8
After returning to the house to have the consent form signed for Kerry’s cell phone and laptop, Detective Wilson spoke to the officers who were conducting a search of the Dowling home and property. From there, in his car, he tapped in the cell phone’s unlock code and hit the text messages icon. The first four were brief notes from girls thanking Kerry for the good time they had at the party. One said she hoped Kerry would be able to patch things up with Alan, while another advised her to dump “that jerk” and hoped Kerry was okay after the fight. Mike jotted down the names of the four girls as party attendees he would interview.
He then clicked on the text message trail from “Alan.” He skipped to the bottom of the chain so he could read the messages in the order they were sent.
Alan at 10:30: Hope you and Chris are enjoying yourselves. I’m at Nellie’s. Felt like decking him. And you!
Kerry at 10:35: Thanks for ruining my party. You made an ASS of yourself. You don’t own me. I’ll talk to whoever I want. Do me a favor. Get out of my life.
Alan at 11:03: Sorry I lost it. I wanna see you now. Bad enough Chris will be after you when you’re both at BC. You didn’t have to start tonite. Mike wondered if “BC” meant “Boston College.”
Kerry at 11:10: Don’t come over. Tired! Will finish cleaning backyard then going to sleep. Talk tomorrow.
This is going to be a ground ball, Mike thought, using detective parlance for a case that would be easily solved. Jealous boyfriend. She’s ready to move on. He isn’t. At least one of her girlfriends telling her to end it.
Mike put down the phone. Using his dashboard computer, he accessed the Department of Motor Vehicles records. He typed in “Alan Crowley, Saddle River.” A moment later Crowley’s driver’s license filled the screen.
His next call was to the captain in charge of the homicide unit at the Prosecutor’s Office. He gave a summary of what he had found at the Dowling home and Kerry’s altercation with her boyfriend at the party. “Ordinarily, I’d want to talk to the kids who were at the party before interviewing the boyfriend, but I’m worried that will give him a chance to lawyer up. He lives here in Saddle River. I’m five minutes away. My gut tells me I should go have a chat with him right now and lock him into a statement.”
“You’re sure he’s not a minor?” the captain asked.
“His driver’s license says he turned eighteen last month.”
There was a pause. Mike knew that he should not interrupt his boss when he was thinking. Mike also knew that although Crowley was legally an adult, judges tended to give defendants latitude if they had only just turned eighteen.
“Okay, Mike. Call me after you talk to him.”
The Crowley home was on heavily treed Twin Oaks Road. It was a very large, white, shingled house with dark green shutters. Very impressive, Mike thought. From what he could see of the beautifully landscaped front and side yards, it was easily more than two acres. Big bucks here, he decided. A riding mower was parked on the edge of the driveway.
Mike rang the doorbell. There was no immediate answer. He waited for a full minute before he rang it again.
• • •
Alan Crowley had been mowing the lawn and was hot. He had gone into the house for a bottle of water. He glanced at the cell phone he had left on the kitchen table and saw there were a number of voicemail messages, missed calls and texts. Carrying his phone as he walked to the door, he only needed to read one text before the reality of the nightmare that was enveloping him sunk in.
The doorbell rang again. Kerry was dead. The rumor is she was murdered. The cops are talking to the neighbors and asking if they knew the names of the kids who had been at the party last night. They’re bound to find out he and Kerry had a fight.
Terrified, he went to the door and opened it.
The man at the door introduced himself while pointing to the badge on a chain around his neck. “I’m Detective Mike Wilson, Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office,” he said, his tone friendly. “Are you Alan Crowley?”
“Yes.”
From the expression on the young man’s face, Wilson was sure that he had heard that Kerry was dead.
“Are you aware of what happened to Kerry Dowling?” he asked.
“You mean that Kerry is dead?”
“Yes. . . .”
“Why are you here?”
“I’m going to find out what happened to Kerry. I’m starting by talking to everyone who was at the party last night. Would it be okay if we chat for a little while?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Do you want to come in?”
“Alan, let’s take a ride down to my office in Hackensack. We can talk there with no interruptions. You don’t have to go, but it will make things a lot easier. Come on. I’ll drive. Oh, Alan, before we go, do you remember what you were wearing at the party last night?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Just procedure.”
Alan thought for a moment. I’m better off cooperating than looking defensive. I’ve got nothing to worry about. “I had on a Princeton T-shirt, shorts and sandals.”
“Where are they?”
“They’re in my room.”
“Would you mind putting them in a bag and letting me keep them for a few days? Routine procedure. You don’t have to, but we would really appreciate your cooperation.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Alan said reluctantly.
“I’ll go with you,” Mike said amicably.
Shorts, a T-shirt and a pair of underwear were the items at the top of the hamper. Alan put them in a small gym bag. He grabbed his sandals and put them in as well. Holding his cell phone in one hand and the gym bag in the other, he woodenly followed the detective out to his car.
• • •
Mike Wilson had no intention of interrogating Alan before they got to his office at the courthouse. He knew that the more he could put him at ease, the more Alan would say once the camera was recording.
“When I was at the Dowling property, Alan, I noticed a putting green. The Dowlings must really be into golf. Do you play?”
“I’ve gone to driving ranges and played a few rounds. I play baseball in the spring and summer so I really don’t have much time for golf.”
“When you were at Kerry’s party, was anybody using the putting green?”
“I saw some guys fooling around on it last night. But I didn’t use it.”
“I noticed you wore a Princeton shirt to the party. Any significance in that?”
“Oh, yeah,” Alan said while staring out the car window. “The day I found out I was accepted, my mother went on the school website and bought Princeton logo stuff for me and tennis clothes for her and my father. They were really excited about my getting in.”
“That’s a great accomplishment. Your parents and you should be very proud. Are you looking forward to college?”
