Chapter Fifteen
They arrived in Paula’s neighborhood a few minutes later and parked a block from her house as the afternoon light began to wane. The short days in December were downright depressing, Sam thought as they hoofed it through the cold toward Paula’s house.
“I suppose you’re going to make me ask Pam’s best friend if she knew about the affair.”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
“Let me know when you make up your mind.”
“I’ll tell you one thing, if she knew about it and didn’t tell us the first time we were here, I’m going to be pissed.” Sam knocked on Paula’s front door. “You know how I hate people who waste our time.”
“Yes, I do.”
She knocked again. “Metro PD.”
The inside door opened, and Paula seemed surprised to see them there. “You’re back,” she said as she opened the storm door.
“We’re back,” Sam said. “We have some follow-up questions.”
“Come in.”
Once again, they followed her back to the kitchen, where Paula turned down the heat under a pot on the gas range.
Sam wouldn’t live in a house with gas. Her first year on the job, she’d responded to a house explosion that was later tied to a leak in the gas line.
The house had been reduced to splinters, killing two people inside.
Sam had never forgotten what she’d seen that day.
She wondered if the White House had gas.
If it did, it was probably inspected regularly.
She’d have to ask Gideon about that so she’d have something else to worry about.
When they were seated at Paula’s kitchen table, Sam glanced at Freddie, giving him the ball.
He gave her a withering look before turning his attention to Paula. “Did Pam ever give you any indication that she was unhappy in her marriage?”
“No, not at all. She and Bob were solid.”
“Did she mention interest in other men?”
Paula recoiled. “Of course not. She was married.”
“It’s come to our attention that Pam was having an affair with Mark Ouellette, one of the coaches of her sons’ football team.”
“That’s not true.”
“We have reason to believe it is.”
Paula was quiet for a long moment, and Sam was pleased that Freddie waited on her. That’s what she would’ve done, too. “How did you find out?”
“Mark told us.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because we’re trying to figure out who killed Pam, and we made it clear to him that withholding information in a homicide investigation is a crime.”
“How do you know he’s telling the truth?”
“His story was convincing, as was the fact that he’d have nothing to gain by telling us this and everything to lose.” Sam waited a beat before adding, “You heard the part about withholding information pertinent to a homicide being a crime, right?”
“Yes.” She ran a trembling hand through her hair. “I hope you understand… Pam was my friend. My best friend. When you were here the first time, my only thought was to protect her family. She’s gone, you know? But her husband and kids… They have to live with the fallout of what happened.”
“Tell us what happened,” Sam said.
“She… She loved Bob very much. I never heard her say a bad word about him, even when the rest of us were husband-bashing. She said he was a wonderful father and husband and a hard worker.”
“But?”
Paula released a deep sigh. “In the past few years, he’d stopped wanting a physical relationship with her. Everything else between them was as it had always been, but that part of their lives had come to an end.”
“Had she talked to him about it?”
“She had, and he’d seen several doctors who couldn’t find any physical reason for his sudden lack of interest in sex.
He’d recovered from the prostate cancer he’d been treated for and was back to full health, so it wasn’t that.
They’d been to counseling, which had also failed to solve the problem.
It was a very difficult situation for her.
She was forty-seven years old and not ready for that part of her life to be over. ”
“So she had an affair?”
“Several of them, actually. Mark was the most recent and the longest lasting.”
Sam’s spine began to tingle with the realization that they were on to something. Finally. “I’ll need a list of the men she was involved with.”
Paula stared at her, seeming shocked. “I… I’m not sure I know them all.”
“How many were there?”
“Four.”
“Starting when?”
“About three years ago. The first two were one-night stands while she was away at conferences. The third was a friend of ours who lost his wife to cancer several years ago.”
“His name?”
“You really have to involve him in this? He’s been through so much already.”
“I really do have to involve him. His name?”
“Tyler Markham.”
“Where would we find him?”
Paula dropped her face into her hands. “He’s an obstetrician at GW.”
His name rang a bell with Sam, but she couldn’t immediately place him. “Is there anything else?” Sam asked. “Is there anything else you know that we should know, and let me warn you that failing to disclose information a second time will result in charges.”
“There’s nothing else. You won’t tell Bob that this came from me, will you?”
“I doubt I’ll have to. Who else would know this?”
“No one,” Paula said tearfully. “There’s no one else who knows.”
