“I suppose. I’ve never given it any thought.”
He clasped both of my hands in his. “You don’t like stupidity in other people, and you tend to call them out on it. Sometimes, the other person isn’t being stupid as much as they’re misunderstanding a situation. You miss that sometimes.”
His words made sense. “I guess I do.”
“And you are pretty hard on your mother.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get me started on Mama. She’s exasperating.”
Glenn smiled. “Your mother is full of life. She’s one of the happiest people I know. She sees humor in everything, and she loves to laugh and have fun. I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but it sometimes seems as if you’re the polar opposite of her so no one will accuse you of being like your mother.”
His words stung. Mama embarrassed me and said inappropriate things all the time. I didn’t want to be like her, but I could also understand his reasoning. Mama did live life to the fullest. She and Roger had a good relationship, and she was happier now than I’d ever seen her.
“What do I do?” I asked helplessly.
He leaned close, took my face in his hands, and looked deep into my eyes. “Nothing. I love you just the way you are.” He followed the words with a quick kiss on my lips.
I wasn’t satisfied. “I have to do something. Maybe I’ll try harder to be more patient with people and not judge them so quickly.”
Glenn kissed me again before standing. “That’s a start,” he said. “Help me with the dishes and let’s call it an early evening. I can think of some patient things we can do in the bedroom if you’ll be the nurse.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “I can do naughty nurse.”
He moved faster to clear the table. As usual, he washed while I dried.
“What did Pepper say about doing some housework for us?” he asked.
“That conversation was yesterday, and it didn’t go well either. She thinks I’m too much of a pig to clean up after me.”
“Ouch. You two have had a couple of rough days, haven’t you?”
“We’re ok now. We found out her fabulous fur coat was made from skunk and not worth anything.” I thought of Jackie and me laughing uncontrollably at the furrier. “That was good for a few laughs.”
“Poor Buck. I bet he won’t be getting any for a while.”
“She doesn’t blame Buck. It’s not his fault someone gave him skunk and called it sable. He thought he was bringing something special home to his wife. Skunk or not, it was sweet.” I leaned against the counter and watched as he scrubbed the lasagna pan. “Something else has been bothering me.”
He stopped scrubbing to give me his full attention. “What?”
“Jackie’s been asking questions about Oscar’s death, but not the kind of questions you’d ask for an investigation. She wants to know about my mental health. She thinks I should have stronger feelings about nearly being killed and about losing a client. Is she right? I mean, I feel terrible about Oscar, but there was nothing I could do. It wasn’t my fault. And I wasn’t killed, so I feel lucky, not guilty. Am I missing something? Am I missing some gene that would have me crying night after night and not being able to go on with my life without therapy?”
He dried his hands and gathered me into his arms. “I’m sorry you’re feeling this way. I’ve marveled at how well you’ve handled everything, and I’ve wondered a few times myself how you were handling this internally, but I think your no nonsense approach to life has actually helped you in this situation. Being a private investigator, and even being a policeman … in our line of work, it pays to distance ourselves from feeling too much about a situation. If we get too emotional, our judgment can get clouded.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I want to solve Oscar’s case. I think I’ll have some closure once I can prove what happened.”
He leaned back a bit to look at me. “What are you talking about? It’s clear Jerome Conner set the bomb that killed Oscar Preston. Sarge is out of town tomorrow for a conference, but he’s planning on bringing formal charges against Conner on Monday.”
“I think Jerome Conner is innocent.”
Glenn half smiled. “You can’t be serious. Have you seen the guy? He even looks guilty.”
“I’m serious, Glenn. It’s too convenient that the last person to open the box planted the bomb. What if Oscar was planting the bomb when it accidentally went off? What if Oscar wanted to frame Ellis Rich, and he used the bomb to commit suicide and implicate Ellis at the same time? What if an employee at the bank planted the bomb to kill Ellis the next time he came in? There are still too many variables.”
He smiled fully now. “You have been giving this some thought, haven’t you?”
