Cold Case in a Cold City

“Alvarez! You at your desk?”

 “Yeah, what’s up Captain?”

 Captain Bradford walked from his office to Alvarez’s desk. He was a heavyset man not quite obese, but working on it. Retirement wasn’t far off, but the way he felt, chest pains and shortness of breath, he thought he’d be dead before he got his gold watch. “It’s been quiet in our sector for a week. You know what that means.”

Bill Alvarez, a twenty-two-year veteran of police work, was one of four homicide detectives in Portland, Maine’s police department. Having transferred from the Los Angeles Police Department, six months ago, he had been there long enough to know what the captain was about to tell him. Without bothering to look up, he stretched his arm out and took the folder the captain was holding. “Cold cases, right?” He put the brown folder on his desk and stood to stretch his legs. “Just one, I see.”

“Well, this one’s only five years old,” the captain said. “Crandall worked this case. It was only a few months before he died. Damn, he was sick. I wouldn’t be surprised if he missed something.” Casey Crandall had died from liver cancer. Alvarez, an experienced and highly thought of homicide specialist, was his replacement.

Alvarez put his glasses on and read the cover sheet. “The Hurst case.”

Bradford looked down at his shoes as if he’d dropped a coin. “Right, Dennis Gallagher’s son-in-law.”  

“What’s up, Captain?” Alvarez, who was tall, and slim, could feel his curly hair tingle. The captain was acting funny.

“Read the file. Then we’ll talk,” he said.

Alvarez sank into his chair and started reading. His eyes got wide right away. A retired desk sergeant, Dennis Gallagher, had been the prime suspect for the murder of his son-in-law, Colin Hurst. The man had been shot in the back of the head at close range. The gun, a snub nosed .32 caliber, had been found at the scene. Alvarez got up and walked to the captain’s office.

“You read it already?”

“I read enough to know why this case is cold. One of our own takes out his son-in-law for beating up his wife enough times to make you think he was in training for a cage fight.”

“That’s about right. So?”

 Alvarez smiled. “So, I’ve been here six months. We’ve had a couple of slow weeks in that time. I don’t remember anybody being assigned to this case. Why now?”

The captain rubbed his chin and smiled. “Well, it’s been sitting on my desk for too long now. The brass is on me about it, lately.”

“You mean you put them off as long as you could? Okay, but why me?”

“Put your thinking cap on for a minute. You never worked with or knew Dennis. He’s in his 80s now and he’s still a hell of a guy. The poor bastard doesn’t have long to live. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months ago.”  Bradford, closed his eyes for a second as if he was saying a quick prayer. “Anyway, that daughter of his always gave him trouble. He got her out of juvie at least three times. Broke his heart more times than I can count, understand?”

Alvarez nodded. “What kind of crimes?”

“The usual crap. I remember she got caught shoplifting a couple of times.”

Alvarez removed his glasses and cleaned them. “How did she turn out?” 

“I heard she finally straightened out after her husband got killed. Dennis sure loves that girl.”  Bradford paused for a few seconds, thinking about what he was about to say. “Close the door, Bill.” Alvarez closed it and turned to face the captain. “Listen, just go through the motions on this one. Get me enough paperwork so I can satisfy the chief, understand?”

“I understand,” Alvarez said. “But I don’t work that way. Never did. You give me this case I’m gonna work it until it’s solved.”

“I see. Well, not every case is solvable. You’ve been around long enough to know that, right?”

“Right.”

“And another thing. There are still a few officers here who worked with, or for, Dennis. We was well liked and respected. Keep that in mind.”

 In the Los Angeles precinct where he was assigned, Alvarez had a reputation for being very thorough and meticulous about his cases. His case clearance rate was always the highest in the department. He had moved to Portland to be closer to his daughter, who was currently a junior at the University of Southern Maine. His ex-wife, Becky, had moved there after their divorce eight years ago. They had simply grown apart. Neither of them had ever remarried.

Alvarez was also known for his doggedness when it came to clearing cold cases. There were even a couple of articles written about him in the LA Times highlighting his hard work and high success rate. As good as his professional life was, his personal life was the opposite, thanks to his love of Bourbon. The man could, and often did, put away a good (or not so good) bottle of Bourbon away between Friday night and Saturday morning.  He insisted he never allowed his drinking to interfere with his work, and he was proud of that. But it had begun to interfere with his judgment on the job. His superiors eventually took him to task, in a firm but gentle manner, holding an intervention at his sister’s house. That was when he decided to get clean.  

His wife enjoyed a few drinks too. They both wound up in Alcoholics Anonymous, faithfully attending meetings together until it dawned on them that AA and their daughter was all they had in common.

 As he always did, Alvarez carefully reviewed the cold case file and then, as much as possible, treat the case as if it were new. That meant asking questions that had already been asked and answered. To his way of thinking, the case probably wasn’t solved because, from the beginning, the investigating officer wanted the case to remain unsolved. That was better than sending a good cop to prison for doing something that he himself would have gladly done under the same circumstances.

His first stop was to visit Dennis Gallagher. That wasn’t easy because Dennis lived about 50 miles north of Portland, having moved to a small town, where he owned a bungalow on one of Maine’s many lakes. It had snowed the night before making the long and winding road that led to Gallagher’s house treacherous.

“Hello, Sergeant. Name’s Alvarez. We spoke on the phone yesterday.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Gallagher, in spite of his illness, stood as straight as a younger man. His shock of white hair, and scraggly beard, made his countenance seem stern. “What do you want to talk about? You’ve read the file. There’s nothing more I can tell you.”  He pointed the detective to a faded blue recliner, which sat next to his, separated by a tiny table with a lamp and a TV remote on it.

