“How did Brittany afford it?”
“Good question. The Carters got me admitted and I had a scholarship.” Which Mrs. Carter had probably arranged, bless her forever. “Maybe Caleb does, too. Do me a favor.” He gave her his phone. “Look them up and call the main office. Ask to speak to Miss Keever and say it’s me. Then activate the Bluetooth. I’ll use my hands-free.”
He drove aggressively while she did as he asked. When the call connected, he felt a spear of pleasure at the sound of Miss Keever’s voice. “How are you?”
“Still here. Are you in some kind of trouble, young man?”
He had to chuckle. It was what she’d always said when he got called to the office. “No, ma’am,” he answered. He’d been the model student. The model everything. Just to make his mom proud. To make her smile again. “I’ve had a long stretch of good.”
“Happy to hear it,” she said tartly. “How’s your mother?”
“Doing well. Miss Keever, I need your help. Do you have a student named Caleb Jones? He’s in kindergarten.”
“You know I can’t give you that information, Grayson.”
“I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. I’m trying to reach his mother. She could be in danger, Miss Keever.”
He heard her dusty sigh. “Yes,” she said. “We do.”
“I think his mother is on her way to pick him up. Can you delay her until I get there?”
“Grayson, what’s going on here?”
“It’s too long to tell. Please, just keep her there. I’m less than fifteen minutes out.”
“All right. But I expect some answers.” She hung up on him.
“She’s going to hold Brittany there,” Grayson said to Paige.
“Good. Brittany told the neighbor that the private school had been important to her sister. I wonder if she meant private school in general or St. Leo’s specifically?”
“If she meant private school in general, there are a lot less expensive schools.”
“But it’s kindergarten,” Paige said. “Why spend the money at all?”
The light changed and he sped up as quickly as traffic would allow, grinding his teeth over the slow drivers. “Some people think it’s entrée for their kids,” he said.
“I was happy to go to school period. Well, no, I wasn’t, really. I hated school.”
“That’s sad. I loved it.”
“You would. I bet you never got into trouble.”
“No. Never.” His phone rang and he tapped his earpiece. “This is Smith.”
“It’s Miss Keever. Caleb’s mother is already gone.”
“What? How could she be gone?”
Next to him Paige sighed heavily. “Shit,” she muttered.
“I just missed her,” Miss Keever said. “The desk said she signed Caleb out early. Said she had an appointment. She looked… frazzled. More so than usual.”
“She usually looks frazzled?”
“She’s a working single mother. She drops him off after her shift at work and picks him up looking like she hasn’t slept enough before going to work again.”
“How is Caleb’s tuition paid?”
“Grayson,” Miss Keever snapped. “Financial information is confidential.”
“She’s in danger, Miss Keever. She’s involved in an old case, one on which a lot of associated people are being killed.”
“Oh my. Oh dear.” She paused a moment. “This has to do with the woman you were with in the garage yesterday, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am. Can you please tell me about the tuition?”
She blew out another dusty sigh. “He’s not on scholarship. She pays it all herself.”
“Wow. What is tuition running these days?”
“Thirty-five thousand per year, including books and fees.”
Grayson swallowed hard. “That’s a lot for a single mom. How does she pay for it?”
“She writes a check every month. She’d applied for a scholarship and it looked like Caleb might have been eligible, but it fell through at the last minute. I don’t know why, but if the committee discovered she was sitting on cash, that would have been cause. She reapplied for financial aid for next term. The application is here in her file.”
“Did she get it?”
“Only twenty thousand of it. They noted she had the ability to pay fifteen thousand. None of which I was supposed to tell you. So don’t get me in trouble, Grayson Smith.”
“Thanks, Miss Keever. If anyone comes looking for her, you call me. On second thought, call the police first. Ask for Detective Mazzetti in Homicide. Then call me.”
“Who should I be looking for?” Miss Keever asked. Her voice was brisk, but he heard the slightest tremble of fear.