“Yes, and now that I know Sergeant Rorski won’t be in tomorrow, I want to talk to Jerome Conner. Can you get me in to see him in the morning?”
He rinsed the pan and placed it in the dish drainer before turning to me with his dimple on full display and a mischievous look in his eye. “I was planning on staying home with the blue flu tomorrow, but if a certain naughty nurse takes care of that fever tonight, I think I can arrange a visit.”
I attempted to snap my towel at him again before dropping it and running for the staircase with my patient in hot pursuit.
~ ~ ~
Jerome Conner was the only person in a holding cell at the station right now. I was grateful he hadn’t been transferred to the county facility yet. That would happen on Monday after he was formally charged with murder.
Glenn set a chair outside the cell door for me. The twinkle in his eye let me know he was still laughing about last night’s naughty nurse escapade. I had attempted sexy with a hint of dominatrix, but I had only come off sounding like Mama when she barked orders at Roger. The more I tried to change my tone, the more I sounded like her. We were laughing so hard, we had to give up all attempts at naughty nurse. I had to admit, our time together felt more special after laughing and having so much fun beforehand. I really did need to relax more.
Glenn winked as he closed the door separating the holding cells from the offices. I wanted to smile but kept my face emotionless. After all, there was an incarcerated man in front of me.
Jerome sat on the edge of the bed. After two nights in the holding cell, his street clothes were considerably rumpled. He wasn’t as good looking as Mr. Rich’s current confidential secretary, but he was a handsome man in his late twenties or early thirties. I don’t know why Glenn would have said he looked guilty. He looked like a perfectly nice man to me.
He ran his hand through thick brown hair and rubbed the stubble on his face before asking, “Who are you?”
“I’m Jo Wheeler. I’m a private investigator.” I didn’t tell him I worked with Two Sisters and a Journalist, and I didn’t offer my new card to him.
“Are you here to help me?”
“I don’t know. I might be. I want to ask you some questions about Oscar Preston’s murder.”
“I didn’t do it. I even have an alibi for the day of his death, but everyone thinks it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s because it looks like you planted the bomb when you opened the box two weeks ago.”
“If that were true, then Ellis Rich would be dead, because he was in the box two days after I was.”
“There’s no proof of that.”
“I heard all the bank’s signature cards are missing. If they’re missing, and the bank doesn’t have any way to prove who was in any of the boxes, they can’t pin this on me out of thin air.”
He was one hundred percent right, and a good attorney would have the case thrown out faster than you could count to three. It didn’t make sense Sergeant Rorski was acting so quickly to implicate him.
“Probably,” I said. “For now, I’m operating on the assumption you’re innocent. Oscar Preston was my client, and I’d like to find out who planted the bomb.”
“Has anyone considered he might have pl
anted it himself? He hated Ellis as much as anyone. The bomb probably went off when he was rigging it.”
I didn’t tell him that was one of my theories. “Why do you think Oscar hated Ellis Rich?”
“Ellis lost a lot of money for Oscar. Maybe even his life’s savings. Ellis said Oscar’s investments had turned out very good, so I knew he had switched Oscar’s holdings for something that was junk. I knew Ellis was ripping people off, but I couldn’t prove it.”
“Other than Oscar, who were some of his other clients?”
“That’s what I was trying to find out when he fired me. He kept his files hidden, and I was rarely alone in his office. He conducted the majority of his business over the phone, so we didn’t have clients coming to the house.” He paused and seemed lost in thought for a few moments. “There was one guy. He came to the house and threatened to go to the District Attorney if he didn’t get his money back. I don’t remember his name, but I’m pretty sure he said he was the manager at Buxley Bank and Trust.”
“Oakes? Hugh Oakes?”
His eyes sparked at the name. “That’s familiar. I think that might have been his name.”
“Why did Ellis send you to open the box two weeks ago?”
