Chapter Eight
Sam called Jeannie McBride. “Where are we with Rex Connolly?”
“There were several of them in the system. I just tracked down the one you need. He lives in Laurel.”
Sam wrote down the address. “Thanks, Jeannie.” She handed her notebook to Freddie. “Put this in the GPS,” she said, reminding him she still hadn’t bothered to figure out that device either. Why should she when he was around to do everything for her? Sam had learned a long time ago that the more she knew, the more she was expected to do. As technology had overtaken their workplace, their workload had tripled, which was why simpler was better as far as she was concerned.
They left Bowie and drove north to Laurel on the parkway. Rex Connolly lived in a run-down row of townhouses that sat so close to the parkway you could hear the roar of traffic from the parking lot.
“What possesses people to want to live right on top of a major roadway?” Sam asked Freddie.
“All they can afford?”
“I guess.” She rapped on the glass storm door outside the house. “We’re kinda lucky this happened on a holiday.”
“How so?”
“People we need to talk to are more likely to be home and press corps probably has the second string working on a day like this.”
“True.”
The door swung open to reveal a tall, bald, muscular dude with tattoos covering his huge arms, barrel chest and even his face. Sam shuddered. How anyone could do that to themselves she’d never understand. He wore only a pair of sweatpants that rode low on narrow hips. “Mr. Connolly?” she asked through the door as she and Freddie showed their badges.
“Yeah. What do you want?”
“We need a few minutes of your time. May we come in?”
“Not without a warrant.”
“You got something to hide in there?”
“Nope, but I got rights, and you ain’t comin’ in my house.”
A naked woman appeared in the front hall behind him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothin’, babe. Go back to bed. I’ll be right there.”
The woman walked away as nonchalantly as she’d appeared, as if it was a regular routine for her to walk around naked in front of strangers. Maybe it was.
“Let us in, Mr. Connolly, or we’ll take you downtown to chat. Your call.”
With a growl that Sam could hear through the glass, he pushed open the door and then walked away.
Sam and Freddie followed him into a dirty, messy space that smelled of stale cigarettes and beer.
In the kitchen, he lit up a cigarette and blew the smoke in their direction. “Not sure what you’re after,” he said, “but I didn’t do it. I been right here fucking my girl for the last twenty hours, and I got the used condoms to prove it.”
“As delightful as that sounds, we’re looking for information about an old friend of yours.”
“What old friend?”
“Lori Phillips.”
He let out a harsh laugh. “Ah, good old Lori who found religion and decided she was too good for the likes of me after I took care of her and her brat? That Lori? Why you sniffing around her? ‘Cuz she’s making trouble for your boy Gonzales?”
“That’s not why. We’re wondering when you last spoke to her.”
He thought about that. “Saw her at a party over the holidays. She wanted to talk, but I got something new going on, so I said hi and that’s it. Lori made her bed with me. She wanted to live clean and sober, and I wasn’t part of that.”
“You know anything about who her dealer might’ve been when she was using?” Sam asked.
“Right. I give you that info, and next thing I know you’re arresting me for using. What, do you think I’m stupid or somethin’?”
“We have no interest in arresting you, Mr. Connolly,” Sam said. “We’re looking for information about Lori. Only.”
“What’s she done?” he asked as he raised the cigarette.
“She’s been murdered.”
His hand froze halfway to his mouth. “Murdered? How? When?” He seemed genuinely surprised—and dismayed—to hear the news.
“We don’t have all the details yet, but we’re working on that.”
“I bet your buddy Gonzales knows what happened to her. She was making all sorts of shit for him.”
“We’re not looking at him for this.”
“’Course you aren’t,” he said with a bitter chuckle.
“What can you tell us about her friends, associates, dealers? Anything you can give us would be helpful.”
“She doesn’t associate with the people she knew when she was with me anymore. She’s gone clean.”
“We have reason to believe she was off the wagon when she died.”
“Really? Aw, shit. Kid worked really hard to straighten things out. She loved that little boy. Wanted to be better for him. I thought she was making a go of it.”
“Who were some of her friends, Mr. Connolly?”
“Sara Angelo was her best friend.”
“Do you know where we can find her?”
