THE LAST CASE By
James Blakey
Morris stood at the gravestone next to the woman in black. Lori
Inverso 1974-2018 Beloved Daughter and Sister “Guess ‘Beloved Wife’ was out of the question,” he muttered. *
* *
“And
the last time you saw your
wife?” asked Detective Morris. Paul
Inverso sighed. “Friday,
when she left for work. We’ve been over this a dozen times.” “And
this was at was seven-thirty?” “Yes,
seven-thirty in the morning,”
said Paul. His irritation was obvious. The
detective jotted in his
notebook. “I understand you’re upset, Mr. Inverso. We’re just making
sure we
didn’t miss anything. Any troubles in your marriage?” “Nope,
everything is fine.” An
officer descended the steps carrying
a PC tower. “Hey,
I gave you Lori’s laptop,”
said Paul. “The computer is mine.” “She
doesn’t use it?” asked Morris. Paul
frowned. “I guess she does sometimes.” “Any
objections to having our
techs look at it?” “No,
I just want you to find
her.” The
detective nodded. With almost
twenty-five years on the force, Morris could tell the difference
between the
truth and a lie.
*
* *
“You
claimed everything is fine
with your marriage,” said Morris. “It
is,” said Inverso. “Do
you know a woman Jane Catlin?” “Sure,
she’s a friend of Lori’s.
Lives a couple of blocks over.” “How
would you characterize your
relationship with Ms. Catlin?” “We’re
friendly, neighborly. Like
I said, she’s more of Lori’s friend.” Morris
flipped through his notes.
“I spoke with Ms. Catlin this morning. According to her
characterization,
you’re more the friend than Lori.” Paul
remained silent. “Are
you sure you don’t want to rethink
your last answer?” “Okay,
I’m sleeping with Jane.” Morris
sighed. “It’s never a good
idea to lie to the police. But it’s especially unhelpful when we’re
trying to
find your wife.” “Lori
has no idea. Jane means
nothing to me. Just a harmless flirtation.” “Ms.
Catlin seems to think it’s more
than a flirtation. Says you were going to leave Lori.” “Jane’s
imagining something that
isn’t there. I would never leave Lori.”
*
* *
“The
techs found something
unusual on your computer,” said Morris. “Unusual
how?” asked Paul. “Internet
searches for ‘How to
dispose of a body?’ and ‘Methods to speed up decomposition.’” “I
don’t know anything about
that.”
*
* *
“Any
recent changes in Lori’s behavior?”
asked Morris. “She
did get a phone call a earlier
this month,” said Paul. “It seemed to upset her, but she wouldn’t tell
me what
it was about.” “What
about her routine?” “The
past couple of weeks, she
pulled a few double-shifts at work.” Paul paused. “Or at least she said
she was
working. I was able to hide my affair from her. Maybe she hid one from
me. You
should ask her co-workers at the donut shop.” “We
did. If she were having an
affair, no one noticed.”
*
* *
“We
found your wife’s car
submerged in a lake in the Pine Barrens,” said Morris. “And
Lori?” asked Paul. “No
body. No personal belongings.
But we did find your cell phone in the car. Any idea how it got there?” “It
disappeared around the same
time Lori did. I had to go to Verizon and get a replacement. She must
have
grabbed mine by mistake. She’s done it before.” “If
she grabbed yours by mistake,
then her phone should be in the house. Have you seen it?” Paul
shook his head.
*
* *
“We
found some odd charges on
your credit card,” said Morris. “What
do you mean odd?” asked Paul. “Morturary.com.
Apothecaries ‘R’
Us.” “I’ve
never even heard of them.” “We
pulled the orders. They
shipped eight pounds of sodium hydroxide. That’s lye. And a cadaver
bag.” “This
has to be a set up.” “Really,
Mr. Inverso? Who would
set you up and have access to your
credit card?” “How
about Jane? Maybe she finally
realized I wouldn’t leave Lori.” “That’s
not what she claims.” “She’s
lying. Where was she when Lori
disappeared?” “We
checked. She was at the NJEA
Convention in Atlantic City from Thursday to Sunday. Twenty witnesses
place her
there.” “Maybe,
she has an accomplice.” “Like
a lover?”
*
* *
“Paul
Inverso, you are under
arrest for the murder of your wife, Lori Inverso,” said Morris. “I
didn’t do it!” said Paul.
*
* *
Inverso
Sentenced to Life in Prison
read the headline. The detective put down the paper.
Now he could retire.
*
* *
“Guess
‘Beloved Wife’ was out of
the question,” Morris muttered. The
woman in black chuckled. She wrapped
her arms around him and pulled close. “What now?” asked Lori. “We
start our new life together,”
said the ex-detective.
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