Fatal February

by Barbara Levenson

  “Now did you see or hear anything else?”

  “I thought I heard a scream coming from the Yarmouths, but I’m not sure if it was from there or if it was kids outside somewhere. So I went in the house and a while later, the maid told me there were a bunch of police cars and an ambulance at the Yarmouths. Then the police officer knocked on our door and asked us some questions. I guess that’s how I got to be a witness. Jay told me that I might have to give a statement and go to court.”

  Cassie almost licked her lips when she mentioned being a witness in court. She’s probably the same type who rushes to get her picture in the paper at the charity balls. Lucky for me, she was enjoying her role.

  “Cassie, will you look at these photos and tell me if you recognize the woman in them.”

  I spread them out in front of her. Catherine did a great job. For blowups from a camera phone, they showed Maddie’s face and unmistakable hair in some detail. Cassie looked at them for a few seconds.

  “I can’t say one hundred percent, but that sure looks like the hair on that girl running down the street. I think it’s her. I wonder how she gets that color. Maybe we can find out who does her hair.”

  “What about the car? Had you ever seen it before around here?”

  “Hey, there are a bunch of those little red BMWs all over the Grove, so I don’t know if I ever particularly saw that one.”

  I switched off the tape recorder. “Thanks, Cassie. If you think of anything else, just call the numbers on my card. I appreciate your talking with me.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” she said as she walked me to the door. I saw the maid in the dining room, giggling into a cell phone, which she shoved in her pocket as we passed by.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  I zoomed back to the office, and dived at my computer. I fired off a letter to the state attorney rescinding my request for reciprocal discovery. I still had no witness list from the state. Without their discovery, I wouldn’t have to reveal my witnesses either. I could call anyone and the State would have no way to prepare for this hearing.

  Catherine was gone for the day to her son’s soccer game, but she had left a message on my desk in large red letters.

  A woman named Beverly called you. I guess it was the secretary at Elite that I remembered from your notes. She said it was urgent that you call her back. She left her cell phone number.

  I glanced at my watch. It was five thirty. Maybe she’d be out of the office by now so she could talk. Beverly answered on the first ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Beverly? It’s Mary Katz, returning your call. Can you talk?”

  “Mary, can I come right over to your office? I need to show you something. I think it’s important.”

  “Sure, Beverly, but it’s rush hour. It’ll take you forever to get here from North Miami.”

  “I don’t mind. I need to see you.”

  “Tell you what. I’ll meet you halfway. The bar at the Hyatt downtown.”

  “No. This is really private. Just wait there for me. I have your address on your card.”

  “Okay, sure. I’ll be right here.”

  I decided to spend the next hour shaping up the witnesses and testimony I needed for the hearing. I also decided that I was starved. A quick call to Romano’s Pizza Parlor for delivery took care of that. I sure needed an hour in the gym as soon as this hearing was over or I’d never get into my bikini for my weekend with Carlos.

  Beverly arrived less than an hour later.

  “You must have broken every speed limit. Here, I saved you a slice of pizza,” I said, motioning her to a seat on the sofa.

  “No thanks. I’m really too upset to eat,” Beverly said. She opened a knitting bag she had placed on her lap and began pulling out some papers. “I could get in big trouble for this, especially if Jack finds out.”

  “I’ll help you, I promise. Just explain to me what you’ve got.”

  “Well, Jack told me to go through Gary’s papers. He told me to sort out company papers from his private correspondence. Jack said we had to prepare everything for the estate attorney, and for the company attorney. He told me to be sure there weren’t any unpaid bills sitting around. Gary’s desk and safe were filled with papers. I knew that he paid a lot of personal bills at the office. I found several bills from Bob Rose Investigation Service.”

  “Did you hear of that service before? Some companies use services like that to see what clients their competitors have. Did Elite do that?”

  “Not that I knew of. These bills were sent directly to Gary at the office address. They’re not addressed to Elite.” Beverly handed over a stack of papers.

  I looked through them. They were dated in December, January, and February, all recent dates. They were not itemized. All they said was “for services rendered,” showing only the number of hours spent each month.

  “When I opened the safe, I found a number of things. There was the price sticker and bill for a BMW. No one in the family or at the office drives one. There were other charge bills from stores in New York and hotels. Then I found this.” Beverly handed me a large manila envelope.

  I opened the envelope and pulled out a multipage report from Rose Investigations.

  The first page was a letter signed by Bob Rose .

  Dear Mr. Yarmouth:

  You requested the services of Rose Investigations regarding background and activity of Ms. Maddie Rodriguez. Enclosed you will find a full report covering December 27 through February 3, 2005.

  We are pleased to furnish you with the enclosed report. Should you desire further information on this subject or any other investigative work, please contact me directly.

  Again, let me assure you, as I did by telephone yesterday, that all of our clients’ matters are considered confidential. The only other copy of this report will be sequestered in my own file.

  If you have any questions after reviewing my report, do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your business.

