“Yeah, I remember you.” He signaled down the bartender for a refill.
The bartender came over.
“You want another one?” Pittman asked her.
She gazed down at her drink, which had hardly been touched. “Oh. No, I better not.”
“Scotch on the rocks.”
“You got it, Dale.” The bartender’s eyes carried the warning to stay away from Pittman. His addressing Pittman by his first name proved he was a regular and knew what he was talking about.
Sara waited for Pittman’s refill before speaking. “Awful about poor Jerrod.”
Pittman averted his eyes this time when he took a drink. “You knew what he was like.”
“What do you mean?” There was more to the picture than Sara had realized. While they had their suspicions about Jerrod committing a crime, Pittman would have her believe Jerrod had a character flaw too. Her mind snapped to adultery, but she couldn’t imagine anyone cheating on Nicole. She wouldn’t have it for a moment—and her mother, she wouldn’t have it either.
“He just had it easy with everything in life. Now, his wife, I feel sorry for her.”
Sara angled her head to the right. “Sorry for her? Why?”
“You don’t know?”
Sara took a sip of her martini, hoping it would take the bitter edge off the news she was about to receive.
“The guy was broke and he kept it from her. He’d been in the red for a long time but somehow kept getting money to buy new things. He just bought a timeshare in Tahiti last week. He was going to surprise her with it for Christmas.”
“If he was broke, how could he—”
“Yeah, exactly.” Pittman put his lips to his glass, but lowered it without taking a sip.
“You think he was up to something illegal?”
Pittman didn’t respond right away. His eyes drifted past her, down the bar where a few of his friends from earlier were.
Sara followed the direction of his gaze and saw Sean. Some woman was chatting him up and laughing. He was smiling but his eyes were darting about the room. He was desperate to get away from her.
Sara smirked, letting the expression wane as she turned her attention back to Pittman and placed her hand on his forearm. “He was doing something illegal?”
“Why are you so interested in Hill?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “We can talk about something else.” Obviously she didn’t want to discuss anything else, but maybe if she ratcheted down her interest, he’d open up. There was something about his energy. She waited out the silence for a few seconds and took a stab at things from another direction. “His wife, I kind of remember her. She was a beautiful lady.”
Pittman nodded and emptied his drink. He signaled the bartender over again. “I don’t know her that well.”
Sara’s suspicion was confirmed. The truth sank like a boulder in her gut, the heavy mass twisting. She was starting to figure things out and she didn’t like the direction of her suspicions. She made a dramatic show of twisting her wrist. “I can’t believe I forgot my watch. I’m meeting up with someone and I have to go.”
“Sure. Nice talking to you.” Pittman didn’t pay her any attention as she slipped off the stool, but he reached for her arm once she was about to walk away. “Here, take this.” He handed her his business card. “Maybe we can catch up more another time.”
Sara read the card. The first thing she realized was Dale Pittman no longer worked for Cook & Hill.
Seeing Clearly Now
“I KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON, and I don’t like it one bit.” Sara was storming ahead of Sean and Jimmy into the condo building. She bobbed her head in greeting to the night doorman and kept on hurrying to the elevator banks.
“She doesn’t like it? I’m out twenty,” Jimmy said. “Pittman was at the club.”
Sean’s eyes darted to him in reprimand, but his focus returned to Sara’s back. “Talk to us, darling.” Sean moved for her, but her swinging arm fell out of reach. “Can you slow down a bit? You never said a word on the cab ride over here.”
Sara stopped walking, the clacking of her heels against the marble floor noticeably absent. Her eyes were glazed over, misted with tears. Whatever realization she had come to, it pained her from deep within.
“What is it?” Sean asked.
Jimmy touched Sean’s shoulder and the gesture broke Sean’s hold on Sara. She turned toward the elevator and wasted no time loading onto the cart once the doors opened.
Patience was something Sean worked on—some days the quality came more readily than others, but he could see in her eyes that she had this thing solved. She knew, even if only the basics of it, what happened to Jerrod Hill, and why.
Inside the condo, Jimmy loosened his tie and fell into a sofa chair. Sean sat on the couch beside Sara and took her hands in his.
“Sean, I know what happened and I don’t like that I do.”
“Whatever it is, I’m here for you.” He gestured toward Jimmy. “So is Jimmy.”
“I know. It’s just that I never imagined things would work out this way.”
“All right, let’s start from the beginning.”
“Oh my goodness, it all makes sense now.”
He watched her eyes go distant.
“From the beginning?”
She reached into her purse and handed him a business card.
He read it. “Dale Pittman’s business card.”
“Yes, and do you notice anything about it?”
He read it again. This time the revelation smacked him between the eyes. “He doesn’t work for Jerrod’s firm.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
He could tell by her eyes that there was a lot more there. Something wasn’t clicking into place for him.
Sara continued. “Remember when we were talking to Nicole and trying to get a list of people who hated her husband?”
“Oh.” Dawning came immediately with that setup. “It could have been someone who was let go from the firm.”
“I have one question about all this.” Jimmy leaned forward. “If she’s involved somehow, why ask you to look into things?”
