The Cold Case that Turned Hot

Rochelle frowned.

"I was thinking that too. Since she was a nurse, Samantha wouldn't have been shocked by the blood, but I don't think she'd have had the strength to swing the pick mattock hard enough to kill a person. The only time I've read about something like that was when the killer was in a rage about something. I think she was mad at them both, but she'd have had to be almost insane to do something like that. After you told me what she told you, I don't think she's insane or was that night.

"If neither one of them did it, that just leaves some random person we'll probably never...."

Rochelle put then put her hand on her breasts and gasped.

"Oh God, I just remembered something that didn't seem important until now. Did you see anything in Harry's report or notes about a dog?"

"No, I don't remember anything about a dog. A lot of people have dogs, so even if he knew, he probably wouldn't think it was relative to the case. Why do you think it is?"

"Did Harry talk to Victor's mother? I don't remember that being in his report if he did."

"You didn't see it in his report because it was only in his notes. He talked with her to inform her about the deaths because she was the next of kin. He might have asked her if she knew of anyone who would want to hurt either of them, but if she reacted like most mothers I've notified, she wouldn't have been in any shape to tell him much. All she'd have probably said was that Victor was a good man with some problems after he came back from Vietnam."

Rochelle was frowning.

"In the pictures Evelyn showed me of Victor after he came back from Vietnam, he had a dog with him. It wasn't just a few pictures either. The dog was in every picture and the dog wasn't just standing there. It was always either sitting or standing by Victor's side and Victor usually had his hand on it somewhere. It was a big dog and kind of yellow."

"A golden retriever?"

Rochelle shrugged.

"I don't remember that she said, but it just looked like a mutt to me. She said the VA doctor said a dog might help him so he went out and got a puppy. She called it Victor's "support dog".

"Anyway, she said Victor never went anywhere without Macy. That was the dog's name. She said Macy went with him on his lawn jobs, she slept with him in his bed, and he even made a special bed for Macy in the back seat of the Suburban with a doggy seatbelt. If Victor was that attached to the dog, why wasn't Macy in the Suburban when it burned up?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe he left the dog with the kids that night."

Rochelle frowned.

"No, I don't think so because one of them would have told Harry that. I think Victor took Macy with them because from what I've read, people who really need them rely on their emotional support dogs almost as much as blind people rely on their guide dogs. I can think of another reason though. Maybe the man in the Suburban wasn't Victor, and Macy was with Victor somewhere else."

I had to think about that for a while. It was possible considering that all Harry knew for sure was the body was male and that he'd had William and Samantha verify that the ring on the body belonged to their father and the one earring was their mother's. Morgan could have tried to match dental records for them both, but there would have been a problem doing that.

Teeth don't burn up completely during even a really hot fire, but they often crack open and fall out. Any silver fillings they might have had would have melted, and fillings are key to making a dental match because just like fingerprints, every filling is different from any other filling.

The Suburban was registered to Victor and Rhonda and both kids had identified the earring and the ring belonged to their parents. Trying to track down dental records for both of them and then making a comparison probably seemed like it wasn't needed if it would even work and give him some information. Morgan just made the conclusion that the bodies were Victor and Rhonda and given the evidence he had, that was a logical conclusion.

In retrospect, it would have been a simple matter for someone to put Victor's ring on another person especially if that other person was dead. The size of the ring wouldn't have mattered much because the man's fingers were mostly just bones. The fire had removed any other evidence that might contradict Harry's conclusion.

"Rochelle, that's possible, but if it wasn't Victor in the Suburban, who was the man and who killed him and Rhonda?"

Rochelle paused for a few seconds and then frowned again.

"I think it must have been Victor who killed them. Victor would have been strong enough, and since he'd been in combat in Vietnam, he probably wouldn't have been shocked at the blood or by what he was doing. I think Victor killed the other man and Rhonda and I think the other man was Rhonda's lover.

