“It’s an amazing story, Lee, but I don’t know that it has anything to do with who killed Elena,” Neil said. He had shared all the information he’d learned from Carmen Perez Pagan and from the official records kept in San Juan.
Neil told Janquar where Carmen was staying in case he wanted to interview her himself.
“I probably will, but I think we’d better sort out this necklace thing first. Why would the bride be wearing a diamond necklace Lisa Keating expected to receive from her husband that then, according to your client, ends up in the pocket of Heather Malzone’s dress? One can draw a number of conclusions. But instead of speculating, let me just talk to these women. Remember, I’m only talking to them because the necklace ended up on one of the skinny-dippers’ photos. Otherwise, the issue would be investigated elsewhere,” Janquar declared, nodding his head sideways several times in the direction of Detective Hodge’s office.
Lucy Detree opened the door and leaned into the room.
“I’ve got Lisa Keating and Heather Malzone in the lobby. Heather arrived two seconds after Lisa, with her brother, Sean Keating, who says he insists on being present while Heather is interviewed. Lisa Keating says she’s not talking unless she can come in with Heather and Sean.”
“Sean’s your client, right?” Janquar asked Neil, who nodded yes.
“Okay, he can come in, but if he gets mouthy, out he goes.”
“Understood.”
Neil stepped outside into the lobby to explain to Sean why he was at the police station and the parameters of Sean’s presence during the interview.
“I’m cleared to officially represent you, Sean. I can’t represent Heather, but if I think something is going wrong, I’ll give you a signal so she can stop the interview and get her own lawyer,” Neil instructed.
Inside the interview room, Neil and Sean sat to one side of the table, while Lisa and Heather sat in the middle.
“Where’s that other detective?” Lisa asked.
“He’s busy interviewing other people. Would you feel more comfortable waiting for him, Mrs. Keating?” Janquar asked.
“God, no. He makes me so nervous, I tried getting my husband to have the lawyers the company sent down come with me. But Gavin said that wouldn’t be appropriate because I’m not part of the company.” Lisa’s jaw tightened.
“Folks, we have a photo I want to show you and then I’d like to ask a couple of questions. If you are uncomfortable at any time and want to engage an attorney, just tell me and I’ll stop. Remember, the goal here is for us to find out who killed Elena, not to trick you,” Janquar started.
Lucy Detree pulled the stack of photos out of the pile again, thumbing through them until she found one, which she placed on the table between Heather and Lisa.
“My god, that’s my necklace Elena’s wearing. How did she get it?” Lisa gasped.
“Do you recognize the necklace, Ms. Malzone?” Sergeant Detree asked.
“Actually, it’s Dr. Malzone,” Sean interjected, sitting back after getting one of Neil’s “shut your mouth” glances.
Heather sat silently looking at the photo, and then over at Sean.
“Ms. Salter claims she found the necklace in your dress pocket when she was doing the laundry and that you denied it was yours,” Detective Janquar said to Heather.
“You had my necklace? What’s with that, Heather?” Lisa cried.
“It wasn’t yours, Lisa.” Heather’s voice was barely audible.
“What do you mean it wasn’t my necklace? I saw it in Gavin’s bag.” Lisa still wasn’t getting what Neil knew might be too painful for her to admit.
“He gave it to her,” Heather said. “To Elena.”
“Why would he do that?” Sean asked. Neil knew Sean’s IQ was fairly high. He marveled at how oblivious people in love can be.
Lisa sat very still for a few moments. Neil could see her fighting to control her emotions. Her lower lip trembled as she blinked back tears in her eyes.
“And how did you come into possession of it, Dr. Malzone?” Janquar asked gently. Neil knew Janquar expected he might be on the verge of a confession.
Neil looked over at Sean, who seemed oblivious to the implications of what both Lisa and Heather had said. Neil placed his foot on Sean’s and pressed down gently.
“Heather, you might want an attorney before you answer that,” Sean said.
“If you killed her, I’m glad,” Lisa said. “You should have killed him too, the son of a bitch.”
Before Heather could respond about whether she wanted to get an attorney before answering any further questions, there was a knock on the door.
Officer Milan opened the door and handed a few sheets of paper to Detective Janquar. “A fax just came in from the Medical Examiner’s office, sir. Detective Hodge is at lunch, so I thought you might want to take a look.”
Janquar scanned the pages up and down and then handed them to Sergeant Detree who did the same. The silence hung in the room like a thundercloud just waiting to burst.
“Dr. Malzone and Mrs. Keating, could I ask you to please step out into the lobby? Obviously, you can’t leave, but if you want to make a call, Officer Milan can assist you,” Detective Janquar offered.
Heather and Lisa followed Officer Milan out of the room. Detective Janquar signaled that Neil and Sean should move into their seats.
“I know you and Elena didn’t actually marry, but you were very close to it, and I am sorry for your loss, Mr. Keating.” Janquar looked directly at Sean and spoke in soft voice.
“Thank you,” Sean said. He bowed his head. Neil thought Sean might cry again.
“We try very hard to be sensitive to the families of murder victims. We respect that you probably want to know what happened to your loved one, although how much detail a family member actually wants to hear varies. I’ve been handed the results of the autopsy on Elena. How much detail do you want me to share?” Detective Janquar asked.
“Think before you answer, Sean.” Neil had seen too many clients say they wanted to know everything and then pass out when they heard about how deep a knife had penetrated their loved one’s liver.
“Give it all to me. Please,” Sean said. Neil wasn’t surprised.
“Well, as you probably know, Elena was a very healthy young woman. She died of strangulation, which means she did not drown. She was dead when she entered the water. We recovered her lace train or veil, which had caught on some coral. We think it was used to strangle her,” Janquar said, taking a breath.
So far, not so awful, Neil thought.
“There’s more, Mr. Keating. The medical examiner wasn’t sure if Elena had been raped prior to her death or whether she might have engaged in some, shall we say, ‘rough’ intercourse before her strangulation . . .”
“What? No, no. NO,” Sean’s voice rose and he got up from his chair, running to the door and out of the room. By the time Neil got to the lobby, the front door was open and all he could see was the back side of Sean Keating racing down the sidewalk with Heather and Lisa staring after him.