Chase’s face went white. He had no idea. Victoria must have killed Donovan in a fit of rage.
“Wait,” I said. This was getting out of hand. If Oliver could convince Chase that Victoria was guilty, he could easily convince a jury. I knew he had something to do with it. But killing his own brother? Why would he do that? “Victoria didn’t kill Donovan. Someone else did it. Someone close to them who set her up. Someone who knew all of this and used it at a time when she was vulnerable.”
I caught Oliver’s gaze, and something dark passed through his eyes before his brows rose with incredulity. “Now you’re the one who sounds crazy. I don’t get it. What makes you so sure she didn’t do it?”
I pulled my gaze away and shrugged. Now was not the time to confront him. I needed to find a motive first, but it looked more and more like he was the guy. Only, if Chase had control of the company, why was Oliver thinking he could take over? “It’s hard to explain. Just a gut feeling, I guess. Maybe she did, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Oliver nodded and relaxed back into his chair, a grimace of distaste playing across his lips. “I can appreciate that, and I wish you luck. But if she did it, she needs to pay. My brother and I had our differences, but I loved him. He made this company what it is today.
“When they said he’d committed suicide, I never believed it for a moment. But I can understand how Victoria could have made it look that way, especially in light of his affair. He was brilliant, but he was also an idiot. I’m sorry for Victoria. But I’m also mad that Donovan is dead. He shouldn’t be dead. Now... well... I’m not sure how we’ll manage without him, or what will happen to the company.”
I picked up a thread of satisfaction that this was working out better than he thought. Not one person would ever suspect...
“The company will be fine,” Chase said, his jaw clenching. “I’m not Donovan, but I know what I’m doing.”
“I didn’t mean...” Oliver let out his breath. “I’m sure we’ll manage without him, I just wish we didn’t have to.” He glanced at me. “What time do you think the trial will start?”
“Depending on how fast they get the jury seated, it will probably start after the lunch break.”
He nodded. “I’m planning to go. Victoria needs all the support she can get.” He was also on the list to testify, and I was afraid if he got on the stand, Victoria didn’t have a chance in hell.
“That’s nice,” I lied. “I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you.”
He glanced at me, and his eyes narrowed. “Yes, I hope so.”
“Well... then I’ll probably see you there. In the meantime, if you think of anything that will help Victoria, please give me a call.” He nodded his agreement and I handed him my card, then stood and walked toward the door. Before opening it, I turned back. “Oh... and who’s Courtney?”
Oliver’s startled gaze flew to mine, then he shook his head. “I don’t know anyone by that name.” She was his ‘ace in the hole,’ and he didn’t want me to warn my husband. He was certain Courtney’s testimony would seal Victoria’s guilt.
“Really? Are you sure?” I pressed him. Oliver pursed his lips but didn’t answer.
“Why?” Chase asked.
“That’s who Donovan was having the affair with.”
Oliver’s gaze narrowed, but he was saved from replying by Chase. “You mean Courtney in acquisitions?”
I listened to Oliver’s mind before nodding my head. “Yes. She’s the one.” I turned to Chase and answered his unspoken thoughts. “I’ll let you know if I need to talk to her, so please don’t fire her yet. She might have information we need. Okay?”
Chase’s jaw dropped open, but he managed to pull it shut before nodding. “All right, sure.” He opened the door to leave, so I gave a little wave goodbye to Oliver and hurried out. Chase was thinking I was a little scary, but he was so upset to find out that Victoria had killed Donovan that he could hardly speak. I didn’t say another word until we reached his office.
“I have a favor to ask,” I began. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Sure,” he said, ushering me into his office and closing the door. “What do you need?”
“I need to find out everything you know about Oliver. Like... what’s his history with the company? Did he and Donovan get along? How many shares does he own, and did Donovan leave him with more?”
Chase dropped into his chair, his eyes glittering with speculation. “You think he had something to do with Donovan’s death?”
“Um... maybe, but I’m not sure how,” I answered.
“All right, let me think.” Chase rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. “Donovan brought Oliver on when we started this company. As brothers, they seemed to get along just fine. But... I always got the feeling that Oliver was disappointed that he wasn’t Donovan’s partner.”
“That’s good. Anything else?”
“Yeah, Donovan provided Oliver with a good paying job, but it could be hard to work for your younger brother... and I know Donovan didn’t treat Oliver as an equal with the company, but... it was glaringly obvious that Oliver didn’t have what it took to be on the cutting edge.”
Chase sighed. “I don’t know... Oliver could have been harboring a certain amount of resentment toward Donovan, but I’ve never seen them argue about it. Besides, Oliver is a CPA, so it seemed natural that he’d head up the accounting department, and he’s been paid a great wage.”
“Is there any way Oliver could take control of the company now that Donovan’s gone?”
“What? No. Donovan’s will specifically gave control of the company to me, with Victoria getting the majority of his shares.”
“What did Oliver get?”
“He got some shares too, but not enough to take over the company.”
“Hmm... maybe he thinks he’ll get Victoria’s shares if she’s convicted of murdering Donovan.”
