I turned and opened the door behind me. “I think my work here is done,” I said.
Gwen Regan reached out and shook my hand and said, “Thank you for bringing Kevin home.”
I looked at Arnie. “He was in good hands,” I said.
“We have some work ahead of us,” Gwen Regan said.
Arnie said, “Thanks, Graham.”
I gave him a nod and closed the door.
On the ride back to my apartment, I felt satisfied that I had done all I could. I believed both Arnie and Gwen Regan wanted to resolve their differences for the sake of their son. Marlene and I had held those same sentiments for the benefit of our daughters after our contentious divorce. We had made it work. I believed the Regan’s could too.
Chapter 30
Saturday afternoon was unusually quiet, so I asked Danny to drop me off at the “Midtown Tonsorial” so I could get my hair cut. He waited for me in the Impala while “Rocco”, my favorite barber, gave me my usual trim cut and head massage. When I returned to the Impala, Danny wrinkled his nose. “You smell like a French whore,” he said. He opened the driver’s window to mitigate, what he believed, was an offensive smell.
“It’s pomade,” I said, coquettishly. “See how it augments my brown highlights.”
Danny wasn’t amused.
“It gives a soft hold, not too much sheen, and it smells—”
“Like a whore’s crotch,” Danny said.
I was about to remind him of the “axle grease” he ran through his hair every morning when I was interrupted by the car radio.
Patrols had spotted Eileen Conlon’s white SUV weaving through traffic on 7th Avenue. Crockett was in the driver’s seat. Several units were following closely, so as not to lose him, as per my instructions. Danny pulled the Impala away from the curb and we headed in that direction. Before we got to 7th Avenue, the radio reported Crockett had turned east onto 42nd street. Danny and I were traveling west. Traffic was heavy for a Saturday, making it difficult to spot Eileen Conlon’s car. The patrol vehicles were easier to spot. There were three units following Crockett. We couldn’t turn around in traffic, so Danny drove around the block and entered back onto 42nd Street and headed east.
I picked up the radio mic: “Secure suspect with as little force as possible,” I said.
Patrols responded in the affirmative.
We could see the patrol vehicles several blocks ahead of us, but we couldn’t see Eileen Conlon’s white SUV. After driving several more blocks, the SUV came into view. Crockett was pulling into a gas station. I picked up the mic and ordered the patrols to stay put and keep a distance.
Danny parked the Impala across the street. We watched and waited.
Crockett got out of the SUV and stood by the driver’s door and waited for an attendant. In less than a minute, an attendant came out of the small office and approached Crockett. They exchanged words, and then the attendant went back into the office. There was no one else in the station, which presented the ideal time to take Crockett.
I picked up the mic, and gave the order to, “Move in.”
The patrols descended on Crockett “like a duck on a June bug.” Two patrol cars moved in at an angle to prevent Crockett’s vehicle from leaving the station. Crockett was quick. He turned and ran behind the building that housed the station’s small shopping mart.
“He’s running,” Danny said.
“Let them handle it,” I said. “He won’t get far.”
Four officers jumped out of their cars and started after Crockett. They ran around the back of the building where Crockett had run. Danny and I leaned forward to get a better look.
We saw Crockett emerge from the rear of the building, and attempt to climb a chain-link fence at the perimeter of the station. He scrambled up, slipped back down, and scrambled back up again. The officers came from behind the building, and before he could get over the fence, one reached up and yanked him down by the seat of his pants. He hit the ground hard. When they lifted him off the ground, he wisely put his hands in the air; not resisting was the smartest thing he had done for himself since getting involved with the police. An officer patted him down while another cuffed him. They led him back to a patrol car, put him into the back seat and closed the door. The scene was secured, and Crockett was escorted away. Eileen Conlon’s car would be impounded as part of the investigation.
Danny drove back to headquarters where we awaited Crockett’s arrival. He was to be brought to me at the bureau as per my directive.
We were waiting at my desk when they brought Crockett in. I intended to be as fair as was possible with him. Find out what I needed to know, once and for all. Crockett had the answers.
Crockett looked tired. His hair was disheveled, and it looked like he’d been wearing the same clothes for a week. Whatever he’d been running from had worn him down.
Two officers escorted him to a chair beside my desk. I asked them to remove the handcuffs. They did. I thanked them, and they left. Danny Nolan sat on the edge of my desk and waited. I got right to the point.
“Why are you running?” I said to Crockett.
“Because I don’t wanna go to jail,” he said.
“Have you done something that might put you in jail?”
“No,” he said.
“Then you’re running for nothing,” I said.
I removed a printed sheet from my top drawer and laid it on my desk. “I have an affidavit here from Eileen Conlon, claiming you broke into her home and held her at gunpoint.”
“Not true,” he said. “This is what I mean. I’m being accused of something I didn’t do.”
“She claims you threatened her life if she wouldn’t help you. Said you took her money and her car against her will.”
“That’s a bunch o’ crap,” he said. “She was more than willing to help me.”
“Then you don’t deny being at her house?”
