"And Loraine was wearing a thong at a motel pool."
"You just ruined my day. You should never mention senior citizens in thongs."
"All pretty wild, isn't it? He does admit to being in Towson's apartment. You'll see when you get the statement. He mentioned Norma Martin. Do we have anything on her?"
"Not that I remember," the chief said. "Where are all these names coming from? Damn it, we have to keep a lid on this. If any of this gets out...the names, another shooting and a rape rumor-this town will go bonkers."
At two p.m., Goddard escorted Reid back to the courthouse for the First Appearance.
Ray Reid stood before the judge and entered a plea of Not Guilty. Kagan immediately requested Pretrial Release. State Attorney Moran objected stating that they have a witness who can place him at the apartment on the day of the murder, that the suspect's prints were on cup shards found in the victim's apartment, that they have evidence he had argued with the victim, and that he was the last person to see the victim alive.
Kagan retorted that in a statement just given to the prosecution, his client voluntarily admitted he was at the apartment on that day and had explained the broken cup. Furthermore, the police couldn't possibly have determined with any certainty at that early stage who indeed was the last person to see the victim alive and, in summary, the state's proof of guilt wasn't sufficiently evident to deny bail.
Moran informed the court that the defendant was new in town and had insufficient ties to the community to assure future court appearances.
The judge remanded the accused to police custody.
As Goddard escorted Ray from the courtroom, Kagan asked him, "Did you have a chance to dump the calls on my client's phone and get the source of that text? Someone directed him to Towson's apartment mere hours before the killing."
Goddard moved closer before answering, "Off-the-record, Jerry, that text originated from an Internet connection at the Inn Towner Motel."
Reid jumped in, "Yes! That's where we were, the Inn Towner! That proves what I told you. It was Loraine. She wouldn't use her own phone it could be traced. She knew I was eager to get in touch with Tammy."
The detective was willing to continue the subject since Kagan wasn't objecting. "Or did you send yourself the text from the motel's phone before you left?"
Ray had no immediate answer for that theory. Then he remembered. "What about this? Loraine gave me Tammy's home phone number that is unlisted. I wrote it on a motel pad. The police took it from me when I was booked, so you have it. It proves Loraine gave me Tammy's number."