The Easter Egg Murder (19 page)

48

Elizabeth Snow answered the front door herself. They introduced themselves, and she guided them through the front hallway to a sunroom at the back of the house. She offered them something to drink, but they declined. She said, “Thank you so much for coming. I felt a bit awkward calling Steve, but he assured me you’d be open to a meeting.”

Ginger said, “We appreciate your
seeing us on such short notice.”

“I’m glad it worked out so well.” Elizabeth poured herself a cup of coffee from the silver carafe on the table beside her. “Before we get started, may I ask a question? Do you know the purpose of the book Philip Lawrence is writing?”

Ginger blinked. “I’m not sure I can answer that question. The book isn’t finished. And now, with him in the hospital, we don’t know when, or if it will be. From what I can tell, he felt the need to explore the case further, to perhaps shed light on some things that happened during that time.”

Elizabeth nodded
but didn’t comment. She walked over to a cabinet and lifted a box. She brought it back and put it on the floor by her feet.

“I’d like to tell you a story. It may help you decide how to
proceed when Philip wakes up.” She turned to Ginger and smiled, “And he will wake up. He’s much too tough to let this keep him down. Anyway, he’ll verify this information. He’s the one who asked me to pass it along to you.”

Harrie felt the warm sun on her arm, but she felt a shiver of premonition, too. “May I ask
if this has anything to do with Daniel Snow?”

Elizabeth looked at her with admiration. “My, you do get right down to it, don’t you?” She smiled. “That’s good. You seem like a smart young woman. As it happens, it has a great deal to do with Daniel. Have you ever met him?”

“No,” Harrie said. “But I heard about him. I understand he and Philip used to be friends.”

“Yes, but that’s not the point of my story.
In 1964, Daniel had been in Congress for several years. He’d gotten himself appointed to some important committees, and he thought it was time to make a run for the Senate. Jacob convinced him that wasn’t a good idea.”

“What did your husband do to convince Daniel not to run?” Harrie asked.

“You probably already know that Daniel and Rachel were quite a bit older than Jacob, Daniel thirteen years older and Rachel eleven years older. The two older siblings couldn’t be bothered with a brother that much younger.

“Jacob grew up almost like an only child. His mother, being older w
hen he was born, was much wiser and didn’t spoil him the way she’d spoiled Daniel. Daniel always expected his every wish to be fulfilled. He became an aggressive leader. Their father died when Daniel was just out of law school. Their mother decided Jacob should go to a prep school back East where she’d been raised. That effectively kept him out of Daniel’s way. The sister, Rachel, married Peter Templeton, who was also a lawyer, and he proved to be a man similar in every way to Daniel. The two of them became law partners. By the time Jacob got out of law school in 1945, he felt ready to return and join the family firm. As long as he stayed out of Daniel and Peter’s business, they were content to have him there, doing work that kept him busy and unaware of their activities.”

Elizabeth paused. “Undoubtedly you know about the gambling in Los Huevos during those days
.”

Ginger spoke up. “Yes. Philip told us about it as we worked on the book. He never told us who was involved in it though.”

“Perhaps he hadn’t gotten that far,” Elizabeth said. “Would it surprise you to learn that Daniel and Peter were heavily involved in that enterprise?” When both women shook their heads, she continued.

“I think everybody else around here knew, too
. Everybody except Jacob, his sister Rachel and their mother. Rachel and their mother went to their graves without knowing, and it was at least four years before Jacob learned the truth. When he did, it changed his life forever.”

“How did he find out?” Harrie asked.

A sad smile passed over Elizabeth’s face. Her voice was so soft they strained to hear her. “In early 1949, before he and I were dating, he became involved with a young woman, a waitress at a coffee shop in downtown Albuquerque. As it turned out, she also worked part time in Los Huevos at the Blue Heron, a popular gambling nightclub. In the course of working there, she saw and heard things. Many important politicians from all over the state came to gamble in the private rooms.

“In May, 1949, Daniel’s son, Eric started hanging out at the club with his friends. He was young and cocky, and he hit on Jacob’s girlfriend, but she put him off. He tried to impress her by bragging about his father and uncle being the owners of the club. She apparently learned quite a bit from Eric. Eric bragged to anyone who would listen that she was his girl and they were going to be married.

