Harper often wanted to throttle her mother. The inclination was doubly strong today. “She’s not forty-four.”
“Don’t tell him that,” Gloria barked. “My age is nobody’s business.”
“He’s dead, Gloria,” Phil pointed out. “Who is he going to tell?”
“Who knows? Maybe he’ll tell the other ghosts and they’ll write it in the fog on mirrors or something. I’ve seen that happen in ghost movies. I know because I watched a bunch of them when Harper’s little … gift … first reared its ugly head.”
Harper tried to pretend she couldn’t hear her mother. “Let’s talk about you, Carl,” she prodded. “You’re the most important person here this afternoon. We’re all here for you.”
“I don’t really care about him,” Phil argued. “I’m here because I didn’t want to be left out … and I was bored. It’s winter. There’s nothing to do in winter when it’s too cold to go out on my boat.”
“Who is that?” Carl asked, tilting his head.
“My father,” Harper replied automatically.
Carl’s mouth dropped open. “You charlatan!”
Harper glanced over her shoulder, confused. “Who are you talking to?”
“I knew you weren’t completely over your ex,” he seethed, glaring at Gloria. “I mean … look at you. I’m barely cold in the ground and you’re already running around with him.”
“She’s not running around with him,” Harper argued. “I mean … she is. It’s not like that, though. Everyone was at my house and we decided to go on a ghost hunt together.”
“Oh, likely story.” Carl glared at his former girlfriend, who appeared more agitated about being out in the cold than she was about his death. “I knew getting involved with you was a mistake.” He tried to wave his hand in her face, although Harper couldn’t decide what he was trying to accomplish with the endeavor. “I hope you get crow’s feet that can’t be Botoxed away. Also, you don’t look forty-four. I was lying when I told you that.”
“What did he say?” Gloria asked.
Harper thought about telling her, but it would simply open another can of worms so she decided to sidestep the issue. “He seems upset. He might not be able to tell us who murdered him just yet. I think we’re going to need to give him a minute.”
“Oh, joy,” Phil lamented. “There’s nothing better than a ghost with memory issues.”
THANKS TO THE STORY BREAKING BIG in the local news cycle, Jared and Mel returned to the office to find another walk-in. This one’s name was Morris Chesterfield, and he was a big ball of fury when the detectives got a chance to sit down with him.
“I want to know about the disposition of Carl Gibbons’s assets,” he announced before Jared and Mel got comfortable.
“Excuse me?” Mel cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t think I understand.”
“His assets,” Chesterfield barked. “What will happen to the money he’s got in the bank?”
“I don’t know how to answer that.” Mel looked to Jared for insight. “Um … why are you asking?”
“Because that guy swindled me out of ten thousand dollars when handling my divorce,” Chesterfield replied without hesitation. “He told me my ex wouldn’t get a dime and I ended up paying a thousand bucks a month in child support. I mean … does that sound like nothing to you?”
“No, it doesn’t.” Jared chose his words carefully. “I guess I’m confused. I was under the impression Mr. Gibbons was considered the best divorce attorney in the area.”
“Why do you think I hired him?”
“Does that mean he didn’t deliver what he promised?”
“Not even close. He told me where to hide my assets – and I followed his instructions to the letter – and I still got nailed with a huge financial settlement. As far as the judge was concerned, I was a pauper. My ex-wife told him I was hiding money, which he couldn’t prove, and I still got nailed.”
Jared fought the urge to grab the guy by the collar and start shaking. “So … you’re saying that Mr. Gibbons instructed you to illegally hide funds?”
It was only then that Chesterfield realized his mistake. He immediately tried to backtrack. “Oh, well … .”
“You might want to think about what you say from time to time,” Mel suggested. “As for right now, I’m more interested in how many of his clients Gibbons instructed to lie. Did you specifically go to him because you were aware of that tendency?”
“I’m not sure I should answer that.” Chesterfield turned prim and adopted a grave look. “I was merely caught off guard when I heard about the passing of my former lawyer and I wanted to make sure that you were dedicated to solving his murder.”
“We’re definitely dedicated,” Jared confirmed. “In fact, since you’re so eager to help, it’s probably best you tell us where you were between the hours of ten and four last night.”
Chesterfield let loose a pained expression. “Oh, geez. Do I have to?”
“Yup.”
“What if I ask for a lawyer?”
“That’s certainly your prerogative.”
“If you have nothing to hide, you don’t need a lawyer, though,” Mel prodded.
“Fine. I’ll tell you. That guy, though, he keeps screwing me. I can’t tell you how glad I am that he’s dead.”
“Believe it or not, that seems to be a popular sentiment.”
AFTER SPENDING AN HOUR WITH CHESTERFIELD, Jared and Mel were both convinced he was innocent. That didn’t mean they were happy with his attitude and Mel was more than happy to drop a tip to his divorce judge in case there was something that could be done about the missing funds.
After that, they went to Gibbons’s office so they could have a sit-down with his law firm’s senior partner Stanley Appleman.
“I can’t tell you what a shock Carl’s murder was to us,” Appleman said as he ushered the men to his private office and gestured toward two wingback chairs across from his desk. “I expected you to stop by … although I had no idea it would be this soon.”
