Day of the Dead

by Brenda Donelan

  “The chief called me at the hotel around two o’clock and told me. I’d been napping and was a bit groggy when he called, so I didn’t have a lot of questions. Now I do!” said Joe.

  “He didn’t call you until two o’clock?” Marlee asked incredulously. “He made the public announcement at noon, although no one from the press was notified of the meeting. I guess they were given the details afterward–very few details, by the way. The chief said that was out of privacy for the family. What do you think that means?”

  “It’s inexcusable that he made the announcement before he notified me. What if I had heard about it when I turned on the TV?” Joe asked. No matter what the final ruling was, Marlee could not imagine hearing such an announcement from a news source rather than directly from the official in charge of the investigation. Chief Langdon showed little sensitivity when dealing with victims and their loved ones. This level of impropriety was but one of the reasons Marlee disliked and distrusted Chief Langdon. At this point, she was not sure if the insensitivity had to do with a lack of compassion or a dislike of homosexuals.

  “He didn’t say anything about a suicide note,” Joe continued. “I don’t know what he’s withholding that he thinks would be upsetting to the family. What could be more upsetting than a ruling of suicide when it’s clearly a murder?”

  “Do you think the chief could be referring to Logan’s depression or the therapist he’s seen in the past?” Marlee inquired. This hardly seemed like information detrimental to the family. Many people Marlee knew suffered from depression or other types of mental illness. There was still a stigma, but she didn’t think it was something the police would consider extremely sensitive information in a death investigation.

  “He never said one word about any sensitive information,” said Joe.

  “Do you plan to follow up with the chief with some of your questions?” inquired Marlee, finally picking up her fork and digging into her salad. She was anxious to hear what he had to say but did not want to be too pushy.

  “You know, I really would like to talk to him one-on-one and find out exactly what made him go with the suicide ruling.” Joe’s lower lip began to tremble, but he regained his composure quickly. “At this point, I guess it doesn’t matter what I say. Chief Langdon won’t change his mind, I’m sure.”

  “Joe, I don’t want to be pushy, but I would be willing to go with you to meet with the chief if you like. Do you just want to think about it and let me know?” asked Marlee.

  “No need to think about it. I would definitely like you to go with me. Maybe tomorrow?” asked Joe, raising his voice and seeming a bit hopeful for the first time that night.

  “Tomorrow would be fine, as long as we can schedule it after 2:00 p.m. He is actually a speaker in a chemistry professor’s Criminalistics class tomorrow at one o’clock, and I was invited to attend. I would like to see what information I can get from him during the presentation before I go with you to meet him,” said Marlee.

  “Ah, you think Chief Langdon might be telling me one thing and people in the community another?” asked Joe, crunching into a radish slice from his salad.

  “I’m not saying he is, but it is possible. After all, you aren’t from around here. What are the odds you would be talking with a local?” Marlee posited, holding her fork in midair. “Maybe I’ll learn something that we can use in speaking with him in private that he didn’t intend for you to know.”

  “Good idea!” exclaimed Joe. “I’ll schedule an appointment for after two o’clock tomorrow. I won’t tell him that you’re coming too.”

  The waitress cleared their salad bowls and came back with two scorching plates. Marlee’s walleye was cooked to perfection, and Joe seemed to be enjoying his smothered pheasant. Just as Marlee suspected, it was covered in cream of mushroom soup or some other creamy sauce. Instead of potatoes, it was served with a side of white rice and green beans that looked as if they had been boiled for hours.

  After they finished their food, the discussion again turned to the investigation of Logan’s death. “Joe, how many times did you visit Logan after he moved here? One of his neighbors was telling me about a man she saw him with, and the description sounded like you,” said Marlee. She knew this could be a hot-button topic, especially if Joe had never actually visited Logan in South Dakota.

  “Just the once,” Joe said without hesitation. “We had an argument over the phone and I thought we needed to talk in person, so I flew here on stand-by. I was only here for a couple days in October, but it was enough to work out our issues.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what were the issues?” asked Marlee.

  Joe looked her square in the eyes. “Normally, I would mind if someone asked me a personal question like that, but I understand there are special circumstances here. Logan really liked teaching at MSU and living in Elmwood. He wanted to stay here and I was waffling about pulling up roots and moving to South Dakota. We had a big argument one night on the phone and it ended badly. I flew here the next day and we settled it. I decided to give it a try here in Elmwood. We would give it a few years and then if one or both of us were unhappy, we would move somewhere else.”

  “Thanks for telling me, Joe. I know you’ve had a lot of people prying into your private life and it must be uncomfortable, to say the least.” Joe nodded as Marlee spoke. “What were your main concerns about moving to Elmwood?”

  “This is going to sound silly, but one thing I was worried about was the cold weather. I’ve lived most of my life in California and am used to very mild winters. I was also afraid that South Dakota might not be very tolerant of someone who is gay. In California, Logan and I had a wide circle of friends. Some of them were gay, and the ones who were straight didn’t care about our sexuality. And, we didn’t care about theirs. It was a non-issue for all of us,” said Joe.

