Chapter Twenty-Five
Muriel and Naomi Baker were waiting in a contact visiting room at the jail when the guards led Billy Kramer in.
“Billy, this is Muriel Lujack,” Naomi said. “She’s the district attorney who is in charge of your case.”
Kramer was a con man with movie star good looks, and Muriel expected him to turn on the charm. She wasn’t disappointed.
Billy beamed a smile at Muriel while he was taking a seat.
“I’m glad to meet you, Miss Lujack,” Billy said. “I hope we can work together.”
“That depends on what you tell me,” Muriel replied in a tone that was all business.
“Miss Baker says that you have information about Terrance Cogen’s murder and his fraudulent activities.
I won’t be able to tell you anything until I hear what you have to say.
I will guarantee you that nothing you say at this conference will be used against you, so you can speak freely.
You do need to know that I will prosecute you to the utmost of my ability if I find that you’ve lied or misled me.
Miss Baker can tell you that I mean what I say. ”
Naomi took a document out of her attaché case that set out the agreement between the parties with respect to the proffer. Muriel, Kramer, and Baker signed the document.
“Let’s get your version of what happened on the evening that Mr. Cogen was murdered,” Muriel said.
“Right. That’s really important. You need to know that I had nothing to do with Mr. Cogen getting killed.”
“Okay.”
“Sometime in the afternoon—I think it was around four or so—Mr. Cogen gave me a briefcase and told me to bring it to this business he had an investment in. So, I drove there and dropped off the briefcase.”
“What is the name of the business?” Muriel asked.
“Why do you need to know that?”
“Your job during this interview is to answer my questions. If that’s a problem, I can leave and ask a grand jury to indict you for murder.”
“No, no, that’s no problem,” Kramer answered quickly. “I went to Cady’s Garage and Auto Repair. It’s on Eighty-Second.”
“What was in the briefcase?”
“I didn’t look.”
Muriel stared at Kramer. “Make a guess. And remember that we aren’t playing games.”
Kramer’s head bobbed up and down. “Yeah, I get that. So, if I had to guess, I’d say there was money in the briefcase.”
“You may continue.”
“After I dropped off the briefcase, I had a few beers and a burger at a bar with some of the guys at the garage. It was dark when I headed back. Where Cogen lives, there are a lot of country lanes and the lighting ain’t that great.
When I was almost back, a car went by me.
It was going fast, and I didn’t see the driver. ”
“Can you tell me the make of the car?”
“No. Like I said, it was dark and the car sped by. I’m not even sure it was coming from Cogen’s estate, but I want to tell you everything.”
“Go on.”
“I got back to the house and went in to tell Mr. Cogen that I’d done what he sent me to do. And that’s when I found him lying on the floor with blood all over the place.”
“What did you do when you saw the body?” Muriel asked.
“I felt for a pulse to see if he was really dead. Then…” Kramer shook his head. “I’m not proud of what I did next. Especially what I did to Jack Blackburn. But I panicked, because I didn’t want to get blamed for the murder.”
“Go on.”
“I got out of there as fast as I could. Cogen was involved in all kinds of bad shit. Not violent crimes. Embezzling, money scams. I helped him with some of it. I was afraid I’d be the number one suspect in his murder.
Even if I wasn’t, an investigation could get me in hot water if the cops found out that I was involved with his other schemes. ”
“Tell me about Jack Blackburn,” Muriel said.
“Yeah, about Jack. I know this makes me sound like the worst person, but I was really scared. I remembered Jack saying how crazy he was about cars, and he knew all about them. I was sure he’d go nuts if I let him drive the Jag.
I called Cynthia and told her to go to this bar near where Jack lives.
Then I called Jack and told him to meet me there in an hour.
Then I drove the Jag to a parking lot near the bar and waited for Jack to show up.
“The plan was that Cynthia would say she had to get home, and I’d say I was too drunk to drive her. Then we got Jack to drive the Jag, and I drove Cynthia’s car to a prearranged place to meet her and get out of town. Soon after we were on our way, I reported the Jag stolen.”
Kramer looked across the table. “I wouldn’t have let him get convicted. I swear. I was gonna come back and clear Jack if it looked bad for him.”
Muriel shot Kramer a look that told him that she didn’t believe a word of what he’d just said.
“Let’s move on from the murder. Cady’s garage is owned by the Lucifer’s Disciples, isn’t it?”
“Mr. Cady runs the place, but some of the Disciples work there.”
“Remember, you’re supposed to be completely honest with me.”
“I’m trying to be. I ain’t seen the ownership papers, so I can’t say for sure.”
“Can you tell me, for sure, how many times you brought briefcases full of cash to the garage?”
“I done it a lot. I can’t give you the exact number.”
Muriel felt sick when she asked the next question, but she knew she had to do it.
“Why don’t you tell me what you know about Mr. Cogen’s business with the Disciples.”
As soon as Muriel left the jail, she called Ellen Kaufman and told her she was on her way to tell her what she’d learned.
Muriel was surprised and a little frightened when she saw Oscar Vanderlasky waiting with her boss.
Ellen was on her list of suspects, but she wasn’t high up.
Oscar was the deputy she worried about the most.
“Do you believe him?” Ellen asked when Muriel finished a summary of her conversation with Kramer.
“About his involvement in the murder?”
Ellen nodded.
“He admitted to being at Cogen’s place on the evening he was killed, and he framed Jack Blackburn for the killing, but I…” Muriel shook her head. “I’m up in the air about his guilt.”
“Blackburn’s our guy,” Vanderlasky said confidently.
“What about the beer glass?” Ellen asked.
“What beer glass?” Muriel asked.
“Didn’t you ask him about the beer glass?” Ellen asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ellen told Muriel about the glass with Blackburn’s prints that had been found at the crime scene.
“I didn’t know about the glass,” Muriel said. “I just got the case, and I haven’t had time to read all the reports in Cogen’s murder.”
“Do we know the glass came from the bar where Blackburn met Kramer?” Ellen asked Vanderlasky.
“The glass is like the ones they use at the bar. That doesn’t mean Blackburn is innocent,” Vanderlasky insisted. “It’s a very common type. Cogen could have owned one.”
“We’ll have to give Wyatt a report of Kramer’s statement,” Ellen said. “It’s exculpatory evidence.”
Vanderlasky did not look happy.
“What should we do with Kramer?” Ellen asked.
“We can still stick him and Blackburn with the theft of the Jaguar,” Vanderlasky said. “That will keep them in jail until we sort out the murder charge.”
“I promised Kramer’s lawyer that I wouldn’t oppose bail if the proffer was useful,” Muriel said.
Vanderlasky’s cheeks turned scarlet. “What the fuck, Lujack? He’s a flight risk. Did you forget that?”
“I don’t think he’ll run again,” Muriel answered without much conviction. She didn’t trust Kramer, but she had made a promise to Naomi, and she was honor bound to keep it.
“If she made a deal with Kramer’s lawyer, she has to stick to it,” Ellen said.
Then she turned to Muriel. “I wish you’d run that by me before you involved the office.”
“I’m sorry, but Kramer wouldn’t have talked otherwise.”
Ellen sighed. “What’s done is done.”
Then she turned to Vanderlasky. “If you get the evidence you need to indict for murder, we can revoke the bail and get him back behind bars. So, get to work.”