CHAPTER 6
Renee Poole never remembered getting in the police car. She was still dazed and unbelieving at what had taken place on the beach.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” The voice was sympathetic. “We’re here at the police station.” A tall, thin and dark-haired man opened her door.
Renee nodded and stepped out of the car. His voice sounded like it was coming from a fog. She couldn’t escape the image of her husband being shot. She remembered the shooter as his finger tightened over the trigger, the jerk of his hand when the bullet exploded, the roar of the gun as it left the muzzle and blasted into Brent’s head, and the thud of Brent’s body falling onto the sand. She gagged as she thought about the raw scent of blood that spilled from his head wounds and pooled onto the sand. She remembered these things, but knew she couldn’t do anything to change them.
Renee desperately needed someone to hold her close. To tell her she was safe. To say that everything was going to be okay.
Detective Jim Joyce escorted his key witness out of the car and into the Myrtle Beach headquarters on Oak Street. Over the years, there were several incidents along the Grand Strand where a couple had been robbed and/or assaulted. The MBPD particularly frowned on incidents that involved tourists visiting. It wasn’t beneficial to the city and to the businesses in the area. Any news reports of such incidents were certain to frighten other tourists. Detective Joyce was aware that although this crime was committed in a remote area of the beach, the implications would be the same. No one wanted rumors circulating that the beach was no longer a safe place to visit.
More important though, Detective Joyce focused on the fact that Renee and her husband had been victims of a serious crime. Although he had not received the official word from the hospital, he sensed from the talk at the crime scene that Brent Poole was probably not going to survive his injuries.
Joyce contacted Mary Stogner, the MBPD’s victim’s advocate on call. The police department had just implemented the advocacy program and Stogner was one of three staff members. Their primary function was to console the victim, assist them with any paperwork and provide them with general information on counseling and other services available to them as a victim. Renee Poole was just the type of person who needed their help.
“I’m sure she’s frightened,” Joyce told Stogner as he walked her to the room where Renee was sitting. “This is not a good situation for her family. She and her husband are both in their early twenties and they’ve got a little girl.”
Stogner sympathized with Renee Poole, virtually a stranger in town, now the victim of a violent crime. Thinking she needed someone to talk to, she pulled up a chair and sat across from Renee. She introduced herself and calmly asked, “Is there anything I can get you?”
Renee nodded. “Yes, I need a cigarette. I think I left mine on the beach.”
“I’ll see if I can bum a few from the officers. What kind do you smoke?”
“Marlboro Lights. But I’m so desperate, I’ll smoke about anything you can find.”
Stogner talked with Renee for about thirty minutes. When she was certain she was strong enough to provide a statement, she notified Detective Joyce.
“He’s just going to ask for some general information about you and your husband and the crime,” she assured her.
“Thank you. You’ve been very pleasant,” Renee said flatly.
“That’s what we’re here for.” Stogner reached under her desk, pulled out a small stuffed animal and handed it to Renee. “Please let me know if we can be of further assistance.”
Renee managed to smile. She wasn’t sure if the stuffed animal was for Katie or for her to keep for comfort. But she did need something real to hold on to since everything else at that moment seemed make-believe.
Renee’s interview with Detective Joyce began at 12:45 A.M. When the detective asked where she was staying, she stated again that she needed to call the hotel and speak to her baby-sitter. Joyce then stopped the interview and requested that someone call the hotel and check on the situation.
Renee had stopped crying and was relatively calm when the interview resumed. Speaking very softly, she explained slowly what had happened earlier on the beach.
Joyce eased forward in his chair and took notes on a yellow legal pad, not wanting to interrupt her as she talked. She told him all about the man dressed in black and how they had been robbed. The silence stretched out afterward. The slight tremor in Renee’s voice returned.
“And he went back over to my husband, and my husband said, ‘Please, don’t shoot me.’ And he said, ‘Why shouldn’t I?’ My husband said, ‘Because I have a daughter that I love very much.’ Then I heard the gun go off.”
Joyce groaned. He uncrossed his legs underneath the table and sat up straight in his seat. “Do you know how many times it went off?” he interjected.
“I heard it click a couple of times. I think there were two shots.”
“Did it click more than two times?”
“Yes, I think I heard it click a few times before I heard the actual shots.”
Renee described what exactly had been stolen and provided a description of the man dressed in black. He then asked her, “And when he was talking to you, could you tell if he had any type of accent? Or maybe a deep voice?”
“I don’t remember. I don’t think it was very deep, though.”
“Was he taller or shorter than you?”
“Taller. I think I’m five three. He was a lot taller than me, but not taller than you.”
Joyce stood up and turned to the side, then sat back down. He was taller than the man she had remembered seeing. “And that’s all he said to you, ‘Get down on the ground and give me everything’?”
“Yes, everything. Money, jewelry, wallet, everything.”
Joyce laid his pen down on the yellow pad.
“Okay. Uh . . . do you have someone else here that you’re staying with?”
“No, but I need to speak with the baby-sitter at the hotel.”
Joyce stood up slowly. “What time were you expected back?”
“We were supposed to be there at twelve A.M., so she needs to be relieved,” Renee pleaded.
Joyce planted his hands on the table. He looked at his watch. It was a few minutes before 1:00 A.M.