The truth was, I really didn’t care anymore.
I started taking items out, leafing through them and stacking them on the table, only half paying attention to what I was doing. Then I came to an envelope inside a larger manila envelope. I emptied the contents on the table.
My heart skipped a couple of beats.
Two photos. Both showed Helen with the same man. A man I recognized.
My former father-in-law, Hal Patterson.
It was no wonder my second wife had reminded me of Lisa, I realized with a jolt. They had the same father.
CHAPTER 59
Dallas was getting a candy bar from the machine when Hannah joined him in the break room. She was tired and she was hungry, but the pitiful offerings of the machines didn’t appeal to her.
“You get anything from Ira?” she asked.
“He’s not talking, which isn’t surprising. There’s not much he can say about what happened today that will help him. As for Andrea’s murder ... right now all we have is what they supposedly told Sam. It’s their word against his.”
Hannah experienced a flash of anger. “Surely you don’t still suspect Sam!”
Dallas stepped back as if she’d slapped him. “Jesus, I know you don’t like me much as a partner, but do you really think I’m such a lousy cop as that?” He held up a hand. “Wait, don’t answer. All I meant was, from Ira’s perspective it’s smart to see what we’ve got on him before he opens his mouth.”
Hannah was stung by his assessment. She hadn’t much like being partnered with Dallas at first, but it embarrassed her to know she’d made it so apparent. Especially now that she was beginning to appreciate Dallas’s good points. She’d focused on the annoyances without giving him credit for his strengths.
“How do you know what I think of you as a partner?” she asked.
“You’ve made it pretty obvious.”
And yet he hadn’t turned against her. She, it seemed, was far more petty than Dallas. “I think you’re a fine cop,” she told him, truthfully. “It’s just that we have different styles.” She was beginning to see that wasn’t always a bad thing.
“We do sure do. But it’s a useful balance.” He grinned. “Most of the time.”
He tore open the package of M&Ms and offered her some.
“No thanks,” she said then thought better of it. It wasn’t candy; it was a peace offering. “Well, maybe just a few.”
Carla pushed open the swinging door.
“How is he?” Hannah asked. Carla had ridden with Sam in the ambulance to the hospital.
“Pretty good, all things considered. They aren’t even keeping him overnight.”
Dallas offered her some M&Ms, and she took a handful with a grateful—and, to Hannah’s mind, coy—smile. It went straight over Dallas’s head. Hannah wanted to shake him.
Carla shot Hannah a look—a woman-to-woman look that said what am I going to do about this guy? It was a very small gesture, but one that made Hannah think the two of them might yet be friends.
“Good work, you two,” Carla said. “Incredible timing. Any later and Sam would be dead.”
Hannah shuddered to think how close Sam had come to being killed. How close, in truth, he’d come to being arrested for his wife’s murder.
Dallas must have been thinking the same thing, because he turned to Carla. “It was Hannah who kept saying we shouldn’t be so ready to pin the murder on Sam. Guess she was right.”
“His own wife and his medical partner trying to bilk him out of money,” Carla said. “That’s sick.”
“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Do you think you’ll ever get it sorted out?”
Hannah and Dallas nodded in unison. “They’ll end up talking,” Dallas said. “Both of them. And eventually we’ll get the answers we need.”
“Some of it we’ve already figured out,” Hannah said. “The notation on the back of the recipe flyer from the hospital, for instance. It turns out to be an item number from a clothing catalogue. Nothing relevant to our investigation, except for the flyer itself, which wasn’t available until the day after Maureen disappeared.”
The three of them hung out a bit longer in the break room. Then Carla went to type up her report. Hannah and Dallas were going to question Maureen. Hannah had trouble thinking of her as Andrea.
Dallas offered her the last M&M, and she took it. They walked a few moments in silence.
“Carla has her eye on you,” Hannah told him.
“On me? Why?”
“I imagine she thinks you’re hot.”
“Oh God.”
“What’s wrong with that? She’s an attractive woman.”
He looked at her like she’d just spoken gibberish. “I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
He reddened and turned away. And in that moment she saw something she hadn’t before.
“Dallas, are you gay?”
For a moment, he said nothing. “It’s a small town,” he mumbled finally. “I grew up here—”
“Is that a yes?”
“I figured that’s why you didn’t like working with me.”
Hannah laughed. “I didn’t like working with you because I was a pompous jerk and you were pigheaded about going after Sam. It had nothing to do with sexual preferences.”
He smiled. “And because we have very different styles of working.”
“That too.”
CHAPTER 60
Despite being up half the night, Hannah was at her desk bright and early the next morning. She had a meeting with Phipps later in the day and mounds of paperwork to get through before then. In addition, the lieutenant had a press conference scheduled for that afternoon, and she knew she’d be called upon to give a brief statement.
Still, when Hannah got word that Sam was at the station wanting to speak with her, she put the papers aside and went to greet him. He looked wretched. The dark circles under his eyes had deepened, and his skin seemed to have lost elasticity overnight. Her heart ached for him.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Rocky.” He smiled. “But it could be worse.”
“It was close.”
“I want to see her,” he said.
