The idea that any man would put his hands on a woman angered Cooper. Knowing it had been Riley enraged him. George had no idea what he had in Riley, but he was going to make sure he found out. Without Riley still supporting his innocence, George had nothing.
Cooper knocked loudly three times on the front door before George answered.
“I need to ask you some questions.” Cooper spat out each word as he moved past George into the house.
George guided them to the dining room where they had sat only days earlier for their initial interview. Cooper felt like months had passed since then.
“I’m going to ask you one last time. Do you know where your wife is?”
“No, I have no idea,” George said defensively. “I’ve told you that. I don’t know why I bothered hiring you, and paying you all that money if you can’t be bothered to believe me.”
“We found your wife’s Land Rover. Her wallet and phone were inside,” Cooper told him, watching for any shock or surprise on George’s face. Cooper didn’t see any.
“What does this mean?”
Cooper noted right away that George didn’t immediately ask where they found it.
“It means we found her vehicle but no trace of her inside. No clues to where she might be. Aren’t you even curious where it was found?”
George shifted in his seat, then said dramatically, “Yes. Where? Who found it?”
“Riley found it in the southeast part of the city. There is a witness who said he saw a woman dropping it off there at about nine-thirty the night Maime went missing. The woman then left with a man. Do you have any idea who that man might be?”
“No, of course not. I haven’t even been to that side of town in years. I can’t even remember when the last time was now that I think about it. Could the witness identify who it was? Are they sure it’s even Maime?”
“We have some basics, but we are keeping that confidential for now. No, we aren’t positive it’s Maime. The timing fits from when she left the rehab. We know she’s gone to that neighborhood to buy drugs. It would be a crazy coincidence if it wasn’t.”
Cooper didn’t wait for George to comment. He continued undeterred. “The car was badly burned. Several minutes after the woman walked away from the car, it caught on fire. The cops think whoever did it was trying to get rid of it. Neighbors saw the fire and put it out.”
“Are you saying she left on her own? That Maime just took off? Is that the new theory?” George asked, leaning forward resting his arms on the table. “I’m sure you know by now she was having an affair with Dean and possibly someone else. Obviously, given that and the drug addiction, I guess I didn’t know my wife very well at all.”
“What’s obvious is that you are more concerned about getting laid than your wife’s safety,” Cooper snapped back.
He couldn’t help it. George did this to him. He was smug, and as Riley mentioned early, too eager to play the victim.
George didn’t respond, just shot Cooper a disgusted look. Cooper walked George through timeframes again from when they suspected the women were dumped into the river. Although the timeframes were a best guess, Cooper was hoping to snag George in more lies. Cooper also walked him through the timelines of the Sara Bloomfield case.
George didn’t seem to have an alibi for any of it, other than being at home alone or with Dean. As far as Cooper was concerned, George looked guiltier by the minute.
“Is that it? Are we done?” George asked during a lull in conversation.
“Not even close,” Cooper said with a smile. “Care to explain to me why each of the victims found in the Arkansas River had jewelry with your initials on them?”
CHAPTER 66
“IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF SOME SICK JOKE?” George asked incredulously. He got up and walked around his kitchen. His face was getting redder by the second. Cooper wondered if he was trying to keep from losing his temper.
“No, no joke at all, unfortunately for you. The police can connect you with the jewelry on each of the victims, and of course, you are aware of your connection to the missing women. Then there is your added connection to Sara Bloomfield and Shannon McCarty.”
Cooper waited for several moments, hoping George would offer up some reasonable explanation. When he didn’t, Cooper continued, “George, the police are closing in on you. I’m giving you a chance to explain. As your investigator, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what the deal is here.”
“I don’t have any idea what you are talking about. I heard that on the news about jewelry. I thought it was misinformation.”
“It’s not. It’s fact. Did you engrave jewelry you bought with your initials?”
“Yes, I did,” George said angrily. George walked back over to the table, pointed at Cooper and said, “I never gave Sara or Shannon jewelry. I’ve never killed anyone.”
“Then how do you explain the jewelry with your initials on each of the victims?”
“I’m being framed. Someone is trying to ruin my life.”
“That’s your theory. Who would do this to you?”
“If I knew who, I wouldn’t be standing around here waiting to be arrested for crimes I didn’t commit. This is why I hired you. It seems you’re in bed with the cops just like Riley. I didn’t realize she turned into such a traitor.”
It took everything Cooper had not to get up and slam George into a wall.
Cooper knew the whole neighborhood could probably hear him, but he snapped back loudly with a raised voice, “That traitor, as you call her, has been working hard to keep you out of jail. You wouldn’t see that because you’re too selfish. You have no idea the kind of person Riley is. You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air.”
George didn’t offer a rebuttal or response. He kept his head down, not meeting Cooper’s eyes.
Cooper demanded, “Show me where your wife keeps her jewelry. I need to know if anything is missing.”
