Deer Season (18 page)

“Good idea. I’ll do that,” said Sue.

“We’ve got things to pursue, and you know how an investigation starts to grow once you get into it. It would have been good if we had found some physical evidence that would have quickly led us to the shooter. It didn’t happen, but you gave it your best shot.”

“I know. I’m just frustrated,” said Sue as she carefully ordered and gathered up her materials. “I’ll check with the State Police lab and see if they’ve gotten any results from the letters Lynne received.”

30
Sue Lawrence was chatting with an attractive woman when Ray entered the conference room a few minutes after 9:00. Although they had never been introduced, Ray recognized Elise Lovell immediately. He had seen her around the village at the grocery store, farmers’ market, and perhaps the hardware store— usually in the company of two towheaded children. He could not have helped but notice them; they were always such a happy, energetic trio. And both the mother and children were always dressed in bright colors: reds, yellows, and blues—their coats and hats made of materials with lots of texture. He remembered thinking the woman was probably a weaver, perhaps a spinner, too.

“Sheriff Elkins, this is Elise Lovell.” Sue made the introductions as Ray settled in the chair next to Elise.

“Thank you for coming in,” said Ray. “I imagine Sue has told you that Lynne Boyd’s au pair, Marie, identified you as one of Lynne’s closest friends?”

“We were just chatting about that,” Elise responded. “And Sheriff, I’m very happy to help in any way, but this whole thing is just beyond my comprehension. And…” she reached for a tissue from a box at the center of the table.

“I understand how difficult this must be for you.” Ray stopped and waited for her to regain her composure. “We were hoping that you might be able to tell us about Lynne. I hope you could give us a sense of what was going on in her life. Did she share with you anything that you think might help us in this investigation?

“But perhaps we should start at the beginning. How long have you known Lynne, how did you meet?”

“I met her when I was pregnant with Justin, he’s my second. We actually met in the waiting room of our OB/GYN. We started talking and hit it off right away. In the beginning we’d occasionally meet for coffee, and then after her twins were born we sort of lost contact, just occasional phone conversations for about six months. I did visit her a couple of times at her home. Justin was born about two months after her girls, so I wasn’t getting out much, either.”

“But since then, I gather you did start spending time together.”

“Yes and no,” Elise answered. “She was new to the area and in the process of making friends. I thought she was a natural fit for our circle of friends. My husband and I tried to include them, Lynne and her husband and the girls at social gatherings, but that didn’t quite work out.”

“How so?” asked Sue.

“Let me set the stage a little. You know how people gather, especially people like us with young kids and little money. We do potlucks, drink wine, share food, and let the kids play. We invited them a couple of times to potlucks we were hosting. It was a disaster.”

“Because?”

“Her husband, Dirk. He’s older than us, fifteen or twenty years. And we’ve all been to college; we pretty much have shared values and similar politics. Dirk, he’s from another planet—superior, condescending. You don’t have a conversation with him; you’re an audience as he tells you the truth about whatever the topic is.

“In fairness, we might have been, I don’t know what word to use. Intimidating was floating around in my head, but we’re hardly intimidating. But perhaps because we were younger and more educated, we triggered something in him to cause him to act this way. All I know is that everyone was uncomfortable, and we didn’t include them anymore.”

“But you remained in contact with Lynne?”

“I like her a lot. And we’ve found ways to meet on a fairly regular basis, usually something that involves the kids where we can talk and they can play.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Monday morning at the children’s yoga class; I gather from what I’ve seen on the news the shooting happened not too long after that.”

“Did you talk, have a conversation?”

“It was barely more than, ‘How are you?’ We were late getting there and the kids had a dentist appointment later in the morning.”

“How did she seem?”

“Just the same, glad to be with her girls. Lynne was her happy self. And those girls, they’re so special. I can’t imagine the effect of this trauma. And if she doesn’t make it.” Elise collapsed in tears. She worked to regain control, finally saying, “You were asking about?”

