PART III Chapter Four
Kate and Cindy brought Todd back to the crime scene. When they got inside the stench of blood was still present in the house and as soon as Todd entered the room where Susan was shot to death it was more than he could stand. He ran back out front and threw up off of the front porch.
Kate was behind him asking if he was okay. She could see the tears in the corner of his eyes. Todd followed Kate back inside.
Todd said, “I am sorry, seeing that scene was a lot to take in but I will try to get composed. I am ready to go back in.”
Todd followed Kate back into the house and looked around the house for anything that might be out of place or vacant. After going from room to room paying close attention to his surroundings Todd finally spoke.
Todd said, “I absolutely do not see anything missing or even out of place.”
Kate asked, “Not trying to pry but I need to ask if you ever spent the night here?”
Todd replied, “I did a few times but we didn’t want the neighbors to talk. I usually park a block over and walk to the house.”
Kate asked, “It is true that you worked as a teller at the same bank Susan worked at?”
Todd replied, “Yes we were both tellers at Citizens Bank, which is where we met. We worked together for about three weeks before I asked her out.”
Kate asked, “Do you know any of Susan’s friends?”
Todd replied, “I know she is close to a couple of girls she went to high school with, I didn’t know about anyone else. We have some couple friends we hung out with. Darlene Cox and her boyfriend Chad Wilson were our main go to couple. We also hung out with Andrea Moore and Justin Marsh. We usually hung out with all three couples together. We went out to eat together and went to movies and sporting events.”
Kate asked, “Were these couples in a similar age group as you and Susan?”
Todd answered, “They were all in their mid to late twenties, and I am actually the oldest in the group.”
Kate responded, “I think I have seen those names on Susan’s contact list. We will add them to our interview list.”
The interview list was growing but some contacts overlapped. The couples that Todd told them about were already on the list. Kate was just hoping to find some leads. They had footprints and the shells from the crime. The location of the footprint showed a tall suspect. The print gave them a shoe size of eleven and a half.
Kate wanted their next interviews to be with the siblings. It was her experience that they knew more than parents or friends. Since the siblings shared a house, Kate hoped she could talk to both of them at the same time. Connor answered when Kate called and assured her that Amy would be there when they came to interview them.
Kate and Cindy went together to interview the siblings. Kate knocked on the door and Amy answered the door before inviting the two detectives in and offering them a seat.
Kate asked Amy, “You live here with your brother, why didn’t either of you live with your sister?”
Amy replied, “Susan was the oldest and moved out first, she got a job and had her own place. When Connor started school two years later he moved in with Susan and they lived together until he finished school and got his real estate license. He came across the place we rent now at the real estate company we now work for. He rented the place because it was a lot closer to his job. When I started school I moved in with Connor for two reasons. He is closer to my age and we were always closer at home, although I suppose he was close to Susan. Also this house is closer to school.”
Connor came in from the back yard and Amy introduced the detectives to him. He took a seat next to Amy, prepared to answer questions.
Kate asked Connor, “What can you tell me about Susan that may be relevant to our case?”
Connor answered, “The bank Susan worked at was robbed a couple months back and she was the teller the robber came to. He was caught and she was set to testify against him at the trial. I think the trial is coming up soon.”
Kate made a note of what Connor told her. She finally had a major motive, this was a big red flag. There had been no signs of motive until Connor gave her the information. No signs of anything in the house missing. It was a simple break-in and murder with no evidence of anything else. The murder looked like a mob execution; it was clear whoever did this killing wanted their victim dead.
Kate said, “Thank you for the bank robbery information, which may be the most important information I have received so far.”
Kate handed Connor and Amy her information card and gave them the standard speech about if they think of anything else that relates to the case give her a call.
Kate made a note to check for information on the bank robbery. That would be a good motive for sure if the suspect was out on bail with the opportunity to commit the crime. She hoped that Megan could find something in the evidence they had collected. There were many names from the contact list that still needed to be interviewed.
Kate went back to the station to check with Megan and Cindy. Megan was working the evidence and Cindy had been put in charge of investigating the bank robbery that Susan had been a victim and witness to. Cindy was sitting at her desk next to the desk that Kate regularly sat at.
Cindy said, “I got the facts about the bank robbery. It was three months ago. At eleven A.M. three men walked into the Citizens’ Bank. One suspect stepped forward to the teller cage Susan stood behind, the other two held the bank employees and customers at gunpoint. The man who had approached the teller, Susan, forced her to go back to the vault where cash and safety deposit boxes were available.”
Cindy added, “The suspect with Susan stopped on the way to drink from a water fountain by the restrooms. He raised his mask for a few seconds while he drank and Susan saw his face. She turned quickly to avoid being observed looking but the other two men saw the whole thing on security monitors.”
Cindy continued, “The man who was later identified as Dan Winters, forty six from Albany New York, grabbed some stacks of bills and ran back out and all three men fled right after. The security footage caught the scene of Dan raising his mask as well but it wasn’t a clear image. Susan’s identification was critical to the case.”
Kate responded, “That is a pretty good motive for murder. Without the testimony of Susan there is not much to tie Dan to the robbery. I assume since they had a name the suspect was arrested and is now incarcerated?”
Cindy replied, “Yes, that is correct. Susan picked Dan out of a photo lineup.”
Kate said, “So he must be awaiting trial. Did they find the other two?”
Cindy replied, “No, He asked for a lawyer right away and stopped talking. The other two are still out there somewhere. The problem of course is that Dan was behind bars at the time Susan was killed.”
Kate said, “Of course he was. He wouldn’t want to be tied to it anyway, I am sure he had someone else do it, perhaps one of the other two that got away. Did they search his home?”
Cindy replied, “Of course, but not for evidence of a murder. At the time he was taken into custody he was only wanted in connection to the robbery.”
Kate said, “Since he was behind bars when the murder occurred, there probably isn’t anything at his home.”
Cindy said, “You’re right, there would probably not be anything there. “
Kate asked, “Has Mr. Winters had any visitors while he has been inside and are they recording them?”
Cindy answered, “Yes he has had visitors and he has been recorded. When he met with his attorney he of course was allowed a secured room where they could plan. Any of his other visitors have all been recorded during their visits. I have requested a copy of those recordings.”
Kate responded, “You have been way ahead of the game on this case, thank you. I guess a lot of what we do next depends on what Megan finds in the evidence collected. It is pretty clear that Dan Winters had as good a motive as you could have but means and opportunity may be lacking.”
Cindy said, “Maybe we will find some answers when we start playing back the recordings from the visitors that came to see him. It is a waiting game as usual while we wait for all of the facts to present themselves.”
Kate said, “I suppose my next move should be to have a long visit with Megan to see if she has uncovered any truths from the scene.”