“She didn’t say anything to Jacob about it. For one thing, he didn’t know she worked at the Blue Heron. Then one night in June 1949, she just disappeared. When Jacob asked around about her, no one seemed to know where she’d gone.”

Ginger said, “Did he ever find her?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth continued, “she turned up in March, 1950. By that time, Jacob and I were engaged. He’d told me about this girl, but since she’d left without a word and never contacted him, Jacob assumed the relationship was over. Imagine his surprise the day she called, and asked if he would meet her.”

Harrie asked, “Did he agree?”

Elizabeth let out a long breath. “Oh, yes. They met in Old Town Albuquerque at the old San Felipe de Neri church on the Plaza.” She looked out the window, lost in her own world.

Harrie wanted to get her talking again. Softly she said, “Mrs. Snow? Are you all right?”

Elizabeth turned back to look at them. “Yes, I’m sorry. You see, he didn’t tell me about that meeting for several years. I think he feared I’d be jealous. But how could I be jealous of that poor girl?”

Ginger said, “What do you mean?”

“Well, it was so sad. The reason she’d disappeared in 1949 was because Eric told everyone they were getting married. His attentions became so unwelcome she apparently felt the need to get away, and she snuck out of town.”

Harrie f
rowned. “Where did she go?”

“Nobody knew at that time.
The day Jacob met her at the church, she told him that Eric was the reason for her sudden departure. Now he understood her mysterious disappearance. She told him about Daniel’s involvement in the gambling and bribery activities in Los Huevos, and one more thing. She said after she disappeared, she gave birth to a baby.”

Harrie felt a growing excitement. “Did you ever learn the name of this girl?”

Sadness filled Elizabeth’s eyes. “Yes, of course. I’m sure you’ve guessed. Her name was Kathleen Finn, also known as Chipper.”

49

Harrie nodded. “Did your husband know why she was killed?”

“Based on what Chipper told him, and what he knew about the men in his family, he thought he knew what happened. It all revolved around Eric and his penchant for getting into trouble. Eric had received a trip to Europe as a graduation gift from his parents. In reality, Daniel wanted him out of town because he had heard about Eric’s obsession with Chipper, and he was afraid the boy would do something stupid. Then when Chipper disappeared, they relaxed a bit. Eric returned in the fall and started classes at the university. He still frequented the clubs in Los Huevos whenever he had the chance, but he had strict orders to stay away from the Blue Heron.

“One night in late March, 1950, Eric went to the Casa Caliente Club. He saw Chipper and found out she had been working there since late February. He drank even more than usual that night and got falling-down-drunk. When he tried to talk to her, he was rough and abusive. She got frightened and called for the club bouncer. Eric became enraged and waited for her in the parking lot, but the club’s bouncer forced him to leave the premises. Right after that, she made the call to Jacob and arranged the meeting at the church.

“Jacob was going to help her find a place to live outside New Mexico. He even set up a small savings account so she could get by until she found a job. The baby had been left in the care of a friend in Las Cruces, with the understanding that Chipper would join them as soon as she could. Chipper was desperate to keep the Snows from finding out about the baby. She was certain they knew about her knowledge of their gambling operations and was
afraid that Eric’s violence would escalate.

“How long was this before Chipper’s death?” Harrie asked.

Elizabeth leaned back and closed her eyes. “It was less than a week before she died. It all happened so quickly that Jacob never got the money to her. He was furious. He went to Daniel and confronted him about Eric’s attack on her. Not only did he accuse Daniel of engineering her murder, but he also said he knew about Daniel and Peter’s involvement in the illegal gambling in Los Huevos. He told Daniel to get out of it immediately, or he would call in the FBI. Daniel ignored the accusation about the gambling, but denied involvement in Chipper’s death and said he had information the murder had been committed by the club bouncer.”

Harrie nodded. “Manny Salinas, the former prize fighter. But they found him not guilty. And I saw a book recently that said Eric actually did it, but they couldn’t prove it.”