Alvarez remained standing. “This won’t take long. I want to start from the beginning. Your former son in law, Mr. Hurst, was shot and killed at close range on the evening of January 19, 2017. Where were you that night?”

Gallagher’s eyes narrowed. “I told you it’s all in the file.”

“I’m sure it is, Sergeant Gallagher, but I’ve decided to treat this as a fresh case rather than a cold one.” Alvarez suddenly noticed that the room was very warm. The old man must have had the heat turned up to the limit. “Now, as a former officer, I’m asking you for your help. I’m sure you would like to see this case solved.”

“I know who you are. You’re that hotshot that came east from Los Angeles. You’re trying to make a name for yourself here, too I see.”

“Where were you on the night in question?”

“I was in my apartment on the south side of the city. I moved up here in 2019. I got a call from my daughter, Julia. She was hysterical crying and it took me a little while to understand what she was saying.” He shook his head at the memory. “I was the one who called it in.”

“What time was that?”

“Geez, I’m 82 years old and I’m dying. I don’t remember for sure. I’d say around 8:30 that night.”

“Do you remember what your daughter said? I mean what were her words?”

Gallagher closed his eyes for a moment. “Maybe you should read the damn file again, Alvarez.”

Alvarez stood still, just tapping his pencil tip lightly on his notepad. He waited. Gallagher stood up, quickly, for a man in his condition, surprising Alvarez. “You want a beer?”

“No.” He continued to tap his pencil, a little louder now.

Gallagher removed the cap with a single, quick turn and took a sip. “She said, ‘Colin’s been shot. I think he’s dead, Daddy.’ Something like that.”

“What did you say?”

The older man sat down and drank more beer. “I told her I’ll be right over.”

“You didn’t call 911 in case Mr. Hurst was still alive?”

Gallagher stared at Alvarez without answering for a while. Finally, he said, “From the description she gave me, a hole in his head, I’d put the chances at zero that the man was alive. There would have been no point.” 

“Did it occur to you at that time that your daughter might have shot her husband, perhaps during a domestic dispute?”  

Gallagher rubbed his eyes and placed the back of his head against his recliner. “I’m a cop. Of course, I wondered. She and Colin were having a tough go, to put it mildly. He was a miserable SOB.” He shrugged. “But before you take a run at her, let me assure you that at the scene, she wasn’t behaving like someone who’d just put a bullet in the back of her husband’s thick skull.”

“Was there anyone else in the house when you got there?”

“Her mother, my ex-wife was there.” He sipped his beer. “Woman was a nervous wreck, talking nonsense. I sent her home.”

“What was she saying?” the detective asked.

“I don’t know, nothing really. She doesn’t make much sense even on her best days.”

“So, she drove home?”

Gallagher shot Alvarez a look. “Yeah, that’s right. She didn’t live that far away. I wanted her to go home and take one of her happy pills. Calm her down.”

Alvarez took a seat now, signaling he might stay a while. “The gun has never been found.”

“That’s what they tell me.”

“Do you have doubts about that?” Alvarez noted that the sergeant’s mind was still sharp.

“No.”

“Did you call it in before, or after, you arrived at your daughter’s house?”

“Look, I know where you’re going with this and you are dead wrong. I called it in after I got there. There was no gun. I searched the place including the outside perimeter of the house and checked the front and back yard really good,” he said.  “I asked Julia if she’d seen a gun. She said she didn’t see one. That she never even looked for one.”

Does your daughter or son-in law, or your ex-wife own a gun?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Did anyone question your ex-wife?”

Gallagher had a brief coughing spell. “Rose? Yeah, I’m sure they did. The next morning, I think. That should be in your folder too, detective.”  

“Does Rose still live here in Portland?”

“No. She was living in South Portland; in the house we’d lived in for 26 years. She lives in Fort Myers now.”  He paused and then anticipating Alvarez’s next question, he added, “The South Portland house is seven miles from where Julia lived.”

Alvarez asked to use the bathroom. When he came out, Gallagher was standing by his front door. “I need to take a nap. Usually do this time of day.” He yawned for emphasis. “If you need anything else, don’t bother to come by the house, call me.”

Alvarez nodded. “One more question if you don’t mind.”

“Make it fast.”

“The case report says your service revolver was lost or stolen about twenty years ago.”

“What about it? It was never found, if that’s what you want to know. I had to buy a new one.”

He opened the front door. “I guess you’re gonna talk to Julia?”

“I am.” With that Alvarez headed to his car and drove to Julia Gallagher Stamen’s home. The road was treacherous and he had to go slow. He was not used to driving on ice. She had remarried eleven months after her husband’s untimely death.

Julia Stamen lived in one of Portland’s upscale neighborhoods. Alvarez pulled up to a well-appointed, two-story, colonial with a three-car garage. She was in her mid-forties now and more attractive than Alvarez expected.

“Just got off the phone with my dad. He warned me you’d be coming. I didn’t expect it to be today, though.” She was wearing a long gray cardigan sweater over a pink, frilly blouse. The sweater hung down almost to her knees. She wore stylish glasses and kept her brown hair neatly coiffed.

“Do you have some time to talk?” Alvarez asked. He surveyed her home. It was large and decorated well enough to remind him of a classic New England show home.

“No, I don’t mind, but when I saw you pull up, I called my husband. I’d like to wait until he gets here before we talk.” She pointed to Chippendale style arm chairs and invited him to sit. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“I’d appreciate it. Mighty cold out there,” he said.

When Julia’s husband, Kevin Stamen, arrived, he asked his wife where their daughter, Casey was. 

