Grounds for Remorse

by Misty Simon

  Which is why I tried not to spend much time thinking about it.

  “This is Max and he’s going to be helping me out today so that we can get the job done quickly for you. Sorry I’m later than usual. I hope I won’t mess up your dinnertime.”

  “It’s not a problem at all, dear Tallie. I’ve heard you’re out there putting yourself in danger again to try to solve another murder.”

  Where did people hear these kinds of things?

  “Not that it’s any of my business, young lady, but you need to watch yourself. You have far more to live for now. You don’t want someone to snuff you out just because you couldn’t keep your nose out of things that the police should be taking care of.”

  I started to form a rebuttal, then I remembered Buffy was Burton’s aunt. Not worth going there with her.

  “Thanks for the warning. The only reason I’m helping this time is because someone is trying to make it look like Gina did the deed, and I know it wasn’t her.”

  “Oh, that Gina makes the best café au lait. Don’t you agree, Max?”

  “Absolutely, ma’am.”

  “And he’s a gentleman,” the older woman cooed.

  “Yes, a gentleman who’s going to come in and help me clean your house as soon as you let us in the door.” I smiled but really I was itching to just get in and get this done so we could move on. The partner, Drake Fuller, was on my list as the first person I wanted to talk to. I wanted his side of the story about Michelle. There was no way that a woman like her would have been unaware of his interest in her. I wanted to know how far things had gone, or if she’d rebuffed him, and he thought the only true way to get Craig out of the picture so that life could go on the way it should have before Craig had shown up was to take Craig out of the equation permanently.

  We swept, we vacuumed, we cleaned dishes and wiped down counters. I did find one sock on the staircase to the second floor, but that was far preferable to the house being a mess that I not only had to straighten first but then go back through and really clean afterward.

  Buffy followed Max around wherever he went. Fortunately, he was good about it, engaging her in conversation. Talking to her about investments and showing a far larger working knowledge of the stock market than I had even known existed. Mr. Hoffington was into the stock market and that was how I had met them when I was married to Walden Phillips the Third.

  Waldo had ended up being a dirty dealer, but Mr. Hoffington was always on the up-and-up. He and Max got into a spirited discussion about the index, and I just kept on cleaning. I wasn’t planning on paying Max, anyway, so anything he did was just one more thing I didn’t have to do in the long list of cleaning chores.

  Finally, an hour and a half later, we were done. I had to practically drag Max out of the house away from both Hoffingtons.

  “You and your beau should come for dinner one night, Tallie. We’d love to get to know him better and reacquaint ourselves with this very different version of you.” She smiled when she issued the invitation.

  The smile made me feel better about my transformation. There was still more work to do, but her words gave me hope and added oomph to my optimism. “That would be wonderful. Let me see when Max will be back in town, and we’ll get something set up.”

  Holding hands, Max and I walked back to our cars.

  “Well, that was unexpected,” I said as we neared my car. Max trotted around the fender to open the door before I could get there. “Thanks.”

  “Of course. I’m a gentleman, after all.” He laughed. “They seem like really nice people.”

  “I think they are, and I think I underestimated them because of how far up in the sky my nose was thrust when I was a Phillips the Third. I’m glad they liked you, and by extension I like that I’m liked again.”

  “Maybe this Tallie is the real Tallie and the other one was just trying to find her way.”

  “Maybe.” His insight made me think for a moment. Maybe that was what had happened. It could be that I was looking for something and only found it when I was myself instead of who I thought I wanted to be.

  He kissed me on the tip of my nose. “Well, I really . . . like this Tallie.”

  There had been a hesitation there, one I was almost sure would have led to a different L word if it had been another time and another place. My heart sank a little that I might just be being fanciful, but I couldn’t help the little spark of hope. Of course, there was no saying that I couldn’t be the first one to declare my love.

  All in good time. My hope was that we’d have years together. Saying “I love you” at this very moment, outside someone’s house where we’d just been up to our elbows in bleach to clean toilets, might not be the big romantic gesture that I hoped I might get some day.

  I jumped to the next subject because I didn’t want to think too hard about this one right now. “It’s six. Do you think we should go talk to that partner of Craig’s? I have a few questions, and he must be ready to talk a little bit more since I can’t imagine he’d been aware of a first wife, either.”

  “And there you go, straight back to work. I like that about you, too.”

  He kissed me on the nose again, tucked me into the car, then shut my door. Many people thought chivalry was dead, or they didn’t need someone to open or close a door because they were fiercely independent. For myself, I knew I could do it myself, and I was still fiercely independent, but also knew that Max enjoyed opening my door. And it didn’t hurt me to let him.

  He patted the top of my car, then jogged over to his own. We got on the road with me leading the way to the construction offices of Johnson and Fuller. We’d see what we found there, or if Drake would even agree to see us. Time would tell. But I didn’t have a lot of time left before Burton had to at least look like he was close to catching the killer, who had already taken a life and possibly almost taken another. There was no way Burton could blame Brenna’s injuries on Gina, but he could certainly try to nail her with Craig’s death just to make it look like he wasn’t being negligent.