“She actually lives two blocks that way.” He rattled off the street name. “Don’t know the number though. Saw her at the 7-Eleven a couple weeks ago, otherwise I wouldn’t have known she was so close.”
“Who’s Lori’s dealer?”
He shook his head. “You’re gonna have to find that out for yourselves. I know you’re standing here in my house telling me it ain’t gonna come back to bite me in the ass, but you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not buyin’ that. Been burned too many times already by your kind.”
“How about the names of any friends from her partying days?”
Rex shook his head. “Can’t help you there, either. I start sending cops to those guys, and I’ll be in the morgue next to Lori.”
“We could take you downtown until you feel more compelled to cooperate.”
“And I’d be sprung before your tour ends, and you know it. I’m not giving you those names.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Arrest me if you want to. Won’t get you anywhere.”
Sam tried to stare him down, but he never blinked.
“I’d like to help you get whoever did this to her,” Rex said. “She was a nice girl and we had good times together, but I’m not risking my own neck for someone who’s dead. Not happening.”
Sam handed him her card. “If you think of anything that might help and you’re willing to share, my number’s on there.”
He nodded.
She tipped her head to tell Freddie to move toward the door. As they went out, he was busy on his phone.
“Got the address for Sara Angelo.”
Perhaps there was something to be said for owning a smartphone, Sam thought, but as long as he had one at work and Nick had one at home, she didn’t need one of her own.
They got back in the car, and Freddie directed her for several blocks until they arrived at another nondescript row of townhouses.
“Every one of them exactly the same,” Sam said as she took in the community. “How many times do you think I’d try to get into the wrong door if I lived here?”
“Daily?”
“Perhaps even hourly.” Sam glanced at him as she rang the doorbell. “Why don’t you take the lead here?”
“Oh, um, okay.” After a pause, he said, “Is this punishment? For busting your chops?”
“That would make me vindictive and mean, and I’m neither of those things. It’s about training, about bringing you along, about—” Her string of bullshit was interrupted when the door was opened by a flushed-looking woman with dark hair and eyes.
“Sorry,” she said, “I was working out.”
Sam and Freddie showed their badges.
“Detective Cruz and Lieutenant Holland, Metro PD,” Freddie said. “Could we have a few minutes of your time?”
“Oh, um, sure.” She stepped back to allow them to enter her well-kept home. After the last two they’d visited, hers was a refreshing breath of fresh air—literally. “What’s this about?”
“You’re friends with Lori Phillips?” Freddie asked.
“Yes,” she said hesitantly. “What about her?”
“When was the last time you saw or talked to her?”
“We were at a Christmas party together in early December. We text pretty regularly, though. Why? Is she in trouble? She’s worked so hard to turn her life around. So hard.”
“I’m sorry to have to tell you that she was found murdered this morning.”
Sara’s mouth opened and then closed when nothing came out. Her eyes filled with tears. “Murdered?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Who would want to hurt her? She was the sweetest person.” And then her expression hardened. “The baby’s father. She was making trouble for him. I bet it was him.”
Freddie maintained his composure when he said, “It wasn’t him.”
“You have to say that! He’s a cop! Of course he didn’t do it. But who else could it be?”
“That’s what we’d like to know too.”
She swiped angrily at the tears on her cheeks. “Have you even considered that it might be him?”
“He has an alibi.”
“Right. Whatever. People like Lori, they don’t matter to you as much as another cop does. I get it.”
“That’s not true,” Sam said. “We want justice for her as much as you do.”
“Somehow I doubt that. She’s been my best friend since we were in high school. I bet I want justice for her more than you do.”
“Fair enough,” Sam conceded. “All I’m saying is that we care about every murder victim equally. We want justice for all of them. Can you tell us who else might’ve had a beef with Lori? Was she dating anyone that you know of?”
Sara was quiet for several minutes while she continued to wipe away tears. “There was this one guy she talked about a couple of times.”
“Do you know his name?” Freddie asked.
“Liam Hughes.”
“How did they meet?”
“Online a couple of months ago. She really liked him.”
“Do you know which online service she went through?” Freddie asked.
“I think she met him through a site called DateFinder.”
“Where does he live?”
“In Baltimore, I think.”
Sam wanted to moan at the thought of going all the way to Baltimore. “Do you know if she was with him yesterday or last night?” Sam asked.