"It all makes sense. I think it's probable that once she was pregnant with Samantha, Rhonda wouldn't let Victor touch her again, but she didn't stop having sex. That's why she got the Dalkon Shield right after William was born, and then birth controls pills and finally the copper IUD. In the pictures Victor's mother showed me, Rhonda was a pretty woman with a really nice figure. She wouldn't have had any trouble finding a man, and I think she did. She wasn't worried about Victor getting her pregnant again. She was worried about her lover getting her pregnant again.

"Victor knew she was doing that, but he tried to stick it out. He started his lawn care business to try to support her but it wasn't enough for her. That's why she got her real estate license, so she could make enough money to do what she wanted to do. Showing houses also let her meet a lot of men, men who would be sure to notice how she looked. All she'd have had to do was hint that she was interested in one of them.

"Victor knew it wasn't him when she got pregnant with William, but he still didn't do anything. I think that's because like his mother told me, Victor was a good man at heart. I think it took him so long to do anything because he thought they should stay married because of Samantha and William. Then, that day, and maybe because both Samantha and William were old enough to take care of themselves, I think he just snapped and decided it was time.

"He told Rhonda he was taking her out to dinner and the dog would have been in the car with them. Instead he made her take him to her lover's house. Some way, probably with a gun, he forced the guy to drive them to that curve, killed them both with the pick mattock, and then got away somehow and took the dog with him."

"OK, but how did he get away and where is he now?"

Rochelle frowned again.

"The only thing I can think of that fits is that Samantha helped him. Remember that she called him "Daddy" when you interrogated her? That sounds a lot immature. Young girls call their father Daddy, not fifty-two year old women and especially not if that man is dead. She'd have called him just Dad or her father. That's why she confessed to the murders. She either knew he was going to do it or she found out and loved him so much she took him someplace and is still trying to protect him.

"DNA collection and analysis has come a long way since 1992. The bodies were cremated, but do you think the samples Morgan took still exist? If a lab can get even a tiny bit of DNA today, they can amplify it by using PCR so they have enough to analyze."

"You already have DNA samples from Samantha and from William. If their DNA analysis says Samantha is Victor's daughter but William isn't his son, that gives Victor a motive for killing them both. He killed her because she cheated on him and he killed the lover for sleeping with his wife and getting her pregnant. That's also probably why he didn't seem to have much love for William. Most men love their sons, but not if they're not the father."

"I don't know. This seems like a plot from one of your novels, but it does make some sense. Coroners don't usually toss samples unless they're positive those samples won't be needed at some future date. Morgan wasn't positive about the identity of the bodies so he might have kept them. Harry might have told Morgan he had his doubts as well and asked Morgan to save the samples. I'll talk to Jack on Monday and see. If Morgan kept them, they'll be in Jack's freezer inventory.

The next morning I got a call from the Chief of Police in Ringgold. They'd expedited Samantha's extradition and would be driving her up the next morning.

I walked down to the morgue with Samantha's cheek swab, signed it over to Jack, and then asked him if he thought the tissue samples from the McCabe accident might still be there. He said he'd check the inventory and call me back to tell me what he found.

Half an hour later, he did.

"Rich, I still have them along with a note from Morgan. He left instructions that the samples were to be held until 2040 because though he couldn't find any evidence that indicated it was anything more than an auto accident, he believed the couple were murdered before the accident and the detective on the case, Harry Maxwell, thought the same. What do you want me to do with them?"

I asked him to send another sample to the TBI along with William's and Samantha's cheek swabs for a DNA analysis and comparison and to ask them to rush it if they could. He said he'd try, but the TBI lab was usually pretty busy. Then I went to talk to the DA.

I told him about Samantha's confession and why I thought she was lying to me.

"She didn't want a lawyer, and as soon as I told her she'd killed her mother and father and how I thought she did it, she confessed. Now, most of what I told her was just made up, like I thought she had a gun and shot them, but she told me that's exactly what happened.

"I thought she was trying to protect her brother because he had a motive just like she did, but when Rochelle and I were talking about it last night, she remembered something that Harry never checked out. Victor had a dog that he took everywhere, but the dog wasn't in the Suburban when it burned. That points to some man other than Victor being the man in the Suburban. She thinks Samantha is protecting Victor and after hearing her reasons, I think that's a very good possibility.

