Justice in Mystic Grove

by S F Bose

  “In a minute. Larissa, did you ever ask Dom if he had killed your husband?” Newmont asked.

  “I did. He denied it. He was very firm about it and I did believe him. But now I think he knows more then he’s admitted,” Larissa replied.

  Newmont “You think he knows who the killer is?”

  Larissa stared at Newmont. “I think he probably does.”

  I nodded. Larissa’s story was consistent and credible.

  Newmont looked at Dom. “Okay, Dom it’s your turn to speak.”

  Dom leaned forward and stared at Newmont. “Deputy, just about everything Larissa said was a lie. I don’t know why she’s lying, but she is. Things haven’t been so good between us lately, so maybe this is her way of getting back at me. I don’t know anything about her husband’s killer,” he said and stopped to take a deep breath.

  Dom looked down the table at Larissa. She sat back in her chair and avoided looking at him.

  Dom’s eyes swung back to Newmont. “I called Larissa from Moose’s place to see if she was having a good time. I did tell her I thought we’d be together forever someday. I also told her I missed her. That was pretty much it. I didn’t drive her car and I wasn’t with anybody named Tommy. None of that happened.”

  “Larissa made all of that up?” Newmont asked.

  “She did,” Dom replied.

  “I didn’t!” Larissa said and Newmont shook his head at her.

  Dom continued. “As for the visit to her house, it was a mistake. Her parents were in the house so we couldn’t speak freely. My face was still banged up which freaked Larissa out. She was skeptical about the fistfight with Moose. We argued about it, but eventually, she said she believed me. I don’t know what else we talked about that night. After a while, I left.”

  I looked at Tommy who stared down at the table. I was surprised to see a smile playing on the edges of his mouth. He’s enjoying this, I thought.

  “For the record,” Larissa said, “I have not lied about anything.”

  Dom snorted.

  Newmont reached into the file folder and pulled out several warrants. He slid them across the table to Dom and Tommy.

  “Because of Larissa Meagher’s earlier statement and some other information, we decided to investigate both of you further. We’re currently executing search warrants at your homes and business offices. You’ll also find a search warrant there for your cell phones and authorization to search your cars. We’ll need your car keys, gentlemen.”

  Neither man picked up the warrants.

  “This is all based on her statement?” Tommy asked hooking a thumb at Larissa.

  “Partially,” Newmont replied.

  Tommy’s face turned red. “You realize Larissa’s nuts, right? I don’t know why she’s dragging me into this mess. Her story is a lie.”

  “A judge agreed that her statement supported the warrant request,” Newmont replied evenly.

  Tommy Vann looked at Newmont. “You’re serious?”

  “Yes, I am serious,” Newmont replied, speaking quietly. “Put your car keys and cell phones on the table.”

  Tommy smiled tightly and quickly reached into his jeans pocket. Officer Williams moved his hand to his gun and I reached for my Glock.

  Tommy saw us both tense and said, “Easy. I’m taking out my car keys and cell phone like the deputy requested.” He extracted them, set them on the table, and sat down. I relaxed and sat back.

  “Deputy Newmont, I have nothing to hide. Larissa may have talked to Fontana that day, but she’s mistaken about me being there,” Tommy said. “If her statement is all you’ve got, then I’m going to consult my attorney after I leave here today to see what legal action I can take against you and the village.”

  “As you wish,” Newmont replied and looked at Dom.

  Dom seemed lost in thought. Finally, he shrugged and stood.

  “I don’t have anything to hide either,” Dom said and pulled his cell phone and car keys from his pocket and put them on the table. Then he sat down again. Officer Williams positioned himself between Newmont and me.

  “This is Mr. Fontana’s phone,” Newmont said, pointing to the phone on the left. Williams bagged and tagged it. Then he bagged and tagged the second phone.

  “Mr. Vann?” he asked.

  “Correct,” Newmont replied. “You can take the keys and search their cars. You’re both parked in the lot?” Dom and Tommy nodded.

  Newmont slid a card out of the file folder and handed it to Williams. “These are the vehicle descriptions and plate numbers for the cars.”

  Williams took the card and keys and started to leave.