Cooper followed George to the master bedroom. Once inside, George went to the walk-in closet to a row of drawers and pulled open the third from the top and took out a heavy jewelry case. George sat the case on a low closet shelf and went through the jewelry piece by piece. Cooper saw expensive looking earrings, emerald and diamond necklaces and intricately designed bracelets.
George looked up at Cooper and then back down to the case. “Maime didn’t wear this stuff often. She wore cheaper pieces usually made of beads and stones. Stuff you can find at some of the women’s specialty shops around town. I don’t know what she had on the day she went missing, but there are definitely pieces of jewelry that should be here that aren’t.”
“What’s missing?” Cooper inquired as he watched George sort through the jewelry again.
“A bracelet, two rings, pair of earrings, an emerald pendant and the ruby and diamond necklace that I just gave Maime for our anniversary. She never wore it unless it was a special night out.”
Four of those items had already turned up on the victims. There were still two missing women. Cooper was surprised George told him anything was missing. Cooper wouldn’t have known if he was lying or not. George could have told Cooper nothing was missing, but he didn’t. He implicated himself further. If he was guilty, he knew which victims were found and what jewelry he had placed on them. Cooper wondered why if he did do it, he’d just admitted it.
“Do you know how long all this has been missing?”
“No, I never go through this case. I can’t even tell you the last time I looked in here.”
Cooper waited for a better explanation.
George stood his ground. “Look, I told you, I’m being framed. Are you going to help me or not?”
“Who else had access to this case?”
“Maime obviously and her parents. A few friends knew she had expensive jewelry.”
“You really have no explanation for what’s missing?” Cooper asked sarcastically. He was testing George to see how far he could push him.
George didn’t take the bait. He j
ust shook his head no. George put the jewelry case away and walked back to the kitchen. Cooper followed.
They spent the next hour going over properties George had access to. It was a short list. His father’s hunting cabin and his parents’ home. That’s all. All had been searched. If George was keeping victims at any of these places, the police would have found them.
Cooper was frustrated he hadn’t found out more. He wasn’t sure what he expected. That George was just going to confess, say he was a killer and lead him to his wife and Laura. George still looked guilty, but Cooper agreed with Luke. There just wasn’t much connecting George other than a missing wife and mistress and the jewelry. No real physical evidence, no witnesses, and no murder weapon.
Cooper thought he’d try one last thing. Walking towards the living room, Cooper turned to George. “I’m sure you heard on the news the other night, the victims may have been drugged. Do you know anything about the drug succinylcholine?”
“No, nothing,” George replied. “What is it?”
Cooper didn’t bother to explain. George lied so often and so well, Cooper couldn’t tell if he had just told him the truth. He only told him to see George’s reaction, but Cooper saw no recognition in his expression.
Cooper left through the front door, made it a few steps, but turned back to George with fire in his eyes. “Riley told me you put your hands on her and that you are driving by her house at night. There are more people than you realize that care about her. If any harm should come to her, there’s a good chance that person who did it is going to end up floating in the river with the rest of the victims. Understand me?”
Cooper didn’t wait for George’s response. He walked to his truck knowing his anger just got the best of him. He’d technically just made a threat against the life of his client – a first in his career.
Then again, Cooper thought as he drove away, George’s life wasn’t worth much anymore anyway.
CHAPTER 67
LUKE WRAPPED UP HIS WORK and was just about to leave the office to hunt down a few more leads when Tyler motioned Luke over to his desk. Luke stood behind him waiting, catching just bits of conversation.
“How long has she been missing?” Tyler asked into the phone. He jotted down notes on the pad in front of him and motioned for Luke to take a look.
Luke read the notes in anticipation. He was hoping it wasn’t another body found. It wasn’t. Hot Springs Police Department was calling about a missing woman from their area they felt might fit the description of the victims found in Little Rock.
Tyler continued with the call gathering a basic description of the woman, and then requested Hot Springs police fax over the missing woman’s photo.
Tyler ended the call and turned to Luke. “Sounds like this last victim we found. Her name is Lisa Cramer.”
“How long has she been missing?”
“Since last Saturday night. She came to Little Rock to see a band playing at a bar downtown and hasn’t been seen since,” Tyler explained.
“Who called in the report?”
“A friend of hers called it in initially when she didn’t return on Sunday. Hot Springs police assumed she’d met someone up here and just stayed for a few days. They didn’t take the report seriously. By Friday morning, when she still wasn’t back, her coworkers called the police. Then they took it seriously. After seeing the press conference, they thought they should give us a call.”
“Who did she meet up here?” Luke asked, leaning against Tyler’s desk reading over the notes from the call.
“No one seemed to know. Her friend said she drove up alone but was going to meet friends. They said Lisa was a private person, really independent, and if she didn’t offer details, friends knew not to ask,” Tyler explained just as the fax machine came to life.
Luke pulled the fax page from the machine. He looked at the photo of the woman. He couldn’t be absolutely certain, of course, but he was pretty sure Lisa was the last woman they pulled from the river.
“Call them back and tell them to get up here with someone who can identify her,” Luke demanded. “I’ll call Purvis and meet them at the morgue. Tell them to meet us in two hours. That should give them enough time. This can’t wait.”
