Chapter 21
Six hellish days in jail for Ray seemed like six hellish months, and the worst was yet to come. He was awaiting the inevitable transfer out to the county jail. Strange to be told the city jail was child’s play by comparison. Whenever he heard the clang of the metal door, even late at night, he’d stiffen. They would soon be around to cuff him, put him in a van, and carry him off to an even stranger and uglier world.
Worst of all, he realized, Sandy would be gone.
He knew she needed to go back to Philadelphia. He didn’t blame her. But he knew when she left, the investigation would come to a halt. An aggressive defense wasn’t likely without her. They could do whatever they wanted with him.
That Friday morning Sandy and Jerry Kagan were across from him in the visiting room. Kagan spoke first, “I talked to the judge about delaying your transfer out to county. I’ve several motions pending and he’s going to use them as an excuse to delay the transfer as a favor to me. Said he’ll give us five more days. They were supposed to transfer you long ago.”
Sandy said, “I can see you’re on the edge of depression, and I hate to hit you with this right now, but five more days is all I can give you too.”
Ray was expecting that. He nodded and gave her a tight smile, “That’s okay. I appreciate all you’ve done.”
Unexpectedly, in a loud voice she said, “Hey, I’ve got a life in Philly, you know!”
Her defensive tone surprised him. “I understand, it’s fine.”
“I can’t spend my entire life down here straightening out your mess!”
“Of course not, it’s okay, Sandy.”
She shoved her chair back and walked rapidly to the window. After a few minutes, Sergeant Lewis noticed and walked over beside her. He asked her something, she nodded she was okay and came back and sat.
“Okay, let’s get on with it.” She pulled out her notebook. “I had a second meeting with Tammy Jerrold. She was quite interested in how our investigation was going. She suspects Loraine now but still doesn’t want to see you, Raymond. I got her talking about Towson. She mentioned he was paying Loraine alimony.”
“Alimony? She’s getting alimony?” Ray said.
“Yes, big bucks every month. That’s what she lives on. Towson complained about it according to Tammy. Why then would Loraine kill him? If he’s dead he can’t pay alimony.”
“Damn! We thought we had her big motive, that blows it away,” Ray said. “She wouldn’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg.”
“Not necessarily, life insurance might indeed be the motive.” Kagan explained. “The certainty of her alimony stopping upon his death provided her with a legal insurable interest. She could then have insured him even though not married. A large life insurance policy on Towson could have been part of the divorce deal. She still could be our suspect.”
Sandy said, “I get it—lump-sum alimony payable upon death. Life insurance set up by the divorce agreement pays her a large lump sum to make up for the monthly alimony that would normally stop when the ex dies. If she kills him, and gets away with it, she’s instantly an extremely rich woman.”
Kagan continued, “Is she so greedy she’d risk losing guaranteed monthly alimony payments for a possible lump sum, and take the chance of being caught, and ending up with zero and in prison?”
“She might take the chance for enough millions!” Ray suggested.
“For some people everything is never enough,” Sandy observed. “How do we find out?”
“Her attorney doesn’t have to tell us without a court order,” Kagan said. “If she makes a claim for millions, however, some insurance investigator will be all over us.”
Sandy said, “We know Loraine definitely directed you to Towson’s apartment on the day of the shooting using that text message. That sounds like a plan. Only the killer would know to put you at the scene the very day Towson would be shot.”
Kagan said, “So, she did it, and she framed Ray for the murder.”
“Let’s not lock that down just yet, Jerry,” she suggested. “Could there be any motive besides insurance?”
“Divorces come with built-in motives, take your pick,” Kagan replied.
“Okay, here’s some other stuff I found out.” Sandy referred to her notebook. “About a year ago, Towson had something special going with some woman who lives in Palm Beach. Supposed to be very hush-hush, but everyone I asked seemed to know about it, and everyone remembered her name, Elizabeth Montgomery. Same as some old TV actress everyone in the world has heard of except me.”
Kagan said, “That actress was a real dish. Loved her work. I have her on some old videos.”
“Last night I went online with my laptop and checked property records for every county in Florida. Do you know there are sixty-seven freakin’ counties in this state? I tried Palm Beach County first, of course, and got an immediate hit. I sat there until after midnight searching through the other sixty-six. Anyway, Towson does own a condo in Palm Beach County. I Googled Elizabeth Montgomery and after seven billion hits on the old actress, I found her name in Palm Beach County and sure enough that’s her address.”
“Perhaps she’s a little honey he has set up down there,” Ray said. “This Elizabeth Montgomery might be a woman scorned or might have a jealous husband.”
Kagan joined in, “At the very least, we’ve another suspect and more reasonable doubt.”
'I need to dig more into Towson’s life as well,” Sandy said. “See where he pops up in official records. Search for other names. See the court record of the divorce proceeding. Are there children no one knows about? Like that.”
“Jerry, could he actually have made it to the Governor’s Mansion? I heard he had big time opposition,” Ray asked.
“Slam dunk, as good as elected. His opposition was ruthless and well funded, but he definitely would make it. Some Cuban-American big-money interests were pushing to legalize casino gambling in Florida. They’re out already optioning land for casinos and getting politicians lined up. Towson stood for old Florida and the status quo, anti- growth and all that, the ideal candidate. Campaign would be tough but it would be grass roots, John Q. Public against big-money.”
“Be less fuss to shoot a state senator now than assassinate a governor later,” Ray said.
“The link for us there might be Norma Martin,” Sandy said. “Here’s how her story goes so far. She breezed into town a couple of years ago and bought the Jardin Cafe. Owners weren’t even thinking about selling the place until she came along. The place wasn’t in good shape, and they were thrilled when she said how much, and handed them cash. The cover story was she cashed out on a large house up north in a divorce settlement. Everyone assumes she owns that restaurant, but I found out she doesn’t. A Delaware Partnership owns it but the partners might well live in Tampa.”
Ray said, “Would the Tampa big-money go so far as to assassinate him?”
“I suppose that could happen here, happens in Miami. Billions are at stake,” Kagan replied. “The pro-casino faction definitely wanted the senator out of the way.”
Sandy’s phone buzzed. It was Meg Emerson. “Sandy, I brought up reports on all the principals you named. Here we go. This is all confidential and a violation of every Federal privacy law, so cover my tail please. I found zilch on Norma Martin. Are you certain she actually exists? I’d need her social to check further. Tammy’s fine, owns a couple of small rentals, she’s a saver, no visible problems. Sonny Barner somehow got into financial trouble while he was a toddler, maybe earlier, and hasn’t been out of money trouble since. Don’t buy a used car from him. Loraine Dellin is hurting financially, heavily mortgaged and margined, not yet critical, but she’s been selling off her securities to live. She’s literally eating up her principal. Got all that?”
“You’re the best.” Sandy had another idea. “Two more names popped into my mind. Elizabeth Montgomery, West Palm Beach, and what about Towson’s campaign manager, Tony Hackett?”
“That last one’s easy. Not public yet, but Hackett is about to declare bankruptcy. His creditors have already moved in. Everyone thought he was inside on all the money deals that Towson pulled off, but I guess not. Somehow, he’s ended up broke. Word is he may have moved back to Virginia already. I guess you’ve a reason for asking?”
