PART 5 by Kelly


"Her name was Greer Garnett. She worked at the Anderson Reed Home for
Unwed Mothers. She lived in an apartment with her boyfriend on Central Street;
the same apartment building as you did, Tom. His name is Zach Richards. Here
is the information." Harry handed the file to Cassy who had her head in her
hands. "Well? Don't just sit there. Go, go, go."

Tom took the file from Cassy. "Excuse her Harry. She had a large lunch that
didn't agree with her. Come on Cass. We have work to do."

Cassy looked up at Tom and Harry but all she could see was faces swimming in
front of her.

"Be back" were her only words before running to the bathroom.

Harry looked at Tom, who shrugged his shoulders. "It was a really big lunch."


Tom and Cassy pulled up to Greer's apartment. Tom looked around. He smiled
at Cassy. "The place never changes. It seems like a hundred years ago when I
lived here, fresh out of the police academy. My first real pad. . .my bachelor
pad."

"Yes, it was a bachelor pad, complete with vinyl furniture, clothes kept in a box,
plastic utensils and paper plates, lumpy bed and couch. The place was
disgusting."

"You said you loved it here. We even talked about you moving in."

"It was an idea you had. There was no way I was going to live in that place."

"Cass, I can't believe you're saying these things. We spent a lot of nights here."

"And we spent a lot more at my place where the sheets were clean, the
silverware and plates were real, the furniture was nice and the bed was a
dream. Why do you think you moved in with me after we were married?"

"Because your place was bigger?"

Cassy patted him on his cheek. "Of course. Now lets go visit Mr. Richards."


"No. Not Greer. Not her. You're wrong." Zach Richards glared at Tom.
"Greer is not dead. She's coming home. She said so." Anger turned to tears
and Zach collapsed on the floor.

Cassy hated this part of the job. She sat down next to the crying man and
handed him the box of tissues on the end table. "I'm sorry Mr. Garnett.
Her fingerprints were on file with Memorial Hospital when she worked there
last year. Her mother is on her way out to make a positive identification. I'm
sorry Mr. Richards, but Greer is dead."

Zach stopped crying and wiped his tears. "No one has IDed the body yet?
Then there is a chance it's not Greer. Right?"

Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo. "This was the ring she was
wearing on her left hand. Does it look familiar?"

Zach glanced at the picture. "No, oh God no." He put his head in his hands
and began to cry.

Tom and Cassy were silent for a couple minutes. Mr. Richards was obviously
upset but he had answers they needed. Finally Tom spoke first.

"Mr. Richards, we need to ask you some questions."

"Sergeant Ryan, have you ever been married?" Tom was surprised by the
question.

"Yes. Yes, I have. Mr. Richards, we need to ask you about Greer."

"Was it a happy marriage?"

Tom was losing control of the conversation. "Mr. Richards, we need to talk to
you about Ms. Garnett." Tom could see the pain in his eyes. "I was never
happier than when I was married."

"Marrying Greer was the best thing I ever did." Zach got up and walked over
to the bookshelf and took down a framed picture and handed it to Tom.

"This was us on our wedding day."

Now it was Cassy's turn to be surprised. "You and Greer Garnett were married?
We were under the impression the two of you were just living together."

"That was the impression we wanted to give." Zach took a deep breath and sat
on the couch, still clutching the picture. "You ever hear of Garnett Candy?"

Tom thought about the box of candy on his kitchen table. "They make the best
fudge I ever had."

"That was Greer's family. They are rich. Richer than rich. Greer had the best
of everything growing up. The best schools, the best friends, even the best of
suitors. In fact, that was how we met. I'm a construction worker and was
hired to build a house for Greer and her fiancee to move into after they were
married. We met, instant attraction. She left her fiancee broken hearted and we
ran off together."

Cassy took out her notebook. "Who was her fiancé?"

"Winston Brooks, the third. He's a corporate attorney. He handles all the
business for the Garnett family."

"How long ago did they break up?"

"It was three years ago last month. Greer and I left California and came here.
Her family threatened to cut her off completely, especially her mother, if she
didn't leave me and return home. She refused. So they did."

Cassy looked at the picture. "So if she was cut off from her family, why keep
your marriage a secret?"