  I opened the folder to which the letter was attached and began to read.

  Final Report to Gary Yarmouth, Re: Maddie Rodriguez, Latin Female.

  February 5, 2005

  At your request, we furnish the following information.

  Background

  Maddie Rodriguez was born in Havana, Cuba in l977. She emigrated to the United States at the age of twelve, with her single mother. Father is unknown. They settled in Miami, living with cousins for two years, and later settling in Hialeah where Maddie completed high school. She attended Florida International University (FIU) where she received a degree in Hotel Management. She was employed part time at several restaurants and a Holiday Inn while she finished school.

  For the past five years, she has worked for the Omni Hotel chain as a sales representative and then manager of their catering and special event department. She earns $45,000, per year plus commissions.

  She was married briefly to Joaquin Serrano, a fellow student at FIU. His whereabouts are unknown. Their divorce was final in 1997.

  In 1999, she was living with Bertram Olensky, who was manager of the Omni Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale. Mr. Olensky was 60 years old at the time and had been divorced for a year. We were unable to find the current location of Mr. Olensky. He resigned from his position with no notice in 2001. His former wife says she has not heard from him since early 2001. She was reluctant to give us further information.

  We learned of another male involved with Ms. Rodriguez. In 2003, she was seen in the company of Morris Meier, Vice President of Ross Food Distributors. This was reported by another employee at Omni. We were able to locate Mr. Meier who has moved to Stuart, Florida, and has retired. He told us in confidence that he had a brief sexual relationship with Ms. Rodriguez, but ended the relationship after a few months. He said his wife became aware of the affair. He believes that Ms. Rodriguez told his wife of the affair. The Meiers agreed to move from the area and are still married. He further stated that his affair was a stupid mistake and that he found Maddi
e to be somewhat unstable.

  Surveillance of Maddie Rodriguez

  We began watching Maddie’s apartment on Coral Way in Miami on December 27. Most of her trips during the first three days were to work at the hotel. She remained at the hotel late into those evenings managing several holiday events. She was observed on her cell phone frequently while on the floor of those events. Our investigators infiltrated the parties, but because of the noise level were unable to hear her conversations.

  On December 30 and 31, we followed Maddie to the Yarmouth residence. She parked across the street on both of those evenings and remained in her car, red 380 BMW, Florida tag &H 38 DC. We observed her using binoculars to watch the residence, and using her cell phone. She remained for two hours on December 30, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. On December 31, she arrived at 8:10 p.m. and left when the Yarmouth family exited the residence in a white Lexus SUV. Maddie followed the vehicle to the Coral Bay Yacht Club and tried to enter the parking lot there, but was turned away by security.

  On several occasions in January, we observed a Latin male enter and leave the apartment building of Maddie Rodriguez. An investigator followed him into the building and saw him enter Maddie’s apartment. A check of his auto license plate came back to Reynaldo Francisco. Further investigation revealed that he is a busboy at the hotel where Maddie is employed. On January 4 and 5, he stayed until 7 a.m.

  On ten occasions in January and February, Maddie was observed in the vicinity of the Yarmouth residence in Coconut Grove. On one occasion, on January 30, she was observed placing a letter in the mailbox at the residence at 1:30 in the afternoon. She was also observed at a condominium building at 5801 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach where a condo is owned by the Yarmouths, deeded to Lillian Yarmouth. She entered the building on February 2 at 11 a.m., went to the fifteenth floor, and left at 12:45. Security stated that she was checked off a list of visitors at the security desk where residents notify the guards who may be admitted. The guards did not know who gave the approval.

  Surveillance concluded as of the writing of this report, per your instructions.

  I put the report down and looked at Beverly. “This is very important information. You were right to bring it to me. Bob Rose will be a valuable witness at Lillian’s hearing. Let’s make copies of the invoices so you can return the originals to the office tomorrow. But I think it best if you leave the report here. I don’t want this to fall into anyone’s hands before the hearing. My toughest job is still ahead of me. I have to tell Lillian about Maddie before she hears all of it in court.”

  “Oh, no. She may not be able to take it. She was so devoted to Gary. Just to see them together was to know how much she loved him. What do you think of Lillian’s chances to prove her innocence?” Beverly asked.

  “I think we both know who the killer is, and it’s not Lillian.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  I telephoned Bob Rose at eight the next morning. I told his answering service that it was crucial I speak to him at once. He returned my call within minutes. I explained that I represented Lillian, and I needed his testimony at her hearing.

  “I wondered when I would hear from someone regarding Gary Yarmouth’s death,” he said.

  “You could have come forward yourself,” I said.

  “How could I? I didn’t know what Mrs. Yarmouth knew or didn’t know. All of my work is done with complete confidentiality.”

  “Of course, you’re right. Thank goodness your report fell into my hands last night. You’ve had a good look at Maddie Rodriguez over several weeks. Do you think she could have been the one who killed Gary?”

