Chapter 39: Questioning

January 2, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” I said to Ellie when she finally woke.

I’d been awake for well over an hour, but hadn’t wanted to wake Ellie, nor did I want her to feel abandoned. Samantha had woken a few minutes after me, and we’d kissed a few times before simply snuggling to wait for Ellie to wake up.

“Last night was the best night of my life,” Ellie sighed.

“We could do it again before we shower together,” I offered.

“Oh God, would you? Please?”

Samantha giggled and Ellie and I made love once more. When we finished, the three of us went to the bathroom and I shampooed each girl’s hair, and washed their lithe bodies before they jointly washed mine. When we were clean, I dried them, and they did the same for me. I put on my robe and quietly went across the hall to get clean clothes. My wives were out of bed, which was odd for a Saturday morning, but when I looked at the clock, I noticed it was 9:00am. I quickly dressed, got Samantha and Ellie, and we went downstairs for breakfast.

“Daddy was kissing!” Birgit giggled. “I missed my cuddles!”

“I’ll make you three some breakfast,” Elyse laughed. “Birgit, you can cuddle your daddy while he waits.”

She got off her chair and came over to sit in my lap. Elyse made bacon, eggs, and toast, though I passed on the toast in favor of a couple of extra slices of bacon. I had to maneuver a bit to eat because Birgit had decided to stay on my lap during my breakfast. When we finished eating, I helped Elyse clean up the kitchen while Samantha and Ellie disappeared.

“Have fun?” Elyse asked quietly, after Birgit had left the kitchen.

“You know me!” I grinned.

“Got anything left for me?” she asked, bumping her hip against me.

“I think I might be able to muster something for you! Why?”

“I heard the three of you last night and was ready to bash the door in and join you!” she laughed.

“Sorry! I didn’t realize you were in your room! Wait! Did you come up there on purpose?”

“Me?” Elyse smirked. “I would NEVER sit against the wall of my room so I could hear through the walls!”

“Elyse Clarke! You are very BAD!” I laughed. “Once Ellie leaves, I’d be more than happy to solve your problem for you!”

She kissed me and we went to the great room. Ellie and Samantha came downstairs with Ellie carrying her overnight bag. I walked to the front door with them, and stepped out onto the porch. Ellie didn’t say anything; she just smiled, hugged me tight, and gave me a quick peck on the lips. She and Samantha hugged, and then Samantha and I watched as Ellie walked down the street and got into her car. When she pulled away, we went back inside.

“I have a question for you,” Samantha said.

“Sure. What?”

“Ellie said she wanted to spend the night again in a few weeks.”

“Sure. She’s always welcome here.”

“On a Friday,” Samantha said.

A light went on in my head. She wanted to spend the night with BOTH of us.

“That’s something we need to talk about,” I said. “That wasn’t part of the agreement.”

“No, it wasn’t. She asked me and I told her I’d ask you. I knew you would want to talk about it.”

“How do YOU feel about it?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” Samantha said.

“Then that’s a good reason NOT to do it. We’ll talk about it in a few days after you’ve had time to think about it, OK?”

“Yes. You really made her night, and those orgasms! Wow!”

I chuckled, “Jealous?”

“No! You make me feel REALLY good! Always!”

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her softly, then we went to join the rest of the family for a lazy Saturday.

Late in the afternoon the phone rang, and I went to my study to answer it. A deep, Swedish voice greeted me with wonderful news.

“We have a daughter named Kristina!” Mikael announced.

“Wonderful!” I replied. “How is Katt?”

“Just fine. Those skating muscles seemed to come in VERY handy!” he chuckled.

I remembered those skating muscles and it had nothing to do with labor and delivery, but with the beginning of the process that led there!

“I bet!” I laughed. “Tell her I’m very happy for the two of you!”

“I will! We hope to see you soon!”

“I hope it’s not too long,” I said. “Kiss your wife and daughter for me!”

“I will!”

We said our goodbyes and hung up, and I went to tell everyone the good news.

January 3, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

“How the heck do you have Star Trek where they never go anywhere?” I asked.

“Beats me!” Jennifer laughed. “But I suppose a show that takes place on a station in deep space could work. People come to them instead of them going places.”

“Having Chief O’Brien is a nice continuity with the other show,” I said. “I’ll reserve judgment.”

“Speaking of reserving judgment,” Elyse said. “What do you think about Czechoslovakia splitting up?”

“I think they avoided a civil war. They had to divorce amicably or fight it out. I’m glad they chose divorce.”

“And today’s signing of the START treaty?”

