A Deadly Fall (13 page)

“I’ll be late to work,” he said, pulling gently away from me.

“Just call in for an hour,” I suggested.

“We’ll have all weekend to be together. I need to shower.”

I followed him to the bathroom, into the shower and we got more time together. Following the shower, we ate breakfast together and then Sam left me alone for the day.

I took the morning slow, giving myself plenty of time to make sure Jack would be awake. But finally I couldn’t put it off any longer, and I drove to the last place I’d seen Sarah alive.

I parked next to what I assumed was Jack’s car, made sure to bring my cell phone in just in case, and knocked on the door. It took longer than I expected, but the door finally opened and I was face to face with my brother-in-law.

“Marissa,” he said, surprise in his eyes.

“Jack. It’s been a while. How are you holding up?” I asked innocently.

“It’s been tough. But I’m getting through,” he told me, looking behind him before stepping aside and waving his arm, inviting me in. “How are you? What are you doing here?”

“About the same—tough, but I’m making it work. I’m here visiting Sam and he told me you were back in town so I thought I’d stop by and say hi.”

“That’s great. Can I get you something to drink—tea, coffee?”

“Tea would be great.” I followed him into the kitchen and was surprised at how inviting the house was now that someone was home again. “What have you been up to? You haven’t been around that last few times I was in town.”

“I didn’t know you were stopping by. I’ve been staying with my brother,” he told me calmly as he put water in the kettle to heat on the stove.

“I forgot you had a brother—a twin, right?” I was skeptical he was there the whole time with all of his credit card activity.

“Yup.”

“Where’s he living?”

“South Carolina. I couldn’t handle staying here without Sarah so I’ve been staying with him the last few months before I figure out where I’m going next.”

“I get that. It’s a big change,” I sympathized.

“But you’ve been coming back a lot, then?”

“Yeah. I’m actually moving here in June. I’m moving in with Sam.”

“That’s great!” he said with genuine enthusiasm. My resolve at questioning him was dwindling. Maybe I just didn’t want Sarah’s death to be her own fault and I was looking for a scapegoat. “Are you going to be able to keep your job?”

“Nope, I just put in my resignation yesterday!”

“Congratulations?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m feeling great about it. Thanks for the tea,” I said as he set two cups on the table and took a seat across from me.

“No problem. It’s really good to see you, Marissa. I’ve had a hard time keeping ties with anyone from our life—people Sarah was closer to than I was. I know I should have made a bigger effort, especially with you, but I ran from my own feelings. I couldn’t face our memories that we couldn’t share anymore. They suddenly became mine, and I didn’t want them.”

I sat silently and let him talk, waiting for him to continue.

“Even Krista and Allen I’ve been bad about keeping in touch with. I heard Krista had her babies recently.”

“Yeah! Last week. I haven’t seen them, but I’ve heard everyone is doing well. They’re all healthy and happy. Two baby girls.”

“That’s great. Sarah would have been so excited for her. She always wanted kids.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Did you always want them too?”

“It took a little longer for me to come around to the idea, but I was really excited the second time she got pregnant. The first time was overwhelming and terrifying, but I was ready the second time. It was really hard on both of us when she lost the baby.”

“Did Sam or Allen tell you the results of the autopsy? I know that’s a while ago, but it came in after the funeral. I don’t know when you left town,” I asked.

“Allen called me that day. Blunt force trauma to the head. Hit her head on the way over the cliff, died before she hit the ground and broke her neck,” he said, looking away.

“Crazy. I didn’t know it was possible to die from a head injury immediately.”

“I guess if it’s a hard enough hit.”

“Did you know she was pregnant?” I asked, bringing the conversation back around the parenthood.

He looked at me with a combination of fear and longing in his eyes. “No.” I hadn’t spent much time with him, but I’d seen enough students lie to know he wasn’t telling me the truth. And Sarah couldn’t keep a secret for the life of her. She would have told him immediately.

“Do you think she knew she was pregnant?”

“She couldn’t have. She wouldn’t have gone hiking if she’d known. After the first two miscarriages, she told me that if she got pregnant again, she’d put herself on bed rest as soon as she found out so there was even less strain on the fetus.”

“That’s what I thought too,” I agreed, not giving away that I didn’t believe a word he was saying. “How’s work going?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I left my job. I tried to get a transfer, but they wanted me here. Even when I offered a pay cut, they said they needed me in this office. So I gave my two week notice and moved to South Carolina. I’ve been living on savings, but those are about to run out, so I’ve started looking for a job down there. I just can’t move back here.” He didn’t reveal anything about his travels.

“Sam said you’re here now to settle the will.”

“Yeah. On Monday. I meant to call you so you could be there. Did the lawyer get in touch with you?”

“No. Sam told me it was scheduled for Monday morning. What time and where?”

“The lawyer’s coming here at nine. Can you come then?”

“Yes. Is it OK if Sam comes too?”

“Sure.” He looked like he was done talking to me, or maybe about Sarah, so I stood to go.

“Thanks for the tea, Jack. It was great to see you. I hope things turn around for you. I’ll see you Monday morning.”

“Thanks for stopping by. Have a good weekend,” he said as he followed me to the door. We didn’t hug, like we used to. I could feel a distance opening up between us that our conversation had started.

I drove back to Sam’s and couldn’t stop thinking about the holes in Jack’s story and the questions I hadn’t asked.

***

Valentine’s weekend with Sam was incredible. But the whole time, I was thinking about seeing Jack again. I was glad Sam would be coming with me so he could gauge Jack’s body language and reactions. Something wasn’t right, and the more time I spent away from him, the more sure I was that he was responsible for Sarah’s death. I just had to prove it.

