Chapter Thirty-Seven
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
W hile he did that, Sam went to check in with Malone. “Any word on an ETA for Jada?”
“She and one of the marshals are on a flight to DCA that lands in thirty minutes. I have Patrol officers meeting them.”
“Excellent.”
“They said she’s in rough shape and very fragile. We need to proceed carefully.”
“I can do that.”
“I’d like to ask Lucas to be involved, too. She’s good with managing trauma.”
“And I’m not?”
“You’re good at inflicting it.”
“Wow. Ouch.”
Malone laughed. “You know what I mean. Let’s bring Erica in for the conversation with Jada.”
“I’ll see if she’s available.”
“I was joking,” Malone said.
“I know you were. It’s a totally different set of skills, and you’re right that she’s good with the vics.”
“I heard the boyfriend’s parents were here. What did they want? ”
“To tell me what a great kid he is and how he’d never be part of murdering anyone. I tend to believe them. It’d be nice to try to salvage his future if he’s a victim in this.”
“How do we stretch to make him a victim?”
“Zoe told him Elaine locked her and Jada in their rooms, for one thing. There was no evidence of that or any mention of it from the family, and I think they would’ve mentioned it if it were true.”
“Yeah, for sure. They would’ve.”
“I think she played up Elaine’s rigid rules with Zeke, made him think she was in danger and asked him to help her out. She was probably the first sex he ever had, so she used that as a weapon to get him to do her bidding.”
“Who killed the mother?” Malone asked.
“Zoe did, but Zeke drove her there and maybe waited outside, possibly not knowing what was happening.”
“That’s a stretch, Sam. How do you know he wasn’t the mastermind, trying to get Zoe out of a difficult situation?”
“I don’t know that for sure, but I believed his parents when they said he’d never be part of something like this. On the other hand, I can see her doing it without having to stretch my imagination.”
Sam felt a presence behind her and turned to find Sergeant Walters lurking. “May I help you with something, Sarge?”
“I was looking for you, ma’am, and your team said you were in the captain’s office. I found something interesting on your victim’s laptop.”
“What did you find?”
“A very significant investigative effort into her sister’s murder that’d recently yielded new results.”
Sam perked up. “What kind of results?”
“A suspect.”
“Come to the conference room so you can brief all of us at the same time.” She glanced at Malone, who was already on his feet to follow them. Back in the pit, she said, “Everyone in the conference room for an update.”
When her team was seated around the table, Sam gestured to Walters to give him the floor.
“Upon a thorough examination of Elaine Myerson’s laptop, I found a file that’d been buried on an iCloud drive and given a name related to recipes, which is why it didn’t stand out on our initial review. The file contained hundreds of items pertaining to the murder of the victim’s sister, Sarah.”
“She was conducting her own investigation?” Cameron asked.
“That’s my conclusion after reviewing each of the documents. She’d closed in on a suspect, a man named Darryl Robinson.” He gestured to the computer located in the front of the room. “May I?”
“Of course,” Sam said.
He plugged a thumb drive into the computer and brought up an image of a white man, who Sam guessed was around sixty. He had gray hair and a goatee.
“The photo is from the Facebook profile of Darryl Robinson, age sixty-one, a resident of Springfield, Virginia. According to Elaine’s notes, he was known locally as weird, but wasn’t ever charged with anything and was never the focus of the original case. Elaine had done significant research on his whereabouts during the time of Sarah’s disappearance and learned that he worked at a fast-food restaurant half a mile from where Sarah was taken.”
Every cell in Sam’s body began to buzz as Walters detailed his findings. If this panned out, would she ever be able to trust her buzz again?
“After trying to reach him by phone and email for months, Elaine paid him a visit three weeks ago.”
“What?” Freddie said softly.
“Needless to say, it didn’t go well, and Elaine noted that he ordered her off his property. He requested and was granted a restraining order that prohibited her from contacting him or being within five hundred feet of him.” Walters clicked on the remote to bring up a copy of the order. “She had that in the file. Her notes are meticulous and detailed, indicating that she believed he’s the man who kidnapped, tortured and murdered her sister.”
“Is any of this in the file we received from Detective Truehart?” she asked Cameron, who’d been reviewing the files as time permitted.
“Not that I’ve seen.”
