Palmer noticed the neighbours peering out of their windows to look at the police cars. Officers were gathered outside with barriers and a member of the forensics team was entering the house. More activity than expected for a suicide.
Inside the house, it was just as busy. In one room, a man was making a statement, presumably the man who had found the body and in another, some of the forensics team were taking swabs off a glass on a table.
He walked up the stairs and into a bedroom where the coroner was examining the body of the victim. Palmer knelt beside her and asked, “What happened?”
“He shot himself in the head.” She pointed to the gun still in his hand. “The bullet entered through the right temple and killed him. His landlord says his name is John Willis and he works as a mechanic.” The coroner passed him the note.
“Okay, let me look at this…” He read the note out loud. “I’m sorry for what I’ve done. I’ve been in love with Maeve Sparks for many years and I killed her husband out of jealousy. But now I can’t eat or sleep with the shame. May God forgive me.” Short and direct. “Where was this found?”
“Beside him.”
“Do you know when it happened? Time of death?”
The coroner shrugged. “The heating is on full so I can’t determine by body temperature. I checked to see if rigor mortis had set in but he’s really loose. There are some blister packs for muscle relaxants and sedatives in the bathroom and I’m guessing he downed them with that whiskey on the table to numb himself. I can’t give you an accurate time of death other than the last eighteen hours.”
Palmer frowned. “I don’t think it matters. It’s case closed either way.”
----- X -----
Harriet called Palmer at lunchtime.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
She sighed. “I’ve been looking into Maeve’s background. There’s something not...”
“You can forget about it. It’s all over. There was a suicide. A guy called John Willis who owned a motorbike just like the one used in the restaurant shooting. He shot himself in the head and left a note saying he was in love with Maeve Sparks.”
“What? My God, what has Maeve said about it?”
“Nothing yet, she’s coming in for an interview later; but this guy committed suicide using the same type of weapon as was used at the cabin. Forensics are working on the bullets now, they have a way to determine if the same gun that shot Sparks is the same one Willis used to kill himself; preliminary they say it is and they’ll have a definite answer in a few hours.”
“Can I be present when you interview Maeve?”
“Why? It’s closed. All we’re doing is tidying up the loose ends.”
“Same reason. I want to feel some closure and report back to my client.”
----- X -----
Maeve arrived at the Police Station that afternoon. Harriet was stood by the door of the viewing room as she walked past. From the viewing room she could watch the interview from behind a one-way glass. Maeve’s gaze drifted around the interrogation room and she bit her lip.
“I assume I won’t need a lawyer.” She joked when Palmer turned on the recorder and sat down facing her.
“No, we just need to ask you some questions about John Willis.”
Maeve’s smile froze. “Who’s that?”
“He committed suicide sometime last night. In his suicide note, he confessed to killing your husband.”
“He killed my husband? But why would he do that?” she asked.
“It says he did it because of jealousy.”
Maeve shrugged. “A lot of people were jealous of Edward. There were a lot of people who wanted the money and power that Edward had. How did John die?”
“Are you sure you didn’t know him?”
He passed her a photo and she breathed in sharply. “He’s really dead, isn’t he?” She wiped her eyes.
Palmer slid her the suicide note. “It says he was in love with you.” He watched Maeve closely, she held her poise but the cracks were showing, emotions behind the facade. “Why did he write that he was in love with you, Maeve?”
Maeve buried her head in her hands. “I met him a long time before I met Edward. We were together when I was younger, but I broke it off when I moved away. We didn’t see each other for years. I got married to Edward and I thought that was the end of it. But I met him a few years ago. Things were tense with Edward: the company was facing huge losses and it was affecting everything. This was before we made it in business. I was looking for a bit of fun and we started having an affair.” She stopped. “I shouldn’t have done it. He wanted to marry me but I couldn’t. I loved Edward and I broke it off. I hadn’t seen him in a year or so.”
Palmer looked her in the eye. “So he got jealous of Edward, and decided to kill him? To marry you?”
