Justice in Mystic Grove

by S F Bose

  “At first I did,” Larissa admitted. “He really did seem surprised that I thought he was involved with the murder. But after you interviewed me, I started to have doubts.”

  “What kind of doubts?” I asked.

  Larissa waved her hands in the air. “Too many things didn’t make sense. Why was Dom driving my car with Tommy Vann as a passenger? Why did Dom lie about Tommy? Why did Dom ask me to lie about calling me from Moose’s place, if anyone asked? And I still find it hard to believe that Moose Crotty hit Dom in a fistfight. It all piled up and I started to have doubts about Dom.”

  “So you don’t think Dom killed your husband,” Sam said.

  Larissa looked at him. “No, I don’t. However, I think he knows more about the murder than he’s admitting. And I’m afraid to ask him about it again,” she replied. Larissa pressed a tissue to her eyes.

  “Okay, I understand. On the day of the murder, what time did Dom call you?” asked Sam.

  “It was in the afternoon,” Larissa replied.

  “Can I see your phone?” I asked.

  “Sure.” Larissa pulled her cell phone from a pocket in her purse and handed it to me.

  “Do I need a password?” I asked.

  “No, just swipe the screen,” she replied and pulled more tissues from her bag.

  I swiped the lock screen. From the home screen, I clicked on the phone icon and then opened the call log. I scrolled back to the date of Meagher’s murder.

  “Here it is. An incoming call at 2:04 p.m. That’s within the time of death range. Neville, could you look up Dom Fontana’s phone number in the case file, please?”

  “Sure.” Neville opened his laptop and after a minute said, “There are several. This is his cell phone number.” He read off a number with a 608 area code.

  “Bingo!” I said and smiled at Larissa. “He used his cell phone. So Dom called you that afternoon from your car and Tommy Vann was with him. Despite what he told us, Dom wasn’t at Moose Crotty’s place for most of that day.”

  “But I don’t have any proof,” Larissa said.

  I handed the phone back to her. “What you’ve told us really helps, Larissa. The police have filed the paperwork to get the GPS location data for your car. That data will identify where your car was when Dom called you at 2:04 p.m. The police can also get the GPS location data for Dom’s cell phone. That information will either place him near the location of your car or it will place him elsewhere,” I replied.

  Larissa’s eyes widened and she nodded. “I get it. I didn’t know they could do that.”

  “If the car and the cell phone data are anywhere near your cabin, that’s crucial evidence,” Sam said.

  “Larissa, you’re still not seeing Dom in person, right?” I asked.

  “Just that one time at my house. Like I mentioned before, I didn’t think it would be good to see him during the investigation. But we do still speak on the phone every day.”

  “What do you talk about?” I asked.

  “We talk about wishing the police would catch the killer and end the investigation. Sometimes Dom wants to talk about what we’ll do once we get past this. But I told him I was too still too upset to discuss that.”

  “How’d he react to that?” I asked.

  “He said he understood.”

  “Larissa, I have to ask. Why didn’t you go to the police? At the very least, it sounded like you thought Dom might have knowledge about your husband’s death. You knew his alibi was bogus because he asked you to lie,” I said.

  Larissa took a deep breath. “I know it was wrong but I was confused and scared. I loved Dom and didn’t really believe he killed Steven. But you’re right. I felt he knew something about the murder. I thought maybe Tommy killed Steven and Dom found out. But I had no idea how Dom and Tommy met. I also couldn’t figure out why Tommy would kill Steven. Anyway, I was a nervous wreck and hardly slept at night. I was sad about Steven and worried about Dom. I eventually realized that by not telling the police the truth right away, I had my own legal problems. I had lied to the police and signed a statement I knew was false. So I decided to stay quiet.”

  “Larissa, you need to talk to the police,” Sam said.

  “I will,” she agreed. “But I got the name of an attorney I want to talk to first. He won’t be back in his office until next week.”

  “Just so you know, we have to share this information with Deputy Newmont,” Sam cautioned.

  “Really? I was hoping for a little more time,” Larissa replied. “But if you have to…”

  Sam nodded. “We do. It’s a murder case.”

