Another Day in the Life Ch. 02

"Why not just shoot her, then?" I asked. Joanne shrugged. "No, you guys are right to consider him, though I'd have some tough hoops to put you through about him. Okay, so is Gloster a suspect now?"

"Definitely, sir." said Theo. "How he'd get the drugs into her home, I'm not sure of yet, but he has motive. Patricia could blackmail him over sexual harassment issues, and he'd be over a barrel if she did.'

"Very true." I said. "But the big two are Dennis and Patricia themselves. Any ideas?"

"Sir, we're still digging." said Joanne. "Myron found no strange expenditures of money by Dennis, and Patricia is always spending some money but not huge amounts at one time. So who bought the oxycodone isn't resolved."

"And sir," said Theo, "we're at something of a disagreement on all this. We can make a case for Dennis, but also can make one for Patricia trying to set him up."

"And you're still discounting Zack." Cindy said.

"With respect, ma'am," said Joanne, "until someone can show me how this kid, who doesn't talk to anyone, went and bought oxycodone with money he'd somehow have to procure, or somehow stole it without being noticed... I'm not buying into him being a suspect."

"I can tell you this, though." said Purvis, who was a Vice Detective. "This is not not to say Zack is involved, but it is all too easy for kids to get drugs these days. Zack is a latchkey kid, where he goes in the afternoons is anyone's guess, and he could find ways to get money. Just because he hasn't been caught doesn't mean he's not capable."

"Look guys," I said, "let's take the oxycodone out of any special category right now. Any one of these suspects could get the stuff if they wanted to. Hell, Rush Limbaugh was getting the stuff for years and no one hardly the wiser. My point is that this isn't going to be resolved through the oxycodone. We have to find something, something unique, that starts the trail to the true perp, here."

"And in light of that," I said, "Joanne and Jerome asked some good questions earlier, about the timing of Paul Escandes bolting. I want to ask another question, a different question. What really happened is that Patricia smelled something strange and didn't take the capsule. I want you to consider what would happen if she had taken the oxycodone, and had died. Or had become very ill. What's the timeline going forward form that hypothetical scenario?"

It became silent in the room as everyone contemplated. "And what if Zack had taken the pill?" asked Teddy Parker. "Might not've killed him, but he'd have been one sick kid for a while."

"True." I said. "And that's something to consider... Zack having access. How long were those bad pills in that bottle? In other words, when were the bad drugs put there to be taken? But let's go back to what I'm asking... if Patricia takes the capsule, and becomes very sick or, more likely, dies. What then?"

"Dennis Ridley would definitely be under arrest." said Joanne. "As a suspect, on suspicion. I'm not saying it would go to trial, but he'd be in a lot worse shape than he is right now."

"If she died," said Jerome Davis, "then Dennis Ridley would have custody of Zack, not have to worry about divorce and being financially messed up, and could marry this Susan Carrera person. If he wasn't convicted of his wife's murder, of course."

"So much reasonable doubt, though." said Theo. "The arguments I've been making still hold up. We have to prove he put the oxycodone in the bottle. I mean we have to have a scrap of something... an oxycodone purchase, or someone hearing him threaten his wife... but all else being equal to what we have now... we don't have enough to convict."

"Keep thinking about it, guys." I said, standing up. "Okay, I'm sure you have strong desires to continue interrogating the suspects this afternoon. Have at it."

"Sir, what about Gloster?" asked Teddy Parker.

"If you guys are as good as I think you are," I said, "you should have that guy sobbing and making a mess of my Interrogation Rooms. Make it so, Number One. But eat lunch first... and that goes for all of you."

Part 11 - Issues and Answers

1:30pm, Tuesday, April 17th.

Patricia Ridley was back in Interrogation-A with her lawyer Bernadette Rosalyn Gillem. Detectives Joanne Warner and Theo Washington came in and sat down opposite them. Officer Lydia Green was the Uniformed presence in the room. Joanne read Patricia her rights from the card, and Patricia acknowledged she understood.

"Mrs. Ridley," said Theo Washington, "yesterday you told us that you were dating a man named Paul Escandes, is that right?"

"Yes." said Patricia.

"Are you still having a relationship with him?" asked Theo.

"Yes." said Patricia. "But it's more of a 'friends with benefits' situation than a 'relationship'."

"When was the last time you saw Mr. Escandes?" asked Theo.

"Oh, last week sometime." said Patricia. "Thursday, I think."

