Chapter Twenty-Four #2
When Freddie ended the call with Archie, Sam said, “Call Burke to let them know we’re coming to speak with Grace Ouellette, and we’d appreciate their cooperation.”
While he made the call, Sam looked for a parking spot in the vicinity of the school.
She ended up double-parking and leaving her hazard lights on while they made their way toward the leafy brick-fronted school with the huge BURKE sign out front.
Because they’d called ahead, a school staffer met them at the main door and escorted them to a conference room in the office.
Sam appreciated that sort of cooperation and wished it happened more often on the job. “I like this place,” she said after the staffer had left them to wait for Grace to join them.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“Cooperation is such a rare and special gift.”
“That it is.”
The same staffer escorted Grace Ouellette into the room five minutes later.
At first glance, Sam noticed the girl was stunning. She wore all black, her hair was dyed jet black, and her eyes were rimmed with heavy black makeup. A backpack hung from her shoulder.
“Who are you?” she asked, her gaze darting between them as she propped her hands on slender hips.
Sam had found the one unicorn in America who didn’t know who she was. She showed her badge while Freddie did the same. “Lieutenant Holland, Detective Cruz from the Metro PD. We’d like to speak to you about the murder of Pam Tappen.”
To her credit, her expression offered no reaction to the mention of Pam’s name. “Who?”
“The woman your father was having an affair with.”
“My dad isn’t having an affair.”
“We already know you confronted your father and Pam about the affair in the parking lot of a restaurant.”
She stared blankly at them.
Sam gestured for Freddie to check her backpack and waited while he produced a slim silver laptop and an iPhone, both of which would be entered into evidence.
“I’d like to speak to a lawyer,” Grace said.
“We can arrange that for you downtown.” Sam took a pause to allow that information to register with Grace, who seemed to flinch at the realization she was being arrested. “If you come quietly, we can escort you out of here without cuffs, but we’ll need to cuff you for the ride.”
Her subtle nod was the only acknowledgment she gave.
The three of them walked out of the conference room together and toward the main doors as the woman who’d met them came after them.
“You can’t just take her!”
“Yes, we can,” Sam said. “We’re trying not to make a scene of it. Maybe you could do the same?”
The woman stopped in her tracks as she cast a frantic look at Grace, probably fearing parental retaliation for allowing the police to take her from the school.
That wasn’t Sam’s problem. Outside, they walked a block from the school before they cuffed Grace and led her to Sam’s car, helping her into the back seat for the ride to HQ.
Their passenger never made a sound on the fifteen-minute ride.
Sam drove around to the morgue entrance to avoid the press camped outside the main door. If they were wrong about Grace, she had no desire to ruin the young woman’s life, but she didn’t think they were wrong.
Acting on a hunch, she brought Grace with her when she stepped into the cold, antiseptic-smelling morgue, where Dr. Lindsey McNamara was downing a wrap for lunch while she worked on the computer.
“Hey, LT, Detective. What’s up?” Lindsey asked, eyeing Grace.
“We’d like to see Pam Tappen, please.”
“What?” Grace said, recoiling. “I don’t want to see her!”
“Too bad.”
Every instinct she had told her this young woman had played a role in Pam’s death. She nodded to Lindsey as she tightened her grip on Grace’s arm so she couldn’t escape.
“You can’t make me look at dead people!”
“Yes, I can.”
“I want a lawyer!”
“I’ll get you one.”
“You have to get me one the minute I ask.”
“No, I have to get you one before I can interview you.”
From inside the actual morgue, Lindsey signaled to Sam to come in.
“Let’s go,” Sam said.
It took both her and Freddie to walk Grace into the morgue, where Pam was laid out under the bright lights.
Lindsey had revealed only her face.
“Show her the rest.”
As Grace continued to fight them, Lindsey pulled the sheet down to reveal the dark abrasions on Pamela’s wrists and ankles that indicated a violent struggle to get free of her bindings.
“Take a good look,” Sam said. “Can you imagine that someone kidnapped her, tied her up, gagged her and left her to either freeze to death or asphyxiate in her car over the course of several days? You’d have to be a complete monster to do what was done to her.”
Grace’s entire body vibrated with tremors in the second before she vomited onto the floor.
“Sorry for the mess, Doc,” Sam said.
“No worries.” Lindsey wiped Grace’s face and mouth with a tissue. “It happens.”
“Freddie, will you please take Grace to processing?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, taking her by the arm to lead her out.
“That was intense,” Lindsey said when they were alone.
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure she’s our killer.”
“Oh Lord,” Lindsey said, her green eyes warm with compassion. “She’s so young.”
“I know, but she found out her father was having an affair with the victim, confronted them in a parking lot and threatened to ‘end’ them both if they didn’t stop the affair. He said the affair continued after that.”
“Wow.”
“We just heard that part of the story today after we decided to dig into the kids. I was slow to look in this direction because I couldn’t imagine someone her age doing what was done to Pam. That was my bad.”
“That wouldn’t have been my first thought either. Let me know what you find out. In the meantime, the tox screen came back on Pam, and she had no drugs or alcohol in her system.”
“Thanks for the update. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Are you going to Des Moines?”
Sam nodded. “Friday.”
“God, Sam.”
“I know, but there’s no way I’d let him go alone if I could avoid that.”
“No, of course he can’t go alone.”
“I’m afraid I’ll cry the whole time.”
“If you do, you do. They’ll appreciate your compassion and that you’re human.”
“I hope so.”
Lindsey stood to hug her. “And when you get back, your friends and family will be here to help you and hug you and put you back together.”
“I’m going to need that.”
“We’re here, Sam. Through it all. We’re here.”
“That’s a source of tremendous comfort to me and to Nick.”
Lindsey flashed a grin that made her eyes sparkle. “We’re all looking forward to the sleepover on Christmas Eve. That’s going to be epic.”
“I can’t wait. It’s going to be so fun to dress up and be together after these insane last few months.”
“Tell me the truth. Who gets the Lincoln Bedroom?”
“You’ll see,” Sam said with a coy smile as she left her friend to get back to work.