Chapter Fourteen
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
S am enjoyed how the Myersons startled as she and Freddie burst into the room. Good. She hoped they were a little nervous about how this might go. Not that she relished putting murder victims’ families through the wringer, but she’d picked up a vibe from the eldest daughter, and she’d learned to trust her instincts on these things.
She recognized Roland Dunning, the same defense attorney representing former Deputy Chief Paul Conklin, the rat fink who’d sat on information about her father’s shooting for four years before coming clean after her dad died. Sam hadn’t expected that punch to the gut today, and it briefly threw her off her game.
“Roland Dunning for the Myersons.” He placed a gold-embossed business card on the table as if they didn’t know exactly who he was and who he represented.
Sam ignored him and his card, focusing on Frank and Zoe while Jada sat off to the side. “Are you ready to talk now?”
“We’re ready,” Frank said with a stern look for Zoe.
Freddie engaged the recording device on the table that would capture audio and video and recited a list of who was in the room and which case they were discussing .
“Zoe, were you angry enough with your mother to want her dead?” Sam asked.
“What the hell kind of question is that to ask the child of a murder victim?” Dunning asked.
Sam kept her gaze trained on Zoe. “It’s the question I most want the answer to.”
“You don’t have to answer that, Zoe,” Dunning said.
“Of course I didn’t want her dead!” Zoe said. “She was my mother!”
“You said, and I quote, ‘She made my life a living hell.’ Was that true?”
Zoe glanced nervously at her father. “We fought a lot.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“She didn’t want to let me do anything! It didn’t matter what it was, she said no.”
“Why was that?”
“She didn’t trust me.”
“How come?”
“Because she lies as easily as she breathes,” Jada said.
“Shut the fuck up, you stupid bitch. That’s not true.”
“Girls, stop,” Frank said. “This isn’t helping anything.”
“Is that true, Zoe? Do you lie a lot?”
“A teenager lying to her parents doesn’t make her a murderer, Lieutenant,” Dunning said.
Sam never looked away from Zoe. “I’d like Zoe to answer the question.”
Zoe shrugged, seeming exquisitely uncomfortable. “Sometimes.”
“ All the time,” Jada said.
“Dad! Tell her to shut up!”
“That’s enough, Jada.”
“I’m just telling the truth.”
Frank turned to Jada. “ Enough. ”
“Do you have a challenge with the truth, Zoe?” Sam asked.
“Sometimes it’s the only way to get to do anything! ”
“I’d like to speak to each of you individually.”
“That’s not happening,” Dunning said. “These girls are minors.”
Sam stared him down. “Who may have information pertaining to the murder of their mother.”
“They don’t know anything about it!” Frank said. “They’re children, for God’s sake.”
Jada began to cry.
Frank looked to Dunning, his eyes wild. “I want to take my daughters home. They lost their mother yesterday! This is outrageous.”
“I agree it’s outrageous,” Dunning said, “but the police have the right to question the people closest to the victim.”
Sam wanted to thank him for pointing out the obvious.
“I will not have my girls alone in a room with this woman.”
Sam loved when people referred to her by titles such as “this woman.”
“They won’t be alone,” Dunning said. “I’ll be with them. The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can take them home.”
“And you really think this is necessary the day after they lost their mother?” Frank asked Sam.
“I do, or I’d never ask it of any of you.”
“Fine,” Frank said. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Detective Cruz, would you please take Jada and Frank to interview two while I have a word with Zoe?”
“Of course. Right this way.”
Before he followed Freddie and Jada out of the room, Frank gave Zoe a look that would’ve had Sam curling into the fetal position if it had come from her father.
It didn’t seem to faze Zoe, who seemed impervious to parental stare downs.
Dunning stayed seated next to Zoe, who’d slid into a slouch that conveyed her utter disdain for the entire process.
Sam decided on a different approach. “I feel like we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. I want you to understand that I’m asking you these questions because it’s my job to find out what happened to your mother. You do want me to find out who killed her, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“There might be something you can tell me, something you don’t realize you know or something you think isn’t important but is, that could help with my investigation. So I’d appreciate it if we could just start over and have a conversation like adults. I’m not trying to pin anything on you. I’m trying to solve a murder.”
“Okay.”
“So, Zoe… Do you know what happened to your mother?”
“I… uh… I heard she was in the bathroom upstairs?”
“Yes, and from the looks of things, she’d been bludgeoned by a heavy object. Do you know what that word means? Bludgeoned?”
“Like… hit over the head?”
“That’s right.” Sam was relieved to see the slightest cringe from Zoe at hearing how her mother had died. “She was found naked on the floor of her bathroom. It looked like she’d just gotten out of the shower and was taken by surprise.”
Zoe looked down at the table.
“How would someone have gotten in the house?”