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  “Larissa, when we showed you that video of the two men at the cabin, did either one of them remind you of Tommy Vann or Dom?” I asked.

  Larissa shook her head. “No, I didn’t recognize either one of the men in the video.”

  “Neville, could you retrieve the cabin video and play it for Larissa, please?” Sam asked.

  “Of course,” Neville replied. After a few seconds, he slid his laptop toward Larissa. I stood and walked to Larissa’s side, so I could watch the video too. Neville clicked and the video started.

  Larissa leaned forward and stared at the two men. I watched them carefully too. Neither man reminded me of Dom or Tommy, but I’d only seen them one time. When the video ended, I looked at Larissa.

  “I can’t be sure,” she said. “I don’t recognize the clothes, but the first man might be Tommy. I couldn’t swear to it though.”

  I returned to my chair and Neville slid the computer back in front of him.

  Sam nodded and jotted something down in his notebook. “Okay, that’s helpful.”

  Larissa’s eyes teared up again.

  “Larissa, you have to be careful,” I said. “You can’t let Dom know you’ve spoken to us and that you plan to talk to the police. It’s not clear how this all went down, but you can’t make him suspicious.”

  Larissa paled. “I won’t. My folks are staying with me for a few more weeks so Dom won’t be coming over. And I’ll be careful when we talk on the phone,” she replied. “I’m so glad I told you, though. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me.”

  “I’m happy you told us the truth too,” I replied.

  “You’ll feel even better when you talk to the police,” Sam said and she nodded.

  After Larissa left, we discussed the meeting in Sam’s office.

  “Did you believe her?” Sam asked, looking at Neville and me.

  “I did,” I replied. “I just wish she had told us the truth sooner.”

  “She seemed believable,” Neville agreed.

  I sat back in my chair and looked at Sam. “Do you think our two men in black at the cabin might be Dom and Tommy?”

  “It’s possible. The fact that Larissa placed them together, presumably in her car, the afternoon of the murder got my attention,” Sam replied.

  “If Dom were one of the men at the cabin, I’d think Larissa could have picked him out,” Neville said.

  I shook my head. “Not necessarily. If Sam dressed all in black and wore a ski mask and hoodie, I’m not sure I could identify him in a video like that one,” I replied.

  “Well if it is Dom and Tommy in the video, that means their alibis are bogus,” Neville said.

  Sam nodded. “I’m going to ask Newmont to take another run at Moose Crotty. I wish he’d been able to talk to Fred Graydon.”

  “Put Dom and Tommy in the same room and lay the evidence out for them,” Neville suggested. “They’ll probably turn against each other.”

  Sam twirled his pen and then tapped the desk with it. “Larissa was right about the evidence, though, Neville. Until we get the GPS data, it’s pretty much her word against Dom’s that he was driving her car. Without that, we don’t have any hard evidence.”

  “Okay, what about this? We have two possible suspects,” I said. “Let’s call Newmont and see if he can get search warrants based on what we’ve got. I really like Nev
ille’s idea of putting Dom and Tommy in the same room, but we do need more evidence. Right now we just have Larissa’s statement.”

  “I like it,” Sam agreed and called Newmont. When Newmont answered, Sam put him on speakerphone and summarized our interview with Larissa Meagher.

  “Dom Fontana and Tommy Vann? Larissa was sure about that?” Newmont asked.

  “She was sure they were together in her car. It was also within Meagher’s estimated time of death. Did you get the GPS data for Larissa’s car yet?” asked Sam.

  “No, not yet. It’s taking longer for the companies to respond to data requests. I was just going to schedule an interview with Tommy Vann,” Newmont said with a sigh.

  “You think we have enough for search warrants?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure. I’ll need a couple of hours to follow up with Moose Crotty and do some other things. Can you meet me at the police station around 4:00 p.m.?”

  “Sure thing,” Sam replied.

  “Okay, see you then,” Newmont replied and hung up.

  Sam smiled and clapped his hands. “Okay, the three of us have a date with Newmont this afternoon.”

