See Me(108)

“Should I be worried?” Maria blurted out.

“No. Long story short, I don’t think Lester’s going to be a problem.”

“What does that mean?” she pressed.

Margolis tapped his pen against the folder before flicking a thumb at Colin. “It seems you’re still spending time with this particular problem child. And I don’t know why you keep insisting he come with you when we discuss your case. There’s no reason for him to be here.”

“I want him here,” she said. “And yes, we’re still spending time together. Happily, I might add.”

“Why?”

“I like his body and he’s fantastic in bed,” she answered, knowing it wasn’t any of his business and not bothering to hide her sarcasm.

Margolis smirked, but there was no humor behind it. “Before we begin, let me set the ground rules. For starters, the fact that you’re here at all is simply because I told you I’d look into your allegations, and because I told you I’d be in contact. Because your tires were slashed in addition to possible stalking violations, this is a potential criminal investigation, and in such an instance, ongoing investigations are generally not discussed. Still, because there’s also the potential for a civil no-contact order – the Fifty-C – I’m choosing to meet with you and keep you as informed as I think appropriate. Also, keep in mind that because Lester Manning has not been served a Fifty-C, he has – like everyone else – certain and expected rights to privacy. In other words, I’ll tell you what I think is important, but I won’t necessarily tell you everything I know. I also want to add that most of what I’ve done has been via the telephone. I’ve had to rely on a detective friend of mine in Charlotte for a few things, and frankly, I’m not sure how much more I’m going to be able to ask of him. He’s already gone out of his way, and like me, he’s got cases that are higher priority. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” he said. “First I’ll walk you through the approach I took, then a bit of what I learned.” Opening the folder, he pulled out his notes. “My first step was to familiarize myself with all the background information, so I perused the relevant police files. That included everything having to do with the first assault on Cassie Manning, the arrest and conviction of Gerald Laws, court documents, and finally, information regarding the murder of Cassie Manning. After that, I reviewed your first stalking report – the one you made after you received the notes in Charlotte – and I spoke to the officer in charge of that particular case. It wasn’t until late Tuesday evening that I felt like I had a pretty good grasp of everything.

“Now, with regard to Lester Manning, I’m comfortable telling you what you could probably learn on your own with a simple public records search.” He glanced down again. “He’s twenty-five years old and unmarried. High school graduate. He doesn’t own any real property and there are no cars registered in his name. He lists his phone number and address as the same as his father’s. With that said, I’m not sure how much time he actually spends there.”

Maria was about to ask a question, but Margolis held up his hand to stop her.

“Let me finish, okay? You’ll understand why I say that in just a couple of minutes. Now, I can share the next bit of information because I think it’s important to the Fifty-C, but I’m not going to go into heavy details because those may or may not be important to any future criminal case, all right?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Since Cassie’s death, Lester has had some problems with the law. He’s been arrested four times, but not for anything violent or dangerous. It’s all minor stuff – trespassing, vandalism, resisting arrest. Things like that. It turns out that Lester has a fondness for squatting in vacant houses. In each case, the charges were eventually dropped. I haven’t looked into the reasons, but in cases like these, it’s usually because there was little actual damage.”

Beside her, Maria saw Colin shift in his seat.

“Other than that, I wasn’t able to learn much, so I called Dr. Manning, Lester’s father. I left a message, and surprising me, I got a call back within a few minutes. I identified myself and told Dr. Manning that I was hoping to speak to his son, and I will say that he was entirely cooperative and more forthcoming than I expected. Among other things, toward the end of our second conversation, he gave me permission to disclose the full nature of my call with him to you. Does that surprise you?”

Maria opened her mouth, then closed it again, not sure what to say. “Should I be surprised?” she finally asked.

“I was,” Margolis said, “especially given the way you described him to me. But anyway, when I asked him if he knew where I might be able to find Lester, he asked me the reason, and I told him that it was regarding a police matter. To which he responded, and I quote, ‘Does this have anything to do with Maria Sanchez?’ ”

Margolis let the words hang before going on. “When I asked him why he brought up your name, he said that it’s not the first time you accused Lester of stalking. He said that after his daughter was murdered, you made the same accusation regarding some disturbing notes that had been sent to you. He insisted that his son, Lester, was not responsible then, and that he sincerely doubted that he was responsible for anything you were claiming now. He also said to tell you that while he does feel that you made a mistake by opting for the lesser charges, he’s well aware that Gerald Laws was responsible for Cassie’s death, and neither he nor his son blames you for what happened.”