“She’s at daycare, Honey,” Julia said. She turned to Alvarez and said, “We have a four-year-old. Her daddy has trouble keeping up with her.” She smiled at her husband.

Alvarez mentioned his daughter being in college and then quickly got down to business. “Julia, when exactly did you learn your ex-husband had been murdered?”

She put her coffee down on a coaster. “I came home from a movie. I’d been there with a friend of mine. I walked into the house and saw him lying in a pool of blood, face down. Most of his forehead was missing.” She shut her eyes for a moment. “I called my father and told him what happened.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me not to touch anything, that he’d be right over.”

“Did you do what he told you to do?” Alvarez asked.

“Yes, I just sat on the floor as far from his blood as I could. I noticed there was blood splattered everywhere. It was terrible.”

“Did you have any reason to think anyone might want to kill him?”

“Not immediately, but I heard that the autopsy showed he had been using. Not sure what it was.”  I wondered if he got into some trouble with some druggies or something.” She reached for a cigarette but thought better of it.

The detective knew it was Ambien, a prescription sleep aid, “Did your husband take medication for sleep?”

“He might have. I used to take Ambien. Sometimes, if he was having trouble sleeping, he’d pop one of mine.”

 Alvarez nodded and took notes. “The toxicology report indicated that he’d taken Ambien sometime on the day he was killed. When he tried one of your sleeping pills, what time would he take it?”

“Never before ten. Why?”

The detective just gave her a long look. “Did you two have dinner that night before you went out?”

“Detective Alvarez, I already answered these questions at least twice during the investigation. Unless my memory is fading you should have my answers in your file.”

Alvarez put his pen down and gave Julia a stern look. “Mrs. Stamen, we can get through what I’m sure is a painful memory a lot faster if you cooperate.”

“Right, where have I heard that before?” Julia asked. “Anyway, I made him dinner a beef stew with dumplings. I had dinner with my friends Cara and Nina.”     

“Thank you. Now, would you say Colin was well liked?”

“Colin was a guy everyone seemed to like. He sold cars at the Cadillac dealership and he was very good at it. He got a lot of repeat customers. People just liked him.” She glanced at her husband.

Kevin, a tall muscular sort with a blond crewcut, nodded his head. “Yeah, he was well liked. Of course, nobody knew what he was doing to Julia.”

“You knew Mr. Hurst?” Alvarez asked.

“Yeah, we worked together. I was his boss, actually. My father and I own the dealership.”

Alvarez wrote that down. He gritted his teeth, aware that, for some reason, the case file never mentioned the connection between Kevin and Colin Hurst. He knew that Hurst sold cars, but for some reason Caldwell had never specifically connected Hurst to Stamen Cadillac. “So, you and Julia knew each other while she was married to Mr. Hurst?”        

“That’s right,” Stamen said.

Alvarez looked at Julia for confirmation. She looked away from him as she nodded, signaling to Alvarez there was more to the story. He made a mental note and continued. “It’s my understanding that your ex-husband could be physically abusive. Can you describe what that involved?”

“He beat me. Not often at first, but later on it became more frequent. He was a very jealous man. He thought every guy I met was after me. He mostly slapped me. Sometimes he’d punch me or he’d use his belt to make sure the marks wouldn’t show.” She started to tear up and reached for a tissue. “There were some sexual things I don’t want to discuss.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll try to get through this quickly. Did you ever file a complaint?”

“No, I was ashamed. I was kind of lost, praying he would change.” She looked away from Alvarez and reached for her husband’s hand.

Alvarez finished his coffee and placed it on a stack of magazines that sat on the coffee table. “What can you tell me about your father’s missing gun?”

Julia shrugged. “Not much. It was a long time ago. My father was sure my mother had hidden it to punish him. I asked her about it once. She just smiled and said, ‘Who knows?’”  

He turned to Kevin. “Having worked with Mr. Hurst, do you know of anyone who might want to cause him harm?”

“I’ve thought about that. Truth is, I can’t think of anyone who didn’t like him. The guy was outgoing and friendly, very helpful to everyone at the dealership. He didn’t have a lot of close friends though, right Julia?”

“That’s true,” she said.

“Do you work Julia?”

“Around the house, I do. I also volunteer at a shelter for battered women on Tuesday mornings.”

The detective changed the subject. “Do you remember where your mother was when you found your ex-husband’s body?”

“She was at the mall as I recall. But she stopped by just before my father got here. She said she had to use the bathroom; I think. When she saw Colin, she freaked.”

“How far is the mall from where you lived at that time?” Alvarez asked.

Julia looked at her husband. “How far?”

“Less than five miles,” Kevin said.

“She was still here when your father arrived?” Alvarez was eager to see if Julia’s account would match her father’s.

“She was, but like I said, she was kind of out of it. He sent her home,” Julia said.

Alvarez ended the interview and thanked the Stamen’s for their time. To his mind, he had at least three suspects now.

 That night, Alvarez sat in his condo talking to his daughter on the phone. She was excited because she had done well the previous semester and had just had her first day of classes as a second semester junior. She was in a pre-med program and hoped she’d get into medical school. Alvarez, who was very proud of his daughter, was excited for her. “Mom is here. Do you want to say hello to her?”

Alvarez grimaced. “Hi Sharon. How’s it going?”

“I’m okay. How are you, Bill?”

“Fine. Just started work on a cold case.”

“Ah, your specialty. Is it interesting?” One reason for their divorce was that Sharon didn’t care for what her husband did for a living. Yet, she was always genuinely interested in his cases. He gave her the key points about the case so far. “That should keep you busy and out of trouble for a while,” she said.

