"You see, when David Goldman left town fifteen years ago or so, I left with him." Beverly paused to see the reaction of the three officers. All three were silent and staring at her.
She continued. "It was 1959 and I was in love. David was a charming guy - probably still is - and I was a school teacher and bored out of my mind. The thrill of what I had hoped to do in teaching was already gone. It just wasn't my calling. David and I knew each other for years and we started seeing each other. He just seemed to be 'the' guy, if you know what I mean."
"We had discussed earlier what was going on with him taking things out of his father's shop and fencing the items down in Sacramento. Were you aware of that going on?" Mike asked.
"I knew he was having issues with his family, fighting with his dad. He was the middle son and so he played off that some. I had no idea that he was stealing then. He just said he wasn't living up to his father's expectations."
"But you worked with Mr. Goldman, Jacob," Steve corrected. "Didn't you hear anything from him?"
"No, the family kept quiet on this. You know how we are, Steve. None of our families want controversy. He just said that I could do better than David, much better." Steve nodded his head. He understood. His family had a long tradition of keeping up appearances even when situations were beyond their control.
"Where did you go after you left Tyler?" Mike asked.
"Sacramento first and then San Francisco. That's where the wheels fell off."
"How so?" Steve asked. He looked sympathetically at her as they sat next to each other in the booth. Mike picked up a hint of compassion in the questioning that wouldn't have normally happened during an objective interview.
"I stayed out of his business and really just played house with him. He was a good guy, very sweet when he wanted to be and we always had money. I thought he had a job as an assayer, but not at all. He lied about that. He was working with the fence. The fence saw his potential and thought he could ride his coattails."
"What was the fence's name?" Steve asked, briefly looking up from his notepad.
"Sherman. It was Harry or Herman, something like that. But David wanted to hit the bigger time and thought he could in San Francisco. The reality was that his fence got him connected in San Francisco with a group that was looking for someone with his skills, shall we say."
"Skills?" Steve asked.
"Well, I wasn't aware of how good these skills were, but safes, vaults and all that. Plus he was fearless. I eventually realized he'd do anything to score diamonds, jewels, coins, you name it."
"So what happened next?" Mike asked.
"There was a jewelry store burglary and they traced some of the goods back to our place. I was so blind to it, they actually caught me wearing a ring from the heist. How stupid, huh?"
"Some of them?" asked Pete.
"He had already unloaded most of it, but he held onto a couple of pieces. One, he gave me. Like I said, stupid, huh?"
"What happened?" Steve asked.
"My stupidity knew no bounds. I took the fall for receipt of stolen goods. No other charges were filed. His bosses kept him but their attorneys let me hang to dry."
Steve whistled. "That's heavy. You do time?"
"Six months. First offense and I was a schoolteacher. But I also knew that I needed to keep my mouth shut. At the end of the day, these were some tough guys."
"You came back to Tyler after that?" Steve asked.
"Yes, I had no place else to go, but even in coming back here, I really had nothing. With a felony prison record, that was the end of my teaching career," Beverly added sadly.
"So what do you do now?" Steve had quickly assessed that Beverly appeared to be doing okay based on how she presented herself.
"Initially, cosmetology. I learned how to do make-up and hair. After awhile, I partnered with the local funeral parlor and helped with the visitations. Honestly, that seemed to be my calling. I liked working with the families who had lost someone. I eventually started working for the funeral parlor and I also help with estate liquidations."
"Well, good for you!" Mike added before Steve could complete a thought. "You landed back on your feet."
"I don't tell my story often, but when I do, I guess it makes sense. I've tried to atone for all of this."
"Let me ask you one thing, Beverly," Mike added. "Is David still involved with the same bosses?"
"The Sotti's. That's who he was involved with back then. Not sure if that's the same group. I know there were some changes and big upheavals about ten years ago."
"Indeed there was," Mike agreed. "It got bloody for a while."