  “You should search her car too,” Tommy said, looking at Larissa. She probably conspired with lover boy here to kill her husband.”

  “Shut up!” Dom said and jumped up.

  “I did no such thing!” Larissa shouted.

  Officer Williams quickly moved to the other side of the table. “Sit down,” he said to Dom. Dom glared at Tommy who remained seated with both hands on the table.

  “Sit down,” Officer Williams repeated firmly.

  Dom blinked and then shook his head. He sat down. Williams moved a few feet behind Dom and Tommy.

  “You know what? You can have my car keys too. I want you to search my car. It’s a red Cadillac ATS. Dom and Tommy are both lying,” Larissa said in a loud voice. She dug through her purse and found her keys. Officer Williams looked at Newmont.

  “You’re authorizing us to search your car?” asked Newmont.

  “I’m demanding it,” she replied and Newmont nodded. Officer Williams approached her, took the keys, and left the room.

  I watched Larissa. Her face was bright red and she was breathing fast.

  “Larissa, are you all right?” I asked.

  “No! I am not all right,” she said to me. Then she looked at Newmont. “Deputy Newmont, I am not a liar. And nobody is going to suggest that I am a suspect in the death of my husband! I’m no criminal.”

  Newmont held up his right hand. “Larissa, you’re not a suspect. You can leave any time you want to. But I think we’re close to figuring out who killed your husband.”

  “I’m not leaving. I’m staying,” she agreed. “But I want it to be clear that I’m telling the truth.”

  “Okay. Good,” Newmont said and smiled.

  Dom leaned forward and stared at Newmont. “Deputy, I have a solid alibi for the day of the murder.”

  “I do too,” Tommy said.

  Newmont sat back and looked at Fontana. “Dom, Moose Crotty recanted his statement. He said you paid him to lie and give you an alibi. You didn't arrive at his place until early evening the day of the murder. Your face was already bruised and bloody when you got there. Somebody else hit you.”

  Dom dropped his head and swore softly.

  “Who’s the liar now, Dom?” Larissa snarled.

  Newmont held his hand up to silence Larissa, but his eyes remained on Dom.

  “Dom, did you go to the cabin with someone else and kill Steven Meagher? Is that why you lied about having an alibi?” he asked.

  Dom looked up at Newmont and rubbed his face with both hands. “It’s nothing like that, Deputy. I had nothing to do with the murder. He glanced at Larissa and then back at Newmont. “I’ll tell you why I lied. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. A few weeks ago, I went to a pub and met a woman.”

  “A woman?” Newmont repeated.

  Dom nodded. “Right. Her name was Jane. I noticed her right away and we made eye contact a couple of times. She was there with two girlfriends, but then they left. I walked over and asked if I could buy her a drink and she agreed. We really clicked. There was chemistry, you know? After an hour, we went to the dining room and talked for hours over dinner. I met her for dinner a couple of times after that. I decided I wanted to spend a day with her and… get closer.”

  Dom paused and glanced at Larissa who glared back at him. Then he continued. “I knew Larissa would be away on that Wednesday, so I ask
ed Jane if she’d like to spend the day together. She agreed and we made plans to have breakfast Wednesday morning.”

  “Keep going,” Newmont said.

  Larissa turned her chair toward Dom and watched him.

  Dom exhaled and coughed. “I was hoping to spend all day and night on Wednesday with Jane. However, I was worried that Larissa might stop at my place when she got back from Chicago. So I called Moose and told him I needed an alibi for Wednesday and would pay for it. He dragged his feet but finally agreed. I planned to tell Larissa that I was spending the day at Moose’s to help him with the breakup. Moose agreed he’d back up that story if Larissa or anyone else asked.”

  “How much did you pay him?” Newmont asked.

  “We agreed on a C-note,” Dom replied.

  Newmont nodded. “What happened next?”

  Dom shrugged. “Wednesday morning I borrowed Larissa’s car and met Jane at a restaurant.”

  “Why did you take Larissa’s car?” Newmont asked.

  Dom smiled. “I love her car and thought it would impress Jane more than my ride.”

  “What an ass,” Larissa muttered and without thinking, I nodded.