"Did Mr. Escandes ever come to your home?" asked Joanne.

"No." said Patricia. "None of the men I ever dated came to the house. I went to their house or we met in hotel rooms."

"Was your husband aware of your relationship, such as it was, with Mr. Escandes?" asked Theo.

"I don't know if he knew about Paul specifically." said Patricia. "He knew I was cheating on him, but not who I was cheating on him with, as far as I know."

"Did Paul Escandes ever use drugs in your presence, Mrs. Ridley?" asked Joanne.

"No. He was really clean." said Patricia. "Wouldn't even smoke pot."

"Did he ever seem concerned about anything?" asked Joanne. "Fearful of anything? Avoided doing anything that would get him Police attention?"

"Uhh...." Patricia said, paused several seconds, then said "I wouldn't call it 'fearful'...but he always was very aware of what was going on around him. I've seen other guys like that, most of them war veterans. I didn't think too much of it; he didn't seem paranoid, just aware."

"Mrs. Ridley," said Theo, "do you know a man named Wendell Gloster?"

"He's my boss at work." said Patricia.

"Have you had sexual relations with Mr. Gloster?" Theo asked. Patricia looked totally shocked for a moment... not at the impropriety of the question, but at the knowledge that the Police must know about that.

"Uhh.... yes." said Patricia.

"Is this necessary?" asked Bernadette Gillem. "Do you really need to go through my client's list of lovers?"

"First of all," said Joanne, "we asked Mrs. Ridley about that list yesterday, and while she did mention Mr. Escandes, she failed to mention her sexual relationship with Mr. Gloster. And yes, it's necessary to understand that any of Mrs. Ridley's lovers has to be considered as the person who put poison pills in her Tylenol bottle."

"Oh, come aaahhhnnn." said Patricia. "If it wasn't my husband, then who could've done it? And who else would want to?"

"You seem... eager... to have us suspect your husband of the crime." said Theo.

"Well who else could it have been?" asked Patricia angrily.

"As we said... any of your lovers." said Joanne. "And in the case of Mr. Gloster, it would really seem he has motive. Mrs. Ridley, did you offer sex to Mr. Gloster to keep your job?"

"It was more like he demanded sex from me or he'd fire me." snarled Patricia.

"So why didn't you walk away?" asked Joanne. "Why didn't you sue him?"

"Because I had no proof, no tape recordings, no witnesses." said Patricia. "And I need that job too much to just quit and walk away... or I would have a long time ago."

"Mrs. Ridley," asked Theo, "have you offered or given sex to clients to win or maintain accounts with them?"

"My God, are you going to accuse every person I have an account with of tampering with my Tylenol bottle?" spat Patricia.

"You're not answering the question." said Joanne. "In fact, you seem to be avoiding it. Now answer it: did you have sex with clients or potential clients to win or keep accounts?"

"I may have had encounters with some of them." said Patricia. "But that was pleasure, not business."

"Come on, Mrs. Ridley." said Theo. "We're talking attempted murder here."

"I need to talk to my attorney." said Patricia. Theo and Joanne exited into the anteroom. When they closed the door, Officer Green left through the door to the hallway.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Not bad." said Cindy Ross in the anteroom. "She was getting rattled, there."

"Are we really going to have to investigate every one of her sexual liaisons?" asked Theo, not anticipating with any relish the thought of that amount of work... and paperwork.

"I suspect," said Cindy, "that Ms. Gillem will shut down that line of questioning, and they won't give us any more lovers' names without a fight."

"You mean she'd take the Fifth over that?" asked Joanne.

"Yep." said Cindy. "It could be a real scandal... for her, for her clients... and it pokes holes in her ace-in-the-hole: a potential sexual harassment lawsuit against Gloster. By the way, Dennis Ridley is in the House... he's in I-Bravo."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When Theo and Joanne re-entered I-A, the lawyer Bernadette Gillem spoke first.

"I am advising my client to not speak any further of her sexual relationships with any persons." said Gillem. "Unless you can name a specific person and show how that person is related to this crime, then my client will not answer questions about her sexual liaisons."

"Is she taking the Fifth?" asked Joanne. "If I ask a question, I expect it to be answered, unless your client takes the Fifth."

"You're obviously a novice at interrogations, Detective Warner." Gillem shot back. "But if you insist, I'll have my client invoke, and we'll leave now-------"

"Hold on, hold on." said Theo. "Let's talk about another subject. Mrs. Ridley, where have your sales calls been in the last few days, going back into last week?"

