Chapter 10 The Video

I sighed as I shut down my laptop. "Ok, I'm going upstairs to freshen up and then we need to go, or we'll be late to meet Det. Horton."

I went upstairs to run a brush through my hair and put a little makeup on to try to cover the worst of the dark circles. It didn't really help, but I supposed nobody expected me to look my best right now anyway.

I headed back downstairs to find Chris and Sherry waiting for me. "Let's get this shitshow on the road," she snarked as she slung her arm over my shoulder to lead me out to their car.

"Would you guys mind if I stayed with you for a few more days?" I asked from the backseat as we started the drive back to my house.

Sherry looked over her shoulder at me and frowned. "You don't even have to ask. Pack some more of your clothes while you're at the house today and stay with us as long as you need to, honey."

I smiled gratefully. "I can't thank you guys enough for everything you've done for me. I feel bad that you've both had to miss work to help me deal with all of this shit."

Chris spoke up, catching my eye in the rear-view mirror. "I've been able to work from home a bit, and have one of the other attorneys filling in for me at the office on anything that can't wait. Luckily, I don't have any court appearances until Thursday."

"And I have my assistant manager running the flower shop this week. She's more than capable and understands that my bestie needs me. There's nowhere else I'd be than by your side right now, you know that," she stated firmly.

I reached up and squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks, Sher."

We reached my house all too soon. I was dreading this, but desperately wanted to get it over with. Detective Horton was waiting on the porch with another man in a suit and two uniformed officers.

As we got out of Chris's car, Det. Horton walked down the steps to greet us, leaving his entourage waiting by the front door.

"Good morning, Mrs. Montgomery," he said with a polite smile, extending his hand to shake mine. "Mr. and Mrs. Decker, thank you for joining us this morning." He shook their hands as well, as I reminded him to call me Lila.

"Please, detective, I really would prefer you call me Lila. There is no need to stand on formalities at this point."

He gave a small smile. "No, I suppose not. Feel free to call me James, by the way."

We walked toward the porch, and I led the way to the front door with my keys in hand. I unlocked the door and pushed it open. The alarm beeped as it engaged, and I typed in the code on the keypad to disarm it. Everyone trailed in behind me, except for the two uniformed officers who apparently were going to stand guard outside while the search was conducted.

"Let me introduce everyone quickly, and then we can speak for a few minutes before we get started today. Lila, this is Det. Mike Dobrowski from the fraud unit." He then gestured to each person as he identified us. "Mike, this is Lila Montgomery, and her friends Christopher and Sherry Decker."

Det. Dobrowski stepped forward to shake my hand. "Ma'am, we appreciate your cooperation, and I would like to extend my condolences for your loss."

I chuckled darkly, "Oh, I'm not sure that's necessary, detective, given everything I've learned since Sunday."

He looked supremely uncomfortable, and I took pity on him. After all, it wasn't his fault that my husband had turned out to be a rat-bastard. "Sorry, detective, but I'm a little bitter at the moment. But please, call me Lila." He inclined his head and gave me a small smile before directing his attention back to James Horton.

"Lila, the evidence technicians will be here in about fifteen minutes to help us conduct the search, but I need to let you know a few things in the meantime. Can we have a seat for a moment?"

"Of course," I said. "Let's go into the dining room. Would anyone care for something to drink?" They shook their heads, and we took seats around the table.

James gave me a sympathetic look before he began speaking. "First of all, the coroner will be releasing David's body this afternoon. The physical examination has been completed and documented, and blood and tissue samples have been taken for analysis. We are still awaiting the results of the full toxicology screening, but the initial blood work showed trace amounts of cocaine in his system."

I closed my eyes for a moment, then sat quietly as Chris and Sherry expressed their disbelief. James noticed my lack of reaction. "Lila, were you aware of David's drug use?"

I shook my head. "No, but I'm not sure anything would surprise me at this point. So, he drowned because he was high?" I asked.

"No, he didn't have enough in his system to incapacitate him. There were no signs of hardcore abuse, so we assume it was recreational usage."