“Don’t be confrontational at all, just let Jack think we’re there because we love Sarah—which we do—but not because we’re also suspicious of him,” I told Sam Monday morning.

“Marissa, I know. I can’t say I’ve been in this situation before, but I’ve worked plenty of cases where I have to keep a straight face,” Sam reminded me.

“Right. I just know something fishy is going on and I think today will be a good chance to get him to open up and reveal more than he wants.”

“We’ll see what happens,” he said and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head on his chest, my hands around his lower back, and was grateful for his presence.

The drive to Jack’s house seemed instantaneous. There were already two cars in the driveway—one I recognized as Jack’s, the other must have been the lawyer. I was more ready for this than I’d expected.

“Good morning,” Jack said as he opened the door before we knocked. He was expecting us and must have heard the car.

“Morning, Jack,” I said.

“Mr. Tolliday got here early. We’ve been waiting on you to show up before we started going through anything.”

“Thanks. You could have called to let us know to come sooner.”

“This was fine,” he said and we all walked inside.

“You must be Marissa,” Mr. Tolliday said.

“Yes.”

“I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks you. This is Sam,” I said, introducing him.

“Nice to meet you. Shall we get started then?”

We all gave nods of approval and took seats on the couch and chairs in the living room.

I was surprised at all of the legal jargon and was glad that I wasn’t the only one giving a blank stare when I didn’t understand what was going on. Jack also looked lost. Sam stayed quiet, but I could tell he was paying close attention to how Jack reacted to every minute detail.

“I need this all dumbed down,” Jack finally said and I was thankful I wasn’t the one who had to jump in to request an explanation.

“Basically, Sarah is leaving everything to Marissa. She’s been named as the benefactor for the house, which was solely in Sarah’s name, and the savings that were in her own account, as well as her retirement savings and life insurance policy,” Mr. Tolliday explained.

“That can’t be right,” Jack said, shock and anger mixing on his face. “I was with her when we set up the life insurance and we made each other the benefactors.”

“When was that exactly?” Mr. Tolliday asked, looking at the paperwork.

“We bought the policies in 2007, after Sarah had her first miscarriage.”

“I see that the policy was bought in August 2007, and Jack was listed as the beneficiary. However, in March 2008, that was changed to Marissa, and it was never changed again after that.”

“I can’t believe she would do that!” Jack nearly shouted.

“Marissa, the full payment will be $250,000.”

I was in shock. I watched Jack’s face turn red with anger.

“The initial policy had been bought for $100,000, and in August 2009, just one month before her death, it was increased to $250,000,” Mr. Tolliday continued. “The increase was requested and authorized by Jack.”

Jack was looking at his feet now, giving in to his oversight. He hadn’t checked the benefactor when the policy had been increased, and now he had to live with the consequences.

“As for the house, it was bought in 2006, under Sarah’s name only. The benefactor was also changed to Marissa in March 2008. Marissa, what would you like to do with the house? It’s not fully paid off.”

“I want to sell it,” I said without having to think about it. I couldn’t live here.

“I’ll get you in touch with a realtor. In the meantime, I’d recommend you deal with the contents of the house,” he suggested. “Jack, I’m sorry, but nothing has been left to you. Are there any questions about the will?”

Jack and I shook our heads.

“Well, I’ll be on my way then. Marissa, Jack, Sam, thanks for coming out this morning. Here’s my card in case you need to contact me. And again, I’m very sorry for your loss,” Mr. Tolliday said again and left.

“Jack, I had no idea this was how things were going to turn out,” I said quietly. “If you want to stay in the house for a while, or keep anything that belonged to you and Sarah, that’s fine with me. You can have as much time as you need.” I wanted to keep Jack close. Now there was a clear motive. I just had to find out where he really was that Sunday Sarah died.

He didn’t seem to react, just kept staring at his shoes.

“Jack?” I asked.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to turn out. We were married. We were supposed to take care of each other,” he said, his voice slowly rising with each sentence. “And now she just wants to take care of you! What about me? Her husband!”

“Jack, we’re going to go,” I said before he let himself get into a complete rage. Sam and I headed toward the door.

“This isn’t over!” Jack yelled as we closed the door behind us.

“No, Jack, it’s not,” I said only loud enough for Sam to hear.

Sam – February 2010

“Thoughts?” Marissa asked me as I drove her back to my house after meeting with Jack and Mr. Tolliday.

“You’re right, something’s not right,” I agreed.

“I need you to do something for me,” she started. “I need you to pull Sarah’s credit card and bank statements for me leading up to her death. From May through her death. She knew something wasn’t right and she knew she had to get away. I think there’ll be something there to help my case against Jack.”

“I’ll look into it,” I promised. “Did you ever talk to his boss about him leaving or his business trip in September?”

“No. But I know someone at the TSA. I’m going to have her look into Jack’s September flight. I don’t think he left. His reaction wasn’t a grieving husband. Who cares where her assets went? She’s gone. I don’t want this money! He shouldn’t care either!” I could hear Marissa’s voice fill with resentment toward Jack. But I couldn’t deny that she might be right.

“Marissa, be careful when you go digging in the TSA,” I pleaded.

“Sam, this is my sister we’re talking about. When I talked to Jack the other day, he did a good job at making me think he was depressed. But after today, he doesn’t miss Sarah. He wants her money. Let’s talk about motive. He had just increased her life insurance policy to a quarter million dollars! And now he’s pissed that he’s not getting it! And he told me he didn’t know she was pregnant. In any trial, he’d say he increased the policy because Sarah was pregnant, or at the very least that they were trying again.”