Watching The Detectives Ch. 03

'What does he mean his wife lied? Sandra never admitted or denied that she was unfaithful.'

Raymond Landry had hired a detective to check on his wife Sandra, but it was never proven his wife had an affair, although Kat half suspected there may have been one. Sandra made off-color comments about her cold bed and her husband's dispassion. It seemed plausible she had found what she needed elsewhere. Her animus towards Raymond was toxic. Sandra Landry made the divorce nastier than it needed to be.

Raymond's biggest mistake was assaulting a man he believed was her lover. That fact made Katherine's case much easier.

On the day he caught Kat off guard at K&S, as he entered the conference room, Raymond looked back, saw Miss Price watching him, and smiled. She had a feeling about him. While the divorce was bitter, he was always polite, never outwardly angry, and was at times charming. Even when his wife lashed out, Raymond remained calm and dignified.

Mr. Landry had several appointments at the office as he transferred his architectural firm's business and personal affairs over to K&S. Every time he saw Miss Price, he made a point to say hello and chat, even if it were only a quick hello. Finally, when his business was fully in her employer's hands, he asked Katherine out for dinner.

Raymond Landry was pushing fifty, tall, handsome, distinguished, and fit. He was successful, intelligent, and articulate. At the time, Kat's relationship with the hot young prosecutor that led to her being demoted was on life support. What the hell, why not? Raymond was interesting enough to have dinner with. What could go wrong?

Raymond spent three months employing the full-court press. They dined in the best restaurants, went to the theater, and spent a long weekend on the Jersey Shore, where he proposed. That's what could go wrong.

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--- 1969 ---

Kat and Raymond Landry had a corner lot. The detectives watched the front, College Street, where the driveway was. Depending on their vantage point, the side gate to the backyard was accessible without notice. Gloria arrived late Friday morning and parked behind the home on Kentucky Street, then slipped in through the unlocked gate. Kat hugged her at the back door. She was dressed in Kat's celery green swing dress. Her wig looked great. Standing in the kitchen, Kat handed her a pair of large round sunglasses, one of her favorite accessories.

"This will complete the ensemble. He won't get close, but if you do make eye contact, these shades will save you. The eyes are the only thing we can't fake."

"Thanks," Glo put the glasses on.

Kat smiled, "You look fabulous."

Glo nudged her, "Yeah, because I look like you."

"The good news is," Kat said. "Casey stopped following Billy days ago. So you only have one tail. Here are my keys. Go have lunch, take him for a joy ride, and on the way back stop at Martin's to pick up groceries."

"Oh C'mon." Glo lightly pushed Kat. "You didn't say anything about doing your grocery shopping."

"This is what I do every Friday. He's expecting it. There are only ten items." She handed Glo a list. "And here's thirty bucks. It'll more than cover lunch and the grocer."

"Okay. I'll be back around three o'clock."

"I'll be back before then. Billy's driving a black Ford Falcon, and remember, stay away from Forbes and Smithfield, that's where I'll be."

"I won't go anywhere near downtown."

Glo backed the Toronado out of the driveway and headed away from downtown. In the rearview, she saw the black Falcon turn a corner and maintain a distance.

Kat waited five minutes before leaving in Gloria's car. When she reached Raymond's office neighborhood, she parked two blocks away so he wouldn't see the Chevelle. She walked into Landry Architectural Design unannounced. Ray's long-time office manager, Rhonda, was surprised to see her.

"Hi Kat, is he expecting you?"

"Nope." They hugged. "I thought I'd surprise him for lunch."

"You haven't done this in a long time. It used to be a regular thing when you were lovebirds."

"Blame Grumpy," Kat said flatly, "He said our lunches took up too much of his day."

When Kat entered Ray's office, he barely looked up from his work. "So, what's this, a lunch surprise?" He asked in a dull tone.

"Yeah, is that a problem? Rhonda says you have no plans and no one o'clock appointment. Let's go. We can walk to The Tullamore."

Ray got up and strolled nonchalantly to his second-floor office window overlooking Forbes Ave. Hands in pockets, he tried to appear casual as he looked onto the street below. After several seconds glancing east, and then a long look west, he turned to Kat.

"Where's your car?"

"Around the corner."

He looked out the window again, in both directions. "There's plenty of parking right here."

Kat shrugged. "C'mon. Let's go before the lunch crowd arrives."

When they strolled to the corner of Forbes and Smithfield, Ray stopped and peered in all directions.

"What's wrong?" Kat asked.

Raymond grunted, took his wife by the arm, and walked north on Smithfield Street. His head turned left and right, looking for his hired hand. When they crossed Fifth Avenue, he stopped in the crosswalk to glance east and west.

At the pub's hostess station, Kat requested a table near the window. She wanted Ray to have a view of the street. For the entire lunch, he was preoccupied with the missing private detective while Kat chatted about things he didn't care about. She was secretly enjoying his discomfort.

