Page 45 of The Perfect Deception
“I don’t consider it unethical to do everything within my power to bring killers to justice.Now either your clientisthat killer or he’s impeding our ability to eliminate him as a suspect.Either way, that’s a bad look.”
“It was fraud, okay!”Golden blurted out.
“Tommy, stop,” Halloran snapped.
"No way.Look, I defrauded a couple of middle-aged ladies back in Virginia.It was this scheme involving fake jewelry.It went bad, so I bolted to Tennessee and got involved with some stuff there, where I pretended to be an art dealer.The FBI started poking around so I paid someone to help me disappear.My real name is Alvin Cruvelli.I got new ID and came out here to start fresh.But I got into debt and felt trapped.So I faked the personal training certification.But I swear, I basically went straight after that.I have legit income from this job and I really like it.I'm good at it too.I just don't have the official paperwork.And I definitely didn't kill anyone."
Halloran was shaking her head in frustration.But to her credit, she rebounded quickly.
“So as you can clearly see, my client’s legal hiccups don’t rise anywhere near the level of murder.”
“That hasn’t been established yet,” Ryan said before turning his attention to the former Tommy Golden.“Maybe now’s a good time to tell us about your participation in these ‘life swaps.’Did you get involved in order to steal from these couples?To try to finagle gifts out of them?”
“No!”He sounded genuinely surprised at the allegation.“I’ll admit that I didn’t say ‘yes’ for the reason I gave Elise.When she mentioned the idea, she said it might offer me a chance to see what married life was like without the real responsibility.I said that sounded cool, and I guess I meant that at the time, but I really agreed because it seemed like an easy way to live large and get with hot women without any strings attached.”
“What do you mean?”Ryan asked.
Golden—or Alvin—shrugged.
“These people lived in huge mansions that I got to enjoy for the time I was there.I wasexpectedto take advantage of everything they had.And maybe I shouldn’t be proud of this part, but it was a no-strings way to have a good time.These wives liked to keep in good shape.They wanted to hook up as a way to spice things up in their marriages.And their husbands were okay with it.It all just fell into my lap.I didn’t have to worry about dating in this new city that I was unfamiliar with.And there was no real commitment.Once the swap was over, I left.No guilt.No expectations.Or at least that was the way it was supposed to be.”
“Supposed to be?”Jessie pressed.
Alvin Cruvelli sighed.“It’s never as simple as that, is it?One of the wives—Olivia Maplewood—wanted to do another swap.But I guess her husband didn’t love how enthusiastic she was about it.He complained to Elise; said he wanted to have a heart-to-heart with me.That didn’t sound fun.Then I heard through the grapevine about some guy who supposedly became obsessed with the other wife in his swap, and how his own wife ended up killing herself out of shame.I just didn’t want any part of a mess like that.So I basically stopped doing them.”
Jessie looked over at Ryan and saw that he was thinking the same thing she was.This guy’s whole story could be completely bogus, but it had the ring of truth to it.They’d need to check his alibi for both nights, but she had the sinking feeling that he was going to come up clean.
And if he did, that meant there was still a killer on the loose.And evening was fast approaching
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
By 3 P.M., they had managed to confirm Tommy Golden aka Alvin Cruvelli's alibis for both nights.Jessie had already suspected that would be the case and, after telling Elise Prager that she could go home for the time being, she let the other team members wrap up the alibi stuff while she moved onto something new.
Alvin Cruvelli’s mention of the life swap that led to obsession and suicide—clearly a reference to Walter and Vanessa Winston—had her re-thinking things.
She wondered if they’d perhaps been too quick to accept Walter Winston’s alibi.They still hadn’t encountered anyone else with a more compelling motive.The swap with Craig and Miriam Spaulding had eventually led to the implosion of his life and his wife’s death.It wasn’t hard to imagine a man who’d already shown a troubling fixation on other swap partners wanting to punish those who had better experiences than him.
He'd claimed that he only knew Olivia Maplewood and Cassandra Dominik casually, through parties at their homes and a community Facebook group.And his alibi for the night of their murders had mostly held up, though it wasn’t rock solid.
He claimed to be at his apartment and his phone and car GPS data supported that.But there was always the remote possibility that he had snuck out past the nearby security cameras or paid someone to do his dirty work.
Plus, their interview yesterday with Winston had taken place before the deaths of either Robert Patel or Mark Tropper so they’d never checked his alibi for last night.Though Jessie was worried that she was going down a rabbit hole, it was the only hole she could find, so she kept at it.
“I think we should re-interview Walter Winston,” she announced to everyone assembled in the research department.“I also think we should dig into his marriage some more, and his finances, to see if there’s anything unusual.”
When Ryan asked why, she explained her reasoning.He didn’t object.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said, standing up.“Nettles is back on duty.Why don’t I take him and have another chat with Winston?That will allow you to follow up on the marriage and financial stuff.”
Jessie stared at him hard, well aware of what her husband was doing.He was concerned that if she was right, and Winston was their guy, there might be some sort of confrontation that could put her at risk.Or alternatively, that despite her two months in treatment, she might lose control and do something to Winston that couldn't be undone.
In the past, she would have balked.But the truth was that she had the same concerns.Under normal circumstances she’d want to test her resolve and see how far she’d come.But being sleep-deprived and off the job for two months, maybe this wasn’t the best time for her to test herself.
“Okay.While you’re at it, it might also be a good idea to post roving patrols in the neighborhood to look for anything out of the ordinary.We’re getting later in the afternoon.Whoever is doing this—Winston or someone else—might already be prepping to try again tonight.”
Ryan looked slightly surprised that she’d acquiesced to his request so easily, but didn’t say so.Instead, he nodded at her suggestion, gave her a quick peck on the lips, and left before she could change her mind.With him gone, it was now just the research gang in the room.Jamil and Beth were studying their monitors but Hannah was looking at her knowingly, as if she understood the real reason her sister had acceded to Ryan.
Not wanting to go there, Jessie launched in.“So let’s dig into this.Jamil, can you review Winston’s financials?Look for anything odd in the last few months—large withdrawals or smaller, regular ones that could add up and pay for a hit.Beth, I’d like you to pull up everything you can find on Vanessa Winston’s suicide, including police interviews that Walter may have given about it after the fact.Maybe he said something back then that could suggest a motive now.Hannah, I know that Elise Prager’s files are a mess, but I’d appreciate it if you could go over them again.Perhaps there’s a swap in there we missed or another time where Winston requested one and was rebuffed.Maybe we can pin down our next victim that way.Who wants help?”