  “Me too?” Neville asked in surprise.

  “Only if you want to,” Sam replied and smiled.

  “You bet!” Neville replied.

  Chapter 34

  At 4:00 p.m. Sam, Neville, and I walked into the Mystic Grove police department. Flip pulled on his leash and Sam held on tightly. We greeted Joyce Tani at the desk and she waved us back to Newmont’s office.

  “Come on in,” he said. “Have a seat.”

  Sam introduced Neville and Newmont shook his hand. “I think I saw you at Sam’s office once, but it’s nice to put a name to the face.”

  “Thanks. Same here,” Neville replied and smiled.

  We all sat down and Flip stretched out on the floor near the door. Newmont opened a small notebook and looked at us. “I tracked down Moose Crotty at his place of work and we had another chat. I explained that we knew on the day Steven Meagher was killed, Dom hadn’t spent the entire day with Moose. That meant Moose had lied to us during a murder investigation. I then explained aiding and abetting to him.”

  “He caved?” Sam asked.

  “He did. Moose complained that he was tired of having to lie so many times for Dom Fontana,” Newmont replied. “He swore Dom never mentioned Steven Meagher. He also rescinded his previous statement and told me what happened. Dom called him the Tuesday before the murder and said he needed an alibi and would pay good money for it. Moose agreed to help but told him he didn’t want to know any details. Dom was happy with that and said he had a story planned out. The story was that Dom was at Moose’s apartment almost all day Wednesday. The reason was that Moose was upset over a breakup with his girlfriend and had been drinking. Dom was there for moral support. They drank a lot and Dom stayed overnight. Moose said that it was an easy story to remember and agreed to provide the alibi. He told me he was supposed to tell that story to anyone who called.”

  “Similar story to what Dom told Larissa,” I said.

  Newmont nodded. “I asked Moose if he was sure that Dom never mentioned anything about the murder. He stated emphatically that Dom never said a word.”

  “Did you believe him?” I asked.

  Newmont shifted in his chair. “I’m leaning toward believing him this time, but to be honest I’m not sure. Moose has proven himself to be an accomplished liar. I reminded Moose that I informed him on my first visit that it was a murder case. Moose said that was when he decided he wouldn’t have anything more to do with Dom. He told me Dom called him the same day I questioned both of them. Moose related the questions I had asked and Dom swore he didn’t know anything about a murder. So Moose told him that he didn’t like the situation and he never wanted to talk to Dom again.”

  “But Moose didn’t go to the police to clear things up,” Sam said.

  “No, he didn’t. Moose said he hoped the whole thing would just go away.”

  “Why didn’t Moose ask what Dom needed an alibi for in the first place?” Neville asked.

  “Ignorance is bliss,” Newmont replied. “If he didn’t know what Dom was into, Moose felt he wouldn’t get in trouble himself.”

  “Did Moose say anything else?” Sam asked.

  Newmont nodded. “He did. The original plan was that Dom wouldn’t actually go over to Moose’s home. However, Wednesday evening Dom called Moose and said he’d had some trouble. Moose told him to come over. When Dom arrived, his face was bruised, his nose bloodied, and he had the beginnings of two black eyes. He said he didn’t want to tell Moose what happened. He had a new script in case Larissa or the police called.”

  “The fight,” I said.

  Newmont smiled. “Bingo. He added the story of the supposed fistfight between Dom and Moose.”

  “Dom was pretty creative,” Sam said.

  “Moose agreed to the new alibi when Dom doubled the money to two hundred dollars. Dom also insisted on a real fistfight so that their story about the drinking and the fight was more realistic. He thought they’d remember the details better if they actually fought.”

  “And Moose didn’t question any of this,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Evidently not,” Newmont replied. “Then Moose asked me about aiding and abetting again. After that he clammed up.”

  “Did you bring Moose in?” I asked.

  Newmont nodded his head. “Sure did. I read him his rights and arrested him. When we returned to the station, we discovered that Moose had an open warrant, which made him even more stupid. He’s in the lock-up.”

