“I think someone was trying to frame Simon. Todd’s watch and wallet weren’t taken, so it wasn’t a random crime, and it wouldn’t be if the killer was Simon. And I think somebody wanted Simon out of the company—the reduction in his territory, the eventual firing, it’s like it was all part of a plan. Simon thought it was because of Rachel’s medical expenses, so we sued. But what if it wasn’t? What if Todd just said those things to cover up the real reason they wanted Simon out? And it culminates in framing him for murder.”
“Then why deny the statements?”
“To provoke Simon to sue. They knew he couldn’t take it lying down because of Rachel.”
Bennie wasn’t sure. “In that theory, Todd doesn’t really matter. The target is Simon.”
“Right. We just don’t know why.”
“The other possibility is that somebody had reason to want Todd dead, irrespective of Simon. The fact that these events are temporally connected doesn’t mean that they’re causally connected.”
Judy plowed through her rice. “Huh? I can’t think when I’m eating.”
Bennie smiled. “The fact that they happen in the same time doesn’t mean that there is a logical, causal relationship. It could be that the killer uses the litigation with Simon to his own ends and seizes the opportunity to kill Todd.”
“I’m following,” Mary said, nodding.
“We know that a lot of people knew about happy hour at the club and where Todd parked. So either somebody knew Todd would be there and they didn’t know that Simon was coming, or somebody knew Simon was coming and they framed him. The question is, who would want Todd dead?”
“Do you have any guesses, Bennie?” Mary leaned forward. “You met Todd, at least. I know more about Simon than you do. We just have to put our information together.”
Bennie mulled it over. “The framing theory is interesting, because motive is so clearly established with the lawsuits and Simon’s termination. Simon looks like the typical disgruntled employee who snaps and kills his boss. Either way, the killer has to be somebody who knows that Todd parks in the same place and goes to happy hour on Friday, rain or shine. That means it’s somebody in Todd’s circle of friends, maybe at work. Or circle at the club.”
Mary perked up. “To me, the logical place to start would be the two men who made allegations about Simon in the defamation complaint. Ernie and Ray. They were both willing to lie about Simon in the lawsuit and back each other up. That seems fishy, doesn’t it?”
“Agree. I met Ray at the interview. Kind of a close-mouthed, no-nonsense operations guy. And Ernie called Mike Bashir about the cops and the search warrant.”
Mary nodded, excited. “We should narrow in on them when we go through the documents and emails.”
“Okay.” Bennie got on the same page. “So what’s the plan of action?”
“In the morning, we go to the crime scene. I set it up for ten o’clock and I’d like you to go with me.”
“I will.” Bennie felt pleased.
Mary turned to Judy. “You stay here, okay? You make sure all the docs are boxed and that courier gets them. Do you mind doing all the Xeroxing tonight?”
“Fine with me.” Judy nodded, chewing away. “But I’m keeping the lid closed. I’m not a fan of radiation, unlike somebody we know.”
Mary blinked. “What lid?”
“On the machine. I don’t want a third ovary.”
“Forget it,” Bennie interjected. “Mary, you were saying?”
Mary faced Bennie. “I think you should take the sales info, and I should take the email. I’ll eliminate the emails that are irrelevant, then make a document index like we do on any big civil case, classifying the relevant documents by subject, using a keyword, and making it searchable by subject.”
“Right, do it down and dirty. Narrow it down to the past six months, for starters. I’ll learn everything about Simon’s sales and we can put our facts together.”
“Yes.” Mary rose with a smile. “I got a second wind!”
“Me, too.” Bennie stood up, opposite her. “Let’s get to work.”
“Can I have the last spring roll?” Judy asked, but the others were already leaving.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Mary slipped into bed at five in the morning, her sheets cool and her bedroom dark. She felt exhausted and depressed, having barely made a dent in Simon’s emails, and Bennie had felt the same way, since all she had managed to do was plot Simon’s call logs, purchase orders, and other sales information on Excel spreadsheets. They had both left the office to sleep for an hour or so before they had to get up, shower, and leave for the crime scene. Poor Judy had stayed behind to Xerox her heart out, make the deadline for the courier, and then go home and sleep in.
Mary pulled the cotton blanket up slowly, not to wake up Anthony, and her eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness yet, so she could only see the outline of his shoulders, his body turned away. He must’ve been as tired as she was, since he had been at her parents’ house after the news broke about Simon’s being taken in for questioning. She had texted him to go over and try to keep her parents’ blood pressures in a normal range. She hoped he had succeeded. Otherwise she hadn’t had a chance to catch him up on anything.
Anthony stirred, shifting around to face her in the darkness. “Honey?” he asked softly, running a hand lightly down her arm.
“Oh, hi. I thought you were asleep.” Mary shifted closer to his chest, feeling the warmth coming off of his skin. She always said that he ran hot, like a furnace. “When did you get home?”
“About two hours ago.”
“Oh no, later than I thought. Were they upset?”
“Yes. My mother was there too. It’s a lot for them. I’m glad I went.”
“I’m glad you did, too, thanks so much.”
“You must be beat.” Anthony rested his arm around her.