  “I can tell you one thing. She’s a real nutcase. It’s clear she was stalking Gary. He was very worried that she would ruin his marriage. He told me that he was committed to remaining married and that Maddie had been an expensive mistake. He was trying to cut his losses.”

  “Did he tell you what he intended to do about her after reading your report?”

  “I assumed he planned to confront her. Maybe pay her off, or something. He said he couldn’t go to the police without causing a scandal.”

  “What about all those other guys in her life? She was a busy girl.”

  “I think it was strange that I couldn’t find a couple of them at all. It was like they just vanished, and if I do say so myself, I’m as good as a bloodhound at finding missing guys and gals. Maybe if I’d had more time, but Gary wanted to end the investigation after he read my report. I guess he knew everything he needed to know about his redheaded mistake.”

  We agreed to meet at the courthouse an hour before the hearing to go over his testimony, but I felt comfortable that Mr. Rose could handle any cross-examination by the state. He was a pro at being a witness, and besides, prosecutors never know how to cross-examine. They’re used to presenting their case and having the defense present no witnesses. In the Florida system, the defense is allotted the first closing argument and a rebuttal argument after the state’s close if they call no witnesses except the defendant. This is an incentive to call no one. Many cases are won by sparkling summations by smart defense attorneys. Lillian’s case would be won by hard work and preparation.

  Something in Bob Rose’s report kept rumbling around in my head. That condo on Collins Avenue. I had passed through security there when I visited Lillian after the murder. Gary must have agreed to meet Maddie there. What was the purpose of that meeting? One last day of lust? During working hours? It didn’t make sense, especially because anyone could find out that Maddie had been there. Her name was on the list.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I told Catharine about Bob Rose. “Get Lillian on the phone for me. I’ve got to get her into the office today. She needs to hear this messy Maddie stuff from me before she hears it in court. See how soon she can come over. Tell her this will be a long session to prepare her for the hearing.”

  “Oh, boy, Mary, shall I run out to the store for more boxes of Kleenex?”

  “No, just keep the coffee pot going and don’t put any phone calls through unless it’s an emergency.”

  “Even your mother?” Catherine was giggling as she went back to her desk.

  Lillian arrived an hour later. I saw her get out of Sherry’s sports car. I felt a surge of panic. Was she bringing Sherry in with her? I was nervous enough about telling Lillian the truth about Gary. I didn’t want to be the one to break Sherry’s heart too.

  Lillian closed the car door and waved to Sherry who drove off honking her horn and blowing a kiss to her mother. Thank God, I would only have to deal with one hysterical woman.

  Lillian looked more put together than any time since her arrest. She was dressed in wool slacks and a cashmere shell and cardigan. She looked younger and prettier. I was surprised to see how much calmer she appeared.

  She was carrying a shopping bag with the Neiman Marcus logo.

  “Mary, I’m glad to see you. This is for you,” Lillian said, and handed me the bag.

  I peaked inside. A thousand terrible thoughts rushed through my head, like maybe this was some secret evidence that would blow this whole case.

  “Go on, open it. It won’t bite.” Lillian smiled at me expectantly.

  I pushed aside the tissue paper in the package and pulled out an outrageously gorgeous Coach handbag. It was just the kind of purse I had always dreamed of owning, but never could splurge on.

  “Lillian, this is beautiful, but what’s it for?”

  “It’s for you to replace that black number that looks like a Goodwill reject that you carry around.” She looked like one of those TV game-show hosts when the contestant wins the whole jackpot.

  “No, I know what it’s for, but why are you giving me a present?”

  “Because I appreciate how hard you’re working for me.”

  “That’s what you’re paying me for. We don’t know yet how this case will turn out. Maybe you should wait before you start handing out rewards.”

  “I have great faith in you. Please accept this
gift and use it well. You deserve it.”

  “Thank you, Lillian.” I suddenly had a sick feeling in my stomach. I always get that when I realize how much a client is depending on me.

  “Let’s get down to business,” I said. “We have a lot to talk over.” I poured two cups of coffee from the carafe that Catherine brought in. “First, we need to review everything you said to the homicide detectives at your house and after they arrested you. Also, anything you said to the emergency medics. And try to remember exactly what you said on the phone when you called nine-one-one.”

  I decided to start with some fact gathering before I told Lillian the story of “the other woman.” I wanted to be sure she could remember everything clearly. After I hit her with the bombshell, she might not even remember her name.

  “It’s hard to recall everything exactly. I was hysterical.”

  “Start with the phone call.”

  “Okay. I felt for Gary’s pulse. There was nothing. I grabbed the phone on the nightstand. My hands were covered in blood and blood was on the phone. I think I said, my husband is bleeding. He might be dead. Come quick.”

  “Do you remember what the nine-one-one operator said?”

  “She said to try to remain calm. She asked my name and address. She asked if I was in the house. I said I was. She asked if anyone else was there. I just kept telling her to get help there in a hurry.”