At four thirty on Tuesday afternoon, Jeff MacKingsley had barely returned to his office when Sergeant Earley phoned to tell him that he’d just learned that Robin Carpenter was Charley Hatch’s half sister. “I’ve called a press conference for five o’clock,” Jeff told him. “Ask her to come to my office at six. Or better yet, maybe you’d better drive her over.”
As he had expected, the press conference was confrontational. “There have been two homicides in Morris County in less than one week, both at million-dollar-plus homes. Were the deaths connected?” the Record reporter asked.
“Charley Hatch had been the landscaper at the Holland Road house. The man who collected his garbage claims that this afternoon Sergeant Earley confiscated a bag he’d collected from Hatch’s trash barrel and took jeans and sneakers and figurines out of it? Was Charley Hatch a suspect in Georgette Grove’s death?” That was the question from the New York Post reporter.
“Did these homicides have anything to do with the vandalizing of Little Lizzie’s Place on Old Mill Lane, and does the prosecutor’s office have any leads?” the Asbury Park Press stringer demanded.
Jeff cleared his throat. Choosing his words carefully, he said, “Charley Hatch, a landscaper, was shot sometime between one forty and two ten this afternoon. We believe his assailant was known to him, and possibly had arranged to meet him. No one reported hearing the shot, which was not unusual since there was a power mower in use on a neighboring property on Valley Road.” He had not intended to say anything more, but then changed his mind, realizing that he could not stop without giving some additional information to the media. “We believe the deaths of Charley Hatch and Georgette Grove were connected, and also may be linked to the vandalism on Old Mill Lane. We are pursuing several leads, and will keep you informed.”
He made his way back to his office, aware that his frustration and irritation were landing squarely on Clyde Earley. I’ll bet anything that he didn’t wait to go through Charley Hatch’s garbage until it was off the premises, he fumed. I’ll bet Charley knew it had been disturbed and panicked. If Earley was suspicious, he should have waited until the garbage got to the dump to go through it. Then we could have put a tap on Charley’s phone and found out who he was working for. That way, we wouldn’t have the guy who picked up the garbage blabbing about it to everybody.
And where does that sexy receptionist from Grove’s office, who claims to be Charley Hatch’s half sister, fit into the picture? he wondered.
At six o’clock, Robin Carpenter, escorted by Sergeant Earley, arrived at Jeff’s office. Walsh, Ortiz and Shelley sat in on the meeting, and Jeff was sure that all of them were aware that Robin was the kind of woman who could get whatever she wanted from a man. Funny, Jeff thought. She kept herself fairly low-key last week when we talked to her, after Grove’s body was found. Now she’s openly playing to the field. And to my staff, he thought, noticing that Ortiz could not keep his eyes off her.
“Ms. Carpenter, I’d like to extend my sympathy at your brother’s death. I’m sure this has been quite a shock for you.”
“Thank you, Mr. MacKingsley, but I don’t want to give the wrong impression. I am very sorry about Charley, but I must explain that I never even knew he existed until a year ago.”
Jeff listened intently as Robin explained that at age seventeen her mother had given birth to a baby. In a private adoption, she had signed him over to a childless couple to raise. “My mother’s been dead for ten years. Then one day last year, Charley showed up on my father’s doorstep and introduced himself. He had his birth certificate and pictures of himself in my mother’s arms, so there was no doubt he was who he said he was.
“My father’s remarried, so he wasn’t at all interested in Charley. In all honesty, he may be my half brother, but the little I got to know him, I didn’t much care for him. I mean he was always whining. He complained that he had to pay too much to his wife when they were divorced. He said he hated landscaping, but that once he got into that business, he was kind of stuck with it. He couldn’t stand most of the people he worked for. He just wasn’t the kind of person anyone would seek out to try to make a friend.”
“Did you have much contact with him?” Jeff asked.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t want any. Occasionally he’d call and ask me to have a cup of coffee with him. The divorce was fairly recent, and he was at loose ends.”
“Ms. Carpenter, we have reason to believe Charley Hatch was the person who vandalized the house on Old Mill Lane.”
“That’s absolutely impossible,” Robin protested. “Why would Charley do that?”
“That’s exactly what we want to know,” Jeff replied. “Did Charley ever come into your office to see you?”
“No, never.”
“Did Georgette know he was related to you?”
“No. There was no reason to talk about him.”
“Would Georgette or Henry have had any contact with him?”
“Possibly. I mean sometimes the people who are selling houses are away, and of course the houses and properties must be maintained. Charley was a landscaper and also had a snow-plowing service in the winter. If Georgette had an exclusive listing on a property, she’d be the one making sure that it was being kept up, so it’s entirely possible that she knew Charley if he was working on one of those properties. But his name never came up in the year I worked with her.”
“Then that would be true of Henry Paley as well?” Jeff asked. “He might have known Charley before last week.”
“Of course.”
“When was the last time you spoke to your half brother, Ms. Carpenter?”
“It was at least three months ago.”
“Where were you between one forty and two ten this afternoon?”
“In the office. You see, Henry was having lunch with Ted Cartwright. When he came back a little after one o’clock, I ran across the street to get a sandwich and bring it back in. Henry had an appointment at one thirty to take a client out.”
“Did he keep that appointment?”
Robin hesitated, then said, “Yes he did, but Mr. Mueller, the potential buyer, phoned to say he was delayed, and couldn’t meet Henry until two thirty.”
“Then Henry was in the office with you until that time?”
Robin Carpenter hesitated. Her eyes moistened, and she bit her lip to keep it from quivering. “I can’t believe that Charley is dead. Is that why . . . ?” Her voice trailed off.
Jeff waited, then slowly and deliberately said, “Ms. Carpenter, if you have any information that would assist this investigation, it is your obligation to reveal it. What did you just start to say?”
Robin’s composure broke. “Henry has been trying to blackmail me,” she burst out. “Before I went to work for Georgette, I dated Ted Cartwright a few times. Of course, when I realized how much she despised him, I didn’t mention it. Henry’s been trying to twist everything around to make it sound as if I was undermining Georgette. That wasn’t true, but what is true is that Henry Paley was not in the office today from the time he left at one fifteen until nearly four o’clock. In fact, he had just gotten back minutes before Sergeant Earley came in and told us Charley was dead.”
“His appointment to show a house had been changed from one thirty to two thirty?” Jeff confirmed.
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Ms. Carpenter. I know this has been very trying for you. If you wait just a few minutes until your statement is ready to sign, Sergeant Earley will drive you home.”
“Thank you.”
Jeff looked at his assistants, each of whom had been quietly taking notes. “Any one of you have a question for Ms. Carpenter?”
“Just one,” Paul Walsh said. “Ms. Carpenter, what is the number of your cell phone?”