  “As it should be. South Dakota has a long way to go in accepting differences, but it is getting better compared to when I was growing up,” said Marlee, recalling the numerous gay slurs that were part of everyday conversation in her high school. “Speaking of differences, I understand that Logan spent some time on the Rosebud Reservation as a kid, and that he’s part American Indian.”

  “Yes, he told me about his summers there as a kid and the great times he had. His grandfather was well-known in the community and several people would come to his home for advice. Logan also told me they went to pow-wows and a lot of community gatherings. His grandmother, who was a white woman, was into herbal remedies. Logan said she could cure about any ailment with plants naturally growing in the area. He really had a fondness for both of them,” said Joe.

  “Did he stay in contact with them or any other relatives from South Dakota?” Marlee asked.

  “No, he wasn’t close with any aunts, uncles or cousins. When his grandparents died, he lost contact with that whole branch of the family. I think he had some regrets in not keeping in touch. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he had decided to look up some of his cousins eventually,” said Joe.

  “Do you know any of their names?” Marlee asked.

  “No, he never mentioned them by name, just grandpa and grandma,” said Joe.

  “Are you sure they were actually related?” asked Marlee. “Often, Native Americans refer to elders as their grandparents even when there’s no blood relation between them.”

  “Hmmmm… I never thought about that. When he said they were his grandparents, I just thought he was speaking about the parents of one of his parents. I don’t even know if they were his maternal or paternal grandparents,” said Joe.

  “What about his parents and siblings?” asked Marlee.

  “Well, his parents are both dead and have been for many years. They were deceased before we met. Logan and his sister have been estranged since before his parents died. He wouldn’t talk about it, so I don’t know the nature of the relationship. I never had the impression that there was animosity between them. It was more like they just didn’t have anything in common a
nd never stayed in touch,” said Joe.

  “Yeah, I guess that happens in some families,” said Marlee. “How about you? Are you close with your family?”

  “It was a little rough when I first came out, but after some time, both of my parents came around. They realized I was the same person they had always known. Mom died about ten years ago, and Dad passed away two years later. They both loved Logan, just as I do. I mean did,” said Joe, tearing up and rubbing the corner of his left eye with the sleeve of his sweater.

  “Do you have siblings?” asked Marlee.

  “Two sisters. They both accepted that I was gay immediately. I think they probably knew before I even understood what was going on. Sara and Marta are both several years older than me and always protected me. The three of us are still very close. Logan and I got together with them and their families all the time. We all live about an hour apart, so that makes it easy to plan get-togethers,” said Joe.

  “When I talked to Alice Olson, she told me you were looking for work. What line of work are you in?” asked Marlee, attempting to get some answers about his employment status and then lead into questions about finances. She found herself liking Joe more and more, but she still hadn’t completely ruled out the notion that he could be behind Logan’s death. From her experience as a probation officer, Marlee knew very personable people were capable of some terribly heinous acts. Evil frequently wore a mask.

  “I’m a mechanical engineer. I worked for the same company for twelve years up until a few months ago when I was let go due to downsizing. Another company bought the company I worked for and there were two of us doing the same job. The people in charge had to decide between keeping me or the guy from the other company and he won out. I haven’t been able to find work in my area since the lay-off,” said Joe.

  “That’s too bad,” Marlee said with sympathy. “It must have been difficult, financially, to be out of work and maintain two households with Logan living here in Elmwood.”

  “I received a nice severance package when I was downsized, so we were doing fine. Neither of us were big spenders. We lived comfortably and had our toys, like our sports car that Logan drove and our boat, but we put quite a bit into savings for a rainy day,” said Joe.

  Marlee was relieved to hear that Joe was not in dire financial need. “So, were you going to look here in Elmwood for work?”

  “That was the plan. If Logan liked it here, then I would move here and look for work. Like I said before, I had some hesitation about moving here, but we came to an agreement that I would at least try it for a while,” said Joe.

  “Was there something Logan knew about that might make someone want to silence him? Or did he have something that someone else might want?” asked Marlee, grasping at straws.

  “I don’t think so, but I guess I don’t know for sure,” said Joe.

  “Any detail could be the key to Logan’s death, so if you think of something, let me know,” said Marlee. Joe nodded in agreement as Marlee wracked her brain trying to figure out what Logan knew or had that could have brought about his death.

  After dropping Joe off at his hotel, Marlee was deep in thought as she drove home. Tomorrow promised to be full of surprises, since she would be attending Chief Langdon’s speech in Criminalistics class and also visiting with him and Joe.

  Questions and answers. They don’t always go together.

  Chapter 22

  Marlee tingled with excitement all morning on Wednesday thinking that she might glean more details on Logan’s death from the chief of police. It would be nearly impossible to change his ruling of suicide, at least at this point, but she hoped to eventually gather enough information to refute the chief’s ruling. There were several lingering questions that Marlee wanted answered as soon as possible. First, who was responsible for Logan’s death? More than anything, she wanted the name of the killer revealed and the person brought to justice. At this point, there were no strong suspects, but Joe Tisdale, Nate Krause and Logan’s homophobic neighbor were all contenders. There was also the possibility that the shooter was someone she had not yet considered.