"So, what is the official ruling on his death then?" Chris asked. The attorney in him always needed to check allthe facts.

"The primary cause of death is drowning, but there is no ruling yet on any secondary factors," he said, addressing his comment to Chris.

"Meaning?" Chris asked with a raised brow.

"Meaning that a determination hasn't been made as to whether it was accidental or deliberate."

I looked at Chris for clarification. "He means they are still trying to determine if it was an accident and he simply hit his head, fell in and drowned, or whether it was suicide or foul play - is that correct, Detective Horton?"

"It is." James looked at me and continued. "We have had a lot of information that's come to light since your husband died, and it unfortunately leaves us with a lot more questions than answers at this point. Detective Dobrowski has been brought in as a result of information found on David's laptop and cell phone records."

Det. Dobrowski jumped in at that point. "Lila, when we completed our initial exam of David's laptop, our computer tech found a spreadsheet which appears to track money he received from unknown sources. According to our forensic accountant, the dates and amounts match deposits made into a bank account in David's name at Indy Regional Bank. We compared those dates and amounts to your bank accounts at Midwest Financial after you granted us access yesterday evening, and most of the deposits match. There are still a few unknown deposits that we are trying to track down. I have a printout of the spreadsheet and will need for you to look at it to help us determine if those were legitimate transactions that you authorized."

"Detective Dobrowski -" Chris began before being interrupted.

"Please, call me Mike. It will be much less confusing."

"Mike, we have learned that David somehow got his name added on to the deed for a condo owned solely by Lila's real estate holding company. He had taken out a sizeable mortgage on that condo as well as on this house and a villa in Maui - both of which he legitimately owned with Lila. She was unaware of the mortgages, yet somehow they were taken out in both of their names. David's brother Scott is a mortgage broker, which may explain how that happened. These mortgages total over $3 million dollars, not a penny of which was deposited into any of the accounts under Lila's name nor into their joint accounts. By the way, we suspect that Vanessa Caldwell is currently living in the condo."

The two detectives shared a look and Mike gave a low whistle under his breath. "Well, that explains three of the unknown deposits we found," he said with a shake of his head. "We suspect that David was also misusing company funds. Another detective from my department is at his office now with a couple of evidence techs executing a search warrant."

"I'm surprised that Randall wouldn't just agree to a search," I said, and Mike hesitated before answering.

"He has been very cooperative with my partner, according to a text I received as you were pulling into the driveway. The simple fact is that we don't know for certain who may have been assisting David. By obtaining a warrant - rather than permission as we did with you - it eliminated the possibility that an accomplice could have been warned of our intentions and destroyed or removed any evidence."

"But you weren't concerned about getting a search warrant for my house?" I asked, needing to clarify the situation.

Mike gave me a small smile. "No, from the other evidence on David's laptop, it is very clear that you are the victim in this case, not an accomplice."

I nodded in relief as Chris spoke up. "What other evidence are you referring to?"

Mike and James looked at each other in some sort of silent communication before James answered him. "There were videos on the laptop, which appear to have been recorded at David's company office as well as the office here. Someone, we assume David, had cameras placed in both locations - for what reason we aren't sure. That is actually the main cause for our search here today. Something happened in the office here that David wanted to record, either because the cocaine use was making him paranoid, or he simply didn't trust the people he was interacting with."

"OK, so something on one of those videos indicated that Lila wasn't involved in any way?" Chris's analytic mind again demanded that everything be spelled out and confirmed.

James looked at me, and his usually stern expression softened. "Lila, the earliest video on the laptop was a conversation between David and Scott, in which David mentions giving you sleeping pills to knock you out on several occasions. It appears that he was trying to disorient you and get you to sign authorizations and legal documents while under the effects of the medicine." I stilled as I absorbed his words, feeling the ever-present ball of dread expanding in the pit of my stomach.

James hesitated and glanced at Chris and Sherry before continuing. "Lila, I'm so sorry, but David mentioned slipping pills to you before your miscarriage. He told Scott that he thought that may have caused it.It's clear that he was drugging you to manipulate you, and a few of the other videos go into more detail on his scheme."

