Justice in Mystic Grove

by S F Bose

  Larissa shrugged. “He said he missed me and wanted to see if I was having a good time. We chatted a little and then hung up.”

  “Does Dom have a key to your car, Larissa?” I asked.

  She hesitated and stared at me. I repeated the question.

  “Yes. I had a duplicate made for him. Sometimes when I was at his place, he'd go get the car for me because he didn't want me to walk too far. Other times, he liked to drive it when we went out to dinner.”

  “You couldn’t park in the condo garage?” Sam asked.

  Larissa shook her head. “Dom had one spot for his car. They asked guests to park on the street.”

  “Does anyone else have a key to your car?” I asked.

  “Steven had a key too. It was just the three of us,” Larissa replied.

  I leaned forward and looked her in the eyes. “Larissa, did Dom mention driving your car the day of the murder?”

  Her eyebrows shot down into a frown. “My car? No. He has his own car,” she replied.

  “Okay, when you returned from Chicago was your car in the same spot in the lot?” I asked.

  Larissa frowned. “Yes, I think it was. I was tired though. Tina dropped me off. I saw the car and just got in.”

  “Do you think it's possible that Dom called your husband and they met at the cabin to talk things out?” I asked.

  I thought I saw something pass over Larissa’s face. Then she barked out a brittle laugh. “Dom isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t have gone to the middle of the woods alone with my husband. Besides, he was with a friend all day and the police confirmed it.”

  “Moose Crotty?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  I sat back and studied her face. “So Dom wouldn’t have tried to help you end your marriage so you could be together?”

  Larissa looked down at her hands on the table.

  “I admit things were getting more difficult between Dom and me. We argued more because he wanted me to divorce Steven so that he and I could marry. But Dom isn’t violent and he would never have gone out to the cabin.”

  “Did he know where the cabin was?” I asked.

  “Yes, we'd met there a few times,” Larissa replied. “He hated it because it was an hour away and in the middle of the woods. Dom isn’t very outdoorsy. What I’m trying to tell you is if Dom decided to talk to Steven behind my back, he would have chosen a very public place.”

  “You’re sure of that?” Sam asked.

  “I am… but,” Larissa replied and stopped.

  “But what, Larissa?” I asked.

  Larissa took a deep breath. “Give me a minute.” She squeezed her hands together and studied the top of the table. I glanced at Sam and back to Larissa. Finally, her head came up.

  “I have to tell the truth. Something happened after Steven was killed that worried me,” she said.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Dom stopped by my house a week after the murder to see how I was doing. I was shocked because his face was bruised and he had two black eyes. My parents were in the family room, so we went to the kitchen to talk.”

  “Did he say how he got hurt? I prompted.

  “He said that he and Moose got into a fight the day of the murder. Dom made a comment about Moose’s ex-girlfriend and they fought. I guess they were both embarrassed and apologized. Then they kept drinking.”

  “That’s the same story Dom told the police,” I said. “What part worried you?”

  “It didn’t make sense. Moose is not a heavy drinker and he’s not at all aggressive. So the idea that he was drunk and attacked Dom seemed out of character. I mentioned that to Dom a couple of times and he got angry. He said Moose had been like a different person.”

  “Did you believe him?” I asked.

  Larissa sighed. “Not really. At the time, I said I did because I was reeling from Steven’s murder and didn’t want to fight with Dom. However, I continued to have doubts. The drinking and fistfight just seemed off. And Moose had been dating the woman for just two months. Who gets depressed after breaking up with someone after two months?”

  “You knew the girlfriend?” Sam asked.

  “No, I hadn’t met her yet but I’ve known Moose for a couple of years,” Larissa replied. “Once Moose was sure about a woman, then he’d ask us to join them for dinner,” Larissa replied. “That hadn’t happened yet. He was still getting to know this latest girlfriend.”

  “So you knew Moose pretty well?” I asked.

  Larissa nodded. “For several years. Dom and I sometimes went out to dinner with him.”

  “Have you met any of his other girlfriends?” I asked.