“Let’s get Truehart on the phone.” She thumbed through her notebook and found his number for Freddie, who dialed the landline on the table and put it on speaker.
“Truehart.”
“This is Sam Holland with the MPD.”
“Oh, hello. How’s your investigation unfolding?”
“Slow but sure. I’m here with my team, and we have a question for you. Had you heard from Elaine about a potential suspect in Sarah’s case?”
“Many times over the years. She worked the case as hard as I did and had come up with several possibilities that I thoroughly investigated. None of them panned out, usually because they could prove they were somewhere else when Sarah was taken. I should’ve mentioned that the day we met, but I haven’t thought about her leads in years.”
“Had she mentioned anyone recently?”
“Not in the last three years or so.”
“Does the name Darryl Robinson mean anything to you?”
“Can’t say that it does.”
“This is very helpful. Thank you.”
“Of course. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
Sam disconnected the call. “So Elaine had brought him clues that went nowhere over the years. This time, she decided to take matters into her own hands.” Sam thought about it for a second. “Wouldn’t Truehart be told about a restraining order against his murder victim’s sister?”
“Manassas is Prince William County,” Cameron said. “Springfield is Fairfax.”
“Ah, I see. That would explain why he didn’t know about it. Detective Charles, please bring Frank Myerson up to interview one. Let’s see what he knows about his wife’s shadow investigation.”
Neveah got up and left the room.
“What’re you thinking?” Gonzo asked.
“That Elaine stirred up a hornet’s nest, and maybe the hornet struck back at her.”
“How does that explain the daughter and her boyfriend running from us?” Freddie asked.
“Maybe they felt like they were about to take the fall for something they didn’t do and ran scared.” Sam had a sick feeling in her stomach over how certain she’d been that Zoe had killed Elaine. Was it now possible she’d been totally wrong about that?
“That’s possible, I suppose,” Gonzo said.
Sam turned to Malone. “How would we approach this Robinson guy?”
“Carefully. You have no proof that ties him to either case, so there’s no way you’re getting a warrant for his devices or DNA.”
“Unless…” She glanced at Walters. “If we could put him anywhere near Crestwood on Sunday, that’d give us probable cause for warrants.”
“I’ll review the film.” He took his thumb drive when he left the room.
“Cameron, get me everything you can find on this guy ASAP.”
“On it.”
Neveah returned. “Mr. Myerson is in interview one.”
“Thank you.” Sam glanced at Freddie to tell him to come with her. They stepped into the interview room, closing the door behind them.
“Talk to me about Elaine’s involvement with Sarah’s case.”
His expression conveyed confusion. “She wasn’t involved with it, other than living with the trauma of it.”
“Did you know she was investigating the case the way a police detective would?”
“What? No, she wasn’t.”
“She was, and she had been almost from the beginning. Detective Truehart told us she regularly called him with suspects he should take a look at.”
“Where did you find proof of this?”
“In an iCloud folder on her laptop that was labeled as a recipe folder.”
“I know nothing about that.”
“Did she speak to you about her sister?”
“Not much lately.” He sat back in his chair, seeming to give it more thought. “When we were together about a year, I told her I couldn’t bear to hear about her sister’s murder every day for the rest of my life. I said I empathized tremendously with what she and her family had been through, but it was just too difficult to make that part of our daily life going forward. I wanted her to move on from it. I guess she never really did.”
Who would? Sam wanted to ask him. “Thank you for the insight. This helps.”
“When can I get out of here?”
“Perhaps later today. Jada will be brought here within the hour. We’d appreciate you being there when we speak to her.”
“Whatever I can do to help.”
“Your cooperation will go a long way toward seeing any pending charges against you dropped if we’re able to identify another suspect.”
“Understood.”
“We’ll keep you up here until Jada gets here. Is there anything we can get for you? ”
“A coffee would be good.”
“I’ll grab that,” Freddie said.
Outside the room, Sam said, “Put a Patrol officer outside the door.”
He nodded and took off to get the coffee and the officer.
While she waited for someone to come mind the door, she leaned against the wall, closed her eyes and thought the case through from all angles. She’d been so certain that Zoe—and possibly Zeke—were involved. Now she wasn’t sure of anything.
Her phone rang with a call from a Virginia number.
“Holland.”
“This is, um… Zeke Bellamy. I got your message on Snapchat.”