"It was my idea. Greer wanted to tell everyone but I asked her not to. I didn't
want to be the cause of anymore problems with her and her parents. As long as
her mother thought we were just living together, then there was a chance that
they could reconcile one day. You see, Sergeants, the same thing happened
between my parents and grandparents years ago. I didn't want our children to
go through what I went through. So we ran off to Vegas and got married in a
little chapel there."

"How long were you married?"

"Seven months."

Tom and Cassy looked at each other. Their own union only lasted seven
months.

"Did anyone ever find out about the marriage?" Cassy was still taking notes.

"No one knew we were married. The only people who knew were the two of us,
this couple from the chapel, and this older man Greer had met in the park a few
days earlier. He gave her away. I never knew his name."

Cassy looked at the happy couple in the picture. Just looking at them you'd
never know they weren't supposed to be together. "How did she end up at
Anderson Reed Home for Unwed Mothers?"

"We needed the money. I was working construction and she needed a job.
She had all this fancy education but no work experience. The best she could
do was working for a doctor scheduling surgeries."

Cassy's phone rang. She left to answer it and Tom resumed with the questions.

"Why did she leave?"

"She said it was because she wanted more of a challenge. The doctor she
was working for recommended her to Anderson Reed."

"What did she do there?"

"Answered phones mostly. But she didn't want to talk about it. It was odd.
We always talked about our day. Anyway, she wanted to be challenged.
So she decided to see her boss about getting more involved."

"What happened?"

"That's when she changed."

"How so?"

"She became withdrawn at first. Then scared. When I asked her how work was
she'd clam up and change the subject. She wouldn't answer the phone or the
door and she wouldn't leave the house. Three days ago, she quit her job. She
begged me to leave everything behind and run. We agreed; we'd done it before
because of her parents."

"What happened?"

"The next day, she called and left a message on the machine at home and said
she'd changed her mind and wanted to stay. I had returned home from tying up
a few loose ends before we left. She said they had given her a better position
at work and she had to leave immediately for Miami. She said she'd be home
either the next morning or that afternoon. I had just checked the messages when
you arrived."

"Can we hear that message?"

Zach played the message for Tom and Cassy, who had just finished her call.
It was exactly as he said it was. Hearing Greer's voice was more than Zach
could handle and his eyes began to tear.

Tom handed him his business card. "Call me if you remember anything else."
He glanced at the wedding photo on the coffee table. "She was very beautiful."

All Zach could do was smile.


Once they returned to the car, Cassy turned to Tom. "Gimme."

"I hate it when you do that."

"You do?" Cassy said in her most innocent voice.

"You know I do. Anyway, I say the husband didn't do it."

"I agree. My instinct tells me he's clean all the way."

"He really loved her."

Cassy laughed. "How could you tell?"

"His eyes, Cass. He has the eyes of a heartbroken man. I know the feeling.
That wife I mentioned in there broke my heart when she left."

Cassy sighed. Tom always knew where to hit for best effect. "I'm sure she
didn't mean to hurt you."

"Mean to or not, she did."

"Tom, please don't." Guilt in small amounts was one thing but Cassy was not up
for another rendition of 'Cassy-broke-Tom's-heart-when-she-left' speech. She
decided to change the subject. "Mike called. He wants to see us, pronto."


"The victim did not die due to drowning. She was dead when she hit the water.
Cause of death, suffocation." Mike was saying as he took Tom through his
findings.

Cassy stared at the young woman whose life had ended so soon. All she wanted
was to be with the man she loved. She looked up at Tom. There was a time
when they would have done anything to be together. She turned her attention
back to Mike.


"Well?" Harry was waiting for them when they returned.

"Well what Harry?"

"What did you find at Greer Garnett's home? What did her boyfriend have
to say?"

"Husband." Cassy was feeling tired. She began to rub her neck.

"She has a husband too?"

Tom noticed Cassy and decided to cut this meeting short and get her home.

"No, Harry. Zach Richards is her husband. They had been secretly married
for a few months."

"But why the secrecy? What were they hiding?"

While Tom relayed that afternoon's conversation with Zach Richards, Cassy
began to turn green. Tom finished the same time Cassy made a dash for the
bathroom.

Harry turned to Tom. "Again?"

"She'll be okay after a good night's rest. I'm going to take her home now."

"You do that. Tomorrow investigate that Winston Brooks and the Anderson
Reed place."

"Sure thing, Harry."

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End part 5


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