  “Yes, a few. He dated a cosmetician, a young veterinarian, and a student. Then there was Marilyn, a woman he dated a year ago. She worked in an art gallery. Marilyn was very nice and I thought she was the one he might marry. But they broke up,” Larissa replied.

  “Did Moose get depressed then?” Sam asked.

  Larissa shook her head. “I’d say he was disappointed, but not depressed. Moose never brooded. He’s a good-looking guy and has dated and broken up with a number of women since I’ve known him. That’s why this latest… episode seemed so strange.”

  “You’ve been worrying about this?” I asked.

  Larissa nodded. “I have. It made me wonder if Dom was lying to me for some reason.”

  “But you don’t think he killed your husband?” Sam asked.

  “No, I don’t think Dom could do something like that,” Larissa agreed.

  “Did you ask him if he killed Steven?” I asked.

  Larissa looked down. “No, I didn’t ask him that.”

  “Did Dom say anything else that bothered you?” I asked.

  Larissa hesitated and then shook her head. “No, that was it.”

  “I’m glad you told us about it, Larissa. Have you seen Dom other times since the murder?” I asked.

  “No. Steven’s death really hit me hard. I told Dom I thought we shouldn’t see each other until things calmed down. It just didn’t look right,” Larissa replied.

  “How’d he take that?” I asked.

  Larissa shrugged. “He agreed. We do talk on the phone, though.”

  “How often?” Sam asked.

  “Every evening,” Larissa replied.

  “One other thing. Was Dom aware of the life insurance policy on your husband?” I asked.

  Larissa nodded. “He was. A few months ago, Dom brought up getting a life insurance policy with me as his beneficiary. He asked if Steven and I had life insurance. When I said we did, he asked what insurer Steven and I had used. We also talked about the face value, and what it cost.”

  “He knew the policy was for one million dollars?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Larissa replied in a quiet voice.

  I watched her. “Did he get the policy for himself?”

  “I don't know. I asked him once and he said he'd been too busy to look into it. I never brought it up again,” Larissa replied.

  “Okay, thanks Larissa. That’s all I have,” I said. “Sam?”

  Sam shook his head. “I’m good. Larissa, we appreciate your honesty.”

  “We really do,” I agreed. “We’ll be interviewing Dom soon. Please don’t share our conversation today with him.”

  Larissa nodded. “Okay, I won’t say anything. You know, the more I think about it, maybe Moose did lose his temper because he drank too much. Maybe he changed. I hate to doubt Dom.”

  “I understand. We’re just asking questions. But it’s important that you don’t give Dom a heads-up on this,” I cautioned.

  “I get it,” she replied.

  “One last question,” Sam said. “Do you know Mac Goodman?”

  Larissa frowned and shook her head. “No, I never heard that name before. Who is he?”

  “Just a name that came up. Nobody special,” Sam replied.

  Larissa frowned. “Can I go now?” she asked.

  “Of course,” I agreed and turned the voice recor
der off. “Larissa, again we’re only asking questions. Don’t worry about what we’ve asked you today.”

  “I won’t,” she replied. “Thanks.”

  When we all stood, Larissa groaned. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

  “We kept you a while,” Sam replied and shook her hand.

  “This is my card in case you think of anything else,” I said handing her my business card. She smiled and put it in her jacket pocket.

  “Have you had a service for Steven?” I asked as we left the conference room.

  “He’s being cremated tomorrow. Then we’ll inter him at the cemetery on Saturday. We’ll have a small, graveside service,” she said.

  “No Mass at St. Joe’s?”

  “No. Steven hated wakes and funerals. However, Father Tim, the associate pastor, is going to be at the cemetery. Steven liked him,” Larissa said.

  “That sounds like a nice send-off, Larissa,” I replied and smiled.

  “I hope so. Thanks,” Larissa said and hugged me. She took me by surprise and I patted her on her back.

  “Sorry,” she said, stepping back. “It’s been a rough few weeks and you’ve been so kind.” She gave me a weak smile.