I closed my eyes in remembered pain and tried to breathe deeply through the crushing weight in my chest. Sherry grabbed my hand and squeezed it as I heard Chris asking to see the video.I opened my eyes to see James tapping on the screen of the tablet he had with him, before turning the screen to face me.Chris and Sherry got up and stood behind me so they could see the screen as well.

"This is the earliest video on his laptop," he said. "Just hit the play button."

As I did, a video of David and Scott came into view.It appeared to be recorded from somewhere behind David's desk.In it, David was leaning back, sitting with his feet propped up on his desk and Scott sprawled in the chair in front of it.As they started speaking, I pressed the button on the screen to turn up the volume.

The first few minutes were just general chit chat about a NASCAR race they'd watched that afternoon.Then David remarked, "I can't believe I lost a thousand bucks because he blew a goddamned tire with one lap left to go!" Scott just laughed, and David flipped him off.

The topic of conversation shifted to me as Scott asked how I was feeling, and when I would be released from the hospital.David told him I would be discharged the following day, and that he really needed to get back to the hospital to sit with me.Scott chuckled and agreed.

"Where the fuck does she think you are right now?" he asked, then laughed again when David explained that he'd lied and said he needed to get some things wrapped up at work so he could take off the next day to bring me home and spend the day with me.

"What did you tell her about last night?" he asked after that.

"Well, I sure as hell didn't tell her I was fucking that hot redhead I met last weekend.I told her I was out wining and dining a new client and didn't realize the ringer on my phone was off."

"And she believed that shit?" Scott asked.

"Why the hell wouldn't she? We're soulmates, remember?" he sneered. My stomach rolled as I remembered referring to us that way in the wedding vows we'd written. He had called me the love of his life, and I had said we were soulmates.

"God, you are the luckiest fucking asshole on the planet. Your wife is gorgeous, rich, and totally fucking clueless."

"You forgot to add that I got to spend the evening fucking Trisha's brains out.You wouldn't believe what a screamer she was.I thought for sure the hotel was gonna kick us out."

He and Scott laughed as Scott made a lewd thrusting motion with his pelvis.I felt sick watching them.I vaguely registered Chris and Sherry both cursing behind me as they watched.

"I am going to have to watch it with the sleeping pills for a while though. I read the warning labels this morning, and it can cause pregnancy complications, so that may have been what caused her to lose the baby. I just hope it doesn't show up in her system in any of the tests they've run on her."

"That's a damn shame. It's working perfectly to drive her nuts.I could hardly keep a straight face last week when Sherry asked her about the trip. Lila had no fucking idea what she was talking about, and you could tell she thought she was losing her mind when you showed her the tickets she'd ordered online and the texts she'd sent you about it.I can't believe she can have entire conversations and work on the computer in her sleep, man.That's some crazy shit."

"Well, lucky for me she does, or I couldn't get her to do half the shit I need to access the money. She's signed so much shit in her sleep it's unreal. And if she ever finds out about the mortgage I took out on the house, you covered my ass by getting her on video where she signed for the fucking thing."

"Yeah, you fucking owe me for that, bro.God, can you imagine showing her that video? She'd be ready to check herself in to the nuthouse," Scott joked. "It's too bad we didn't think of taping her when she signed for the Maui mortgage."

"I'm not worried about it.She hasn't caught on yet, and if she ever does, I'll have her and everyone else convinced she's crazy by that point."

David's cellphone rang on the desk, and he answered it. From his end of the conversation, it was clear that it had been Sherry calling to ask when he would be returning to the hospital.

"Hey Sherry, how is she? Everything OK?" he asked, the concern in his voice clearly faked.He paused to listen to her response, then told her he was just about finished up at work and would be back at the hospital in an hour or so. "Yeah, I was able to clear my schedule so I can spend all day with her tomorrow.Thanks for sitting with her so I could come in to work for a while.I didn't want her to be alone."

My stomach rolled as I fought back the urge to vomit. Luckily, the video ended then because I couldn't listen anymore.