“I was there,” he said. “I went to ask her for some cash. She offered me her car, and the money to help me get away. I didn’t have to threaten her.”
I picked up the affidavit and held it up to give him a closer look. “I have her signed affidavit here that states otherwise,” I said.
“She’s lying,” he said.
“Why would she lie?”
“I don’t know, but I’m telling you the truth.”
“She had a pretty good knock on her head when we found her,” Danny said. “You do that to her.”
“No,” he said. “I told you, she was helping me. Why would I do that?”
“Why did you keep running?” I said. “If you’re innocent, the smart move would have been to face the questioning and clear yourself.”
“I know how the system works,” Crockett said. “Too much evidence against me: the screwdriver, the overalls they found, and my DNA. I’ve heard stories about innocent people going to jail. I took my chances.”
“The DNA in the overalls didn’t match your DNA,” Danny said.
“Lucky me,” Crockett said.
“How well do you know Arnie Regan?” I said.
Crockett had to think for a second. “Worked a few construction jobs with him,” he said. “Had a few drinks together a couple o’ times. I haven’t seen him in months.”
“He claims you paid him three hundred dollars to work me over,” I said, “get me to drop the case.”
“That’s crazy. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Danny got up from my desk and walked around to the other side of the chair where Crockett was sitting. “Now’s the time for you to come clean,” he said. “You’ve got several charges against you, but, so far, one of them is not murder.”
“I told you why I ran,” he said. “I was scared. Maybe it was stupid, but I was scared.”
“If Eileen Conlon was helping you, why would she claim you broke into her house and threatened her with a gun?” I said.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Eileen and I had a thing going back a while ago. It last
ed a few months until I ended it. She took it hard. We hadn’t seen each other for a while until she showed at the church just before Father Conlon died. She was receptive and friendly, so I hooked up with her again. You saw us at the shore house.”
“Where d’you get the gun?” Danny said.
“I don’t own a gun.”
It was the first definitive lie Crockett had told during the questioning.
“Come, clean,” Danny said. “Obstructing a murder investigation is a felony.”
“I gun was found in your dresser drawer in your room at the rectory,” I said.
“What right have you got to go through my things,” he said. “Don’t you need a warrant or something?”
“No,” I said.
Crockett accepted that and said, “Okay. I had a gun. It was illegal, so I threw it in the Hudson. I didn’t want anything more to incriminate me.”
“When was that?”
“A few days after Father Conlon was killed. I don’t remember exactly.”
Crockett’s story was weak but feasible, the murder weapon of choice was not a gun and owning an illegal gun didn’t incriminate him in any way with this crime.
If Eileen Conlon’s story was untrue, why would she go to such lengths to devise such a story? Why would she want to make Crockett look guilty? I was holding off, showing Crockett the letter I’d found in my mailbox. I’m sure he would deny having written it, after all he had told us.
“What’s your relationship with Troy Conlon?”
“Don’t know him.”
“He’s Eileen Conlon’s brother.”
“She never mentioned she had a brother, other than Father Conlon.”
“Then you never met him?” I said.
“I don’t know him. I keep telling you the truth but it comes out sounding like a lie.”
“I believe you,” I said.
Crockett seemed relieved by what I’d said, almost grateful.
“Am I under arrest?” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “Until you can clear yourself or this case proves otherwise. You have multiple charges against you. You’ll have to stay downtown unless you can make bail, if there is bail?”
“Do you have a lawyer?” Danny said.
“Can’t afford one,” he said. “We’ll need an affidavit from you stating everything you just told us here today. Are you willing to submit one?”
“Sure,” he said. “I’m not hiding nothin’.”
He leaned forward in his chair closer to me and said, “I swear, Graham, I didn’t kill Father Conlon. Why would I? He was almost like a father to me. You got to believe me.”
He sat back in his chair again, looking almost defeated. “I read about Father Faynor in the papers,” he said. “Am I a suspect in that one too?”
“Not at the moment,” I said.
Crockett stood and raised his hands in the air, “Man, now you know why I ran,” he said. “The more I co-operate with you guys, the deeper into trouble I get.”
“No one is accusing you of that,” I said. “You asked a question, and I answered it.”
“Somebody’s not telling the truth here,” Danny said. “The evidence will either exonerate you or put you away for a long time. Obstructing justice is a serious crime. The same applies to Eileen Conlon if she broke the law.”
I had gotten all I wanted from Crockett. The officers came back, cuffed him again and took him downtown to lockup.
***
“We need to talk to Eileen Conlon,” Danny said. “Somebody’s lying here.”
“I don’t like being lied to,” I said.
“How could I forget that,” Danny said.
“We still have no evidence that points to Crockett murdering Father Conlon,” I said.
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t,” Danny said.
“Why would Eileen Conlon fabricate a story to make Crockett look guilty? Why did she pay Martin Denman to spy on me and rough me up?”
“Reasons unknown,” Danny said. “Let’s lean on her a little.”
We asked Eileen Conlon to come in for an interview. We informed her that Crockett had been arrested and that we needed to clear up a few things regarding her affidavit.