“I really don’t know. I was away for much of the last week skiing with some friends in Colorado. I hadn’t talked to her since I got home. I was planning to call her today to check in.” Her shoulders sagged as the realization seemed to hit her all at once that she’d never speak to her friend again. “What happened to her?”
“She was manually strangled,” Freddie said. They’d learned from experience that it was better to just say it than to sugarcoat the truth.
“God,” Sara said with a sigh. “I don’t know anything about murder, but that sounds rather personal. You’re sure the baby’s father didn’t do it? It’d be awfully convenient for him to have her out of the picture, especially when she was making trouble for him.”
“It wasn’t him,” Freddie said bluntly.
Heartbreak turned to anger in a flash. “How do you know that?”
“We know him,” Freddie said. “We’ve known him for years. We know what’s inside of him and what’s not. He loves that baby, and he’d never do anything to cause him harm, including murdering his mother.”
Sam wanted to tell her partner he’d said that well, but she held her tongue. No need to pile on the platitudes. They weren’t going to convince this woman who’d never met Gonzo that he wasn’t capable of murder.
“Ms. Angelo,” Sam said in the softest tone she possessed, “one thing I’ve learned after many years on this job is to refrain from leaping to obvious conclusions until we have all the facts. That’s what we’re doing now—collecting the facts. And you’ve been very helpful. You’ve given us a direction we didn’t have before, and we appreciate that.” She handed over her card. “If you think of anything else that might be helpful to our investigation, please give me a call.”
Sara took the card from her.
“We’ve yet to contact all of her family,” Sam said, “so if we could ask for your discretion in the meantime, we’d appreciate it.”
“I’m not going to call the TV stations, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”
“It’s not, but we appreciate your discretion just the same.”
“I’m sorry,” Sara said. “I’m upset. She was my friend for a long time. We drifted apart during the years she was off the rails with that dirtbag Rex, but we’ve come back to each other recently.” Her voice broke and new tears tumbled down her cheeks.
“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Freddie said.
“Thank you.”
As they left the house, Freddie shook his head. “That never gets any easier.”
“Never will.”
“So I guess we’re going to Baltimore?”
“If we can track down Hughes.” In the car, she waited for Freddie to find the guy on his phone. “Can you explain the appeal of online dating to me? I mean how does anyone trust that they haven’t agreed to a date with a serial killer?”
“It’s possible your perspective on the issue may be somewhat skewed by your profession.”
“I hate to admit you’re right about anything, but...”
He laughed. “Painful for you, is it?”
“Excruciating. Still, I can’t imagine hooking up with a guy I met on the Internet.” She shuddered. “Super creepy.”
“I hate to remind you that you found a creep in your own apartment.”
Thinking about her ex-roommate, who was now her psychotic ex-husband, made Sam shudder. Four years of her life she’d never get back. “Damn, you’re on a roll of rightness today.”
“I love that. I’m going to let it go straight to my head.”
“Don’t injure yourself,” Sam said.
“I can’t hear you. I’m busy enjoying how right I am.”
“Get over yourself and find this guy she was cyber-romancing.” Sam took advantage of the opportunity to place a call to Archie. “Did Crime Scene bring in our vic’s computer from her house?” she asked when he answered.
“Not yet.”
“Apparently she had something going with a guy she met on DateFinder. I’d like access to that account ASAP.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as it’s in the house.”
“Thanks. Anything on the video?”
“Nothing but darkness and shoes. I’m taking screenshots for you. Whoever disabled the cameras knew how to dodge them so he or she wouldn’t be seen.”
“Great.” There went that lead up in smoke. “I’ll hit you up when I get back from Baltimore.”
“Baltimore? WTF?”
“Following the leads.”
“Ugh, better you than me.”
“Thanks, you’re a pal.” She hung up to the sound of Archie’s laughter. “Everyone’s a comedian today.”
“You bring it out in us.”
“Did you find our guy?”
“I think so. Head north up the parkway.”
“I’d like to be on record as saying I’m doing this under extreme duress. Metro police do not go willingly to Baltimore for any reason other than good Italian food.”
“Unless potential murder suspects live there.”
“What you said.”
“Perhaps a delicious Italian lunch might be in our future?” he asked hopefully.
“You just ate breakfast.”