  Second, what was the motive for the killing? Love, hate and money were the most common reasons for murders, but there were other possibilities in the case of Logan’s death. Also, it could also have been an accident or a crime of opportunity.

  Third, why did the chief of police believe that Logan’s death was a suicide, especially since the coroner had labeled it a homicide? There was no indication of a note. There did not appear to be a history of mental instability. Logan battled depression but was on medication and was frequently seeing a therapist, so his depression seemed to be under control. Did the chief have proof that it was a suicide, or did he just use that finding since the investigation hadn’t produced any strong leads or suspects? Was this a face-saving move by Chief Langdon as a way to overcome his negative perception in the community? If so, Marlee failed to see how claiming a murder was actually a suicide would benefit the chief’s reputation, especially since the evidence pointed to a shooter other than Logan. Why had the outside consultants concurred with the chief’s belief in suicide?

  Fourth, what was MSU’s role in Logan’s death? Why was he killed on campus during the very early hours of November 1st? What did the administration at MSU know about his death, and why were they so anxious to keep faculty and staff quiet?

  Fifth, why wasn’t Logan carrying the keys to his office, the building or his car? Why wasn’t he wearing a jacket in the cold weather? Had someone summoned him outside? Was anything taken from him?

  Sixth, had the firearm used in the shooting been traced yet? Did the police look into more seriously than just as a preliminary measure, or had they disregarded it after the chief’s conclusion of suicide?

  Marlee was sure there were many more questions than these that needed answering, but her head was swimming from her consideration of just these six issues. At one o’clock, Marlee entered the classroom where Dr. Stella DeVry held her Criminalistics class. The students and Stella were all seated and looked up expectantly when Marlee walked in. “Just me,” she said cheerfully, realizing they were all anxious for the chief to arrive. Marlee had no sooner sat in a chair at the back of the room than Chief Langdon entered through the side door. His face was deadpan as usual - no emotion whatsoever. Stella greeted him and introduced him to the class. Since there were so few people in the room, the chief sat in a chair at the front, and his presentation took on more of an informal conversational approach. Stella and the students moved their chairs and were seated in a haphazard semi-circle before him, ready to listen to what he had to say and hit him with questions of their own.

  Chief Langdon appeared much more relaxed than on the two previous occasions he appeared on campus to make statements about Logan LeCroix’s death. Marlee guessed that he felt he could side-step any questions from the students and two professors that he didn’t want to answer. He began his talk with an overview of the case, starting with the time at which the police were notified of a dead body on campus. He talked about the investigation of the crime scene in chronological order and detailed the efforts of the police officers in securing the scene from outsiders to limit contamination of evidence. Chief Langdon then spoke about the steps taken by the detectives in collecting evidence at the crime scene. None of this was new information to Marlee. She taught a class on crime scene investigation and knew the proper procedures for roping off the scene of the crime and maintaining its integrity. She also knew the various ways to collect and store evidence and then maintain the chain of custody so that the evidence was never unaccounted for. Any evidence that was not in someone’s possession or in a locked area could be tampered with. Although this was unlikely, it was possible, and defense attorneys could get the evidence thrown out based on sloppy detective work. Even if the evidence was not excluded from trial, juries would be very suspicious and hesitant to convict someone when evidence was not in the custody of the police or the laboratory at all times.<
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  The students listened politely to Chief Langdon for thirty minutes as he detailed the investigation. Finally, one impatient student raised his hand and asked, “If the gun was in the dumpster several feet away from the body, how could it be a suicide?”

  “Most people get their knowledge of guns and gunshot wounds from television. On TV, a person gets shot once, and they die. In real life, that doesn’t always happen. In Dr. LeCroix’s case, the bullet didn’t hit a major artery, so he lived for a brief period of time after the bullet entered his neck. He had enough time to throw the gun in the dumpster, which settled to the bottom underneath other trash items, and then walk several steps before collapsing to the ground and dying,” stated Chief Langdon.

  “What do you know about the gun? Was it registered? Were there fingerprints on it?” asked a female wearing a ball cap and a blue North Face parka.

  “We weren’t able to trace the firearm,” Chief Langdon said. “It was manufactured back in the early 1900s, so there was no serial number. We interviewed several people and did not find anything to indicate who owned the weapon. Dr. LeCroix came into possession of it in some way, but we don’t know how.”

  “Did you have any suspects before you ruled it a suicide?” asked the girl in the blue parka.

  “We interviewed a number of people we thought might have information on the case. None of those leads produced a suspect. We ceased interviewing people when it became clear that this was a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Chief Langdon reported.

  “If it was a suicide, do you think Dr. LeCroix intentionally tried to make it look like a murder for insurance purposes?” asked Stella.

  “Just because someone kills himself does not mean that his beneficiaries will be denied life insurance benefits. That’s another misconception from TV crime shows. It actually depends on the policy. In many cases, if the insurance policy was written over a year before the suicide, then the beneficiaries can still collect the money. In this case, regardless of whether it was a suicide or a homicide, Dr. LeCroix’s beneficiaries should be able to collect the life insurance,” said the chief.