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Gonzo looked to Freddie to make the call.
“You’re free to go,” Freddie said, “but stay local and available in case we have follow-up questions. And here’s a pro tip. The next time we ask whether you were ever at their house, don’t lie.”
They got up and left the room without another word.
Freddie followed them out. “Pascal, before you go, there’s the matter of the hit-and-run you were involved in.”
The couple stopped walking, but they didn’t turn back.
“If you’d like to make a report about your involvement in the accident, we won’t charge you for leaving the scene,” Freddie said. “You can take care of that in the lobby. The officer at the desk can help you complete your report.”
Their backs stiffened as they proceeded forward.
“I’ll make sure they file the report,” Gonzo said.
“Thanks.”
Freddie went to the conference room and added the info they’d gotten from the Cortezes, which wasn’t much, to the murder board. He sat at the table and stared at two photos of each victim—one from when they were alive and the other from their autopsies, noting that Eloise had been shot in the forehead, face and neck, unlike her siblings, who were shot only in the forehead. What did it mean that Eloise was shot multiple times? In light of their conversation with the Cortezes, Freddie wondered if this whole thing would come down to a rivalry between two young gymnasts. But try as he might, he couldn’t make the leap to something like that being a motive for murdering an entire family.
“How’s it going?”
Freddie startled at the sound of Captain Malone’s voice behind him. “Okay, I guess.” He filled the captain in on what had transpired with the Cortezes. “They were the most vocal in their disdain of Eloise’s success in gymnastics, so we figured they were worth a conversation. After the father ran from us, they insisted they had nothing to do with it, even if they did resent that Eloise had come to the sport recently and knocked their kid off her throne.”
“Why’d the dad run?”
“He’d left the scene of an accident and assumed there was a warrant for his arrest. We’re making him file a report on the accident before he leaves.”
“Do you believe they had nothing to do with the murders?”
“They adamantly deny any involvement. I don’t know what to believe. If you look at the evidence we have so far, the father lost his mind, killed his family and then himself. Maybe the truth is as obvious as it seems.” Freddie ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s just that the grandmother—the father’s mother—was so certain that was something he’d never do. She was adamant. He loved his family more than anything. He cut back on his work schedule to spend more time with them.”
“He was also facing a lawsuit filed by four women accusing him of inappropriate conduct while he was their doctor.” Archie handed a printout to Freddie. “That’s the archive of his email. I’ve highlighted the parts that are relevant to the lawsuit. Three weeks ago, he spent twenty thousand dollars to retain an attorney to fight the lawsuit.”
“We knew about the lawsuit, but the twenty K could explain why they were short on money.” Freddie read the email exchanges between the doctor and his attorney, in which Marcel adamantly denied ever doing anything improper with a patient. “I wonder why that didn’t show up in the financial report Carlucci put together.”
“Could it have come from the practice?” Malone asked.
“I suppose,” Freddie said.
They’re trying to ruin me, Marcel had written to the attorney.And why? All I ever did was take care of them during complicated fertility treatments. None of them ever expressed any sort of discomfort or unease to me at the time. This comes as a complete shock to me.
“If he was facing professional ruination, would that give us a motive for a murder-suicide?” Malone asked. “I want to know why the women didn’t try to file criminal charges.”
“They did.” Archie produced more paper that he handed to Freddie. “The allegations were investigated by SVU, which chose not to bring charges because there was no evidence of improper behavior. It was the women’s word against the doctor’s.”
“Who investigated for SVU?” Malone asked.
“Ramsey,” Freddie replied.
“Of course,” Malone said. “Is this all the documentation of the investigation?”
“Everything I could find,” Archie said.
“Great work as always, Archie,” Malone said. “Cruz, go talk to Erica Lucas and find out what she recalls about this investigation. I’d rather not have to talk to Ramsey about it if we can avoid that.”
SVU Sergeant Ramsey was currently out on bail awaiting trial on felony charges after he rammed Sam’s Secret Service vehicle with his car.
“Yes, sir.” Freddie headed upstairs to the SVU offices and was relieved to see that Erica was there. “Hey, Detective Lucas.”
