“I wasn’t her partner.”
“The two of you have a history. You’re the only person she kept in touch with through thick and through thin. I’m pretty sure that with a little help from Deke, I can make you look like her accomplice.”
“My God, you’re serious, aren’t you?”
“With one-and-a-half million, plus my brother’s reputation on the line? Yeah, Miss Hutton, I’m damned serious. Cooperate with me. Help me find the money and we can both walk away from this without anyone having to hire a lawyer.”
“Just where do you think I would stash that kind of cash?”
“At this point, all I know for sure is that it’s not in your personal bank account.”
She felt her jaw drop. “You checked?”
“First thing after I found your name in Meredith’s email address book.”
“How?”
“I told you, my brother is good with computers.”
“That kind of invasion of privacy is illegal. I could have you arrested.”
“No shit. I’ll have to remember that for future reference.”
She glared. “And you have the nerve to accuse me of criminal behavior.”
“Go figure.”
“I don’t believe this.” She felt dazed. “It’s beyond bizarre.”
He looked almost amused. “Be grateful. You’ve got the easy part. All you have to do is help me find the money.”
She watched him warily. “What’s the hard part? Getting it back into the endowment fund?”
“No. That will be simple. The hard part is going to be convincing my brother that Meredith Spooner wasn’t murdered.”
She felt the air leave her lungs in a rush. Stunned, she gazed at him, her mind a complete blank for about three full seconds.
“The police didn’t say anything about murder,” she finally got out.
“That’s because they didn’t find any evidence to indicate the crash was anything other than an accident,” he said. “Probably because there wasn’t any.”
She got the feeling he’d had this conversation a number of times in recent days.
“But your brother takes another view of the situation?” she asked.
“Deke is—” He broke off, apparently searching for the right word. “Some people think he’s a little obsessed with his theory that his wife, Bethany, was murdered a year ago. When he heard about Meredith’s accident he leaped to the conclusion that the killer had struck again.”
“Good grief. What do
you
think?”
Thomas was silent for a time. Wrench leaned heavily against his leg, as though offering support.
She thought that Thomas might brush off the question with all its horrifying implications. But to her amazement he just shook his head.
“I don’t know,” he said eventually.
“You don’t
know
? What is that supposed to mean? We’re talking about murder, here.”
“Look, all I can tell you is that a year ago when Bethany died, I didn’t think there was any question about
what had happened. The official verdict was suicide. Unfortunately, it seemed to fit the circumstances and there was no evidence of violence.”
“Was there a note?”
“No. But that’s not as unusual as people think.”
“Suicide is always so difficult for those who knew the victim. No wonder your brother is looking for other answers. But what is it about Meredith’s death that makes him think there’s a connection?”
“Not much,” Thomas admitted. “Meredith didn’t arrive in Wing Cove until six months after Bethany died. The two never even met. But Deke is trying to see patterns where none exist. The only thing Meredith and Bethany had in common as far as I know was that each of them spent a lot of time at Mirror House.”
“What is Mirror House?”
“The headquarters of the Eubanks College Alumni Association.”
“That’s it? They worked in the same place? That’s the only connection you’ve got?”
He hesitated briefly. “The only solid one.”
“No offense to your brother, but that’s extremely weak.”
“I’m aware of that, Miss Hutton.” Thomas’s voice was grim. “Like I said, Deke has had a difficult time coming to terms with Bethany’s death. I’ve done my best to discourage his conspiracy theories. I thought I was making progress in the past few months. He seemed to be coming out of his depression, at least. But Meredith’s death has set him off again.”
She replayed his earlier comment in her head. “Wait a second. You said the fact that Bethany and Meredith worked in the same place was the only solid link between the two deaths. Are there other, less substantial connections?”
“Maybe,” he said slowly. “One possibility, at any rate.”
His obvious reluctance told her that he was not buying into his brother’s conspiracy theory completely, but that he felt obligated to give it some credence. A family loyalty thing, probably. She knew only too well how that worked.
“What?” she asked when he offered no further details.