“Bah. OK. Banning MIRVs is probably a good thing, and maybe it reduces a surprise ‘first strike’, but I don’t know anyone who thinks we’re in that situation. Maybe this would have meant something in 1985, but to say that MIRVs are destabilizing now? Yeltsin is NOT going to order a launch, and the hardliners were purged. And who’s going to launch a first strike from the US? Nah, this is all window dressing. But now the commercial is ending!”

We watched the rest of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and gave it a general thumbs’ up, though we wanted to see more episodes before we passed final judgment.

January 4, 1993, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve?” Lucas said over the intercom on Monday morning just after 10:00am. “There are two detectives here who want to talk to you.”

I sighed. I should have known that would happen, and quickly. I pressed the button and told Lucas I’d be right there. I walked out of my office, then a few steps down the hall to Elyse’s door.

“I need you,” I said.

“I know!” she smirked. “Nobody does what I do to you!”

She was right about that! On Saturday afternoon she’d brought out ALL the toys and we’d more or less worn each other out with every combination of toys and openings we could imagine. It had been a LONG time since we’d done it, but her listening to Ellie, Samantha, and me had her really fired up.

“True! But there are two detectives here. I’m guessing they have John’s appointment book and I’m in it.”

Elyse’s face clouded, and she nodded grimly.

“How are you going to handle this?”

“Straight up,” I said. “Complete cooperation. I have NOTHING to hide.”

Except that I was a messenger, but Elyse didn’t know that, and I didn’t think there was any way the police would know that. Had it been the FBI at my door, it might have been a different story. Elyse got up from her desk and the two of us walked down the stairs and out into the lobby.

I’d had a brief call with Theo the day before and expressed my concerns. He had told me not to worry, and simply do the right thing. As if THAT were easy to discern.

“Detectives, this is Mr. Adams,” Lucas said, then added, “And Ms. Clarke.”

“Do you have a moment to talk with us Mr. Adams?” the black detective asked.

“What is this about?” I asked.

“Mr. John Lentz.”

“Sure,” I said, then turned to Lucas, “We’ll use the conference room here.”

He nodded and I led the detectives to the conference room, with Elyse following us.

“We just wanted to talk to you, Mr. Adams.”

“I understand, but unless you want me to call an attorney, and delay several hours, if not days, Ms. Clarke will sit in this session with me. She’s our CFO. Based on past experience with the CPD and FBI, I don’t speak to the police alone. I can’t imagine why I would need a lawyer, so Ms. Clarke will stay.”

The detectives looked at each other and shrugged. I asked for their cards and they handed them to me. Detective William Boltz and Detective Jayce Monroe. Boltz was white and Monroe was black.

“Before we start, do you mind telling me who’s on the poster?” Detective Monroe asked, nodding towards the wall.

“Vladislav Tretiak, the Soviet goaltender from the 1980 Olympic team. Probably the greatest goalie to ever play the game.”

“I see.”

“Mr. Adams, I assume you’re aware that Mr. Lentz was found dead outside his condominium?” Detective Boltz asked.

That was an interesting way to put finding a body that had fallen thirty stories.

“Yes,” I said. “An employee of my company, who was also a friend of Mr. Lentz, called to tell me on New Year’s Day.”

“Who was that?”

“Miss Jeri Lundgren, though she recently married. I’m not sure if she changed her name or not.”

“She didn’t,” Elyse said.

“What was the occasion for her to call you?” Detective Monroe asked.

“You mean besides to tell me that John was dead?” I asked.

“Yes. Sorry; I should have phrased that better. Why would she call you?”

“I’m sure, given you’re here asking questions, you’re investigating his death, and you know he and I had lunch a week ago. We had mostly business dealings, but I also knew him socially through the Lundgren Foundation. And I know Jeri because she works for me, as I said.”

“There was a report of some kind of trouble between you and Mr. Lentz.”

I shook my head, “No, detective, that’s not accurate at all. His ex-fiancé and I had a falling out, but John and I were cool. We had lunch at Maxim’s and I’m sure if you find the waitress and bus boys they’ll tell you we were friendly. I wouldn’t call him a close friend, but he worked on two deals with us, and as I said, I knew him because of the Foundation.”

“This ex-fiancé, what was her name?”

“Lisa Glass. Her father and I did a real estate deal, which I’m sure you’ll find as a matter of public record.”

“And her father’s name?”

“Alec Glass. I can get you their contact information if you need it.”

“We have it,” the detective confirmed.

