The Last Move

The taller man wore a hand-tailored charcoal-gray suit. His red tie was fashioned into a Windsor knot, his watch was gold, and his shined shoes were made of fine leather. He could only be the lawyer.

Hanging on the wall was a tall portrait of Gloria Sanchez. She was dressed in a red gown. A diamond necklace encircled her neck. Her eyes stared boldly at the artist. The portrait exuded the woman’s confidence and total comfort with the trappings of wealth.

The shorter of the two men moved to greet Detective Mazur. “Detective.”

“Mr. Sanchez,” he said.

“I’d like you to meet my lawyer, Roger Bennett. I called him a few hours ago.”

Mazur didn’t comment, but Kate knew he didn’t like the addition of an attorney who represented an added layer between Mazur and his investigation.

“This is Dr. Kate Hayden,” Mazur said. “She’s with the FBI.”

“FBI?” Bennett asked. “So it’s true what I’m hearing.”

“What are you hearing?” Mazur asked.

“That Mrs. Sanchez might have been murdered by a serial killer,” Bennett said.

Mr. Sanchez gasped and shook his head. “When Bennett first suggested this idea, it seemed too far-fetched.”

Bennett shrugged. “I know you don’t want to hear this again, Martin, but Gloria’s case is very similar to the Samaritan murders.”

“That suspect is in jail,” Kate said.

“Or maybe not,” Bennett said.

“I’d like to ask your client a few routine questions, Mr. Bennett,” Kate said.

“I’d like to help,” Sanchez said.

When Bennett nodded, Mazur asked, “Mr. Sanchez, can you tell us about your wife’s trip? You said she was traveling to Laredo to see her mother.”

Sanchez looked at his attorney, and when Bennett nodded, he said, “Yes, that’s what she told me. She was on the road so late because she’d worked a long day at the showroom. I never met a harder-working person than Gloria.”

“And did she normally call the nursing home to let them know she was coming for a visit?” Mazur asked.

“Not every single time. Sometimes she surprised them. It was important to her that the staff stayed on their toes. She liked surprise inspections.”

“Where did she stay when she was in Laredo?” Mazur asked.

“She has a condo there,” Sanchez said. “It was easier for her to stay in the same place. In the last year, she had to be in Laredo for days at a stretch because of her mother.”

Mazur pulled a small notebook from his breast pocket and made several notes.

“Was there any reason to go to Laredo other than to visit her mother?” Kate asked.

“We do have friends there, but her primary reason was her mother. We had a dealership there but closed it several months ago. It wasn’t profitable.”

“How was your wife feeling when you last saw her?” Mazur asked.

Sanchez’s brow wrinkled. “Fine. Why do you ask?”

“The medical examiner theorized she couldn’t have been feeling well,” Mazur said.

“Why?” Sanchez asked. “She looked fine on Sunday.” Again he looked to his attorney, but the man shrugged.

Kate found Sanchez’s reaction interesting. He seemed genuinely taken aback with the question. “Did you know your wife was sick?”

Sanchez shook his head. “What do you mean sick?”

“She had cancer,” Mazur said. “According to the medical examiner, it was advanced.”

Sanchez shook his head, the color draining from his face. “No. She would have told me. The medical examiner has made a mistake.”

“The medical examiner was certain,” Mazur said. “She was a very sick woman.”

“She’d not been to any doctors. She wasn’t taking medicine. How could she have been sick?” Sanchez’s brow furrowed as the weight of their words sank deeper. “She got tired, but she worked so hard.”

Kate noted his voice inflection and facial expressions appeared genuine. “The doctor thinks it was a matter of time before she was going to be really struggling.”

Tears glistened in Sanchez’s eyes. “I don’t believe it. What kind of cancer?”

“Uterine,” Mazur said.

He cleared his throat. “No. She had the flu last month and a bad cold a couple of months before that, but not cancer. She would have told me.”

“But she didn’t tell you?” Kate said. Why wouldn’t a woman share such grave news with her spouse?

Sanchez shook his head slowly as he made the sign of the cross. “Gloria hated any kind of limitations. Cancer would have been no exception.”

Bennett placed a comforting hand on his client’s shoulder. “My client can’t speak to the motives of his late wife.”

“Were you having marital problems?” Kate asked.

Sanchez looked as if he’d been struck. “Why do you ask that?”

“You still aren’t wearing a wedding band,” Mazur said.

He curled his fingers into fists. “After I found Gloria, I forgot to put it back on.”

“Your fingers are perfectly tanned,” she pressed. “If you wore it even some of the time, there would be a tan line.” He certainly wouldn’t be the first married man who didn’t want to broadcast his status. Was he having an affair? Did Gloria know? Was that why she didn’t tell him about the cancer?

Sanchez stiffened but didn’t answer.

“Your wife was wearing a very expensive engagement ring,” Kate said.

“Gloria’s ring is a five-carat yellow diamond. She loved the way the light caught it. I gave it to her three years ago for our twentieth wedding anniversary. It was very expensive.”

“What worries me is that the killer didn’t take the ring or her wallet,” Mazur said. “Robbery wasn’t the motive.”

Bennett shifted. “This certainly feeds into the serial killer theory. Which makes me wonder why a judge signed off on a warrant for the family financial records.”

“I’m working all the angles,” Mazur said.

“I did not kill my wife,” Sanchez said slowly for effect.

“What was the financial state of your business?” Kate asked. “You said you closed the Laredo dealership.”

Sanchez raised his chin. “The economy hasn’t been kind the last year.”

“That’s not what you told me at the crime scene,” Mazur said.

“Appearances were very important to Gloria. She wouldn’t have wanted you to know the truth.”

“And perhaps why she didn’t want you knowing she was sick?”

Sanchez mumbled a prayer. “Maybe.”

“Why did you close the Laredo shop?” Mazur asked.

“In the late spring, Gloria ran the numbers and said we might have to cut back on staff. Honestly, I was happy about cutbacks. I’m a simple man at heart. I like to work with my hands. Gloria was the one with big dreams.” He shook his head, and tears glistened bright in his eyes. “Why wouldn’t she tell me she was sick?”

“I don’t know,” Kate said.

He dropped his face to his hands and sobbed. “God, this is all too much.”

“You told me yesterday that she called you from the road and said she was having car trouble,” Mazur said.

“That’s right. Why do you ask?”