“After the funeral, there were rumors.”
“Rumors?”
“Some local gossip that Bethany may have been experimenting with drugs at the time of the suicide,” he said reluctantly. “Deke and I agree that would have been completely out of character. She never did drugs so far as we know.”
“Were any drug tests run at the time of her death?”
“There were some routine things done, but there was no reason to go looking for anything exotic that would have required a lot of unique and expensive testing. Small-town law enforcement and medical examiner budgets don’t allow for extensive tests unless there’s a serious question about the cause of death. She had no history of drug use. Deke had questions about the suicide, but they didn’t revolve around drugs. And there’s no going back now. Bethany was cremated according to the stipulations in her will.”
“Meredith’s death was ruled an accident. There was no indication of drugs or alcohol involvement. How do the rumors about Bethany Walker link to her death?”
“After the news of the crash reached us in Wing Cove, there was some gossip that Meredith had been doing drugs while she lived there.”
“No,” Leonora said flatly.
He narrowed his eyes. “No? You’re sure of that?”
“Oh, yes. Very sure. Lord knows, Meredith had her faults, but doing drugs was not one of them. Her mother killed herself with them, you see.”
“Huh.”
Thomas said nothing more. Just looked thoughtful. Wrench looked bored.
“Traffic accidents happen all the time.” She wondered if she was trying to convince him or herself. “And there’s no motive for murder.”
“I wouldn’t say that. One-point-five mil is a lot of money. Let’s assume for the sake of argument that Meredith did have a partner. Someone who didn’t want to split the profits.”
She felt as if she was falling down the rabbit hole. This was getting worse and worse.
“For the last time, I wasn’t Meredith’s partner,” she said tightly. “I knew nothing about this scam you claim she was running at Eubanks College.”
“Prove it. Help me find the money she embezzled.”
“You’re threatening me. I really hate that.”
“I’ve also offered a hefty finder’s fee,” he reminded her. “Think of it as the carrot-and-stick approach.”
“If you don’t mind,” she said icily, “I’ve got to finish packing up Meredith’s things.”
“Which reminds me. I’ve got a question about that.”
“What question?”
“Why are you the one who came here today? Why is it your job to clean out the apartment and deal with the final details of Meredith Spooner’s life?”
Leonora looked around at the unadorned walls and the impersonal furnishings. It was difficult to imagine Meredith, always so vivid and exciting, spending the last few days of her life in this plain, dull space.
A great sadness welled up inside Leonora. Meredith had been complicated and frequently maddening. Whenever she had appeared, trouble had followed. But the world would certainly be a less colorful place without her.
“There was no one else to do it,” Leonora said.
Perpetual night infused
the interior of Deke’s house. The curtains were drawn closed on all the windows even though the low, gray clouds of the cold November afternoon offered no real threat of sunlight. The gloom was relieved only by the eerie glow of the computer screen. It reflected off the lenses of Deke’s gold-rimmed glasses and bathed his face and untrimmed beard in an unhealthy light.
Thomas sat in the leather armchair on the other side of the desk, a cup of coffee beside him, Wrench sprawled at his feet, and felt depressed. Whatever progress he had made in the struggle to drag Deke out of the netherworld inside his computer had been lost when the news of Meredith Spooner’s death had reached them. Deke had immediately plunged back through the looking glass, searching for connections and patterns to support his theory that Bethany had been murdered.
“Leonora Hutton showed up at the apartment?” Deke
asked. His eagerness was so painfully obvious that it hurt to look at him. “Just like you thought she would?”
“She showed. Said she’d come to pack up Meredith’s things.”
“Well? What happened? Will she help us?”
“I don’t know,” Thomas said.
“What do you mean? You told me that she was our only real lead.”
“I know.” He hesitated. “But she’s not quite what I expected.”
“How’s that?”
Thomas thought about his impressions of Leonora. He was still trying to sort them out. He’d spent most of the time on the trip back to Wing Cove yesterday and a lot of last night on the task, but he hadn’t made much headway. No matter how he approached the problem she refused to be stuffed into a neat category.