“Not a great day.” Mary nestled closer to him, turning her head to the side.
“You want to fill me in? I can’t sleep anyway. I feel terrible for Simon. He’s the gentlest guy in the world. It’s impossible to think that he would kill his boss, or even hurt his boss. He’d never hurt anybody.”
“I know.”
“Is he okay? How is he?”
“He’s hanging in. He did well with the police. I left him at the hospital with his dad. They have each other. We went back to the office and Bennie and Judy helped with his defense. Right now he’s just a person of interest, not really a suspect or even arrested, so we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen, or at least delay it.”
“I’m sure you will, you guys make a great team.”
“Right.” Mary realized that Anthony didn’t even know about the disciplinary charges against her or that she was leaving the firm. Or considering leaving the firm. She felt a guilty twinge inside, because they had agreed to make big decisions jointly, since she had a tendency to operate like the single girl she used to be. “I guess I should mention that, well, it did come up today that I might have to think about leaving the firm.”
Anthony chuckled softly. “That’s funny.”
“Anthony, I’m not kidding.”
“What are you talking about?”
Mary braced herself. “It’s kind of a long story.”
“I have time. Are you serious? Tell me what’s going on. How can you leave your own firm?” Anthony edged away, and Mary was beginning to discern his features in the dark, his eyes widening and his lips forming a disbelieving O.
“I don’t have to make a decision yet. We’re tabling the discussion for now.”
“Who’s we?”
“Bennie and me.”
“You already discussed this with Bennie? What about me and you?” Anthony asked, sounding hurt. “Don’t we get to discuss it?”
“Of course, it’s just that everything happened so fast today. You and I will definitely discuss it, when the time comes.”
“When will the time come? Thi
s is a huge decision.”
“After we get over the hump with Simon. I’m trying to keep him out of jail.” Mary kept her tone patient, but she felt too drained to discuss it now. All she wanted was some sleep, so she wouldn’t be a wreck.
“How did this even come up? Mary, if you’re serious, how will we support ourselves?”
“I would open my own firm.”
“You would do what?” Anthony propped himself up on his elbow, fully awake. “When did this happen? What are you even talking about? How can you go out on your own?”
Mary stifled her irritability, which was growing. It wasn’t necessarily directed at him because he had a right to ask everything he was asking, but just not now. “I think it can be done. If Simon’s civil cases go forward, that’s the only time it comes into play. But I do have a client base. I think they’ll go with me.”
“But it takes money. You have to rent an office. You have to pay overhead. You need start up costs.”
“I know that—”
“—and I don’t have a job right now.”
“I know that too but—”
“—and we don’t have the savings that we used to, not since we bought the house—”
“Anthony, I know all that,” Mary shot back, more harshly than she intended.
“We’ve been talking about having a baby. Really trying. How would that work? We keep putting it off?”
“No, I want a baby, too.”
“So how do you have a baby and start a new firm?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re not superwoman.”
“No, I’m not. I’m just too tired to talk about it now, okay? I just am.”
“Fine.” Anthony turned over, facing away from her. “You and Bennie let me know when you want to talk about it.”
“Anthony, really?”
“I’m going back to sleep.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Bennie slipped into bed in the darkness, stretching out in the center of the mattress and breathing a relieved sigh. She remembered reading about the pleasures of the unshared bed and sometimes she felt that to her core. Sometimes it was good to have a whole bed to yourself. Like when you had worked all night on somebody else’s case and secretly worried that an innocent man was about to be arrested for a crime that he didn’t commit.
She reached for the night table for her phone, which was becoming her dirty little nighttime habit. She knew about the articles saying that you shouldn’t check your phone before sleep, but some days it was the only time she could catch up on her email or the national news, and tonight her brain was in overdrive.
She looked at the phone screen, noticing for the first time that she had gotten a text from Declan, and she clicked through.
Call me when you get in, no matter how late. Love you.
Bennie felt herself smile. It was sweet of him. He was a thoughtful guy. She felt a rush of love, remembering that she had had sex earlier. She had almost forgotten. How can you forget that you had sex? This might’ve been the wackiest day she ever spent in her life. She pressed the number to call him back, and Declan answered after one ring.
“Woman, where you been?”
Bennie liked when he called her that, even though it was corny, vaguely sexist, or both. “Did we have sex today? Or was it my imagination?”
Declan chuckled softly. “Wait, was that you? Are you the blonde?”
Bennie laughed too. “What are you doing still up?”
“Thinking about you.”
“Nice things?” Bennie snuggled down in the sheets, liking the sound of it. She didn’t know if this call would lead to phone sex, but there were worse ways to blow off steam. And phone sex was the best of both worlds. You got the sex but didn’t have to share the bed.
“I was thinking you should let Mary go out on her own.”
“Way to kill the mood.”
“Sorry but I’m on fire.”
“So am I.” Bennie chuckled, but Declan didn’t.
“I’ve been thinking about it. What was it like when you went back? Did she need you?”
“I’m not sure that she needed me, but she was happy that I was there to help.”
“How did she do at the Roundhouse by herself?”
“Very well. Great, in fact.”
