Chapter 562
The following morning.
The office of the Robbery and Murder Division.
Luke walked into the office in high spirits, unaffected by last night’s shooting.
He poured a cup of coffee while calling for a meeting.
“Lieutenant, is there any progress on last night’s shooting?”
“The injured driver was sent to the hospital for treatment.
The two shooters in the Ford sedan are dead, we can only focus our investigation on their identities.” The lieutenant took out a file and read, “The driver who drove the car last night is named Ricardo Solu, and the two gunmen are one named Goddard Simon and one named Grainne Rouse.
All three have prior criminal convictions, with Ricardo Soru and Gode Simon on the charge of willful injury, and Grainne Raus on the charge of unlawful detention.
Because the driver, Ricardo Solu, is still in the hospital, he was not able to give his statement in time last night.
When he’s well enough to give a statement, I’m sure I can get some valuable leads out of him.”
“Any leads on that Ford sedan?”
The lieutenant spread his hands, “The owner is Gord Simon, the unlucky guy whose head you blew off.”
Luke thought briefly, “Jenny, contact the hospital and see when you can get a statement from Ricardo Solu.”
“Okay, Captain.”
Luke turned a page in his notebook, “Any progress on the arson and Thomas Colley investigations?”
Jackson replied, “I got an address for Thomas Colley’s wife and daughter, no, ex-wife to be exact.
The two divorced last year and custody of their daughter was given to Thomas Colley’s ex-wife.
Legally, they are no longer family.”
Luke said, “I’m not sure if Thomas Colley and his ex-wife are a family, but his daughter’s status won’t change.
Get ready, in ten minutes, we’re going to visit Thomas Colley’s daughter.”
“Okay, Captain.”
The Stewart neighborhood.
It was a middle-class white neighborhood where turquoise and neat lawns in the yard were standard, the overall security and environment of the community was good, and the price of the houses was higher compared to other ethnic neighborhoods.
Jackson looked at the greenery around the street, “This neighborhood is much better than the one where the suspect, Thomas Colley, lives.”
Luke said, “That’s probably why Thomas Colley was able to get caught without worry, as long as his ex-wife and daughter are doing well, he has no worries.”
“How old is her daughter?”
“I think she’s seventeen this year.”
As they talked, Jackson pulled over to the side of the road and to his right was a white two-story house with a white Lexus car sitting outside the garage.
The two men got out of the car and Jackson walked ahead to call the door, Luke a step behind, his eyes surveying his surroundings.
“Ding-dong ……”
Jackson rang the doorbell.
After a moment, the visual doorbell opened, “This is Georgina Colley’s house, what can I do for you?”
“We’re looking for Erin Colley.”
“Who are you people? Why are you looking for my daughter?”
Jackson flashed his badge, “LAPD, please open the door.”
A footstep sounded and the door to the room opened, a white woman looked at the two with her arms folded over her chest, “I’m Erin Coley’s mother, what do you want with her?”
Jackson asked, “Is her father’s name Thomas Colley?”
“Yes.”
“We’d like to find out something about Thomas Colley from her.”
“What happened to Thomas Colley?”
Jackson offered, “Ms. Coley, can we talk inside?”
Georgina Coley nodded and stepped aside, “Come in.” .
Georgina Coley ushered both of Luke into the living room and asked, “If you want to know about Thomas Coley, why don’t you go directly to the man himself?”
Luke said, “We’ve talked to Thomas Colley more than once, but he’s not a very honest man.”
Georgina Colley frowned slightly, “What has he done that’s illegal?”
“Murder, arson, kidnapping.” Luke stared at Georgina Corrie’s cheeks, which changed with each word he said.
“Are you sure?” Georgina Coley was filled with shock, “I was under the impression that Thomas Coley was not a bad person, although he was a bit cranky, moody, and mentally depressed.
How could he have committed so many crimes?”
“Have you guys seen each other recently?”