Chase rubbed his chin. He’d never thought that Oliver might contest Victoria’s shares, but he supposed it was a possibility. “He might, but I think in that case, the shares would go through a vetting process where all the shareholders get first dibs on buying the outstanding shares. I’ll have to check it out in the by-laws, but I don’t think they’d automatically go to Oliver. Even if they did, he still wouldn’t have the majority of shares to take over the company.”
A quick thought flashed through his mind of who the major shareholder was, and my eyes widened with incredulity. “Wait... besides you and Donovan... who’s the biggest shareholder?”
“Uh... Joseph Manetto.”
Chapter 2
“Shit,” I said... out loud. Oops.
“Do you know him?” Chase asked, alarmed by my response since it meant that I probably knew exactly who Manetto was, and what Manetto did.
“Um... yeah.”
“You don’t think he had anything to do with Donovan’s death, do you?” Chase thought that if anyone had the means to take over the company, it was certainly Joe “The Knife” Manetto, but he could hardly believe Manetto would kill Donovan to do it... not when they were such good friends.
Damn! Why did this always happen to me? “Uh... probably not. I think we need to focus on Oliver.”
Chase let out a breath and mopped his brow. “Oh, okay, good.”
“Yeah... so, let’s see... Oliver. He’s head of your accounting department?” I knew he’d already told me that, but finding out Uncle Joey was involved sent my brain into a deep freeze, and I needed to snap out of it before I could function again.
“Yes. He’s the manager over our finances and cash flow.” Chase couldn’t figure out how that could possibly tie Oliver to Donovan’s murder, and all the hope fizzled out of him. Donovan’s money-making talents were the reason for their success, and any motive for Oliver to kill him made no sense at all.
“Maybe we need to check out Oliver’s work and see if there’s anything suspicious going on.”
“All he does is pay the bills and keep track of our accounts. He can’t do anything without my authorization. What’s suspicious about that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. But it wouldn’t hurt to look, right?”
“Okay, I’ll go over them.” Chase was thinking that he was something of a financial wizard, so he should be able to get to the bottom of it pretty fast and tell if anything were amiss.
“Great. Just make sure Oliver doesn’t find out, okay? I mean... if he killed Donovan, he’s capable of killing you.”
“Yeah... sure,” Chase said, not really believing me. “I’ll be discreet.”
I handed him my card. “Call my cell as soon as you get something. Maybe you can even get into his computer files while he’s at the trial?”
His sharp gaze caught mine, and he was wondering if that was completely ethical.
“Hey, it’s your company. You paid for the computers and everything else, so it’s completely ethical.”
“Uh... right,” he said, a little off balance. How did I know him so well? We’d only just met.
“So... you’ll do it?” I prodded.
“Uh... sure, of course.” Chase glanced at my card. “I’ll call you, and... maybe you’d better take my number, too.”
“That’s a good idea.”
After I got his phone number, I thanked him and left, hoping Chase would find some answers so that the next time I talked to Oliver, I’d know how to get him thinking about how and why he’d killed Donovan. Then Victoria would go free, Oliver would go to prison, and my husband would become a partner in his law firm. Even better, he’d have me to thank for it. That should get me off the hook for a lot of things I did that Chris might not like, right?
I checked the time. Almost an hour and a half had passed, but I hurried down the block to the courthouse just in case Chris still needed me to help with the jury selection. On the way, I hoped telling Chris about Courtney would help him with the case. At least he’d know why she was on the prosecution’s witness list.
I also wondered if I should call Uncle Joey and warn him about Donovan’s company. It almost felt like being a snitch to do it, but if he found out I knew and didn’t tell him, it could be lots worse.
I stopped at the foot of the courthouse steps to make the call and spotted the police chief coming down the stairs. He smiled and made his way over to say hello. That’s when I noticed the person with him, and my eyes widened.
Damn! It was the judge I’d played golf with last summer when I was pretending to be Uncle Joey’s niece, Shelly Manetto, from Florida. I’d done it as a ruse to find out if the judge was behind the private investigator’s death for which I’d been framed. I think I may have even threatened him.
My stomach tightened and my breath caught. I remembered that day well, since I’d accidently made the judge fall out of the golf cart I’d been driving. He’d gashed his arm on a rock. Then, when I’d tried to drive him to the clubhouse, the cart quit working. After that, the judge was so eager to get away from me that he practically ran off, even with blood running down his arm.
Now, here he was, standing right in front of me, and trying to remember where he’d seen me before. I’d been wearing my hair hat and sunglasses that day, so I crossed my fingers that he wouldn’t put it together.
“Hi Chief Winder,” I blurted, before he could say my name. “How are you?”
“Good. We’re just on our way to lunch. I’d like to introduce you to Judge Parker... this is...”
“Shelly...” the judge blurted, suddenly remembering my name. “Yes, I’ve met you... you’re...”
“A consultant for the police,” I said, cutting him off before he said Joe Manetto’s niece, like he was thinking. It kind of threw him for a loop, and he wondered what was going on. Then he realized it probably wasn’t a good idea to talk about Joe “The Knife” Manetto with the police chief standing right there, and maybe that was why I’d cut him off.