"Mostly around here." said Patricia. "The University, the State Crime Lab, Forbes & Sehgal Engineering. I went to Midtown last week, to a State conference on Crime Lab operations, hoping to get the contracts for all the labs."

"Didn't go to the City, or Southport, or other places?" asked Theo.

"Not last week." said Patricia. "It's been several weeks since I've gone to the City, and I haven't been to Southport at all. Everything down there is controlled by the Mob; we just don't even fool with them."

"Who are your husband's major clients, and where does he usually go on calls?" Theo asked.

"University Hospital, the doctors' offices around here." said Patricia. "He does go to City University and their big hospital pretty often. I can't say exactly where or when in the last weeks, as he doesn't tell me anything."

The Detectives wrapped it up. "Mrs. Ridley," said Theo Washington, "you've heard the cliché about 'stay in Town'? It's not a cliché. If you leave the County for any reason, notify the TCPD Duty Desk or call me. Failure to do so could have you arrested and brought back."

"Am I under arrest?"

"You can be, if that's the way you want to play it." said Theo, getting up. "As of now, we are not restricting you, just asking you to notify us of any travels you make. Ms. Gillem, would you explain to your client why her cooperation is vital in this?" And with that, he left the Interrogation Room, followed by Detective Warner.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1:45pm. Captain Cindy Ross knocked on the Chief's door, heard a 'Come in!', and opened the door and entered the office that was built into the corner of the building, and was pentagon-shaped.

"Ah, come in, Captain." said Chief Moynahan. "Please, take a seat." Cindy sat down in the chair in front of the desk.

"Mr. Crowbar is out on what he tells me is an official errand to gather infor-maayyyyy-shun." drawled the Chief. "I don't know who his sources are, but if they help us bust perps, then so be it."

Cindy said nothing, and just patiently waited for the Chief to get to the point.

"Okayyyyy." Moynahan said, leaning back in his chair. "I just contacted the University's Business School, and the assure me that you are going to graduate at the end of May with a Bachelors in Business Administration, and that you are passing your last class with flying colors. Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir." said Cindy.

"Soooooo..." the Chief drawled. "Tonight is the night the Commander and I go to the Council, and submit our proposals for promotions and medals, and other structural issues. So... this is it. This is the deadline. I need to know if you are committed to your decision."

"Yes sir," said Cindy, "I am."

"Good!" the Chief said jovially. "Then I will make the submission tonight. We'll talk more when the Commander gets back. In the meantime, you have interrogations to watch, is that not right?"

"Yes sir." said Cindy, getting up. "If you'll excuse me sir, I'll get to it."

"What do you think of that Tylenol bottle case?" asked the Chief.

"I think the only way we'll ever know for sure," said Cindy, "is if someone makes a mistake... a mistake that you-know-who will catch, and the rest of us will be left in shock and awe."

The Chief laughed. "You're probably right, you're probably right. Okay, go ahead..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2:05pm. Theo and Joanne entered Interrogation-B, where Dennis Ridley and his lawyer Gibson Stelling were sitting.

"Thank you for coming back in, Mr. Ridley." said Theo Washington with a courteousness that fooled no one present. He and Joanne sat down, and Theo said "We need to ask you some more questions. First, in the past week or so, where have your sales calls been?"

"Here in Town." said Ridley. "I practically camp out at the Hospital and clinics in the area. Last week I had a few calls at City Hospital and the clinics around there."

"And those are your major clients?" asked Theo. Ridley affirmed that it was.

"Mr. Ridley," asked Joanne, with perhaps a bit of harshness, "do you know a man named Paul Escandes?"

"I've heard that name." said Ridley, seeming to think about it. "One of Patricia's stable boys, maybe?"

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Ridley?" asked Joanne.

"I mean I think I've heard that name because my wife has been having sex with him." said Ridley. "You'll have to ask her if you want to confirm that for sure."

"Mr. Ridley," said Joanne, "besides Susan Carrera, what are the names of the women you've had extramarital sexual relationships with?"

"What does that have to do with this investigation?" asked the lawyer Stelling.

"It occurs to us," said Joanne, "that any of them might have motive for killing Mr. Ridley's wife, freeing him up to be with them."

"And how did they just walk into her house and put the bottle there?" asked Stelling, who then said "I'm advising my client to refuse to answer that question and questions of that nature. Unless, of course, you can name a specific name and show a lot more than what you've shown so far of the involvement of that specific person."

