“You’re not going to pay me. You look like death warmed over.”
“The food in here sucks, and the last thing I want to do is socialize with these idiots. The next thing you know, they’ll think they own me, and you know what that means? Did you bring me any magazines? The ones here are outdated by three years, and I’ve already read them from cover to cover.”
“Uh, no, I didn’t bring any magazines, but I will on the next visit. I didn’t even think of it. Jack, you have me very concerned. Why aren’t you eating?”
“I told ya, bud, it’s disgusting. Not edible at all, and it doesn’t even look like food.”
“Let me get us some sodas at the dispensary,” Cory said. Seeing Jack like this broke Cory’s heart and gave him all the more drive to get him out of this place.
Jack took a long pull on the straw. “So tell me what’s going on with the case.”
“I don’t want you getting overly psyched, because you never know—”
“What the hell kind of disclaimer is that?”
“I’m just managing your expectations.”
“Why don’t you let me take care of that? Now tell me what’s happening.”
“All right.” Jack stared at him with anticipation. “Well, we’ve learned that the senator and the doctor have been an item for a number of years.”
“Hell, I could have told you that.”
“Are you shittin’ me? You knew that and never thought to mention it?”
“No. I’m sorry. I thought everyone knew.”
“You could have saved us a lot of trouble.”
“Who’s us?” Jack asked.
“I’ve been working with Detective Max Turner.”
“And you’re not the least bit worried she’s using you to get information about me?”
“No.” He frowned. “She could be saying the same thing about me. We have an understanding.”
Jack eyed Cory suspiciously. “Oh hell, you’re sleeping with her, aren’t you?”
“Jack, just stop it, and start telling me what you know.”
Jack made a face, but continued. “Just that they’ve been shacking up for a long time.”
“We just wish we had more evidence that could link the affair to his wife’s murder.”
“Then that gets me off the hook?”
“Relax, Jack. This is going to take time. We’re all doing as much as we can, but we don’t have anything concrete. Did Helen tell you about the house in New Jersey?”
“Yeah. We actually stayed there.” Cory closed his eyes and lowered his head in controlled disgust. “I’m sorry, Cory. I seriously never gave it a thought.”
“Then tell me about the house.”
“What do you want to know, where it is?”
“No, I found the house by tailing Barrett. Why is it in her maid’s name?”
“So that bastard is using the house with the senator?”
“It appears so.”
“Helen bought the house for her maid.”
“Lucky woman. Do you know why she bought it?”
“I don’t have a clue.” Jack’s hands rose. “Helen never answered that question.”
“And you never thought to mention that to me, either?”
“All I’ve thought about in this hellhole is that I’ll never have Helen in my life, and I might be convicted for a crime I didn’t commit.” Jack lowered his head and shook it. “I’m sorry, buddy.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too. Look I understand what you’re going through, but honestly, Jack, I can’t help you if you don’t let me. So how are they treating you here?”
“Ah, as well as can be expected, I suppose. They think I’m a criminal. They don’t know me.” He tipped his head to the side. “When am I getting out of here?”
“I’m working on it, and we’re getting closer all the time. There’s a lot more to this case than we ever expected. Just know that we’re making progress, and every day is one day closer to your freedom.” Cory stood and shook Jack’s hand. “Stay strong.”
Max and Riley made their way through the evidence for the second day as methodically as possible.
“I’m really anxious to see what they found in the safes.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Riley no sooner sat down than the files were delivered, and they both dug into the boxes.
“Let’s each take them in order and make comments on the sheets.”
Three hours later Riley was just opening the number five box. “Well, lookie, lookie at what I found, an evidence bag with a key.” Pressing his fingers against the plastic bag, he noticed writing. “Chase Manhattan Bank in Chelsea. It looks like a safe deposit box key. The bag says it was found with Helen’s belongings in the safe. Apparently, Jeffrey didn’t know it was there or otherwise I’m guessing he would have removed it. I wonder what we’re going to find.”
“I like how the evidence is pulling together nicely. I’m about ready to check the box from the senator’s safe.” Excitement sailed through Max as she opened the box and examined the information written on the evidence bag. “Ooh, here’s the ledger they found on the yacht.” She laughed. “I have to give her an A for effort, but how could she think we might not even search the yacht? Silly woman.” Max leafed through the pages. It all seemed rather normal, except an entry to M. C. Party Planners for one hundred thousand dollars. Max slid the book over to Riley. “Feast your eyes on this entry.”
“You mean having one of those political parties costs that much money? Geez, my wife suggested we hire a caterer for a big barbecue for our niece who’s graduating eighth grade. I said yes, but man, if that’s how much they charge, Costco, here we come.” He slid his finger across the entry.
“Yeah, but your party wouldn’t include a security detail, would it? I’m sure that amount includes more than just the food and the service for the caterers.”
“Okay, that makes sense. I wasn’t thinking of security, plus the photographers . . . there’s a lot of pieces to the pie.” He keyed the name into the database. “There’s nothing listed for an M. C. Party Planners.”
“Maybe it’s a new business and not listed yet.”
“No, Max, I checked that too. It’s not here.”