That got him to thinking about me working for both the police and “The Knife,” and his eyes got big. Did the police chief even know that I was Joe Manetto’s niece? Had I infiltrated the police department to help out Manetto?
Then he remembered how I’d driven the golf cart and had stopped so violently that he’d fallen out and cut his arm pretty bad. He also remembered that I may have threatened him as well, so it was probably better to stay far away from me. And wasn’t I on some kind of medication?
“Oh, yeah...” he said, playing along. “You help the police. That’s right.”
I let out my breath and smiled, even though I didn’t like the medication part. “I do what I can.”
“Shelby’s great,” the chief said, wanting to make sure the judge got my name right. “We’re lucky to have her on our side.” He was also pleased that the judge had heard of me.
The judge’s eyebrows rose slightly at the name change, but he nodded politely, willing to go along with whatever we said, mostly because of Uncle Joey.
“What are you up to here at the courthouse?” Chief Winder asked.
“Oh, I’m here consulting on a case with my husband’s law firm.”
“I see,” he said, nodding his head. “You certainly keep busy. I hear you’ve also been working on some cold cases for Detective Harris. How’s that going?” He turned to the judge to explain. “Shelby managed to solve a few cases for us that had been sitting on the shelves for years. She’s got a real knack for it.” He turned back to me with a smile.
“Um... well... to be honest, it’s tough, but I’m doing my best.” I smiled back, but the truth was, I kind of hated Detective Drew Harris, whom I called Dimples, right now. He’d sent me down to the dead files room, even when he knew it creeped me out, to start looking at cold cases hoping I’d get some leads. He’d expected some kind of a miracle, and I hadn’t come up with a thing.
The problem was that most cases were so old, even the witnesses were dead. I couldn’t question dead people, and... sure, I’d heard a few words from beyond the grave, but that was different. I’d come to the conclusion that the killers were probably dead too, and I really didn’t want to start hearing from them. So, even though it would be nice to close those cases, I’d much rather spend my time doing something with the living.
Chief Winder’s brows creased together with disappointment. Here he was, singing my praises, and I had nothing to show for it.
“I did help Harris with that house burglary a couple of weeks ago. I led him straight to the perp’s stash, remember?”
“Yes... that’s right. That was good work. Well, nice to run into you, Shelby. I’ll see you at the precinct?”
“Yeah, sure. Uh... nice to meet you, Judge Parker.”
“You too,” he said, but he didn’t know what to believe anymore. Either I’d fooled everyone about who I really was, which kind of scared him to death, or maybe I just looked like Shelly Manetto, and I wasn’t her at all... yeah... that was probably it.
I held my breath until they turned away, then let it out with a huge sigh of relief. I felt a little sorry for the judge, but what the freak! He could have given me away. Plus, who would have thought I’d meet those two people together at the same time?
I swallowed, realizing how dry my mouth was, and needing a diet soda something fierce. But instead of rushing to my car and heading home like I wanted to, I straightened my shoulders and continued up the steps.
Since meeting those two was probably the worst thing that could happen today, the rest should be easy. I’d find the evidence to help Chris, talk to Uncle Joey, and then go home and relax. Who knew? Maybe I would even laugh about meeting them together like that someday. Uncle Joey would at least get a kick out of it, right?
I entered the courtroom just as the last juror for the case took her seat. Chris was thinking he’d done his best, but it didn’t look good. With the evidence the prosecution had, he knew he’d have a hard time convincing anyone on the jury that Victoria was innocent.
I turned my attention
to the prosecuting attorney, James Strickland, and picked up that he couldn’t have been more pleased. His case was so solid that he was thinking how fun it was going to be to rake my husband over the coals and then wear him down into a bloody pulp of shame.
He liked being on the winning side against Chris for a change, and resented all the times Chris and his firm had gotten their clients off. But not this time. Chris was an idiot for not taking the plea-bargain he’d offered, but now it was off the table, and he could hardly wait for the showdown.
Yikes! So much for thinking the worst part of my day was over. The judge ordered a short recess for lunch before the trial was to begin, and Chris stood. I hurried over to console him, but Strickland beat me to it. “You should have taken the plea,” he smirked, then pushed past me like a linebacker. I had to jump out of the way or get knocked down. Even then, his shoulder knocked hard against mine.
“Ow,” I said.
“Are you all right?” Chris asked, anger boiling over him.
“Yeah,” I said, rubbing my shoulder and staring daggers at Strickland’s back. After that, I was even more determined that Chris beat him. “He’s really got it in for you. Sorry I wasn’t here to help, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you win.”
Chris’ eyes widened, then filled with warmth and affection. “That’s my girl.” His lips tilted at the corners in the first real smile I’d seen all day, and he was thinking that I always came through for him. He hoped I knew how much he appreciated my help, even though he didn’t always show it.
I smiled back. When we worked as a team, nothing was going to get in our way.
He turned to Victoria and Larsen, who were standing beside him at the defendant’s table. “Why don’t you two get started back to the office? We’ll catch up.” Chris waited until they passed us before continuing. “So... did you figure it out? Do you know who did it?” His hopefulness made me sad that I didn’t have an easy answer.
“I have a good idea,” I said. “Just not enough to confront him, or prove it.”