“Exactly,” Elizabeth said, “that’s what Jacob came to believe. The day after they found the girl’s body, Eric left for Europe again and didn’t return for almost five years.”

“What did your husband do about his suspicions then?” Ginger asked.

Elizabeth sighed and looked away. “Nothing. He felt he’d made a pact with the devil. Daniel resigned as district attorney in 1951. After that, he gained a lot of attention with his crusade to close down illegal gambling in New Mexico. The irony of that was a bitter pill for Jacob, especially since that crusade led to Daniel’s next step up. In 1952 he successfully campaigned for and won the office of Attorney General of New Mexico, based in large part on his noble battle to reform politics in New Mexico.”

Ginger said, “What was it that caused Daniel to abandon his pursuit of a US Senate seat? You mentioned Jacob had something to do with that.”

“In 1957, a Congressional seat opened up with the death of a long-time, popular politician. The governor appointed Daniel to fill the remainder of the term. He then won the seat on his own. In 1972, he decided to run for the Senate. Jacob was, by this time, a very well respected attorney throughout New Mexico. He had been approached by the party many times to run for office. He was even asked to serve on the state supreme court, but he never wanted to hold office. He knew that Daniel’s past could easily be used against the entire family.

“So Jacob h
ad a brotherly talk with Daniel and convinced him he would not win a Senate seat because Jacob would see to it that he didn’t. Daniel realized he could no longer control the family. Jacob talked Philip Lawrence into running instead, and the rest is history.”

“Let’s get back to Eric.” Harrie pressed. “If Jacob really believed he murdered Chipper, how could he just let that go?”

“Believe me, that gnawed at him for many years, but there was nothing he could do at the time. He didn’t have any proof. Daniel always maintained that Salinas had an accomplice and someday he would turn up. Jacob decided as long as no other innocent person was blamed for the crime, he would wait until he had a way to prove his theory.”

Harrie frowned. “It’s just so un
fair Eric was never punished.”

“Eric didn’t get off without penalty.” Elizabeth’s mouth became grim. “In fact, he’s possibly the only one who ended up receiving some sort of punishment.

“I don’t understand,” Harrie said.

“I told you Eric was whisked off to Europe immediately after the murder. When he came back five years
later, his father was supposed to have bought him land in Alaska so that Eric could follow his dream of becoming a bush pilot. It was only after Peter died in 1990 that Jacob discovered the truth.”

Ginger seemed to know what was coming. “Is Eric still alive?” she asked.

Elizabeth reached into the box on the floor and withdrew a ledger.

“Technically, yes.”

“What do you mean, technically?” Harrie asked.

Elizabeth opened the ledger. “This is a checkbook that Peter kept locked in his desk. Jacob didn’t know it existed until after Peter’s funeral. He discovered it as he packed up his brother-in-law’s things. He noticed that a check was issued four times a year to a private sanitarium outside Tucson. The payments went back to 1955, the year Eric returned from Europe. Jacob went to Tucson and paid a visit to this facility. Eric had been there since the summer of 1955. He’d never gone to Alaska, much less become a pilot.”

Harrie felt chilled. “Why was he in a sanitarium?”

“His raging alcoholism caused a severe stroke. Daniel feared Eric’s condition would call attention to the boy’s wild past. But more importantly, Daniel was focusing on his political career and feared the public embarrassment. So he had Peter arrange for Eric’s transfer to the facility in Tucson. They told everyone Eric died in a plane crash in Alaska.”

Elizabeth saw the reaction from Harrie and Ginger. “I know what you’re thinking. I had the same reaction when Jacob told me. After that, my dislike for Daniel became an active hatred.”

Harrie said, “Did your husband ever tell anyone about this?”

Elizabeth frowned. “In a way he did. About six months before Jacob had his stroke, he started a journal. He told me about what was in it, but I never read it. He said he described everything he knew and suspected about the murder. When he finished, he put it in a large brown envelope and used sealing wax, stamping it with his emblem. On the front he wrote a note, indicating that upon his death, it was to be delivered to Senator Philip Lawrence.”