  “Okay, keep going,” Newmont said.

  “Jane and I had breakfast. I felt relaxed around her and I also felt very attracted to her. As we left the restaurant, I leaned over and kissed her. It was…electric. We took a long walk and ended up at her place. We spent the rest of the morning in bed… you know…”

  “Having sex,” Newmont said and Dom nodded.

  “After that, we had lunch at her place. Then we walked back to Larissa’s car and went for a ride in the country.”

  “Where in the country?” Newmont asked.

  Dom shrugged. “I didn’t have a destination. I just drove west. Jane had some weed and we smoked that so I wasn’t exactly clear-headed. Again, we talked non-stop about everything. But then I got paranoid about Larissa again. I had a feeling she was going to go to my place or go to Moose’s when she got back from Chicago. So I said I had to call my girlfriend and Jane was fine with that.”

  “It didn’t bother her that you had a girlfriend?” Newmont asked.

  “No, Jane had a boyfriend. We were both honest about things,” Dom replied.

  Newmont and I shook our heads.

  “Okay, what happened next?” Newmont asked.

  “I called Larissa and we chatted. I was happy when I called her and said some of the things she mentioned. But I never said I was driving her car or that she should say I called her from Moose’s. I did tell her I had been at Moose’s and took a break, but that I was on my way back to his place. I told her I would probably stay there late. Larissa told me to park her car in the same lot. She said she was driving home when they got back and we’d talk the next day. So everything was good.”

  I glanced at Larissa. Her arms were folded and she shook her head as Dom spoke.

  “Deputy Newmont, I can tell you for a fact that he’s is lying,” she said. “I can always tell. Dom, you were with Tommy Vann, not some imaginary chick.”

  Dom smirked. “She wasn’t imaginary, Larissa.”

  “What happened next?” Newmont asked him.

  Dom took a deep breath. “The chemistry kicked in again and we decided to go back to her place. I drove to Madison and parked Larissa’s car in the same lot. I told Jane I had to leave the car there for my girlfriend. Jane’s car was at a friend’s place, so we took a cab there. Then Jane drove us back to her condo.”

  “Where does she live?” Newmont asked.

  Dom shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you. We walked there after breakfast and I wasn’t paying attention. Then in the afternoon, Jane was driving and I was buzzed. I can tell you it was a condo in a big building.”

  Larissa groaned. “That narrows it down.”

  “Jane’s last name?” Newmont asked.

  Dom shrugged. “We never shared our last names. This was more of a first time hook-up.”

  “Her telephone number?”

  Dom sighed and shook his head. “I had a burner phone I used to text and phone Jane. After the murder, I realized I wanted to be with Larissa, so I smashed the phone and threw it away.”

  Larissa snorted.

  “You smashed evidence of the only alibi you had?” Newmont asked.

  “Yeah, I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Dom replied and looked sheepish.

  “Okay, what was the name of the restaurant where you met for breakfast?” Newmont pressed.

  Dom squinted as he thought about that question. “I’d never been there before. It was Newberry’s I think. Something like that. The food was good. Pancakes, omelets, crepes.”

  Newberry’s didn’t ring a bell with me, but new restaurants popped up pretty frequently in Madison.

  “Okay, we’ll check out Newberry’s. Dom, on the day of the murder, how long were you with this woman?” Newmont asked.

  Dom paused. “From 9:30 a.m. to around 8:30 p.m.”

  Newmont looked surprised. “So you didn’t spend the night?”

  “Let me tell the story,” Dom replied firmly.

  “Okay, go on,” Newmont agreed.

  “After we got back to her place, Jane and I… you know,” Dom paused and glanced at Larissa.

  “Had sex,” Newmont stated flatly. I frowned. Why did Dom have so much trouble saying he had sex with Jane?

  Dom looked relieved. “Right. For a couple of hours we… enjoyed ourselves. Then we fell asleep. Next thing I knew I heard a man’s voice. Jane and I both jumped up. Her boyfriend had been out of town on business. Instead of returning on Friday, he came home early and found us. While Jane tried to calm him down, I got dressed as fast as I could. Then he came after me and we started fighting. He hit my head and nose with some good shots and I was afraid he was going to knock me out. I got in a few punches to his head, crowded him, and kneed him in the groin. He dropped to the floor and I ran out of there.”

