by MJ Rodgers
“Inanimate objects, nothing more. Still, they’re the only thing the two of them have any affection for outside of money. Truesdale, what is this damn inquisition all about?”
“Answer me one more question first. Did you fill David’s lucky flask with that special wine he likes from your private stock?”
“What? The wine? No. Not that night. Why?”
“He couldn’t have done it himself,” Marc argued. “You have the only key to your private wine cellar.”
Louie waved a dismissive hand. “After our argument, he was too upset with me and I with him to follow our normal routine.”
“Then who filled the flask?”
“I suppose he filled it himself from some of the wine in the liquor cabinet. No, wait, now I remember. After dinner, I was called into the study to take a telephone call. Just as I was leaving the room, I heard someone telling David that the flask had been filled.”
“Who?”
“No more, Truesdale. Not until I get an answer to my question. What’s going on?”
“The air traffic controller who took David’s Mayday call testified that David sounded like he was having drug-induced hallucinations.”
“That’s preposterous! I saw the FAA report on the accident. It said nothing about drug-induced hallucinations. You were his friend, Truesdale. You know David would never touch a drug!”
“Not willingly, he wouldn’t. But I believe the air traffic controller is telling the truth. And that means something had to have been slipped to David without his knowing.”
“Are you saying someone deliberately drugged my grandson? In order to kill him?”
It’s what Marc had been thinking, all right. But when he heard Louie Demerchant voice his suspicions, they struck him like a sharp blow to the stomach.
“Truesdale, you can’t be serious.”
“David started having trouble after he crossed the international date line and made his toast.”
“So?”
“If something was in the wine, that would explain why David suddenly found himself in trouble near the Midway Islands. Who filled the flask?”
Louie looked at Marc a long moment before answering. “You’re thinking it had to be one of us.”
“Mr. Demerchant? The flask?”
“I don’t know who filled it. Colin, Heddy, Yeagher, the butler, they were all in here when I went out to take the call. But you can’t believe any of them—”
“Yeagher? Gavin Yeagher was here that night?”
“Yes, David had asked him to come by. David wasn’t pleased with Yeagher’s Far East investments. He was losing money and trying to hide it. They were behind closed doors in the study for nearly half an hour before dinner.”
Marc remained speechless for several minutes, caught completely by surprise, as Louie’s words grew like a tumor in Marc’s mind. What if David had found some serious improprieties in how Gavin was handling his money? Gavin had to know that a financial manager exposed for wrongdoing would never be trusted again. He’d be ruined. Was Gavin capable of murdering his own friend to keep his guilty secret?
No. Marc couldn’t believe it. But as soon as he had assured himself he had to be wrong, other thoughts surfaced to plague him. He remembered how upset Gavin had been when he heard that Remy would be taking over the trusteeship. A change in trustee would mean an automatic outside audit. But if Remy died before she became trustee, then Marc remained as trustee—good old trusting Marc, who never asked questions.
As much as he wanted to, Marc couldn’t ignore his suspicions. Gavin might have had a motive for killing David. And now Remy. If...
Marc flew to his feet. “Mr. Demerchant, I have to see Gavin. I can’t take Remy with me. Will you watch out for her?”
“Of course.”
“Now, wait a minute,” Remy said, rising next to Marc, clearly displeased at being suddenly excluded. “I won’t—”
Marc grabbed Remy’s shoulders and gave her a quick kiss to silence her protest. “Please. Gavin is my friend. What I have to ask of him I can’t do with an audience. I need to know you’re safe. Mr. Demerchant’s home is secure.”
“You really think Gavin—”
“I don’t know what to think, Remy,” Marc said, quickly stopping her from putting sound to the suspicions seething in his mind. “But I have to find out.”
* * *
MARC’S SUSPICIONS SOARED as he drove to his friend’s office. Gavin had known Remy would be in court the day the crane hit her. He had known Remy was at the condo the night she was attacked. It fit. Damn it, it fit. But he had to be wrong. He had to be.
Gavin greeted Marc at his office door with a smile. It quickly slid off his face when he saw Marc’s expression. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
Marc charged into the room and closed the door behind him. “Gavin, did you have dinner with David at the Demerchant estate on the night before his flight to Guam?”
“Yeah. What’s—”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“The subject never came up. Marc, what’s this all about?”
“I need some straight answers, Gavin. Was there some trouble between you and David over your investment of his money before he died?”
Gavin blinked. “What?”
“Gavin, please, just answer the question.”
“Of course not.”
“When was the last time you had the books audited?”
Gavin’s normally flexible, easygoing face stiffened with irritation. “Now, come on, Marc, this is starting to sound—”
“Gavin, when was the last audit?”
“Last June, end of the fiscal year. The books are audited every June, you know that.”
“Who audited the books? Was it you?”
“Me? Of course not. Arthur Andersen and Company did it, the same accounting firm who’s audited the books every year. What—”
“I need to see your audit file, Gavin.”
“You’ve never asked to see one of the audits in the whole time you’ve administered David’s estate.”
