October 7, 2018
Galveston, Texas
On the drive to Louise and Didier’s place, Marnie was holding herself together, literally. Her arms were wrapped around her chest and she was rocking in her seat.
“Everyone’s okay, right?” Chris asked.
Marnie seemed to come from somewhere far away. “Yes, kids, pups, and Nancy, Louise’s mom, are all fine. This investigation has gone from the cerebral to the visceral. To threaten them means that whoever is involved in Gen’s murder is vicious. Not that that wasn’t obvious from Gen’s death, but he or she is sending a message directed to us. It’s not a problem of the past. It’s a current threat.”
Chris took her hand as she continued.
“Ridiculous how I hadn’t sensed the danger involved. To think that Noah and Cora could have been hurt makes me sick.”
Chris understood. He reported on loss and tragedy all the time, but it was someone else’s loss. When you knew the victims, it was different.
When they reached the Finnerty/LaSalle place, Marnie was out of the car and up the stairs as soon as the car stopped. She swooped into the house and scooped up Noah and Cora in a big embrace. The shock of the threat had worn off and they were flushed with excitement. They both started talking at once.
“Oh, Aunt Marnie, you should have seen Jack. He was so brave. He jumped at the guy and made him fall down. We’ve never seen Jack so mad!” Cora said.
Noah said, “We would have been toast without Jack!”
Jack and Harlee were not to be left out of the excitement. They were jumping up and down like Tiggers. While Harlee was jumping all over the couch—much to Didier’s disapproval—Jack threatened to knock Marnie out by jumping up when she bent over to pet him.
Marnie spoke to them soothingly. “You pups are okay. Settle and lie down.”
Emphasizing the down, both dogs got off the couch and lay on the floor. Looking at Marnie, the pups army-crawled with excitement but stayed down.
“Good pups,” Marnie said as she calmly petted them, and then released them from the position of down. “Quiet now.”
Chris was stunned to see the dogs obey. Clearly, Marnie had done some serious training. He now understood that, as she said, the pups would obey when she meant it.
After the dogs settled, Marnie looked at Noah and Cora and said, “I am proud of Jack but also of the two of you. I’m glad you did what your grandma said. You kept your heads and that helped all of you come home safely.”
Didier glanced up. “I’ve called the police and Detective Sudhan will be here shortly.”
Chris put his hand on Marnie’s tense shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Marnie replied, “Getting there.” She reached up and took Chris’s hand.
By this time, Harlee had managed to wiggle onto Marnie’s lap and Jack was at her feet. The rhythmic stroking of Harlee calmed all three of them and seemed to have a calming effect on the whole room. Chris took a seat next to her, still holding her hand.
Louise watched the exchange between Marnie and Chris. Holy cow! Those two have been knocking boots! She couldn’t believe it.
Deciding that she needed a few minutes to digest this situation, she took the kids up for baths, hoping that a semblance of a routine would help them get through the evening.
After baths, Louise and Didier swapped places and Didier continued with the bedtime routine. Seeing Detective Sudhan arrive, Louise met her at the door and thanked her for coming.
Sudhan stood near the door and said, “I’m sorry that the tragedy of Dr. Drake may have spread to involve your children. I hope that we can get to the bottom of it quickly.”
“How should we start?” Louise asked.
“Let’s begin with what Mrs. Finnerty can tell me,” Sudhan replied, looking at Nancy.
Having regained some of her composure, Nancy outlined the event.
Sudhan turned to Marnie. “Any additional information since we spoke last night? Did you notice anyone watching your house?”
“I haven’t seen anyone suspicious around,” Marnie said. She glanced at Chris. “We’ve been getting some background information on Gen’s coworkers.”
Sudhan gave Chris a quick glance with skeptical eyes. “I’m sure your involvement wouldn’t have any relation to breaking news by your newspaper. What did you learn?”
Marnie said, “There are plenty of people she worked with who could use some cash.”
“As could most of us,” Sudhan said.
“Yes, but these people may have had an easy opportunity to make some. Someone destroyed Gen’s conclusions, and permanently silenced Gen,” Marnie said.
Detective Sudhan looked at the room of smart, determined civilians. Chris looked thoughtful and observant. Marnie was on high alert. Sudhan had known Louise for a long time. She knew that the doctor could take command of an ER. The detective had seen Louise handle a mass casualty triage when a ferry had overturned in the bay. She didn’t know how well Louise could handle a direct threat to her family. Detective Sudhan hoped it wouldn’t come to that. It was her job to prevent it.
“I feel like we could all use a glass of water or some caffeine and something sweet,” Sudhan said.
Nancy stood up. “I would love to have something to do. I’ll leave the kitchen door open so I can hear. I need to call my husband and let him know what’s going on.”
Having returned from upstairs, Didier offered to help her.
“Let’s find a comfortable place to sit,” Sudhan said. She ushered the group into the dining room and took a seat at the head of the table. Sudhan gestured to Chris and Marnie. “Okay, let’s start with you two.”
Dining room tables were the best place to take interviews. Something about gathering around the table made people want to share their stories. If she had designed police interrogation rooms, she would have had such a table in the rooms. She set her phone to record.
Marnie and Chris related the tale of their last forty-eight hours, including what they had learned from Savannah.
“Gen’s division has plenty of potential suspects if financial gain was the motive,” Chris offered. “But who’s paying? And why?”
As the group sipped coffee and ate cookies, Sudhan could feel the cohesion building and the tension lessening. She glanced at the dogs who were calmly sleeping off their busy day in the adjacent room. Her gaze traveled up the stairs to where she saw the children eavesdropping on the conversation.
She gestured to Louise and Didier, who smiled and decided that eavesdropping was acceptable given the events of the day. They would take their children to bed and answer questions after everyone left.
Settling around the table, Nancy chimed in. “Now that my nerves have calmed down, I can recall the person more clearly. Although the hoodie obscured his face, I could give a pretty good description of the person’s general build and aura. My artist skills may prove more useful than I thought.”
Sudhan said, “Tomorrow, Nancy, I would like you to come to the police station and work with a sketch artist. Is there anything you would like to add, Louise?”
Louise took a deep breath and looked around the table. “From what we know, Gen was murdered after she reached the beach. How she got there and who did it are two unanswered questions. Why it was done is a third.” Turning to Sudhan, she continued. “I think a link may be the jailbird who was babbling about a woman in the water. The guy I heard Vance talking about in the ER. His arrest fits in our timeline.”
Sudhan nodded. “I’ve scheduled an interview with Vance tomorrow.”
“Also, I saw Officer Torres with Gen’s boss at her memorial,” Louise added. “He was at the scene when Gen was found on the beach.”
“And he was the cop who stopped Chris and me after our visit to the lab. A coincidence?” Marnie asked.
Sudhan said, “I have no idea.”
She looked from one to another to see if anyone else had more to add. “So, my next step is to locate Vance’s jailbird and see what he has to say. I will be in touch with you tomorrow. In the meantime, I will have our patrol cars come out this way more often.”
After she left the Finnerty/LaSalle house, Sudhan headed back to the police station. She wanted to get her notes from the meeting on the record. Bob was still on the evening shift.
Sudhan turned her attention to tonight’s assault. As a senior detective in Galveston’s fourteen-person detective squad of the CID, Criminal Investigation Division, she was already in charge of Drake’s murder. This assault was most likely linked to it. She would be talking to the snitch, first thing in the morning. She better talk to Torres as well.