“I don’t know. If I knew, I’d tell you.”
Paige tugged at his sleeve. “Ask her if Rex McCloud went to the school.”
I should have thought of that. “Miss Keever, did Rex McCloud ever go to St. Leo’s?”
“Yes, he did.”
Her quick answer surprised him. “That was more than ten years ago. You don’t need to check?”
“No, I remember him well. He attended here from kindergarten until high school. Then he was… withdrawn and sent elsewhere.”
The little pause told him a great deal. “He was asked to leave?”
“I didn’t say that and I can’t say more. Only that I’m not exactly stunned to hear his name come up in a conversation like this.”
“Got it. Thanks, Miss Keever. I really appreciate it.”
“Give my regards to your mother.”
He hung up and looked at Paige. “Good thinking on Rex. He was expelled.”
“Interesting, but not a big shock. So where are we going?”
“We need to find Mal, the cable guy. I want to know why the hell Brittany chose those things to give us.” He did a U-turn at the next intersection. “Call my assistant, Daphne Montgomery, on her cell. I’ll talk to her on the hands-free again.”
“Grayson!” Daphne exclaimed as soon as she picked up. “Where are you?”
“Driving around town, thinking.”
“I’m not in the office. You can speak freely.”
“Good. Did you hear what happened?”
“I heard you asked to be reassigned. I knew it was a crock, but I just smiled and said hey to the new gal. She likes my cobbler, by the way.”
“I’ll never dis your cobbler again,” he promised. “Are you comfortable finding information for me?”
“Depends,” Daphne said warily. “What do you want to know?”
“I need to find a guy who works for the cable company. His name is Mal and he’s seeing Brittany Jones. She’s the sister of Crystal Jones, the victim in the Muñoz trial. That’s all I know.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Can I assume that Muñoz was really innocent?”
“Why would you?” he asked carefully.
“Maybe because I’m not stupid? Elena Muñoz is murdered after asking for a new trial for her husband. The woman who tries to save her—a PI, according to the media—is nearly killed hours later. Last night, there’s another shooting and you’re there. Now you’re asking for information relating to the victim’s sister. You’ve reopened the case.” She drew a breath. “And Anderson doesn’t want you to. That’s why he moved you. What did that little SOB do?”
Grayson sighed. “I don’t know yet… exactly. If you don’t want to get involved, I’ll understand. I promise.”
She was quiet for a moment. “Which cable company does Mal work for?”
Gratitude and respect mixed with a bit of frustration. “I forgot to ask.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll find out for you and text you with his information.”
“I miss you already, Daphne.”
“You should. I’ll take care of that as soon as I get a signature on J.D.’s court order for Radcliffe’s video. I want to get that done before the new boss comes in.”
“Good plan. I don’t intend to sta
y reassigned, by the way.”
“Glad to hear it. I gathered all your stuff for you and put it in my trunk. Anderson was insistent that your office be cleared as soon as possible.”
Fury at Anderson made his blood boil anew. “Thanks, Daphne.”
“You’re welcome. Be careful, Grayson.”
“I will. Call when you have a name for Mal, okay?” He hung up and drove, focusing on the road instead of the rage that bubbled in his gut. When this is over, I’m gonna nail Anderson’s ass to the wall.
“Where are we going?” Paige asked.
He glanced over at her. “Pardon?”
“Where. Are. We. Going? I asked you three times already, but you zoned out.”
“Sorry. Office shit.”
“Your boss who knew Ramon was innocent?”
“Yes. He’s already cleared my office.”
She frowned. “The man really wants you out of the way. You know, I was so mad that he knew Ramon was innocent, I didn’t think about the implications. How did he know Ramon was framed? Why did he go along with it? What was in it for him?”
“I’ve been asking myself the same questions,” Grayson replied. And so far he’d come up with nothing but new rage. “I’m guessing money. Maybe influence.”