“That was hours ago, and I’m a growing boy.”
“While you’re busy growing, give our friends in the Baltimore PD a heads-up that we’re coming. See if our guy Hughes has a history with them and let them know we’d appreciate their backup.”
“But we don’t need their backup.”
“You know that, and I know that, but we still have to suck their dicks.”
“Ugh, Sam! For crap’s sake.”
“What’d I say?” The traffic came to a complete stop around the Route 32 exit for the National Security Agency. “Why? Why, why, why? Are the Caps playing up here too?”
He consulted his ever-present link to the outside world. “Nope, but the Ravens are playing at home today.”
“Motherfucker. I hate this day with the fiery passion of a thousand hemorrhoids.”
Freddie squirmed in his seat. “Ouch. That burns.”
Sam’s phone rang and she took the call because it gave her something to do besides ruminate on the wonders of traffic and hemorrhoids. “Holland.”
“Happy New Year, Mrs. Vice President.”
Sam nearly groaned out loud when she realized it was Darren Tabor from the Washington Star. Make that a million hemorrhoids. “What’d you want, Darren? I’m busy.”
“I heard. Caught a homicide this morning. Hell of a way to start the new year.”
“Just another day in paradise for us.”
“Also heard an interesting thing about the possibility of an inside job on this one?”
“What? What’re you talking about?”
“A source told me you’re looking at Gonzales in the murder of his baby mama.”
Sam almost drove off the road. “What? That is not true. Do you hear me, Darren? It’s categorically untrue. Gonzo is not a suspect.”
“Is it true your vic is his baby mama?”
“No comment.”
“Come on, Sam. You gotta give me something.”
“No, I don’t, and if you run with Gonzo as a suspect, I’ll sue your ass off and make sure he does too.”
“My source is solid on this.”
“More solid than I am as the commander in charge of the investigation of which you speak? And who is this so-called source of yours anyway?”
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
“Listen to me, Darren. Believe it or not, I think of you as one of the good guys in your field. If you print anything that even hints of Gonzo’s involvement in a homicide, I’ll make sure you never get another quote from any member of the Metro PD or any member of the vice president’s team. Am I clear on that? And if you think I can’t do it—”
“Ease up, Sam. I’m not going to run with it. For now anyway.”
“You better not run with it ever. You’ll be ruining the career and the life of a man who deserves better after taking a bullet in the line of duty and nearly dying a very short time ago. Remember that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“And do you remember how I got you the very first exclusive interview with him after he was out of danger?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You want those sorts of favors to dry up faster than a virgin’s vagina?”
“Oh my hell, Sam,” Freddie said with a groan that matched Darren’s on the other end of the phone. “That’s disgusting.”
“Did it get the point across?” she asked Darren while looking at Freddie, who scowled at her.
“You’re a piece of work, Mrs. Cappuano,” Darren said.
“I also better not see any mention of the VP’s wife talking about virgin’s vaginas in the paper.”
“And here I thought I was getting hungry for lunch,” Darren said. “Thanks for ruining my appetite and my story.”
“Happy to be of service. Don’t screw me over on this one, Darren. I’ve got a very long memory when it comes to people dicking with my team.”
“This is going to seem like a hideously horrible segue, but how’s Jeannie holding up with the trial coming soon?”
“That’s the worst segue in the history of bad segues, and I’m going to forget you asked it like that when I tell you she’s holding up fine, and she’ll hold up fine all the way through to sentencing for that son of a bitch who attacked her.”
“The trial’s gonna be a circus.”
“We’re fully aware of that.”
“When she’s ready to talk, you know how to find me.”
“I’ll keep you in mind, provided you stick to our deal on the Gonzo thing.”
“Will you call me when you’re ready to release the vic’s name?”
“If I can, I will. That’s all I’m giving you.”
“Good enough for now. Anything you want to say about the situation with the chief?”
Sam laughed and laughed and then laughed some more. “Behave yourself, Darren.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re worse than my mom.”
“On that note...” Sam slapped the phone shut. “Who in the hell is calling the fucking press and telling them we’ve got an inside job with Gonzo as our chief suspect in a murder?”
“What the hell is right.”
“Could you maybe, just this once, consider an actual swear word?”
“I just did.”