"Jack still had the original tissue samples and has sent them to the TBI for DNA analysis along with cheek swabs from Samantha and William. My concern is that the TBI won't be able to get enough DNA from the tissue samples to develop a profile. If that's the case and Samantha continues to claim she was the killer, I'll have to charge her for first degree murder when I don't believe for a second she did it.

"I know it's unusual, but I'd like to request a public defender for her, and tell him what I'm thinking before I question her again. Victor would be in his seventies by now, so he probably won't live much longer. Maybe the public defender can convince her that at that age, Victor probably wouldn't be sent to a maximum security prison. I'd like your agreement to offer her that too, if she tells me the truth.

"Oh, and one other thing. When I interrogated William, Dr. Michaels was observing and he said he'd like to observe when I interrogate Samantha too. I think he might be able to offer some reasons for her actions as well as Victor's, assuming Victor is the killer.

It took some more arguing before Bill agreed, but he OK'd my request for a public defender for Samantha and to the offer of a minimum security prison for Victor if he was found guilty.

The car from the Ringgold PD showed up about three, and by three thirty Samantha was in an interrogation room and I was talking with the public defender in another. He said he'd never had a detective ask him to help prove his client was innocent before. I frowned and said I'd never had a reason to ask a public defender to do this either.

"When I bring in somebody for questioning, it's because I'm pretty certain they're guilty or at least know who is. In this case, Samantha admitted to killing two people when I'm sure she didn't. She's protecting somebody, and I doubt she'll tell me the truth. What I need you to do is help her understand that what she's doing isn't helping her or anybody else. I need her to tell me who she's protecting."

When we sat down with Samantha, I asked her if she wanted to change anything she'd told me in Ringgold. She said no and asked if I was going to take her to jail.

"Well, I need to ask you a few more questions before we do that.

"I found out that your father had a dog, a special dog that he took everywhere he went. From what I understand, he even made a special bed for her in the back seat of the Suburban, but when the crime lab searched the car they didn't find the remains of a dog inside. If she was in the car when it burned, they'd at least have found the buckle off a collar or a dog harness.

"When you killed both your parents, what did you do with the dog?"

Samantha didn't say anything for a few seconds, but she was wringing her hands.

"After I shot them, I opened the door and let Macy out. She ran off and I never saw her again."

"I see. Well I suppose she was scared by the gunshots.

"The other thing I need to know is why you wanted their bodies cremated and why you left Knoxville as soon as you had their ashes."

I was getting to her. I could tell because she raised her voice when she answered.

"Why are you dragging me through all this? I already confessed. Isn't that enough?"

I looked at the public defender, he nodded, and then told Samantha they needed to talk.

I left them alone in the interrogation room and went to the viewing room. Dr. Michaels was there and he smiled.

"You said you didn't think she was guilty and I believe you. I don't know why she's so eager to admit to killing her parents, but I've never seen a suspect do this before."

"Well, I didn't tell you everything. What I think is she didn't kill anybody. I think the man in the car was her mother's lover and that her father killed them. I think Samantha just helped him hide until the cremation and then took him someplace. She's been hiding him all these years, and I thought you might be able to tell me why."

The public defender waved in the direction of the one-way glass then, so I went back into the interrogation room. When I sat down, he said, "Miss McCabe would like to know something. She'd like to know what you'll do if she says she didn't kill her parents."

I shrugged.

"I'll keep looking until I find out who did. I don't think that's going to be very hard. I think I already know. All I'll have to do is start looking for Victor McCabe in Ringgold or Dalton."

I looked at Samantha then.

"I'm right, aren't I Samantha?"

Samantha started to sob then.

When I got home that night, Rochelle asked me what happened. I told her I was going to take her out for dinner and I'd tell her when we got back home.

I don't think Rochelle really enjoyed our dinner. She kept asking me for hints about what I was going to tell her. I just kept smiling and saying she had to wait.