“Money is easier to trace,” Paige said. “I could run some checks. See how he’s situated financially, if he paid off any big loans five years ago.”
“Not without a warrant. I mean it,” he snapped when she tried to protest. “If we do an illegal search, we can’t use anything that comes from it. And I want him to pay. He might have known that Elena Muñoz came to visit me last week. Hell, he could be involved in her murder. If he is, I want him charged. I won’t risk it. We do this right.”
She blew out a breath. “I figured you’d say that. At least we know that he wasn’t the guy who talked to you last night. Anderson’s too old and too thin. But he could have paid off Sandoval. He’s got the right build. I didn’t notice his hands, because he didn’t offer to shake mine. Does your boss have a manicure like the guy in the picture? Wear a ring?” she asked hopefully.
“I never noticed his hands, honestly. I don’t remember him wearing a pinkie ring.”
“That photo was taken six years ago. Maybe he doesn’t wear the ring anymore.”
“Maybe,” he allowed. “It is possible that he’s the man in the photo. It would be damn hard to prove. If it is him, I doubt that the money he paid Sandoval came from his own pocket. It came from whoever really killed Crystal that night, or someone trying to protect him. Maybe Rex McCloud’s family, maybe the parents of one of the other rich kids in the pool. So once again we’re back to finding Crystal’s killer.”
She bit her lip. “Does he really think that moving your office will make you back off?”
No, he thought. He thinks threatening me and my mother with exposure will make me back off. “Obviously he does.”
“So what if he was involved in Elena’s murder?” Paige asked. “What will he do if he knows you’re still investigating?”
The hairs on the back of his neck rose. “If he is, we still have to prove it. We have to prove all of it. And that still means finding who killed Crystal, so for now we do nothing differently.”
She gave him a long look. She hadn’t missed that he hadn’t answered her other question, about what Anderson would do. If Anderson was involved in murder, he could be dangerous. Again, they’d do nothing differently. They were already being careful, watching for snipers and cage fighters.
“And once we prove it?” she asked.
“He’ll be disbarred at a minimum. Hopefully he’ll do time. If he’s actually killed someone, he’ll do a lot of time.”
She nodded, satisfied. “So where are we going?”
He realized he didn’t know. “Daphne’s going to find Mal the cable guy. Next on the list was Betsy, right? A-cup playgirl turned D-cup clean-and-sober rehab volunteer?”
“Men always remember the cup sizes. Betsy’s working in the burbs. Get on I-95 and I’ll tell you where to go from there. So, how much is tuition at that fancy school?”
He hesitated, then told her and watched her mouth drop open.
“You’ve got to be kidding. Thirty-five grand? For fucking kindergarten? Why was that so important to Brittany? And to Crystal? Why would they care?”
“The ‘why’ is a damn good question. The Carters sent their kids because Mrs. C. went to St. Leo’s. My mom just wanted me to get a good education.” And she wanted him to be shielded from cameras. “Some people send their kids there for the security.”
From the corner of his eye he watched her study him. “What kind of security?”
“Tall walls around the place,” he said. “Heavy gate, discreet armed security force. The wealthy are afraid their kids will be snatched. Celebrities are wary of the paparazzi.”
“You think Brittany was afraid for Caleb?”
“Maybe. Between tuition for this year and the next term, she’ll have shelled out fifty Gs in cash for it.” As soon as he said the words, the picture of the check to Sandoval flashed in his mind.
“The amount Sandoval was paid by Mystery Man,” Paige said. “Coincidence?”
“Hardly. I’m thinking Brittany wasn’t honest with us on the amount she was paid. She was a little too…”
“Angsty,” Paige said. “I wondered why they didn’t just threaten her to start with. Giving her money, then pulling back, didn’t make sense. She threw in the stuff about protecting her baby to sway you.”
