Chapter 15. The Plan Jells

Pam opens the work session the following week with, “I hope you don’t mind me leading our meetings, Sam since you’re the board chairman now.”

“No, Pam, these are working sessions, not formal board meetings with minutes. As long as we are working on investigating George’s murder you should continue to lead.”

“Thank you, Sam. Mary, were you able to read the medical examiner’s report?”

Mary replies, “Yes, and he made no mention of George being found on the top of the elevator. Unless the sheriff told others we are the only ones who know besides the sheriff and the killer.”

“Good, that may be useful in getting Lois to say something incriminating if we can get her here. Now did anyone think of more ideas on getting her here in the last week?” Pam asks.

Joe offers, “I think we can build on the idea of using the appointment book. What if we add that there are rumors in the local community that the sheriff didn’t do a thorough investigation and some of the locals are planning to ask the Michigan State Police to investigate? If we mentioned the State Policeman from the station south of us it would get her attention if she’s guilty. He’s the one that has solved several cold cases and even has a book written about one of his cases in our area. Then we could say we are considering whether we should give the appointment book to the State Police.”

Pam thinks silently for a few moments and replies, “I think you are on to something, Joe. Suppose I tell her I am a big supporter of hers and don’t want to see anything happen that might jeopardize her career. I can say George told me he had some information that would destroy her career but wouldn’t tell me what it was. After his death I looked for her medical records but found them missing. Then I found the appointment book from the time she was a patient of Doc Arra’s. I can say the nurse made some awful claims about her. Then I add the bit about the State Police and my trying to decide if I should give them the appointment book. I think that would get her attention.”

“Knowing her she would probably tell you to destroy the book or to send it to her,” says Peter.

“Yes, but I can tell her I’m afraid to destroy anything from doc’s records that his patients may need or anything that could be seen as evidence in the investigation of George’s murder. I think once I have her attention I can reject any approach other than her coming here.”

Mary says, “How can you get her into a conversation without anyone else learning of what’s going on. I’m sure she has her mail opened and read by a secretary before she sees it and she won’t likely take a phone call without it going through a secretary either.”

“I’ll send her an email that’s cryptic enough that no secretary will understand it but she will and I’ll tell her she has to call me privately for more information. Once I have her on the phone our plan will get her here. Now we need a plan of action for what we are going to do once she’s agreed to come.”

Sam says, “I think that you can get her to the site of George’s murder by saying the appointment book is kept there, maybe in another one of the filing cabinets up there. I assume you will have to appear to be alone with her Pam but Peter, Joe and I can be hidden close by in case she tries anything violent.”

“That’s good, Sam. One of you can record our conversation so we have an accurate record. Any ideas on what I can say when she demands I give her the appointment book or that I show her what’s in the book?”

Joe interjects, “Maybe we should ask Jimmy Romano to be your hidden backup, Pam. He is far more experienced than Peter, Sam or me.”

“I would if we were dealing with a man, Joe. I’m confident you three can handle Lois if she tries anything. Let’s not involve Jimmy.”

“I think we should add one word to the appointment book for the last Friday she came to see Doc Arra. That’s abortion. It doesn’t have to be in Maxine’s handwriting. It will shake her up and make it more likely she’ll slip up somehow,” says Mary

“Or I can just tell her it says abortion and refuse to let her have or even see the book. I can say I’ve changed my mind. I can say I am convinced the appointment book is important evidence in George’s murder.”

“That’s good, Pam. After you get her to the murder site you can say you’ve been thinking about it and have decided George’s murder trumps her career. You say the appointment book gives her a motive for the murder so you have to give it to the State Police. She may say you can give it to the sheriff counting on him to cover for her but you can refuse. If she is the guilty one she’ll feel trapped. She may try to take the book from you but we can prevent any violence. Attempting to take the book seems to me like strong evidence she is guilty. What do you think?” Sam says.

Peter offers, “If she’s guilty I’ll bet she comes prepared to take and destroy the book. If she thinks you are going to blow the whistle on her abortion she’ll be prepared to kill you. We’ve got to be careful dealing with her. We need to allow her to incriminate herself but not to harm Pam.”

“You’re right of course, Peter but remember this is not my first rodeo with killers. I can take care of myself. That doesn’t mean I don’t want you and Joe or Sam close by in case she gets violent.

Joe says, “I am satisfied we have the main points of a plan to get Lois Taylor here but I’m not sure we have thought out the details of what you are going to do once you face her with the appointment book in hand Pam.”

“Sometimes it’s necessary to improvise at the moment, Joe. I have had to do that before when my carefully thought out plan goes haywire at the moment of truth. I’ve handled it before and I am confident I can again. In my experience if you get too fixated on the perfect plan you get flustered when the plan fails and you don’t know how to react. That can be dangerous. It works better to have a general approach and adapt as needed based on what a suspect does or says.”

Mary says, “Do you want me to add the word abortion to the appointment book Pam?”

“No, I can say it’s there. I don’t plan to let Lois see the inside of the book.”

Joe says, “I’ll feel better if we go to the clinic and rehearse exactly what we plan to do assuming you can set up a meeting with Lois here. Mary can play Lois and Peter and I will look for places to be hidden but close enough to prevent any violence.”

“I agree with Joe, Pam. We don’t have your experience with these situations. We’ll be more confident if we walk through a couple of possibilities. Mary, do you think you can play the part of Lois now?” Peter asks.

“Yes, I think so. I have to be guilty and afraid I’m about to be exposed in one case and I have to be innocent and confused in another. Let’s try it and if I don’t do well we’ll do it over a few times.”

Pam says, “I agree we should do some rehearsals. Mary, will you get the appointment book? I don’t remember where you put it.”

“Yes, I’ll get it and join you at the elevator.”

After they complete the rehearsals and return to the dining room to review how it went Pam says, “Joe, it’s a good thing you thought of rehearsing. We had to move some things around to make the space suitable for our plan. We had to try several hiding places for you and Peter so the voice recordings worked. Plus, Sam’s giggling broke us all up when Mary got tongue-tied.”

“Who knew it was going to be a comedy, Sam?” says Joe.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. It reminded me of a high school play rehearsal with one of the leads forgetting her lines,” answered Sam.

“Okay, okay you guys, I don’t pretend to be an actress,” Mary says gruffly.

“You did fine the last couple of times, Mary. We accomplished what we needed and that’s what counts. And if we had a little fun at your expense please forgive us,” answers Pam.

“Oh, I’m okay with it but I have had enough fun for tonight,” replies Mary more cheerfully.

Pam says, “One last thing before we go. It’ll have to be convincing that I am here alone. We can park our cars at the Library and I’ll bring Joe, Peter, and Sam here well ahead of time then leave. I’ll come back alone at the time I am to meet Lois. If she gets here early she’ll believe I am alone when I arrive. If any of you have second thoughts or if you think of a way to make our plan better please call me. I’ll think about it for a couple of days and if I still like the plan I’ll email Senator Taylor and put our plan in play. Let’s go home.”