He let the remark go, knowing she was referring to his proclivity for drinking heavily when he wasn’t on a case. They chatted briefly about their daughter’s plans and their commitment to helping her cover her expenses, said goodbye.

Before he went to bed, Alvarez perused the Hurst file again, looking for interviews investigators had with Colin Hurst’s friends and relatives. Considering Julia’s allegations that Hurst had abused her, he was surprised to discover there were no notes indicating that any such interviews took place.

He spent the better part of the next day talking to people who knew Colin Hurst, starting with Hurst’s brother, Cooper. He told the detective that his brother didn’t fit the profile of a potential abuser. “Man, he wasn’t a heavy drinker, he loved animals, he was never the jealous type. I should know, I’m a practicing psychologist.”

“In that field?”

“No, but I had some training in that area.”

Hurst’s brother put the detective in touch with a woman who had been in a relationship with Colin for about a year. “He had a temper but he never frightened me. We broke up when he met Julia,” she said. “He was gentle with me, but men can change. Who knows?”

Alvarez also spoke briefly to a co-worker at the dealership where Hurst had worked. She took him outside and said, “This is not a popular topic around here. As a woman who was in an abusive relationship, I can only say I’d be surprised if Colin was like that. Sure, he could be a jerk. He liked to brag every time he closed a deal and from what I could tell, he spent money as fast as he made it.” The woman eyed a customer walking through the lot. “I have to go. For what it’s worth, he really seemed to love Julia.” 

That night, Alvarez paid a visit to John Stamen and his wife Carla. They were expecting him. Mr. Stamen, a man in his mid-sixties, was wearing dress slacks and a stylish LL Bean long-sleeve pullover. The couple sat, side by side, at their long dining room table, their faces somber. It was 8:30 p.m. and they both looked tired. “I knew this was never going away,” John said. “The first thing you need to know is that the night that guy Hurst was killed, our son was here with us.”

Alvarez nodded. The Stamen home was gorgeous. Perhaps it wasn’t up to the standards of some of the tonier Los Angeles neighborhoods he’d worked, but its French Colonial style was impressive just the same. “We’ll talk about that later, if it becomes necessary. At this point, we don’t have any suspects. I’m just trying to understand the circumstances surrounding this case.”

“I thought you guys suspected Julia’s father of the murder. I’ve heard you didn’t pursue it because he was cop and the dead guy was bad news.”

“I’m not ruling anything out at this point. What can you tell me about the nature of your son’s relationship with Julia? I’ll level with you right up front. I think they were having an affair at the time Mr. Hurst was murdered.”

“Carla Stamen’s eyes grew wide. “Why do you think that Detective?” She was an attractive woman. The way she dressed and her ample jewelry made it clear she didn’t mind showing off her well to do status.

“Let me help you both. I am prepared to do the necessary background work that will demonstrate through phone, email and other records that a relationship existed between them. I won’t hesitate to interview your employees and even customers, if necessary. Now, you are both smart people. I’m sure you don’t want anyone speculating about what may or may not have happened.”

Stamen removed his thick, black framed glasses, giving Alvarez a look that suggested supreme confidence. “Detective, none of the people who work for me are going to talk to you unless I want them to. So, don’t threaten me, okay?” 

Alvarez, recognizing the threat was empty, smiled, stood up and handed Mr. Stamen his card. “Thank you for your time,” he said.

Just before midnight, his cell phone rang. It was Carla Stamen. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, Detective Alvarez. But you have to understand, my son was here with us that night.”

Alvarez listened closely for any sign that Mrs. Stamen might have been drinking. She sounded perfectly sober. “Was your son having an affair with Julia?”

“I’m afraid so. I didn’t know it for certain at the time, but I suspected something was up. He told me about it a few days after Julia’s husband was killed. My husband doesn’t know any of this.”

Alvarez doubted that, but he let it go. “Do you think your daughter-in-law might have had something to do with her first husband’s death?”

There was a long pause. Alvarez waited. “I doubt that she pulled the trigger, but I’d bet a Cadillac Lyric that she was involved somehow and knows who did it. I want you to know that I’m cooperating with you because I live in mortal fear every day that she could do the same thing to my Kevin someday.”

Alvarez thought it best not to point out that the fact that her son was with them the night in question didn’t rule him out as a suspect. If he could prove Kevin and Julia conspired on a murder for hire scheme, for example, his alibi would not save him. “What makes you think Julia is capable of murder, Mrs. Stamen?”  

“Well, the way she went after my husband for one thing. She and Colin were always doing things with Kevin and Lacy, my former daughter-in-law, who also happens to be the mother of my two grandsons.” She took a breath. “Anyway, they were always going out to dinner, and concerts, even took a vacation or two together. One day Lacy stopped by to see me and we talked. She got around to saying she wasn’t quite so fond of the other couple, but Kevin insisted they maintain the friendship; something about Colin being his top sales person.”

Alvarez was grateful that he was recording their conversation. The woman talked too fast for him to take notes. He got her permission to tape the conversation, of course.

“Frankly, that sounds like a garden variety affair. Is there more?”

“Yes, there is. When Kevin finally told me about what was going on with Julia, he mentioned that Colin was prone to hitting his wife and forcing her to have rough sex. Right about that time, it became apparent that Colin’s sales numbers were declining. In fact, they had been dropping for a while, to the point where my husband was pushing Kevin to get rid of Colin.”

“Kevin refused?”

“At first, but his father gave him an ultimatum. Fire him or he would do it. That would have left Julia in a dark spot, financially speaking.” She paused a moment. “I’m sure that accounted for Kevin’s reluctance to let Colin go.”

Alvarez wondered if Carla Stamen realized she was providing information that would make her son a person of interest.      