There was nothing wrong with Jimmy’s intuition. He kept up just fine.
“That’s something I don’t get. I even hate that I’m suspecting her. It’s just, given everything that’s come to my attention…Jimmy, did you hear anything back on Jerrod’s financials?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure it will be there in the morning, which, I suppose, it technically already is.”
“We need Nicole’s information too.”
“Already on it.” Jimmy didn’t move, and Sean smiled at him.
Jimmy went on. “I requested for both. A lot of these rich people have separate accounts. You know, just in case they break up, they have something to fall back on.”
“You’re terrific, Jimmy. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” Jimmy let out a loud yawn. “I don’t know about you kids, but I haven’t stayed up this late, or early, for a couple decades. I’m headed off to bed.”
He got up and left the room.
Sean’s concern was still on Sara. The last couple of cases they ended up getting involved with had bordered close to home for her. He wondered if they should live abroad—nothing seemed to happen around them while they were in Europe—but running away was never the answer.
“So, spell it all out to me, darling.”
“I think that Nicole had her husband killed and I think that she used Dale Pittman to do it.”
Best Laid Plans And All That
THEY WERE ALREADY IN NEW York, so Sara called Mrs. Townsend to see if her feelings about Nicole’s whereabouts were right. She confirmed that Nicole had gone back home, despite her mother’s protests. The woman’s voice had risen, making it very clear that Sara was to tell Nicole she wasn’t happy about her decision to go home alone.
Sara had consented, but there was no way that would be happening. What she had to lay bare was enough and it w
ould take a toll from her.
She and Sean went to Nicole’s, while Jimmy trailed Pittman. If everything had gone down how Sara figured it had, then he would be arrested before the end of the day.
Nicole Hill lived in a penthouse on Madison Avenue. The smell in the air reeked of money, and any of the homeowners that graced the hallways barely acknowledged them as they walked past. Even though they were dressed alike, they were outsiders.
A man in his late forties answered the door to the suite and announced them to Nicole. She must have just gotten in. Packages and luggage were strewn on the entry floor.
Sara surveyed each of the bags and recognized that the bulk of them came from their shopping in Albany and were ones returned by the Albany Police.
Seconds later, the man returned. “Nicole will be right with you.” He bent to lift some bags and Sara intervened.
“Darling, why don’t we help this man?”
The hired help stood straight, his head jutted slightly backward, concaving his small chin, his expression riddled with insult. “I will make do just fine, ma’am.”
There was something about being on the receiving end of that address that made her feel older than her thirty-three years. “No, it’s all right, we insist. Don’t we, darling?”
Sean nodded at her and picked up the bag nearest to him. He had grabbed it by one of the handles and the package angled. In the second it took Sean to right the bag, Sara caught a glimpse of yellow inside.
She pulled out the small bag—the one that never came back to the house with the cops. This could only mean one thing. Evidence was solidifying her suspicions into fact.
“Sara?” Nicole stopped a few feet away from them. Her complexion paled.
“Why did you do it?” Sara didn’t make a move toward her childhood friend.
“Baxter, would you excuse us.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Baxter took the package Sean held but Sara wouldn’t let go of the yellow bag. He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh before helping himself to a few other packages and walking away.
“Am I going to find what I think I will?” Sara asked as her hand went into the bag and came out with the disc. “Why did you do it?”
“Please, Sara, it’s not what you think.”
“You knew that Jerrod was broke and planned this to get his life insurance.”
Sean’s phone chimed and Sara glanced to him as he took it out to read his message.
Nicole’s shoulders shook and she began sobbing into her hands. “It’s not like that.”
“You found out that Jerrod didn’t have any money and you tried to extort him one last time, but why? And then you had him killed, hoping to collect the insurance money?”
“Darling.” Sean stepped forward.
What was he doing? Why was he interrupting her flow? So far she was holding herself together, but with a lull, how could she be expected to maintain her composure?
Sean continued. “It seems that Jerrod canceled his life insurance six months ago.”
Nicole had stopped crying and had her arms wrapped tightly around her torso. She didn’t say anything.
It didn’t deter Sean, who took over. “We have the results on your financials. Jerrod had regular withdrawals coming out of his bank account.”
Nicole’s mouth drew into a straight line and the rest of her face took on rough edges.
“The same amounts showed up in a bank account under your name, on the same day. But, see, you found out that well was running dry. You must have known if you were able to go in and make the transfers. You thought that if he paid the money in exchange for the information on the disc, you’d walk away with more.”
“I never meant to kill him, but things…things just got carried away.”
Sara was calculating everything Sean had said. “So where did Jerrod come up with the money to make the trade for the extortion material?”
“Maybe Nicole should be the one to tell you.”
A single tear slid down Nicole’s cheek, but, in this moment, Sara had a hard time conjuring any sympathy. “Where, Nicole?”
“He had a trust fund. It was in his name only. He wouldn’t let me touch it and it had two million in there. I set the exchange at one hundred twenty-five so as not to be too greedy.”
“You mean so you could help yourself again in the future.” Sean glared at Nicole.