Hannah assumed “her” meant Andrea, whom she still thought of as Maureen. “She’s under arrest.”
“The jail has visiting hours, doesn’t it?” When Hannah didn’t respond, he continued. “I’m her husband. Don’t I have a right to visit?”
She took his arm. “Let’s go somewhere more private to talk. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Soda?”
“No, I’m fine.” He laughed humorlessly. “Well, not fine really. I’m a mess. But coffee and Coke won’t help. Especially not Coke. I may never drink it again.”
“I’m sorry, Sam. Truly sorry.” She couldn’t imagine what he was going through. She’d suffered enough from Malcolm and Claire’s betrayal. Adultery was child’s play next to murder.
The small interview room was vacant, and she ushered him in there. It was the same room where they’d first questioned him, but there weren’t a lot of options.
“I need to talk to her,” he said again.
“Are you sure you really want to?”
He nodded. “I’ve also got one last bit of information for you.” He slid a photo onto the table. A man and woman.
“Who are they?” Hannah asked.
“The woman is Helen Wycoff, Andrea’s and Eva’s natural mother.”
“And the man?”
“I presume he’s their father. He’s got the same mouth they do. His name is Harold Patterson.”
“Patterson?” She looked up. Lisa’s maiden name.
“Right, my former father-in-law.”
“Oh my God. So that’s what—”
“What do you mean?”
Hannah knew she was about to violate some basic tenet of investigation, but she thought Sam deserved to know. “Did Lisa ever talk to you about someone stalking her?�
�
“No.”
“She never mentioned ‘the monster’?”
Sam shook his head.
“You know Annalise Rose?”
“Lisa’s cousin? Sure. She used to visit us a lot, help out with Molly. Cute kid. Kind of like Lisa’s little sister. Why?”
“She remembers a woman stalking Lisa. Your wife called her ‘the monster.’ Annalise saw an Internet photo of your wife and identified her as the stalker.”
Sam looked ill. “She was in Boston?”
Hannah nodded. “Around the time of Lisa’s murder.”
“My God, are you saying ...”
She leaned closer. “If I get you in to see your wife, would you be willing to wear a wire?”
He didn’t even have to think about it. “You bet.”
I stared at the woman in the orange jumpsuit seated across from me and felt nothing but anger. She was my wife, and at one time I’d loved her, but at that moment I couldn’t recall why.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I wanted to see you.”
“Here I am. Not a pretty sight, is it?”
“Why did you do this, Maureen?” It was simplest to call her by the name I’d known.
She shrugged.
“Didn’t you care about me at all?”
“It wasn’t supposed to turn out the way it did, Sam. You’re a nice man. But being married to you wasn’t what I thought it would be. I wanted out.”
I was tempted to argue. I knew our marriage had problems, but I thought we could work through them. Obviously, I’d been wrong.
“Most people who feel that way get a divorce,” I said.
“I needed money. You had money. You wouldn’t touch it when we were married, and you sure as hell weren’t going to give me any of it in a divorce.” Her tone was so cold and flat, I cringed.
“It wasn’t mine; it was Lisa’s. And now Molly’s.”
Maureen gave me an exasperated look then spread her hands. “It’s all my sister’s fault.”
“Tell me about her.” I wasn’t entirely sure which sister she was talking about at that point.
“Eva?” She laughed bitterly. “Until I was eighteen, I never even knew I had a sister. Then Eva came to Atlanta and looked us up. I was blown away. Not only did I have a sister, I had a twin. I was shy, but she was spunky and lively. We looked exactly alike but were so different in many ways.” She paused, seemingly lost in thought. “Our upbringing was different, you know. Eva’s parents were rich. They gave her things. I was jealous of that.”
“Eva wasn’t very happy about it, was she?”
Maureen made a dismissive gesture. “What did she know? If she’d been the one our mother kept, then she’d know what a truly shitty home life really was. We never had enough money. My mother was an alcoholic who hooked up with one abusive man after another. Eva had the life that could have been mine, and she didn’t even appreciate it.”
“But the two of you remained close.”
She shrugged. “It’s funny about twins. There was definitely a bond between us, but not always a loving one. Eva showed up when she needed something. I was the good girl, boring and shy, but responsible. She was a flake. I rescued her time after time. I told her not to come to Monte Vista, but she came anyway.” Maureen huffed. “That’s so like her. Thinking of no one but herself. If she’d been seen around town, it would have ruined our ransom plan, so I set it up for her to stay with Ira. To keep her hidden for a bit.”
Maureen examined her nails and made a face. “They don’t even have hand lotion in here.” She looked up. “Anyway, Eva didn’t like being confined to Ira’s. She threatened to tell you what was going on. She and Ira got into a fight, and he killed her. I don’t think it was on purpose, but there it was. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Right? We had a body that looked like me, so we decided to use it.”
I’d never heard Maureen speak with such cold-blooded indifference. It raised goosebumps along my arms. “What about the Saturday night of our anniversary?” I asked.
“Ira gave you a drug of some sort, a couple of them, in fact. So you wouldn’t remember what happened. We didn’t want to hurt you, Sam.”
Right. If I’d been hurt, I couldn’t gather up the ransom money.
