Look Closer

40 Jane

Conrad Betancourt sits slumped against the couch in his living room. His eyes are glassy, with thick, dark pouches beneath. His only saving grace is a decent suntan.

An officer met him at O’Hare, where he landed about two hours ago. He was driven to the Cook County morgue, where he identified the body of his wife, Lauren. The report from the officer was sparse: Other than uttering the words “Sweet Jesus” and confirming the deceased was, indeed, his wife of three years, he asked for a few private moments. If he cried softly or bawled like a devastated husband or remained steely and steadfast, Jane wouldn’t know, because her officer didn’t know. When he emerged from the exam room, he said nothing on the way to his house.

“Who did this to my wife and why?” Conrad asks.

My wife. Not Lauren. Since he arrived at the house, he hasn’t uttered her name, just referred to her as a possession. How very male. Jane has wondered how she would feel if she were married and her husband referred to her that way, instead of by name. It would be nice to find out, someday.

“Help us figure this out,” Jane says.

“Well, she didn’t commit suicide.”

“No? Why not?”

“She wouldn’t do that.” He doesn’t elaborate. He seems like a boss, a leader, issuing authoritative statements without the need to explain. She’s reasonably sure she would not enjoy working for him.

“Was she depressed?” Jane asks.

“Not in the way you mean. We—we were getting divorced,” he says. “So I suppose that’s not a happy time.”

“One of you had already filed?” she asks, though she already knows from his ex-wife Cassandra.

“I did.”

“May I ask why?” She questions herself, whether she phrased that question properly, as if she needs permission. She’s a cop investigating a murder. She’s entitled to that answer, however personal it may be. She makes a mental note.

Betancourt sizes her up, eyes squinted in disapproval. “Irreconcilable differences.”

“Can you elaborate?”

He seems to find that amusing at first—pushy, he’d probably say to her if she weren’t a cop, a pushy broad—but then breaks eye contact and fixes his stare on the wall. “The marriage wasn’t working out.”

“Did your wife agree with that assessment?”

That question, he finds even more amusing. “I am sure she did.”

“When did you file?”

“Couple weeks ago.”

“So in October, mid-October.”

He shrugs. “Look it up. It’s public information.”

She lets that go, because he’s right.

“Was there infidelity?”

He works his jaw, an unreadable expression. “Was she having an affair? I don’t know. I was basically staying downtown by that point, in our condo on Michigan Avenue. We have a condo at Superior and Michigan downtown. I’ve been staying there exclusively since, oh, sometime in August or September. It wouldn’t have been hard for her to carry on with somebody. And it wouldn’t surprise me. But if you’re asking me if I know for fact, no, I don’t know for fact.”

“What about you?” Jane asks.

“Oh, here.” He snaps his fingers. “I moved out on September eleventh. I remember that because it was 9/11. I remember thinking to myself, my marriage had crashed like the Twin Towers.”

Jane catches something in the expression on her partner Andy Tate’s face but lets it go. She asks her question again. “What about you, Mr. Betancourt? Have you been faithful?”

He knew that was coming. His face shows a hint of disappointment that his attempt to focus on Lauren, and being far more elaborate in his answer than he’d been with any previous question, would have taken Jane in a different direction. Now he focuses on his fingernails, his meaty, rough hand cupped. “Next question,” he says.

So that would be a no, he hasn’t been faithful. Jane stays silent and stares at him. It’s worth a shot. The old adage is that if you sit silently, the nervous witness will keep talking to fill in the space. She doubts that will work with Conrad Betancourt.

It doesn’t. Finally, he looks at her and repeats his answer. “Next question.”

It’s a delicate dance, all of this. She wants to push but not too hard. Because the witness has an Ace card that, frankly, she’s surprised he hasn’t played yet—he can refuse to answer and demand an attorney.

But that will tell her something, too. A man doesn’t have to be physically present to have his wife murdered, not if he has all the money in the world. What better way, in fact, than spending a long weekend with your sons in Florida while it’s happening?

“Okay, Mr. Betancourt,” she says. “My next question is: How much money are you worth?”

“Ah, there it is.” He angles his large head, a bitter smile. “Am I really a suspect? You think I had my wife killed so I wouldn’t have to fork over a bunch of money to her? Did you learn being a cop by watching made-for-TV movies or something?”

Jane sits back in her chair, opens her hands. “I have to rule you out, Mr. Betancourt. You know I do. So help me do that.”

“We had a prenuptial agreement,” says Conrad. “She was entitled to one million dollars in a divorce. That was something I could comfortably afford. And I offered to pay her attorney fees on top of that.”