“I don’t know.” Maeve admitted, her eyes filling with tears. “But why would he try to kill me? I felt that night at the restaurant he was trying to kill me. I would never have believed it was John. I’ve dreamt about it so many times. I’ve had nightmares… and it was all my fault.”
“How did he react when you broke off the affair?” Palmer asked.
She looked up, her eyes red and puffy. “He got insanely jealous and upset. He started threatening to tell Edward, saying he would do anything to be with me.”
Maeve cried quietly. She answered questions dutifully. Yes. No. One word answers. “Will the note go public?” she asked. “It would ruin my reputation and Edward’s if it became gossip for the town. Please don’t tell the press about me and John.”
Palmer sighed. “I won’t tell them, but I can’t guarantee nobody else will.”
She nodded with tears running down her cheeks and left the room. Harriet waited in the hallway for Palmer. “Pity, I really fancied Arenke for this.” he said. “But I guess the case is closed.”
“Case closed?”
He nodded. “We have the confession. Willis had the means, motive, everything. The story checks out; he killed Sparks out of jealousy so he could marry Maeve but couldn’t cope with the guilt and shot himself.” He rubbed his hands together. “It was nice working with you again, Smotes.”
“You too.” She stood in silence as he left.
----- X -----
Harriet called Arenke as soon as she left the Police Station. She held a copy of John Willis’ suicide note in one hand.
“Smotes, I’ve been released. They didn’t tell me why but it seems I’m not a suspect anymore,” he said.
“I know. They found a man this morning who had killed himself. He confessed to the murder of Edward Sparks in his suicide note.”
“Why did he kill Sparks?”
“He said it was out of jealousy. He was in love with Mrs Sparks.” Harriet replied thinking about Maeve… Then a thought went through her mind. The restaurant shooting had no bullet holes or damage. Why? Was it fake?
“So it’s all over and done with now? I’d like to thank you for your time and effort on this, Smotes. I’d like it if you drop your bill off in person so I can thank you in person.”
“Yes, I can do that.”
Why fake a shooting? Why?
“Mr Arenke, I need to go and check on something. I’ll come by your office in a day or so.”
Harriet got into her car and looked through the notes. Maeve’s statement had put Arenke in a bad light after the murder. She flicked back to statements from the first shooting. If Maeve suspected Willis of trying to hurt her husband, why didn’t she say anything straight away? Did she know back then? She read through Palmer’s notes. Something wasn’t right.
She suddenly felt uncomfortable. She drove away from the station and headed to Cleveland Close.
-----X-----
Harriet parked outside 17 Cleveland Close and pulled out all the documents about the case. The house had been surrounded by police tape but there were no officers present. She opened the door and stepped inside. She headed up the stairs and la
id her files down on the floor of Willis’ bedroom. His body had been cleared off the bed. She looked around and noticed an expensive looking watch box on the dresser.
She opened the box, but it was empty except for a recent looking receipt from Feingold's Jewellery for $19,995. “Twenty grand on a watch?” Harriet mumbled to herself. “Maybe I should become a mechanic.” Of course he couldn't afford jewellery like that on his salary. Maybe it was a gift from Maeve. She looked at the receipt. It was dated only two weeks earlier. Didn’t Maeve say she hadn’t seen him in a year?
Harriet called the station. “Palmer, it’s Smotes.”
“This is Watson, Geoffrey’s not here right now.”
“Maybe you can help me with something. When Maeve was interviewed, did she say she hadn’t seen Willis in about a year?”
She heard Watson flipping through some paper. “Yeah, she did say that, she said, ‘He wanted to marry me but I couldn’t. I loved Edward and I broke it off. I hadn’t seen him in a year or so.’
“I’m at Willis’ apartment now and I’m seeing some jewellery spending that looks out of the price range for Willis. He was shopping at Feingolds.”
Down the phone she heard Watson whistle at the thought of Feingold’s jewellery. “That’s an expensive shop… Hey, wait…” he shuffled paper again. “Maeve did a lot of spending there, she had a secret credit card she used for big purchases.”
Harriet felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She looked at the credit card receipt. “That secret credit card,” her eyes scanned to the payment details, “did it end in