Rochelle stopped asking for hints as soon as I locked the door behind us.

"OK, you've kept me guessing all night. Now what happened?"

"Let's sit down. This is going to take a while."

Once we were on the couch, I told her.

"It was when I told Samantha that I knew her father was still alive and that I was going to arrest him for murder and make sure he got the death penalty that she finally cracked.

"She started crying because I'd told her I thought he wouldn't be hard to find. All she said was, 'I can't let you do that to Daddy.'

Between the public defender and I, we convinced her to tell the truth. You got almost all of it right, but there's a lot more to the story.

"Apparently, Victor had snapped, like you thought, but it was worse than that. That morning, Rhonda said she was going to show a house and Victor didn't believe her. She didn't get back home until almost eleven, so William was asleep and Samantha was at the hospital like William told Harry.

"Victor dragged Rhonda outside and beat on her until she admitted she'd been with another man. Victor kept beating her until she told him who the man was and where he lived. That's why Rhonda had so many other injuries. Morgan thought they were because she wasn't wearing a seat belt and bounced around inside the car as it rolled down the embankment, but it was really Victor.

"Victor did have a gun. He'd bought it a couple years before, and once he had the address of the lover he put Rhonda in the car, drove there, and found him sitting in his living room. Victor forced him at gunpoint to drive to that curve, stop, and turn off the engine and the car lights. Then he hit him in the temple with the pointed end of the pick mattock. He didn't shoot either of them because he knew the bullets would be found and might lead back to him.

"Rhonda was probably still alive when he killed the lover, but she was probably either unconscious or in too much pain to try to run away or fight back. He killed her with the same pick mattock and then pushed it under her seat. He then got out of the back seat, let Macy out, and walked down to the convenience store where William said he helped Samantha start her car. He called Samantha from there and asked her to pick him up because they'd had car trouble.

"The gas cans were also part of his plan. He'd seen napalm used in Vietnam, knew it was made with gasoline, and knew it burned hot enough to mostly cremate a body. He knew a lot of trucks used that road and figured one wouldn't see the Suburban in time to stop, and the impact would cause the gasoline to catch fire and burn all the evidence. Before he left the Suburban, he tipped over one can so it would fill up the bottom of the Suburban. The other cans blew up from the heat of the fire and made it hotter.

"Samantha told me he started crying as soon as he and Macy got in her car. He told her what he'd done and said he wished he hadn't done it but he couldn't stop himself once he started. He then told her he wanted to get some help but now he'd probably be going to prison for the rest of his life.

"Samantha said she told him she wouldn't let that happen. She drove to the Red Roof Inn in Cedar Bluff and put him in a room and told him she'd be back every day to check on him and that he shouldn't go anywhere. Then she drove back to the same convenience store and called William to help her start her car. William lied to me about that until I questioned him again. The only thing he knew about all of it was that her car didn't need help starting. Samantha told him it wouldn't start before and she didn't know why it started for William. They went home then.

"Every day until she had the bodies cremated, Samantha went to a grocery store on her way to work and bought enough food, water, and soft drinks for Victor and Macy so he wouldn't have to go outside except for when Macy needed to relieve herself. He did that early in the morning and after dark so nobody would see him. When Morgan released the bodies, she had the remains cremated so there wouldn't be any chance of a second autopsy.

"The day she got the boxes of ashes, Samantha resigned from the hospital in Knoxville, picked up Victor and Macy and drove to Chattanooga. William lied about that too. Samantha never worked in Chattanooga. They spent a week in another Red Roof while she tried to find a job there. She finally gave up and drove to Dalton, Georgia.

"She was luckier there. She got a job as an RN, just like you found out, but she didn't live there. Instead, she rented an apartment in Ringgold and she and Victor lived there together for the next ten years.

"Macy died five years after they moved to Ringgold, and Victor started going downhill mentally and physically pretty fast after that. He started having trouble walking and doing anything with his hands, and that got worse as he got older. After that first ten years, Samantha was afraid to leave him in the apartment when she went to work, so she had a doctor examine him.