Chapter Fourteen
They took the elevator to the Tappens’ floor and went through the same routine with the officer on duty as they had before. By the time she knocked on Bob Tappen’s door, she’d had more than enough of this day.
“Did you find the person who killed my wife?” he asked, looking hopeful and exhausted at the same time.
“Not yet. Could we please come in for a minute?”
“Oh, um, sure.”
They followed him into the room. Lucas was stretched out on the second bed, scrolling through his phone. When he saw Sam and Freddie, he sat up.
“Crime Scene detectives are completing their work at your home. You’ll be able to go home around four. I’ll ask Patrol to arrange rides for you.”
“Thank you.”
Sam glanced at Lucas. “Could we speak to you in private please, Mr. Tappen?”
He nodded for Lucas to go next door, which he did, with a glance over his shoulder.
After the adjoining door closed behind him, Sam said, “Do you mind if we sit?” she asked, pointing to the bed Lucas had been on.
“No. Please, make yourselves comfortable.” He sat across from them.
“Have you got anything that might explain this? Because I’m telling you, I can’t think of anything.
I’ve gone over everything in my mind, every conversation, every day for weeks, trying to think of something that would’ve led to Pam being murdered. I can’t think of a single thing.”
Sam glanced at Freddie, giving him the floor without warning. She loved doing that to him and would certainly hear about it when they were back outside. But hey, her job was to train him, and that’s what she was doing.
“Mr. Tappen,” Freddie said haltingly, “we’ve encountered some information that may or may not be relevant to your wife’s case.”
“What information?”
“I’m sorry to have to tell you, sir, that we’ve discovered your wife was having an affair.”
For a long, long moment, he stared at Freddie, his expression unchanged. And then he began to laugh. He laughed so hard that he couldn’t breathe.
Freddie looked to Sam for guidance she didn’t have. She shrugged.
“You find that funny, sir?” Freddie asked.
“Pam was not having an affair.” Tappen wiped away tears of laughter. “That’s preposterous.”
“The other party has confirmed that she was, in fact, having an affair with him.”
“What other party?”
“Mark Ouellette.”
His expression went immediately thunderous. “There’s no way she’d have an affair with that douchebag.”
Freddie said nothing, letting his silence speak for him.
Nicely done, Sam thought. Give him a minute to let it set in.
“Pam didn’t like him. None of us like him. He’s a jackass.”
Still, Freddie said nothing.
“There’s no way she was sleeping with him,” Tappen said, his tone losing some of its edge.
“Mr. Ouellette has confirmed a year-long relationship.”
Tappen shook his head in what seemed to be complete disbelief.
“Pam thought he was a windbag. She said it all the time. ‘How can Josie stand to be married to him?’ she would ask. ‘All he talks about is himself, his quarterback-star son and how he’s going all the way to the NFL, when we know the closest many of these kids will ever get to the NFL is attending a game on a future Sunday.’ I wish I could tell you how many times she said those and other things.
My boys don’t like him either, and they can’t stand his son. ”
“I’m not sure what reason Mr. Ouellette would have to lie about such a thing, as it made him a person of interest in a homicide investigation,” Sam said.
“Not to mention we had no choice but to interview his wife and present her with the same information we’re giving you.
Needless to say, his marriage is now in serious jeopardy. ”
“There’s just no way,” Tappen said again.
“We’re forced to operate on the assumption that Mr. Ouellette was telling us the truth, as there would be no reason for him to detonate a nuclear bomb in his life if it wasn’t true.”
“People are going to hear about this and wonder what kind of life we had together. I’m going to have to wonder about that, because I thought I knew.”
“We’re sorry to have to bring you this news at what’s an already difficult time for you.”
“What am I supposed to tell my kids?”
“I’d suggest you go with the truth, and do it before it gets out as part of the case,” Sam said.
“How can I tell them such a thing about their mother? They won’t believe it, especially since I don’t believe it.”
“We need to ask you who Pam would’ve told about the affair.”
“She wouldn’t have told anyone. Something like this…
It would’ve set off a nuclear bomb in her life if people found out.
You have to understand… Our football family was tight.
Everyone knows everyone, and this would’ve been a huge scandal.
And I promise you, if anyone knew, it would’ve gotten out.
People wouldn’t have kept it quiet. It would be too salacious, too tempting.
” He took a deep breath and let it out in an even deeper sigh.