  The offices of Johnson and Fuller sat on the corner of Third Street and Capitol Avenue. They too were across the river. My great aunt would have had a heart attack at how often I was moving back and forth, but really it was about a fifteen-minute drive.

  I needed to get something to eat soon since the sandwich from earlier was wearing off. For my stomach’s sake, I’d have to make sure I kept this brief and to the point.

  I found a parking spot and Max parked right next to me. Almost every space was taken, but that was likely due to the woman-centric gym next door. I checked all the tire sizes on the cars with a glance just in case I saw any big ones. Mama Shirley’s description of the car the night of the murder hadn’t helped so far, but I was leaving no stone unturned.

  Entering the building, though, I was pretty sure no one was next door sweating off cheeseburgers, because it looked like every car had dumped out its people in here.

  * * *

  It took me about ten minutes to sort out who everyone was. Some of them initially refused to tell me their names. To be honest, I was a little surprised that anyone actually answered me. In the end, even the refusers decided to jump in with their names because they didn’t want to be left out. It wasn’t like I had any authority, but once Max started asking questions as a tax agent of the government, people babbled to keep up with what all he wanted to know.

  Finally, we ended up standing in the middle of an attorney for Michelle, two for Lily, another for the company, and a fifth for Drake personally. Three accountants stood in the room also, and poor Noreen sat at her desk looking around at everyone as if she wasn’t quite sure what to do or whom to offer coffee to first.

  “Can I ask why everyone is here at this precise moment?” Max asked into the suddenly quiet room, once the introductions had been made.

  The lawyer for Michelle, a Peter Skandish who was very proud to let you know he was an esquire, pulled the lapels of his charcoal suit down to straighten them.
“I’m here to make sure that the interests of my client are not overlooked as everyone else goes about squalling for what they think is theirs. Michelle Johnson worked and lived with Craig for ten years. While she might not have had a direct hand in the making or running of this business on paper, she still supported Craig for years as his fledgling company became a thriving business. She will not be left out.”

  “Except that she was never legally married to Mr. Johnson.” This from Walter Masterson. He wore a deep blue suit with a red tie and had a mane of white hair. He was one of the two lawyers representing Lily. “Without a legal marriage, she’s entitled to nothing. My client has been married to the deceased for twenty years. She spent a lot of that time trying to look for him and possibly reconcile. The fact that he is now dead means that the chance for reconciliation is gone and so she will have to make do with inheriting his business. She is the only one legally able to step in and take things over.”

  “None of you are dividing up anything,” Drake chimed in finally. I’d watched his face turning redder and redder and his knuckles get whiter and whiter where he gripped the edge of the desk he was leaning against. “Craig and I talked about it and his will very clearly states that all shares go to me. Nothing but the house goes to Michelle. He was planning on leaving her anyway, and while he didn’t want to leave her destitute, he was not planning on providing for her for the rest of her life. He left her enough to start up the coffee shop she wanted and the house. The rest is to come to me. I pay her a portion of what we make every month and that’s it.” His eyes took on a fierce cast. Added to the fact that I knew he thought Michelle walked on water and probably had loved her for years, this must have been a blow and a blessing for Drake. Now he could have the woman he loved and take care of her financially, but never have to worry about her selling his company out from under him if she decided she was tired of footing the bill for a construction firm she had no part in.

  I wondered if he still wanted her now that she was being accused of assault—and now that he might have to kowtow to another partner.

  “You can’t do that,” the second lawyer for Lily said. I didn’t remember his name but I felt like it might have rhymed with jerk. His nose in the air and his pointy shoes shined to an almost blinding sheen, he got right in Drake’s face. “Unless you have proper documentation with Lily Johnson’s signature on it, a husband cannot sign away his entire fortune with the widow still alive.” He shot his cuffs as he backed up. “We won’t go down without a fight. Everything Mr. Johnson promised is on the table due to the fact that he operated without the consent of his true wife. The deceased may bequeath certain things to others, but the control will be in the spouse’s hands and the spouse here is Lily Johnson, not Michelle Franks. Beyond that, I’ve seen no will and there isn’t one registered in any of the attorney offices I know of. Would you care to produce it so that we might have a look?”

  “I’ll get it for you,” Drake said, but his eyes had a desperation to them that told another story.

  “So you know where it is?” the other man pressed.

  “I said I’ll get it for you. Tomorrow is soon enough.” Drake’s hand went into a fist. I knew I was probably the last person he wanted to deal with, and certainly not about personal matters, but I felt the need to step in.

  “Max,” I whispered, “can you keep them busy with questions while I take Drake away? He’s riled. I bet he’ll talk about all kinds of things right now, but not in front of all these goons. You know enough about this, and I know nothing. Let’s see if we can divide and conquer and then share notes.”