“I was just trying to establish how much time you spent together, and what you might know about her private life. We’re trying to find what prompted this attack, and who might have a motive to do something like this.”

“Your first question. How much time did we spend together? Or did I know her well enough that she might have talked about things other than the merits of different brands of disposable diapers?”

“Yes,” answered Ray.

“I did see her on a regular basis. She knew about my background and realized that she needed to talk to someone.” “Your background?” prodded Sue.

“I’m a psychiatric social worker by training. I did that before we moved here and had a second child.”

“What did Lynne need to talk about?” asked Sue.

“In the beginning it was kid stuff, and that’s before I met Dirk. There were just a lot of things she didn’t know about, what should I call it, the care and feeding of babies. I had a few more years experience, my daughter was two, and I was happy to share what I knew. But then things got a little more involved. She had what probably would be termed as postpartum depression. We spent a lot of time on the phone for several months.”

“Would you tell us what those conversations were about?” asked Sue.

“Am I violating any confidentialities?” she asked. Her question seemed to be as much inner-directed as addressed to Sue and Ray.

“Your conversations were part of a friendship, not a professional relationship. Your cooperation in this investigation might help us quickly find the person responsible for the crime,” said Sue.

“From the outset,” Elise began, after taking a few moments to formulate her answer, “Lynne was just thrilled with those little girls, but then I think she realized that her life was going a whole different direction. For years her ambition was to becomea network news personality, and she had really planned on accomplishing that by sometime in her early thirties. All at once her life had been changed: first by that tragic shooting of her ex-boyfriend, and then by the marriage and the birth of her children. She’s a very ambitious person; she was having difficulty refocusing her life.”

“And there were other issues as time went by?” probed Sue.

“I think she slowly realized how impossible her marriage was,” Elise said. “I mean it was obvious the first time you saw them together. But she didn’t seem to get it. And she’s a very optimistic, determined woman. She was going to make the marriage work somehow.”

“Would she talk about her unhappiness, her frustration…”

“Her frustration with Dirk? She wasn’t ready to say she was unhappy. And most things in her life were good, and she focused on them: the girls, her work, and the house she designed. She acted as her own contractor. I think her dad helped some, but she did most of the work. Dirk didn’t want to be involved.”

“Was there any violence in the marriage?” asked Sue.

“I’m very sensitive to that issue; it came up a lot in my practice. I think I can say with rather great certainty that there was not physical abuse. I’m sure Dirk played mind games, but Lynne’s a strong person. He would have met his match.”

“Would you say that they were loyal to one another?” Ray asked.

Elise looked at Ray. “That question was gently put. Did Lynne think Dirk had other lovers and did Lynne have a secret someone? I can’t really answer your question. We never talked about that possibility. I’ve heard Dirk was a bit of a rake. I don’t know if that is true, but this is a small town and people talk.

“As for Lynne, if something was going on, she never mentioned it to me, and I saw no indications that she might be having an affair. That said, she’s a beautiful, accomplished woman, and I wish she were sharing her days with a loving companion. Life’s too short and happiness is sometimes fleeting.”

“So, as far you know, she had no outside love interest?” Sue asked.

“No.”

“Did she ever say anything to suggest that she was in danger or threatened?”

“Nothing.”

“Did she tell you about receiving some threatening letters?” asked Ray.

“Letters?”

“Letters. Something she might have received at the station.”

“No.”

“Divorce or separation, did that topic ever come up?” asked Ray.

“Not directly,” she responded after clearly taking a moment to think about her response. “A couple of months ago she asked me if I knew anyone who did family law, she said that she wanted to establish a legal guardian for the twins. I wondered at the time if there wasn’t something more going on.”

“Did you give her a name?”

“Martha Grey. We’ve had her do a number of things for us, including establishing guardianships. She’s real good.”

“But the subject of divorce never came up.”

“Not directly.”

“Just a couple of background things, Elise,” said Ray. “How long have you been in the area?”

