Justice in Mystic Grove

by S F Bose

  Newmont just grunted. “Sam, can I have that flash drive?”

  “Sure. Just let me copy it to my computer first,” Sam replied and transferred the files. Then he handed the flash drive to Newmont.

  “Liz, I put the folder with the recordings and video on the shared drive. The folder name is ‘EricORyan’. All one word,” Sam said and spelled the name out.

  “Okay thanks. I’ll let Neville know.” I replied.

  “I’ll check on the 911 call. We’ll also issue a BOLO for Rose O’Ryan.” Newmont said.

  “I probably have the make and model of her car in the case file,” I offered.

  “Nah, I can get it back at the station,” he replied.

  “For what it’s worth, I don’t think Rose O’Ryan was working with those guys. They weren’t performing for her. They both seemed nervous,” I said.

  “I tend to agree,” Sam replied.

  “You realize if Eric and Rose’s story is true, then Larissa Meagher’s car was at the cabin the day of the murder,” I said.

  Sam stared and Newmont chewed his lower lip.

  “Well, there are a number of possibilities. It could have been Larissa Meagher’s car, in which case we do have a problem. It could have been a different Cadillac ATS, which seems unlikely. It could also have been a red car with similar styling to the ATS, which is more likely. Or Rose O’Ryan could have been lying about Larissa’s car or any other car being there,” Newmont said.

  “Larissa Meagher’s alibi is solid?” Sam asked.

  Newmont nodded. “It is.”

  “Can you get the GPS location data for her car?” Sam asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll start the paperwork. But it can take a long time to get that data,” he replied.

  After Newmont left, I floated an idea with Sam. “What do you think about talking to Larissa Meagher and Dom Fontana next?”

  “You don’t think Rose did it?” asked Sam.

  “I don’t know for sure,” I replied. “But I think it’s a mistake to stop talking to other people while the police try to track Rose down. If we keep working the case our way, we may get more leads.”

  “Yeah, the two guys at the cabin kept their faces well-hidden. It’s not going to be easy to track them down,” Sam replied. “Go ahead and set up the interviews with Larissa Meagher and Dom Fontana.”

  “One more thing,” I said. “Do you think I should update Simon Goodman about this latest development? It might make him feel better to know the police have a stronger suspect than Mac.”

  Sam thought about it. “Let’s wait. He wanted us to find the killer and the jury is still out about whether that’s Rose or someone else.”

  “Okay, sounds good,” I replied. Before I returned to my office, I stopped to talk to Neville.

  “Thanks for sticking around, Neville. It helped to have you out here with the lawyer.”

  “No problem. It was an interesting afternoon,” he replied and smiled. “I’m guessing I’ll have a new file to work on in the morning.”

  I grinned and waved my cell phone. “You guessed it. I’ll transfer the audio file of our interview with Eric O’Ryan to the shared server. But Sam also transferred some files that we got from Eric O’Ryan to the shared drive. Some are audio files of Meagher harassing Rose O’Ryan. I’ll move those to a separate folder. Then there are jpeg photos and videos of the cabin the day of the murder. Those are in a folder called ‘EricORyan.’ You should watch the videos. I’ll send you an email with the folder and filenames.”

  “And you want all of the audio and video files all added to the case file?” he asked.

  “Yes, that would be great,” I replied.

  He gave me a thumbs-up.

  I returned to my office and settled down at my desk. First, I transferred the Eric O’Ryan interview audio file to the shared drive. Then I separated out the Meagher harassment calls into a separate folder. That left the cabin photos and videos in the ‘EricORyan’ folder. I emailed Neville with the folder and filenames and exhaled. One task done.

  After that, I called Larissa Meagher and introduced myself. I explained that we were investigating the murder of her husband.

  When I said we’d like to interview her, she replied, “I already talked to the police.”

  “I understand,” I said. “However, we’re working for someone else who wants to see the killer found and brought to justice. We thought you might like to help.”

