Fatal February

by Barbara Levenson

  “Who got there first, the police or the ambulance?”

  “The medics. I let them in the front door and we raced back up the stairs. There were two of them. One tried to hear a heartbeat. He worked on Gary for a few minutes. He turned him over and we both saw the letter opener. He asked me what happened. I told him I didn’t know.”

  “That letter opener. Is it yours? Do you remember where you last saw it before that day?”

  “It’s sort of an antique. It was my grandmother’s. I kept it on my writing table in the bedroom. I think I used it that morning to go through the mail.”

  “Sherry told me that she thought it was stored in a drawer with the other family silver. Are you sure it was out on the desk?” I looked into Lillian’s eyes.

  “Of course, I’m sure. I wish it hadn’t been there. Then maybe Gary would be alive.”

  “It’s okay, Lillian. Don’t blame yourself. Go ahead. You were telling me about the paramedic.”

  “Okay, I asked him why they weren’t helping Gary. He said, ‘I’m sorry, this gentleman has expired.’” Lillian paused. She started to cry.

  “I know this is very hard for you, but we have to go over all of it.” I put my arm around her and handed her some Kleenex. She shivered, and drew her sweater around her. “Lillian, when did the police arrive?”

  “I looked up and there were two officers in uniform standing behind me in the bedroom. I don’t know when they got there. I guess they just walked in. The medics told them Gary was dead, and they better call for detectives.”

  “Did the uniformed guys ask you any questions?”

  “Oh, yes. One did all the talking. He asked me who else was in the house. I said no one. He asked me how I had gotten so bloody. I looked at my slacks and saw that I was covered in Gary’s blood.”

  “Did anyone read you your Miranda rights? Tell you that you didn’t have to talk to them and that you could have a lawyer present?”

  “Not until later when the detective handcuffed me.”

  “What else did the uniformed officers ask?”

  “They asked me how I was related to ‘the deceased.’ That’s what they called Gary, the deceased. I said he’s my husband. I think they asked if I had been in the house all day. I told them I just came home and that’s when I found him.”

  “How long was it before the detectives arrived?”

  “I think it was a few minutes. The uniformed officers told me not to touch anything, and they walked me downstairs to the living room. The medics came down and told me that they had to move Gary to the medical examiner’s building for an autopsy. I wasn’t sure I should let them do that. I asked if I could call my brother before they took Gary away. The officer said I didn’t have a choice, that the medical examiner had been called and ordered that they bring him there. The officer said no phone calls until later.”

  “What happened when the detectives arrived?”

  “They talked to the officers for a few minutes. Then one of them introduced himself. He said he was Detective Fonseca. He asked if I was Gary’s wife. He said to tell him what happened. I said I came home and found Gary in the bedroom bleeding. He sort of insinuated that he didn’t believe I had just come home. I said, go look in the kitchen where I had dropped my grocery bags, and look in the car where I supposed the rest of the stuff I bought was still there.”

  “You were getting the idea that he didn’t believe you,” I said.

  “Oh, yes. He said that they checked the house and there was no sign of a break-in. He said the front door was unlocked and the alarm was turned off. I told him that when Gary got home he must have opened the door, and, of course, he had to have turned off the alarm.”

  “Did he ask you who else had access to the house?”

  “No, he never asked that.”

  “Who else does have a key or comes and goes from here?”

  “Our cleaning lady, Mabel. She’s here on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but she leaves between one and two o’clock. The kids, when they’re home. My sister-in-law has a key in case of emergencies. Since our dog died, we use the alarm more, but never if one of us is in the house.”

  “And you don’t remember them asking about any of this?”

  “I don’t think they did. Oh, they asked about the blood on my hands and clothes. I told them that I must have gotten it when I tried to find Gary’s pulse, and tried to see what had happened to him.”

  “When did they arrest you?”

  “There were a bunch of people walking all over the house. They told me to stay in the living room. I asked if I could call my brother, that my children were arriving on a plane any minute and someone had to get to the airport. They wouldn’t let me call. They said they’d call him. I gave them the number. I don’t know how much time went by, but then Detective Fonseca came back in the room, and told me to stand up and put my hands behind my back. I asked him why. He said, ‘because you’re under arrest for the murder of your husband.’ He handcuffed me. I was crying. I know he started to read me my rights. I told him over and over that I loved Gary, that this was all wrong. Then things went black.”

  “Did you faint?”

  “I’m not sure, but the next thing I remember was that I was in the police car. We got to the jail. The woman there told me to get out of my clothes. She had to give them to the police. She gave me a smock to wear, and they took me upstairs to a room full of women. Then you came to the jail to see me.”

  “All right, Lillian. Would you like to take a little break, maybe go to the restroom?”

  “Yes, thanks Mary. I’m sorry I’m having a hard time remembering clearly.”

  “You’re doing fine. Catherine will show you to the ladies’ room.”

  I was the one who really needed the break. I was trying to get up my nerve to break the news to Lillian about her sainted husband. I wanted to see Carlos, and have a normal evening for a change. Well, evenings were not exactly normal with Carlos. They were more like every girl’s erotic dream.