“Maybe she wanted to contest that prenup,” says Jane.

“Maybe she did, but she’d fail. Besides, the rest of my money was placed in a trust before we married. She didn’t have access to it. It’s impenetrable. So whether she was or was not going to contest it, I would not have been the least bit worried.”

“Mr. Betancourt,” says Andy, “you’re sure you moved out on 9/11?”

Conrad takes his time before looking over at Andy. “I already told you that. I thought of the Twin Towers. Yes, I am sure I moved out and into the condo downtown.”

“But you’re certain about the date,” Andy presses.

Conrad blinks. A natural reaction to being pinned down. His eyes rise to the ceiling, then back down to Andy. “Yes, I’m certain about that date.”

“And you never came back to this house, maybe spent the night?”

“No. Never. I never returned to this house after September eleventh.”

“Did Lauren ever spend the night at the condo downtown after September eleventh?”

Conrad leans forward, putting out his hands. “Let me make this simple. I have not laid eyes on Lauren since September eleventh. Is that clear enough? Feel free to ask the staff at the condo building. The doormen will tell you.”

Andy sits back in his chair.

“Let me show you something.” Jane lifts the pink phone out of the evidence bag. “Ever seen this phone?”

“Not— No,” he says. “What is that? I mean, it’s a phone, but—whose?”

“You don’t know?”

“I have no idea.” His expression hardens. The same notion, no doubt, is springing to his mind that came to Jane and Andy when they saw it. A burner phone she used for an extramarital affair.

He looks around like he wants to hit something. “So there was someone else,” he says. Now that he’s beyond speculation, he seems to care more than he let on a moment earlier. The anger shows in his coloring, the tightness of the jaw. “Who? Who’s the other man?”

“We don’t know if there was another man,” Jane says. “And if there was, we don’t know who.”

“What’s the . . .” He gestures to the phone. “Are there text messages? There must be.”

“It’s not something we can get into right now,” she says.

“Answer me that, though. Are there messages? Love notes?”

“There are text messages, yes. I promise that when I can give you—”

“When did they start? How long has this . . .” He looks away with a bitter smirk.

“I can’t, sir.”

“Just tell me that much. Give me a date.”

“Mr. Betancourt, please. Soon, I promise, but not now.”

Conrad stews on that, trying to deal with his anger in a composed manner and only barely succeeding. But slowly he decelerates and seems to realize that his reaction to the prospect of his wife’s extramarital affair could only deepen any suspicions the officers might have of him.

“Great,” he mumbles. “That’s just . . . great.”

“Mr. Betancourt, can you excuse us a second?” Andy says.

Jane follows Andy into the Betancourts’ kitchen, where Andy removes from a folder a copy of the transcript of text messages.

“Here,” Andy whispers. “Here, read these messages from September nineteenth.”

Jane reads over his shoulder:

UNKNOWN CALLER

VICTIM’S PHONE (EVIDENCE #1)

Mon, Sept 19, 10:01 AM

Top of the mornin’ to yah, lassie.

Mon, Sept 19, 10:04 AM

Good morning, my queen.

Mon, Sept 19, 10:06 AM

Sounds like you’re otherwise occupied. Will try you tonight my love.

Mon, Sept 19, 8:00 PM

Top of the evenin’ to yah, lassie.

Mon, Sept 19, 8:01 PM

Um, Lassie was a dog but ok

Mon, Sept 19, 8:01 PM

Cranky are we?

Mon, Sept 19, 8:02 PM

Didn’t sleep well last night Con snores so loudly

Mon, Sept 19, 8:02 PM

So that’s why I missed you this morning?

Mon, Sept 19, 8:04 PM

Once he left I slept half the morning

Mon, Sept 19, 8:05 PM

Can’t say I enjoy image of you sleeping with him.

Mon, Sept 19, 8:05 PM

Well it’s his house don’t be healing

Mon, Sept 19, 8:06 PM

LOL don’t be JEALOUS damn autocorrect bye for now

That . . . doesn’t make sense.

“Doesn’t make sense,” says Andy. “On September nineteenth, Lauren’s complaining that the night before, Conrad was snoring so loud she couldn’t sleep. Conrad swears to us he wasn’t anywhere near Lauren after September eleventh. And I can’t see him lying about that. I mean, we can check that very easily. Conrad would have to be an idiot to lie about that so specifically.”

“Agreed,” Jane whispers. “Conrad’s not lying. Lauren is, to her secret boyfriend.”

“But why?” Andy asks. “Why would Lauren be lying to her guy on the side?”

“And if she lied to him about that,” says Jane, “what else did she lie about?”