  “Who are you working for?”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t share that,” I replied. “But it’s someone who’s very motivated. I do think that the more people we have working the case, the better our chances of finding the murderer. That won’t bring your husband back, unfortunately, but I hope it would bring you a little peace of mind.” I tried to sound sympathetic.

  There was a pause. “It would be a relief to find the killer and lock him up,” Larissa said. “I’ve been a nervous wreck thinking that he might come after me.”

  “I understand. The sooner we find the person, the sooner your life can go back to normal,” I agreed.

  I heard her exhale into the phone. “Normal would be good. To be honest, the county sheriff and Mystic Grove police haven’t been very good at communicating with me. I call Deputy Newmont almost every day.”

  “My partner and I could come to you, if that’s more convenient.”

  “No, my parents are staying with me until this is resolved. I’ll come to your office,” Larissa replied.

  We agreed on 1:00 p.m. the next day and I gave her directions to the office.

  Then I called Dom Fontana to set up an interview to talk about Steven Meagher. He immediately said he didn’t really know Meagher and doubted he could help us. When I explained we were interviewing people who also knew Larissa, Fontana was more willing to come in for an interview. However, he couldn’t come in the next day, so we settled on 9:00 a.m. on the following day. After I gave him our address, he thanked me and hung up. I stared at the phone. He hadn’t asked any of the questions I would have expected.

  As a precaution, I retrieved my copy of Meagher’s Rainy Day Fund notebook. I scanned through the initials for “DF” and didn’t find a matching entry. It would have been truly bizarre if Meagher had been blackmailing his wife’s lover. Shaking my head, I closed the notebook and called it a day.

  Chapter 22

  The next day Sam and I ate lunch at the Farmhouse Café. We discussed how we wanted to approach the interview with Larissa. Sam suggested that I take the lead on the questioning, which was fine with me. We also agreed that we should be candid about her affair with Dom Fontana.

  Then I told Sam about a conversation I’d had with Neville that morning. He had listened to the interview with Eric O’Ryan and then watched the two videos Rose filmed at the cabin.

  “Neville said that with at least two killers, it should be easier to eventually solve the case. In addition to being stupid, the killers would never be loyal to each other if cornered.”

  Sam nodded. “There’s some truth to that. I’ve seen accused family member turn against each other when they realized they were looking at jail time. That’s when the fear kicks in.”

  “Yeah, our problem is finding two guys who looked like ninjas,” I replied and Sam laughed.

  “Neville has good instincts,” Sam said. “I’d really like to hire him full-time.”

  “Me too, but he has a date with a Master’s program at the university,” I replied. I thought I heard Sam mutter something about college being overrated.

  At 1:00 p.m., we returned from lunch and found Neville at his desk watching a woman pacing near Sam’s office door. Flip sat in front of Neville’s desk and also watched her. When the short, blonde woman turned, I recognized her from the pictures Mac and Kerry Goodman provided.

  “Larissa Meagher?” I asked, hurrying forward. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  She smiled briefly and we shook hands. “Thank you,” she replied.

  “I’m Liz Bean and this is
Sam Nolan. Thank you for coming in.” Larissa shook Sam’s hand.

  “Anything I can do to help,” she replied. She looked and sounded tired. Suddenly, she cocked her head as she looked at me. “I know you,” she said. “Your family owns the B&B outside of town and you drive a cute, red Mini Cooper. Am I right?”

  “That’s me,” I replied and smiled. “You saw me at the B&B?”

  Larissa nodded. “I did. I’ve been there many times for dinner. It’s a wonderful property.”

  I realized that the realtor in her had just kicked in. “Thank you, it is. We plan to keep the farm and B&B in the family forever.”

  Although I saw her eyes dim a bit, she whipped out a business card from her jacket pocket and handed it to me. “Keep my card. If things change or if you want to buy real estate in the future, give me a call,” she said.

  “Thank you,” I replied and pocketed her card.