“Five years this past summer.”

“And what brought you to this neck of the woods?”

“We were looking around. My husband had been teaching at Northern Illinois. When he didn’t get tenure, we decided to think about other things we could do with our lives. I was working at the student health services at the time. His family has had a place up here for generations, and we were invited to spend the summer here. His sister’s husband is a contractor and asked him if he wanted learn how to do trim carpentry. Bob wasn’t sure, but he didn’t have anything else going so he gave it a shot. Turns out he loves carpentry; he’s finding it very rewarding. We both think we’re so lucky to be here, and it’s such a special place to rear children.

“Can you tell me anything new about Lynne. The report I heard on the early news did not say much.”

“You probably know what we know. She’s very seriously injured,” responded Sue.

“Thank you, again, for coming in,” said Ray.

“I can’t imagine I told you anything useful,” Elise said.

“You helped us get a sense of the person, maybe it will help us connect the dots.”

Ray got up and opened the door. After Elise had left the room, he closed the door again and settled back into his chair. “What did we learn?”

“More of the same about Dirk. I don’t know what else,” Sue said.

“Think she’s reliable, or might she cover for a friend?”

“Not under these circumstances. I think she’s credible, but there could be things about Lynne she doesn’t know,” Sueobserved. “Women don’t always tell all like you guys seem to do.”

“Touché,” Rayresponded with a smile. “I’m sure I’d remember if this had happened, but would you check and see if we ever had a domestic violence call….”

“It’s one of the first things I looked at,” Sue responded. “No, there’s not a record, not with Lynne, anyway. And Ray, I would have remembered it, too. I’m less than neutral when it comes to that man.”

31
Sue Lawrence, after first knocking on the doorjamb to get his attention, escorted a woman into Ray’s office.

“Sheriff, this is Mrs. Guerski, Rachael Guerski. She has come in with some information that she feels might have some bearing on the Boyd shooting. She’s shared her story with me, and I want you to hear it.”

Ray rose to greet the woman. He took the hand she extended to him and held it for a long moment. He noted that she was tall and very thin, almost anorexic looking. He guessed her to be in her late thirties, but her fragile physique and the way she carried her body gave her the appearance of a much older woman. Her delicate blond hair was teased into an elaborate hairdo. Soft blue eyeliner and a delicate peach lipstick provide the only hints of color on her pale continence. She was dressed in a dark blue suit with a ruffled white blouse. Ray found her costume curiously formal and somewhat dated. And he noticed that her cloying perfume did little to cover the smell of cigarette smoke that hung to her.

“Please have a seat,” Ray offered, moving to the small conference table in his office. Can we get you some coffee, water, or perhaps a soft drink?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“Mrs. Guerski, would you tell the sheriff what you just told me?” Sue asked after they were seated.

“Rachael, please call me Rachael,” the women requested.

“Rachael,” Sue repeated.

“My husband works at the TV station with Lynne Boyd,” she started, her gaze down at the table. “He’s the sports caster, Biff Guerski.”

“Yes,” said Ray.

“Well, I know that he and Lynne are friends, but lately I’ve found out that he’s been having an affair with her.”

“How do you know this?” asked Ray.

“I discovered it accidentally. I was taking some of his clothes to the cleaners, and as I was going through his pockets I found a credit card slip from a motel in Grayling. I thought that was really strange. I went into his office; Biff has a home office. I never go in there; it’s his private space. But I went in there and looked through the bills that were stacked up in a basket on his desk.” She hesitated a moment and then explained, “Biff, he pays all the bills; I don’t have anything to do with that. Biff has done that from the time we were married. It will be nineteen years this June.” She paused and wiped a tear away with her long, carefully painted nails.

“And you found something?” Ray asked

“I found an American Express bill with four charges to the same motel,” she said, looking up. “Charges to a motel sixty miles away, on Wednesdays. That morning I drove over to Grayling, I didn’t know what else to do. I went to the motel. I needed to see the place.”