“I have no idea.”
“Your family’s house has keyless entry on all the doors. Who has the code?”
“Just the four of us.”
“You haven’t given it to any of your friends?”
“No. My dad is adamant that no one else have it.”
“If we check the locations of your phone and your boyfriend’s, will they show either of you anywhere near your house yesterday at the time your mother was killed?”
“No! I told you. We had his house to ourselves. We didn’t leave there. We were… you know… taking advantage of the chan ce to be alone for once.” She looked at Dunning and then back to Sam. “You don’t have to tell my dad that, do you?”
“I can’t promise he won’t find out.”
She shrugged. “He’s not the one who’d flip out over it and act like I’m the only kid in the world having sex.”
“Your mom would’ve done that?”
Zoe rolled her eyes to high heaven. “Oh God. I can’t even think about her finding out about us having sex. She’d have lost her mind.”
“Is it possible she knew?”
“No way. She would’ve locked me in my room and thrown away the key.”
“That’s an interesting saying.” And it predated Zoe by decades. “Where did you hear it?”
“My mother threatened me with that daily. It was her favorite thing to say when she couldn’t bend me to her will.”
“Did your family seek out any therapy or counseling to help with the conflict you were experiencing?”
“We went to this woman my mom sees for a few months, but it didn’t really help. Mom was unwilling to allow me to grow up and do all the things kids my age get to do as they get older. I’ve had my license for almost two years. She’s let me take the car three times by myself. She wouldn’t even let me get a job so I could make my own money.”
“Did she say why?”
“She wanted me to focus on school.”
“You couldn’t have a job on the weekends?”
“That’s what I said, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”
“Do you know why she was like that?”
“Her sister was murdered years ago, when they were teenagers. My dad told me it really messed my mom up and made her insanely overprotective.”
Sam made a note to look into the aunt’s murder. “Do you know anything more about what happened to her sister?”
“Just that she was walking home from her friend’s house, and someone snatched her. They found her body a couple of weeks later.”
“Where did this happen?”
“She’s from Manassas, so out there somewhere.”
“Was the killer ever found?”
“I don’t know. She never talked about it with us. I only heard about it because my dad told me. He wanted me to understand why she was over-the-top protective of us.”
“Did it help to hear about that?”
“I mean… kind of? I felt bad about her sister, but what did that have to do with me? It’s not like the same thing was going to happen to me or anything. I was just trying to live my life.”
Sam felt incredibly sorry for Elaine Myerson and what she’d endured losing her sister to murder. “Can you see how a trauma like that would’ve made her extra worried about something happening to you?”
“I guess, but she took it way too far. Even my dad said so.” She leaned in a bit. “To you, I sound like a seventeen-year-old brat who didn’t appreciate what she had, but that’s not true at all. I know how lucky I was to have a nice home, plenty to eat, the best of everything and parents that love me. I really do know that. But having a parent who refuses to allow you to grow up and spread your wings makes for a very difficult existence.”
Sam was taken aback by the girl’s sincerity.
“Did you love your mother?”
“I did—and I do. I always will. She was a great person who did so much for so many. She was always volunteering or fundraising for someone in need or taking an elderly friend to the doctor or whatever anyone needed. People knew they could call on her. Even as busy as she was with her work and our family, she’d help if she could. I admired her, but I didn’t agree with the way she treated me as I got old enough to be more independent. I really love Zeke, but she said that was ridiculous. It hurt me, you know? Like, how could she possibly know how I feel?”
Sam agreed with her, which was interesting. She’d come into this interview convinced the girl had had something to do with her mother’s murder. Now she wasn’t so sure. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”
Dunning followed her out of the room and into the one next door where Frank and Jada waited.
“May I speak to Jada?” Sam asked Frank. “You can wait outside with Detective Cruz.”
Freddie stood at the door and waited for Frank to come with him, which he did after giving his younger daughter a hesitant look.
Dunning sat next to Jada as Sam engaged the recording device.
“Lieutenant Holland with Jada Myerson and her attorney, Roland Dunning, in the Elaine Myerson case. Jada, when we were in the room with your sister, you mentioned that she often lied to your parents. Can you tell me more about that?”
“She lied to our mother mostly.”
“She said your mom wasn’t letting her do things that other kids were allowed to do. Is that true?”
“My mom had issues… Did Zoe tell you about her sister being murdered?”
“She did.”
“That made her crazy overprotective with us, which she often admitted wasn’t fair, but it was like she couldn’t help it. I tried to be understanding, but I like being home, so it didn’t bother me as much. Zoe wants to be out and about all the time, which messed with my mom’s need to keep her close.”
“It must’ve been tough for you to live with the fighting.”
“I hate it. I spend a lot of time in my room with my headphones on, so I won’t have to hear them.”
“Did you participate in the family therapy?”
