Chapter Two #2
“And what do you do?”
“I’m an attorney.”
“What kind?”
“Estate.”
“How many people were taken for a ride by your wife?”
“Hundreds.”
Sam had been afraid of that. Nothing like a murder with motive for days. “And you know them all?”
“Not all, but many of them.”
“How much money are we talking about?”
“Twenty million, give or take.”
“I’m not aware of the case against your wife beyond the basics. Fill me in on what she did and how she did it.” Sam wanted to hear the story in his words.
“She’s in finance, or she was. She puts together investment opportunities for her clients.”
“What kinds of opportunities?”
“Everything from construction to travel to tech. You name it, she’s dabbled in it.
The project that got her in trouble was for a real estate business she started, to rehabilitate run-down properties.
She would identify properties, get people to invest in them and then promise them returns on their investments when the properties sold. ”
“Except,” Freddie said, “most of the properties people were investing in didn’t exist.”
“Right,” McLeod said, his expression grim.
“So what’d she do with the money?” Sam asked.
“I have no idea,” McLeod said. “That’s one of many things Ginny will take to her grave with her. However, I’ve come to believe she had a gambling addiction, so that might account for some of it.”
“Where were you today?”
“At the Potomac Country Club all afternoon. I played eighteen holes with three close friends, some of the only friends I have left because they didn’t have enough cash to make them worth her time.”
“We’ll need their contact info.”
“Why?” he asked, seeming astounded that they would check what he’d said.
“Because people lie to our faces all the time.”
“I’m not lying! I played golf.”
“Great, then you won’t have any problem giving us the names and contact numbers for the people you played with.”
He sagged and seemed to accept the inevitable, which was good because not cooperating would count as wasting her time, and Sam hated when people wasted her time.
Using his cell phone to get the info, he wrote down the names and numbers of the three men. Sam handed the notebook over to Freddie to make the calls.
“When was the last time you saw your wife?”
“Before I left this morning.”
“Spoke to her?”
“After her arraignment when I drove her home and asked her what the fuck she’d been thinking stealing from people, let alone people we know.
When she couldn’t give me a satisfactory response, I told her to stay the hell away from me.
I was planning to immediately file for divorce and wanted her out of the house. ”
“Was she aware you were planning to divorce her?”
“Not yet, but I hardly think she would’ve been surprised in light of what I’ve learned about her.
I didn’t want to be on the hook to make restitution to her victims.” As he said those words, it seemed to occur to him that he might be now that she was dead.
“I didn’t kill her, but I can think of hundreds of people who had reason to.
One of our closest couple friends, Dan and Toni Alino, both his parents have Alzheimer’s, and she got them to invest in her scheme with money she knew they’d need to care for his parents.
She took money from her own cousin as well as my brother. Who does that?”
“I don’t know,” Sam said. “Was anyone particularly outspoken after she was charged?”
“Her phone was ringing nonstop for days. She ignored the calls. People were calling and texting me, but I didn’t know what to tell them except I was as surprised as they were to find out what she’d been doing.
I’m sure they don’t believe I didn’t know, but I didn’t.
I was horrified when I heard the full extent of what she’s charged with.
If I’d known…” He looked at them, seeming shattered.
“I would’ve done something to stop it. I’m an attorney, an officer of the court.
There’s no way I would’ve let this go on and not tried to stop it. ”
“Take me through what happened when you found her.”
“I came home from the club, opened the garage door and saw the blood all over the place, and then I realized it was her. Ginny. I… I recognized the running shoes she had on. I immediately called 911 and waited outside until the MPD arrived.”
“You never touched her or went near her?”
“No. I could tell there was nothing I could do for her.”
“Is her phone here?”
He nodded toward the kitchen counter. “It’s there.”
“Do we have your permission to take it into evidence?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
Sam pulled an evidence bag out of her coat pocket and handed it to Freddie.
“Is there somewhere else you can stay tonight? Crime Scene will be coming in to work the scene and will probably be here at least until tomorrow.”
“I, um, I can go to my brother’s. I think. Is it okay to text him?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Sam stayed with him while he texted his brother.
“I can tell him what happened with Ginny?”
“Yes.”
He typed the information into the phone and then waited for his brother to respond. “He said I can come over.”
“We’ll get Patrol to take you.”
“I can’t drive myself?”
“Everything here is considered evidence until Crime Scene is finished processing it. Where is your brother’s home located?”
“Chevy Chase.”
“Detective Cruz, will you ask Patrol to arrange transport for Mr. McLeod?”
Freddie nodded and left the kitchen.
“Are you guys going to ruin my life in the process of figuring out who killed my wife? I watch TV. I know you always think the spouse did it.”
“Not always, and we’ll only have to ruin your life if you lie to us.”
“Everything I’ve told you is the truth.”
“Then we shouldn’t have a problem.”