“We try not to let murders sit too long,” Jared replied. “This one was especially brutal and we’re worried that we have a violent killer on the loose.”
“I’m guessing Carl’s clientele will be included in the suspect pool,” Appleman noted, tugging on his suit vest as he sank into his chair. “You should know, we’re going to need a warrant to turn over his case files.”
“We’re well aware of that,” Mel confirmed. “The necessary paperwork has been filed and we’re waiting for a judge to sign off on it. We’ll deliver it to you once we have it.”
“Of course. We want to be as helpful as possible.”
“That’s good,” Jared said. “The thing is, believe it or not, we’ve already had visits from two of his former clients.”
“I see.”
“Cheryl Wagner directed us toward her ex-husband, who apparently threatened to castrate Carl. Morris Chesterfield stuck his foot in his mouth and outed himself as a suspect.”
“I don’t doubt that.” Appleman rubbed his forehead as he shook his head. “I’m not sure what you want me to say. Even though those clients approached you, I still need the warrant to discuss their cases. We’re bound by ethics.”
“Oh, we’re not here because we want you to talk about Gibbons’s clients,” Mel intoned. “We’re here because we want your insight into the man himself. We’ve been informed that he was instructing his clients to hide money from the court system and are curious if that’s something everyone at this firm does.”
“Certainly not.” Appleman sat ramrod straight. “We don’t condone that sort of thing. Are you certain that Carl was doing that?”
“Yes.”
“Well … if we’d known, he would’ve been fired. We strictly follow the letter of the law.”
He seemed sincere, but Jared had met more than one attorney who could’ve won an Academy Award in his free time. “What can you tell us about Mr. Gibbons?”
“Well … he was a shark.” Appl
eman relaxed into his chair. “We added him to the firm because he had a tremendous record when it came to winning cases. That made him a big draw, and he was consistently busy. I would say that eighty percent of his clients were happy with the outcomes of their cases.”
“Is that good?” Jared asked blankly.
“That’s phenomenal. You have to understand, when you’re dealing with divorce cases, things can go off the rails relatively quickly. It’s much different than criminal cases, where someone is always guilty of something. Most of the time, when dealing with a contentious divorce, both parties are guilty. The difficult part is trying to figure out the truth, because matters of guilt become a game of degrees.”
“I can see that,” Mel noted. “Right now, we’re interested in Carl the man. We understand he was dating Gloria Harlow. What can you tell us about their relationship?”
Jared internally cringed at the question but managed to hold himself together.
“He brought Gloria to an office party about two weeks ago,” Appleman replied. “They started dating after she interviewed us to see if she wanted to switch attorneys. Apparently, instead of doing that, she decided to date Carl. She was a … peculiar potential client. Her divorce is … messy.”
“We’re well aware of her divorce,” Mel said. “Trust me. We probably know more about her divorce than you do. I’m more interested in her relationship with Carl. Did you ever see them fight? Was there a reason for her to want to hurt him?”
“Wait.” Appleman held up a hand. “Is Gloria a suspect?”
“Gloria is a person of interest.”
Jared wanted to sink lower in his chair. Only the need for professionalism kept him rigid.
“Well, I don’t know what I can tell you.” Appleman changed gears quickly. “She’s not a client so there’s no reason I can’t speak openly about her. The thing is, I honestly can’t see her being capable of carrying out a murder. I mean … you’ve met the woman, right? She’s not the sort who likes to get her hands dirty. Besides that, what would be the point? Murder is either a crime of passion or opportunity. What would Gloria get out of either scenario?”
“They were dating,” Mel pointed out.
“Yes, but Carl was a dog who cheated his own ex-wife out of money in their divorce and Gloria was known for keeping a man around for two months at the most before gladly moving on. Carl was bragging about that.”
Jared’s interest was officially piqued. “Wait … Carl screwed his own wife in a divorce?”
“Yes, Fran. That was also not our case so I can talk about it. He raked her over the coals. That’s how he got his thirst for divorce law and where he cut his teeth. They’ve been divorced about fifteen years or so and he got out of paying any child support even though they had a minor child.”
“How did he manage that?”
“Even I’m not privy to that information.” Appleman let loose a hollow chuckle. “Carl was already divorced by the time he joined the firm. He had his own practice back in those days. I only know about it because it was a big deal when everything went down.”
“I guess I’m confused,” Mel hedged. “Why would the divorce of one attorney be such a big deal?”
“We’re all in a circle together. Even if we don’t operate out of the same office, we like to gossip about one another. What Carl managed to pull off in his divorce with Fran was nothing short of extraordinary.
“I mean … she was a stay-at-home mother – at his insistence, mind you – and she had a young boy to take care of,” he continued. “All Carl left her with was the home they shared, which was underwater thanks to a bad mortgage. She had to absorb all that debt and he didn’t give her a dime.”
“Did he hide funds from her?” Jared asked. “I mean … she should’ve gotten half of everything in his accounts, right?”
“My understanding is that she didn’t get anything. Whether he hid funds or not … ,” Appleman broke off, clearly uncomfortable with the question.