She was aware of it and said so. “Kevin did fire Colin. Coincidentally, it happened the day he was killed. He also told me that three days before he fired him, he told Lacy he wanted a divorce. That was his solution, Detective. He was going to take care of Julia by marrying her. He had no need to murder Colin.”

Was Julia aware of Kevin’s intention to divorce his wife?”

“Yes. He said they’d talked about it and agreed that she would ask Colin for a divorce as soon as he found another job.”

“If that’s true, what makes think Julia would kill Colin or have him killed?”

“Money, I’m sure. Colin had a half-million-dollar insurance policy through the dealership. It would have expired 30 days after he was let go.”

Alvarez thought about that for a moment. “Did she ever mention the policy to you?”

Mrs. Stamen snorted. “As a matter of fact, she did. In a roundabout way, of course. She said, ‘I’ve always been glad to have some money of my own to bring to my marriage with Kevin. I’d hate for you to think I was after his money.’” She snorted again. “As if she’d earned it, mind you.”

“Mrs. Stamen, have you ever met Julia’s parents?” Alvarez asked.

“Her father, several times. We had him over here or dinner one night to get acquainted. And saw him at the hospital the night Casey was born. He’s always regaling us with stories of the crimes he solved. Same stories, too. Very tiring, actually. He and his ex, Rose were both at the small wedding reception we held.” She took a sip of something. Alvarez heard the ice cubes.  “Her mother, Rose, was moving to her trailer park in Florida a week after the wedding. She’s a real doll. The apple never falls far from the tree. Her daughter is just like her.”

“Did you ever discuss Mr. Hurst’s murder with the Gallagher’s?”

“Only briefly. None of us wanted to go there, especially at the wedding.”

“Did either of them offer an opinion about what might have happened?”

“Well, Rose and I were sitting together at an otherwise empty table toward the end of the night. I endured that for Kevin’s sake. She said, ‘I think Colin was murdered because of a drug deal gone wrong.’”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. I changed the subject and then went to the restroom. I was done with her.”

Alvarez thanked Mrs. Stamen for calling and hung up. He was tired and need to get to sleep. He wasn’t sure what his next step would be. He figured a good night’s sleep would help.

The next morning, Alvarez went into the office to brief the captain. “I think Sergeant Gallagher may not be the shooter. Call it a hunch, but there are others who might have had a better reason, if that’s possible, to get Hurst out of the way.” He explained the situation with Julia and Kevin and mentioned, with a smile, the possibility, floated by Julia and her father, suggesting  that maybe, Hurst got killed in a drug deal gone bad. “You know, it really bothers me that the bullet and casing were missing. That does sound like a professional hit. If it was a crime of passion, it was done very carefully.”

“Good work,” the captain said. He went to the window in his office. “It’s eight damn degrees out there this morning. You ever been in weather like this before?”

“Never. And the brochures about Portland didn’t mention weather like this.”

The captain laughed. “You sure you weren’t looking at brochures for the other Portland? Go back and talk to Dennis again. See if he has anything new to add.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’ll go down to Fort Myers and talk to Rose. I’ve known her for years. She’ll talk to me.”

“You’re going to spend that kind of money on a cold case so you can catch a few rays in sunny Florida?” Alvarez couldn’t help it. He was laughing.

The captain didn’t bother to look embarrassed. “That’s the plan.”

An hour later, the captain came to Alvarez’s desk. “Change of plans, you lucky bastard. The chief says she wants you to talk to Rose. Your reputation for clearing cold cases is going to get you a few days in the warm sun.” He hesitated. “Leave on Thursday night. Interview her on Friday and fly home Sunday night. The chief will stand still for it.”

“Sorry you’re losing out on the trip, Captain. I have to admit though, I really want to meet Rose Gallagher. I’m not sure her ex is going to be thrilled about that.” 

“Why?”

“The missing gun. I just have a feeling we don’t know the whole story yet.”

 Alvarez called Rose Gallagher and was immediately met with resistance. “You can come here if you want to get out of that miserable cold, but I got nothing to say to you, detective.”

“Mrs. Gallagher, you have nothing to worry about. But you might be very helpful in ways you don’t even realize. I can assure you I want to clear your ex-husband’s name, and remove any possible suspicion about your daughter.”

“Call me Rose. My daughter? Why the hell would anyone suspect her?”

“Come on, Rose. You were married to a police officer for a long time.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Anyway, you know when a married person is killed the way Mr. Hurst was, the spouse is always a suspect. I’m sure you know your husband Dennis was very well liked by everyone in Portland’s police department. This case has been put aside a few times, but it isn’t going away this time. Can I visit with you?” Alvarez knew he didn’t actually need the woman’s permission, but he usually preferred to ask, because it tended to relax people who might be concerned that they were possible suspects. He made a mental note to give the Fort Myers Police Department a courtesy call.

There was an extended silence. “Okay, I guess so, but you’re wasting your time.”

The flight to Fort Myers was unusually bumpy. The jet’s captain apologized several times. Some passengers got sick, including an elderly woman who was sitting next to Alvarez. It was a long flight. He picked up his rental car in the rain. So much for sunshine at the City of Portland’s expense, he thought.

Rose Gallagher lived in a small one-bedroom condo in a 55 plus community. Although it was only 65 degrees, at least the sun was shining. Alvarez was happy to have shed his heavy hooded jacket. Looking at the apartment’s furnishings and the way the woman dressed, it was obvious she was frugal.

“You want a glass of iced tea?” She had been working a crossword puzzle. Through her reading glasses, she looked out her kitchen window. “It’s only 63 degrees. Sorry we aren’t having iced tea weather today.”

