Chapter Thirty
When Vicky left Kate asked Cindy, “What’s your opinion about this blackmail stuff?”
Cindy replied, “Let’s see, Her hubby doesn’t pay any attention to her at home, She dresses up in a blonde wig that coincidentally has the same hair style her sister wears and then she has an affair with a guy she just met but doesn’t know his name. It actually couldn’t be called an affair, it was more of a one night stand. It seems she was trying hard to look like her sister. Vicky has shown to be an unreliable and untruthful witness so far, I am guessing she knows far more than she is telling us.”
Kate replied, “Exactly and it is amazing this guy who was in her room for the first time ever, was able to set a camera up in his belongings on the dresser that captured a perfect photo of Vicky looking like Linda.”
Cindy said, “Maybe we should try to talk to all of the people who were at that Halloween party and see what they tell us about Vicky and any man that may have been around at that time.”
Kate asked, “Do you think I will get a list of those blackmail calls?”
Cindy replied, “To be honest, I am skeptical there were ever any calls made. I am confused as to what occurred. There is so much that doesn’t make any sense. I am fried, it’s time to go home”
Kate replied, “I am ready to go home too. I need a good night’s rest. Are you running in the morning?”
Cindy replied, “I will see you at five thirty in the morning, unless I run across a drunken sailor tonight and get lucky.”
Kate replied, “Make sure he doesn’t have a camera with him.”
Cindy replied with a smile, “Roger that.”
Megan was waiting for Kate when she got home.
Megan asked, “Okay, tell me what happened?”
Kate related the story to Megan from the one night stand she didn’t know the name of to the camera in his belongings on the dresser, She told Megan they got a warrant and they found the wig. It was worn for the first time at a Halloween party.
When Kate had finished giving Megan the rundown of Vicky’s story, Megan said, “Total fiction, Vicky could give Stephen King a run for his money.”
Kate smiled and said, “We think it is made up too. I am not sure how everything fits in place, but I am pretty sure it wasn’t as described by Vicky.”
Megan asked, “So what do you do next?”
Kate said, “I am not counting very heavily on getting that call list from Vicky. I would like to get a list of people at that Halloween party and talk to each one of them. I want to get the list from somebody other than Vicky. I am afraid she would sabotage the list.”
Megan said, “Didn’t you have a contact list from Linda’s phone? Were any of those people at the party?”
Kate said, “I think they were. That is a good place to start.”
Kate said, “I can take the contact list and do an image search on each name and see if any images come up that match those photos taken at the Halloween party.”
Kate did some searches, using mostly the female contacts, since she only needed to know who was at the party. She went through close to twenty names and only found three that matched photos at the party. Kate thought that three would be enough if she got the right answers.
Kate wrote down the three names that she confirmed was at the Halloween party. Fay Duncan, Dorothy O’Neil the wife of James O’Neil the car dealer she had already talked to, and Maxine Wilson, who she had no idea who she was.
Kate chose Dorothy O’Neil as the first one she would talk to, since she had talked to Dorothy's husband she had a starting point for talking with the wife. She picked up her phone and dialed the number. When Dorothy answered Kate introduced herself and Dorothy told her that her husband mentioned to her about being interviewed but she didn’t understand how she could be of help.
Kate responded, “We were investigating the Halloween party that Linda Miles had a short time before she was murdered. We just need some information about who was there and what events happened at that party. I was hoping you might be able to identify some of the people we see in the photographs.”
Dorothy replied, “I would be glad to look them over. I knew most of the people who attended. Linda was a good friend and I knew most of the people she knew. Linda did a lot of charity for children’s causes, which is surprising since she never had any children of her own.”
Kate asked, “You were a big supporter of those causes?”
Dorothy replied, “Oh yes, James and I lost a toddler to cancer about three years ago and when we found out Linda was doing the charity for children, one of which was for cancer research, we had to be a part of it.”
Kate asked, “Can I come and talk to you then about that party and who was there?”
Dorothy replied, “You can come here or I will come there, whatever works the best. I have to confess my neighbors get excited when they see a police car pulling up out front.”
Kate replied, “Our detective cars are not marked but you are welcome to come here if you prefer.”
Dorothy agreed to come that afternoon and tell them everything she remembered about the party. Kate got busy making prints from all of the photos they had captured from social media sites and a few they found on Linda’s phone. She had made several prints of Vicky wearing the wig, none of which had a photo of another man in it.
Dorothy was true to her word and showed up in the early afternoon. Kate and Cindy had reserved an interrogation room and were ready to ask some questions. Kate offered Dorothy something to drink and she accepted some water. They all took a seat at the table. Kate and Cindy on one side and Dorothy on the other. The whole interview was recorded by cameras that were in the top corners of the room.
Kate laid all of the photos on the table and asked Dorothy if she knew any of the people in the photos.
Dorothy replied, “Yes I know most of them.”
When Dorothy began naming the people in the photos, Kate wrote that name on a sticky note and placed it on the appropriate photo.
Dorothy named some that Kate already knew but that was to test for accuracy. She said, “Fay Duncan, that’s Maxine Wilson, that is Linda of course, and that is Vicky wearing that stupid wig.”
Kate asked, “So you thought the wig looked stupid?”
Dorothy replied, “I thought so personally but everyone made a big deal about it. Many told Vicky that she looked like her sister in it. I got the feeling there was some jealousy there with Vicky. I think she grew up in the shadows of her sister and always felt like she wasn’t quite good enough.”
Kate asked, “Do you know any people in this stack of photos?”
Kate pushed another stack of photos in front of Dorothy for her to examine.
Dorothy went through each photo and named the person in them and Kate wrote the name on a sticky note and attached it.
Dorothy said, “That is James, my husband, whom you have talked to, that is Ralph the jewelry wholesaler, Paul the parts guy, and that low life Brad, the trainer. He was everywhere, I don’t like the guy. Linda tried to get me to use him as a trainer and I just told her I had a guy I liked already.”
Kate made a note that Dorothy didn’t like the trainer any better than they did.
Kate asked, “You saw Vicky there at the party, wearing the blonde wig?”
Dorothy replied, “I will never forget it.”
Cindy asked, “Was Vicky there all night?”
Dorothy replied, “She was there as long as I was, but I had to leave early that night. I had an early flight to catch the next day, but she was there when I left and she was wearing that wig.”
Kate asked, “Did you notice any men hanging around her that night?
Dorothy replied, “Yes, her husband. He stayed around her all night. I think he even went with her when she went to pee.”
Kate asked, “So her husband was there?”
Dorothy replied, “Yes, in fact he seemed really flirty after she put the wig on.”