She showed up at the bureau later that afternoon. She was modestly dressed in low heel shoes and a white, one-piece dress that reached down almost to her ankles. She had changed her hairstyle since I’d last seen her. It was cut short now, neatly set with bangs delicately adorning her forehead. She wore no make-up. Around her neck, she hung her polished silver crucifix. She seemed a bit too pious to me. There was a small bandage on her left temple.
“Thank you for coming,” I said.
She sat in the same chair Crockett had sat in.
“Can I get you something?” Danny said. “Coffee?”
“No, thank you,” she said. “I no longer drink coffee. But I will take a glass of cold water.” Danny went to the cooler and brought back a cup half-filled with water and gave it to her. She drank some, then looked around for some place to set the cup down on my desk.
“Do you have a coaster,” she said.
I tore off a sheet of paper from the small pad on my desk and slid it over to her. She delicately placed the cup on top of it.
“We’ve asked you here to clear up a conflict in your affidavit,” I said.
“A conflict?” she said. “What conflict could there be? Now that you’ve caught the killer of my brother, he’ll be brought to justice and we can all get on with our lives.”
“It’s true, David Crockett has been arrested, but he hasn’t been charged with the murder of Father Conlon.”
“Why not?” She seemed suddenly annoyed, almost indignant.
“We have no conclusive evidence that proves so,” I said.
“It’s apparent,” she said. “He ran away. Doesn’t that imply guilt?”
“Yes, it does,” I said.
“It implies,” Danny said. “Cases don’t get solved by implication only.”
Danny was beginning to get tough with her. I let him.
“What would you like me to tell you that I haven’t already told you?” she said.
She took another sip from the cup, then placed it back on the paper.
“For one,” I said. “Why did you pay Martin Denman to rough me up?”
Her eyes widened. She wasn’t ready for that one.
“I have no idea what you mean,” she said. “I hired Mr. Denman’s services to help find who murdered my brother. He was thoroughly vetted.”
“Vetted how?” I said.
Danny wasted no time hitting her hard. “He’s a phony,” he said. “You know that as well as we do. We checked him out.”
“Why would you accuse me of that?”
“Because Denman told us as such,” Danny said.
“And you believed him?”
“Under the circumstances, at the time, he was in no position to lie,” I said.
She kissed the crucifix hanging from her neck, then removed a handkerchief from her purse and began to dab the perspiration forming on her cheeks and forehead.
“Oh, my Lord,” she said. “I suddenly feel like I’m being persecuted for trying to find who took my beloved brother’s life. Christ was persecuted for his innocence also,” she said.
I wasn’t buying the “holier-than-thou” attitude.
“Why didn’t you tell us you had a relationship with Crockett earlier?” Danny said. “He said the two of you were together for a while and then had a breakup.”
“It’s true,” she said. “We were together until he turned into his true evil self. Using swear words that repulsed me, drinking too much. Lying to me to the point where I couldn’t believe a word he said. He eventually showed his true colors, just like most evil men do. I prayed that he would, but the Lord saw fit to have me find my way. I left him.”
“Then why did the two of you hook up again?” Danny said.
“ ‘Hate the sin, not the sinner’,” she said. “When I saw hi
m doing such menial work at the church and living alone with no companionship; the Lord told me I should offer him comfort, the way all sinners need to be comforted. We developed a mutual understanding and became friendly again. Things were good for a short while until he returned to his iniquitous ways. When my brother was killed, I was sure this evil man had committed the deed. He had enough of the Devil in him to do so.”
“Why would you believe that?” I said.
“He never liked my brother, only pretended to. Andrew was not happy with David seeing me, and he told David so. David told him to mind his own business. I tried to tell Andrew it was like bringing someone back into the fold, but he was not having it.”
Danny walked around in front of Eileen Conlon and let the hammer drop. “Why did you sign an affidavit stating that David Crockett broke into your home at gunpoint and coerced you into helping him escape? Perjury is a felony in this state.”
“It is the absolute truth,” she said, “I have the wound to prove it. See where he hit me with his gun.” She reached up and touched the bandage on her temple.
“Looks ugly,” I said.
“It is,” she said. “This whole ordeal was ugly.”
“Do you have an attorney?” I said.
“Do I need one?”
“It might be a good idea for you to retain one now,” I said.
She stood up and moved away from her chair. “I’ll leave it in the Lord’s, hands for now,” she said. “Is there anything else?”
“No,” I said. “Thank you for your time.”
She turned without a word and walked out of the bureau.
“She’s lying,” Danny said.
Before I could say a word, he said. “I know, you don’t like being lied to.”
She had left her water cup on my desk. I picked it up by its rim and placed it inside an evidence bag. I handed it to Danny. “Check it for DNA and prints,” I said.
Chapter 31
I opened the envelope that was sent up to me from the lab. Danny waited by my desk. I read the short-printed paragraphs, then looked up at Danny. “The unidentified prints on the crucifix match Eileen Conlon’s prints,” I said.
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