“No thanks,” he said. They chatted for a few minutes about Florida living, trying to make comparisons with Southern California. Alvarez had never been to Florida before, and Mrs. Gallagher had never been farther west than Kansas City.

“Rose, how did you learn about Mr. Hurst’s death?”

“I stopped to visit her. I was at the mall. I needed to use her bathroom. When I got there, I saw Julia and Colin’s body, sprawled on the couch.” She bit her lip. “It was a frightening sight.”  

“What was your first thought when you saw his body?”

She stared at her tea cup for a moment. “That maybe she would finally get some peace, I guess.”

“Did it occur to you that maybe your daughter shot and killed her husband?”

“Not even for a single moment. I know my daughter. She wouldn’t harm a mosquito.”

“You were aware Colin was abusing Julia?”

“Yes. I begged her to leave him, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Did you ever see evidence of his abuse, like bruises, for example?”

“Once. She showed me a bruise on her thigh where he punched her.

“Did your husband know about the abuse?”

“Not as much as I knew. If he did know, there’s no telling what he’d have done.”

“So, you weren’t concerned at any time that your daughter took matters into her own hands?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “No. Like I said, her father, maybe, but not Julia.”

“Did you know about Hurst’s life insurance policy?”

“What? No, that’s the first I’m hearing about that. Was it a big policy?” She reached for her glasses and carefully put them on. She looked up at the ceiling, as if she was doing some calculations in her head.

“It was a half million dollars.” He paused to let the information sink in. Mrs. Gallagher’s face was expressionless. “When did you move to Fort Myers?”

“It was two months almost to the day after Colin was killed. I was able to sell the Portland house and find this place pretty fast. Lucky, I guess.”

“Forgive me for asking, but it seems a bit odd that you would leave your daughter so soon after a tragedy like that. What led you to do that?”

The woman smiled, a sardonic look on her face. “Well, detective, I’d been thinking of getting out of the cold weather for quite a while. And I was sure Julia was being well cared for. She actually encouraged me to go.”

Alvarez had taken his time, but wanted now to talk about the missing gun. “Your husband lost his service revolver. What do you remember about that?”

“Well, that was a long time ago. What I remember was he accused me of taking it or hiding it. He got very nasty with me.”

“When exactly was that?”

“That was more than twenty years ago. We were in our late 50s at the time.”

“Did you take his gun?”

“You came all the way to Fort Myers to ask me that, didn’t you? You could have asked me on the phone.” She stared at him and sipped some tea. “Detective, I have no idea what happened to his gun.”

“I understand. Can you give me some details about the incident, how it started and where it wound up?

“Well, I’ll tell you what I remember. He came down to breakfast, but instead of eating, he went into the living room and then his den. After he looked in every room, he asked me if I’d seen his gun. I told him no and asked if he left it in the garage or his car, something like that.”

“What happened next?”

“After a while, he got angry. He was facing a huge embarrassment down at the precinct. He got very agitated and started accusing me of hiding it.”

“Had you ever hidden it before?”

Rose offered a thin smile. “Yeah, once. One time I did it to piss him off because I suspected he was playing around on me.”

“Was he?”

“Who knows? He denied it. He was furious, actually.” She shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of tea. “Anyway, I gave it back to him.”

“So, he had reason to think you might have done it again.”

“I guess.” She went to the refrigerator and poured more tea. “Are we done?”

“Almost, I’m curious. How much time elapsed between the time you actually hid the gun and when he accused you of hiding it the second time?”

“I don’t know. Maybe five years. Could have been longer.”

“Where did you hide it the first time it was missing?”

She grinned. “I hid it in a hat box my mother gave me to hold my wedding veil. He would never have looked there.” She showed him to the door. “Anyway, I gave it back to him so he wouldn’t have to report it missing.”  

“Thank you Rose. I’ll be in touch if I need anything more.”

Alvarez was nervous about the flight home, but it turned out to be a very smooth ride. “He had doubts about Rose Gallagher’s story. He needed time to think about them. He was ready to talk to Julia again, this time, alone.

He remembered she worked at the shelter on Tuesdays. He was waiting for her when she finished her shift. She was not happy to see him. “Let me buy you a cup of coffee,” he said. “I can repay you for your hospitality.”

“Sorry, no time. I’m in a hurry.”

“Make a little time.” He’d put some steel in his voice. “I’m trying to clear this case and I think in the process, clear your father from lingering suspicions about him.”

It was very cold, 16 degrees and windy. She relented. “Ok, but let’s get this over with quickly, please,” she said.

“Mrs. Stamen, I visited your mother last week,” Alvarez said when they got settled.

“I know. She told me. Is your investigation wrapping up, or do you want to interview my four-year old?”

She ordered a small chocolate latte. He stuck with a coffee, black.

“Your little girl is very cute, Mrs. Stamen. You said she’s four years old?”

“That’s right. She’ll be five in October.”

“Your mother doesn’t get to see too much of her. It wears on her, I think.” Alvarez said, his tone hushed.

“She’s flying up here next week. I bought her the ticket of course.” She checked her phone for messages. “My mother is cheap. She has money. I gave her $50,000 to help her buy a nice little ranch down there. She put it all on that dinky one-bedroom condo she lives in.”

“Your husband must be a generous man,” Alvarez said, a slight smirk on his face.

“Ha! I got insurance money when Colin died. The money was mine.”

That got Alvarez’s attention. “Your mother must have been grateful that you gave her so much from the insurance proceeds, I’ll bet.” He held his coffee cup in both hands to warm them.

“Not really. She expected more.” Julia’s face flushed. “What I meant to say was I wanted to give her more, but she refused it.”