  I decided that I deserved a minute to myself, so I dialed one of Carlos’s cell phones. A strange voice answered, “Martin Development. This is Danny.”

  “Danny, where is Carlos? This is his girlfriend, Mary.”

  “Hi, Mary. Carlos had a little mishap or I guess you’d say misstep.”

  “Where is he? Is he okay?”

  “I’m sure he will be, but right now he’s at the Broward Memorial emergency room, getting checked out.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “He took a fall. He was up on the scaffolding at the new building and stepping onto the floor boards when the boards gave way.”

  “How high up was he?”

  “About the twelfth floor.”

  “Oh my God.” My heart was pounding.

  “But he didn’t fall off the building. He caught himself, and the guys working up there grabbed him. We think it’s just his arm.”

  “Danny, if he calls, tell him I’m on the way. ” As I hung up, I saw Lillian was back in the office staring at me.

  “Lillian, I have to get to the hospital right away. I’m so sorry. Someone close to me has been injured. I hate to stop in the middle like this. I hope you understand.” I was out of my chair searching for my car keys.

  “Sure, Mary. I hope everything is okay,” she said.

  “I’ll come over to your condo tonight as soon as I leave the hospital.”

  “That’ll be fine. I’ll fix a little dinner for us. Call when you’re on the way.”

  I ran out of the office, told Catherine where I was going, and sped out onto Dixie Highway.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  I took every shortcut I knew. I couldn’t believe I had left an important client in the middle of her trial prep. It was time to face how much I had learned to care for Carlos. I couldn’t even imagine how much he meant in my life. I didn’t know if it was just the terrific sex, but whatever it was, for right now he was more important than work.

  I raced into t
he emergency room. “Where can I find Carlos Martin?” I asked the receptionist.

  “Is he a patient?”

  “He was brought in a while ago. There was an accident at a building he was working on.”

  “Are you a relative?”

  “No, I’m a friend.”

  “Well, we can’t give you any information. Only family.”

  “I don’t want information. I want to see him,” I shouted.

  “If he’s being treated, no one is allowed back there.” The receptionist turned away and answered the phone. She was clearly on a personal call, giggling and whispering into the phone.

  I thought of another approach. She was still talking into the phone, but I talked over her, thrusting my card in her face.

  “Look, I’m Mr. Martin’s personal attorney. He told me to get right over here. He may have a lawsuit. I need to speak with him immediately.”

  The receptionist said into the phone, “Gotta go. Later.” She examined the card. “Why didn’t you say you were his attorney. Hank, show this lady back to exam room three,” she said to an orderly standing nearby.

  Hank pulled back the curtain. There was Carlos lying on a cot looking pale and uncomfortable. His long legs hung over the edge and his right arm was enveloped in a sling.

  “Carlos, I got here as quick as I could.”

  “Mary.” He turned toward me. He looked like a little boy who had been lost and just found his mommy. “Who called you? I told everyone not to let anyone know, especially you. I know how overworked you are right now.”

  “Don’t be silly Carlos. There’s no more important place to be than right here. I just figured that out. What did the doctors say?”

  “They think it’s a broken arm. We’re waiting for the orthopedist to look at the X-rays now.”

  I pulled up a chair, plunked down and kissed Carlos hard.

  * * *

  Three hours later I was back on the road. Carlos had his arm set and placed in a cast. Franco picked him up in a van to drive him to my house to spend the night. I called Lillian and said I’d be right over.

  The condo smelled of delicious food smells. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was.

  “No more work until you eat something,” Lillian said as she met me at the door.

  The dining room table was set for two. “Where are the kids,” I asked.

  “Gone down to the university. U of M is playing North Carolina tonight in basketball. It’s a big game. I’m trying to get them back into their lives. They’ve sat around here long enough.”

  I was relieved that they wouldn’t be around while we talked. Lillian returned from the kitchen with a quiche, a salad, and some hot rolls.

  “I’m supposed to be taking care of you, not the other way around,” I said as I tore into the food.

  “You’ve looked out for me very well. I needed a break this afternoon, and cooking for a change was good therapy,” she said.

  As soon as we cleared the dishes, I said, “Let’s get back to work now. You need to sit down. I have a lot to tell you, and you need to hear it from me before you hear any of it in court.”

  We sat down on the sofa. I remembered the last time I had been here. Lillian had been lying in shock on the same sofa. Now I was looking at an attractive, attentive woman. She leaned toward me with a look of curiosity.

  “Lillian, I know how much you loved Gary. There’s no good way to tell you this. Gary had been seeing a woman he met through his work. He realized it was a mistake and was trying to rectify what had become a problem. This woman turned out to be unstable. Gary hired an investigator to watch her. Perhaps you should read the report. It shows that Gary was trying to get rid of her. I have reason to believe that she may have been the person who killed Gary. She was seen stalking him. The investigator spotted her in the vicinity of your house on more than one occasion.”

  I paused and looked at Lillian. She didn’t budge. She wasn’t crying. She looked completely unperturbed. She leaned over and patted my arm.