  My answer was a slight nod of his head.

  Drake had walked over to Noreen’s desk to get a glass of water. I took the opportunity to corner him.

  I jumped in before he could back away. “Look, I know you don’t like me, and you don’t trust me, but Michelle has asked me to help her find out who killed Craig. I’ll leave Max to look into everything else, but I need some information from you. Can you at least give me ten minutes to try to figure out what’s going on before you shut me out?”

  He stared at me for a long minute while Max continued his question and answer session. I heard some numbers being thrown around that made my eyes want to pop out of my head, but I kept a cool face.

  “My office, ten minutes. Noreen, let everything go to voicemail. Take notes on the things they’re saying here and then hand them to me when it’s all done. I have to figure out what in the world is going on, and what we’re going to do, but I need it on paper so that I can start getting a grip on the situation.”

  She looked at him with sad eyes and bit her lip.

  “You can do this.”

  “Okay, Drake.”

  He led the way to his office, no one really seeming to notice he’d removed himself from the conversation. Good for Max for being such a sparkling conversationalist that no one missed Drake’s presence.

  I stepped into the room I had sat in two days ago trying to convince Drake that I really wanted the attic refurbed at the funeral home. The more I thought about that, the more I actually did like the idea, but that was not a concern for now.

  Now, I had to get to the meat of things so we could get to the bottom of this murder.

  “You’re not going to be happy about this, but I have to ask if you and Michelle ever had an affair.”

  “Wow, you come shooting straight out of the gate, don’t you?” His laugh was harsh, not really a laugh at all.

  “Sorry. I just don’t know how much time we have, and with Michelle sitting in jail, I can’t afford to mince words.”

  “She’s in jail?” His whole face paled.

  “Yes, she hit Lily. Clocked her actually. I bet that’s why the lawyers are all here. Lily was pissed and wants Michelle put in real jail for battery and assault and then sends her goons over here to tie up these loose ends. And I’m not even sure she and Craig were actually married. If they only lived two hours apart, how is it that they never crossed paths? Why did she wait so long to pounce? The coincidence of him dying and her showing up at the funeral the next day to announce her wifehood all seems a little too pat for me. And the fact that she’s already trying to take over Michelle’s house and put her out on the street just sent Michelle over the edge, so Michelle punched her.”

  That finally got a real reaction. He seemed to just be sitting through the rest of it like what I was saying interested him but not enough to move him. But that last part was apparently the straw and his back was inundated.

  “How dare the vile woman!” He spat the words out and then he chuckled. “Good for Michelle.”

  “Keep your voice down, and don’t you make any threats. Those are lawyers out there, and while they might be dressed nice, at least two of them would be just as comfortable swimming in the ocean with gills and row upon row of teeth in their mouths.”

  While he didn’t sit down, he did pace instead of running his mouth, which was something.

  “Now, did you and Michelle ever have an affair?”

  “No, we didn’t. She would come to me when things weren’t going so well with Craig, or when she found out about yet another woman that he thought he loved more than her, but nothing untoward ever happened. She was better than that. I wanted her to be my wife. I didn’t want to be a side piece of beef like Craig had so many of.”

  Made sense to me and ran true with the character I’d seen in Drake already. “Okay. But does she know you’re interested in her?”

  Finally sitting, he leaned back in his chair with his hands gripping the arms. “That I’m not sure about. She knows I care for her, but I’ve tried to be discreet about my affection for her to honor her marriage. Also, to not piss off Craig. He might have seemed like a really nice guy, but he had a streak in him that ran deep and ugly.”

  “Did he really leave you the company and a stipend for Michelle?” This was the crucial question because if Drake tried to dig up some phony paper saying that and tried to pass it off, things coul
d get worse.

  “We had talked about it but I don’t think anything had ever been solidified or notarized. Damn.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

  “So no will? That’s a game changer. And what’s Michelle’s brother going to say about all this?”

  “I’ll deal with him.” His frown got more intense. “He doesn’t have her best interests at heart anyway. He wants the money and the easy in when I’ve worked my ass off for this whole place.”

  “But he seemed sure that he was getting that in and now he’s not going to have it. Would he have killed Craig to be a part of your company?”

  “He doesn’t have the guts to do that. He’s a freeloader and has wanted a handout since Michelle married that bastard. He won’t get it from me and I was going to block him from getting it from her as soon as the dust settled around the estate. He wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on.”

  “One last question, for now.”

  He looked at me head on, unnerving me. I didn’t know any other way to say it, so I blurted it out.

  “Did you have the guts to kill Craig?”

  Chapter Ten

  I was never so happy to walk out of an office in one piece before. That had been worse than getting a pelvic exam. At least during one of those you knew everyone was out for your best health. In Drake’s office I was sure they would have loved to tear anyone apart limb from limb as quickly and efficiently as possible.