“No. We’ve been divorced for a year now, and I’m even considering changing back to my old last name. I may not be Ms. Coley if you guys show up on my doorstep next month.”
Luke laughed, “Are you implying to us that you and Thomas Colley are no longer related?”
“It’s not implied, it’s the truth.”
Jackson said, “We are looking into Thomas Colley’s money situation, is he still paying you alimony and child support?”
“My daughter is not yet eighteen, so it’s only right that he pays alimony.
As for alimony, I turned it down six months ago.
I’m grateful enough that he hasn’t asked me to pay alimony.” There was a hint of pride in Georgina Coley’s tone.
Jackson asked, “What happened six months ago and why did you stop asking for his alimony?”
“Six months ago, I was promoted to assistant to the president and my salary was increased substantially; I now earn much more than Thomas Colley.
If he goes to court and files, I may still have to pay him alimony.
He really is still a man in that respect.”
“What company do you work for?”
“The Worcester Company.”
“What was your position at the company six months ago?”
“Assistant Finance Manager.”
“Does your company have a CFO?”
“Yes.”
“So you skipped assistant to the CFO and were promoted directly to assistant to the president?”
“No No No,” Georgina Coley wagged her finger and laughed, “You don’t understand the workplace at all, the promotion of assistants isn’t strictly according to the level of position.
The president appreciates me and thinks I’m capable before he makes me his assistant.”
“Can I take the liberty of asking, how much has your income increased?”
“I won’t tell you the exact amount. However, I am now earning three times what I was earning before.” Georgina Coley’s tone was laced with pride, and it was obvious that she was more than willing to share the experience.
“Wow wow, triple your salary, then your life should be greatly improved.” Although Luke wasn’t quite sure about the corporate pay scale of Worcester Corporation, this triple salary increase was indeed a bit high.
A triple salary could be more than just a triple increase in income.
If, for example, Georgina Coley previously earned $5,000 a month (after taxes) and now earns $15,000 a month (after taxes), and she spends $4,500 a month, then when she earned $5,000 a month, she could only save $500, but now she can save $10,500, a direct twenty-fold increase in savings.
Even though her spending is now higher as well, she can still save more than ten times as much per month as before.
This change was nothing short of a sea change for a family.
Luke tried, “You have a nice house, when did you buy it?”
“It’s rented, we just moved here three months ago, I’ve always hoped that my daughter could change to a good living environment, and I’ve never been able to find a suitable house before because of financial reasons.
Now that I have some savings, I moved here.”
“You are a good mother.”
“I always have been.”
Luke said, “Ms. Coley, I can tell you’re happy with your life now.”
“Yes.”
“Your work and life have improved dramatically over the past six months, what do you think is the reason?”
“Through my persistent and continuous efforts and studies, I have accomplished my work to the best of my ability, and my colleagues and supervisors have recognized my ability.
It was only then that I was able to take on the position of Assistant to the President, which I deserved.
I don’t know what the purpose of your visit is, but it has nothing to do with Thomas Coley.”
“Ms. Coley, what do you think of your ex-husband?”
“Uh …… that’s a bit of a complicated question, people are multi-faceted, it’s hard to judge them in a few sentences, and, over time, people change.
He is a responsible person, but his personality is not very good, he can’t control his emotions, I think, we are more suitable to be friends.”
“Have you heard of Kalman Pharmaceuticals?”
“Yes, Thomas Colley used to go there as a drug tester, it was a difficult time for us …… not a good memory for anyone.”
“Did you know your ex-husband had liver disease?”
Georgina Coley shrugged, “I knew that, and I also knew that he always felt that his liver disease had something to do with Kalman Pharmaceuticals.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I don’t. It could also have something to do with his habits.
He had some close friends who got together a lot to eat and drink, sharing utensils, glasses, and even sometimes not sharing meals.
It’s also possible that the infection was contracted at that time.”
“So, you don’t think your husband’s illness was related to the Kalman Pharmaceuticals drug-testing experience.”
