Hidden Truth

Five

Bethesda is one of the most popular suburbs near D. C among young professionals and people in their late twenties or early thirties, because of the huge amount of all kind of restaurants, taverns and pubs to hang out. Many companies have also chosen to move there, considering the price of rental properties is much lower than in Washington.

Crystal Nichols's house was near a park, and it seemed to be a recently built construction.  It was clearly a luxurious building, and I couldn't but wonder if Ms Nichols would manage to pay the rent without help.

"Do you think the same thing I do?" Mark asked.

"Yes, probably." I said "The rent for this building must be too high for a secretary's wage."

"Well, she used to work for one of the most important companies in D. C and now she's been hired by a well known lawyer. Must have a nice income, probably better than ours. In any case we're going to take a look at her accounts."

"Amen to that. Fourth floor, left door. " I rang the bell and after a short while a young woman came to open. She was completely dressed in black and had her hair done in a bun and had a slight make up.

"Good morning, if you want to sell something I'm not interested." She said.

"Good morning, Ms Nichols. I'm detective Davidson and this is my partner Detective Mitchell. We wanted to make you some questions."

"Oh, I'm really sorry Detectives, please come in." The woman blushed. "Want to have a coffee?"

"No, thanks Ms Nichols.  You probably heard about the accident that happened here, two nights ago."

"Yeah, how could I not know?" She weeped "Mr Sampson had just left when he was..."

"Did you see the accident?"

"No, I wish I had. When Mike left, I went to the kitchen, in the other side of the house. I heard the noise and the commotion, and I knew instantly it had been Mike. I rushed to the window and saw a man attending Mike. I wanted to go down and help him, but I didn't dare." She was crying by now. I went to the kitchen and brought her a glass of water.

"Are you better?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, yeah...thanks Detectives." 

"You worked for him since..." I took a look at my notes "Since 2008, right?"

"That's it, I began working for him in June that year."

"And how would you describe him as an employer?"

The woman smiled nostalgically "He was a kind man and a really good employer, I could even say he became a friend after so many years."

"And however, you left the job six months ago." Mark inquired.

"That's something we both decided, we talked about it for a long time before I resigned. God, I know this may sound stereotypical and maybe it is, but we started seeing each other out of the job and that's something strictly forbidden. He is...was married, he was my boss and he was the owner's son, we had all the aces to be under the spotlight and most likely, I would be fired without even a recommendation letter for another possible employer. Michael moved quickly and secured me another job, before...'

"Before what?"

"I'm three month pregnant, that was the main trigger for me to leave the company." Ms Nichols said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"And how did he take the notice?" I asked.

"He couldn't be more thrilled about it!" The woman smiled sadly "He promised he would leave his wife, he was going to talk to her after a gala that was held the night he died."

"Do you think Mr Sampson's father or his wife knew something about your relationship?"

"No, I don't think so. We tried to stay as low key as we could, we always met here. Mike never used his professional cellphone to call me. We knew the risks and avoided it. I enjoy working, have done it since I graduated in college and never thought of stop doing it." Ms Nichols' determined look didn't go unnoticed to Mark and me.

"Thanks Ms Nichols, this will be all for now. But if you should remember anything please don't hesitate in contacting us." Mark said handing his card to the woman.

"I will, thanks Detectives. One more thing, I would want to go to Mike's burial, when will it be?" 

"We will let you know, Ms Nichols." I briefly answered. "Thanks again for your time and help."

"Please let me know about Mike's burial." She insisted.

"Do you think the widow knew about this pregnancy?" I asked Mark  when we were out of the building.

"If she did, it would be a good motivation to get rid of her husband. We should call the judge and ask her for a permission to track down Mrs Sampson's phone."

"I will call her." I took my phone and pressed the dial button "Good morning, Ms Derrick, there's something we have found out that can be relevant for the case. Fine, we'll be there in ten." 

Ellen Derrick was a blonde, blue eyed woman in her early thirties.  Despite her somehow fragile appearance, she had earned the respect of the whole Department in only six months, when she took possession of her office. She was a hard worker and wanted to be aware of every single step we took in the investigation. 

"Good morning Detectives. what can I do for you?"  She greeted us with a welcoming gesture. " What was that you found out?"

"We've just talked to the victim's friend, he had just left her house when he was killed. She's three months pregnant, we think that's a possible motivation for the wife to kill him."

"Yeah, that sounds possible. I will give you a warrant to track her phone calls, keep me informed with everything you might find out."