  Sam pushed his chair back so he could stretch his legs. “So we have one guy who looks good for the murder.”

  “Maybe two,” Newmont replied. “I got to thinking about the Fred Graydon alibi. I called his assistant again and asked her to check Fred’s calendar for the day of the murder. Turned out he was at the Art Institute of Chicago that Wednesday and returned to Madison late Thursday.”

  “So Tommy Vann lied too!” I exclaimed.

  “Winner, winner, chicken dinner,” Sam said and clapped.

  Newmont smiled but shook his head. “I should have asked her that the first time I talked to her. Anyway, we’ve got two suspects now with no alibis.”

  “Is that enough for search warrants?” I asked.

  Newmont nodded. “Yeah, I talked to Chief Durand and Detective Swanson earlier and got the green light. I wrote up the paperwork to search Dom Fontana’s two homes and office, Tommy Vann’s home, and both their cars. We’re fast walking it through the process and will have the warrants tomorrow morning.”

  “I wish Larissa had told us the truth earlier,” said Sam. “We could have moved on this so much sooner.”

  Newmont nodded. “I agree. I stopped at her house on the way back and Larissa reiterated what she told you. Her revised statement helped with the warrants.”

  “Neville suggested bringing Dom Fontana and Tommy Vann in and putting them in the same interrogation room. Let Larissa come in and explain what she heard on the phone that day,” I said. “Then you could see how Dom and Tommy react.”

  Newmont considered that for a minute. “I planned to bring them in and question them separately. I like your idea, though,” he said to Neville. Neville looked surprised, but nodded.

  “I thought it might make Dom and Tommy turn on each other,” Neville replied.

  “It just might,” Newmont agreed. “I like the element of surprise. Let’s do it.”

  “When are you planning to do the searches?” I asked.

  Newmont took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. “Tomorrow. I’ll schedule Fontana and Vann for interviews in the early afternoon. I can make sure Larissa arrives earlier so I can prep her. We’re getting no-knock warrants so our teams will be able to execute the warrants while our suspects are here.”

  “Won’t you have to Mirandize them, though? What if they lawyer up?” Neville asked.

  Newmont lo
oked at him and smiled. “No, I’ll assure them they’re not in custody and are free to go at any time. If they’re not in custody, I don’t have to read them the Miranda warning. If they make any incriminating statements, we’ll arrest them and Mirandize them then.”

  Neville nodded.

  “Any chance we can sit in on the questioning? Our client is getting antsy,” Sam said.

  “You and Liz can sit in, but I’ll do all the questioning. I’m sorry, Neville, you can’t be in the interrogation room. However, we do have an observation room. You can sit in there and watch the questioning if you like.”

  Neville’s eyes lit up. “Thanks. That would be great.”

  “All right then. Sam, I’ll call you in the morning to let you know if we have a green light on the searches. I’ll also have the exact time for the interviews then.”

  “Thanks Newmont. I hope we can put this one to bed,” Sam replied and stood.

  “Me too,” Newmont agreed.

  The three of us were quiet on the ride back to the office. A frisson of fear cut through me. The questioning could fall apart in so many ways. Would we find out who killed Steven Meagher tomorrow or would it be a bust?

  Chapter 35

  The next morning, Sam, Neville, and I all arrived at work early. Time crawled while we waited for the call from Newmont.

  Neville updated the case file with the new information Larissa Meagher had shared. Sam had left Flip at home but showed me how he could monitor his dog online and on his phone. Since Flip spent much of his time sleeping on the living room couch, there wasn’t a lot of action to watch.

  Sam looked unhappy. “My dog’s a couch potato.”

  “Flip is a social dog, Sam. He’s all over you when you get home from work at night, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah, he is,” Sam admitted. “He greets me at the door and we play. If the weather is decent, I take him for a run. Then he hangs around me wherever I go.”

  “I think he’s saving his energy until you get home,” I said and Sam smiled.

  “I got the GPS collar but I haven’t figured it out yet. Once I have that on him, he’ll be as safe as I can make him,” Sam said.