“Listen, we’re not idiots,” Mel supplied. “It’s very clear that Gibbons was an unethical lawyer. All of this is going to come out. It’s probably best for you to come clean now so we can tell the reporters who will be asking questions – and the judges, who will probably be interested in what we find out – that you cooperated. Now is not the time to stonewall us.”
“I have no intention of stonewalling you. I simply need the warrant. We’re in a precarious position for an entirely different reason from what you seem to imagine. I don’t want to cut you out of the information. In fact, the sooner you solve this, the better it is for everyone.”
“We’ll have the warrant soon,” Mel promised. “Once we do, we need you to work with us. This is going to get ugly if we’re not careful.”
“I’m afraid it’s probably too late to stop that.”
“Then we need to keep it from getting out of hand.” Mel was firm. “I’ll call the judge’s office and see if we can move the paperwork along.”
“And I will have a paralegal gather files that will probably be of interest.”
“Then we’ll go from there.”
“That seems to be the best plan.”
Seven
Fran Gibbons was a small woman. Jared estimated her height at just over five feet. She had tiny hands and diminutive shoulders ... and she seemed downright surprised to find two police detectives knocking on her door.
“Is this about Carl?” She looked uncertain.
“Yes, ma’am.” Jared instantly felt sorry for her. She almost looked afraid to let them into her house, which to his way of thinking suggested emotional abuse. He had no way of proving that, of course, but it was the first thing that jumped into his head.
“Come in.” Fran led the men to a tiny living room. The house was a two-story bungalow, probably built in the 1940s, Jared guessed as he looked over the moldings and antiquated light fixtures. The house was tidy but there was very little furniture and almost nothing of value spread about for visitors to “ooh” and “aah” about.
“We don’t want to take up much of your time,” Jared offered, annoyance at a dead man threatening to take him over. “You obviously heard about Carl’s death, though.”
“I did,” she agreed, gesturing toward the kitchen table. “I’m making tea. I only have chamomile, but if you want some ... .”
“Tea would be lovely,” Mel said hurriedly. He was also taken aback by Fran’s living conditions. “Did you learn about your ex-husband’s death via television?”
“I don’t have a television.”
That only served to infuriate Jared more. “You have heard about his death, though, right?”
“Yes.” Fran removed the teakettle from the stove just as it started to whistle. “One of the neighbors actually told me. I turned on the radio news station so I could hear about it ... although they didn’t go into much detail.”
“He was discovered during the snowstorm yesterday,” Mel explained. “Someone stabbed him multiple times.”
“That’s awful.”
There was very little inflection to the words and Jared didn’t have to guess as to how she really felt. “It’s okay if you’re not sorry he’s dead. Quite frankly, we’ve yet to find anyone who is appalled by his passing.”
Fran’s expression never shifted. “He’s the father of my son. I don’t want him dead, no matter what he did.”
“Then you’re a much better person than him,” Jared offered, leaning back in his chair as he regarded the woman. The fabric at the elbows of her cardigan looked as if they were about to give way and her hair was shot through with gray. She was the exact opposite of Gloria, something that Jared couldn’t help acknowledging. “We need information about your relationship with Carl.”
“I figured as much.” Fran’s hands were steady as she poured water into mugs. “What do you want to know?”
“How did you end up together in the first place?” Mel asked. “Forgive me for saying, but you don’t seem like Carl’s type.”
“I wasn’t always poor and in need of a good dye job.” She was rueful as she carried the mugs to the table. “I come from money, if you can believe that. Well ... at least money in this area. I went to the same college as Carl — Rochester University — and we met when I was a sophomore and he was a senior.
“I thought he was ridiculously charismatic and fell for him right away,” she continued. “My parents warned me against dating him. They were always strict when it came to boys and I was starting to chafe under their watchful eye. I didn’t listen — heck, I didn’t want to listen — but it’s become glaringly obvious over the years that they were right. That doesn’t do me much good now but back then, well, I probably should’ve listened to them.”
Jared was appalled. “Are you not in contact with your family any longer?”
“They wrote me off when I married Carl,” she replied. “They warned me it wouldn’t end well. They didn’t want him included in our family, were embarrassed. My father is an attorney, too, you see. He’s a criminal lawyer in Oakland County. He said he recognized Carl as an ambulance-chaser from the start and wanted me to cut ties with him.
“I was infatuated with Carl, though, and thought we could live on love,” she continued with a weak laugh. “That turned out to be one of the more naive things I ever believed. Still, I jumped in with both feet.
“Carl insisted that I marry him right away and not finish school,” she said. “My father screamed up and down about it, carried on like a spoiled toddler. He wanted me to stay in school, but I thought Carl made sense. I was an idiot back then. If I had to do it over again, I never would’ve left school. Ah, well.”
She broke off and rubbed her forehead as she sat. “I left school. I think Carl thought my father would eventually soften his stance. That’s what he wanted. I can see that now, although I was blind back then.”
“You mentioned your father was an attorney,” Jared prodded. “Did Carl think he would be able to benefit from that relationship?”
Ghostly Visions: A Harper Harlow Mystery Books 10-12 Page 45