  Dom paused again. Newmont gestured for him to continue.

  “As I hurried out, I saw my face in a mirror in the lobby. It was red in spots and my nose was bleeding. I could tell I was going to have at least one black eye. All I could think about was how I would explain my battered face to Larissa. Then the answer hit me. So I called Moose and told him I’d had some trouble and he told me to come over. I hailed a cab and the cabby gave me some tissues for my nose. After I got the bleeding under control, I gave him the address and he drove me to Moose’s.”

  “Why did you decide on Moose’s instead of just going home?” asked Newmont.

  Dom ran his hand back and forth over the table. “I didn’t want to risk Larissa being at my condo. She’s very unpredictable.”

  “She has a key?” Newmont asked.

  “Sure. And Moose had agreed to provide me with an alibi but I needed to change the story I’d originally given him. So I had to talk to him.”

  “What time did you get to Moose’s?” Newmont asked.

  Dom shook his head. “9:00 p.m. or so. I didn’t check my watch. Moose let me in and I washed up. I told him I couldn’t tell him what happened and he was fine with that. He gave me some ice for my face. I kept thinking about Larissa and how I’d screwed up. I was afraid she’d somehow find out about Jane and it would end our relationship.”

  Larissa muttered something that sounded like a profanity.

  Dom shook his head. “So I asked Moose to back me up with a new story in case Larissa or the police called. He hesitated and I doubled what I said I’d pay him. Then he agreed.”

  “Why would the police call?” Newmont asked.

  Dom frowned. “I was worried that Jane’s boyfriend would call the police. It was a longshot but he might have recognized me. When I run periodic print ads for my business, my face is all over Madison. I run local TV spots too.”

  “Okay that makes sense,” Newmont agreed.

  “So I told Moose that we’d use the original story that I’d given him before,” Dom said. “I’d been at his place mo
st of the day. He was upset about his girlfriend, I was there for moral support, and we’d both been drinking. The twist was that I’d said something stupid about his girlfriend and Moose started swinging at me. We had a fistfight and that’s how my face got messed up.”

  “Moose went along with that?” Newmont asked.

  Dom nodded. “He did. Then I convinced him we had to have a real fight so it would be easy for both of us to remember. If Larissa ever asked, we’d both have the same details. Moose thought it was weird but he agreed. We both had a few drinks first. Then I hit him a few times and he popped me on the side of my face that Jane's boyfriend hadn’t hit. After that we drank some more and I crashed there for the night.”

  Dom held his hands out palms up. “That’s the truth about what happened that day. If you ask Moose, he’ll tell you it’s exactly what happened. I wasn’t there with him all day, but I did go there after the fight with Jane’s boyfriend.”

  “Dom, that doesn’t help you at all. You still don’t have an alibi for 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, which is when Meagher was killed. Right now you’ve got nothing,” Newmont said.

  “I was with Jane when Meagher was murdered,” Dom replied firmly.

  Newmont shrugged. “If you can’t provide Jane’s last name, address, or phone number, I can’t corroborate your story. To make matters worse, you lied when you said you’d been at Moose Crotty’s apartment most of that day.” Newmont said.

  Dom folded his arms. “I lied because I didn’t want it to get back to Larissa that I hadn’t been at Moose’s place all day. She would have asked all sorts of questions I couldn’t answer. She has a jealous streak and I wanted to avoid any confrontations. Look, I didn’t kill Meagher and there’s no evidence that I did.”

  “Well, that leaves me with a new problem. Your latest story and Larissa’s statement are substantially different,” Newmont said. “She places Tommy Vann with you the day of the murder and you deny that he was with you.”

  Dom shook his head. “I don’t know him and he wasn’t with me that day. I don’t know where Larissa came up with her story. Again, I think she’s trying to get back at me for something.”

  Larissa shook her head and turned her chair to face the table. “My story is the truth, Dom. And I have a solid alibi. You lied before, and you’re lying now.”