“It wasn’t bad enough that she was murdered. Now this.”
“We’re sorry to add to your grief,” Freddie said.
He shrugged. “You’re just doing your jobs. It’s not your fault that my wife cheated on me with a complete asshole.” After another long pause, he looked to Sam. “Did he say why she did it?”
“I, uh, he said they were both in long marriages, and some of the spark had gone out.”
“That’s a fucking lie,” Tappen said, his eyes flashing with outrage. “The spark was very much alive in our marriage.”
“I’m, ah, just telling you what he said.”
“Maybe that was true for him, but not for her. I’ll never believe she thought that.”
“Can you think of anyone who might’ve learned about the affair and would be upset enough about it to do what was done to Pam?” Sam asked.
“Other than myself or Josie, no, and from what you tell me, she didn’t know about it any more than I did.”
“Would it be possible that one of your children knew?”
He stared at her in disbelief. “You think one of my children, who adored their mother, could’ve heard about an affair and murdered their mother in the most torturous way possible?
They wouldn’t have murdered her. They’d have been too heartbroken to even think up such a diabolical plan.
If you don’t believe me, do you want to be the ones to tell them what their mother was up to with Ouellette?
You can see for yourself that none of them knew, because if they did, they would’ve raised holy hell about it with her and with me. ”
Sam absolutely did not want to be the one to tell Tappen’s kids about the affair, but she did want to see their reactions to hearing about it. “If you’ll bring them in, we’ll ask them if they knew.”
Freddie gave her a “holy shit, are you for real?” look, letting her know he wanted nothing to do with this either.
She couldn’t blame him.
Tappen went to get his three children. When they were in the room, he said, “Go ahead. Tell them what you told me.”
Sam once again looked to Freddie.
If looks could kill, she’d be so dead.
“It’s come to our attention,” he said, “that your mother was having a romantic relationship with Mark Ouellette.”
Justin snorted through his nose. “No way. She couldn’t stand him.”
“She said all the time what a blowhard he is,” Lucas said, glancing at his dad for confirmation.
“My mother wouldn’t do that to my father,” Molly said. “That’s not who she was.”
“Mr. Ouellette has confirmed the affair. He’d have no reason to make himself a potential person of interest in a homicide investigation if it wasn’t true.”
“You think he did it?” Lucas asked, sounding incredulous.
“He has an alibi for the time your mother most likely went missing,” Sam said. “He was at a football tournament in Delaware.”
“We were there, too,” Lucas said, including his brother. “We saw him and Aidan there.”
“We have to ask this, as difficult as it may be,” Freddie said. “But did any of you have any inkling whatsoever that your mother was involved with Mr. Ouellette?”
“Hell no,” Justin said. “That’s so disgusting.”
“I didn’t,” Lucas said.
A long beat of silence passed before Molly said, “I didn’t know.”
Sam zeroed in on her with the laser stare that made criminals wilt in the interrogation room. “If you know anything, now is the time to say so, Molly. If we find out that you withheld information pertinent to our investigation, that can cause you trouble.”
“Did you know, Molly?” her father asked her, his expression conveying complete astonishment.
“I knew something was off,” Molly said, blinking back tears. “She wasn’t herself since I went away to college. Every time I talked to her, she was distracted, and there were times she didn’t take calls from me, which wasn’t like her.”
“Did you know about Mark?” her father asked again, more sharply this time.
“I suspected something was going on with him. She mentioned his name a lot to me.”
“Are you kidding me? And you didn’t say anything?”
“What was I supposed to say, Dad? ‘I think Mom might be banging Mr. Ouellette’?”
“To start with, yes. That might’ve kept her from being murdered.”
Molly’s face collapsed in the second before she broke down into heartbroken sobs.
Bob immediately realized what he’d done and went to comfort his daughter. “I’m so sorry, honey. Of course, none of this is your fault.”
“I sh-should’ve said something.”
“No, it wasn’t your problem.”
“I’m s-sorry, Dad.”
Her father hugged her until she’d calmed down.
“Why would she do such a fucked-up thing, and with him of all people?” Justin asked, his expression making his feelings known. “She couldn’t stand him. None of us can.”
“Can you think of anyone else who may have known about the affair and been angry enough to do something like murder your mother?” Sam asked.
“Other than our dad and the coach’s wife, who would care that much?” Molly asked.
“One of their kids?” Justin asked.