“Okay, so maybe it’s a payoff and M. C. Party Planners is a front for money paid out, and one more thing to check. The evidence just keeps mounting. I think that’s a very good question to ask the senator,” Max said. “Check Souley’s financials again while you’re at it. See if there are any payouts for large sums of money.”
“Holy shit, there’s a million dollars in this account, and yes, there’s an entry for a check made payable to M. C. Party Planners, after the Barrett woman’s death,” Riley said. “So it looks like Stansbury and Barrett both paid this company $100k?”
Max’s eyes opened wide. “Christ, that’s even worse. We need to find a canceled check from her accountant, and a paid receipt from the party planner. I’m sure she wouldn’t have paid the planner in cash.”
“Unless the caterer didn’t want to claim it as income,” Riley said with raised brows.
“Yeah, but that’s a helluva lot of money to have on hand or hide from the IRS,” Max said.
“Ooh, this guy is good,” Riley said with a whistle, looking at the cancelled check from Souley’s account on the computer screen, “and I’ll just bet if I compare Barrett’s signature from his personal checking account against this one, the signatures will be identical. What do you think, Max?”
“I think you’ll be right.”
“Bingo!” Riley said. “And we have a match.”
“I’m loving it! Keep ’em coming,” Max said. “Here’s what has me confused,” she added. “If Helen bought the house, how did the doc find out about it?”
Riley pondered the thought, his fingers covering his mouth until his facial expression changed. “Wait, didn’t you tell me Barrett had his wife followed by a private investigator when he suspected the affair?”
“That’s rig
ht, he did!” Max said, snapping her fingers. “I wonder if she was using it with Jack?”
“Why wouldn’t she? She closed on that house six months prior to her death, and since Maddie didn’t know anything about it, I’m sure she wasn’t going to let it sit idle. We need Cory to find out what Jack knows,” Max said and keyed in his number. When she heard his voice mail kick on, she felt a flutter of excitement in her stomach. “Hey. Can you check with Jack to see if he knew about the love nest and get back to me? Thanks.”
“You know,” Max said, “if Barrett is using this checking account, he’s had to use some form of identification.”
“Right. A passport and a driver’s license,” Riley said, the words rushing out like a song. “But he’d be recognized in New York.” He laughed. “But not in New Jersey?”
“Yes!” Max punched her fist in the air. “We are closing in on this guy, Riley. Damn, it feels good, but we can’t back down on the pressure now. There’s little doubt in my mind that Barrett won’t be using this account as his getaway funds for when the lovebirds take off.”
“I love it when we knock the egomaniacs off their pedestals. They actually believe they can outsmart the police.” Riley released a low laugh. “You know, I’ll bet that safe deposit box has plenty to say.”
“For sure,” Max said. “I think I’ll call the boss and ask him to send someone over to the bank to remove the contents of the safe deposit box and bring it back while we continue to check out these boxes.”
“My God, Max, we’re getting so close, I can taste it.”
“I hope so, Riley. If this all works out the way we think it will, then we’ve done our job.” Max speed-dialed the lieutenant’s number to fill him in on the ledger entry and the Souley Regains payout.
“Have you checked Stansbury’s financials?” Wallace asked.
“Not yet.”
“One other thing. The guys said they found a note in the home in our victim’s belongings that’s crucial to your investigation.”
“Did they say what it was?”
“No. Bensonhurst left me a short message, but his voice faded out.” Max felt a jolt of excitement. “It’s got to be in the box, so pay particular attention to the contents.”
“Okay, Lieutenant. Thanks for the heads-up.” Disconnecting, she turned to Riley and told him to look for a note.
“I hope it’s solid information that we can use.”
Max placed her hand on her forehead. “My stomach is jiggling around like a washing machine,” she said. “I love getting to this point in a case, because things start falling into place, and putting the bad guys away for a long time is a short putt away.” Max stopped talking when Wallace rushed into the room.
“Here it is,” he said, waving the white paper in the air before placing it in Max’s outstretched hand.
Max and Riley read it aloud, their mouths gaping afterward. “Helen Barrett says she has incriminating evidence against Stansbury and Barrett.” Max kissed the note. “Thank you, Helen Barrett.” High fives were raised around, including Wallace, until a sudden sinking feeling attacked Max’s gut. “But what if we don’t find anything else that gives us specifics about what evidence she has against Mr. Bigshot and his sidekick?”
The lieutenant was shaking his head. “Uh, I don’t think I’d discount Helen Barrett just yet. If she dropped this bomb, you can be sure she’s planning a dramatic ending that’s going to blow up in their faces.” Wallace was nodding his head with certainty. “Something tells me if she suspected something was going to happen to her, she was going to make damn sure they paid for what they did to her. If she went this far, you’re going to find what you need.”
“But where?” Riley asked. Max picked up the evidence bag with the key.
“In Helen Barrett’s safe deposit box!” Max shouted.
“Hot damn,” Riley said. Looking over at Max, he couldn’t keep from saying, “We’re good, you know that, Max?”
Wallace cut in, “You certainly are.”
“So why wasn’t this note in the evidence box?”