“He wanted me to put his passport back. He took it out about two months prior when he thought he was going to Europe. I wasn’t privy to the details, so I don’t know why his trip was canceled.”
“How much cash was in the box when you opened it?”
The color drained from his face, and a clear look of guilt crossed his face. Maybe this was the look Glenn had been talking about.
“Cash? I didn’t steal any cash, and if Ellis says I did, he’s a liar.”
I put my hand up. “Hey, wait a minute. I didn’t say you stole anything. I just wanted to know how much cash was in the box.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t count it. I put the passport back and got out of there. Ellis was in the box two days later. If any money was missing, don’t you think he would have called the police then?”
“When were you fired?”
There was no masking the guilt on his face now. “I want my lawyer.”
No problem. I didn’t have any more questions for him anyway. I was satisfied with the information he had provided, and now I had a new prime suspect - Hugh Oakes, manager of BB&T.
I left the holding area and went in search of Glenn. The dispatcher on duty said he and Clay had already gone out on patrol. I leaned on the counter and asked, “Who went to see Elsie Preston on Wednesday to tell her that her son had died?” I wanted to thank the officer for being so compassionate and kind and let whoever it was know how much their words meant to her.
The dispatcher clicked through files on his computer and said, “It was Glenn. Officer Wheeler was tasked with the death notification.”
I was taken aback. He hadn’t mentioned he’d been the one to tell her, but it made sense that it was him. He cared deeply about people, and I could see him not leaving Elsie until he had comforted her in some way.”
I walked out to my truck with my heart full of love for my husband. As I often did, I wondered how I managed to marry such a wonderful man. I didn’t deserve him.
My phone buzzed with a text. It was from Jackie.
Ready to work. What shall we do today?
I knew exactly what to do today and texted, Meet me at BB&T.
Her next text was a single letter K. I waited to see if she was going to finish what she started before it dawned on me she had said OK without the O.
I hated texting.
I made it to the bank before Jackie, sat on a bench in the spacious lobby, and called Glenn.
He knew it was me calling but answered the phone professionally. It was his cue to let me know he couldn’t talk. “Officer Wheeler.”
“You’re busy,” I said. “Can you listen for a minute?”
“One minute,” he said.
I lowered my voice. “For starters, I wanted to tell you naughty nurse wants another try at examining her patient.”
A low, guttural, pleasing growl sounded faintly on his end. I couldn’t help giggling.
“The other thing I wanted to tell you was that Hugh Oakes, the manager at Buxley Bank and Trust, also invested money with Ellis Rich and lost his investment. He went to Ellis’ home and threatened him. I’m at the bank, waiting for Jackie. We’re going to question him. I think it would be a good idea for you and Clay to be here when we do.”
I had never asked Glenn to be a part of an interrogation before, but if Hugh Oakes incriminated himself in the planting of the bomb, which he might accidentally do, I wanted someone who could arrest him to be in the room.
“Give us fifteen minutes,” he said. “We’ll be there.”
Benny was standing in front of Mr. Oakes’ desk when the four of us filed in. My first impression was there was tension between the two men. Neither of them looked happy to see us.
Jackie took a seat close to Mr. Oakes and put on her best smile. If anyone could thaw some of the chill in the room, Jackie could.
The bank manager looked at me and said, “Mrs. Wheeler, I thought you were the only person here to see me.” He looked at Glenn and Clay. “Are you here on police business?”
“We’re on duty,” Clay said, “but we’re only here because Jo has some questions about the incident this week. We thought we’d listen in.”
“Just in case you can provide more information that would be helpful to our case,” Glenn added to ease the man’s concern.
“I don’t know that I can tell you anything you don’t already know,” Mr. Oakes said.
“Have you found the missing signature cards?” I asked.
Benny shook his head, but Mr. Oakes answered. “Not yet. All of the older cards are in storage and accounted for. The missing cards are from this year only.”
“Where were the cards kept?” Jackie asked.