“I’m sure she wanted you to save some of that money.”

“I guess. She was kind of surprised when I told her how much I got.”

“She told me she didn’t know anything about the life insurance policy.”

Julia’s expression froze for a moment. She recovered quickly. “I’m not surprised. She’s trending toward dementia, I think. She’s become very forgetful lately.

“Did she ask you to help her out with the house?”

“You know something? Even for a detective, you’re kind of nosy.”

“I apologize.” Alvarez was beginning to lose his patience with Julia. But he saw something in her eyes. Was it fear? He decided to let her have it. “You and Kevin were having an affair when your first husband was killed”

Julia’s eyes grew wide. “You’re crazy, Detective.”

“I’m not asking you Julia. I’m stating a fact. I have the phone records and statements from people who would know.” He was bluffing about the phone records, but she would have no way of knowing that.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” she said, but her demeaner changed, suddenly. She lifted her coffee cup, but her hand was shaking. She put it down without drinking. “Listen, I was about to ask for a divorce when he was killed. It was a horrible coincidence.”

Alvarez gave her a questioning look.

“Think what you want, but I had nothing to do with Colin’s death. I was checked for powder burns and there were none, because I didn’t kill him. And, might I remind you that the gun that was used has never been found.”

“What was your wedding date to Kevin?”

“Why? What possible difference could that make?”

“Humor me. It will save me some time.”

“It was March 3, of ’17.”

It hit Alvarez almost immediately that Julia had almost certainly been pregnant with her daughter when Hurst was murdered. For a moment, he wondered why Carla Stamen hadn’t mentioned that. He realized that she would have been worried about the implications for her son.

“You were pregnant with Casey when your husband was killed,” Alvarez said, his voice very quiet.

“Yes, I was. That’s why Kevin and I planned to get divorces.”

“Did it upset you that she moved away so soon after you husband’s death?”

“Not really. She was a wreck, having seen his head like that. She needed a change of scenery.” 

Alvarez decided to pay another visit to Dennis Gallagher. When he got there, Gallagher was trying to sweep a light dusting of snow from his front porch. He was very short of breath. Alvarez took the broom and finished the job. Gallagher didn’t object.

“What brings you out this way again?” Gallagher asked.

“I want to discuss your service revolver. I saw Rose. She said she hid your revolver once because she thought you were being unfaithful. True story?”

Gallagher waved him into the house and sat down. This time Alvarez sat too. “Yeah, and I wasn’t running around on her. She gave it back to me right away. You think maybe she hid it from me a second time and didn’t give it back?”

“What do you think?”

Gallagher let out a long sigh. “I doubt it, detective. I searched the house really good. If she hid it, I’d have found it, I’m sure.” He took a sharp breath, obviously experiencing pain. “Anyway, it doesn’t mean a thing. I never said so, but I always thought that my son-in-law was a shady character. I think he got himself into something he couldn’t handle. Somebody out there is probably still walking around, free as a damn bird.”

“Was he dealing drugs?” Alvarez asked.

Gallagher shook his head. “I wouldn’t know, detective.”

Alvarez removed his glasses and cleaned them. “You know as well as I do that Rose, Julia and Kevin all had a motive to kill Colin Hurst.” Alvarez paused and then added, “And so did you.”

Gallagher looked down at his hands. “Well, Detective Alvarez, phone records will show my daughter called me. I was home. Cell tower will show that. Kevin’s parents will vouch for him. No luck there for you.” He grabbed a tissue and blew his nose. “Weapon’s never been found and maybe you can place Rose at the scene, but there was no weapon and no powder burns were found on her hands. And Julia? No powder burns on her hands either. She didn’t have to kill that shitbird. All she had to do was file for divorce, which was exactly what she planned.”

Alvarez nodded. “Yeah, that all checks out, but it seems odd doesn’t it that neither you nor Rose were checked for powder burns.” 

“They checked us both the next day. Our clothing too.”

Alvarez laughed. “Let me tell you something, Sergeant Gallagher. I think you or your wife shot and killed Hurst. Most likely your wife with your daughter’s help setting him up.” He walked to the front door taking his time. “Sooner or later, I’ll make one of them or both of them break. That’s a promise.”

“Go back to California,” Gallagher said. “Better yet, go straight to hell.”

The following morning, Alvarez sat in the captain’s office to explain his theory. “I just brewed some coffee. Help yourself," the captain said. Alvarez got up and poured a cup.

After reviewing his interviews with family members, he said, “Julia was having an affair with Kevin. At some point it got serious and she wound up pregnant. Her husband was screwing up at work and Stamen senior forced his son, Kevin, to get rid of the guy.”

“And?” the captain asked.

“Now Kevin is worried about not only Julia’s well-being, but his unborn child. We know Julia had told Kevin about being abused. Who knows how violent Hurst might get, unemployed and a baby on the way? Kevin decides to get a divorce. Julia is supposed to do the same, only she also sees a chance to collect half a million dollars in insurance.”

“So, she sets up a hit? I mean we know she didn’t pull the trigger. No powder burns.”

Alvarez nodded. “Unless it was a professional hit arranged by Julia and Kevin, we have two suspects then. Rose and Dennis Gallagher. I’d be willing to bet that Julia slipped a couple of Ambiens to Colin to knock him out, but I doubt we’d ever find a trail that would lead us to a hired gun. Anyway, I doubt that Julia would conjure a story about being abused and then go that route.”

Alvarez refilled his coffee cup. “Kevin’s parents will vouch for their son. Say he was with them that night.” The father, is a possibility, but I doubt he did it. Nobody checked the mother or the father for powder burns that night.”

The captain flushed. “No, that got missed somehow.”

