FanStory.com - Was it Murder?by Terry Broxson

Collin County Texas District Attorney Kate Hix, Chief of Police for the City of Plano Henry Warren, and his Chief of Detectives Jenny Gomez, are in a meeting to discuss the strangest criminal investigation in the history of Collin County.

"My first question is for both of you; do you think this is a murder case?"

Henry looks at Jenny and then Kate and says, "Danged if I know."

"Kate, the Chief, and I have worked dozens of murders. I have always had an opinion, but this time its intuition. I'm going to say; we investigate, you prosecute."

Kate opens a file and sorts papers and pictures. "Okay, let's break it down. We got eight men dead—all between the ages of seventy-two and eighty-three. They were all residents of the most expensive retirement village in North Texas."

Henry takes papers out of his briefcase and hands them to Kate. "Kate, this is the hard copy of the medical reports. All eight men died of heart failure or a heart attack."

Jenny chimes in, "We have evidence two women had been with four of the men either at the time of the heart attack or shortly before death."

"Clarify that for me. You mean two women were together with four of the men?"

Henry says, "No, one woman was with two guys, the other with two guys. They are best friends. Their names are Sue DeMoss and Lizabeth Harper. Sue is sixty-eight, and Liz is seventy."

Kate gets up to refill her coffee cup and asks, "Can you connect the women to the other men?"

Henry nods to Jenny. "We can connect them because both women are retirement village residents. They have been there for about four years. But we can't put them directly in the proximity of four deaths."

"How do you know the women were with four of the deceased?"

"Sue reported one of the victims by calling 911. She said she visited him when he grabbed his chest and slumped in his chair. In the other instances, an attendant saw Sue or Liz with the men before they died."

"Okay, so your theory is the two old ladies caused the heart problems of the eight men, correct?"

Henry says, "That is what we think."

"Exactly; how do you think that occurred? "

"Jenny, you better take this one."

"Kate, the women used sex."

"So, you think the men were, for the lack of better words, loved to death?"

"That is one way to put it."

"But, how is that murder? What about premeditation and motive?"

Jenny grimaced and said, "This is where it gets complicated."

"Uncomplicate it for me."

Henry gestures toward Jenny. "Jenny and I think the motive was money. The retirement village residents created a monthly pool that bet on which resident would die next. About a hundred of the three hundred residents participated. Our suspects won the pool six times."

"That is interesting, but how much money are we talking about?"

"It was a hundred dollars to enter the pool, so about ten thousand dollars a month."

"They made sixty thousand dollars betting on who would die?"

"We don't know the exact amount. It was all cash. Both women admit they won the pool three times each. Their winning choices were six of the eight victims."

Jenny holds her hand to stop Kate from speaking. "Kate, you need to know one more thing. A doctor prescribed Viagra shortly before each of the eight men died. The medical reports show Viagra in each man's system. We think there is a connection that makes it deliberate."

"Well, for Pete's sake, do you think the doctor is in on it?"

Henry and Jenny both shrug their shoulders. Henry says, "We don't know."

"Do you have evidence that our two lady suspects knew the doctor or that the gentlemen had recently been prescribed Viagra?"

"No."

"Let me ask you a key question. What proof do you have that our suspects had sex and gave our dead guys a heart attack?"

Jenny says, "Do you think a woman's intuition counts? I think these old gals knew exactly how to push the men over the edge."

Henry adds, "Even if the women confess to having sex with the men, that doesn't prove murder."

Kate leans forward and rubs her temples. "At best, this is circumstantial and weak. I don't see a murder charge. We may have an illegal gambling case. Is there any proof the retirement village management knew about the gambling?"

Jenny answers. "None."

"Jenny, Henry, this inquiry will not work. Some affluent old retirees create a pool on who will die first. That doesn't sound good. But it could sound like a macabre sense of humor for seniors. We have two ladies who may have helped some guys have the last smile as they crossed over. There's no proof of how and why."

"But, Kate, what about the doctor, the Viagra, and winning the pool six times?"

"Look, it is not against the law to prescribe Viagra, have sex, die from having sex, or even get lucky, okay bad choice of words, six times. If we can't cross the t's and dot the i's, we got nothing."

After gathering his material for the meeting, Henry says, "One thing we must do is keep this out of the newspapers and away from the television reporters."

Kate replies, "We don't want it in the news, and the retirement village doesn't want it in the news. I am sure none of the people involved want it in the news, so we are safe."

***

Sue DeMoss pours two generous portions of Gentleman Jack Daniels over ice for herself and her longtime friend Lizabeth Harper. Sue raises her glass as a toast and says, "To our gentlemen friends and our new friends at Penguin Random House Publishers and their soon-to-be-released novel, Love in the Retirement Village."