“Yes, I know. That was a mistake. One I’m about to rectify. I want to see them all, Gavin. Now.”
“I don’t understand why all of a sudden—”
“Is there something about them that you don’t want me to see?”
The agitation across Gavin’s face rapidly clotted into anger. He stomped over to the files, unlocked the cabinet and pulled out several reports that he brought back and slapped down on the desk in front of Marc.
Over the next few minutes, Marc carefully scrutinized the Arthur Andersen accounting firm’s audits for the previous five years. Although some of the investments Gavin had made had lost money during the year of David’s death, the vast majority had made money, far exceeding the losses in that year and since. Gavin’s salary was generous, but with these results, he was clearly worth every penny. Marc closed the last book, exhaled heavily in immense relief and looked up at his friend.
“I’m sorry, Gavin.”
“You going to tell me what in the hell this is all about, Marc?”
“Some pretty extraordinary testimony came out in court this afternoon. But before I give you any more specifics, I need to ask you a few more questions. Why did you have dinner at the Demerchants that night?”
“Because David asked me to, just as he would have asked you if you had been in town.”
“You didn’t discuss business? You didn’t have an argument with David that night?”
“Of course not.”
“You didn’t go into the library before dinner and close the doors?”
Gavin’s anger had begun to dissipate under Marc’s anxious tone. “Oh, that. Yeah, I forgot. I’d brought over a check for David to sign. We just sort of chatted while he signed it, and then he put it in his dinner jacket pocket.”
“Gavin, this is important. I need to know whatever you remember David saying that evening.”
“He said he was moving out, getting a place of his
own, which surprised me. Then he waxed philosophical about how no one could really be sure of anyone or anything, or something like that. You know, every time he got into that philosophical realm I tuned him out.”
“Did he talk about his business trip to Guam?”
“His trip to Guam wasn’t for business.”
“I thought it had something to do with his Far East investments?”
“No way. I took care of all his Far East investments and they involved Japan and the Philippines, not Guam.”
“Then why was he flying to Guam?”
“I was curious about that, too, but he wouldn’t tell me. I figured it had to be some gal. You know David would never tell me about his women. Probably because I stole so many of his dates in college.”
“That’s all you discussed in the library?”
“That’s about all we said all night.”
“You didn’t speak at dinner?”
“No one was talking at the dinner table that night. The atmosphere was absolutely bubbling with acute acid indigestion.”
“Why?”
“Colin and Heddy seemed like they were in their usual snit over wanting more money from David.”
“And Louie?”
“He just scowled at his food after his and David’s earlier blowout. It was a very uncomfortable meal, believe me. I made my excuses and left before dessert arrived.”
“Before dessert arrived? Then you weren’t in the drawing room after dinner, filling David’s lucky flask with wine for his trip?”
“Of course not. Where did you get that idea?”
“Who filled it?”
“Louie must have, just like he always did.”
“Louie filled it that night? You’re sure?”
“Well, I didn’t see him do it, but who else would have? Louie never let that key to his private cellar out of his hands.”
Several terrible suspicions hit Marc then—hard and fast.
“Gavin, that check that you’d brought to David that night. Who was it made out to?”
“Louie. He’d had some pretty devastating financial losses for several years. David had been propping him up, although David told me that was all over.”
“Louie,” Marc said, barely believing it. “With David dead, he would have had complete control over David’s entire estate through that surrogate mother he’d brought to Bio-Sperm to receive David’s sperm.”
Gavin frowned at Marc. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“Louie lied to me, Gavin. About your argument with David. About your being in the drawing room. He wanted me to think you were guilty.”
“Guilty? Of what? Marc, when are you going to start explaining what’s going on here?”
Marc jumped up and raced for the door. “My God, Gavin, I left Remy with him!”
Chapter Thirteen
“I got this wine from the cellar especially for you, my dear.”
Remy shook her head. “That’s very kind of you, Mr. Demerchant, but I don’t really want—”
“Come, come. You must. It’s a sparkling Chablis that trickles down your throat and refreshes it like a soft rain shower. It was David’s favorite. Please, have just a little glass with me and let an old man talk about his grandson.”
Remy didn’t really want a drink, but it was hard refusing.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the glass he held out to her. Demerchant settled himself on the couch next to her.
Remy sipped her wine. Louie was right. It was delicious.
“I was a young man working nearly around the clock trying to make something of myself when Colin was born,” Louie began. “I was enormously happy. A son! To me, family has always been very important.”
Remy felt very warm and relaxed listening to Louie’s voice. She sipped more of her wine.
“I vowed I would work even harder for my wife and child. Unfortunately, that left my wife with the full burden of rearing our son. She had a kind heart. Too kind. Colin needed discipline. Initially, I forced him out on his own so he’d make something of himself, but he just wouldn’t try. Having David was the only thing he ever did right.”
Remy was surprised to find her glass was empty. She was beginning to feel very light and ache-free. And so very, very relaxed.