“I don’t know ……” Georgina Coley shook her head, “but he was always obsessed with that experience, and even if he hadn’t gotten liver disease, but something else, it could have been linked to that experience.
It has become a piece of his mind.
I’m not a psychiatrist, but one thing I know for sure is that the more you care about something, the more that thing affects you.
You can’t get it out of your head that you’re sick, then you’re definitely going to be sick.”
“Has Thomas Colley given you anything lately?”
“I don’t need anything from him, we haven’t seen each other in at least three months, and the support payments go straight to the card.”
“Have you had any phone contact lately?”
“He did call me last month and said he wanted to take his daughter out.
I agreed.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“No, we don’t have much in common right now.”
Luke nodded, “Is your daughter home? We’d like to talk to him.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Georgina Colley frowned and sighed, “Even though Thomas Colley and I are divorced, he is still my daughter’s father.
I don’t want her to know that her father ……
did so much wrong.”
Jackson reminded, “Ms. Colley, your daughter has a right to know.”
Georgina Coley pursed her lips and put her hands together, “OK, I’ll go get her.
You may talk to her, but only in my presence.
And, I don’t want you to approach her alone again.”
“No problem.”
Georgina Coley walked over to the stairs and called out, “Hey baby, come down here for a minute, we have a guest at the house.”
“Who’s here?”
A seventeen or eighteen year old white girl came down the stairs.
“It’s the police, they want to talk to you about your father.”
“What happened to dad?”
“He committed a crime and the police are here to find out what happened.”
“Oh my God, how is this possible? Have they made a mistake.” The girl walked down quickly and looked at Luke and Jackson and asked, “You guys are cops?”
Jackson flashed his badge, “I’m Detective Jackson with the Robbery-Murder Division and this is our Captain Lee.
You’re Erin Coley?”
“That’s me, what happened to my father?”
“Thomas Coley has been arrested for arson, kidnapping, and homicide.”
“Oh my God! I just can’t believe it ……” Erin Colley covered her mouth and questioned, “Are you sure you haven’t arrested the wrong person?”
“The evidence is overwhelming and he has confessed.”
“I want to see him! I don’t believe this is true, I want to hear it from his own mouth.” Erin Coley still didn’t seem to want to believe it.
Luke kept sizing up Erin Coley, seeing the shock on her face, she must have just found out about it, plus, from her reaction, she was going to be more concerned about Thomas Coley than her own mother.
“Erin Colley, when was the last time you saw Thomas Colley?”
“A month ago, we had dinner together and then he took me to a basketball game.
I remember that night it was the Lakers and the Nets, I can’t remember the exact score, but the Lakers won.”
“Did he say anything in particular to you then?”
“I don’t understand what you mean?”
“Did he explain anything to you? Or give you something?”
“No.
He said he wasn’t sure what a girl my age wanted, so he gave me a thousand dollars and told me to buy it myself.
Could there be a better gift than that?” Erin Coley sighed when she finished, “Sir, I knew my father, he was a good man.
I hope you will re-investigate, he was most likely wrongly accused.”
“We will.”
Luke asked a few more questions and then left Georgina Corrie’s house with Blackie.
Back in the car, Jackson started the car while saying, “Six months ago, Georgina Coley was suddenly promoted to assistant to the president, her salary tripled, and she got a better neighborhood and house.
Captain, do you think that’s a coincidence?”
Luke laughed, “I don’t know, but it’s a much superior tactic to giving money directly, at least you don’t have to worry about the IRS checking the books.”
Jackson mused, “You’re right, I’ll check to see if Worcester and Kalman Pharmaceuticals are related.”
Luke nodded, he intentionally tested Georgina Coley’s mother and daughter during the conversation just now, and found that they were not aware of what Thomas Coley had done, and didn’t seem to have been reminded by Thomas Coley, and most likely had arranged everything in secret.
The good thing about this is that even if the police find mother and daughter Georgina Coley, they will not reveal themselves.
But the bad thing was that the mother and daughter wouldn’t have any defenses either.