Sam stood up straighter. “Zeke, I’m so happy you called.”
“You said my parents are upset.”
“They’re very upset and terrified you’re ruining your very promising future by doing something stupid.”
“Zoe… she said we had to run, that you were blaming us for her mother’s murder, and we couldn’t stand by and take the fall for something we didn’t do.”
Sam closed her eyes and exhaled. “Where are you, Zeke?”
“Are we in trouble?”
“Not if you do the right thing and come home. I can send someone to bring you back, but you have to tell me where you are.”
“Will we be arrested?”
“No, you’ll be escorted back to DC by the U.S. Marshals. We just want to get you both home safe. Can you help us do that?”
“I want to, but Zoe… She says if we go back, we’ll get charged with murder because… We went to her house that day. She snuck in to get something, but no one knew she was there. I waited for her outside while she went in.”
“What did she get?”
“Her birth control device. We were so afraid of her getting pregnant that we wanted to double up on protection. She had a ring thing, but she forgot it at home, so we went back to get it. She was in and out in a minute and didn’t see anyone, but she’s freaking out that we were there at all and that we lied about it.”
Sam felt weak in the knees at the role she’d played in sending two teenagers on the run. She’d been so certain they were involved. “You’re not in trouble. Could I speak to Zoe? I’ll tell her that myself.”
“Sure. Hang on.”
Sam heard him talking and a female voice responding, sounding annoyed. Then she heard a pleading edge to his voice.
More noise as the phone changed hands.
“Hello.”
“Zoe, this is Lieutenant Holland. Zeke told me about why you returned home on Sunday and how you were only there for a minute.”
“I told you I had nothing to do with this, but you wouldn’t believe me.”
“What happened to Jada in Ohio?”
“She wouldn’t shut up about me killing our mother, which I did not do ! I kept telling her it wasn’t me, but she didn’t believe me. We got into a fight over it, and I tied her up and left her in the room so I could get away from her. If the whole world is blaming me, I wasn’t about to make it easy for you guys to find me.”
“I’m sending the U.S. Marshals to meet you and Zeke to bring you home. They’ll be told you’re not suspects and shouldn’t be treated as such. Will you come home with them?”
“Do you swear this isn’t a trick?”
“I swear on the lives of my family.”
“I told you I didn’t do it,” she said tearfully.
“I know you did. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
Zoe sniffled repeatedly.
“Tell me where you are. ”
“What’s the name of this place again, Zeke?”
“Herron Creek in Colorado Springs.”
“Hang tight. Someone will be there soon.”
Sam closed the phone and called Jesse.
“Best.”
“Our fugitives have made contact. They’re at a camp called Herron Creek in Colorado Springs. They’re no longer considered suspects in our case and shouldn’t be treated as such.”
“Got it.”
“Jesse… these are kids. Please don’t let anyone get hurt.”
“Understood.”
The line went dead.
Malone came down the hallway. “What’s wrong?”
“I fucked up.”
“How so?”
“I was all set to pin this on Zoe and her boyfriend. It’s very possible it wasn’t them. I posted a message to Zeke’s social media, and he called me like I asked him to. I mean… Would he do that if he was involved in a murder?”
“You’re liking this Robinson guy for it?”
“That depends on whether we can put him in the area on Sunday.”
“We can.” Walters approached with printouts of grainy images. “That’s him getting out of an Uber four blocks from the Myerson home at two o’clock on Sunday.”
“Let’s pick him up,” Malone said. “I’ll notify Fairfax County and submit warrant requests for DNA, electronics and his house.”
Officer Clare came down the hallway. “Detective Cruz asked me to keep an eye on interview one.”
“Thank you.”
“How’s the Myerson case coming?” he asked.
“We’ve had a big break today. Keep your fingers crossed.”
“I will. Good luck. ”
“Thanks.”
Sam went to the pit. “Gonzo, Sergeant Walters found video that puts Robinson in Crestwood on Sunday afternoon. Will you and Matt please go pick him up? The captain is reaching out to Fairfax County for backup.”
Gonzo grabbed his jacket and handheld radio. “We’re on it.”
“Be careful and wear vests. He could be armed.”
“Got it.”
Sam had barely gotten to take a breath when Jada Myerson was escorted in by two Patrol officers and a U.S. Marshal.