  Five minutes later, the three of us sat in the conference room. Larissa sipped some hot coffee. Her blue eyes drifted back and forth between Sam and me as we got organized. Sam started up his laptop and I activated the voice recorder on my cell phone.

  I had just opened my notebook when Sam’s cell phone rang. He looked at the phone display and stood.

  “Hey Newmont,” he said and listened for a while. Then he said, “Really? … Okay, sure… Let us know how it turns out… Good luck.” He hung up and frowned.

  Sam reclaimed the chair to my left and turned towards me.

  “That was Newmont. He was supposed to stop by this afternoon, but there was a sighting of Rose O’Ryan.”

  “Really? Where?” I asked.

  “At the north concession building at Devil’s Lake State Park. The police got an anonymous call. Newmont’s headed out there right now with some deputies.”

  “A call from a man or a woman?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  I thought about it for a second. “My gut tells me Rose O’Ryan is nowhere near Devil’s Lake State Park.

  “Diversion?”

  I nodded “It’s what I’d do. The BOLO probably didn’t go out until last night. How would anyone at the park know that the police were looking for her and call it in?”

  “Good point,” Sam agreed. We both realized Larissa Meagher was staring at us as if we were aliens. She sat across the conference table looking worried. “Rose O’Ryan? Is she okay?” she asked.

  “I’m so sorry, Larissa!” I said in surprise. “May I call you Larissa?”

  “Of course. Is Rose O’Ryan all right? She works at Danvers Realty with me.”

  “Do you know her well?” Sam asked.

  “No, not really. I mean I know who she is, but we’re not close. I see her at team meetings and holiday parties. She seems like a nice person, though,” Larissa replied. “What’s going on?”

  I took a deep breath and debated how much I wanted to share with her. Looking her in the eye, I leaned forward.

  “Larissa, I can’t give you a lot of details, but the police want to talk to Rose about your husband’s murder.”

  Larissa’s mouth dropped open and her eyes narrowed. “Rose O’Ryan? They think she killed Steven?”

  I shook my head. “No, they just want to talk to her. She might have some information that could help them.”

  “But you said the police were looking for her and someone called in that they saw her. Now they’re going out to find her,” Larissa replied. “That sounds a lot more serious than just wanting to talk to her.”

  “No, that’s pretty common in murder investigations,” I replied, stretching the truth. ”The police will pull out all the stops to talk to information sources as quickly as possible.”

  “Rose O’Ryan might have information about Steven?” Larissa asked. Then her eyes turned to slits. “Was she having an affair with Steven?” she demanded.

  “No!” Sam and I replied together.

  “Larissa, your husband gave her a traffic ticket a while ago. She was one of the last people to see him at a local restaurant. The police just want to talk to her.”

  “Steven and Rose were at a restaurant?” Larissa asked.

  I didn’t want to get Larissa all wound up about Meagher and Rose O’Ryan. I needed to get her through the interview. I also didn’t want to share that her husband had been blackmailing Rose.

  “Larissa, she saw him at a restaurant. The police have spoken to other people who saw him there too. She’s just another witness they want to interview,” I lied.

  “The police are talking to a lot of people who interacted with your husband. They’re looking for clues,” Sam added and Larissa seemed to relax.

  “I see. Okay, that makes sense,” she agreed. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Rose was definitely not Steven’s type. And there’s no way she could have killed him. She’s short and he was a big man.” She sipped some coffee.

  Not Steven’s type? I decided to come back to that later.

  “Let’s get started,” I said turning to my notebook. “I apologize in advance, because I’m sure I’ll ask some questions that the police already covered.”

  “That’s okay. At least I’m doing something to help. Staying at home with my parents and waiting has been stressful. Go ahead with your questions,” she replied.

  “Okay, thanks. How had your husband seemed in the days before his death?”

  “The same as always. He was a little upset because his receptionist was leaving the area,” Larissa replied. “He was interviewing people for the position.”

  “Did he mention if he’d received threats of any sort?” I asked.

