Read Online The Dreams of Ada by Robert Mayer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Robert Mayer
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home from work: that they would like him to come down to the police station, to answer a few questions.
As the detectives killed time in Norman, waiting for Tommy Ward, they were convinced they had gotten good information from Jeff Miller. Jannette had confirmed that she and Tommy and the others used to party together, sometimes at Blue River, and that at times she had let Tommy borrow her pickup. She had denied the key incident about the crying, the confession; but perhaps she had not been within earshot of that, or perhaps she was protecting her friend. The fact that Tommy was still living in Norman, they felt, was a stroke of luck.
When Tommy and Mike got home from work, Jannette gave Tommy the message: two detectives were waiting for him at the police station, wanting to talk to him.
“What about?” Tommy asked.
“They think you had something to do with that girl who disappeared from McAnally’s,” Jannette said.
Tommy told Jannette and Mike that when the girl disappeared, and they put the drawings of the two suspects in the newspaper, people used to hassle him that he looked like one of the pictures. That was one reason he was glad they had moved to Norman, he said. So people would stop hassling him. The cops had already questioned him once. Why didn’t they leave him alone? He wasn’t sure he wanted to go.
“They’re waiting for you at the police station,” Jannette said. “If you didn’t have anything to do with it, go down there and tell them that.”
Tommy agreed that that was the best course. Mike drove him to the station. Inside, he told a clerk who he was. Detectives Smith and Baskin came out of an inner office. They led him downstairs, to a room with videotaping equipment set up. They told him they were going to make a tape of the questioning, asked if that was all right with him. He said it was. The machine was turned on by Eddie Davenport of the Norman police department. The detectives read Ward his rights under the Miranda Act: that he had the right to remain silent; that he had the right for a lawyer to be present; that he was free to go at any time; that if he did answer questions, he could stop answering them at any time; that if he did answer their questions, anything he said could be used against him in a court of law.
Tommy sat in a wooden chair, listening. He had not changed clothes after work. He was dressed as he usually was, in blue jeans, an athletic shirt, tennis sneakers. He told the detectives that he understood all of that, that he would answer their questions.
As the tape rolled, Dennis Smith recalled to Tommy the previous time he had been questioned, shortly after the disappearance: how Tommy had told them he would help them in any way he could to find out what had happened. Tommy said he remembered saying that.
Mike Baskin asked him what he had done the day Denice Haraway “was kidnapped.” Tommy said he had installed plumbing at his mother’s home with his brother-in-law, Robert Cavins. Then he had showered and walked to Jannette’s, about 9 P.M . Karl Fontenot was there, he said, and some other people, and they had a party.
The detectives told him that when they had questioned him the last time, he had told a different story. Tommy replied that the first story he had told them had happened the day before the disappearance. He had realized this later, he said.
“What was the statement you gave us?” Smith asked.
“I don’t remember,” Tommy said.
“When did you realize you hadn’t told the truth?” Baskin asked.
“I got mixed up the days,” Ward said.
The red light of the taping machine remained on. Smith asked Tommy if he was nervous. The detective then refreshed his memory about his previous story—about going fishing and then to a party.
“Yeah, that’s what I did the day before it happened,” Ward said. “I told you the twenty-seventh instead of the twenty-eighth.”
“Are you telling us the truth now?” Smith said.
“Yes, sir,” Ward
As the detectives killed time in Norman, waiting for Tommy Ward, they were convinced they had gotten good information from Jeff Miller. Jannette had confirmed that she and Tommy and the others used to party together, sometimes at Blue River, and that at times she had let Tommy borrow her pickup. She had denied the key incident about the crying, the confession; but perhaps she had not been within earshot of that, or perhaps she was protecting her friend. The fact that Tommy was still living in Norman, they felt, was a stroke of luck.
When Tommy and Mike got home from work, Jannette gave Tommy the message: two detectives were waiting for him at the police station, wanting to talk to him.
“What about?” Tommy asked.
“They think you had something to do with that girl who disappeared from McAnally’s,” Jannette said.
Tommy told Jannette and Mike that when the girl disappeared, and they put the drawings of the two suspects in the newspaper, people used to hassle him that he looked like one of the pictures. That was one reason he was glad they had moved to Norman, he said. So people would stop hassling him. The cops had already questioned him once. Why didn’t they leave him alone? He wasn’t sure he wanted to go.
“They’re waiting for you at the police station,” Jannette said. “If you didn’t have anything to do with it, go down there and tell them that.”
Tommy agreed that that was the best course. Mike drove him to the station. Inside, he told a clerk who he was. Detectives Smith and Baskin came out of an inner office. They led him downstairs, to a room with videotaping equipment set up. They told him they were going to make a tape of the questioning, asked if that was all right with him. He said it was. The machine was turned on by Eddie Davenport of the Norman police department. The detectives read Ward his rights under the Miranda Act: that he had the right to remain silent; that he had the right for a lawyer to be present; that he was free to go at any time; that if he did answer questions, he could stop answering them at any time; that if he did answer their questions, anything he said could be used against him in a court of law.
Tommy sat in a wooden chair, listening. He had not changed clothes after work. He was dressed as he usually was, in blue jeans, an athletic shirt, tennis sneakers. He told the detectives that he understood all of that, that he would answer their questions.
As the tape rolled, Dennis Smith recalled to Tommy the previous time he had been questioned, shortly after the disappearance: how Tommy had told them he would help them in any way he could to find out what had happened. Tommy said he remembered saying that.
Mike Baskin asked him what he had done the day Denice Haraway “was kidnapped.” Tommy said he had installed plumbing at his mother’s home with his brother-in-law, Robert Cavins. Then he had showered and walked to Jannette’s, about 9 P.M . Karl Fontenot was there, he said, and some other people, and they had a party.
The detectives told him that when they had questioned him the last time, he had told a different story. Tommy replied that the first story he had told them had happened the day before the disappearance. He had realized this later, he said.
“What was the statement you gave us?” Smith asked.
“I don’t remember,” Tommy said.
“When did you realize you hadn’t told the truth?” Baskin asked.
“I got mixed up the days,” Ward said.
The red light of the taping machine remained on. Smith asked Tommy if he was nervous. The detective then refreshed his memory about his previous story—about going fishing and then to a party.
“Yeah, that’s what I did the day before it happened,” Ward said. “I told you the twenty-seventh instead of the twenty-eighth.”
“Are you telling us the truth now?” Smith said.
“Yes, sir,” Ward
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