“That’s my point. She’s a fine lawyer. She has to find it out for herself.”
“I know that, and she will. I’m just helping her.” Bennie didn’t get it. Declan usually didn’t care about office politics. “What’s gotten into you?”
“I’m bothered.”
“Why?”
“I think she’s too used to turning to you. She’s used to you filling the gap. If she wants to go out on her own, let her go. You’ll be fine.”
“Do we have to talk about this now?”
“Why not? It’s important.”
“It’s late at night.” Bennie was trying to get her mojo back.
“I’m not sleepy.”
“I’m not either.”
“I don’t like you being taken advantage of. Mary’s taking advantage of you.”
“No, she’s not,” Bennie said, defensive.
“Yes, she is. You like her, so you don’t see it.”
“I thought you liked her, too.”
“I do. But I think you should let her move on. I wouldn’t keep a partner who wasn’t committed to me.”
“She’s committed to me.”
“How can you say that?” Declan kept his tone even, but he sounded annoyed. “She junked the partnership to represent a friend.”
“That’s not true.”
“Babe. What’s the status of your partnership?”
“We tabled it for now.”
“Junked.”
“Tabled isn’t the same as junked.”
Declan snorted. “Same difference. Either way, you’re left hanging. She just can’t come and go when she pleases. One day she’s in, one day she’s not. On her terms. She should have to fish or cut bait. That’s what you want in a partner. Commitment.”
Suddenly Bennie wasn’t sure they were talking about Mary anymore. “Declan, is this about us?”
“Maybe,” Declan answered after a minute.
“Really?” Bennie felt a tug in her chest. “I thought everything was going so great. We had such a good day.”
“You dropped in, out of the blue. You said you were staying the weekend, then you left. Maybe it was a good day for you. It wasn’t such a good day for me.”
“Wow, really.” Bennie didn’t know what to say. He was right, which made it worse.
“Long-distance gets old, babe. Today didn’t help. I miss you. It was nice having you here. I’m unhappy you left. I don’t like sleeping alone.”
Sometimes I do, Bennie thought but didn’t say. “Declan, do we really need to talk about our relationship now?”
“Why not? You said you weren’t tired.”
“I’m too tired to talk about our relationship. I’m not too tired to talk about anything else.” Bennie was trying to lighten the mood.
“I guess it bugs me.” Declan’s tone softened. “I dropped everything when you said you were coming. Canceled two conference calls.”
“I didn’t know that. You said you weren’t busy. You told me to come ahead.”
“I thought you were staying.”
Bennie sighed, suddenly exhausted. She’d thought she was kidding about being too tired to talk about their relationship, but now it was true. “Look, I’m sorry.”
“Let’s get some sleep.”
“That’s a good idea. Love you.”
“You, too,” Declan said, hanging up.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
TOMAHAWK COUNTRY CLUB read the bronze letters in a stone wall, and Mary drove onto the property with Bennie in the passenger seat. They were both in lightweight suits, which was the only thing they had in common. Boring clothes.
“People love golf,” Bennie said idly.
??
?Have you ever played?”
“No, I row. It’s the sport that’s the most like work.”
Mary smiled. She liked when Bennie was self-deprecating, which wasn’t often. In contrast, Mary herself raised self-deprecation to an art form. And liked it that way, frankly. “I never golfed in my life. I’m from South Philly.”
Bennie smiled, and they pulled up at a stone gatehouse, where an older guard opened a small window. “Good morning,” he said with a smile.
Mary introduced them both, then said, “We’re here to see the crime scene. The police are expecting us.”
“Fine.” The guard tsked-tsked. “Such a terrible shame about Mr. Eddington. We all liked him. Nothing like that ever happened here before. Everybody’s upset. Members and muckety-mucks, you know.”
“I’m sure. And I know Todd loved it here. Every Friday night he was here, no matter what, right?”
“Yes.” The guard nodded. “Like clockwork.”
“Did he usually come with anyone?”
“Usually alone. He met his foursome if he played in the morning.”
“His usual foursome? Guys from the office?” Mary took a flyer. “Like Ernie or Ray Matewicz?”
“Don’t know those names.” The guard shook his head. “I think he golfed with customers mostly. Mr. Davis, Mr. Cullen, Mr. Nustrall. Mr. Gallagher used to join but not lately. That’s who I remember. They’ll miss him.”
Mary made a mental note of the names. “Were you here last night, the night he was killed? Did you see him come in?”
“No, that’s not my shift. I’m off at four.”
“Oh, who’s shift is it?”
“The police already asked me that.” The guard frowned. “Hey, did you say you were with the police?”
“Not exactly, thanks,” Mary said, hitting the gas. “Take care now.”
“Well done.” Bennie smiled as they drove off.
“Thanks. Can’t blame a girl for asking, right?”
“Exactly.” They both laughed, and Mary steered up a winding asphalt driveway that bisected an immense front lawn, its grass so uniformly short and green that it could’ve been Astroturf. It was a beautiful day, the sun climbing a cloudless blue sky and in another mood, she would’ve felt good. They approached a large putting green on the left, where golfers practiced in complete absorption, their heads down.