  “No. I’m sure he upset some people because of his police work. He did like to stop speeding drivers and issue tickets. Steven could also be…gruff. When you put it all together, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were people who didn’t like him. But he never said anything about threats.”

  I nodded. “Is there anyone you can think of who might have killed him?”

  Larissa shook her head. “An actual person? No, I can’t think of a specific person.”

  “Larissa, we’d like to show you a video of two men who may have been involved in your husband’s murder. Would you be willing to watch the video?” Sam asked.

  Larissa hesitated and looked at me. Then she nodded, “Of course.”

  Sam and I went around the table and stood next to her. He set his laptop in front of her and clicked the video. Larissa watched the two men dressed in black exit the cabin. I watched her face for any reaction. Blood drained from her cheeks and her mouth opened.

  “That’s our cabin. When was this video taken?”

  “The day of the murder. You recognize either man?” Sam asked.

  Larissa shook her head. “No, they’re all covered up. They don’t look familiar at all. These men killed Steven?”

  “They might have,” he replied.

  She groaned and covered her face. “I don’t know who they are. I can’t help,” she said.

  “It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” I replied and patted her on the back.

  “Can I show you another video?” Sam asked. “It doesn’t have the two men in it.”

  “Okay,” Larissa replied

  Sam played the first video that Rose O’Ryan had shot at the cabin. He stopped the video when it was focused on Meagher’s van and the red car.

  “Is that red car your Cadillac?” he asked.

  Larissa leaned forward and looked at the screen. “I can’t tell. It’s just the very back of a red car. That looks like the van Steven bought, though.”

  “Okay, it was worth a shot,” Sam replied and smiled. Sam and I returned to our chairs while Larissa dabbed at her eyes with tissue.

  “Are you okay?” I asked. She bobbed her head and blew her nose.

  “Will you be able to identify those men?” she asked.

  “There are a lot of police working on it,” I assured her. “Are you okay to continue?”

  “Yes,” Larissa replied firmly.

&nb
sp; I looked down at my notes. “Okay, one of the things we’ve discovered is that your husband liked to gamble,” I said.

  Larissa sat back in her chair and smiled. “He didn’t like to gamble. He loved to gamble. Poker in particular. He was an excellent player.”

  “Did you ever go with him when he played?” I asked.

  “I joined him when we were first married. But I hadn’t gone for years. I don’t really like gambling or casinos, so he went by himself.”

  “Did he ever tell you he played in high-stakes poker games outside of the casinos?” I asked.

  Larissa looked surprised. “Outside of the casinos? Where?”

  “They call them traveling poker games,” I replied. They’re usually held in private homes and attract wealthy players.”

  “No, Steven never mentioned traveling games and he certainly wasn’t wealthy. However, he did mention playing poker in homes. I always thought he was playing with people from work.”

  “You never asked?”

  “No,” Larissa admitted. “I didn’t care. It was his thing, not mine.”

  I nodded. “So your husband probably never mentioned if he had any altercations with anyone at a private poker game?”

  “No, he never did. Why are you so focused on his gambling?” asked Larissa.

  I sat back in my chair and considered her. “We’re trying to identify different people who had a motive to kill your husband. For example, the killer could be someone he met because of his police work. It could also be someone your husband met through his gambling.”

  Larissa looked stunned. “Oh my God, I never thought about that. I’ve been hanging on to the idea it was a botched robbery.”

  “That’s also a possibility,” I admitted.

  “I had another question about your husband’s gambling,” Sam said. “Did your husband report all of his winnings?”

  Larissa shrugged. “I assume so, but I’m not sure. Why?”

  “We’re just trying to understand how your husband operated,” he replied.

  Larissa’s lips tightened and she shook her head. “I can’t answer your question because I don’t know. Steven and I segregated much of our finances. He had his bank accounts and I had mine. We also filed our taxes separately and had separate accountants. I paid my taxes and assumed he paid his.”