A Crime of Passion
Teresa Williams and Claire Samson were having lunch at The Little Cottage, a quaint little place in town that made some of the best pasta they had ever eaten. Teresa and Claire met at The Little Cottage every other month, both for the pasta and because they were determined to be one of those childhood friends who never grew apart.
At first glance, it didn’t seem like they could be friends. Teresa was dressed impeccably and fashionably, from her Gucci sunglasses, her Kors dress to her Louboutin shoes. She was quiet and moved very deliberately. Claire on the other hand, was dressed in normal clothes — not very fashionable, but comfortable — with low-slung basic heels. She was a happy, slightly clumsy person who managed to bump into and hurt herself on an almost daily basis. But there was two things that both women had in common — a love for good food and the same taste in men.
As they were having lunch, Claire spoke about her new boyfriend, Thomas Kendall. He was a legal assistant, self-assured, quiet and — like Claire — with a taste for good whisky. “The best part,” said Claire, “is that he can cook. He made a beef stroganoff for our last date. It was so good, so tender…I can taste it even now.”
Teresa laughed and said, “He sounds perfect for you. So, when do I get to meet this almost perfect hunk of yours?”
“I already asked Thomas. Come over to Thomas’ place for dinner tomorrow night — around 7 pm — and I’ll introduce him. And get this! He said that he will make dinner — a moussaka. And he knows a small Greek place that makes meltingly delicious baklava and he’s going to get that for us too,” said Claire.
“Wow! That sounds amazing. I love baklava, the way the sugar syrup oozes out and rolls on your tongue…yum…” replied Teresa.
They both gazed lovingly into the ceiling, dreaming of gorgeous food.
At 7 pm sharp, Teresa rang the bell to Thomas’ house. She waited but no one opened the door. She rang again, grinning, “They must be pretty busy, I guess.”
She waited five minutes, but there was no answer. She waited another five minutes. Then Teresa got angry. Claire knew that she hated to be late for anything or to be kept waiting. Fuming, Teresa rang the bell again and again. There was no answer. She banged on the door, saying “Claire, what do you think you’re playing at? Just open the door already.”
The door opened as she banged. It was unlocked. She shook her head, thinking, “Careless. Just like Claire.”
She walked in calling out to Claire. The bedroom door was open and Teresa hesitated, then went in. Claire and a man were on the bed, still, very very still. The pale cream of the bed spread was marred with rivulets of red, still dripping. Teresa stared for a second and then, she screamed.
Riley Strauss was sitting in his office, trying to read through a cold case when his partner, Juan Ramos, came and sat down. James and Riley had worked together for six years.
“It’s a double. We just got the call. Patrol units are on the scene. Let’s move,” said Juan.
Riley nodded, closed the file, put it in his desk, locked it and then followed Juan.
“Sir, the bodies are through here. Forensics is on the scene,” said the patrol cop who was showing them in. Juan nodded his thanks to the cop and they both went in. It was a typical murder scene — forensic investigators everywhere trying to bag and tag every item they could lay their hands on that might conceivably have blood or finger prints on it; a coroner checking for obvious signs on death; and a patrolman near the entrance.
“Hello officers. I have a couple here, youngish. Gunshots from close range. Nice placement. I’d say the shooter knew what he was doing. Victims must have died quickly. The guy first, I think, based on how he’s landed and then the girl. Let me know once you’ve taken a look. The van’s on the way. I can tell you more after the autopsy,” said the coroner.
“Thanks Doc,” said Juan, “Won’t keep you waiting long. So, Riley, what do you think? I got a feeling it’s an ex — the guy’s or the girl’s? That’s the question. Hey! Riley, come here and look at this guy. He looks familiar. Isn’t he from the DA’s office?”
Riley came over and looked at the body. He said, “Yes. His name is Thomas Kendall, legal assistant in the DA’s office. He was in a few months ago during the briefing for the murder suicide on Oakbrook Road. He was checking on the paperwork — there was some chain of custody query from the DA.”
“He’s one of us. Damn! The DA’s going to be breathing down our necks on this one. Want to go and talk to the lady who found the bodies?” said Juan.
“Yes, but who’s the lady?” asked Riley. He turned to the patrolman standing guard and said, “Who found the bodies? Do you know where they are, Officer?”
“The victim is Claire Samson. The lady who found the bodies was a friend of hers and ID’d her. The friend, uh, her name’s Teresa Williams. She’s next door. Katie Logan, one of us, is with her.”
“Thank you,” said Riley and both Riley and Juan headed next door.
Teresa was sitting on the couch, staring at the cup of coffee her hand, her other hand drumming softly on the seat. There was a slim, red-headed young woman sitting on one side of Teresa. A slim young man was sitting on the couch’s armrest, his arm around the slim girl. “The neighbours,” thought Riley. There was a cop on the other side.
Juan approached Teresa and said, “Ms. Williams? Teresa? I’m Juan Ramos and this is my partner Riley Strauss. We’re from Homicide. Can you tell us something about yourself? How do you know Claire and Thomas?”
Teresa looked up. Her eyes were swimming but not a drop fell. She said, “Hello Officers. I’m Teresa Williams. I work as a manager at Enchantress, a boutique in Greene Street. Claire and I have been friends from childhood. Thomas is her boyfriend. They’d been dating for just over a month. Today, Claire was going to introduce me to Thomas. That’s why I was here.