The detective sat back. He tapped his pencil on the conference room table. “Rose Gallagher lied to me. She acted like she didn’t know her daughter got the life insurance money. But Julia says different. And my gut is telling me she probably hid the gun from her husband twice. She kept it the second time.”

“You think Rose pulled the trigger?” the captain asked.

“I think she had it in her. Maybe the fifty grand her daughter gave her was a payoff. I’m sure she wanted her daughter to be happy and she believed what her daughter said about what Hurst was doing to her. Now there was gonna be a grandchild. It all adds up.”

Captain Bradford nodded. “What doesn’t make sense is Dennis or Julia putting Rose at the scene. Why not leave her out of it altogether? Dennis has the phone record to back him up and Julia was checked for burns that night.”

“Yeah, I think they didn’t have a choice. There are no records of a phone call between Rose and Julia or Rose and Dennis. You gotta figure that under the circumstances, that would be highly unlikely. Gallagher would know that.”

“What about the gun?” the captain asked. “I don’t think that’s going to turn up, do you?”

Alvarez shook his head.  “Rose knows how investigations are done. My guess is she tossed it and we’ll never find it,” Alvarez said.

“I guess this case is destined to stay cold,” the captain said. “I think you may have solved it, though. We just can’t prove it.”

“I think we should bring the mother and daughter in for questioning, together. Rose will be here in a few days to visit her daughter. Let’s give the media the story. “California cold case specialist thinks he may have solved the Hurst murder.’”    

“I can see why you might like that, but the case isn’t solved and it isn’t likely to be solved.” The captain reached in his pocket for his cigarettes, a habit he’d never been able to break in spite of the fact that he’d quit smoking a dozen years ago. “I don’t have to tell you that some of our officers have been a bit rough on you for going all out to solve this case.”

“Yeah, I’ve had words with a few of them. I think most of them get it, but some don’t.”

Bradford doubted that many of them got it, but he let it go. “You remember I asked you to handle it like a routine cold case, go through the motions?”

“I do. And do you remember I told you I don’t work that way?”

“Yeah, and you see what it got you. Half the force wants you gone.” He paused to let it sink in.

“Dennis Gallagher was a hell of a cop. Never took a penny to look the other way. Did his job by the book. Played it straight like you. Now, the man is dying. Whatever happened that night in his daughter’s home, whoever put that bullet in that jerk’s head, doesn’t matter now.”

“You want me to drop it because Sergeant Gallagher was a good cop and his daughter says her husband was a dog?”

“I can’t tell you what to do. You can take it to the chief if you like. Or run to the press. In the end, you don’t have a case. You’re a good cop. I just don’t want you to wind up working as a security guard at L.L Beane in Freeport.”

Portland Police Chief, Joann Sampson, listened carefully to Alvarez as he explained his theory of the Hurst case. “You realize if you’re wrong, or if the family doesn’t run scared, you are going to look bad. Some cops think you’re just doing this to make a name for yourself.”

“What do you think?” Alvarez asked.

“I’ll let you try this, but either way, we are going to take a lot of heat inside the department.” She reached for her lip gloss and applied it to her lips. “To answer your question, I don’t believe we have the right to choose who we go after, based on circumstances. Maybe Hurst was an abuser and Ms. Stamen was frightened for her life. She has the right to defend herself, or seek help, but we don’t allow people to shoot others in cold blood. The man was shot in the back of the head. I’ll back you up and I’ll see to it that Captain Bradford does the same.”

Two days later, officers brought Rose Gallagher and Julia Stamen in for questioning. The news article appeared the same day. When they arrived at the precinct, each with an attorney present, both lawyers made it clear their clients would have nothing to say. The assistant district attorney then swore out arrest warrants for Rose and Julia for conspiracy to commit murder, based on circumstantial evidence. It wasn’t a strong case, but the assistant DA agreed to go along. While they were being fingerprinted, Dennis Gallagher walked into the precinct with the aid of two fellow retired police officers.

He was carrying a brown paper bag, which he threw on Bradford’s desk. The sound it made left little doubt about its contents. But the captain asked anyway. “Dennis, what the hell is this?”

“It’s my confession. I shot that bastard. The gun, the bullet and shell casing are in the bag. DNA test is gonna show the slug went through his brain.”

A lab specialist was called to open the bag and handle the contents properly. “Was it your service weapon?” Bradford asked. 

“That’s right. It was mine. I found it a month after I bought a new one. Now will you release Julia and Rose? There’s no call for keeping them here. And I don’t want my daughter to see me getting processed.”

Bradford called Detective Alvarez, who was in the interrogation room getting ready to talk to Julia and Rose. “Come to my office. We have a break in the Hurst case.”

As soon as Alvarez saw Dennis Gallagher and the brown bag, he knew what was up. He questioned Gallagher about the gun. “Why didn’t you tell me you found your original service revolver?”

“That’s obvious, isn’t it? I knew I might have to confess one day. That day is here.” He smiled. “Looks like you solved another case.”

An hour later, Bradford called Alvarez into his office. “What do you think?”

“I think Rose and Julia conspired to eliminate Hurst. They panicked as soon as they did it. The daughter called her father. He got rid of the gun and counted on his status as a retired cop to make sure the officers on duty weren’t so thorough.”

“Yeah, that phone call to her father is on the record,” the captain said. “He saved his daughter again.”  

Rose Gallagher and Julia Stamen walked out of the precinct free and clear of all charges. Sergeant Dennis Gallagher, retired, was placed under house arrest awaiting trial. He died in his home, surrounded by his family, one month later.

Officially, Alvarez got no credit for solving the case. Two months later, he moved to Boston where he works in homicide.