The Cliff House Strangler (39 page)

I felt a terrible heaviness inside me as the Reverend Henderson took the stand to praise Luther Sechrest as an exemplary, God-fearing man, who was in every way a role model for the community. He went on to decry Mrs. Sechrest as an unfortunate soul lost in the sin of drunkenness and adultery. After Luther’s elderly employer, Howard Leighton, got through extolling his manager’s long years of faithful service, the judge had obviously changed his mind and was now regarding Alexandra as the villain in this marriage, not her poor, long-suffering husband.

“Divorce is an abysmal matter, Your Honor,” Robert said in his summation. “No matter what circumstances lead a man and wife to lose the love they once shared, it can only be regarded as a tragedy,
not only to them but to society as a whole. If we cannot sustain the sanctity of marriage, what hope have we of upholding the righteous ideals of our great nation?”

He looked sadly at Mrs. Sechrest. “Some people regard the addiction to alcohol as a vice, or, as Reverend Henderson opined, a sin. Personally, I consider it to be a sickness, one which cannot be controlled by a person so afflicted. I believe that to be true of Mrs. Luther Sechrest, who, when sober, appears to be a loving and dutiful wife and mother.

“No matter how virtuous her behavior in this abstemious state, however, it does not diminish the chaos the unfortunate woman creates when she succumbs to the bottle. Unnatural as it is to separate a mother from her children, we must put their well-being above all other considerations. It grieves me to advocate such an extreme measure, but for the sake of those innocent little boys, I beg the Court to award my client, Luther Sechrest, full and unlimited custody of his two minor sons. Thank you, Your Honor.”

As he returned to his seat, Robert glanced briefly at me. His expression was somber and awash with regret. I could detect not the slightest sign of satisfaction, although surely he must have realized that he’d won.

The final decision, however heartbreaking, came as no surprise. Alexandra was granted her divorce, but her husband, Luther, was awarded sole custody of their two sons.

I was so absorbed with trying to comfort my client, who was by now frantic with grief, that I didn’t notice the tall, seedy-looking man who entered the courtroom. An abrupt burst of laughter from the Sechrest camp, however, caused me to look in their direction, and I saw the late arrival whispering to Luther. The malevolent gleam in the man’s eyes as he smiled disdainfully at Mrs. Sechrest caused me to ask Gideon if he knew the newcomer’s identity.

“That’s Joseph Vincenzo,” he replied, pronouncing the name as if it were an expletive. “In my opinion, he’s the worst brute of the bunch.”

“Did you say
Joseph Vincenzo
?” I asked, staring at Gideon in disbelief. “But I thought he worked for Edgar Bramwell’s construction company.”

“I don’t know where you heard that, Miss Woolson,” Gideon said. “Vincenzo is Luther’s right-hand man. He’s been with him for years.”

“Oh my God!” I said, my mind now truly spinning. Senator Gaylord and now Joseph Vincenzo! What did it mean? What was their relationship to Luther Sechrest? It was difficult to see how it all fit together. Unless—

Despite Alexandra’s tears and the commotion going on around me in the courtroom, I sat perfectly still, trying to fit this latest revelation into the overall picture. If I was right, the plan had been bold and extremely risky. But what if they’d had no choice? Glancing at Luther Sechrest, I decided he would be just the sort of man to throw caution to the wind and put a perilous plan like this into action.

Without taking time to explain my suspicions, I asked Alexandra and Gideon to accompany me to my home. “Please, trust me,” I entreated. “It’s extremely important—to us all!”

While I pushed my papers back inside my briefcase, Alexandra asked her mother and sister to return to their hotel, where she would meet them later. They looked confused, and still somewhat shaky from their ordeal, but agreed to do as she suggested.

As my client, Gideon, and I were departing the courthouse, Robert caught up with us. “Sarah,” he asked, a bit out of breath, “how is Mrs. Sechrest?”

I continued walking as I spoke. “I trust she’ll be a great deal better after we’ve seen to some urgent business.”

“What business?” he asked, continuing to follow. “Sarah, you’ve got that look on your face again. What are you up to?”

I turned then, my expression deliberately reproachful. “Why aren’t you toddling back to Joseph Shepard so he can pat you on the head for a job well done? Today, you helped rob a devoted,
innocent mother of her children. You should be very pleased with yourself.”

