introduced myself and told her that I was a reporter working on an article about Dr. Vires’ death following the death of his former son-in-law. She introduced herself as Dana Cavanaugh.
“Could you meet for coffee?” she suggested quickly. “I’d rather not get into this over the phone for obvious reasons.”
I wasn’t sure what those reasons were, but I agreed to meet her at Starbucks in 20 minutes.
I arrived first and waited to see who would enter. Dana Cavanaugh was not what I expected. She was an older woman, perhaps in her late 70s, with a pronounced limp. I remembered what I could of my manners and stood as she approached me. She smiled and sat down.
“So you’re interested in Vires’ death, eh?” she said without even bothering to order a drink.
“Yes, as I said, I’m working on an article about the similarities between his death and the death of James Miller.”
She squinted at me. “The only thing they have in common is that Miller killed his father-in-law, plain and simple.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. I now understood the desire to meet in person. She didn’t want any chance of this conversation being recorded and used against her later. Her words were accusations, and even though Miller was dead, her words were hostile.
“You heard me. I don’t know how, but I do know why. All you have to do is look at his pocketbook to know why.”
“The apps?” I ventured.
“The apps. He’s made a fortune selling those to various tech firms over the years. And what has he produced since his father-in-law’s death? Nothing. He hasn’t even produced a game in the past eight years.”
“So you think that he took the credit and the cash from Dr. Vires?”
“I know he did. I worked with him before that vulture moved in on him. Vires was working on some GPS apps back then. You can’t tell me that Miller walked in, figured out a better way to do things, and created the apps in less time than Vires had. The doctor was a genius when it came to seeing what people would need in the future. Miller was a leech who only wanted money and fame.”
“Do you have any details on this? I’ve only heard the bare outline of the story. It would help if I could get a police report of the death or some other documentation.”
She eyed me cautiously. “Are you going to do something about this matter? It’s about damned time someone cared about Vires and his death.”
I wavered. “I’m not sure what I can do after all this time, but I plan on seeing what I can about the matter. That’s all I can tell you now.” I didn’t think that sharing the reasons why I was investigating this instead of Miller would inspire her to trust me.
Dana Cavanaugh took a deep breath. “I’ll send you the medical examiner’s report. Essentially it was a fairly open-and-shut case of suicide, except for a few troubling details.”
“The gunshot residue?” I asked, thinking of what Brett had told me earlier about the matter.
She nodded. “He was tested, but there was no sign of it. From the wound, death would have been instantaneous, so he couldn’t have taken off gloves or washed his hands. That meant someone else had to be there.”
“Was that the only discrepancy?” I asked.
"That was the biggest one, but there were others as well. For starters, Dr. Vires didn’t own a gun. The police never were able to show that he’d purchased a gun or any weapon. They acted like it was a minor detail, but he didn’t like guns. He wouldn’t have bought a gun under any circumstances. They attempted to trace the weapon from its serial number, but it had been filed off clean. No remains of it for them to pull.”
“So how did the killer get in or out if that was the case?” I couldn’t see a way around the locked door, which was the same issue that Detective Green was having with the current case. I wondered if perhaps if I solved this possible murder that it would provide a solution to Miller’s death. I could only
“Could you meet for coffee?” she suggested quickly. “I’d rather not get into this over the phone for obvious reasons.”
I wasn’t sure what those reasons were, but I agreed to meet her at Starbucks in 20 minutes.
I arrived first and waited to see who would enter. Dana Cavanaugh was not what I expected. She was an older woman, perhaps in her late 70s, with a pronounced limp. I remembered what I could of my manners and stood as she approached me. She smiled and sat down.
“So you’re interested in Vires’ death, eh?” she said without even bothering to order a drink.
“Yes, as I said, I’m working on an article about the similarities between his death and the death of James Miller.”
She squinted at me. “The only thing they have in common is that Miller killed his father-in-law, plain and simple.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. I now understood the desire to meet in person. She didn’t want any chance of this conversation being recorded and used against her later. Her words were accusations, and even though Miller was dead, her words were hostile.
“You heard me. I don’t know how, but I do know why. All you have to do is look at his pocketbook to know why.”
“The apps?” I ventured.
“The apps. He’s made a fortune selling those to various tech firms over the years. And what has he produced since his father-in-law’s death? Nothing. He hasn’t even produced a game in the past eight years.”
“So you think that he took the credit and the cash from Dr. Vires?”
“I know he did. I worked with him before that vulture moved in on him. Vires was working on some GPS apps back then. You can’t tell me that Miller walked in, figured out a better way to do things, and created the apps in less time than Vires had. The doctor was a genius when it came to seeing what people would need in the future. Miller was a leech who only wanted money and fame.”
“Do you have any details on this? I’ve only heard the bare outline of the story. It would help if I could get a police report of the death or some other documentation.”
She eyed me cautiously. “Are you going to do something about this matter? It’s about damned time someone cared about Vires and his death.”
I wavered. “I’m not sure what I can do after all this time, but I plan on seeing what I can about the matter. That’s all I can tell you now.” I didn’t think that sharing the reasons why I was investigating this instead of Miller would inspire her to trust me.
Dana Cavanaugh took a deep breath. “I’ll send you the medical examiner’s report. Essentially it was a fairly open-and-shut case of suicide, except for a few troubling details.”
“The gunshot residue?” I asked, thinking of what Brett had told me earlier about the matter.
She nodded. “He was tested, but there was no sign of it. From the wound, death would have been instantaneous, so he couldn’t have taken off gloves or washed his hands. That meant someone else had to be there.”
“Was that the only discrepancy?” I asked.
"That was the biggest one, but there were others as well. For starters, Dr. Vires didn’t own a gun. The police never were able to show that he’d purchased a gun or any weapon. They acted like it was a minor detail, but he didn’t like guns. He wouldn’t have bought a gun under any circumstances. They attempted to trace the weapon from its serial number, but it had been filed off clean. No remains of it for them to pull.”
“So how did the killer get in or out if that was the case?” I couldn’t see a way around the locked door, which was the same issue that Detective Green was having with the current case. I wondered if perhaps if I solved this possible murder that it would provide a solution to Miller’s death. I could only
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