"So you won't answer the question?" asked Joanne. "Are you taking the Fifth?"

"No, my client is not taking the Fifth. Yet." said Stelling. "But you're going to have to show relevance before I allow my client to start naming women's names so you can go harass them and ruin their lives."

"I need to speak to my lawyer privately for a moment." said Ridley. Theo and Joanne got up and went to the anteroom, and Patrolman Hicks went into the lobby area outside the other door.

"Neither of them will name lovers." said Joanne. "We're going to have to find a way to get those names."

"They both know an impending divorce is coming." said Theo. "Neither wants to give ammunition to the other side."

"This is an attempted murder case, Theo!" Joanne said. "Someone may be going to jail! They better think about that before thinking about divorce... which I notice they've both had plenty of time, as in years, to file... but neither has."

Stelling knocked on the glass to call them back in, and they went inside after Patrolman Hicks came in from the other side.

"My client is going to make one statement regarding his extramarital relationships, and then he'll say no more." said Stelling. "If you press, I'll have him take the Fifth, and I'll take him out of here unless you think you have enough to get a warrant to arrest him. Go ahead, Dennis."

Dennis Ridley said "I have had extramarital affairs since being married, as has my wife. In many cases, I can't even tell you the names of the women, because they were one night stands, bar pickups, such as that. Some of them are also employees of my client companies... I meet a woman, ask her out, we have encounters... but these are not to win contracts, as most of the people I deal with professionally are men, and I am not gay."

"I also have not had any extramarital encounters within my house, meaning the house I live in with my wife and son. In any case, I'm not going to destroy my client base by naming names when those women couldn't possibly just walk into my house and spike a Tylenol bottle with poisons." After a pause, he said "And that's it."

"Mr. Ridley," said Theo, "you have not actually filed for divorce, have you?"

"No." said Ridley.

"We've been told you've been 'preparing' for divorce." said Joanne. "How are you doing that?"

"Keeping my money and assets separate from Patricia's," said Ridley, "so she can't spend my money. I sold some land I owned in the State west of us, that I used for deer hunting."

"Oh, deer hunting." said Joanne. "I like to go hunting, myself. Did you have food plots, grow alfalfa for them?"

"Oh, sure." said Ridley. "I also thought about doing some farming on that land, but decided to just sell it."

"Did you bow hunt? Primitive weapons?" asked Joanne, adroitly eliciting answers from Ridley about the weapons he might own.

"No, just rifles." said Ridley. "I sold them all when I sold the land."

"As part of your preparation, have you had a private investigator check into your wife?" asked Theo. "Get the dirt on her before filing?

"I..." said Ridley, then he came on out with it: "Yes, I've had private investigators get the dirt on her, as you phrase it. I did that a few years ago, and then again about two months ago."

"How did you pay for that, Mr. Ridley?" asked Joanne.

"Cash on the barrelhead." said Ridley. "No receipts, of course."

"Where did you get the cash?" asked Joanne. "And when?"

Ridley looked over at his lawyer, who leaned over and whispered something to him. Ridley then said "Okay. Sometimes I get expense money in cash for a sales trip. When I make the sale, I ask them to just pay me less in the check to make good on the cash, and I keep the cash and we close it out."

"Do you report that cash income?" asked Joanne.

"My tax preparer does all that." said Ridley. "You'll have to ask her about the details."

"Who is your tax preparer?" asked Joanne.

"Sue Carrera." said Ridley. "She's been doing my taxes for the last couple of years. She does taxes for a few other people; it's more like a hobby than a business, though."

"Some hobby." said Theo. "One wrong slip, and the IRS is putting her in jail. Okay, we want copies of those tax returns. If you decline to cooperate, we'll just subpoena them."

"Then do that." said Ridley. "I'm not handing you my tax returns of my own free will." The lawyer whispered something to Ridley, and he said loud enough to hear: "I don't care. This is already past ridiculous. Let them make a case to the judge."

"So," said Theo. "Did your P.I. get any dirt on Patricia?"

"Yeah, a good bit." said Ridley. "My divorce attorney, who is with the Men's Law Firm of Effim, Goode & Hart, has the reports, videos, and photographs."

"Will you authorize a release of a copy of that information to us?" asked Joanne.

"No." said Ridley. "It's for the divorce, and I'm not letting you put it into public record where Patricia can see what we're planning."