Chapter Twenty-Seven

The Big Reveal

Dani

Dad thought it best to wait until morning to contact the police. He had asked Mr. Plimpton to accompany us. Joel also asked Sean Sullivan to join us and make sure his captain would be available. The next morning Dad, Mr. Cunningham, and I arrived at the police station shortly before nine. When Grace and Doug Plimpton arrived, Joel introduced us to Sean. Sean said to the police woman at the desk, “Kristy, this is the group I told you about. Where do you want us to go?”

“Take them to Interrogation Room C. It’s large enough to accommodate all of you.” Kristy pressed a buzzer, and we followed Sean and Joel through a heavy metal door into a large room with desks and chairs scattered throughout. Several men and women dressed in business suits or police uniforms were sitting at various desks, some on the telephone, some looking through files, and some talking to others. Sean led us around the desks to double metal doors in the back of the room. He punched in a code on a wall keyboard. The doors opened, and we followed him down a wide hallway. When we stopped at the C door, he again punched in a code on a similar keyboard and held the door open as we filed into the room.

Sean asked, “Can I offer you coffee while we wait for the captain?”

We accepted his offer, and he and Joel left the room, returning shortly carrying the coffee in two slotted cardboard containers. Soon the door opened, and a portly, gray haired man entered dressed in a tieless, blue shirt and baggy trousers held up with red suspenders. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Captain Ray Graham.”

In unison we greeted him, and Joel introduced us individually. “Captain, this is Andrew Reynolds. He owns Spencer’s Body Shop over on Granger Road. This is his daughter Danielle Reynolds. This is Dr. Grace DeMarco, a psychiatrist practicing in Orlando.”

The captain looked at Grace. “Are you any relation to Anthony DeMarco, who ran for governor several years ago?”

“He was my father.”

“He and I were in the same unit in Vietnam. Small world. I heard he passed away a few years ago.”

“Yes. He had a massive heart attack seven years ago.”

“My condolences. He was a good man.”

Joel continued his introductions. “This is Douglas Plimpton, the attorney for the group.”

The captain faced Mr. Plimpton. “I believe we’ve met before.”

“Yes, I was the counsel last year in the embezzlement case involving Bernie Carano. If I’m not mistaken, you were deeply involved in it.”

“Ah, yes. What has become of old Bernie?”

“The state won. He was sentenced to fifteen years.”

The captain then looked at Mr. Cunningham on his right.

“Captain, the man to your right is Mr. William Cunningham,” Joel said.

The captain stared at Mr. Cunningham as if he was trying to remember if he knew the man. “Have I met you before, Cunningham?”

“I don’t believe so, Captain.”

“I’m sure I’ve heard that name before.”

“Excuse me, Captain,” Dad broke in. “Let me explain. You might want to sit.”

Confused, the captain sat and waited for Dad’s explanation.

“This William Cunningham is the very same William Cunningham who is the owner of the now defunct Gunderson Groves Limited, and the very same William Cunningham whose family was brutally murdered the night of October 31, 1971.”

The captain jumped up. “Nonsense! That William Cunningham was killed in that house. Every law enforcement officer in Orange County knows about those murders and knows William Cunningham’s body was found in the same room with his wife’s body. This is bullshit!”

Mr. Cunningham slowly rose from his seat and turned to the captain. “It’s true. I am that William Cunningham. Only I was not murdered in my house. I was attacked outside the house, shoved in the crawlspace, and left for dead. The deceased found near my wife’s body was Daniel Reynolds, my best friend and head foreman, who also was the father of Andrew and the grandfather of Danielle.”

The captain sat back down, staring at Mr. Cunningham, who also sat and proceeded to tell how he had spent the last forty plus years. The captain listened attentively while Mr. Cunningham recapped how Joel and I found him on the property and the events leading up to this meeting. When he finished, the captain asked, “Do you have proof you are who you say you are?”

“Oh, yes, I have whatever you need in this briefcase.” He lifted the briefcase and placed it on the table. “My birth certificate and my parents’ birth certificates. As soon as I access my safety deposit box at the bank, I can show you the deeds to all my properties. Several of those documents contain my signature. You can verify them with my signature today.”

Mr. Plimpton interjected, “Captain, I can also vouch for this man’s identity. I knew Bill Cunningham forty years ago and know this man sitting beside you is that same Bill Cunningham. My father and I were his attorneys back in the sixties and seventies.”

The captain gathered his thoughts, cocked his head to the side, and addressed Mr. Cunningham. “You say you were on that property for over forty years living like a hermit? That’s a hell of a long time. Can you prove you didn’t kill your own family? If you aren’t the killer, why did you wait until now to come forward? Why didn’t you get in touch with the police as soon as you realized your family was murdered?”

“Captain Graham, put yourself in my place. I was out of my mind with grief for months, even years. I didn’t care if I lived or died. I didn’t even care who murdered my family, just that they were gone. Discounting my extreme grief, logically, what reason would I have to kill them and rape my own mother? I had a comfortable life. I had a thriving company; I had more money than I needed. What would be my motive?”

The atmosphere in the room was caustic. Did Captain Graham believe him? Just because we knew he wasn’t capable of such heinous acts didn’t mean others wouldn’t think he was guilty.

Mr. Cunningham reached for his briefcase. “I have something to show you that might add credence to my claim of innocence. Last week, in my mother’s bedroom, I found a letter missed by the authorities on the case.” He withdrew Clay Jackson’s letter. “This was found taped to the back of her bureau.”

