P. Parrish - Heart of Ice

“Who is that?” she asked.

“Detective Norm Rafsky. He’s in charge of the case.”

She looked to him. “You’re staying, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Rafsky held the door open and followed them in. In the foyer, Louis set their bags on the floor. Rafsky was staring at Julie as if he didn’t believe she was real.

“Miss Chapman,” he said, extending a hand.

She took his hand. “Please, call me Emma.”

Rafsky glanced at Louis, then back at her, his eyes dipping to the sock monkey in Julie’s arm. “I’ve set things up in the kitchen,” he said.

She was looking toward the parlor and it took a second for her to turn back to Rafsky. “May I have a moment?” she asked softly.

Rafsky hesitated. “Go ahead.”

Julie set the sock monkey on top of her suitcase and wandered away, her footsteps a soft echo through the empty house. She paused in the middle of the parlor, her gaze moving over the sheet-covered furniture, the rolled carpets, and bare wood floors. She moved to the empty bookshelves, running her finger over the edges.

“There’s nothing left,” she said.

“We need to get started, Miss Chapman,” Rafsky said.

In the kitchen, she paused to look around. A coffeemaker was spitting out a fresh pot. A half-filled bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream sat on the counter next to a plate of cookies covered with Saran wrap.

Louis saw Julie’s eyes move to the cookies. The look reminded him of how Lily had stared at the fudge slabs in the shops in town. He remembered Julie hadn’t eaten on the plane.

“You want one?” Louis asked.

Julie glanced at him and shook her head. “I don’t think they’re for me,” she said.

Louis suspected the cookies had been made especially for her, but he let it go.

“Can I take your coat?” Rafsky asked.

“I’m cold,” she said. “I’d like to keep it on if that’s okay.”

Rafsky nodded. “Sit down, please,” he said.

Julie slid into a chair. There was a tape recorder and a legal pad on the table, but Julie didn’t seem bothered by them.

Rafsky turned on the tape recorder and stated the date, the time, and the people present. Julie just sat there, slightly hunched. It struck Louis how different this was from most interrogations. No handcuffs, shackles, or hard metal chairs.

“You have the right to remain silent,” Rafsky said.

“Am I under arrest?” Julie asked.

“Not yet,” Rafsky said. “These rights are for your protection. You are a suspect in a homicide.”

“I understand.”

Rafsky finished the Miranda warning. “Would you like an attorney?” he asked.

“No,” she said.

“Okay, then let’s start with New Year’s Eve 1969,” Rafsky said. “Where were you and what were your plans?”

She pulled in a breath. “I was at home in Bloomfield Hills,” she said. “I was planning on coming up here to Mackinac Island to meet Cooper. We were going to run away to Canada.”

“Why had you decided to run away?”

“Cooper was going to be drafted. We thought it was our only way to be together. We were going to stay with a friend of his, Fred Grasso.”

“How did you plan to get up here?” Rafsky asked.

“I was going to take the bus,” Julie said. “But when I told Rhonda what Cooper and I were going to do, she offered to come down and get me.”

“Rhonda who?” Rafsky asked.

Julie looked at Rafsky, confused. Of course they knew who Rhonda was, but they needed Julie’s statement to be complete, with nothing that could later be interpreted as being suggested by the police.

“Please answer the question, Miss Chapman,” Rafsky said.

“Rhonda Grasso,” Julie said. “I met her that last summer and we became friends. Cooper didn’t want anyone to know we were going to Canada, especially his father, but I was so excited I called Rhonda.”

“So she drove down to Bloomfield Hills and brought you back up here?”

Julie nodded. “She was going to just drop me off at the ferry, but at the last minute she decided to come with me to the island. She told me it was too dangerous for me to be alone at the lodge.”

Louis was thinking about what Edna Coffee had told them, that the girl she saw with the stuffed monkey wasn’t with a man. They hadn’t thought to ask her about two girls traveling together.

“You were going to Canada,” Rafsky said. “Why didn’t you just cross the bridge to St. Ignace and go from there?”

“That was what Cooper wanted me to do,” Julie said. “But I told him I needed to go to the island first.”

“Why?”

Julie drew a deep breath that flushed her cheeks. “I had been stealing money from my father’s wallet and hiding it at the lodge,” she said. “I knew Cooper didn’t have much money, and I wanted to surprise him with it.”

“How much had you taken?”

“About a thousand dollars,” Julie said.

Louis had been standing near the door and came forward. “You stole a thousand dollars in one summer?”

Julie looked up at him. “I had been stealing on and off since I was about twelve. I guess I always thought about running away. But after I met Cooper I started taking more because I think I knew in my heart we would need it someday.”

“What happened after you got to the island?” Rafsky asked.

“The ticket lady at the ferry told us there was a snowstorm coming. Rhonda said I shouldn’t stay at the lodge alone and offered to come with me,” Julie said. “I was worried Cooper would be upset that I brought someone, but I thought he’d be okay if it was Rhonda. She had been helping us exchange letters.”

“Cooper was supposed to meet you at the lodge?”

“Yes. Rhonda and I got to the lodge about two. Cooper was supposed to get there by three. When he didn’t come, I didn’t get too worried because in winter the ferry is often delayed.”

“What did you do while you waited?”

“By four it was really cold and getting dark because of the storm. We only had one flashlight, so Rhonda and I huddled in one of the front rooms and just talked.”

“What did you talk about?”

Julie looked down at her hands clasped in her lap.

“Miss Chapman, please.”

“We talked about our parents, school, and horoscopes. Rhonda told me I probably had a lot of trines in my chart because my life was so charmed.”

She paused.

“She asked me a lot of questions, about going to a private school, about living in Bloomfield Hills. She really liked my Kingswood ring, so I let her try it on. She said she’d be rich one day, too, designing her own jewelry in San Francisco.”

When Julie paused again, Louis thought he saw a flicker of impatience in Rafsky’s eyes and hoped he didn’t start pushing her as he had Dancer and Cooper. He glanced at the coffeepot, then back to Julie.

“Would you like a cup of coffee, Miss Chapman?” Louis asked.

“No, thank you.”

“Then let’s go on,” Louis said. “You’re doing fine.”

Julie wet her lips and nodded. “I knew Rhonda had a brother in Canada, and I asked her what it was like up there, what it would be like for Cooper and me. Rhonda got quiet and she changed the subject. She started asking me what my surprise for Cooper was. I didn’t want to tell her because I was afraid to trust her. But Cooper said he had known her for a long time and she was a good friend to us.”

“So you told her about the money?” Rafsky asked.

Julie nodded. “She said she wanted to see it. So I decided to go get it from my hiding place.”

“Where was that?” Rafsky asked.

“In the kitchen,” Julie said, “behind a loose stone in the fireplace. It was dark, so I asked Rhonda to come with me to hold the flashlight.”