“You put up quite a fight, though. You clawed at my arms and whacked me so hard with your arm you gave me a bloody nose.”
So that’s where the blood had come from. “What about Eva’s shoe? How did it get into my trunk?”
Maureen smiled. “Nice touch, huh? We knew you would doubt yourself because you couldn’t remember what happened. We thought the confusion would keep you from going to the police.”
“What happened to the money?”
“Ira picked it up at the barn. With his motorcycle. I was waiting down below on the main road. I saw you take off after that SUV, Sam. That was pretty stupid, you know. If it actually had been kidnappers in the SUV, you think they wouldn’t notice you? When I told Ira, he got the idea of leaving a message on your answering machine. We wanted to make sure you didn’t try something like that again. Not until we had the rest of the money.”
“And Eric? Where does he play into this?”
She made a face. “Eric got himself caught up in a big one this time. Eva went to Las Vegas thinking she could help him. He said he was in trouble with the law and she shouldn’t stick around. That’s why she came here. Whatever troubles he has, they’re his own.”
“But Eric’s friends thought Eva had something of his.”
“Really?” Maureen didn’t seem interested. “That’s Eva’s problem. Was her problem.”
There was not an ounce of feeling in Maureen’s voice. I wondered how I could have been married to her and never seen this side of her. If I hadn’t needed to hear what she would say about Lisa, I’d have gotten up right then and walked away.
Instead, I leaned back, trying for a relaxed posture. “What about your father? Did you ever know him?”
There was a moment’s hesitation and a flicker of emotion in her eyes. “Not while I was growing up,” she said.
I showed her the photo of Helen Wycoff and my former father-in-law.
She looked at me. “You know, then. My mother was his secretary. They had an affair. How clichéd is that?”
When I didn’t respond, she continued. “He was married and had a child. There was no question he would leave his wife. My mother claims she never even told him she was pregnant. She left Boston and moved to Atlanta. I didn’t know anything about this growing up, but when she knew she was dying, Mom told both Eva and me his name. Eva went to see him, hoping, I guess, for some sort of Hallmark Channel–type reunion. Instead, he denied everything. He wasn’t interested in his twin daughters. He didn’t even care that Mom was dead.”
“She went to see Lisa too, didn’t she?”
Maureen looked at me a moment then nodded. “Lisa wasn’t interested either. She was a bitch, Sam, not the kind, loving wife you think. She wouldn’t hear of her dad doing wrong. She warned Eva to stay away from her mother too. Eva wasn’t interested in causing problems; all she wanted was to be part of the family. She wanted to be Lisa’s friend. Her sister.” Maureen’s eyes flashed. “Do you know what Lisa did? She offered Eva a thousand dollars to leave them alone. A fucking thousand. It was like pennies to her. It was an insult.”
“So what did Eva do?” I had trouble getting the words out.
“She killed Lisa.” Maureen sounded triumphant.
“You knew about this when you married me?”
Maureen’s face softened. “Don’t you see? I was trying to make it up to you. I was going to be a good wife to you, a good mother to Molly. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“I was arrested for Lisa’s murder. I could have spent the rest of my life in prison. I could have been executed.”
“I made sure you weren’t. Don’t you see how I’ve taken care of you, Sam? I scoped out the jury and found the easiest mar
k. A young, geeky guy who’d never had a girl in his life. Eugene Titmus. It was like taking candy from a baby, he was so easy to mold.”
The horror of knowing how close I’d come to being convicted rocked me. “You influenced a juror?”
“Well, I slept with him. And I told him about the kind of woman Lisa really was. Stuff that never came out at trial. I don’t really know if I influenced him. He may have seen through the prosecution’s case on his own.” She leaned forward. “Sam, I really wanted our marriage to work. I’m sorry it didn’t. And I’m sorry about trying to trick you out of your money. It was just that I was desperate. I had no choice.”
Even with her apology, there was a harshness about Maureen now that I had been blind to earlier. I couldn’t believe that this was a woman I’d held in my arms and promised to love and honor.
“Maybe when I get out of here, we can still be friends.”
“I don’t think so, Maureen. And I wouldn’t count on getting out any time soon.”
She shrugged. “Not real soon, maybe. But a faked kidnapping—what are they going to give me for that? Especially if I agree to testify against Ira.” She smiled. “And you can’t testify against me, Sam. You’re my husband.”
As I got up to leave, the guard came to escort Maureen back to her cell.
“Just a minute,” I said as she was walking away.
She turned back, and I tossed my car keys to her. She reached for them instinctively.
With her left hand.
CHAPTER 61
Five Days Later
Hannah felt a funny but familiar flutter in her belly when she spotted Sam. She slid into the worn wooden booth across from him. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“You’re not late. I was early.”
She studied the menu. “What’s good?”
“Pretty much everything. I’m going with the avocado and sprouts on rye with a side of potato salad.”
“Sounds like a winner. I’ll have the same. And iced tea.” She closed the menu and smiled at him. The dark circles were gone from his eyes, and the taut, wary expression had relaxed. “Funny, I wouldn’t have taken you for an avocado and sprouts kind of guy.”
The Only Suspect Page 36
