Return To Maine Chapter 24
A/N: Many thanks to those of you who have reached out to P2P for me. I received a message from him to email him. I did and it went through on my end, but he never responded so I assume he didn't get it again. So, P2P check your PM on FF. Please PM me. Apparently, I am getting your messages through here, but nowhere else. Thank you, Purple Satin
Ryan approached her as she was walking away from Lanie. "A uni found this in a trash bin at the edge of the park on 5th." he said, handing her a lady's wallet.
Taking the wallet in her gloved hands, she opened it and found it contained $40.00 in small bills and change, credit cards registered to the same name, a photo of a man and woman and 2 very young little girls, a New York driver's license and a York Prep school ID identifying the victim as Pamela Wyatt, age 30.
"Okay. It belongs to one Pamela Wyatt, our victim and from the contents of this wallet, robbery wasn't the motive and whoever the murderer is was very careless leaving her wallet intact with her license and what appears to be a family photo behind."
"Or maybe he got scared off. Either way it was pretty dumb of him to leave that way with all of those cams."
"Yeah. Well, committing murder is never smart. Go get Jav and bring him here. I need you two to start a canvas. You know the drill. I am going to York Prep and find out what her connection is. We'll meet back up at the precinct after that and figure out our next move. Her driver's license lists her address at 2245 W. 49th in Midtown. That's only a few blocks from here so we'll need to pay a visit there, too. After that, you need to come back and get footage from the street and store cams."
"Okay, boss."
Ryan hadn't taken 10 paces away from her before Espo walked up to them, his notebook in hand. "Our witness is one Tamara Evans. She lives up 75th and jogs here early mornings and early evenings. This morning she turned from the concrete walkway over there and decided to make a loop around the statue and that's when she found our vic." he said, pointing to the walkway leading up to the statue through a strand of trees. "She said that she didn't hear or see anything unusual except finding the body and she called us from her cell."
"Do you think she's telling the truth, Jav?"
"Yeah. I mean she seems to be in shock to me and her story seems to add up. Anyway, I gave her my card and told her to call if she remembers anything at all. I have a uni taking her home now."
"Okay. Go with Ryan and canvas the area. I am going to York Prep and see what our victim's connection is. Meet me back at the precinct and we'll see where we are from there.
At York Prep, the faculty was both shocked and saddened to learn of Pamela's death. According to the dean Mrs. Wyatt taught Math and was adored by students and faculty alike and was well respected by all that knew her and came in contact with.
The victim was married and had 2 little girls ages 3 and 5 named Amanda and Jessica and they both attended Little Tykes Daycare on W. 66th. And she lived in a small apartment on W. 49th, which they already knew. Other than that, there was no more forthcoming information.
After informing the dean of Mrs. Wyatt's demise, she gave her her card and informed her that she would be back after classes to talk to her colleagues and had the dean lead her to Mrs. Wyatt's desk since it was now lunchtime and the room was empty. A search of her desk and room yielded nothing that could aid them in finding her killer, though. There was a photo of the victim with the same 2 little girls as the other one, With the youngest one in her lap and the other standing at her side, smiling happily at the camera, but the husband was missing in this one.
She arrived back at the precinct armed with the photograph from the victim's desk and saw that the boys had already started the murder board with a picture of the victim post mortem from CSU and her name printed in block letters beneath her picture along with her age.
"Okay. So what do we have?" she asked.
Ryan handed her an evidence bag with a ladies purse in it.
"Our vic's?"
He nodded. "Apparently. This was found in a strand of trees near the scene. Wallet has been removed, but it has an electric bill with the vic's name on it, it has an address book in it and all the little things ladies carry around with them. Make up, keys, breath mints and other lady things."
"We made some calls out of her address book and turns one was her sister, Kim Scott. L.T. is bringing her in now." Javi added.
"Does she know about her sister?"
"She does now." Ryan added.
"Okay. She does not need to see this. Let's move this murder board to Conference Room 2. When she arrives, I'll take her to Conference Room 1 to talk to her.
"There's something else you should know about the contents of the purse." Espo said.
"Okay. What?"
"In a zippered compartment, we found her wedding ring and in my eyes, a victim not wearing her wedding ring is usually hiding something…"
"Or she's separated from her husband." Kate added. "I want to see her sister as soon as she gets here."
"Well, looks like you got your chance." Javi replied as the elevator dinged and L.T. exited the car with a petite blond woman in tow.
"Thank you, L.T. Ms. Scott, would you follow me, please?"
She ushered Ms. Scott into Conference Room 1. "I am so sorry for your loss. I have a few questions for you if you feel up to answering them. Would you like some coffee, soda, or water?" She asked the grief stricken woman at the door.
"No, thank you. The only thing I want is for you to arrest that sleazy, no good for nothing, cheating, brother-in-law of mine!"
"Please, have a seat." Kate said, gesturing to the couch. "So you think he might be responsible? May I ask why?"