“For a while, but it gave me anxiety, so I stopped going. I was really hoping it would help them to figure out a way for everyone to get what they wanted, but that never happened. It was World War III every day in our house, which led Zoe to being sneaky.”
“Were you angry with her for that?”
“Not really. I steer clear of her most of the time. We don’t get along either.”
“It seemed to me like she’s kind of mean to you…”
“Sometimes. It’s mostly that she has no use for me, which is fine. I don’t like being around her either.”
“Do you think Zoe could’ve had anything to do with your mom’s murder?”
Jada thought about that for a long moment. “I want to say no way, but honestly? I don’t know. Things between them were really bad and getting worse all the time. Zoe was counting down to her eighteenth birthday in July. She told my mom she’d never see her again after that.”
“What did your mom say to that?”
“She said, ‘Good luck with supporting yourself without our help.’”
“Do you think Zoe meant it?”
“I know she did. I heard her on the phone talking about getting an apartment with some friends and possibly Zeke to make it more affordable. She told our cousin that she couldn’t wait to get a job and run her own life.”
“What do you think of Zeke?”
“He seems okay. He really likes Zoe, which is the baffling part to me. She’s so unlikable.”
“Does she have friends?”
“A lot of them. I guess she saves all the ugly for her family. Lucky us.”
“How was your relationship with your mom?”
“Fine. I didn’t always agree with her, but after witnessing the battles with Zoe, I didn’t want that for myself. I hated the fighting. It made me sick with anxiety. ”
“Where was your dad in all of this?”
“He tended to avoid the fighting by staying late at work or finding excuses to be somewhere else.”
Sam took copious notes as Jada spoke.
“Can you think of anyone who might want to harm your mom?”
Jada’s eyes filled with tears as she shook her head. “People loved her.”
“You didn’t know of any concerns she had with anyone?”
“I never heard anyone say a bad word about her, except for Zoe.”
“Stay here. I’ll be back.”
Freddie had positioned Frank in Gonzo’s empty cubicle with a bottle of Coke and a bag of pretzels.
“How’s it going?” Freddie asked her.
“Some interesting revelations. How do we get playback of the recordings in the interrogation rooms?”
Freddie gave her a curious look.
“What? I usually write down everything they say so I don’t need them.”
Smiling, Freddie said, “Which one do you want?”
“The last five minutes of Zoe’s.”
“I’ll get that for you.”
“Put Patrol officers outside the rooms where the girls are. Bring the recording, Frank and the lawyer into the conference room when you’re ready.”
“Got it.”
Sam went into her office and took a sip of water from an abandoned bottle on her desk and then sat to think about her next move. Earlier, she’d picked up a vibe about Zoe that had changed after she talked to the girl one-on-one. That didn’t happen very often, so it had thrown her. People usually were exactly as they initially seemed, and few of them surprised her the way Zoe had with what she’d said at the end of their conversation .
She took the rest of the water with her to the conference room.
Freddie came in with Frank and Dunning a few minutes later. They sat in the chairs across the table from her.
“Mr. Myerson, I’ve spoken to both your daughters and learned that the conflict between your wife and Zoe was quite significant and impacted every member of the family. Would you agree with that assessment?”
“Yes. They were constantly at odds. It was a very difficult situation.”
“How did you feel about the way your wife parented Zoe?”
“I thought she went too far in trying to control her. Zoe will be a legal adult this summer, but Elaine treated her like she was still a little kid. My wife and I fought over that for years, but after a while, I gave up trying to change her mind. She lost her sister to murder years ago. It messed her up.”
“Zoe mentioned that. What can you tell us about what happened to her sister?”
“Elaine and her family didn’t often talk about what happened to Sarah.”
“What was Elaine’s maiden name?”
“Corrigan.”
“How long ago was her sister murdered?”
“Um, more than twenty-five years ago, I’d say.”
Sam wrote a note to Freddie. Ask someone to get everything they can find on the murder of Sarah Corrigan in Manassas about 25 years ago . She tore the page out of her notebook and handed it to him.
He got up and left the room.
“Zoe wasn’t sure if the murderer was caught.”
“No one was ever arrested.”
“Your girls believe that played a big part in why your wife was overprotective with them.”
“It did. Elaine was traumatized by what happened to Sarah. She told me that when we first met and had a lot of anxiety about her own safety, my safety and that of the girls. It was a bone of contention between us as a family. While we certainly understood where it was coming from, it didn’t make it easy to live with the constant surveillance and high-level fear. I worried that our girls would turn out to be afraid to live their lives.”
Freddie came back into the room and returned to his seat. “Cam and Matt are back.”
Sam nodded. “I’d like to play you the last few minutes of Zoe’s interview.”
Freddie cued up the recording on his phone and pressed Play.