  “Larissa, if you ever want to just talk, please call me. It doesn’t have to be about the case,” I said.

  She looked surprised. “Thanks. I will,” she replied and smiled again. Then she quickly walked out of the office.

  Chapter 23

  “What was your impression?” I asked. We sat in Sam’s office after the interview with Larissa Meagher.

  Sam frowned. “I found her hard to read at times, but on balance, I thought she was believable.”

  I nodded. “I thought so too. If what she said about her car being parked all day in Madison is true, that kills Rose’s story about seeing Larissa’s car at the cabin.”

  “Yeah, except someone else might have driven her car that day without her knowledge,” Sam replied.

  “Who? Larissa, Dom, and Meagher were the only ones with a key to her car. If Larissa was in Chicago, Dom Fontana was with his friend, and Meagher was dead, who else could have driven it?” I asked.

  Sam twirled his pen while he thought. “Maybe there were more car keys in circulation. Any one of them could have made an extra copy for someone else,” he replied.

  I felt a headache coming on. “Aside from those three, who would have a key and also know where Larissa parked her car that day?”

  Sam chewed his lip. Then he shook his head. “Yeah I see your point. One of the two guys at the cabin probably had a red car and Rose mistook it for Larissa’s Caddy.”

  “That’s more likely,” I agreed. “I thought it was interesting that Larissa doubted Dom’s story about the fight with Moose Crotty.”

  Sam shrugged. “To be honest, I could see a guy getting depressed over losing a woman he’d dated for a short amount of time. Maybe he thought she was the one he’d marry. Even the unusual drinking and fight made sense, if he loved the woman.”

  “You really think so?” I asked.

  Sam frowned and organized some papers on his desk. “I do.”

  I was thinking about that when Newmont called. Sam put him on speakerphone.

  “Any luck finding Rose?” Sam asked.

  “No. We talked to the concession manager and he didn’t know what we were talking about,” Newmont replied. “He’d been working all day and didn’t call the police for anything.”

  “Was it a man or woman who called in the sighting?” I asked.

  “Detective Swanson followed up with 911. After review, they said it sounded like the caller used voice changer technology to alter the voice,” Newmont replied. “Could have been a man or woman.”

  “It was probably Eric or Rose,” Sam commented and Newmont grunted.

  “So that was a dead end. But I have a couple of other things for you,” Newmont said. “I passed a copy of Eric O’Ryan’s flash drive to Detective Swanson. I gave him a heads-up on the videos and we watched both of them several times. He’s going to see what the video techs in Madison can come up with.”

  “Any timeframe for getting back to you?” Sam asked.

  “Swanson’s going to expedite the analysis,” Newmont replied. I was happy. Rose’s videos were our best clue to Steven Meagher’s killer.

  “Okay,” Sam replied and he smiled.

  We heard Newmont humming off-tune and rustling some paper. “Let’s see. Here we go. The 911 call center confirmed they received a payphone call about a dead body on the day of the murder. However, there was too much static to get an address. After the caller hung up, they called back the phone number but got no answer.”

  “So Rose did try to report the body,” I said jotting a note in my notebook.

  “She did,” Newmont agreed. “That’s all I have.”

  Sam and I brought Newmont up to speed on our interview with Larissa Meagher.

  “So she’s waffling on whether Fontana might have been involved?” he asked.

  “I think our questions put some doubts into her mind,” I replied. “Also, she seemed spooked by Dom’s visit to her home after the murder.”

  After a short silence, Newmont said, “Well we can fingerprint Dom for elimination purposes. It won’t help us with placing him at the cabin, since he’s been there with Larissa in the past. But his prints could help if we find the murder weapon.”

  “Do us a favor and don’t call him until after tomorrow. We have an interview scheduled at 9:00 a.m.,” Sam said.

  “No problem,” Newmont agreed.

