lewes, and Ferguson in 2009 to discredit the last will done up by Muriel Fitzgerald, based on her frame of mind at the time the will was done. The settlement was worth millions.

  James Barnes, Junior Partner at Johnson, Lewes, and Ferguson was assigned a small part of the Fitzgerald case. He suspected Elizabeth Fitzgerald of neglect, possibly even the murder, of Muriel. He claimed he was threatened and had to run in order to save his life. He went missing in 2009 and was shot and killed yesterday.

  Lori Claret had an affair with James.

  I stepped, okay there wasn’t room to step, I leaned back. Papers lined the right wall of the closet.

  Who was I missing?

  I added James’ family, the other people I had talked to at the law firm, and Muriel’s caregivers and groundskeeper.

  I leaned back again. “Let It Be” was playing. I hummed along under my breath. I was still missing something. I read over my information beginning to end, piece by piece. I was on my third read through with no inspiration.

  I spun my chair to face the other wall and pulled out another piece of paper. What were the facts and what was I supposing.

  Fact: Muriel was dead.

  Supposition: She was murdered.

  Supposition: Elizabeth killed or conspired to kill her.

  Fact: James was murdered.

  Fact: James and Lori were having an affair.

  Fact: James and Lori were blackmailing Elizabeth for Muriel’s murder.

  Supposition: Elizabeth killed or conspired to kill James.

  I sat back and looked at my list. It all seemed pretty fair to me. The suppositions were based on facts, and interviews; they were not random stabs in the dark.

  “Yellow Submarine” played while I switched from one wall to another. I had found my gap. It would require another supposition. I added it to my wall.

  Supposition: Elizabeth wouldn’t get her hands dirty.

  Supposition: There was someone else manipulating, taking advantage, or hiding behind the scenes. That person would get their hands dirty.

  Supposition: That person would kill again to cover up what they had done. Elizabeth could be next.

  I was stretching it with my last few suppositions, but in my gut it felt right. Like I had found the piece I needed. I wondered if in the end this all came down to money for someone who didn’t care about Muriel, or Elizabeth, or James; but did care about several million dollars.

  It was time to get
Jack.

  I had been focused on my walls for longer than I thought. It was almost lunch. I was leaving my “office” when I saw Jack down the hall. He was coming to look for me. Elizabeth had just come in. They were ready to question her, and he knew I would want to observe.

  “Wait. There’s something I want to show you.” I pulled him into the “office.” It was barely big enough for two. We were squished together and turning from wall to wall was a little difficult.

  Jack looked at it for a few minutes and nodded his head. He called the lead detective over and the two of them talked in the hallway for a while. Detective Carter didn’t look very happy, but eventually Jack came back to me.

  He smiled as he approached me. “No one can fault your logic. They ordered pizza, let’s have lunch.” He led me away from the office. “We’ll question Elizabeth afterwards. It will do her good to sit and wait.”

  I was going to have at least half an hour to talk to Jack and Detective Carter before they questioned Elizabeth.

  Five minutes into my first slice of cheese pizza I was embarrassed to discover both Jack and the detective had already thought there was someone else involved. My breakthrough wasn’t really a breakthrough.

  Detective Carter looked at me across the table with a sneer, “Of course, I am going to try and find out who was working with Elizabeth.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. I looked over at Jack. He gave me one of those smiles that felt like an apology. “It’s not our first investigation, Char.”

  Ouch. Well okay, he had a point. I knew Jack respected my opinion, but this was the detective’s case and we needed to work well with her. My intuition shouted this was more complicated than just asking Elizabeth about her accomplice. I felt like somewhere in the last few days I had found or heard something important, but that fact was lost, swirling in my subconscious. Faced with the hostility of the detective I decided discretion was the better part of valor and I would be best served at that moment by keeping my mouth shut.

  We ate our pizza, Skeet and I silently. After lunch we walked toward the back of the police station to the interrogation room. Elizabeth and her lawyer were there. Jack and Detective Carter started questioning her. Skeet and I made ourselves comfortable in front of the monitors. I didn’t last long leaning back in the chair before curiosity and nerves had me sitting up and glued to it like a kid to a candy store window.