Chapter 25: Arrested Relay

Tom answered the door, standing straight and imposing.
“Hello, officers,” he said, “what can I do for you?” Two male police officers in uniform stood at the door, one middle-aged and short with a protruding belly, the other, young and lanky.
“We’re here for Roxanne Gehry,” one of them said.
Standing to the side of the door, Roxanne knew the officers had probably already seen her through the large picture window at the front of the house.
“What’s it about?” Tom continued to stand inflexible, trying to take up as much room in the doorway as he could muster.
“Sorry. We really need to talk to Roxanne about that,” the older officer said.
Roxanne wasn’t sure why the officers were looking for her. There were a number of reasons: the forged permit, the kidnapping, or even shooting firearms in the woods. She couldn’t be sure.
“Here I am.” Roxanne peeked around Tom to reveal herself in the doorway. She knew Tom was trying to protect her, but she could see his grandstanding wasn’t getting him anywhere.
Tom sighed and waved the officers inside.
“Roxanne Gehry?” the younger officer asked.
“Yes,” Roxanne nodded her head. He walked over to her and started to put handcuffs around her wrists.
“Hey,” Tom said, “what’s this about?”
“Roxanne Gehry, you are under arrest for fraud. Whatever you say…” The officer finished reciting the Miranda rights and turned to Roxanne.
Roxanne looked at Tom, scared and nervous.
“Roxanne don’t say anything. I can get you a lawyer,” Tom instructed her.
“We were sent because you forged a city commissioner’s signature,” the cop said, turning to lead her to the door.
“You weren’t supposed to say that,” the older cop grumbled to the younger officer.
“That was me,” said Tom. Roxanne looked at him, willing him to make eye contact with her.
“We have footage of her filing the permit at the county office,” the younger cop said.
The older police officer rolled his eyes, “Save it for the station, Officer Newman.”
“Yeah, she didn’t know I forged it,” Tom continued. “I told her Baxter signed it. It’s my fault. Don’t arrest her.” He told his lie, sounding adamant, looking the cop straight in the eye. He wouldn’t glance at Roxanne.
The older policeman let out a long breath. “I’ll have to take you both down to the station,” he said in a bored tone. “Let’s go.” He led Roxanne out, still handcuffed while Tom followed.
“Don’t answer any questions,” he whispered. “I’ll send my lawyer.”
Roxanne stayed quiet, thinking about how she couldn’t let Tom take the fall for her blunder, but when she almost tripped on the curb, she remembered the baby growing inside her. Tom wasn’t just trying to spare her, he was thinking of their child.
Nearing the police cruiser, Roxanne spotted a man standing outside by his car, about a 100 yards away. She squinted, trying to get a better look. The man watched the police load her into the backseat.
She kept her gaze on the man as they drove by. He looked at her, a triumphant smile plastered on his face. Roxanne seethed and slumped in her seat.
It was Baxter.
He must be in on it, she thought. Otherwise, how would he know? She needed some answers.
When they arrived at the station, Tom and Roxanne were taken to two separate interview rooms. Roxanne worried about Tom’s lie. They were already in so deep, but after seeing Baxter, she knew someone wanted her to suffer. Could he have been behind the kidnapping too? How much did he know?
When the police asked her questions, and she refused to answer without a lawyer, they ended the interview. She waited until a smartly dressed woman in her 30s breezed through the interview room. “Let me talk to my client,” she barely looked at the police officers. “Diet soda, please,” she nodded at one of the officers.
Once they were gone, she said to Roxanne, “Don’t worry. I have it handled.” With her brusque attitude and expensive clothes, Roxanne was glad to have her in her corner. “When they come back, I’ll do all the talking,” she said.
“Don’t you want to…” Roxanne started to ask.
“No,” she cut her off. “I talk. You’re silent.” The lawyer sat back and swung her hair into place.
The officers shuffled back in and Tom’s lawyer waited until they were settled.
“My client should be released. Tom provided a written and verbal confession that matches the evidence. Roxanne unknowingly filed the forged permit Tom gave her, but that was only after receiving verbal permission from Baxter, one of your city commissioners.”
“And you think Baxter will corroborate that?” the cop asked.
“My client refuses to answer. However, Baxter can verify the details of that day, I’m sure,” the lawyer said confidently.
The last thing Roxanne wanted was to confront Baxter. She didn’t know how the lawyer knew so much. Yet, no one knew exactly what happened that day except Roxanne and Baxter. It was an afternoon she’d rather forget.
“Verbal confirmation or not, it’s still a crime,” the police officer said.
“And you’ve got the guilty party – Tom.” The lawyer picked up her large satchel. “If that’s all,” she looked at one officer then the other, “Roxanne and I will be going.”
The older officer nodded at the younger one, succumbing to defeat, and said, “Uncuff her, let her go.”
Relieved, but also angry at Baxter for getting Tom embroiled in the situation, Roxanne turned to the lawyer after the officers left the room.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Don’t thank me. Tom’s the one you owe.” She looked Roxanne up and down.
“Can you get Tom out?” Roxanne asked.
“He’ll make bail tomorrow.” Roxanne gasped. She didn’t want to think about Tom stiffly sitting in a dingy jail cell all night because of her.
“I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll have some investigators on it. We’ll see what we can find.” She nodded, her face stoic.
They started to walk down the hallway of the police station, the lawyer’s heels clacking on the tile floor.
No one’s investigators had been able to figure it out so far. Roxanne wasn’t sure she trusted them anymore. The more complex things got, the more she wanted to play detective herself.
The baby, however, made that more complicated. Just as she thought maybe she and Tom could have a breather and settle into their relationship, disaster had struck - first the kidnapping, then the arrest. She was grateful for Tom’s chivalrous maneuver, but waiting around for answers wasn’t working either.
“Where’s the recycling?” the lawyer asked to no one in particular, indicating the empty soda can in her hand.
“Over there,” said a policewoman at her desk and pointed to an open trash can a few yards away. As Roxanne and the lawyer approached the wastebasket, the lawyer tossed in her can and another empty can sitting on top of some empty plastic water bottles caught Roxanne’s eye.
A shiny silver can with a green shamrock logo.
Roxanne could hardly believe it. While it didn’t prove anything, she knew the clue must mean that someone in law enforcement was hiding something. It must be why Owen directed her away from the police. While she couldn’t tell Tom, after all, he was in jail because of her, surrounded by the police, she’d have to keep it to herself. Knowing she was so close to figuring out the puzzle, vexed her.
She walked out of the police station a free woman, but the burden of carrying a child, protecting her lover, and solving a mystery weighed heavily on Roxanne’s shoulders.