“Yes… I said that, but, as you pointed out, it was her father she hated.”
“So you were in error when you said that?”
“Well…”
It’s always good to highlight a lie, even a small one, during an interrogation. It puts the suspect or witness on the defensive, where he or she belongs.
Colonel Fowler sought to correct his original statement and said to Cynthia, “She originally liked the Army. I can’t say with certainty how she felt about it recently. She had too much anger, and she had other motives for staying in the service.”
“I think I have that clear now.” She asked him, “Can you give us some idea of the relationship between Ann Campbell and her mother?”
Colonel Fowler considered this a moment, then replied, “They had a decent relationship. Mrs. Campbell, contrary to what some people think, is a strong woman, but she’s chosen to defer to her husband in terms of his career, his various postings around the world, including ones where she could not accompany him, and in terms of entertaining people she may not personally care for, and those sorts of things. I use the term ‘chosen’ because that’s what it is—a choice. Mrs. Campbell is from the old school, and if she makes a commitment to the marriage, she will stick with it, or leave the marriage if she changes her mind. She will not gripe and complain and sulk as so many modern wives do today who want to have their cake and eat it, too.”
He glanced at Cynthia, then continued, “She will not embarrass her husband with breaches of conduct, she will take the good with the bad, she will recognize her own worth as a wife and partner, and will not get a job selling real estate downtown in a pathetic attempt to declare her independence. She does not wear the general’s stars, but she knows that he would not be wearing them either if it weren’t for her help, dedication, and loyalty over the years. You asked me about Ann’s relationship with her mother, and I told you about Mrs. Campbell’s relationship with her husband, but now you can figure out the answer to your question.”
I nodded. “Yes, I can. And did Ann try to change her mother’s behavior or philosophy?”
“I think she did at first, but Mrs. Campbell basically told her to mind her own business and stay out of her marriage.”
Cynthia commented, “Good advice. But did it strain their relationship?”
“I’m not very attuned to mother-daughter relationships. I came from a family of four boys, and I have three sons of my own. I can’t fathom women in general and I’ve never seen a mother-daughter relationship up close. But I know they never did things together, such as shopping or tennis or planning parties. But they would dine together, alone, at times. Is that good enough for you?”
Cynthia nodded, then asked, “Did Mrs. Fowler know Ann Campbell well?”
Colonel Fowler replied, “Fairly well. It comes with the social territory.”
“And of course Mrs. Fowler knows Mrs. Campbell well, so perhaps I can speak to Mrs. Fowler—about the mother-daughter relationship.”
Colonel Fowler hesitated for a beat, then replied, “Mrs. Fowler is very upset, as you may have noticed. So unless you’re insisting, I’d have to say wait a few days.”
Cynthia inquired, “Will Mrs. Fowler be available? Or is she so upset that she may go somewhere for a rest?”
Colonel Fowler looked at Cynthia and replied, “As a civilian, she can come and go as she pleases, if I read your subtext correctly.”
“You do read me correctly, Colonel. I don’t want to have to get a subpoena. I’d like to speak to her today. I don’t have a few days, as it turns out.”
Colonel Fowler took a deep breath. Obviously, we were more than he’d bargained for and he wasn’t used to this kind of pressure from subordinates. I think the fact that we were in civilian clothes helped him put up with this crap and kept him from throwing us out, which is why the CID often chooses mufti for the dirty stuff. Fowler replied, finally, “I’ll see if she’s up to it this afternoon.”
“Thank you,” Cynthia replied. “It would probably be better if she spoke to us, rather than her having to speak to the FBI.”
Colonel Fowler got the message and nodded.
I asked him, “For the record, Colonel, can you tell me your whereabouts on the night that Captain Campbell was killed?”
He smiled and said, “I thought that was the first question you were supposed to ask. Well, where was I? I worked until about 1900 hours, then attended a going-away party for an officer in the grill at the O Club. I excused myself early and was home by 2200 hours. I did some paperwork, made some calls, and Mrs. Fowler and I retired at 2300 hours.”
It would be silly of me to ask him if Mrs. Fowler would verify that, so I asked instead, “And nothing unusual happened during the night?”
“No.”
“And you awakened at what time?”
“At 0600 hours.”
“And then?”
“Then I showered, got dressed, and was at work at about 0730 hours.” He added, “Which is where I should be now.”
“And you called Captain Campbell’s house at about 0800 hours and left a message on her answering machine.”
“Correct. General Campbell called me from his home and asked me to do that.”
“He didn’t want to call her himself?”
“He was annoyed and he knew Mrs. Campbell was disappointed, so he asked me to place the call.”
“I see. As it happens, however, we were in her house before 0800, and when we got there, the message was already on the machine.”
There was what you call a moment of silence, and in microseconds, Colonel Fowler was going to have to guess if I was bluffing, which I wasn’t, or if he had a better story. He looked me in the eye and said, “Then my time is wrong. It must have been earlier. What time were you in her home?”
“I’ll have to check my notes. Can I assume you didn’t call her before 0700 hours to say she was late for a 0700-hour breakfast?”
“That would be a logical assumption, Mr. Brenner, though I’ve often called her prior to such an appointment to remind her.”
“But on this occasion, you said, ‘Ann, you were supposed to stop by the general’s house this morning.’ Then you said something about breakfast, followed by, ‘You’re probably sleeping now.’ So if she got off duty at, let’s say, 0700, and you called at, say, 0730 hours, she’d barely be home, let alone asleep.”
“That’s true… I suppose I wasn’t thinking very clearly. I may have forgotten she was on duty, and I meant that she was probably not awake yet.”
“But you mentioned duty in your message. The whole sentence was, ‘You were supposed to stop by the general’s house this morning after you got off duty.’ ”
“Did I say that?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, put it down to my error in times. I may have called as early as 0730. I know I called right after the general called me. Captain Campbell apparently agreed to meet her parents at 0700 hours, and though she would normally have been relieved at about that time by the officer designated to arrive at 0700 for work, it wouldn’t have been unusual for her to leave early and leave the duty sergeant in charge until relieved.” He added, “Are you having a problem with this, Mr. Brenner?”
“No problem.” Not for me; big problem for you. I asked, “Considering that Captain Campbell and her father were not on good terms, why was she having breakfast with him?”
“Well, they did dine together now and then. I told you, she saw her mother fairly often.”
“Could this breakfast meeting have been for the purpose of Ann Campbell delivering her answer to the general’s ultimatum?”
Fowler considered a moment, then replied, “Yes, it could have been.”
“Do you find it curious that only hours before she had to reply to his ultimatum, she was found dead? Do you