“In my office,” Benny said. “I’ve been the caretaker of the safe deposit boxes for over thirty-five years. I’ll be retiring next year, and nothing like this has ever happened before.” He looked at Mr. Oakes and said somewhat defiantly, “I’ve never made a mistake. I work hard, and I’m a loyal employee. I don’t know who would have gone into my office and stolen the cards.”
Mr. Oakes was clearly frustrated. “Benny and I were discussing the missing cards right before you came. He keeps his office locked when he’s not in it. He doesn’t have any idea how it could have happened.”
“Were either of you aware Oscar Preston had invested money with Ellis Rich?” I asked.
Both men responded with a shake of their head. “Can’t say that I was,” Benny said.
I noticed Mr. Oakes’ face became flushed at the mention of Oscar’s investment. I pressed forward. “It’s my understanding Oscar Preston lost all of his money.”
Mr. Oakes licked his lips nervously before saying, “That would explain why he was blown up. Ellis wanted to get rid of him, so he wouldn’t warn others not to invest with him.”
Jackie was quick to respond to his words. “You think Ellis Rich planted the explosives in his box and then sent Oscar with a power of attorney to open it, thereby killing him?”
He nodded his head rapidly. “I do. I think that’s exactly what happened. Ellis Rich may not have actually put the bomb in the box himself, but he could have easily had that Conner guy with the power of attorney do it.” He looked at Glenn and Clay and said, “You have one of the murderers in jail. You need to arrest Ellis Rich and put him in jail, too.”
“I have reasons to believe Jerome Conner and Ellis Rich had nothing to do with the bomb,” I said. “As a matter of fact, the number one reason I’m here to see you is to ask you about the investment you made with Ellis Rich. Didn’t you also lose a large amount of money?”
I never saw a face go so white so fast. Every bit of blood in his face drained to another part of his body. His voice was an octave higher when he said, “You don’t know what you’re talking ab
out. I didn’t invest money with him.”
“Actually, I know you did,” I said. “I also know you went to Ellis Rich’s house and threatened him if you didn’t get your money back.”
The bank manager stood from his chair and walked around the desk, his white face suddenly turning bright red with anger.
“Oh no you don’t. You’re not pinning this on me. I didn’t plant the bomb. It had to be Conner. He stole the money in the box and then put the bomb in its place to kill Rich so he wouldn’t get caught stealing. Or Rich planted the bomb himself and sent Preston to the bank so he would be killed.”
“That doesn’t explain the missing signature cards,” Jackie asked.
Hugh Oakes was now panicking and grasping for straws. “I know! I know what happened! It was Benny. Benny stole the cards. That’s the only explanation. Ellis Rich bribed Benny to steal the cards, so no one would ever know he was here planting a bomb. That’s it! He bribed Benny!” He turned, seized Benny by the front of his shirt and yelled, “He gave you money, didn’t he? You stole the cards, and now the two of you are trying to frame me.” He put his hands around Benny’s throat and began choking him.
Glenn and Clay pulled the men apart. Clay slapped handcuffs on the bank manager. “You’re under arrest,” he said. “Maybe for attempted murder, but for assault for sure.”
Glenn began reading his rights to him as they marched him out of the office.
Benny slumped into a chair.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
He nodded while rubbing his neck. “Just a little shaken. He didn’t have a hold of me long enough to do any damage.”
“Why don’t you go home for the day,” Jackie said. “I don’t think anyone will mind.”
“I can’t do that,” he said, lifting his head high. “I have a duty to see that anyone who wants access to their box gets it. I take my job seriously, and I won’t abandon it now.”
“Do you think he did it?” I asked.
Benny glanced my way to confirm I was talking to him. “Who? Oakes?” he asked. “I’ll be betting on him. He must have lost a lot of money to Rich, and he had easy access to the boxes. And if I’m not mistaken, his old man was once part of the bomb squad for the Cleveland police force. He could have learned a lot about bomb making from him. You should look into that.”
Murder Breaks the Bank Page 9