“I know she did. I saw that calculating gleam in her eye. It’s pretty common when people fabricate some or all of a story. So let’s play this out. She’s contacted after Crystal’s death, bribed to keep quiet. She took the money. She couldn’t have spent any, because she’s been paying St. Leo’s all year and will pay fifteen thousand next year.”
“I still can’t believe that,” Paige murmured. “It’s just kindergarten. What’s she planning to do in the future?”
“Apply for scholarships, I guess. Once her money runs out, Caleb would be eligible.”
“But it doesn’t make sense.” Her brows knit. “Why that school? My gut says that the fact that Rex McCloud went there somehow connects. I just don’t know how. Yet.” She rubbed her forehead. “Okay, so continuing to play it out… She deposits the dough and lives on what? Her part-time job at McDonald’s? Don’t think so. She managed to get her nursing-assistant certificate and she pays rent on that place we just left.”
“How do you know?”
“I checked her out last week. I was going to talk to her when it was still a pro bono case for Maria.”
“You mean Maria and Elena didn’t even pay you?”
“With what? They were barely making ends meet. That’s why all this took me so long. I could only work when I had downtime from all of Clay’s other cases. Oh, he said he could babysit me tonight. He’ll be at the Peabody by ten.”
Grayson frowned. “Great.”
“I’m just following orders, Counselor,” she said quietly.
“I know,” he said, hating the jealousy that gnawed at him. “I don’t have to like it.”
Paige looked out the window. “What was Brittany living on after Crystal died?”
He forced his mind back on topic. “Not on part-time Mickey D’s and it would be hard to work with a baby. Why would she give us that check register?”
“I guess we’ll find out when we find her. Maybe she’ll go to work tonight.”
He felt like smacking the steering wheel again, but he didn’t. “We didn’t ask which nursing home she worked in, assuming she was telling the truth about that.”
“She’d have listed her employer on the forms she filled out for Caleb’s school, especially if she was applying for financial aid. We could call your Miss Keever again.”
“I will.” He scowled when he got voice mail. “She may be gone for the day.”
Paige took her laptop from her backpack. “Then I’ll c
all nursing homes till I find her.”
Thirteen
Wednesday, April 6, 5:00 p.m.
Betsy Malone looked a lot older than she really was, Paige thought. The woman who’d partied her twenties away now faced thirty looking more like she was forty. She led them to a small room at the rehab facility where she volunteered.
“We can talk here,” she said, closing the door.
“We’re here to ask you about Rex McCloud,” Grayson said when they’d sat down.
Betsy’s eyes widened. “As it pertains specifically to?” she asked guardedly.
“Not your drug arrests,” he said and she looked relieved. “I wanted to talk about the night of a pool party at which a young woman was murdered. Crystal Jones.”
Betsy’s shoulders seemed to sag. “Okay.”
“What happened the night she was killed?” Paige asked.
“I don’t remember much. Rex and I were high. I remember Crystal, a little. I more remember that Rex was pissed because he’d hoped she’d put out, but she left. He had a lot of guys there that night and she was part of his entertainment plan. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to her. I’d just gotten… well, I was new and improved.”
“You’d just gotten your implants,” Paige said evenly. “For your twenty-first birthday. I saw your MySpace page.”
She laughed incredulously. “That’s still up? I’ll have to go look for old times’ sake. Yes, I’d just gotten the okay from my doctor to go into the pool.”
“Did Rex leave the pool that night?” Grayson asked.
“A couple of times. I couldn’t believe you guys bought his alibi.”
“We had a video of the party,” Grayson said. “He didn’t leave the pool all night.”
Betsy shook her head. “That’s not possible.”
“We’ve just discovered that the video wasn’t made the night of the murder. It was a different night,” Paige said. “Before your surgery.”
“I’m in it?” Betsy looked away, horrified. “What was I doing?”
“Rex,” Paige said dryly and Betsy’s cheeks flamed red.
“Let’s focus on that night in general,” Grayson interrupted, “and not you specifically.”
“That sounds fine,” Betsy said, relieved. “Please.”