I came at 7 sharp and rang the bell. There was no answer for 10 minutes. I…I became a bit angry. Uh…I don’t like waiting. Claire knows. So, I banged on the door and it opened. It was unlocked. I walked in. The bedroom door was right opposite and I…umm…I went in. I shouldn’t have. It’s private, but…but I was angry with Claire. I went in and there they were. I screamed and then, Kirsten here, came in and called 911. I’ve been with her since then.”
Kirsten said, “Yes. I’m Kirsten Fourier. This is my partner, Harry Seung. We heard a loud scream from next door. Thomas is generally very quiet. Nice man. So, we went outside to see what was happening. The door was open. We went in and saw Teresa screaming. Then we saw the bodies. Poor Thomas. It’s so sad.”
“Who made the 911 call?” asked Riley.
“That would be me. Kirsten was trying to calm Teresa down,” said Harry.
“Can you tell us something more about Thomas?” asked Juan.
Harry replied, “Well, I just moved in about six months ago. Nice chap. Always had a smile for you. Didn’t talk much. Very quiet. Especially compared to us. We party quite a bit and have friends over all the time. Thomas, though, I rarely heard anything from his house.”
“What about you, Kirsten?” asked Riley.
“I knew Thomas well. I’ve been living here for the past four years and Thomas has been my neighbour throughout that time. We spoke whenever we saw each other. His cousin, Elena and I were part of the same dancing troupe…about 3 years ago, I think…and Thomas had come for one of our shows. I recognised him and we got to talking. He’s…sorry…he was a nice man. We met for coffee occasionally. He was reading the Games of Throne books and I was watching the show. We would compare notes, discuss our favourite characters…He always said that the book is better than any show or movie. Obviously, I disagreed. I mean, there are some seriously hot guys in the show. He agreed about the guys, but he still insisted on the books and — ”
“What do you mean by he agreed about the guys? He’s in there with a lady.” asked Juan.
Kirsten replied, “I know. He’s bi. Before Claire, he was dating this guy...K…Thomas always called him K. Just the initial…Thomas wouldn’t tell me much about K. He said that K was very private and that K wanted to be very sure in their relationship before going public. And then suddenly, two months ago, Thomas told me that he’d broken it off with K…That K was getting very possessive and controlling. Thomas had an abusive girlfriend before, so he didn’t want to go through that again. And he broke it off.”
“That’s interesting. Any other information you have on this K? Anything you can remember?” asked Juan.
“No. Not much. Like I said, Thomas didn’t say much about K,” replied Kirsten.
“Ok. If you remember anything, even a tiny detail, please call me. This is my card,” said Juan.
“We may contact you in case we have further questions. Please do not leave the city without informing us,” said Riley. Turning to Juan, he said, “Let’s go. Back to the office.”
The next day, Riley was in the office, going through the background check information on both Thomas and Claire. Juan was replaying in his head, their conversation with Teresa, Kirsten and Harry.
“Thomas and Claire have clean records. Two speeding tickets for Claire and one overdue parking fine for Thomas. All paid up. No recent exes for either. Families are far away and all were in their homes. There is no motive for murder,” said Riley.
“What about K? He sounds like a suspect,” said Juan.
Riley replied, “Could be. But we have no information on him. It could also be that Thomas was making up this guy, just pretending that he was happy. A lot of people do that.”
“If he were making it up, why not give him a name? Why just an initial?” asked Juan.
“More mysterious, I guess,” replied Riley, “There are no other clues or avenues to follow. Unless we get more information about this mythical K, this case is going nowhere.”
Juan sighed and said, “Yep. You’re probably right. I’m going to get something to eat. Want anything? No? Be back in fifteen.”
Juan was getting a bagel from his favourite food truck when his phone rang. It was Kirsten Fourier.
“Yes, Ms. Fourier. Did you remember anything?” asked Juan.
Kirsten replied, “Yes. I just thought of it. I remember Thomas telling me that K loved kimchi and that he would put it on everything. Thomas had to beg him not to eat kimchi on the days they would meet because the smell made Thomas gag. I thought it was pretty funny. I don’t know how this would help though.”
“Every little bit helps. Thanks Ms. Fourier. Please call me if you think of anything else,” said Juan.
Juan cut the call and bit into his bagel. Suddenly, it all fell into place.
Juan walked back to the office, to Riley’s desk. He had two other cops with him.
“Hi James, Helen. What’s up? Why do you look serious Juan? Any new information?” asked Riley.
Juan said, “Riley K Strauss, you are under arrest on suspicion for the murder of Thomas Kendall. You have the right to remain silent.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Riley as James and Helen handcuffed him.
“What were you thinking? Hiding the gun in your car? I’ve had it sent down to the lab for fingerprints. It’s that damned kimchi you keep eating. It brought you down. Damned idiot! Why? Why did you do it?” said Juan.
Riley said, “He left me. ME. How dare he? And then, he falls for that floozy! I tried to patch up with him and he said that he was falling for that bitch. Not even a few months after me. HOW DARE HE?”
This story is part of the Murder Room project on Chalkboard.