“Bensonhurst said he hadn’t logged all the items in last night and left it in the locker until this morning,” the lieutenant said.
“I guess that means there are more items that need to be logged? Or has he finished?” Max asked.
“No, he confirmed this is everything. When I didn’t see you two at your desks, I brought the box over to Jasper for him to tag, and he said you were in here.”
“Lieutenant, did you happen to see another note, addressed to Maddie Thomas?”
“I really didn’t look thoroughly. This just caught my eye and I pulled it out.”
“Okay, I’ll look later, but in the meantime, let’s get our lead suspects in here tomorrow for questioning.”
“Not to worry, I’ve already scheduled a car to pick them both up. Go home and get some rest so you’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”
“Awesome! Thanks, Lieutenant.”
Max reached for her phone when she saw Cory’s name on the screen. “I’ve been to see Jack again,” he said with a humph. “He confirmed everything: the affair, the house that Helen bought for Maddie, which they actually stayed at a few times, and that Maddie and Helen went to the closing. From what Helen had told him, he was certain Maddie didn’t know what she was signing, but for sure, Helen wanted to know that Maddie was well taken care of after she left Jeffrey, because she knew he would probably fire her.”
“Well, that confirms our suspicions,” she said, but thought it odd that Jack hadn’t ever mentioned any of this to Cory. She decided not to make a big deal out of it so long as they had confirmation that what they’d been thinking was correct. “How did you make out with Paterno? Did you have a chance to take care of that yet?”
“I did. Paterno’s on vacation, but his paralegal informed me she does all of his closings. He signs off on the paperwork before the closing, but she meets with the clients. She specifically remembers that two women, one a Caucasian, the other a dark-skinned woman with an accent, signed the papers, which, now that we know the truth, we don’t have to send photographs of the two women.”
“No kidding!” Max shoved a piece of gum in her mouth, leaned over, and threw the wrapper into the trash can under her desk.
“I sure hope Maddie hasn’t been snowballing me.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s the nature of the beast. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt until I find out otherwise, but that would just blow me away.”
“Listen,” Cory said. “Stop and think about what you’re saying. If the woman knew that what she signed was a home in her name, don’t you think she’d have her entire family here? Why would she let them continue to live in poverty in Jamaica? And here’s another point. People who’ve lived in poverty all their lives and suddenly become wealthy overnight are going to spend it like it’s water because they suddenly feel carefree.”
“You’re probably right, but I can’t rule her out just yet.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“What do you want now?” Senator Stansbury said with contempt in her voice when she saw Max on Thursday afternoon. Standing beside the senator was an older gentleman with black horn-rimmed glasses, a long black coat, and a hat. Max assumed he was her attorney.
Senator Kay Stansbury was pleasant to look at. Tall and statuesque. The paper had coined her the blonde bombshell of the city, which wasn’t quite fitting for her demeanor. Her gait was graceful as she walked toward Max. After she removed her coat, the man draped it over his arm, then placed it over the back of one of the vacant chairs. He removed his outer garments and placed them on a different chair. Dressed in a tailored taupe-colored suit with a white blouse, the senator wore coordinating brown leather pumps and seemed the picture of professionalism. Her blonde hair was pulled away from her face into a low bun that showcased her graceful neck and high cheekbones.
“This is my attorney, Mathias Jacquard, who t
ravels with me.” Max acknowledged his presence with a nod.
Riley extended his hand in greeting. “And this is my partner, Neal Riley.”
“Would either of you like coffee, water, or soda?”
“No, thanks. Let’s get this over with,” Stansbury said. “I have a district to run.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Riley said and directed them down the hall. “We’ll be going to Interview Room 2.” Riley flipped the light switch on when he walked inside.
“Could this room be any more beat up?” the senator squawked when she saw how bad the room looked. The long Formica table was chipped on the corners and laced with graffiti obviously left by previous collars.
“I do suppose it could be a lot worse, but your office has cut some of our funding,” Max said with deference. “I understand you’re used to much better, but the Taj Mahal it ain’t. It’s the best we can do under the circumstances. Please have a seat.”
Her attorney pulled out the chair for her, and she leaned over and brushed the cushion with her hand to remove whatever might have been left behind by the previous occupant.
“I can get you a bag to sit on if you’re afraid of getting something on you.” The senator made a face, grabbed her coat, and covered the entire chair before sitting down.
“Because of my client’s political position, I have advised that she defer your questions to me.”
“All right. I’m going to turn on this recorder for security purposes—both yours and ours.” Max pushed the button down and began Mirandizing her.
“Today is Thursday, November 6, 2014. And present with me, Detective Max Turner, is my partner, Detective Neal Riley, Senator Kay Stansbury, and her attorney, Mathias Jacquard. Senator, will you please state your name again, address, phone number, and occupation for the record.” Mr. Jacquard gave her the go-ahead with a nod.
Once she finished, Max began the questioning. “Thank you. Senator, we’ve asked you to come down here this afternoon because of questions we have about previous conversations and evidence we’ve found during our searches.”
“What evidence?” shot out of the senator’s mouth.
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