Luke quickly walked over to his desk and placed a call to the medical examiner’s office.
At just about six-thirty that evening, Luke walked Mark Klein, the detective from Hot Springs, accompanied by Lisa’s sister Amy and friend Sharon into the morgue. Luke had prepped them that there was a possibility this was Lisa and asked both women if they were okay. They said they were about as good as the circumstance would allow.
Amy explained to Luke that she just wanted to get this over with. She was very concerned if it was Lisa how she’d break the news to their aging parents who had recently moved to Florida.
Purvis met them at the front door, and then walked them through a series of stark white hallways with blinding florescent lighting. He pushed open two swinging double doors that led into the room that held the bodies in the stacked metal freezers. One of the drawers was already pulled out, the outline of a body visible under the white sheet.
Purvis walked over. Luke, the detective, and the women followed. Purvis asked if they were ready. When both women nodded yes, Purvis pulled the sheet back from victim’s face. Looking down at the victim, both women began to softly sob. Luke motioned with his head for Purvis to pull the sheet back. Luke guided them back to the front office.
“That’s her. That’s my sister,” Amy informed them through sobs. “What happen to her? When did you find her?”
“Her body was found yesterday in the river by a fisherman. She was strangled,” Luke explained softly with as much compassion as he could. He remembered what it was like to be them when his sister was found.
“Who does she know up here that she would be meeting?”
Sharon responded, “Lisa lived in Little Rock in the Heights until three years ago. She had many friends in the area still and drove up often, at least a few times a month.”
“Why did she move to Hot Springs?” Luke inquired.
“She had ended a relationship just about three years ago and when her ex-boyfriend got a new girlfriend, she started harassing Lisa all the time. It was unbearable so she moved to get away from it all. The break up was hard enough for her. The other woman just added to the pain. She wanted a fresh start.”
“Why was the guy’s new girlfriend harassing her?” Detective Mark Klein asked.
Luke was pretty sure where this was going. The story sounded eerily similar to Riley’s.
“Lisa’s ex had cheated on her with this woman and she was doing everything to make sure they had no more contact. Not that Lisa wanted anything to do with either of them, but the woman wouldn’t stop. She made such a nuisance of herself, it was even putting Lisa’s job in jeopardy.”
Sharon described some of the calls and interactions the two women had.
Luke asked, “Any chance you remember the ex-boyfriend’s name or the girlfriend’s name?”
“I could never forget it. You should know them though. They are all over the news — George and Maime Brewer. Lisa was far too good for the whole situation. Seems he went and married the tramp.”
CHAPTER 68
“DO YOU THINK people get what they deserve?” Luke asked, sitting down at his desk across from Tyler. He had spent the last two hours taking a formal statement from Sharon and Amy. Then he connected Amy with the police department’s victim advocate who would help her make the call to their parents.
“What do you mean like karma?” Tyler asked, shifting through the pile of paperwork on his desk.
“I guess. I don’t know,” Luke sighed. He kicked his legs up and reclined his desk chair. He laced his fingers together over his taunt stomach and thought about the meaning of it all.
“I don’t mean these victims but George and Maime. I haven’t heard one good thing about these people since we started this case. You hate to ever say an
ything bad about a victim, but Maime seemed like she was one screwed up chick. George is no better. They seem perfect for each other actually. I mean nobody deserves to die, but these two seemed to have created all the negativity and hate they got back in their lives. It’s hard for me to feel bad for either one of them,” Luke explained. His thoughts were on Riley.
He wondered if she knew how lucky she was that it hadn’t worked out with George. Sometimes you just have to be thankful for the road not taken.
“What’s gotten into you? You don’t talk like this,” Tyler chided, looking over at Luke.
Luke waved him off. “I don’t know, man, tired I guess. It’s just Sara Bloomfield and Lisa Cramer seemed like really good people. Even Shannon McCarty, she may not have had the most appropriate of jobs, but everyone we talked to said she was a really good person. No one seems to have anything good to say about George and Maime.”
“Where you going with this?”
“Just hear me out. Let’s take Riley. She’s great. She’s this amazing woman and got all snared up with George. Same thing happened to her that happened to Lisa. She dated George. George cheated on Maime with Riley. Riley didn’t know. Once they found out about each other, Riley backed off and went about her life. Maime harassed her and literally drove her out of town the same way it happened with Lisa. Sara is connected to George, too. Laura, his current mistress, is also missing and so is Maime. All these people are connected not just to George but to Maime, too.”
“What are you saying?” Tyler asked, now standing by Luke’s desk looking down at him.
Luke shrugged trying to get the picture clearer in his head.
“Not to diminish your theory,” Tyler counter. “Sara was nothing more than his real estate agent. We don’t even know if Maime knew about her. Riley is perfectly safe. We don’t even know who the third victim is. Are you starting to believe that it’s about revenge and someone is framing George? That’s his theory. I think it’s crazy. He’s got means, motive and opportunity. Nobody else.”
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