“I remember the day the moving truck arrived with Colin and Heddy’s things and my grandson in their arms,” Louie said. “David was so tiny. Barely a week old. At first my wife and I worried we might not see much of the lad, since Colin and Heddy had insisted on taking over the entire east wing and engaging their own servants. But Heddy soon made it clear that taking care of a baby was not for her.”
Remy struggled to keep herself erect as Louie’s age-deepened voice droned on. Her muscles felt as though they were turning to mush.
“David was my second chance. I made sure my business didn’t interfere this time. I converted a wing of this house into my headquarters and kept in touch with my business interests totally by phone. I made certain I was here to teach David the lessons his father never learned.”
Remy couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open anymore. She tried to stifle a yawn. Every muscle in her body seemed to go limp. Too many nights of worrying, she thought. Too many nights of little or no sleep. They were catching up with her.
“But being too far removed from work took its toll. The business I had built up over those early years began to decline. A group came in and threatened a hostile takeover of my medical labs. I went from a man with lots of money to one who was in danger of losing everything. Do you know how devastating that can be for someone like myself? Do you know how desperate it can make you?”
Remy couldn’t answer Louie Demerchant’s questions because she could no longer hear them.
Louie smiled as he took the glass from Remy’s limp hand and set it on the coffee table.
He started as he heard the front door opening.
“Colin and Heddy,” he whispered.
Louie moved quickly, laying Remy lengthwise on the couch. He took the beautiful tapestry draped over the back of the couch and covered her completely with it.
Then he walked over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out the .38 revolver he always kept there.
* * *
MARC SAW COLIN and Heddy’s Lexus disappearing up the long driveway to the Demerchant estate as he pulled up to the closed front gates. He jumped out of the driver’s side, smiled at the approaching security guard and socked him squarely in the jaw. He caught the man as he crumpled unconscious to the ground. Marc propped his body against the side of the guard station.
“Sorry, buddy, but I don’t have time to discuss this.”
“I got the gates,” Gavin yelled as he pressed the button inside the guard’s station and the iron gates squeaked open on their hinges.
Marc and Gavin both jumped back into the car. Marc gunned the engine and the Mercedes leaped up the long circular drive toward the house.
“I still can’t believe he killed David,” Gavin said from the passenger seat.
“Remy’s all I can think about now. Nothing must happen to her.”
When they reached the entrance, Marc parked his car behind the Lexus. He and Gavin jumped out and ran to the door. It was just closing. As they stepped inside, Marc heard Colin and Heddy’s footsteps. Silently, he and Gavin followed to the open doorway leading to the drawing room. They halted instinctively as they heard Colin’s indignant voice burst from within the room.
“What are you doing with that gun?”
Marc motioned Gavin to follow as he circled behind the partially open door. They remained hidden and peered through a slit in the doorframe. Marc could see Colin and Heddy standing in the middle of the room. On the other end of the room, Louie Demerchant faced them, a gun in his hand.
“Put it down,” Colin said.
“Just seeing if it was still loaded,” Louie said as he flipped the revolver back and forth between his palms. “It is, by the way.”
Colin frowned
as he made his way toward the display cabinet of eighteenth-century English enamel boxes, gently placing his newest acquisition inside. “You’d better put it away before you accidentally shoot yourself.”
Louie was watching his son closely. “If this gun goes off, believe me, it won’t be an accident. It’s time we talked, Colin.”
Colin closed the display case and walked over to the liquor cabinet. Heddy followed him like a shadow. “About what?”
“About David.”
“What about him?”
“Let’s begin with that argument you had on that evening before he left for Guam.”
“Argument? What argument?”
“You know which one I mean. All three of you were closeted in the sitting room. But even behind closed doors, your voices were raised loud enough to be heard.”
“You heard us?” Heddy asked, fright clearly riddling her voice.
“Of course he didn’t,” Colin said quickly, shoving a Scotch into his wife’s hand and sending a warning look to her eyes.
“I thought you were just bugging him for more money,” Louie said, still slapping the gun back and forth in his palms. “I thought that was the reason he suddenly wanted to move out. But it was more than that, wasn’t it? It had to be for you to kill him.”
Heddy gasped. Colin took a quick gulp of his Scotch. “You’re crazy.”
“It’s over, Colin,” Louie said. “They know now that David’s wine contained a hallucinatory drug.”
“Colin?” Heddy called as she grabbed her husband’s sleeve.
Colin just stared at his father, saying nothing.
Louie’s deep, calm voice went on. “The drug companies had sent a carton full of free samples for the research wing. I hadn’t bothered inventorying them until the next day. When I found the packet of LSD gone, I just thought they had made a mistake. But they didn’t, did they? It must have been so easy for you to have slipped that packet out of the open carton into your pocket.”
Colin glared at his father.
“You were the one who filled his lucky wine flask that night,” Louie said. “When I left to take the telephone call, I remember hearing you tell David that it was a new wine you wanted him to try. You put the LSD in it. Why?”