  “Two other things came up,” I said, checking my notes. ”Larissa showed us her key to the cabin. It’s a brass key on an expensive, Italian brass, key ring. There’s a disk that connects the big key ring to a smaller ring. The disk has small-embedded diamonds. Then there’s a gold chain that connects a 24-karat gold lion's head with ruby eyes to the small ring. Very fancy. She said her husband always carried his cabin key with him. Was the key ring in his personal effects?”

  “Hang on,” Newmont replied. We heard him tapping on his computer, followed by some clicks. “No, the only keys we found were for his vehicles and for his home and office. She was certain he always carried that particular key chain?”

  “She was positive. Another thing she mentioned was a large St. Christopher medal that he wore on a gold chain around his neck,” I said.

  After a pause, Newmont replied, “No, that’s not here either. So we have two personal items missing.”

  “Is it possible it really was a robbery?” Sam asked.

  “I really doubt it. His wallet was intact and contained a lot of money. The killer left behind his two guns and two cell phones. There were also some electronics in the cabin I would have expected a thief to steal.”

  A few minutes later, we wrapped up the call.

  Sam sat back and looked at me. “We were talking about the interview with Larissa. Did you have any other thoughts?”

  “Well, I agree that she was pretty believable. She has a solid alibi that puts her in Chicago the day of the murder. She also seemed genuinely surprised about the money her husband made with his gambling and the tax evasion. That all seemed authentic,” I replied.

  “And her relationship with Dom?” Sam asked.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. I don’t get it. She said she loved Dom but wanted to stay married to Meagher, despite the fact that he was a controlling man. Even if Meagher had a bad temper, I don’t understand why she didn’t push for a divorce. She also waffled about Dom. On the one hand, she said he wasn’t capable of murder, would never meet Meagher at the cabin, and had a solid alibi. On the other hand, she questioned whether he was being truthful about his fight with Moose Crotty. Then she doubled back and said she didn’t think Dom killed her husband and that he might be telling the truth about Moose. That part of the interview gave me whiplash.”

  Sam laughed. “You didn’t believe her?” he asked.

  “No, in a weird way, her unc
ertainty made her more believable. It just surprised me,” I replied. “Larissa seems accomplished and strong when it comes to things like her work. But when it comes to relationships, she’s very uncertain.”

  “I know what you mean,” Sam said. “Another thing that struck me was how quickly her attitude changed when she realized there might be some hidden money that she could collect.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that too,” I agreed. “It’s not like she’s going to have money problems once the insurance company pays off.”

  “That’s very true,” Sam agreed. “It will be interesting to see what Dom Fontana says tomorrow.”

  “I agree,” I replied. “I’m trying to reserve judgement, but there are things about Dom that would make him a great suspect, if he didn’t have an alibi.”

  Sam stretched. “Very true. I’m going to ask Mitch for profiles on Tommy Vann and Paulie Meagher. I’d like to know more about both of them since they appear to be the only two friends Meagher had. Then I’m taking Flip for a nice long run.”

  Flip popped up from behind Sam’s desk and barked. His tail whipped back and forth, as he grinned at Sam.

  I laughed and stood. “Okay. I’m going to transfer the audio file and put some notes together for Neville. I’ll include what Newmont gave us.”

  “Thanks, Liz,” Sam said and smiled.

  “My pleasure, boss,” I replied and walked toward the door that connected our offices.

  “Don’t call me ‘boss,’” he growled and I laughed.

  Chapter 24

  I summarized the phone call with Newmont and my notes from the meeting. Then I transferred the audio file and sent an email to Neville. It took me a lot longer to finish those tasks than I’d expected. An hour earlier, Sam had shouted, “Good night” when he left with Flip. Now I was alone and thinking about dinner.

  When my cell phone rang, I noticed it was from a blocked number.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s Rose O’Ryan. Can you talk?”

  “Sure,” I replied. “Where are you?”

  Rose laughed. “Staying under the radar. I have a recording I want to give you. It’s a call from Meagher I forgot to put on the flash drive. Can we meet?”

  “Now?”

  “No better time. But it has to be just you and me. If I see anyone else, I’ll disappear,” she warned.