Major Crimes Mysteries
The Family McCoy
Chapter 26
Wes and Cami pulled up in front of the address David Roberts had on his ID card he had shown Wes the day of the funerals. It struck them the address was less than five miles from the McCoy home. The house, like the McCoys, was a large McMansion with a professionally landscaped yard and two luxury vehicles in the three-car garage. Unlike the McCoys, there were no toys or bikes in the front yard. There was no indication if any children lived there. In fact, Cami reflected, it looked like the house would have been featured in a home decorating magazine.
As they got out of the car, the front door opened. An impeccably dressed woman with not a hair out of place came out to meet them with a panicked look on her face.
"Can I help you?" Grace asked the officers with a concerned look on her face.
Wes and Cami, thrown off a bit by the surprise of Grace coming out to meet them, quickly gathered their wits about them and introduced themselves as LAPD detectives leaving out their department.
"I know. I can tell you are police officers by looking at your car and style of clothing. It screams you are police officers." Grace told them. Wes and Cami looked at each other, back at their car and then back to Grace Roberts.
"No, Ma'am. We are just here to ask you if you know a David Roberts, Ma'am." Cami told her.
Without warning Grace became angry at Cami. She turned to Cami and looked deeply in her eyes. "That isn't funny, Detective. Why would you ask me that? Why?" Grace's eyes began to fill with tears. It was clear Wes and Cami hit a nerve.
"Ma'am, we hate to cause you pain, but who is David Roberts to you?" Wes asked her.
Without turning away from Cami, Grace answered Wes "My David died of leukemia when he was five, detectives. He was such a sweet and beautiful boy."
"I'm sorry for your loss. How long ago was that Ma'am?" Wes asked her.
"It was eighteen years ago." Grace said "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss that boy. I love my other babies, but he has such a special place in my heart. During his illness, we developed such a bond."
"Other babies?" Wes asked her. Mrs. Roberts went onto say that she and her husband had four other children, three girls and a son.
"How old is your son, Ma'am?" Wes followed up.
"He is six, Detective." Grace told him turning away from Cami. Much too young to be the teenager in Tristan Roberts' picture. Grace pulled out her phone and showed Wes a picture of her children.
Cami, who had allowed Wes to ask all the questions, suddenly spoke up. "Ma'am, did you happen to get a social security card for David?" Cami asked the woman who was fixed on Wes.
Grace turned back to her. "Yes, I had to for a number of reasons." Grace responded. "Can you please tell me what this is about?"
Cami pulled the picture of Tristan out of her notebook. "Ma'am, have you ever seen this person?" Cami asked her to try to divert the conversation.
"No, I haven't seen this person. What does he have to do with my David, Detective? Grace asked even more panicked now than she was when she first came out of the house unexpectedly.
Cami ignored Grace Roberts' questions. Both she and Wes thanked Grace for her time. "We'll be back in touch, Mrs. Roberts. Thank you." Both Cami and Wes turned and walked quickly back to their car.
Grace continued to call out to both of them, but they ignored her yells.
Cami, always ready to have the last word, looked at Wes and commented "By the way, I think we dress spectacularly. She has a point about the car though." Wes looked around the car and shook his head in agreement.
When the two got back to PAB, Sharon was back in her office. She stepped out quickly as soon as she saw them come in. Buzz and Amy were at Amy's desk looking at the interviews of the Katey's friends
"What happened, Detectives?" She asked them.
Cami and Wes filled Sharon, Buzz and Amy in on the events of the afternoon.
"Interesting. So, we now know that Tristan Roberts got a fake ID in the name of David Roberts." Sharon told the group.
"It really wouldn't have been that difficult, Commander." Cami told Sharon. Cami went on to explain how Tristan probably got the fake ID.
At that time, Andy, Mike and Provenza walked into the murder room.
"How did your time go, gentlemen?" Sharon asked them.
"Mike, you wanna give Sharon the low down?" Flynn asked Tao.
Before Mike could start, Provenza made it a point to let Sharon know he had begged Andy to stop for something for them to eat, but Andy refused to do so. Sharon simply glared at Provenza. Provenza looked over at Andy with a confused look on his face. Andy's first reaction was to roll his eyes at Provenza, but at that time, he was more concerned about Sharon's behaviors towards both him and Provenza.
Tao explained the three visits to the team. He explained that Eric Roberts, Tristan's father, was on his way down for a formal interview.
Sharon and the team discussed strategies for interviewing Eric Roberts without discussing the death of Rebecca McCoy.
As the group was continuing to discuss their suspect, Tristan Roberts, Lt. Camacho stepped into Major Crimes. In his hands, he had a box that were indicative of FID investigations. "Hey Sharon, here are the files you asked for? Where would you like it?" he asked Sharon.
At that time, Flynn and Provenza turned around to see Phillip Stroh written across the sides of it. Both looked at each other with looks of panic on their face.
Sharon held up her finger to indicate for him to wait. Sharon finished her thoughts about the interview of Eric Roberts.
Sharon finished her thoughts on the interview and motioned for Lt. Comacho to follow her into her office.
Before she could close her door, Provenza was following her. "Commander, Phillip Stroh has been dead for years. Why are we looking at his case now?" He asked her.
Without responding to him, Sharon closed the door to her office.