“She’s nothing like Meredith,” he said. “Complete opposites, in fact. Reverse images. Day and night.”
If Meredith, with a voice that hinted of honey and Texas, golden blond hair and eyes the color of a summer sky, had been the day, Leonora was the night.
“Good twin, bad twin?” Deke suggested.
“Trust me, those two were never twins.”
A memory of that first glimpse of Leonora yesterday when she had turned away from the dresser to confront him hovered in his head. The image haunted him like the remnants of a dream he could not shake.
He saw her again now in his mind and tried to employ a measure of objectivity. She had been dressed in a pair of dark green trousers and a green pullover. Her dark hair had been caught up in a French twist. Stylish, black-rimmed glasses emphasized her green eyes and the striking planes and angles of an intelligent face that had fascinated him for some inexplicable reason. So much so
that he had had to make an effort to look away, even for a few seconds. She had worn little if any detectable makeup. Not a woman who traded on her looks the way Meredith had, he thought.
Within five seconds of meeting her he had known that Leonora was a lot like him in one respect. She was accustomed to going after what she wanted. Probably didn’t give up easily, either, once she had set herself a goal.
“What did she say about the finder’s fee?” Deke asked.
“Called it a bribe. Then I sort of implied that if the police got involved they might look in her direction to find the money, what with her being such a good friend of Meredith’s and all.”
Deke was startled. “How did that go over?”
“I don’t think she liked being threatened.”
“No big surprise there, I guess.” Deke gazed into the oracle that was his glowing computer screen. “I’ve been thinking about the money.”
“What about it?”
“In a way, it’s the least of our problems.”
“Got news for you, Deke, when the audit turns up more than a million missing from the fund we’re going to have a big problem.”
“I’ll replace the money before the audit. No one will ever know it disappeared.”
“Replace it? Just where do you plan to get that kind of cash?”
“I’ll liquidate some accounts.”
“The hell you will,” Thomas said softly. “I’m your investment manager, remember? Damned if I’ll let you take that kind of a bath.”
“I can replace it. Take a few consulting assignments.”
“Forget it. Meredith Spooner stole that money. We’re going to get it back.”
Deke smiled slightly.
“What?” Thomas said.
“Nothing. Just that when it comes to finding that missing money you’re starting to sound as obsessed as I am about figuring out who murdered Bethany.”
“It’s the principle of the thing, damn it.”
“Yeah,” Deke said. “Gotta love those principle things.”
Thomas slumped deeper into the chair. “We’re getting a reputation around here, you know. They’re calling us the ‘crazy Walker brothers.’ ”
“I heard.”
They sat together in the gloom for a while. Wrench stretched, changed position slightly and went back to sleep.
“We need to find the money,” Thomas said eventually, “because it’s our only shot at figuring out whether or not you’re right about Bethany and Meredith being murdered.”
“What’s this? You mean you’re starting to buy into my conspiracy theory?”
“Let’s just say that my conversation with Leonora raised some questions I’d like to see answered.”
“What questions?”
“You know that stuff about the drugs?”
Deke’s hand clenched fiercely around a pen. “What about it? Bethany didn’t do drugs.”
Thomas reached down to scratch Wrench’s ears. “Leonora Hutton swears Meredith didn’t use them, either.”
“No shit?” Deke put down the pen, sat back and combed his fingers through his untidy beard. “And yet the same rumors are circulating. Now that is interesting.”
“Yeah.”
“You knew Meredith pretty well there for a while,” Deke said. “What do you think about those drug rumors we heard?”
Thomas hesitated. It was a little weird to realize that you could sleep with a woman a few times and not know
something as fundamental as whether or not she used illicit chemicals. All he could truthfully say was that she hadn’t used them when she was with him and he’d never seen any indication that she had been under the influence.
“I can’t be sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say Meredith Spooner was too focused on her scams to risk messing herself up with drugs,” he said finally.
“Just as Bethany was too focused on her work to fool around with them. It’s another link, admit it.”