Page 20 of Drowning in Lies
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 toyourbank 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."