Sam gasped at the dark bruise on her swollen face. “Thank you all,” she said to the other officers. “We’ll take it from here.” The girl wore a red sweatshirt that was several sizes too big for her, a pair of gray sweatpants and flip-flops.
The female marshal handed Sam a folder. “Medical details.”
“Thanks.”
“Right this way, Jada. Your dad is eager to see you.”
The girl began to cry the minute Sam mentioned her dad.
Sam opened the door to the conference room, and Jada ran to him.
Frank wept as he held his daughter.
Sam stepped into the room and gave them a few minutes before she spoke. Since she no longer considered Elaine’s family members suspects, she decided against bringing in Erica Lucas. “I’m so sorry to have to do business at a time like this.”
Frank helped his daughter into a chair and then sat next to her.
“Why are you wearing that?” Jada asked of his orange jumpsuit.
“I was detained for obstructing the investigation. ”
“They arrested you? That’s what Zoe said was going to happen, that if they couldn’t find another suspect, they’d charge us because of all the fighting we did with Mom.”
“Is that why she talked you into running away?”
Jada nodded. “She said we could either run or wait to be arrested. She scared me enough that I went along with it.”
“You didn’t want to?”
“Not really. I’m pretty sure she’s the one who did it, but I wouldn’t put it past her to stick it on me. I figured if I went, I could keep an eye on her.”
“Why is there money missing from both your college funds?” Sam asked.
Jada cast a guilty look at her dad. “We were making plans to move out when Zoe turned eighteen. She was going to petition the court for custody of me.”
“Jesus,” Frank said. “I was afraid she was using again.”
“She’s not,” Jada said. “She’s very determined to stay drug-free. She found out that didn’t help anything.”
“I can’t help but wonder,” Sam said, “how you two, who seemed to hate each other, got past that to make plans like these.”
“We were desperate,” Jada said. “We still don’t like each other, but we couldn’t live like that any longer.”
“How’d you end up left alone in a motel room?”
“I wasn’t sure that she didn’t kill Mom, so I kept needling her, trying to get her to admit that she did it, but she wouldn’t. She kept telling me to shut up and that I didn’t know what I was talking about, but I kept it up until she snapped. We got into a fight, and she managed to overpower me. She used a sock to tie my wrists and another to gag me. I couldn’t believe they were actually going to leave me there. They fought over that. Zeke thought they should bring me, but Zoe said she’d had enough of my bullshit and that the housekeepers would find me eventually.” She hiccupped on a sob. “I was there for a long time before anyone came to the room. ”
Frank put an arm around her carefully. “Oh God, honey. I’m so sorry you went through that.”
“Did you arrest Zoe and Zeke?” Jada asked as she wiped away tears with a tissue Sam had given her.
“No.”
“Why not? It’s obvious she did it, and he helped her.”
“We don’t think that’s what happened.”
Jada glanced at her dad, incredulous. “How could it be anyone else?”
“We’ve learned that your mom was investigating her sister’s murder,” Sam said, “and that she recently visited a man she considered a suspect. He took out a restraining order against her to keep her away from him. Our cameras put him in the vicinity of your home on Sunday afternoon, shortly before your mother returned home from doing errands.” A new detail clicked into place for Sam as she recited the details.
Sam showed them a photo of the baseball bat that’d been used to kill Elaine.
“Does this look familiar?”
Frank gasped. “That’s Zoe’s from when she played softball.”
“It’s possible he snuck into the garage when she opened the door to put her car in and then picked up the bat.” That would explain the lack of forced entry.
“It wasn’t Zoe?” Jada asked softly.
“We haven’t got all the details on the suspect yet, but we don’t believe she was involved.”
“Oh my God.” Jada dissolved into deep, wrenching sobs. “The things I said to her. I accused her of being a monster.”
“I was pretty sure she’d done it, too,” Frank said. “I hated to think it was possible, but she was so angry with Mom all the time. I thought maybe she and Zeke had decided to get her out of the way.”
Jada fell into his arms, sobbing. “I hate her for leaving me in that motel room, but she’ll hate me more for what I thought she did. ”
To Frank, Sam said, “We’ve located Zoe and Zeke and are working on getting them home.”
She left the room and called Zeke’s father.
“Greg Bellamy.”
“This is Sam Holland. We’ve found your son, and we’re bringing him home.”