“I freaking hate when people waste our time,” Sam said as they left Paula’s and returned to the car.
“I can sort of understand why she didn’t go there the first time, though,” Freddie said. “In her mind, her friend is dead, and protecting her memory is the friend’s top priority.”
“Whereas finding her killer is our top priority.”
“Different perspectives, different priorities.”
“I suppose,” Sam said. “But honestly, why do we have to tell people that withholding information in a homicide is a crime before they’ll tell us what we need to know?”
“My very wise partner would tell you this is an everyday thing to us, but it’s all new to them.”
“Stop making so much sense. It’s irritating.”
Freddie barked out a laugh. “I’ll add that to the things I’m not allowed to do.”
“That list has to be getting very long.”
“It’s twenty-six pages.”
Sam shot him a look. “You don’t really have a list, do you?”
“I’ll never tell.”
She tossed him her keys. “Drive me to GW. I have some calls to make.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When she was belted into the passenger seat, she put through a call to Dr. Anderson, her friend at GW.
His voice mail picked up, so she left a message.
“Hey, it’s Sam Holland wondering how to find one of your colleagues in the maze you call a hospital.
Call me if you get this message in the next twenty minutes or so. ”
She ended that call and put through another to Captain Malone.
He answered on the second ring. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“We might have a small break.” She explained what they’d learned from Pam’s best friend. “We’re on our way to talk to one of the other guys and operating under the assumption that the two one-night stands aren’t worth pursuing. Right now, anyway.”
“And you’ve ruled out the wife of the current guy and Pam’s husband?”
“Both were legitimately shocked to learn of their affair. Josie Ouellette had no idea, and Bob Tappen said Pam couldn’t stand Mark, or so she said. He and his children were stunned to hear that she’d been having an affair with him, ‘of all people,’ as they put it.”
“This is very strange. The person who did this wanted her to suffer, so who else would have motive besides the spouses?”
“Their children would, if they found out about the affair and were revolted by it, but a crime like this takes a certain level of sophistication. Luring her from her home without leaving a digital trail, tying her up in a way that would keep her from being able to help herself, abandoning her in a freezing car and waiting to hear she was dead. A full-on sociopath did this.”
“I’d take a low-level look at the kids and see if anything stands out.”
“Will do. Tomorrow. After we see the third guy, a doctor at GW, we’re going to call it a day. We’ll get back to it in the morning.”
“Don’t you have your grief group meeting tonight?”
“Shit, fuck, damn, hell.”
Captain Malone cracked up laughing. “I won’t tell Dr. Trulo that you forgot.”
“I didn’t forget. Exactly.”
“Sure, you didn’t. See you when you get back to the house.”
“What are you SFDHing about?” Freddie asked.
“I may or may not have forgotten that grief group is tonight.”
“Ah, right. I should’ve reminded you.”
“I shouldn’t need a reminder.”
“But alas…”
“Stop enjoying this so much. That’s also irritating.”
“Adding it to my growing list.”
“You keeping a list of things that irritate me is also irritating.”
“Duly noted.”
“Am I allowed to skip the grief group that I founded?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why did I know you were going to say that? Ugh. I have so much to do and no time to do any of it.”
“What else do you have to do?”
“I haven’t bought a thing for anyone, and Christmas is next week.”
“You have people who can help you with that.”
“Nothing says how much you love someone than farming out your Christmas shopping to other people.”
“Everyone would understand, Sam. We’re all well aware of the changes to your life recently.”
“Still, I don’t want a stranger shopping for my kids and Nick.”
“Then ask Celia and your sisters to do it.”
“They have enough of their own people to shop for.”
“Ask for help, Sam. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to survive having three full-time jobs.”
“I hate when you’re right. Add that to your stupid list.”
“That’s number one on the list.”
Sam didn’t want to laugh, but couldn’t help it. “I also hate to encourage you, but that was a good one.”
“Thank you. I learned from the master.”
“Clearly, I’ve taught you too well. So what do I get the man who has everything because he has me for Christmas?”
“Not sure where to even start to unpack that question.”
“Seriously, Freddie. What do I get him?”
“How about working with the Secret Service to arrange a family ski trip while the kids are on vacation? There’s nothing he’d rather have than more time with you and the kids.”
“We’re supposed to go to Camp David after Christmas.”
“Ah, right. Do something for June when they’re all out of school. That way, he’ll have it to look forward to.”
