“Do you have any reason to believe the handling of the Andrews case was flawed?”
“No, none at all. I think we did everything possible. But policemen are human beings, and no one is a hundred percent all the time.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“There’s always talk about how the stress of police work affects the officer’s private life, but it works the opposite way as well. We’re talking about people, individuals, and when an officer has problems at home, that can reduce his effectiveness on the job. I’m not saying that was the case, but Nelson was having a pretty hard time at home during that investigation.”
“You mean Nelson and his wife were talking about separating?”
Captain Reed’s reply was drowned out by static on the line.
“Captain, we’re calling you from New Orleans, and it sounds like the hurricane might be interfering with the line. We didn’t hear what you just said. Could you please repeat it?”
“I said I don’t think ‘separating’ was the issue. How much do you know?”
“The wife moved to Florida with the children, and Nelson followed them three months later. But they’re not living together.”
“Listen, I admire Nelson. Not that we’re close friends or anything, but we’ve always gotten along. Family meals together, barbecues, that kind of thing. He never said he was having problems with his marriage; never even hinted at it. After they moved away, my wife told me Sarah used to complain about how strict Brad was with the youngsters. Maybe too demanding, too rigid with their schedules, their choice of friends, you know . . . Anyhow, that’s not so unusual. Lots of police officers are like that with their kids. It’s probably an attempt to protect them from all we know, what we see every day. But from what my wife said, it sounds like Nelson got carried away.”
“Did he hit them?”
“Not that I know of.”
“But?”
“Well, a couple of weeks before the Andrews case, his neighbors reported screaming coming from the Nelsons’ house. The kids weren’t home. Sarah had given them permission to sleep over at friends’ houses. The parents argued, it became louder and louder, and then their domestic disturbance got a little out of hand. We sent a patrol car over. When the officers got into the house, they found that Sarah had locked herself in the bedroom. Nelson hadn’t laid a finger on her, but he’d gone on a rampage. Smashed the furniture to bits. Even so, she declined to make a statement or file a complaint. The patrol officers called me and I invited him down to the station, where he slept on a sofa. He’d calmed down by the next morning, and I drove him back home. I couldn’t believe it when he opened the front door. Looked like a tornado had hit the place. Turns out it wasn’t the first time they’d fought like that, but he’d never been that destructive before. Sarah was flat-out gone. She’d loaded up the children and left for Florida, where she’s from. Told him she wasn’t coming back. Nelson gave notice the same day, told me he wanted to join his family. I tried to convince him to let things settle down a bit, but he said he loved her and was going to change his ways. Then, bang, the storm hit and the Andrews family turned up dead. Then that poor boy kept insisting the violin didn’t belong to his family and shouldn’t have been in the house. Claimed the investigation had been completely mishandled.”
“Do you think Nelson could have had something, anything at all, to do with the case?”
“What? What are you thinking? Of course not!” The captain sounded deeply offended. “Nelson wasn’t focused, that’s all; all he could think of was finding a job in Florida. He flew there whenever he had time off. He was obsessed with convincing Sarah they should get back together. His behavior had changed; he had a totally different attitude.”
“And one of those changes was his decision to join the team that helped out after disasters?”
“Yes. He went with them several times when he lived here in Galveston.”
“Can you be more precise? Could you tell us how many times he did that and when?”
“Well, I understand that our admin already gave that information to the FBI.”
Johnson gave Dupree a fierce glare, as if he’d only just remembered how furious he was with Tucker.
“I don’t have that information here,” the captain went on. “And the admin office is closed at this hour. I can send it to you early tomorrow morning. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall he went out twice: once in February, and another time in mid-March, just a few days before he left for Florida. I remember that one because it was in Texas. They were helping with rescue and cleanup after a whole series of tornados up by Killeen.”
“Captain Reed, this is Assistant Inspector Salazar. You’ve known Detective Nelson for twelve years. Is he religious?”
The question was simple, but Reed was silent for quite a long time, so long that Amaia thought they might have lost the connection.
“Did you hear my question, Captain?”
“Roger that, loud and clear . . . It’s just that, well, if you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have laughed my head off. Nelson’s a good man, sincere, generous, lots of virtues, but he swears like a sailor. A good man, but not the sort that goes to church.”
“What changed?”
“A while back, after Sarah left with the kids, I saw Nelson downtown one afternoon. I lowered the window to ask him why he was out so far from his neighborhood, but then I saw him go into a church. Didn’t get the chance to make contact, so I raised the window and left. And I didn’t mention it later.”
“Are you sure? Do you remember the name of the church?”
“Sure, it’s right in the center of the city. Guardian Angel Catholic Church.”
“Did you ask him about it?”
“No. No, I didn’t. Seemed obvious he didn’t want anybody to know. He looked up and down the street before he went in, like he was afraid someone might see him. If he wanted to keep his faith to himself, it was none of my business, right? And I wasn’t going to tell anyone. I guess a man like Nelson could think that going to church is a sign of weakness.”
Amaia shook her head and waved Dupree off. Whether from friendship or from allegiance to the force, Reed wasn’t going to tell them anything more. “Thanks for your time, Captain. You’ve been a big help.” They ended the call.
Johnson was doubtful. “You think he was being honest?”
Just then the door opened. Detective Bull beckoned Dupree to join him in the hall. Dupree raised a finger to hold Bull there. “I think he was straight with us, but I don’t know if he was straight with himself. What do you think?” He looked at Johnson.
“The captain said Nelson was very strict with his children, like Lenx; two boys and a girl, like Lenx. And there’s this business about church that he seems to be trying to keep secret. If he’s religious in private, that could link him to our man.”
Amaia had been busy with her computer. “That struck me as well, and that’s why I asked for the name of the church. Guardian Angel Catholic Church. We know Lenx has his own twisted interpretation of his faith, but I have trouble believing a devout Lutheran would ever change denominations. And I don’t believe he’d fail to educate his children in his cradle faith. If you ask me, it doesn’t fit at all.”