  “I know all about it, my dear. Gary was a very poor liar. This woman wasn’t the first. Gary was what we call a lady’s man. I knew there was some new plaything when he went to New York and didn’t invite me. That was always a sign. I took most trips with him.”

  I was stunned. “But everyone tried to keep this from you.”

  “Who is everyone?”

  “Well, Marian and Jack, and Brett.”

  “I didn’t know that Brett knew. Jack would never let me know he knew something that would hurt me. He never understood why I married Gary or stayed with him. He disliked Gary from the first minute I brought him home. I’m concerned about Brett. He adored his dad. I don’t want the children to have their hero taken away from them.”

  “Brett will be okay, but someone will have to tell Sherry so she isn’t shocked at your hearing. I’ll be putting Bob Rose on as a witness. He’s the P.I., and his report will be introduced. The state may call Maddie Rodriquez to testify. She’s the woman Gary was seeing. Lillian, it’s none of my business, but why did you stay with Gary, if he ran around on you?” I realized that I sounded like my mother, asking such a question.

  “It’s not complicated. I loved him. He was exciting and fun, always full of ideas. I liked my life. We played golf, went out on family outings on the boat, went to great parties. I liked being the attractive couple that others envied.”

  “Weren’t you ever fearful that he would leave you during one of his extracurricular affairs?”

  “No way would he do that. I own the controlling shares of Dad’s company. Gary had the title, but I owned the stock. I could have fired him whenever I wanted and he’d be out of a job and out of the lifestyle he wanted. I knew he loved me. I also knew he loved the life I gave him. So I was never worried.”

  “Was Gary aware that you knew about Maddie?” I asked. I was still groping for some clue to this very different person that Lillian had become. It was like watching a butterfly emerge from the cocoon that once covered a caterpillar.

  “Yes, he knew. You see, someone wrote me a letter telling me that Gary was having a thing with a young woman named Maddie Rodriguez. I showed him the letter. He was grief stricken. He told me that he had broken it off with her and that she wouldn’t leave him alone. He begged me not to leave him, that he would make sure that none of this would hurt me. He said he couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been to become involved with her.”

  “Do you still have the letter?”

  “No. I threw it away. It was not the sort of thing one would want lying around the house.”

  “Do you know who wrote it?”

  “I don’t know, but I suspect it was the woman herself.”

  “That would fit with what I know about her. She’s a sicko. She probably thought you’d leave him if you knew. There were a number of other men that she preyed upon. It’s all in that report.”

  “Do you really believe that she killed Gary? You mean she was in my house?” For the first time that evening, Lillian looked angry. “How did she get in? Gary couldn’t have brought her into our house.”

  “I know she was seen by a neighbor running away from your house right after you drove into the garage, so, yes, I guess she was in your house. Bob Rose’s report said she was spotted spying on your house. She was definitely stalking Gary. Maybe she followed him home and he let her in, or, maybe she found the door unlocked and walked in. What I find most egregious is that the police didn’t do anything to investigate.”

  “I always thought someone broke in. There have been so many burglaries in the Grove. I figured the police had let any clues go cold, but once you were representing me, I just had this feeling you would find out the truth. I was right.”

  Brett and Sherry came in just then, and after a few minutes of small talk, I left. The ride home went quickly. I was engrossed in replaying the whole conversation with Lillian. Behind her delicate façade was a dragon. The golden tea rose dropped her petals and was all thorns.

  I
tiptoed into the house. Carlos was sitting up in bed. His cast was propped up on some kind of gizmo that Franco must have fashioned.

  “You are wide awake,” I said. “I thought you’d be out on pain pills.”

  “I waited to take them until you got here.”

  “Can I get you anything?” I asked leaning over the bed.

  Carlos pulled me into the bed with his one good arm. “Yes, you may remove your clothes,” he said.

  It’s amazing what that guy can do with only one arm.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Sunday afternoon I moved Carlos back to his house. He was doing well enough to be on his own. His employees were lined up to drive him to his office on Monday, and he promised to stay off the construction sites for at least a week.

  I had gotten some work done while Carlos vegged out on pain pills. The rest of Sunday was spent going over every part of the upcoming hearing. My push to have a preliminary hearing was to illustrate the fact that the State had no evidence against Lillian. The State always puts on its case first, because they have the burden of showing that a crime has been committed and the defendant is the person who committed the crime. In a trial, their burden is to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. At the hearing, their job is to show that there is enough evidence to support the charge they have filed against the defendant. Everyone knew a murder was committed. My job was to destroy the feeble case the State had against Lillian.

  Our justice system is never supposed to place the burden of proof on the accused, but in reality the defense is always on the spot to plant a doubt in the mind of the judge or the jury. In Lillian’s case, the State was going to be able to prove nothing except that the police failed to investigate Gary’s murder. I would be able to show the court who the real killer was. I was gambling that Lillian’s case would be dropped at the end of the hearing.

  I decided that I had done all I could do to be ready for the hearing on Monday. I packed my briefcase and boxes, and fell into bed before eleven.