“Oh, just, you know, thank you for calling, it’s been a very difficult time, blah blah blah.” She was nodding so much she reminded Wedmore of one of those dog ornaments you used to see in the back windows of cars.
Rather than say anything, Wedmore folded her arms and looked at her.
“What?” Laci Harmon said.
Wedmore still said nothing.
“You already know all this, don’t you?” Laci asked.
“Know what?”
“About the phone call.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I knew it,” she said. “I told him you might be doing it.”
“What would that be, Ms. Harmon?”
“Tapping his line. That’s what you’ve done, isn’t it? You’ve tapped his line. You’re listening in on his phone calls. I know you can’t admit it, I get that, but it just makes sense that you’d be doing it.”
Wedmore thought carefully before she said, “When you told Mr. Garfield you thought the police might be tapping his line, why did you say that?”
“Oh God, so it is true? Oh God, no.”
“Why do you think we would tap his line, Laci?”
“I swear to you, I had nothing to do with it.”
“To do with what, Laci?”
“I mean, I don’t know what he did with her. I don’t even know if he did do anything with her. But if he did, you have to know, I had nothing to do with it. I would never get involved in anything like that. I have children.”
Detective Wedmore nodded. “How long have you been having an affair with him?”
She put her hand on her forehead, rolled her eyes up in the direction of the hot lights. “Oh no, this is awful, this is-”
“Do you think Wendell Garfield did something with his wife?”
“I can’t-oh, this is just-please don’t tell my husband.”
“He doesn’t know about the affair?”
“He has no idea. Please, please-he’s coming back later today from Schenectady with the kids. Please promise me you won’t tell him anything about this.”
“Ms. Harmon, I’m afraid I can’t make any-”
Wedmore’s cell phone rang. She took it from her pocket, put it to her ear and said, “Wedmore.”
“Kip here.” Another detective.
“What’s up?”
“The daughter in your missing mom case just walked in. Think she wants to tell you something.”
Fourteen
Rona Wedmore found Melissa Garfield sitting in the interrogation room with Kip Jennings. Kip wasn’t the lead detective on this case so she was babysitting Melissa until Wedmore’s arrival.
“Hey,” Kip said when Rona entered. “We were just talking about kids.”
Melissa’s eyes glistened. She wasn’t crying right now, but it was a safe bet she had been, at some point, since walking into the station.
“Hi, Melissa,” Rona said. “How you doin’? I know that’s a dumb question, considering what you’re going through, but how are you holding up?”
“Not so great.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet.”
“Melissa would like to talk to you about her dad,” Kip said, getting out of the chair and stepping aside for her colleague.
“Sure, I can understand that,” Rona said, taking a seat as Kip slipped out of the room. “He’s going through a lot. He must be worried sick. Just like you.”
Melissa nodded. “I want to tell you something.”
“Okay.”
“But before I tell you, I want you to promise me something.”
“Promise you something about what?”
“About my dad.”
“Well,” Rona said, “it’s kind of hard for me to promise you something before I know what it is you’re asking.”
“I want you to go easy on him.”
“Go easy on him?”
Melissa nodded. “Because of, you know, whaddya call them? Extenuating circumstances. I mean, I know, my coming here, and telling you things, that it might get my dad in trouble, but I want you to promise that you’ll take everything into consideration.”
“That’s what we do,” Rona said. “We try to look at everything. But I can’t promise you right now that there won’t be consequences for things that your father might have done.”
“I just hate getting him into trouble,” Melissa said. “Even though I know that’s probably what’s going to happen.”
“You know what I think, Melissa? I think you have to do what you know is right. I think you’re carrying around a huge burden right now, and doing the right thing is going to go a long way to relieving that burden. That is why you’re here, isn’t it?”
“Sort of,” Melissa said. “You know what? I know I only just sat down, but I really have to pee. What with the baby and everything.”
“Sure, okay,” Rona said. “Let me show you where to go.”
Melissa went to the bathroom and a couple of minutes later they were back sitting across from each other. Melissa had one hand on the table and the other on her belly.
“I really love my dad,” she said. “I really do.”
“Of course. And I bet you love your mom, too.”
Melissa looked down.
“Melissa,” Detective Wedmore said gently. “Can you tell me… is your mother still alive?”
Melissa mumbled something so softly Rona couldn’t hear what she’d said. “What was that?”
“No.”
“No, she’s not alive?”
“That’s right. Dad’s going to be really mad at me for telling you this.”
“We can make sure he doesn’t hurt you.”
“He wouldn’t hurt me, but he’s going to be super pissed.”
“I can certainly understand that,” Rona said. “But I’m guessing you want to do right by your mother.”
“Yeah, I’ve kind of been thinking that, too.”
“Why don’t we start with you telling me where your mother is.”
“She’s in the car.”
The detective nodded. “This would be your mother’s car. The Nissan.”
“That’s right.”
“And where’s the car, Melissa?”
“It’s at the bottom of the lake.”
The detective nodded again. “Okay. What lake would that be?”
“I don’t know the name of it, but I think I could show you how to get there. It’s about an hour’s drive, I guess. Although, even if I take you there, I don’t know where exactly it is in the lake. And the ice has probably already frozen over. It’s been cold. I just know she’s in the lake. In the car.”
“Okay, that’s not a problem. We have divers for that kind of thing.”