She didn’t seem affected by his gaze and carried on. “Only thing is he didn’t follow through. He only dropped seventy-five thousand.”
Sara turned to Sean. “It was rumored he always spent money he supposedly didn’t have and he even bought a vacation home in Tahiti. He must have been drawing from his trust fund.”
Sean nodded. “Jimmy mentioned a large withdrawal from it and the newly acquired property.”
Betrayal fluttered through Sara. “And you weren’t happy with that? So your goon, Pittman—yes, we know who—was ordered to retrieve the disc and kill for it if necessary?” Sara shook it. “What’s on this thing anyway?”
Nicole blinked deliberately. “Nothing.” She rubbed the length of her neck with the flat of her hand. “Like I said, things got out of control. I didn’t expect him to die.”
“But you targeted Pittman, a man who already hated Jerrod, and you likely knew he had a soft spot for you. You manipulated a man who went as far as murder for you.”
A tear fell down Nicole’s cheek as if on dramatic cue.
“You picked Albany to get the spotlight off you, but you know there was one thing that stood out to me at the time, but it really hit home last night. Why were you on the mezzanine level at the time of Jerrod’s fall?”
If it was physically possible for a person to go a shade of green, Nicole had attained that level.
“See, I don’t believe things got out of hand, I believe they turned out just as you wanted them to.”
“Sara, please.”
Nicole stepped forward. Sara moved back.
“See, you wanted to be as far away from Jerrod as possible to provide yourself an alibi. Why were you down there when he was on the second level?”
“I had to run into a store and it was on the main level.”
“I don’t believe you, Nicole. I’m sorry, but I don’t. You knew that Jerrod didn’t drop all the money and you knew what you had told Pittman to do in a case like that.”
Nicole hunched over and what sounded like crying morphed into laughing. She straightened out. Tears of madness gleaming in her eyes. “I have nothing to apologize for. Do you have any idea what it was like living with him? Neither do I. He was always at that law firm. I am pretty certain he was cheating on me. The way those secretaries would look at him. With his success, it was easy getting someone who didn’t like him.”
“It also explains the withdrawal of five thousand from your account. It was to pay for Pittman’s services,” Sean said.
“Did he know that he was going to go to prison for murder?” Sara watched the woman she had known as a child. Today, she was a stranger. “Why did you have us investigate Jerrod’s death?”
“If you recall, Mommy Dearest brought it up and I had no real choice but to go along. I knew it would appear noble. After all, the widow needs to put some effort in. Typically we’re the number one suspect. Anyone who watches CSI knows that. I had no idea you’d be so relentless.”
The comment struck Sara as a blow to the stomach.
“Did you know that Pittman used his step-brother to take the fall? He’s the only one we can physically tie to the mall, although, banking records will no doubt show the five thousand going into Pittman’s account,” Sean summarized.
A smile lit Nicole’s face. “See, I thought things through. It wasn’t me who picked up or left the disc. Jerrod was the one who took out the money from the trust fund.”
“What about the cash Jerrod did drop off?” Sean asked.
Nicole knotted her arms and angled her head to the left as she leveled a glare on Sean, then slid it to Sara.
&nb
sp; “What you fail to see is, there is already enough here to convict you with the money transfers. I’m also quite certain your statement about shopping on the main level at the time of Jerrod’s death will be found out to be a lie,” Sara added.
“I can provide you with a receipt.”
“So you thought that through, but not the fact that you have the disc in your home? I’m sure a further search of your home will uncover the drug you used to subdue Jerrod…unless you had Dale Pittman handle that aspect.” Sara knew that hadn’t been cemented as fact yet but was trying to bait Nicole. Some sort of drug would best explain why Jerrod hadn’t resisted or yelled on his way down.
“I never should have involved you it seems.”
“Might have been a better thing for you if you hadn’t.”
The doorbell rang and Baxter returned, but Nicole waved her arms frantically in the air.
Sean opened the door to Dale Pittman. Jimmy was behind him and had Pittman’s hands bound in cuffs.
“He came clear about everything. I have another pair in my back pocket.” Jimmy nodded his head to Sean, who took the suggestion and advanced on Nicole.
“How could you do this to me, Dale?” Nicole barked.
“As the saying goes, all is fair in love and war, and now it’s time for war. I want to see you go down for what you did to me. You set me up to take the fall.”
Jimmy tugged on Dale. “I found him counting a bunch of cash. Came to about seventy-five thousand. I thought it sounded sufficient for a bribery drop. I also got a call from the medical examiner. The tox results came back fast. It seems Jerrod was given a dose of a neuromuscular-blocking drug. It rendered him momentarily paralyzed.”
“You killed my husband,” Nicole yelled.
“Stop the show, Nicole. It’s over. The curtain has come down.” Sara took the cuffs from Sean and slapped them on her former friend.
A Business Proposal
THEY WERE BACK IN ALBANY before the dinner hour. Andres Malone was also brought in and would be charged as an accessory to the bribery.
Shopping is Murder (McKinley Mysteries Book 6) Page 10