“That’s hardly fair,” he protested as I turned and continued walking toward Eddie and his cab. I was grateful now that I’d thought to ask the boy to meet me at the courthouse after the hearing. It would save a great deal of time and bother.

“The case is over,” Robert went on. “Mr. Sechrest gave his wife ample opportunity to save the marriage, but she chose not to accept.”

Even though I made no reply, Robert was still at my heels as Eddie assisted me into the brougham, where Gideon and Alexandra were waiting. When Robert started to follow me inside, I stopped him, saying that after what my client had just been through, having her husband’s lawyer in the same carriage would be like rubbing salt in the wound.

Reluctantly, he stood down as I instructed the lad to take us to my Rincon Hill home. Robert continued to watch us from the curb as Eddie clicked the reliable dappled gray into traffic.

I was relieved to find Papa at home when we entered the house some thirty minutes later. After I’d introduced my two companions—I’d warned Gideon not to mention the fact that he’d broken into Sechrest’s house earlier—Papa invited us into the front parlor. Too edgy to accept our maid’s offer of coffee or tea, I gave my father an abbreviated version of the divorce proceedings, then got straight to the point.

“We need a search warrant, Papa,” I told my startled parent. “I know you can’t give us one yourself because it might constitute a conflict of interest, but surely you know a judge who would issue one.”

My father’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me why you suddenly feel a need to search someone’s house.”

“Not the entire house, just a safe inside the house.”

“Whatever it is, Sarah, you have to demonstrate a serious reason to search a private residence.”

Trying to control my impatience, I told him about Joseph Vincenzo working for Luther Sechrest, not Edgar Bramwell, as well as about the letters Manning had written to Senator Gaylord on Sechrest’s behalf. I would have loved to have shown him the letters Gideon had taken from Sechrest’s desk, but of course that would have meant admitting he’d entered the house illegally.

“Both Mr. Manning and Mrs. Sechrest claim that Luther Sechrest spends a good deal more money than he earns at Leighton Mining. And Gideon is convinced Sechrest keeps a second set of company account books.”

As I’d hoped, we now had Papa’s full attention. He spent the next several minutes peppering Alexandra and Gideon with questions, then turned back to me.

“Let me make sure I understand this, Sarah. You think Senator Gaylord and Luther Sechrest set up Frederick and Bramwell to take the blame for crimes they themselves committed.”

“That’s exactly what I think.”

Papa shook his head. “To be honest, Sarah, I’m not certain you’ve established probable cause to justify a search warrant. On the other hand, it may be our best chance to save Frederick, and the Bramwells, of course.” He looked from Alexandra to Gideon. “Are you both willing to swear to the statements you’ve made concerning Luther Sechrest.”

After both responded in the affirmative, Papa went on: “And you’re willing to sign an affidavit to that effect?”

Again, they both agreed. I watched Alexandra’s eyes grow wider as the implications of this action sunk in.

“If Sarah is right and Luther has committed some sort of crime,” she asked, looking intently at my father, “how will that affect the ruling about child custody?”

“It means, young lady,” Papa answered, “that you will more
than likely get your sons back. Your husband can hardly raise those boys from a jail cell.” He pulled on his coat, then cautioned, “But don’t get your hopes up too soon, Mrs. Sechrest. First, we have to find evidence that a crime was committed, and, if it was, that Mr. Sechrest was involved.” He motioned for Alexandra and Gideon to follow him. “You’ll both have to come with me. Judge Aldwin will undoubtedly want to question you himself, and he will almost certainly require you to sign affidavits before he’ll issue the warrant.”

We were almost to the front door when it opened and my brother Samuel entered, followed closely by Robert.

“Look who I found drawing up in his cab,” Samuel said, indicating Robert, who gave me a sheepish smile. Alexandra stiffened at the sight of her husband’s attorney, and Gideon’s look was frosty. “Well, well, what do we have going on in here?” my brother asked, sensing the sudden tension.

I performed hasty introductions, explaining that Robert had represented Mrs. Sechrest’s husband in her suit for divorce, then asked Robert why he had come to my home.

Robert colored slightly as he looked at Alexandra. “I’m truly sorry for the way matters turned out for you, Mrs. Sechrest. Divorce is painful for everyone involved. I want you to know that I meant you no personal harm.”