The captain removed his reading glasses from his shirt pocket, put them on, and took the yellowed letter. With gentle fingers he opened it and read the contents as we waited for his response. “Since I’m not completely familiar with this case, can you tell me what bearing this letter has?”

Mr. Cunningham withdrew the two birth certificates. “Look carefully at these documents. All my life I was under the assumption I was an only child. I believe this Clay Jackson is my sibling.”

The captain took the two birth certificates and scrutinized them. Removing his glasses, he put them back in his pocket and handed the three documents to Sean. “Sean, have Sandy make copies of these immediately and give the originals back to Cunningham.”

Sean was about to take the documents when the captain stopped him. “Wait! That letter may contain the fingerprints of this Clay Jackson. Have the lab process it.” Then he turned to Mr. Cunningham. “Besides yourself, who else has handled that letter?”

Mr. Cunningham patted his cheek with his forefinger as he remembered. “Myself, my mother, Doug Plimpton, and you. Oh, and Frankie Reynolds handled the envelope but not the letter.”

“Who is Frankie Reynolds?”

“He’s the son of Andrew Reynolds and the boy who found the letter.”

“We’ll have to get his, yours, and Doug’s fingerprints to eliminate them. Hopefully, if there are prints from this Clay Jackson, they haven’t been obliterated by any of these others.”

Sean put on a pair of rubber gloves from his jacket and took the three documents.

The captain turned to Mr. Cunningham. “Do you know anything about this Clay Jackson?”

Dad interrupted, “Excuse me, Captain. When we found Bill on his property, this group worked to find out who might be a suspect in the murders. At the time we weren’t sure what Bill planned to do, but we knew my father, Dan Reynolds, didn’t commit those murders since he was also a victim. We wanted to clear his name and find the real killer. Bill gave us a list of all the people he knew at the time of the murders. We are not detectives, but we tried to contact these people, and basically, we came up with nothing. When Bill found these documents, we thought he might have found a very important clue to solving this case.”

The captain said, “I’d also like to have that list. You should’ve come to us when you first found Cunningham.”

Dad responded, “You have to understand the delicacy of the situation. Except to frighten away trespassers, Bill hadn’t spoken to anyone for over forty years. We didn’t want to jeopardize him in any way. Even you questioned his innocence. We had to wait until he was ready to accept whatever consequences developed.”

The captain looked at Mr. Cunningham. “I can understand that.”

Grace interjected, “Sir, we know this is going to create a media frenzy. Our concern is for Mr. Cunningham’s welfare as well as solving these crimes. We need your advice on how to handle that part of the case.”

The captain asked Mr. Cunningham, “Are you ready for this?”

“Yes, I am. These friends are concerned for me, and I appreciate that. I may be old, but I’m strong mentally and emotionally. I want to find the bastard who killed my family if it’s the last thing I do.”

The captain ordered, “This is how we’ll handle things. Sean and I will look over the evidence. We’ll re-examine the fingerprints and any DNA found at the scene. This Clay Jackson’s prints may not have been on file back in the seventies, but they may be today. For now, he’s our prime suspect. Cunningham, when Sean returns, you and Plimpton have him get your fingerprints. Also, bring Frankie Reynolds into the precinct to get his taken.

“This has become an entirely different case. It must be reopened. I need some time to look over the cold case files. Sean, I’m assigning you to the case. What are you working on right now?”

“I just wrapped up the Shepherd Street convenience store robbery. Lieutenant Billings planned to assign me a new case today.”

“I’ll talk to Billings. Since you’re somewhat familiar with this case, I want you working on it as soon as we’re done here. Bring the files and evidence to me. I’ll meet with you and Billings later this afternoon after I’ve looked at them. I want to be on top of this.”

He turned to us, moving his arm around the room. “Give your lists of names to Sean. We’ll look into these also. Sean will follow up with the tuberculosis sanatorium to find out as much as possible about Clay Jackson. As far as this causing a sensation with the media? Yes, that will happen. Cunningham, if you’re staying with the Reynolds, the media will be at their front door. You all will become unwilling celebrities overnight. Our department doesn’t plan to break this news to the public, but you know how that goes. It’ll happen. It’s just a matter of time. I’ll place a patrol at the Cunningham property. We don’t need any more intrusions there. But be prepared. You’re in for a bumpy ride. Before I leave, does anyone have any questions?”

Mr. Cunningham asked, “I need to access my bank account. Will not this start the media frenzy?”

“It may or may not. It might not be immediate, but anyone at your bank who discovers your identity and puts two and two together will tell everyone they know about you. I’d suggest you only talk to the top official at the bank. Inevitably, someone will discover who you are, and all hell will break loose.”

He paused and looked around the room. “If that’s it, I’ll have Sean keep in touch with you on any developments. In the meantime, if you’ve any questions, talk to him. He can funnel them to me. If it’s urgent, feel free to contact me directly. Cunningham, we’ll find this killer.”

The captain walked out of the room.

Sean returned with Mr. Cunningham’s birth certificates. “Jackson’s letter is with the lab for fingerprint analysis. I’ll start on your case after we process Plimpton and your fingerprints. Joel, Lieutenant Billings agreed to assign you to this case. You’re already familiar with all the details and will be an asset to me.”

****

Since Mr. Cunningham had come forward, it was time to put him into my criminology reports. I asked Professor Belinsky to keep his survival secret for now. Sometimes we had to read those reports in class, and I didn’t want to cause that media turmoil prematurely.