“I’m looking forward to being on my own, Princeton or wherever.”
Their conversation was interrupted when Mike’s phone rang. After he answered, a voice came through the speaker. “Mike, we have a ninety-three-year-old male who was found dead in his Fort Lee apartment by a neighbor. No sign of forced entry.”
Mike hit a button on his cell phone that took the call off speaker. He put the phone to his ear and listened.
Alan welcomed the interruption. He needed time to think. In his mind he meticulously reviewed every minute of his activities.
The fight with Kerry at the party was because Chris was hanging around her saying that he’d help her get settled in at Boston College. The Felt like decking you text he had sent her.
I went to Nellie’s because I knew the guys would be there, he thought. Then I started to sober up. I wanted to make up, so I’ll say I wanted to help her clean up. Kerry texted back that she was too tired to clean up. And I went back to her house anyhow.
His blood froze at the thought.
They think I killed Kerry. The detective will try to get me to admit it. His mind scurried around for answers. He came up with only one. The guys at Nellie’s have to cover for me, Alan thought. If they’ll say I was with them until 11:45, I’ll be okay. I got home around midnight. Mom and Dad were home, and Mom yelled good night to me from their room. I drove fast. I made it home in less than ten minutes. I wouldn’t have had time to go to Kerry’s on the other side of town and get home that fast.
I’ll tell the guys to say I was with them until they left Nellie’s. They’ll do it for me. That reassurance calmed Alan. He fought to stay calm as he was led into an interrogation room. The first questions were easy ones. How long had he and Kerry been friends?
“Kerry and I have been together for a year, I guess. Oh, sure, we have arguments. Sometimes Kerry starts them. She likes me to be jealous.”
“Did you have an argument at the party?”
“Yeah, but it was really nothing. This guy Chris has been trying to get between us. He was all over Kerry at the party.”
Wilson said, “I’ll bet that got you really mad.”
“It did at first, but I got over it. It’s happened before, but we always end up okay. Like I said, Kerry likes to make me jealous.”
As he answered the questions Wilson was asking, Alan thought, This isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
“Alan, many people get angry when they’re jealous. Do you?”
“Sometimes, but I get over it right away.”
“Okay. What time did you leave the party?”
“Around ten-thirty.”
“How long had you been at the party?”
“I got there about seven.”
“Alan, it’s important that you tell me. Did you have any drugs or alcohol before you got there or while you were at the party?”
“I never do drugs. There were no drugs at the party. I did have a couple of beers.”
“Did anybody leave the party with you?”
“No, I was by myself in my car.”
“Where did you go?”
“I drove ten minutes to Nellie’s in Waldwick and had a pizza with some friends who were already there.”
“Who were these friends?”
“Bobby Whalen, Rich Johnson and Stan Pierce, friends of mine from the baseball team.”
“Had they also been at the party?”
“No.”
“Had you planned to meet them at Nellie’s?”
“No, but I knew they were going to a movie and then to Nellie’s. I was pretty sure they’d be there.”
“What time did you get to Nellie’s?”
“About ten-forty.”
“How long did you stay?”
“I ate and stayed with them for about an hour.”
“What did you do then?”
“I left and drove straight home.”
“Did your friends leave at the same time?”
“Yeah, we all walked out together.”
“What time did you get home?”
“About midnight, maybe a little before that.”
“Was anybody home?”
“Yeah, my mom and dad. They were watching TV in their bedroom. I yelled good night.”
“Did they hear you come in?”
“Yeah, my mom yelled good night back to me.”
“At any time after you left the party at ten-thirty, and before or after you went home, did you ever go back to Kerry’s house?”
“No, definitely not.”
“Did you call or text Kerry at any time after you left the party?”
“I didn’t call her, but I sent her a text and she answered me.”
“Was it about the argument?”
“Yeah, we were both kind of teed off.”
Wilson did not pursue this further because he had already seen the text messages on Kerry’s phone. He also knew that he would get a court order for any other messages or calls Alan had made.
“Alan, just a few more questions.” Mike asked, “You have a cell phone, right?”
“Sure I do.”
“You used your phone when you sent texts to Kerry last night, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“What’s the number?”
Alan reeled it off.
“So, Alan, you went to the party at Kerry’s house, and then to Nellie’s, and then straight home. Did you have your cell phone with you that whole time?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Alan, the Dowlings have a putting green in their backyard. Did you see anybody using it at the party?”
“Like I told you before, some of the guys were on the putting green.”
“Do you remember if you used it at any time last night?”
“I never went over to the practice green. No.”
“So you never touched the putter last night?”
“No.”
“Alan, it was warm last night. Did anyone go swimming in the pool?”
“No, not while I was there.”
“Did you go in the pool?”
“No.”
“Alan, while you’re here, I have a request that will save us some time later. There are a lot of objects at Kerry’s house that have fingerprints on them. I’d like to know whose fingerprints are on which objects. Would you consent to being fingerprinted before you leave? You don’t have to, but it will be very helpful to us.”
Fingerprinted, Alan thought to himself. They must believe I did it. The interrogation room suddenly felt smaller. Was the door locked? Why did I agree to come here? Alan was trying desperately not to show his panic, but he was afraid to refuse. “I guess that would be okay,” he said.
“And finally Alan, we’d like to take a swab of saliva from inside your cheek. That will give us your DNA. Any problem with that?”
“Okay.” Numbly he followed Wilson into another room where his fingerprints were scanned and the swab taken.
“Alan, I appreciate how cooperative you’ve been. I have one final request. Would you mind leaving your cell phone with me for a few days?”
Thoroughly frightened, Alan pulled it from his pocket and placed it on the table. “Okay, but I want to go home now.”
They did not exchange a word during the twenty-minute ride back to Saddle River.