“Hell is not a swear!” Sam dialed HQ. “This is Lieutenant Holland. Put me through to the pit, please.”
“The what?”
“The Homicide Detectives’ Division,” Sam said sweetly, though she was seething on the inside.
“One moment, please.”
“Who trains these imbeciles who answer the phones?”
“Obviously not you.”
“Right? Because if I did at least they’d speak MPD basics.”
“Among other things.”
“What was that, Detective?”
“I was just saying how right you are, Lieutenant.”
“Thought so. Why isn’t anyone answering the goddamn phone?” She hung up and redialed. “Chief Farnsworth, please.”
“Who’s calling, please?”
“Lieutenant Holland.”
“Oh, yes, of course. Let me put you right through. And may I say congrat—”
“If you want to keep your job, don’t say it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Is this what the new year is going to be like? Because I gotta say, I’m not digging it so far.” The line clicked before the chief came on the line. “Holland?”
“Yes, sir. I got a curious call from Darren Tabor, who seemed to know an awful lot about who our victim is and how she was related to Gonzo. In fact, he said Gonzo is rumored to be our top suspect when that is not at all true.”
“How the hell did he get all that?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. He said it came from inside MPD.”
“After what went down with Stahl, no way is anyone here going to be stupid enough to use our phones to make calls to the media.”
“He didn’t say the call came from inside HQ. He said the source was from inside.”
“Any thoughts on who it might be?”
“Normally I’d say Stahl, but he’s been on best behavior since he somehow managed to post bond to get out of lockup until his trial. And I’d still like to know how he got the dough for that.”
“As would I.”
“Ramsey in SVU has something up his ass with my name on it.”
“That’s a lovely visual, Lieutenant.”
“He told me to fuck off just this morning, in fact. I reported it to Davidson, not that he’ll do anything about it.”
“He really told you to fuck off? Over what?”
“I believe I said good morning to him. It was an unprovoked attack.”
“What’ve you done in the past to warrant his enmity?”
“I’ve been my usual charming self with him. I had a minute with Erica Lucas after I talked to Davidson, and she inferred there’s some info to be had there. We’re going to do coffee.”
“While you do coffee, I’ll have a word with Ramsey and see if he’s our leaker.”
“Don’t let on that I told you anything.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“How’s it going with Public Affairs?”
“Like having a root canal without the drugs.”
Sam grimaced at the exhaustion she heard in his voice. “Listen, your little mouse outside the door, what’s her name?”
“Do you mean Helen, my admin?”
Helen! That was it. “Yeah, her.”
“And you wonder why you’re always pissing people off.”
“I don’t actually wonder.”
He grunted out a laugh. “What about her?”
“She’s worried about you. Doesn’t like your color. Gotta say I agree with her. You’re looking a little gray around the edges.”
“Got a few things on my mind.”
“Look, I know you’re a big boy and can take care of yourself, but you’ll be no good to us if you go down physically over this. First of all, that scumbag Springer isn’t worth risking your health, and second of all, well, I don’t have a second of all other than we all need you healthy. Will you see someone? Please?”
“Marti has been after me about the same thing,” he said of his wife. “I’ll make an appointment.”
“You’ll do it now? After we hang up?”
“Yes, Sam! I said I’d do it. Now, where are you?”
“Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to Baltimore, of all places.”
“What the hell for?”
“A lead on the Phillips case. She met a guy online who lives there. We’re trying to piece together her final days without cell or computer data to work from yet.”
“All right. Keep me posted. Have you heard from Hill yet?”
“No. Should I have?”
“He’s been called in. Expect a call from him.”
“Oh, joy. This day just gets better all the time.”
Freddie’s phone rang, and he took the call after glancing at the caller ID.
“I gotta get back to the meeting with Public Affairs,” Farnsworth said. “In case I forgot to tell you, good thinking earlier on getting out there with our side of the story. I’ve been in hunker-down mode, but you’re right that the public needs to hear from me.”
“I’m usually right. That’s what Nick says.”
“Jesus. I walked right into that one. Keep me in the loop on Phillips.”
“I will. Call the doctor. Bye.” Satisfied she’d made her point and kept her promise to Helen, she slapped the phone closed. See, that right there was why she’d never get a smartphone. You couldn’t slap them closed.