“That’s a good idea, and I’ll probably do that, but I need something to give him that’s for right now.”
“I’ll give that some thought and get back to you.”
“Think fast. We’ve got a week.”
“Will do.”
Sam’s phone rang with a call from Dr. Anderson. “Hey.”
“Who you looking for?”
“Tyler Markham, an OB.” Again, Sam tried to recall how she knew that name.
“You’d probably find him at his office on K Street at this time of day, unless he’s delivering.”
“I’ll try the office first. Thanks for the info.”
“Haven’t seen you in a while. You must be due for some sort of catastrophe soon.”
“Shut your mouth.”
His laughter rang through the phone. “We offer two-for-one specials on your frequent-flier punch card during the holidays.”
“Good to know. Since I won’t be seeing you, have a nice Christmas.”
“You do the same.”
“Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime.”
Sam slapped her phone closed. “Let me see your phone.”
“Why?”
“So I can look up the doctor’s office address.”
“You could do that on the iPad,” he said, gesturing to the screen that was mounted to her dash.
“I’d rather do it on your phone.”
“Why? Because you never bothered to learn how to use the iPad?”
“Why do I need to know how to use it when you do?”
“For times like this when I’m driving.”
“Give me your phone, or you’re fired.”
Rolling his eyes, he dug the phone out of his back pocket and handed it over to her. “P.S., you can’t fire me for not letting you use my personal phone.”
“You wanna bet?”
“No, I don’t. You’d lose.”
“What’s your code?”
“I’m not required to provide that information.”
“Freddie!”
Laughing, he said, “Six, two, zero, three.”
Sam punched in the numbers. “Now what do I do?”
“Oh my freaking God.”
“Are you swearing and using the Lord’s name in vain?”
“You drive me to it.”
“My work with you is nearly finished.”
“Click on the blue icon with the red-and-white dial. That will get you to a thing called the World Wide Web. From there, you can conduct your search for the doctor’s office address.”
“Now was that so hard?”
“It’s excruciating to realize you have no idea how to use a smart phone.”
“Again, why do I need to know that when I have you?”
“For times when I can’t be at your beck and call, such as when I’m driving.”
“He’s at 920 K Street. Check me out. I successfully found something on a smart phone all by myself.”
“You hardly did that by yourself.”
“Who punched all the buttons?”
“You did,” he said with a long-suffering sigh.
“I rest my case.”
“Speaking of cases, why aren’t they waiting until after Christmas to start Androzzi’s trial?”
“A good question. I guess the judge wanted to get as much in as he could before the holidays because he’s got another big trial right after this one.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to relive Arnold’s murder.”
“I know. Me either. The first time was more than enough.”
“Imagine his poor parents, sister, girlfriend. And Gonzo… Ugh, we just got him back.”
“We’ll all be there to support him and get him through it,” Sam said, but she was worried, too.
Gonzo had done several months in rehab to combat the pain pill addiction he’d developed in the throes of grief and was doing so much better.
The thought of all that hard work and progress being undone by the trial was unbearable. They couldn’t let that happen.
Parking at GW was always a competitive sport, but they got lucky with a space on the street a few blocks from the doctor’s office.
“Remind me to come here late in the day more often,” Sam said.
“I’ll see if I can help to time your injuries accordingly.”
“You’re very saucy today, young Freddie.”
“Just keeping it real, Lieutenant.”
He’d never know how much that meant to her, especially since her entire life had imploded on Thanksgiving with the phone call from the White House that had changed everything. Keeping it real with him was essential to her sanity in the new normal.
As they hoofed it to the medical office building, Sam took a call from Andy. “What’s up, Counselor?”
“Just wanted you to know your guy Thorn has been served with a big fat lawsuit.”
“Excellent. Thanks for letting me know. You made it hurt, right?”
“Big-time.”
“Thank you so much, Andy.”
“Pleasure to help you and your husband.”
“Anything new with the custody case?”
“Waiting to hear if we can get a hearing next week before the holidays. I’m holding out hope that the involvement of the president and first lady will help to move things along.”
“If it helps to get this taken care of, I’m all for being married to the president.”
Andy laughed. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks again.”
Sam slapped her phone closed and updated Freddie as they stepped inside the office building.
“I’m really glad you’re sticking it to that guy Thorn. He totally deserves it.”
“He certainly does.”