Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four
I sat face to face with the person who most likely was the reason Timothy’s wife Sharon was killed. She introduced herself but I already knew her name was Linda. I knew some things about her but I wanted to see if she told me the same story I had already heard. The first thing she wanted to know was why I was doing the interviews, she wanted credentials. 

That was the smart thing to do and I had to commend her on that. I had some credentials prepared for such a request. My identification showed I was an investigator with the legal offices representing Timothy. She seemed to be satisfied with what I showed her. She also remembered seeing me at the courthouse. That helped make me look more official. 

Some of the people I had already interviewed told me they heard the affair ended right after the murder of Timothy's wife. They said Linda didn’t want anything to do with the murder and just walked away after it happened. 

I asked Linda to explain the nature of the relationship between her and Timothy. She didn’t deny anything; she was straight forward about her involvement with Timothy.  

Linda said, “Timothy and I had an affair. I don’t deny that and I am sorry it happened. It was wrong.”

I replied, “Wow! That is pretty bold to just come out with that.”

Linda explained, “It happened, and I was involved with Timothy romantically but I had no hand in any murder. I don’t know if Timothy did but he had talked about it and how that would be the best solution for both of us. Once fingers started pointing at Timothy, I couldn’t stay with him any longer.”

I asked, “Do you think Timothy had anything to do with the death of his wife?”

Linda answered, “I really don’t know. They arrested John McKinley for the murder and after he got convicted and killed by Timothy all of the accusations against him began to surface. I thought the girl saw her mother get killed. I honestly don’t know who did it.”

I responded, “They don’t think Timothy pulled the trigger but they think he pulled the strings. Did he ever mention anything to you about hiring someone to kill his wife?”

Linda said, “He joked about it early on but I assured him I didn’t think I could be with him if he ever did anything to her and when it happened and then the rumors started I went to him and told him I was done.”

I asked, “Did he deny doing anything?”

Linda replied, “At first he denied doing anything but then he said he did it for us. He told me about some insurance policies when we first began to get serious. He wouldn’t stop talking about how we could take the insurance money and start a new life.”

I asked, “Have you talked to him since he was arrested?”

Linda answered, “I had already made peace with myself that he hadn’t done it. John McKinley had been arrested and the whole sex trafficking scenario had been developed so I knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt his daughter. In the back of my head I always had questions. I knew he and Sharon were having a lot of problems. I felt guilty for getting involved and eventually I had to get out of the situation. I made a clean break and never talked to him again after he was arrested.”

Linda excused herself and got up to leave. I had a lot of interviews and information to go through so I bid her farewell and headed home to see Lincoln and Angela. I don’t know why I was so interested in this case except I was kind of thrown together with it from the time John McKinley bought items from my checkout lane. 

I packed up my notes and walked my way down the hallway of the warehouse, stopping to let the front office know I was finished for the day. I thanked them for their help and headed out to make my drive home. My thoughts were filled with the information learned doing the interviews. The trip seemed short while the questions that were bouncing around in my head kept my mind busy and I was parking in the driveway before I had even realized it. 

When I came into the house Lincoln ran to hug me and Angela was cooking dinner. That was a pattern that would continue for a long while.

Angela said, “I was worried about you. I knew you had taken interest in the case but I was afraid someone didn’t like it and had done something to you.”

I replied, “I just felt like I needed to find some answers so I had to go ask some questions.”

I would get to spend some time with Lincoln before he went to bed. Dinner was ready, thanks to Angela and I was grateful for her help. I would bounce some information off of her later after Lincoln went to bed. I didn’t want him hearing all of the things I had heard over the last few hours.

Angela was a really good cook and the meals were a lot like what my mother had made for me growing up. Most people would call it comfort food or maybe country cooking. Her food brought the memories of my childhood back to life. I got Lincoln to bed quickly because he was tired anyway so I didn’t have to go tell him, he was ready. He got up from the table, brushed his teeth and put on pajamas. My little boy was growing up.

Lincoln marched to his bed and crawled under the covers. I read him a book and after he fell asleep I made my way back into the living room.  

Angela asked, “What new revelations have you come up with?”

I replied, “The evidence points to the fact that Timothy was having an affair and paid off a gang to murder his wife and make it look like they were kidnapping the daughter for trafficking.”

Angela said, “Sounds like a pretty elaborate scheme. I guess he had a motive.”

I answered, “Timothy was having an affair and he wanted to get rid of his wife so he could be with the woman he was having the affair with. It’s a motive that has been around for a very long time. I don’t know how much actual evidence they have but I need to read some more so I can put it all together.”

I said goodnight and went to my room to go through the case and try to learn what the police actually knew. The box was sitting on a desk in that room, just calling my name. I picked up the set of files I had been reading the night before and began reading from there. 

I read about some of the other suspects that had been interviewed. The notes the detectives made on the side of the pages were the most informative. They always noted if they thought that witness was lying or telling the truth. 

They had interviewed Linda as well and they thought she had been deceptive. There were a lot of notes on the side and the detectives were aware of the affair and had addressed it with questions about the relationship. 

Linda told them she did not think Timothy did anything to his wife. She told them the same things she told me, that she had told him if he did anything to his wife she was done. They talked to Timothy on several occasions for hours and on one occasion they talked to Linda for nine hours straight. There was a recording of the interview on a DVD they had placed in the evidence box. I would have to wait to find a place to play the interview where it wouldn’t wake up Lincoln. 

After reading the notes from the case files it was clear the detectives never believed the kidnapping gang and sex trafficking story. They were after Timothy from the start but they knew John McKinley was guilty of pulling the trigger and had plans to try to get him to testify against Timothy. 

Perhaps Timothy knew they would try to get John McKinley to testify. That could be the real reason Timothy shot John. It was just to shut him up. Whatever the case I needed to talk to Detective Hagan and find out what they actually knew. 

I went to bed but with a determined spirit I knew I would be talking to the detective as soon as possible. I woke up with Lincoln staring down at me. He had a smile on his face like he didn’t have a care in the world. Lincoln seemed to be a lot happier since we moved in with Angela. I think Lincoln was awakened by the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. Angela was making breakfast and Lincoln loved her cooking.

While we ate breakfast I told Angela that I was going to see Detective Hagan right after I finished my day shift today so I would be a little late coming home. I felt good knowing Lincoln would be taken care of when I am not around. I told Lincoln and Angela goodbye and scurried off to work.

The day went like most of the others. I was being watched closely and my manager wanted me to apply for the assistant manager position that had become open. I really wasn’t interested. It was a little more money but not much and a lot more responsibility and work. It wasn’t worth it to me so I decided to decline the offer. 

I called Detective Hagen and made an appointment to see him at the end of my shift. He didn’t hesitate to respond and invited me to stop by. That didn’t sound like a guy who was trying to hide anything but he didn’t know yet what I wanted to talk to him about. 

When my shift was over I quickly clocked out of the register and was on my way to the station to see the detective I had become so close to. We worked so closely on the John McKinley case and he never said a word about what they knew about Timothy and his girlfriend. To be honest I was pissed and I wanted answers. 

I didn’t even know how I would start the conversation but I wanted to get some answers and maybe some closure. It seemed like they just wanted to arrest someone and it didn’t matter who. I was going straight to the source and I knew he had the answers, I just didn’t know if he would give them to me or not. 

I knew better than to treat Detective Hagan like an adversary so I was determined to play it cool. I was aware that if I seemed cooperative the police department would be more forthcoming with information.