"Six months ago, Pam caught him cheating on her with a paralegal from his office! The idiotic fool was doing the deed when my sister walked in on them when she decided to surprise him with lunch."
"So what happened then?" Kate asked.
"She was shocked, of course. She threw the lunch at him and stormed out of the office. I was watching the girls for her so she told me all about it when she came and picked them up and by the time Jack got home, she had taken her and the girls clothes and a few toys and left his sorry ass!"
Kate showed the picture she had taken from the victim's desk. "Ms. Scott, is this a picture of your sister?"
Ms. Scott took the picture and looked at it, breaking down in tears and nodded.
"And that was 6 months ago?"
"Yes." Ms. Scott answered, tearfully.
"Ms. Scott, having an affair does not necessarily mean he killed her. But, we'll find…" It didn't mean that he was innocent, either, but made him a very likely suspect, but she had to assume was innocent until proven otherwise.
"Excuse me, detective. I wasn't finished."
"I'm sorry. Please continue."
"She rented a small apartment in Midtown and filed for divorce from Jack. He became angry and started following her and found her and the girls and it wasn't pretty."
"He beat her?" Kate asked, although she already knew how this story would go. Too many similar cases when she was a rookie.
"Yes. Pam was going to fight him for custody of the girls and he would threaten her and he abused her both physically and emotionally."
"And the girls?"
" Physically, they were never harmed. Emotionally is a different story. He never touched them thankfully, but they watched, crying and begging him not to hurt their mother and they became afraid pf him."
"Did she ever call the cops?"
"She did and so did her neighbors, but all they would tell her was that she needed to get a restraining order against him, which she did, but Jack always found a way around it."
Kate rose from the couch and went to the door. "Excuse me, Ms. Scott. Are you sure I can't get you anything?"
"Maybe a soda?"
Kate nodded and opened the door and called to Espo who was closest to the door. When he arrived, she said, "Would you get Ms. Scott a soda, please.?" Then in a lower voice added, "I want you to find Jack Wyatt and bring him in here, but first call Little Tykes Daycare and see if Amanda and Jessica Wyatt made it in to school this morning."
"As you wish."
"Surely, you don't think Jack has the girls, do you?"
"I hope not, Ms. Scott, but believe me, we will leave no stone un turned until we find them. Which law firm does Jack work?"
"Anderson and Anderson in Queens."
"And where does he live?"
"They had a house in Queens, but I'm not sure if he lives there any more. The address is 1721 Barclay Avenue."
There was a knock on the door and Kate found Espo on the other side with Ms. Scott's soda and a whispered message for her. Kate took the soda and shut the door before handing her the soda.
"Ms. Scott, I had Detective Esposito call Little Tykes Daycare and the girls are not there today. Is there anyone else they might be with? Another family member or perhaps a friend or neighbor?"
Ms. Scott paled. "No. Not unless Jack has them! Please, Detective Beckett you must find them."
Kate was already headed for the door. "Espo! I need for you to check at Anderson and Anderson Law Firm in Queens and see if Jack Wyatt made it in to work today."
"On It." he replied.
"Ms. Scott, we are going to find them, I promise. I personally will keep you informed when we find the girls. Thank you for coming in and answering my questions. If you think of anything else, please, give me a call any time, day or night." Kate said, escorting the victim's distraught sister to the door.
"L.T.? I need you to escort Ms. Scott home, please."
As soon as L.T. had boarded the elevator with Ms. Scott, Espo approached her with the news that Jack hadn't made it in to work and had called in sick earlier this morning.
The phone on her desk rang. "Beckett." she answered. It was Lanie.
"What do you have for us, Lanie?"
"It was as I thought. COD was single gsw to the forehead with a .45 calibur. Ballistics has the slug and I am waiting for toxicology reports, but girlfriend, this woman's body is covered in bruises and it's pretty apparent that this victim was beaten severely just before her death. There is bruising on her upper thighs and I found semen in her vagina. In my opinion the sex wasn't consensual. It looks as if he forced it on her."
"Thanks, Lanie! Keep a sample of that semen for me. We may need it as DNA."
She slammed the phone down in its cradle. "Ryan, I need some unis to go to this address in Queens to check for the suspect. I want his picture blown up and distributed to every department in the 5 boroughs. I want an ATB put out for him. You and Espo come with me. We are going to check out the victim's apartment and hopefully find our two little girls with a neighbor and maybe our crime scene, too."
A/N: Thank you all for your unwavering love and support, your faith and belief in me as a writer. I just hope I can measure up. I'm sorry we didn't get to the boys or Lanie, but I just couldn't make it fit this chapter, but soon I promise. I am going to keep this murder short? I hope. I have rewritten this twice so I hope it makes some kind of sense. I am going to start work on the next chapter, but I've learned not to put myself on a schedule as I never make it without life getting in the way. That being said, I hope to have the next chapter up no later than the end of the month. Hopefully, sooner.