"Are you okay?" She asked as they enjoyed fish & chips with pints of Guinness. "You seem out of it. Did you hear what I said about the upstairs bathroom?"

"Yes, you'd like to fix the shower thing with that stuff you bought."

"You're not listening. That's not what I said."

"I'm sorry. Contrary to what Rhonda says; I do have a busy day. I have a lot on my mind, business stuff."

Kat smirked, "I bet you do."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Kat sipped her pint of stout.

Their forty-five-minute lunch date went exactly as planned. Back at his office, Ray stood by the window as Kat walked out and crossed Forbes. She looked up and waved, giggling in delight at how annoyed he was. As soon as Kat was out of sight, Ray dialed the office of Art Casey, P.I.

"My wife just stopped by my office for lunch. Where the hell is your man? I didn't see him anywhere, and believe me, I was looking."

"The hell if I know," Art said. "I'm sure he was nearby, laying low. That's what we do."

"What's he driving today?"

"He took the black Falcon. Look, we're doing the work, and I'm sure Billy's on your wife." Casey paused, thinking, 'Oops, that didn't come out right.'

"Well, I didn't see any black Falcons. You better get to the bottom of this."

"All right. I'll talk to the kid."

Back at the Landry house, Kat kept an eye on the street. At 2:52, Glo pulled into the driveway. Billy parked at the end of the street. The girls exchanged notes on how their day went, Kat was giddy over how well her plan worked.

"Raymond spent the entire time looking for his guy. You should have seen him. He could've popped vertebrae rubbernecking in all directions. I don't think he heard a word I said the whole time. He was losing his mind."

Glo grabbed her by the arm. "You won't believe it. After the kid bagged my groceries, old man Martin walked by and waved. He said, 'Thank you, Mrs. Landry, have a nice weekend.' This shit totally worked."

Kat laughed. "Yeah, it did. I bet Art Casey has gotten an earful already."

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--- THE ABDUCTION --

Before Kat returned for another visit with Scott Panzek to learn what he knew about the Dwyer kidnapping. She spent the morning at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, a building her father-in-law's architecture firm had designed many years ago, looking at newspaper microfilm from June 1955. It brought back a flood of tabloid memories.

Four days before her high school graduation, eighteen-year-old Carol Anne Dwyer was snatched off the street in Bloomfield, two blocks from home, at 7:35 AM. Her books and lunch sack were found on the curb, along with one shoe. Carol Anne was a petite girl, shy, bookish, a straight-A student with a scholarship to Penn State starting in the fall semester. She was a good girl with a bright future.

Dwyer was the third girl abducted in twenty months. The previous victims were college freshmen at Duquesne University, they never came home. For more than two weeks, the city was on edge. Every bad cop and good citizen had their eyes and ears open. The family pleaded with her kidnappers in the media. The police were under tremendous pressure to find the girl.

Kat reviewed the clippings, recalling the official account reported in the media.

Two weeks into the case, Officer William Barnes answered a routine call on a Wednesday afternoon in Homewood, a rough neighborhood on the eastern edge of the city. He stood in front of a rowhouse duplex listening to a feeble old widow complain about noises in her basement.

Mrs. Wojcik demanded he investigate. As he walked up her front steps, Barnes noticed her neighbor watching from his stoop. After inspecting her dank cellar and hearing nothing, the rookie officer returned to his patrol car assuring Mrs. Wojcik that whatever she was hearing was not inside her house. The neighbor was now peeking through his window shades.

The old woman was not comforted. She explained that she had called the police three times over two weeks, but no officer would believe there were scary voices and crying inside her basement.

The neighbor, Walter Mathis, continued to spy, so Barnes walked over and knocked on his door. He heard a shuffling in the front room, but no answer. Barnes drew his service revolver and knocked again. When Mathis eventually opened the door, he appeared panicked, staring at the gun. Barnes asked if he knew anything about strange noises at night. Mathis made a break for the kitchen. Barnes pursued him. When Mathis turned suddenly and lunged at the officer in the rear entry of the house, Barnes shot him dead.

Officer Barnes entered the basement where he found a locked door. The room was adjacent to the old lady's cellar wall. He caved the door in. Carol Anne Dwyer was tied to a bed, gagged, and blindfolded. The officer untied the teenager. She was hysterical as he removed the blindfold. He held the girl, attempting to calm her down. Barnes asked that she stay in the room while he went upstairs to check the rest of the house, but she clung to him, crying. He led her up the stairs, gun drawn, concerned another man might be in the house. Minutes later, the street was a logjam of police, fire, and rescue vehicles; followed by the media circus

Memory refreshed, Kat went to Primanti Brothers to pick up sandwiches. Her next stop was Kramer & Stein, a lunch date with office brother Scott Panzek.