That was interesting. They were obviously fishing for how much I knew without telling me what they already knew. It was a good investigative technique, and meant they probably had already talked to Lisa. And THAT was an interesting angle I hadn’t considered. Could this be some weird coincidence? Could Lisa have been involved? I had no idea, but one thing was absolutely certain - she was one person on the planet I would NEVER try to cover for.

“Do you know if Mr. Lentz was a heavy drinker?” Detective Boltz asked.

“I honestly don’t know. The only time I saw him drink was at social functions and he drank about as much as an average person, I guess. You know, a glass or two of bourbon and some wine with dinner. But I haven’t seen him at one of those functions since he and Lisa broke up.”

“What can you tell us about the issues between Ms. Glass and Mr. Lentz?”

Bingo! They were following up on SOMETHING. Maybe it was just the loose thread of the break up, but maybe there was something else.

“They broke up when I told John that Lisa was cheating on him, and that she lied about sleeping with me to a friend to try to destroy that friendship.”

“Did you and Ms. Glass have any kind of intimate relationship?”

I shook my head, “No. She came on to me and I rebuffed her. I’m married to a surgical Resident at University of Chicago hospital and would never cheat on her with a woman like Ms. Glass.”

“But you would cheat on her with other women?” Detective Monroe asked with an arched eyebrow.

I laughed, “OK. I walked RIGHT into that one, Detective! My personal life is very complicated, but one thing you can be absolutely sure of was that I had nothing to do with Ms. Glass in that way. Her father knows about the entire incident, as does Ms. Lundgren. And my wife. I was required to meet with Ms. Glass a few times because of the purchase of this building from her father, but otherwise, I avoid her like the plague.”

“Do you know if she had seen Mr. Lentz recently?”

I shook my head, “Not as of last Monday, anyway. John told me he wanted nothing to do with her. He was dating one of his little sister’s friends. I don’t know her name or any other details, but I’m sure his sister could fill you in.”

“Do you know any reason why Mr. Lentz might have killed himself?”

“No, Detective,” I said firmly. “I had no indication of that kind of intent, and frankly, I’d be surprised if that was what happened. I didn’t know him really well, but he was a successful lawyer in a good law firm, was earning good money, and had a steady girlfriend. I can’t make heads or tails out of this.”

“Do you know anyone who might have threatened Mr. Lentz?”

I shook my head, “No, I don’t.”

“Did Ms. Glass make any threats in your presence?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“What did she say about Mr. Lentz?”

“At one of our last business meetings, she said she wanted to get him back and asked me to talk to him, because I was the one who told him she was cheating. I declined because I had nothing good to say about her.”

“Was she angry with you?”

“Frustrated is probably the right word,” I said.

“Do you think she’s capable of violence?” Detective Boltz asked.

“Isn’t anyone? I mean, under the right circumstances? But if you’re suggesting she somehow attacked him, I’m not sure that’s a reasonable question. She weighs at least a hundred pounds less than he did and he was a good five inches taller.”

“Do you know if she practiced any kind of martial art?”

And that was another interesting question. I had no clue.

“I don’t know. I’m a 3rd Dan black belt in Shōtōkan karate, but she and I never, ever talked about that. Well, when we were on speaking terms.”

“What business deals did you do with Mr. Lentz?”

“He did the paperwork for the person who financed our buyout of a competitor, and he did the paperwork for the REIT which sold us this building. Ms. Glass was the representative for her dad with regard to the REIT.”

“REIT?” Detective Monroe asked.

“A Real Estate Investment Trust,” Elyse said. “Consider it like a mutual fund, but with real estate instead of stocks. If you have a 401K or an IRA, and have mutual funds in it, it’s the same idea. Your police pension probably actually invests in REITs.”

“Thanks,” Detective Monroe laughed. “High finance isn’t my specialty! Is there anything else you can tell us that you think might help our investigation?”

“Suicide? Accident? Murder?” I asked.

Detective Monroe smiled, “That is the question. Just for completeness, can you account for your whereabouts that evening from 11:00pm until 4:00am the next morning?”

“Yes. I was at the Bucktown Bistro until 2:00am and then a limo took me home. We arrived at 2:30am. I was with my wife and two family friends. When we arrived home, there were still people at a New Year’s Eve party at my house and I was seen by them. We went to bed and were in bed from then until morning. We were up early and I walked my wife to work at the UofC ER for her 7:00am shift. At least two nurses and one doctor saw us.”

“If we have further questions, I assume it’s OK to come here again?”

“Certainly. You might call first as I do travel and sometimes I’m at outside meetings. I’ll help in any way I’m able to.”

“Thank you, Mr. Adams.”

They got up, we all shook hands and they left. Elyse and I went back into the interior, and up to her office. She shut the door behind us.