Alexandra’s expression did not soften. Inclining her head to demonstrate that she had heard his apology—although not that she had accepted it—she silently followed Gideon and Papa out to Eddie’s brougham.

“To answer your question, Sarah,” Robert said after everyone had left the house but Samuel and me, “I came here to talk to you about the case.”

“The case?” I asked, my attention so taken up with the search warrant, I wasn’t really listening. “Oh, you mean the Sechrest divorce?”

“Yes, I—”

“Sorry, Robert, but I’ve no time for that now. We have pressing
business to attend to.” Turning to Samuel, I handed him a piece of paper with Luther Sechrest’s name and address printed on it. “Samuel, would you please try to find George Lewis and meet us at this address? The police will have to conduct the actual search.”

“What search?” both men asked. But I had already turned and was hurrying toward the waiting cab.

N
inety minutes later, we had our search warrant and were on our way in Eddie’s brougham to Luther Sechrest’s home. Upon my father’s advice—and after promising Alexandra I would tell her what we found in the safe—Alexandra and Gideon had taken a separate cab to their respective destinations.

Samuel, Robert, Sergeant Lewis, and a uniformed patrolman were waiting for us in a police wagon parked down the street from the Sechrest home. When we explained why we had asked them to meet us, Robert was irate.

“Why didn’t you tell me that was your plan?” he demanded. “As Mr. Sechrest’s attorney, I can’t allow you to go forward with this search.”

“I’m afraid you have no choice, Robert,” I told him. “We have a perfectly legal search warrant signed by a judge.”

This did not mollify him. “Just because your client lost custody of her children does not give you the right to stoop to such a barefaced act of revenge.”

“Calm down, Robert,” I said. “Believe me, this is not about revenge. I’ll explain everything as soon as we’ve taken care of the warrant.”

He was still sputtering as Papa handed Sergeant Lewis the search warrant, which named him as the officer authorized to carry out the search. According to the laws of search and seizure, the document spelled out exactly what Lewis could look for in Sechrest’s safe, as well as what he could legally remove from the premises. Armed with this paper, the two policemen approached the Sechrest residence.

While we waited for their return, I filled Robert in on what had prompted this action. “So you see why it was so vital to search the safe before Sechrest could destroy any incriminating evidence. Papa and I believe it was Sechrest and Senator Gaylord who set up my brother Frederick.”

“According to Bramwell’s records,” Papa put in, “Joseph Vincenzo had been working for them less than three weeks. Sarah discovered only this afternoon that Vincenzo has been with Sechrest for years. Obviously, Gaylord and Sechrest planted Vincenzo at Bramwell’s company in order to authenticate his bribery charges against Frederick.”

Robert looked dazed. “Are you sure, Judge Woolson? Luther Sechrest seems such an honest, upstanding fellow.”

“Yes, well appearances can be deceiving,” I said dryly.

While we waited for their return, Eddie peppered me with questions: Was Sergeant Lewis going to arrest someone? Was there a dead body inside the house, maybe even stuffed in the safe? Did I suppose the bad guys had guns and did I think they’d try to shoot us all? Holding up his homemade cosh—which seemed even heavier now than it had the night of the Cliff House séance—he swore that if called upon, he was more than ready to help the coppers.

Sergeant Lewis and his junior officer were inside the Sechrest home for less than an hour, but for those of us waiting inside the brougham—especially with Eddie’s nonstop jabbering!—it seemed a lifetime. Like the boy, I kept wondering what was happening inside the house. Was Luther proving difficult? Had he already destroyed the documents we needed to prove our case?

As it happened, the search went far more smoothly than it had in either Eddie’s or my imagination. Luther Sechrest and his cronies were not at home, and the door had been answered by a maid. Opening the safe proved to be the thorniest problem the policemen faced, and that was solved once they’d convinced Luther’s butler that it was in his best interests to show them where his master kept a copy of the combination.

To our delight, and relief, the safe held a treasure trove of incriminating evidence, more than enough to clear Frederick of having had any part in the scandal over the new City Hall building. Not only did Lewis find a second set of books for Leighton Mining Company—which, upon examination, revealed in detail the profits Luther had skimmed from his employer; they also found half a dozen letters written to Luther by Gaylord, spelling out the senator’s role in the construction fraud.